There are three different ways a movie is made: In the writing, in the filming, and in the editing. The writer may have a different idea in his mind than the director does of how the movie should look, and the editor may have a different idea than both of them. Unless you are the writer/director/editor, chances are the visions won't match.
Having just finished my (for lack of a better word) 'remastered' version of 'The Visitor' (more on that later) my cameraman came to me, and needed my help with some shots for a film he is making. I had no idea he was currently filming one himself, so of course I would offer to help (I think it's important to help those who want to be filmmakers, to help them out if you have the knowledge and experience to). We spent an hour working on a couple shots, and then he asked me if I would be interested in editing it for him. Having no plans to film anything else until November (more on that when the months progress), I said of course. Having no idea what the film is about, and with no script or plot line, I looked at the footage like it was a puzzle piece without the box that shows the complete picture. This is not an ideal way to edit someone else's film, typically it's a lot better to read the script so you have an idea of the storyline, and then work on an assembly, and work with the director along the way to fine tune it. With this film, it's a series of shots with no real connection or dialogue in the film, which is liberating and frustrating: It allows you to basically create the film wholly on your own in terms of editing, but you have no guideline to go on. I've been working with my cameraman/newfound director on the edit, just so I can have a better idea of what he was thinking during shooting, the themes he was trying to get across, the journey the character goes through, etc. I came up with the idea to overlay the film with classical music themes to accompany the images in order to help create an emotional mood (Some fantastic films have done this, 'The Tree of Life' comes to mind). Currently, after discussing with the director and looking over all the footage, we have come up with a general storyline which allows me to create a film that will have a story while still following the themes he wanted to explore.
Editing is like playing in a filmmakers playground: you can bend space/time; enhance a mood; create an actors performance; through editing you can make the same scene funny or scary or dramatic, just by the way you choose to edit that scene. If you are ever stuck editing a movie, or want to try editing out, there's some great films to watch that are remarkably edited: The Tree of Life, Memento, Requiem For a Dream, Breathless, Lawrence of Arabia, Inception, The Social Network, Bullet, JFK, Black Hawk Down, and Traffic.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
RIP Robin Williams
Hearing that Robin Williams passed away earlier today, and the out pour of emotions and impact he had on everyone since, has left me deeply saddened. Very few people had the pleasure of meeting the man (I have not), but it feels that through his films, everyone felt like they knew him. Robin Williams was like the cool uncle: Whenever you were down, just by watching one of his films he could make you smile, feel better, or provide you deep life lessons.
My first introduction, like many people from my generation, was his voice as the Genie in 'Aladdin'. I was 5 in the time, and I think it's safe to say that his voice as the Genie made that movie. Without his work, the film wouldn't have been nearly as good (it would still be a good film with the great animation and songs, but the Genie made the film timeless). When my dad moved us to basically the middle of nowhere (Kirkfield, Ontario) a year later, we didn't really have much so my dad would tape what was then channel CKVR all night, which had Mork and Mindy on at 3am (I think), so we could watch them the next day. I was educated on the man behind the Genie voice at a young age. After seeing films like 'Hook' (Which I barely remember), and Aladdin 3 (ditto), As I grew up I could have a better grasp of his acting. I remember seeing 'Good Morning Vietnam' when I was about 10, which made me laugh and cry. I didn't expect the film to be serious. As soon as I got into film school, among other things I started watching more of his work, 'Insomnia' (my favorite serious performance he ever did), 'Good Will Hunting' (a well deserved Oscar role), 'One Hour Photo (Proving he could scare the living shit out of the audience), 'Dead Poets Society' and 'The Fisher King' (which would make a great double feature). I was one of the few people who liked 'Man of the Year', and one of the many who didn't like 'RV'. The last film I saw him act in was back in March when I watched 'The Birdcage'for the first time. If you haven't seen it, my god is he fantastic in it.
