Dungeons and Dragons

I'm going to say this; I have no clue what Dungeons and Dragons is.  All I know is that it is some kind of board game that people play.  It is more so associated with nerds dressed up in cheap character outfits from the game playing it in their mothers basement.  Although this article did shed some light on the subject; 1. it was thought to promote Satanism. 2. In the 38 years since its creation, it’s been played by upwards of 20 million people and (3) it is still going.  My two opinions: I don't really like D&D, (sci-fi isn't my thing) and I just don't get how people like it.  And my question; WHY! Why is it still here?!?

GIF still going strong

In this article it is explained how those little animated GIF's that you see everywhere are still popular.  If you were in the animation class last year, you know we made something like this before only it was drawn out. It was called a thaumatrope. This technique was founded by (1) Eadweard Muybridge, a 134 year old process (2) and, Oxford Dictionaries even chose GIF as its USA Word of the Year for 2012, (3).  I don't think this is new.  GIF's are everywhere and people use them all the time; I think the detail and bio behind GIF's is unknown though.  And everyone has done it before.  Whenever you got bored in class and you started drawing a circle at the bottom corner of your notebook over and over again; when you thumbed through the pages the circle "moved" across the page. And for my question; Oxford chooses the word of the year? (I didn't know that).

7 rules for Writing Short Films

Since we are doing  short films in our video production class (no brainer there) it makes sense that this article would show up sooner or later. Not that this is a bad thing...just a little advice on how to make the most and best of our short films. so here are the steps.

1. The Shorter the Better- this makes sense considering it is called a "short film". You don't want a short film to be an hour and a half long, then it's just a movie,even if it is really good (because there is no one in our class that adds extra stuff at the end of their film or goes almost to the max time limit. nope no one.)  This is because one it costs less to do so and if you are showing a few short films like lets say in a movie theater in the "commercials" you want them to be short so you can view several of them before the actual movie starts.
2. Keep Practicality of writing in Mind- This means choose things to do that you can do.  If you have a low budget and minimum time, the whole dramatic car chase scene you envisioned may not work.  Choose things or locations that are easy to get to, interesting and that make sense and fit with what you are trying to convey.
3. Make It Visual- Video is a visual medium.  This is so true.  This doesn't mean to cut dialogue all together (unless that's what you are going for) just let the visual speak for its self.  "A picture is worth a thousand words". Such rings true in films as well.  If you have a OCD character, you could have the person sitting at their desk, fidgeting, messing with things, organizing and reorganizing things over and over again.  This shows what the character is like and gives the character depth without any dialogue whatsoever.
4. Find Single Moments- not dates. It means to have a single epic point, a decision or conflict with a resolution, with a story attached to it. So it's like starting a movie at the climax, then going back and showing everything that led up to it, in a way. (I think. I hope I'm getting this right of Ms. Licata will kill me.)
5. Tell a Story -this is basically what is says.  Tell a story but with a short film you can push boundaries and try things you may not have necessarily tried in a normal film.
6. Engage the Reader- if the person who is reading your script isn't thrilled for the first page of your short, your sunk.  The same is true when writing a book, or writing one of those horrid ELA essays; you need a hook, something to get the reader interested and make them want to read more.  No one wants to read a boring story if the first couple of pages suck, why would anyone want to go see the movie of it?
7. Beware of Cliches- If it seems cliche to you then it is.  They are stereotypical ideas/characters/plots that everyone has seen and are quite frankly boring.  The mobsters, the "cute little kids", premonitions of death;been there, done that kind of scenario. So you could take a normal child's fairytale, making it modern and have the protagonist switch sides at the end to the antagonist side.

Okay so there are some tips. My three things I learned are in there somewhere.  Two opinions; I need to watch more short films because throughout the whole article I knew none of those short films and, the practicality one threw me. I would think with movies they could shoot at prime locations, (obviously I learned that things like the weather is something you can't control especially when you want to shoot something). Finally one question; I got nothing.  Can't think of one.  Sorry.

