I was really glad that we had the opportunity to watch The 400 blows. I found the story extremely engaging. I think the story itself is almost universal and timeless which makes it still stand up today. As i was watching some of the issues the boys were dealing with at school i noticed they were very similar to my own experiences. Just as i was thinking about this a couple of people in the class mentioned the exact same thing!
I think Francois Truffaut had captured this experience perfectly. The story was told in a way in which people can still relate to the story and characters so many years later.
I also felt the visual style was very interesting. I like the opening shots of the Eiffel Tower and i think the iconic shot at the beach at the very end was perfect. I noticed throughout that a lot of shots were held for a really long time. For example, the shot were Antoine steals the milk. The shot is held for a really long time.
Mabey it's because we're so 'conditioned' by modern cinema that we feel so uncomfortable with this. The annoying thing is, although i notice it and think 'okay whens the cut? ' i think it works really well.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Cry Freedom/ Richard Attenborough visit
I would just like to voice my appreciation, that i know is shared by all of you, to Andy and the academey for arranging Richard Attenborough's visit last week. I was unsure what to expect from the creative talk as there seemed to be so much that he has achieved to possibly condense into one hour!
In person he came across as a very intelligent, kind and passionate man. It struck me how passionate he still speaks about filmmaking and it was extremley inspiring to me and i'm sure everyone else in the class. When he spoke about his personal life, his adopted sisters and the loss of his daughter, it really put things into perspective, and he was extremley graceful when he spoke of this.
A truly wonderful filmmaker, i am very grateful that we had the opportunity to listen to him, it's just a shame there wasnt more time, as i believe we could all have happily listened to him for hours.
This brings me on to Cry Freedom. Id just like to say that for me this was a truly wonderful film. I had never seen this before and was even quite unsure what the story was. After the screening i was still thinking about the film for hours afterwards. I get that quite a lot if sonething has made quite an impact on me. I was in shock that this was still happening in the late 70's and felt almost guilty at my own ignorance. I had no idea the extent of what was going on in South Africa.
I think its a true testament to Attenborough's work to be able to deal with such a sensitive story in such a truthful and subtle way. I normally think this impact normally comes from the 'shock factor' in many films, however i think the story was visually told in such a way, that the impact is already there without that element.
Im really glad that we were able to watch this film, as it is perhaps a film i would never hadve seen otherwise,
In person he came across as a very intelligent, kind and passionate man. It struck me how passionate he still speaks about filmmaking and it was extremley inspiring to me and i'm sure everyone else in the class. When he spoke about his personal life, his adopted sisters and the loss of his daughter, it really put things into perspective, and he was extremley graceful when he spoke of this.
A truly wonderful filmmaker, i am very grateful that we had the opportunity to listen to him, it's just a shame there wasnt more time, as i believe we could all have happily listened to him for hours.
This brings me on to Cry Freedom. Id just like to say that for me this was a truly wonderful film. I had never seen this before and was even quite unsure what the story was. After the screening i was still thinking about the film for hours afterwards. I get that quite a lot if sonething has made quite an impact on me. I was in shock that this was still happening in the late 70's and felt almost guilty at my own ignorance. I had no idea the extent of what was going on in South Africa.
I think its a true testament to Attenborough's work to be able to deal with such a sensitive story in such a truthful and subtle way. I normally think this impact normally comes from the 'shock factor' in many films, however i think the story was visually told in such a way, that the impact is already there without that element.
Im really glad that we were able to watch this film, as it is perhaps a film i would never hadve seen otherwise,
Friday, 14 November 2008
Recent viewings!
Well it seems that I've been watching a lot of trash TV recently and hasn't seen anything that's particularly grabbed my attention.
The last film that stuck for me was ' Man with a movie camera' which i actually thought was really good. It's very good at capturing your attention, considering it's without narrative or dialogue. I think the pace of the film is crucial to its success. The pace was really good and the shots were really nice, i liked the shots of the 'man with a movie camera' It's the first time I've seen that kind of observant filming of someone filming so early on in cinema. This was a real eye opener for me anyway in terms of advancements in early film.