I'm sure everyone has their own favorite Robin Williams performance, whether on stage, on TV, or on film. For me, it's a tie between the first scene of Dead Poet's Society, and this scene from Good Will Hunting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc
That one scene just speaks volumes. The performance, the camera slowly tracking, his amazing and well written monologue. He was a force of nature, and his loss to the world is tragic. Depression is a terrible thing to suffer from, and if there's anyone reading this, and you suffer from it, just know that you are not alone. There is always help: Talk to a friend, a family member, a help line, hell send me an email. I can't think of a better way to honor this man's memory and impact than to put one of his films on (one of your favorites), and remember the impact he had on you when you watch the film and look back on it. If it makes you laugh, warms your heart, frightens you, or makes you feel better about the world. A great man has been lost, but he will not be forgotten for entire generations of people.
My first introduction, like many people from my generation, was his voice as the Genie in 'Aladdin'. I was 5 in the time, and I think it's safe to say that his voice as the Genie made that movie. Without his work, the film wouldn't have been nearly as good (it would still be a good film with the great animation and songs, but the Genie made the film timeless). When my dad moved us to basically the middle of nowhere (Kirkfield, Ontario) a year later, we didn't really have much so my dad would tape what was then channel CKVR all night, which had Mork and Mindy on at 3am (I think), so we could watch them the next day. I was educated on the man behind the Genie voice at a young age. After seeing films like 'Hook' (Which I barely remember), and Aladdin 3 (ditto), As I grew up I could have a better grasp of his acting. I remember seeing 'Good Morning Vietnam' when I was about 10, which made me laugh and cry. I didn't expect the film to be serious. As soon as I got into film school, among other things I started watching more of his work, 'Insomnia' (my favorite serious performance he ever did), 'Good Will Hunting' (a well deserved Oscar role), 'One Hour Photo (Proving he could scare the living shit out of the audience), 'Dead Poets Society' and 'The Fisher King' (which would make a great double feature). I was one of the few people who liked 'Man of the Year', and one of the many who didn't like 'RV'. The last film I saw him act in was back in March when I watched 'The Birdcage'for the first time. If you haven't seen it, my god is he fantastic in it.
I'm sure everyone has their own favorite Robin Williams performance, whether on stage, on TV, or on film. For me, it's a tie between the first scene of Dead Poet's Society, and this scene from Good Will Hunting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc
That one scene just speaks volumes. The performance, the camera slowly tracking, his amazing and well written monologue. He was a force of nature, and his loss to the world is tragic. Depression is a terrible thing to suffer from, and if there's anyone reading this, and you suffer from it, just know that you are not alone. There is always help: Talk to a friend, a family member, a help line, hell send me an email. I can't think of a better way to honor this man's memory and impact than to put one of his films on (one of your favorites), and remember the impact he had on you when you watch the film and look back on it. If it makes you laugh, warms your heart, frightens you, or makes you feel better about the world. A great man has been lost, but he will not be forgotten for entire generations of people.
Monday, August 4, 2014
How to make a film in a day - Making of 'The Visitor'
NOTE: First, watch the short film before you read this, so what I say has context:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9oh5uZqrEg
It was 2013, I've always wanted to do a film based around Halloween, I think it is a lot of peoples favorite holiday (if it classifies as one), and there is something in the air around Halloween that makes people just love it: The atmosphere, the candy, the ability to dress up, to scare people and be scared, the fall colors of that time of the year, there is something magic to it. It is my favorite time of the year and I wanted to make a film that encapsulates why it is my favorite. With all the films and stories about Halloween, it is hard to come up with something original, so I wrote a script that played with the (for lack of a better word) superstitions and traditions about the day. It was mid-October when I came up with the script, and I wanted to have it ready for people to watch in time for Halloween. I talked to my cameraman, who was willing to also be in it, and we spent an afternoon and part of an evening filming it.