Iron Man 3 rant

Like the title says this is a complete rant.  But be warned : SPOILER ALERT! Okay got that out of the way.  So I was reading the Marvel article for Ms. Licata like a good student when it got me thinking of up and coming movies.  Like Iron Man 3.  Yes there is a third one and being an Iron Man fan I am ecstatic.  However, and this is partly my fault, I went looking for trailers which only confused me more.  So the first trailer I watched creeps me out.  No kidding.  There were so many abrupt cuts from one scene to another.  One scene had Tony lying in his Iron Man suit beat up in the snow saying "There are a lot of people in the world that want to kill me". Another one was a cute scene with him (Tony) and Pepper having a "moment".  Then it cuts to Pepper strapped to some metal restraint with her looking like she was crying and in pain and then it goes to some random dude giving her cheek a kiss!  At the end of it all I was like, "What just happened?"  That kind of seems like a no brainier since the movie hasn't even come out yet and won't until May 3rd 2013.  But still!  And then I (again I shouldn't have done this) read that Pepper will get a suit.  I don't mean like a business suit she wears.  I mean an Iron Man suit!  I don't know how I feel about that.  It would be kind of cool to see Pepper, who is usually on the side helping Tony or one of the other characters out, kicking butt right along side the rest of the boys.  And yet it kind of wouldn't.  Maybe it is just me but I have a hard time seeing Pepper go from this reliable sideline character (who does do quite a bit in both movies don't get me wrong)to this Iron "Maiden" (get it?) all of a sudden.  Oh yeah just as an added bonus, Happy the driver, might die...Just saying.

Bunnyman

So this guy is the voice of...

...this guy.  Need I say more?

Holiday Characters Taken Seriously?

Now we all know the typical characters like Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny etc...most of their stories are cutesy and fun because they are intended for children.  In the new movie Rise of the Guardians they are anything but cutesy. (1) They are taken seriously. (2) They are modernizing these characters in a very real way.  No stupid gags or anything like that.(3)  This movie is also showing kids, according to Peter Ramsey, "it's okay for kids to be afraid.  Its okay for them to know there is bad in the world and someone out there is going to protect them from it".  I think this is a great approach.  Also the way this movie takes story boarding to a whole new level to add another layer into the movie is cool.  I never thought like that.  For my final question...what is world-building?  I have a general idea from the article but every time I read that word I keep going back to movies like Inception.

Marvel

So this week topic is Marvel.  More specifically the movies based on Marvel characters and their comics.  Now a good portion of us have seen the Avengers movie (or you could go to YouTube and just watch all the leaks from people and watch the trailers to basically watch the whole movie.).  This movie not only brought in a lot of money, but a lot of new ideas and concepts that are going into play even now. Some of them are (things I learned) how Marvel might be doing a little t.v. show of S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep viewers interested during the off season. Also how now movie companies are working together.  Like when you think of a certain movie, like X-Men belongs or is known for the Fox company.  Sony has Spider-Man.  Now these companies might be working together.  Different companies working together for a common goal, (just like the Avengers!).  And as an added bonus....people there will be an Avengers 2 and a Iron Man 3.  Just saying. For opinions.  I think what Marvel and the director has done for these characters is great.  Also I like how they enticed the viewer.  By that I mean, in the one Incredible Hulk movie, at the very end we saw Betty's father (can't remember his name) speaking with the one and only Tony Stark!  Or like in Iron Man 2 when Tony was building that huge contraption to make the new element, he used Captain America's shield to level out the pipes.  I didn't notice that at first but my brother pointed it out to me.  When he did I got so excited!  It was like that moment of "Hey I know what they are hinting at!" kind of thing.  Little things like that is what keep people interested in the movies.  It's like saying, "here is this story.  If you like it maybe you will like this one as well" and then they drop the subtle hint at the end of the movie.  They did that at the end of the Avengers movie as well with the villain.  This is a great way to get people to not only see the other movies but give us little hints to the final collaboration when all the Avengers came together.  As for a question...what will Marvel think of next?