Themes on Thursday: Is there any Intergalactic Creature who Can Save us from this Parallel, Apocalyptic Cyborg?

Hey Guys,

On Thursday’s I will be looking into the different themes and genres of films. I will be looking into what classes a film under the certain genres and what themes tend to run through them.

There will be a lot of films being watched that I or you have probably never heard of, but that’s the experience of film.

This week’s focus has mainly been directed towards Sci-Fi. So why should today be any different? We are going to travel into the world of Science Fiction and discover great wonders.

So for a start let me explain that Science Fiction films are any film that is set in the future or has some reference to other worlds. Content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranormal abilities can feature in these films.

There are a lot of Genres and themes that appear in Science Fiction films. So how would you know if you’re watching a Sci-Fi? Let’s list a small amount of traits and themes.

·         Is the film set in the future?

·         Is the film set on a different planet?

·         Is the film set in space?

·         Does the film contain a creature/monster?

·         In the film, Is there a scientific research that goes wrong?

·         Does the main character have super powers?

·         Is there an alien attack?

·         Is there some sort of epidemic?

·         Do any of the characters time travel?

·         Is there an alternate/parallel universe?

·         Are there any robots/cyborgs/clone etc.?

·         Can the characters live under water?

·         Are there any flying objects? (E.G Space ships)

Now some of these you would have already guessed, as did I, but others are quite a surprise. Did you know any comic hero movie is classed as a Sci-Fi film? Now that you know that, you will think over it and recognise some of the themes that run through. For example the Iron Man (2008 – present) films, Tony Stark uses Science and Computers to build his Ironwear.

Science Fiction films used to just primly be ‘about science’ it has evolved and transformed into something greater with many different sub-genres. Here are just a few of the subgenres with an explanation.

First of all any Apocalyptic, holocaust, or post-apocalyptic story which focuses on the end of the world, or the world just after "the end." Society is wiped out and must rebuild; humanity is destroyed; humanity must cope with an aftermath.

Cyberpunk stories are set in a high-tech, mechanical and advanced universe of computers, hackers, and hybrids. "Cyberspace” films fall into this subgenre. Humans may spend time "living" in a virtual environment.

First contact looks into the primary meeting between humans and aliens. These can range from horrific tales of invasions through to stories of gentle visitors bearing technology and peace. The meeting may occur on Earth, in space, or on another planet. "alien invasion" films fall into this sub-genre.

Military science fiction looks at futuristic combat locations such as space, against opponents such as aliens or machines, with advanced weaponry. This may include genetically modified warriors.

Near-future science fiction takes place in present day or in the next few years. Elements of the setting should be familiar, and the technology may be current or in development.

Space operas are similar to Western "horse operas," often contains good guys fighting with bad guys in space or on distant planets. Star Wars is a classic example.

Time travel is where characters travel to the past or future. It could also be where they are visited by other time travellers. Topics range from seeing what the past was like, to paradox of killing somebody who effected your future, through to "tampering" causing a massive ‘butterfly effect’ altering the entire future/world. "alternate universes" where each change in the timestream spins off a new universe can be classed in this sub-genre.

So hopefully you can understand more about how the Science Fiction works and you can understand why a certain character is doing one of the listed things above. Hopefully it makes you understand the film that little bit more.

For those of you interested in finding out more about current Science Fiction films, here is an Internet Movie Database link listing all the most popular Sci-Fi films at present: http://www.imdb.com/genre/sci_fi

If you have any views on what has been discussed or have any films, themes, or genres you would like me to look into then comment below.

Stay safe,

Matt

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Film Thursday: Stop-Motion Animation

Hey Guys,

This is Film Thursday.

Here’s the part of the week where I will either review a film or talk about how film can affect us in certain ways. Each week I will ask you what you feel should review next or what area of film I should look into.

This week we are going to look into the amazing world of Stop-Motion Animation, a very time consuming but extremely detailed form of animation.

For those of you unsure of what Stop-Motion Animation is, then think back to Wallace and Gromit (1989 – Present) by Nick Park, Aardman Animations.

Basically the way they create these animations is they place the clay models into the potion they need. Then take a few shots. They then stop the camera, move the models by the slightest amount for the next shot.