In order to get it done in time, I wrote the script so it could be all shot within the span of the day, very minimalistic to film, and to have it focus on atmosphere (which is what some of the best horror films do). The goal wasn't to make it the next big film, but something small, no budget, and enjoyable. We shot everything outside first, in a park in Orillia. The bookmarked beginning, although a cliche now in film, I did on purpose specifically to have the viewer hooked: Who is this person, what does the note say, whats the box about, why is he hiding it? The first scene's goal was to create suspense and hook the viewer. Shooting in the woods was surprisingly easy to do, you have a freedom of coming up with a lot of shots and ideas, however when you only have an afternoon to film everything, every shot has to service the story you are telling. The pictures inside the box are all from my cameraman and myself, family members, relatives, etc.
The stuff inside the house is actually in my place; it's always great to use your surroundings if you are making a film, if it's set in a house, use your or a friends home (whatever works best for the film). For the carving of the pumpkin, I don't know why but I wanted the first knife shot where I hold the knife in the air before cutting the pumpkin to create a little bit of tension since you don't see what it is being used for. I don't think it worked well (the music really helped, more on that later). The shot where I put the knife down, and the camera comes around me and I notice the knife is now on another table I wanted done in one shot specifically, so the viewer doesn't think it's just a cheat. There is something more scary about having it in one shot than in cuts. The shot took about 15 times to get right, and the cameraman actually takes the knife out of frame and puts it on the table as he moves the camera around me. It was very tricky to do, but it works well to build suspense. The shot of taking the Jack Lantern outside, putting it down and having the candle blown out I love because of the slow tension it builds. Although it does go a little long, the slow pace of it works well with the film, and I love the shot.
As soon as my character sits on the couch, the one problem I had as a filmmaker is I have no idea how to show that the character is looking at a picture on his laptop. Something so simple to show is mindblowingly hard to have it interesting, so I just screengrabbed the picture and put it in the editing. I think it's probably the one thing I wish I could figure out a way to do better in the whole film. Using 'Night of the Living Dead' was fun because A) It's a great classic of horror; B) It's public domain, meaning anyone can download, watch it, or use it, and the soundtrack worked well with the film (plus I don't plan on making any money on this short, so it's fair use). Using a film's audio to build tension is a little bit of a cheat, but I enjoy it. As my character walks into the kitchen, I didn't want it to be something spooky at the beginning, but to start it off normal and once the strange sound comes in the suspense builds, and then the knock on the door (which I don't know works in the short, it probably would have been better to have a shot of the door). The shot of the kid as I open the door is actually the pumpkin wearing a mask, and my cameraman talking, which I know sounds horrible, but worked quite well, although that shot you can tell takes place during the day which is a huge continuity error.
With the end, shooting the character as a ghost is actually simple for low budget filmmaking: You need to have the camera locked off on a tripod do the shot of the actor, then once he leaves, keep the camera rolling with a clean plate, and in ending you just overlay the two shots and bring down the opacity of the shot of the actor, so you can see though him. It's a good basic trick for doing ghost effects, and in another post I'll show you how you can do a more complicated ghost shot). The only problem of writing the film is there there is no dialogue fore 80% of the film, until the climax which is exposition heavy because it needs to be. The reason my character can his character is because with the traditions of Halloween, the spirits of the dead walk the earth, and to keep spirits out of your home you have a Jack O'Lantern outside. When my Jack O'Lantern is blown out, he has access to my home, with the amulet acting as a beacon of sorts to attract only the spirits of the dead that you know. So if you have the amulet, and it's Halloween and your Jack O'Lantern is blown out, you can see the spirits of those you have lost. The idea of the pictures was that the box and the amulet has been around for decades, and everyone who uses it puts a picture of the family member they saw again and hid it in the woods for someone else, which is why the pictures look very aged, having old and young people in them. I honestly don't know if all of that came across well or clearly, and really it would have benefited from having a shot of me putting a picture of him and I in the box before I hid it again, but since it was on the computer, I couldn't think of a way that would happen, which is where the idea of the note came from. I will admit my acting isn't that great (my cameraman's acting is quite natural though which I really liked). And the last scenes going back to the beginning with the forest, now that the audience has the context, has a less ominous music and tone, adding with the voice over (which not to praise myself, I thought was a perfect way to end the film), to really have the story resolve itself.