In other news, i was lucky enough to have a preview of a new series that will be broadcast on channel 4 on Monday made by a Scottish production company. It's an animation show called KNTV, an education show aimed at teenagers. They previous series was KNTV-Religion and KNTV- Philosophy and the one to be aired on Monday is called KNTV- Sex. Now we know that there are many minefields in sex education in Britain today and i foresee some controversy surrounding this. Screened at 11am every day for two weeks some of the language and scenarios could be questionable for this time of day.
Unlucky that the time means we will all probably miss it, but if you get the chance give it a watch...I thought it was great!
Karen
The last film that stuck for me was ' Man with a movie camera' which i actually thought was really good. It's very good at capturing your attention, considering it's without narrative or dialogue. I think the pace of the film is crucial to its success. The pace was really good and the shots were really nice, i liked the shots of the 'man with a movie camera' It's the first time I've seen that kind of observant filming of someone filming so early on in cinema. This was a real eye opener for me anyway in terms of advancements in early film.
In other news, i was lucky enough to have a preview of a new series that will be broadcast on channel 4 on Monday made by a Scottish production company. It's an animation show called KNTV, an education show aimed at teenagers. They previous series was KNTV-Religion and KNTV- Philosophy and the one to be aired on Monday is called KNTV- Sex. Now we know that there are many minefields in sex education in Britain today and i foresee some controversy surrounding this. Screened at 11am every day for two weeks some of the language and scenarios could be questionable for this time of day.
Unlucky that the time means we will all probably miss it, but if you get the chance give it a watch...I thought it was great!
Karen
Friday, 31 October 2008
Hello all!
Hmm... not really sure what to write at the moment, although ive enjoyed reading everyone elses so far.
I know we've all watched quite a lot over the last few weeks in class, and we've pretty much discussed these films already so i'll keep it short.
When The Levees Broke
I really liked this documentary...for the first two hours. I was actually dissapointed by act 3 and 4. I think it lacked the drive of the first two acts.
The characters were really strong and i think this was definetely the strong point of the whole programme . Each personal story made you think about the affect of Katrina on the people of New Orleans . I'm still shocked that it took so long to get rescue services there and the lack of support from the American government.
I'm glad it was shown in this way though. Without the strong point of view this documentary would have lost it's impact.
Did anyone else think it was too long?
For me this was the only bad point, on what was otherwise an outstanding documentary.
German Expressionism
I found this really interesting and i loved the clip we were shown from Dr. Caligari.
Has anyone else seen the whole film? Any thoughts?
I'm going to make a point of watching it now. I really liked the still photo we were shown from the film ( inside the house where you can see the dimensions of the distorted room)
I still think old horror films are much scarier than most modern films......
Happy Halloween!
Karen
Hmm... not really sure what to write at the moment, although ive enjoyed reading everyone elses so far.
I know we've all watched quite a lot over the last few weeks in class, and we've pretty much discussed these films already so i'll keep it short.
When The Levees Broke
I really liked this documentary...for the first two hours. I was actually dissapointed by act 3 and 4. I think it lacked the drive of the first two acts.
The characters were really strong and i think this was definetely the strong point of the whole programme . Each personal story made you think about the affect of Katrina on the people of New Orleans . I'm still shocked that it took so long to get rescue services there and the lack of support from the American government.
I'm glad it was shown in this way though. Without the strong point of view this documentary would have lost it's impact.
Did anyone else think it was too long?
For me this was the only bad point, on what was otherwise an outstanding documentary.
German Expressionism
I found this really interesting and i loved the clip we were shown from Dr. Caligari.
Has anyone else seen the whole film? Any thoughts?
I'm going to make a point of watching it now. I really liked the still photo we were shown from the film ( inside the house where you can see the dimensions of the distorted room)
I still think old horror films are much scarier than most modern films......
Happy Halloween!
Karen
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