These stop-motion animations take up a lot of time, as one scene may take the animators a couple of days. So a whole film may take a year or maybe more.

Such Films as: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Directed by Henry Selick and produced by Tim Burton, and Buton’s other creation: Corpse Bride (2005) are both stop-motion films and both have a high level of detail and had plenty of time spent making and creating these films.

The reason I am mentioning stop-motion is down to something that I am highly excited about. It is one film I truly cannot wait to go and see, I will be front of line as soon as it is out.

This film will be the work of Director, Producer, and Writer Guillermo del Toro (GDT/ Del Toro).  Del Toro is the creator of such films as: Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Orphanage (2007). He has created some very extraordinary creatures and monsters and knows how to play with ‘The Dark Side’ of film.

So when I heard that GDT was rumoured to make a ‘dark’ version of Pinocchio, I was extremely excited at how the creatures would look and what tales he would bring through.

The idea of this film is based around a book that Gris Grimly wrote. Del Toro is working alongside The Jim Henson Company, and there are the first artistic impressions of the film.

If you haven’t guessed already, this will be a stop-motion animation. Which means it will not be released until around 2014, but it is just exciting to have seen some of the pictures from this talented director.

So here, from GDT’s own website, are some of the artist interpretations:

The first two pictures are artist interpretations, and the last one is one of the models they may be using in the movie.

So as you can see, it is a very exciting concept, the blue fairy is rumoured to be the soul of a dead girl and there are meant to be plenty of dark creatures. 

There are also rumours of Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Waits and Luing Andrews voicing some of the many characters.

If you want to find out more about Del Toro then here is his website:

http://deltorofilms.com/wp/

And this is all the information on his version of Pinocchio:

http://deltorofilms.com/wp/category/other-projects/pinocchio

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1488589/

I can’t wait to see more info as it comes in, and can’t wait to see this film in 2014.

Stay safe,

Matt

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Tips for Tuesday: Plan of Action

Hey Guys

This is Tips for Tuesday. Here is where I give you the tips that I, loosly, follow or think that I should follow. These are either life tips or tips to do with work, maybe even specific tips to something. It may help you with something you’ve been trying to over-come or maybe it will just inspire you to try something new.

We all need to plan out what we are doing. From the simplest of shopping lists to the major deadlines.

I have done a guest post once about writing tips, which went into both how to prepare and planning. So I thought I would extend on the Plan of Action.

So heres a few steps to help you plan and set out things so you get them done on time, or, if you are like me, before the deadline.

Tip One: Buy a Diary and Use it Wisely

What could be better for your deadlines than a diary? Lets say you need to finish a book by September. Set it in your diary, write it down. Once the deadline is written down, that means it is stuck. Theres no changing it, you’ve just got to make sure you work towards it.

Tip Two: Stop calling them Deadlines

The worst thing to hear, or think is along the lines of ‘Oh here’s the deadline, it has to be done by this point.’ Instead, set goals and targets. Lets use the same example of the book completion. So say you want it finished by September, work out how many pages you would have to write a week, how many chapters, and so on. Put down a target and a goal. The difference between a target and a goal is as follows.

Target: Your average amount that you can hit. The bare minimum you know you can do in that week. – This has to be what you know you are capable of, what you can achieve.

Goal: Above your target, what you want to be hitting, but you know it will take a little more effort. – This has to be a realistic goal, nothing too far fetched that its never going to happen.

Tip Three: Plan Your Day.

This task that you are trying to figure out and finish (The book by September) will not be the only thing you have to focus on at that time. You have to give room for your other commitments and tasks. So say if you work, or you have children, you have to make sure that all this is fit in also.

Now this might sound difficult. You are think, ‘I have so much to juggle I couldn’t possible do it all.’ Well for a start, wrong attitude to have, and secondly if you plan your day out, with all your targets and goals you might be quite surprised.

If every night, before you settle down to sleep, you plan out your next day; or every Sunday night, before you catch up on your shows, you write down what your goals are and plan out your days, then you’ll be surprised at how much free time you might actually have.

Tip Four: Make a List.

I don’t know what it is about lists, but we just can’t seem to get enough of them. We love to crete shopping lists and all sorts. So why not crete a list of things you need to do with the project (in this example list what needs to be done for your book). Such things like what the characters are up to, what happens. Even a breif step by step account. This way you know what’s coming next and you know what you need to do to get there and you aren’t going to feel as stuck when you come up to a more tricky task.