With all the filming done, I spent the rest of the night and most of the following morning editing. The great thing about the internet is that it is a great source of free stuff. Royalty Free Music is great to have music in your movies, and it is where I got all the music from my film, and the music perfectly sets the tone for every scene, build suspense, and in some cases allowed the viewer to get into the characters mindset. Since the film has no sound or dialogue, the music played the most important role to convey the mood and the tone I was trying to set. A main reason why I didn't have much sound is that, by using the internal mic on my camera, the sound makes dialogue hard to hear and usually gets background noise, the sound of wind, and generally makes having sound in your film terrible (If you can, get an external). I felt that the lack of sound adds to the film though overall. In the end, I had the film online with a couple days to go before Halloween, which was a great accomplishment, and overall quite positive feedback. I always wanted to take more time to redo certain things I didn't have a chance to correct for Halloween 2014, which I am finishing now. In a future blog I'll do a post on the final version of 'The Visitor'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9oh5uZqrEg
It was 2013, I've always wanted to do a film based around Halloween, I think it is a lot of peoples favorite holiday (if it classifies as one), and there is something in the air around Halloween that makes people just love it: The atmosphere, the candy, the ability to dress up, to scare people and be scared, the fall colors of that time of the year, there is something magic to it. It is my favorite time of the year and I wanted to make a film that encapsulates why it is my favorite. With all the films and stories about Halloween, it is hard to come up with something original, so I wrote a script that played with the (for lack of a better word) superstitions and traditions about the day. It was mid-October when I came up with the script, and I wanted to have it ready for people to watch in time for Halloween. I talked to my cameraman, who was willing to also be in it, and we spent an afternoon and part of an evening filming it.
In order to get it done in time, I wrote the script so it could be all shot within the span of the day, very minimalistic to film, and to have it focus on atmosphere (which is what some of the best horror films do). The goal wasn't to make it the next big film, but something small, no budget, and enjoyable. We shot everything outside first, in a park in Orillia. The bookmarked beginning, although a cliche now in film, I did on purpose specifically to have the viewer hooked: Who is this person, what does the note say, whats the box about, why is he hiding it? The first scene's goal was to create suspense and hook the viewer. Shooting in the woods was surprisingly easy to do, you have a freedom of coming up with a lot of shots and ideas, however when you only have an afternoon to film everything, every shot has to service the story you are telling. The pictures inside the box are all from my cameraman and myself, family members, relatives, etc.
The stuff inside the house is actually in my place; it's always great to use your surroundings if you are making a film, if it's set in a house, use your or a friends home (whatever works best for the film). For the carving of the pumpkin, I don't know why but I wanted the first knife shot where I hold the knife in the air before cutting the pumpkin to create a little bit of tension since you don't see what it is being used for. I don't think it worked well (the music really helped, more on that later). The shot where I put the knife down, and the camera comes around me and I notice the knife is now on another table I wanted done in one shot specifically, so the viewer doesn't think it's just a cheat. There is something more scary about having it in one shot than in cuts. The shot took about 15 times to get right, and the cameraman actually takes the knife out of frame and puts it on the table as he moves the camera around me. It was very tricky to do, but it works well to build suspense. The shot of taking the Jack Lantern outside, putting it down and having the candle blown out I love because of the slow tension it builds. Although it does go a little long, the slow pace of it works well with the film, and I love the shot.