Tip Five: Reading and Research:

Reading seems to be the theme of the week this week, (as it is mentioned tomorrow in the guest blog, and my writing updates blog) but to set up your plan of action, you first need to research everything. You need to find out which directions you could take with your task and the best thing that would suit you.

If you are writing a book, then read afew books that are similar style or genre. This will help you with your layout, which in turn will help with your planning. (I will be going over this in much more detail in Writing Update Wednesday: You’ve got to Read to Write).

Finally:

Tip Six: Enjoy the Task.

If you have followed all these steps you should be doing quite well and should be well on your way to having it all figured out, but if you are not enjoying what you are doing and you don’t make the excersises or tasks fun, then you aren’t going to get into the task and lose motivation.

You need to stay motivated and enjoy the task at hand, this way you will get the task done much quicker than you first expected.

So if you follow these tips you should be able to get your plan of action all set up and should be able to get the tasks, and work done even before the ‘deadline’ you originally set.

If you have any other tips you would like to share on this subject, or any tips you think I should discuss for next week then let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Mull-Over Monday: Do special effects and CGI, improve films, or make them worse?

Hey Guys,

Welcome to Mull Over Monday, This is the day where I pick something that people discuss and have different opinions about. These things will normally be to do with film or writing or something that obviously affects my life directly.

So something to think about and discuss this week is special effects and CGI. Do they improve films or make them worse? How much is too much?

I’m going to view my opinions and obviously, as normal, if you have other views on this topic then let me know underneath.

This may be a very one sided view on special effects and CGI because unfortunately I’m not really the biggest of fans, but I shall try and be as open minded as possible.

This subject has come about due to the fact that lately I’ve been watching a lot of comic-book films, such as The Amazing Spiderman, The Avengers Assemble and The Dark Knight Rises, (which I will be reviewing on Film Thursday blog.)

So first of all what do you class as special effects? Well truthful anything from a simple lighting effect all the way up to your big explosions and CGI creatures are known as special effects, SFX for short.

So in some ways without SFX a film would never work. There would be no light or sound SFX and it would just look extremely boring and unappealing. So SFX are needed to make, and improve a films quality.

The question is: How much SFX and CGI is too much? For me this is simple, when you start creating things that don’t look realistic at all and spoil the film; that is when you know you’ve gone too far. Take King Kong (2005) Directed by Peter Jackson. This remake of an old classic used so much CGI that there was not one shred of truth left by the end of the film, all relationships with characters were uninteresting and 187 minutes of pure CGI just was too much.

Looking through the archives over at TotalFilm.com I looked through what they rated the worst CGI film moments and why, so I thought I would give you a little taster, so you can see what might be a step too far with Computer Generating.

Here’s the link if you want to check out all of the list, or the scenes themselves:

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-20-worst-movie-cgi-moments

20: CGI Sharks – Films such as Deep Blue Sea (1999) and Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) have some of the worst CGI shark attacks I’ve probably watched. There is just no realistic sense to them at all.

17: The brawl in The Matrix Reloaded (2003). Total Film gives a note saying ‘The Golden Rule of CGI: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.’ This is an extremely good rule, and some directors do need to learn this one.

 12: The Scorpion King: The Mummy Returns (2001). When The Rock turns into a half scuttling Scorpion is one of the worst, most unbelievable things I’ve seen. This is when you lose faith in sequels and franchises.

9: The Lions and the Infected: I am Legend (2007). All the street clearing and lighting SFX in the world could not improve these hordes.

6: Troll Attack: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001). Just watch a clip of the troll, not only do all the actors look really young in comparison to how they are now, but that troll is just unbelievably unrealistic.

1: Well we’ve mentioned this once before. I had a feeling that King Kong would be in this list. The whole medley of Giant Apes, Stampeding Dinosaurs and other over the top creations. Not only are the badly made, but badly dubbed also with the wrong Sound FX.

Now I’m not saying all CGI is bad, because sometimes there are some great moments created. What I’m saying is, sometimes the SFX teams might take things a little too far, get a little bit carried away and just decide that they will have a children’s drawn troll or way too many bomb explosions.