As soon as my character sits on the couch, the one problem I had as a filmmaker is I have no idea how to show that the character is looking at a picture on his laptop. Something so simple to show is mindblowingly hard to have it interesting, so I just screengrabbed the picture and put it in the editing. I think it's probably the one thing I wish I could figure out a way to do better in the whole film. Using 'Night of the Living Dead' was fun because A) It's a great classic of horror; B) It's public domain, meaning anyone can download, watch it, or use it, and the soundtrack worked well with the film (plus I don't plan on making any money on this short, so it's fair use). Using a film's audio to build tension is a little bit of a cheat, but I enjoy it. As my character walks into the kitchen, I didn't want it to be something spooky at the beginning, but to start it off normal and once the strange sound comes in the suspense builds, and then the knock on the door (which I don't know works in the short, it probably would have been better to have a shot of the door). The shot of the kid as I open the door is actually the pumpkin wearing a mask, and my cameraman talking, which I know sounds horrible, but worked quite well, although that shot you can tell takes place during the day which is a huge continuity error.
With the end, shooting the character as a ghost is actually simple for low budget filmmaking: You need to have the camera locked off on a tripod do the shot of the actor, then once he leaves, keep the camera rolling with a clean plate, and in ending you just overlay the two shots and bring down the opacity of the shot of the actor, so you can see though him. It's a good basic trick for doing ghost effects, and in another post I'll show you how you can do a more complicated ghost shot). The only problem of writing the film is there there is no dialogue fore 80% of the film, until the climax which is exposition heavy because it needs to be. The reason my character can his character is because with the traditions of Halloween, the spirits of the dead walk the earth, and to keep spirits out of your home you have a Jack O'Lantern outside. When my Jack O'Lantern is blown out, he has access to my home, with the amulet acting as a beacon of sorts to attract only the spirits of the dead that you know. So if you have the amulet, and it's Halloween and your Jack O'Lantern is blown out, you can see the spirits of those you have lost. The idea of the pictures was that the box and the amulet has been around for decades, and everyone who uses it puts a picture of the family member they saw again and hid it in the woods for someone else, which is why the pictures look very aged, having old and young people in them. I honestly don't know if all of that came across well or clearly, and really it would have benefited from having a shot of me putting a picture of him and I in the box before I hid it again, but since it was on the computer, I couldn't think of a way that would happen, which is where the idea of the note came from. I will admit my acting isn't that great (my cameraman's acting is quite natural though which I really liked). And the last scenes going back to the beginning with the forest, now that the audience has the context, has a less ominous music and tone, adding with the voice over (which not to praise myself, I thought was a perfect way to end the film), to really have the story resolve itself.
With all the filming done, I spent the rest of the night and most of the following morning editing. The great thing about the internet is that it is a great source of free stuff. Royalty Free Music is great to have music in your movies, and it is where I got all the music from my film, and the music perfectly sets the tone for every scene, build suspense, and in some cases allowed the viewer to get into the characters mindset. Since the film has no sound or dialogue, the music played the most important role to convey the mood and the tone I was trying to set. A main reason why I didn't have much sound is that, by using the internal mic on my camera, the sound makes dialogue hard to hear and usually gets background noise, the sound of wind, and generally makes having sound in your film terrible (If you can, get an external). I felt that the lack of sound adds to the film though overall. In the end, I had the film online with a couple days to go before Halloween, which was a great accomplishment, and overall quite positive feedback. I always wanted to take more time to redo certain things I didn't have a chance to correct for Halloween 2014, which I am finishing now. In a future blog I'll do a post on the final version of 'The Visitor'
Sunday, August 3, 2014
5 years later
It's been 5 years since I've been on here. A friend of mine told me to get a blog so I could do my film reviews that I kept doing on Facebook, but I guess I just stopped doing them here and kept doing them on facebook. Where has the time gone?