A film should not be about the action, the CGI and the SFX. It should be about the story and the relationships built between characters and audiences.

If you have any views on this, let me know and keep the discussion going.

Stay safe,

            Matt

Mull Over Monday: Are Films to Blame For Actions?

Hey Guys,

So after having numerous problems with accounts and emails and other things, all linked into losing my phone. I have finally got myself back on track. I’m back making YouTube Vlogs, I’ve got my writing going and been playing around on Photoshop for different covers and so on. Now I’m back on here and here are some of the things I’ve created and made whilst unwillingly being away.

Welcome to Mull Over Monday, This is the day where I pick something that people discuss and have different opinions about. These things will normally be to do with film or writing or something that obviously affects my life directly.

This week the topic is going to be quite a delicate matter. Now if I say anything that you don’t agree with, then just remember it is a discussion and is open to other opinions, but let’s remember to try and keep it above board.

The reason I’m saying this is a tricky, risky subject is because it is quite fresh in the news. Now I know I’m from Brittan and obviously this news does not affect us as much as the people in America, where it happened, but I thought I’d talk about it all.

If you haven’t guessed already I want to talk about how media blames films for Certain actions. Now this has sparked back up again due to the recent shooting at a premiere of Batman, The Dark Knight Rises, in Colorado.

Now I am not going to act as if I know all the facts or act as if anything I say is right, because it affects America, and not really anywhere else. Yet the media blames the film itself for the shooting.

Seeing as the film had just been released over there, it was a first premiere and that nobody had yet seen this film, already puts this theory into a bit out of place.

Secondly the gunman himself, not the most reliable of references I understand; but still, said that it was not down to the film, or religious views (as some media teams are saying) but still will not fully explain why.

Now if it was down to the film, then why just in one place? Why just one guy? Why did he burst into a random screen? Why did people in the opposite screening, which was a family film, also get shot by bullets he fired? None of these make sense.

This is not the first time that media itself has blamed a film for creating violence or destruction. We British have had a few cases, maybe not as rough and devastating as this case, but still not all that nice. Where children have gone to see a film out of there age range with their parents and then allegedly gone and re-enacted that scene and managed to hurt or kill people in the process.

First off, if you are a parent and you think that allowing your child of, let us say, fourteen to go and see a film rated 18 (not sure what that is over in USA) then you are asking for trouble from the start.

Secondly the group I’m talking about, who apparently saw the film Child’s Play then tied another child to a railway track. I have seen this film and for all I can remember I can truly say I don’t think there was a scene where this happened. Tell me if I’m wrong because it was a while ago.

Yet because these kids had seen this film, it got blamed. Some films get blamed for things before they are even released or seen by audiences. Films such as Blade Runner and Natural Born Killers where not even allowed to be shown in certain places due to the media hype, saying that they were bad films that glorified violence and would lead to problems.

These media nuts do like to take things out of hand and twist the real reason behind things. They like to do it with everything and they have gone and done it with the Batman film. They have made both the cast and crew feel bad about the film and given it a bad name, when it was not even the fault of the film.

Some media teams apparently even made up the rumour that the killer called himself ‘The Joker’. Now me wanting to be a director and want to create films that make people think about things would not understand why the Media would make up such lies and rumours?

 These lies will not sell more papers, more than often people like to know the truth about these situations. They want to know what went on; they don’t need to be told that if you see this film it will lead to violence.

If it was true that films affected your actions and that people truly go around killing people after seeing a film or due to seeing something, then don’t you think we would have many more problems such as these? There would be utter chaos every time somebody brought out a new film.

As I said at the start, I’m not pretending to know all the facts or saying that I’m right and all Media is wrong and judgemental and should be band. I am just viewing my opinion, and that is that the Media have twisted this out of proportion, as normal when something like this happens, and they have made people scared. They should be making people calm about the situation, shouldn’t they?

If you have any views at all about this incident, or any others that Media blame films for, let me know. I want you to update me and I want you guys to get chatting about this. Do you truly think that a film could make somebody act that badly? Or do you think the Media have it all wrong? Are they just blaming the film because they don’t know the real reason? Let me know what you think.

If you’ve been to see the Dark Knight Rises, then let me know what you think also.

Stay safe,

Matt