Well, in the last 5 years I have written/directed 3 short films, and I am currently in the process of completely reshooting another one soon called 'In Memoriam'. The footage was shot, but due to a major continuity error that I didn't notice until editing, I needed everyone back to reshoot, sadly due to scheduling conflicts I couldn't reshoot the scene with the main actor, and I haven't had a chance to reshoot any of it really. So now it is in limbo until the actors schedules fit together, or if I recast, which I'm trying to avoid. It was a shame, for months I was looking forward to making it. To be fair, it was my fault I didn't catch the goof, the main character wasn't wearing a sweater in one scene but he has it on in the scene previous and after. Making a short film with no budget, as a director you pretty much have to become an entire crew in one, and make sure you notice the little things. I was stressed by filming everything in one full day and a morning (my original plan was to spread it out over a couple weekends). Shooting 10 pages with 6 different locations in a day and a half is fun, and it gets your creative juices going, but it is also very stressful and with very little preproduction time, you really have to be on the ball.
I wanted to make a film that showcased a professional quality. My previous work has all been pretty student film, I wanted In Memoriam to prove I could do a professional quality short film. The storyline was 3 parts David Lynch film, 2 parts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about a man who after a car accident goes through his memories as he is in a coma before he dies. The film all took place inside his mind, so we see him wake up, go to the bathroom, and then he hears the sound of the doctors working on him, talking to his mother, as if the doctors voice was the voice of god. As the film progresses, he goes through his memories and you realize with the protagonist what happened (the car accident, the coma). In his memories you learn about his relationship with his girlfriend, the regrets he has about his mom, and eventually he finds some closer in saying goodbye to them as he goes through his memories before he passes away in real life. It was meant to be a surreal, character driven experience watching the film, with all of this happening in about 8 minutes. The idea came to me from two things: the film 'Johnny Got His Gun', about a WW1 soldier who, after being hit by a shell, is in a hospital with no arms, legs, he can't see, he can't speak, he can't hear. The whole film goes through his perspective on the events, as he reflects his life. It is a brilliant movie, and although I have not read the book, I highly recommend it (there is very little films or books about World War 1 sadly). The second thing was a brilliant TV show called 'Life On Mars', about a contemporary police officer who, after being hit by a car, is taken back to the 1970's, and he doesn't know if he's dead, in a coma, or traveled back in time.
I liked the basic idea of the man in the coma, but I wanted to take that a step further, having him look back, see these memories happen again as just a viewer, unable to interact, just reflecting on his life just before he dies. I liked the idea of the character going through the Kubler-Ross model of the 5 stages of grief throughout the film, and taking the religious ideas of death such as how your life flashes before your life before you die. From a story point of view that's why I was interested, sadly I wish the film didn't have to be at most 8 minutes, I could have done a lot more with more running time. The sad part is, I'm a better writer than a director. I have great ideas, I love to write, but when it comes to directed, sometimes I'll have the idea of how the scene should look short for shot, other times I have no idea and I collaborate with the actors and my cameraman. For this film I wanted to have everything planned out, but I've realized is when you have no budget or equipment, you have to think about things in a different way: A guy holding a tripod is not the same as a steadicam. My equipment consists of: A Nikon DSLR that shoots 1080P at 24 frames per second with a 18-55mm zoom lens, a tripod from the 70's, and a old copy of final cut pro on my laptop. It's not the best equipment, but it still works. If you want to get into the filmmaking business, really that's all you need; you can even make a movie with an iphone nowadays with decent quality. The only downside is shooting with a DSLR, the internal mic isn't the best, and it's quite hard to find a half decent microphone attachment for a DSLR for better and cleaner audio, so my projects tend to have very little dialogue. I don't mind this, it allows me to be creative and have the story flow purely through visuals when I can, however when it comes to someone talking, you really have to work hard to clean up the audio in post.
Hopefully by the end of the year it can be finished again. I feel like I let my actors down by not realizing the continuity mistake, and also because the film wasn't the professional quality when it was (mostly) edited. Every film though is a learning experience, you learn new tricks, new ways to edit, to develop the story, etc. Almost no filmmaker has hit it out of the park the first time, it takes practice and hard work to direct. it's been 5 years since I made my first film, and I still have a lot to learn.
Well, in the last 5 years I have written/directed 3 short films, and I am currently in the process of completely reshooting another one soon called 'In Memoriam'. The footage was shot, but due to a major continuity error that I didn't notice until editing, I needed everyone back to reshoot, sadly due to scheduling conflicts I couldn't reshoot the scene with the main actor, and I haven't had a chance to reshoot any of it really. So now it is in limbo until the actors schedules fit together, or if I recast, which I'm trying to avoid. It was a shame, for months I was looking forward to making it. To be fair, it was my fault I didn't catch the goof, the main character wasn't wearing a sweater in one scene but he has it on in the scene previous and after. Making a short film with no budget, as a director you pretty much have to become an entire crew in one, and make sure you notice the little things. I was stressed by filming everything in one full day and a morning (my original plan was to spread it out over a couple weekends). Shooting 10 pages with 6 different locations in a day and a half is fun, and it gets your creative juices going, but it is also very stressful and with very little preproduction time, you really have to be on the ball.
I wanted to make a film that showcased a professional quality. My previous work has all been pretty student film, I wanted In Memoriam to prove I could do a professional quality short film. The storyline was 3 parts David Lynch film, 2 parts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about a man who after a car accident goes through his memories as he is in a coma before he dies. The film all took place inside his mind, so we see him wake up, go to the bathroom, and then he hears the sound of the doctors working on him, talking to his mother, as if the doctors voice was the voice of god. As the film progresses, he goes through his memories and you realize with the protagonist what happened (the car accident, the coma). In his memories you learn about his relationship with his girlfriend, the regrets he has about his mom, and eventually he finds some closer in saying goodbye to them as he goes through his memories before he passes away in real life. It was meant to be a surreal, character driven experience watching the film, with all of this happening in about 8 minutes. The idea came to me from two things: the film 'Johnny Got His Gun', about a WW1 soldier who, after being hit by a shell, is in a hospital with no arms, legs, he can't see, he can't speak, he can't hear. The whole film goes through his perspective on the events, as he reflects his life. It is a brilliant movie, and although I have not read the book, I highly recommend it (there is very little films or books about World War 1 sadly). The second thing was a brilliant TV show called 'Life On Mars', about a contemporary police officer who, after being hit by a car, is taken back to the 1970's, and he doesn't know if he's dead, in a coma, or traveled back in time.
I liked the basic idea of the man in the coma, but I wanted to take that a step further, having him look back, see these memories happen again as just a viewer, unable to interact, just reflecting on his life just before he dies. I liked the idea of the character going through the Kubler-Ross model of the 5 stages of grief throughout the film, and taking the religious ideas of death such as how your life flashes before your life before you die. From a story point of view that's why I was interested, sadly I wish the film didn't have to be at most 8 minutes, I could have done a lot more with more running time. The sad part is, I'm a better writer than a director. I have great ideas, I love to write, but when it comes to directed, sometimes I'll have the idea of how the scene should look short for shot, other times I have no idea and I collaborate with the actors and my cameraman. For this film I wanted to have everything planned out, but I've realized is when you have no budget or equipment, you have to think about things in a different way: A guy holding a tripod is not the same as a steadicam. My equipment consists of: A Nikon DSLR that shoots 1080P at 24 frames per second with a 18-55mm zoom lens, a tripod from the 70's, and a old copy of final cut pro on my laptop. It's not the best equipment, but it still works. If you want to get into the filmmaking business, really that's all you need; you can even make a movie with an iphone nowadays with decent quality. The only downside is shooting with a DSLR, the internal mic isn't the best, and it's quite hard to find a half decent microphone attachment for a DSLR for better and cleaner audio, so my projects tend to have very little dialogue. I don't mind this, it allows me to be creative and have the story flow purely through visuals when I can, however when it comes to someone talking, you really have to work hard to clean up the audio in post.
Hopefully by the end of the year it can be finished again. I feel like I let my actors down by not realizing the continuity mistake, and also because the film wasn't the professional quality when it was (mostly) edited. Every film though is a learning experience, you learn new tricks, new ways to edit, to develop the story, etc. Almost no filmmaker has hit it out of the park the first time, it takes practice and hard work to direct. it's been 5 years since I made my first film, and I still have a lot to learn.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Underrated film of the week - The Fall
This review requires a little back story before I get into the film itself. About a year ago, a friend of mine told me about a film called “The Fall”, and kept pontificating about it for a long time after that, trying to do whatever he can to see it, begging theatres to have screenings of it so he would have the opportunity to go see it in this province, sadly to no avail. After hearing him talk about it for the summer months, telling me details of the production of the film (filmed over four years in 18 different countries, sadly not in Canada), the critical success of the film, and that it was directed by the man who gave us the Jennifer Lopez film “The Cell” (which, given it’s horrible writing, was visually breathtaking) and REM’s “Losing My Religion” video which as a kid I remember being blown away by. After my friend had finally seen the film, pontificating even more now on how fantastic the film was, I relented and bought the dvd the day it came out, just around when University started back up, and given all the hype I had heard thus far, one assumes there was no way after months of hype a film I had never heard of previously could be good.
Boy was I wrong. Tarsem’s (he gave no last name on the credits, sorta like Prince) “The Fall” is a brilliant piece of art. The story is set in Los Angeles in the 1920’s (Once upon a time, as the film’s title card states) when two hospitalized people, Roy, a Hollywood stuntman who nearly died falling off a bridge into a river during the filming of a western, and Alexandria, a little girl who suffered a fall of her own and broke her arm, strike up an unusual friendship with each other. Both characters have fallen more than just literally, with Roy’s girlfriend breaking his heart, and Alexandria’s death of her father and her house burned down. Roy tells her a fantastic story of a group of people whom team up to get revenge from the evil governor Odious, which parallels both Roy and Alexandria’s relationship as the film progresses, becoming very emotional at some points when the real reason why Roy tells her the tale is revealed, resulting in a moment when I even started shedding a tear or two.
I know I’m going to get hell from my friend for dumbing the plot of the film down to its simplest explanation, however, the film is remarkable simple yet remarkable complex, and similar to “The Princess Bride”, both Roy and Alexandria’s friendship and the myth that Roy tells her are both child-like in it’s simplicity, yet both offer a complexness to the motivations behind why the characters do certain things, and like “The Princess Bride”, the audience just succumbs to the fairy tale like storytelling like going into a warm bath, and every time Roy stops the story, the audience feels just like Alexandria, eager to know what happens next. Really there is very little to say negative about this film, other than the reference I have made to a previous fantasy tale, as The Fall has very little wrong with it.
On the positive side, this film deserved Oscars for the following: Cinematography, Production Design and Costume Design. I know the last few reviews I keep discussing cinematography, but this film really deserves mentioning, with every shot looking like a painting or a shot from the BBC series “Planet Earth”, the film is quite literally jaw-droppingly astonishing (those who have a Blu-Ray player would definitely revel in the clarity and stunning beauty in each shot). Furthermore, the films costume designs (from the Oscar winner designer of Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula) and the films various and vast sets also deserve extreme kudos to go with how beautiful the film is. The acting as well is incredible, with Lee Pace playing Roy as such a troubled figure who sees good in Alexandria and does what he can to hide his pain from her. Special notice goes to Alexandria, played by Catinca Untaru, whom at such a young age, is able to convey so much in her leading performance to the audience, between her innocence and her feelings to Roy, whom she sees as a father figure. Last but not least, credit goes to where it is due: Tarsem for crafting a film which is clearly a labour of love, investing more than 10 years of his life into making this film, and four years of filming, finishing the film in 2006 before the dvd came out last year. Directing, Producing, and Co-Writing this film, Tarsem was able to have complete control over his film, and thus he crafts such a fantastic story in both Alexandria and Roy, as well as the fairy tale, with moments in the latter that are so well constructed and play with the conventions of telling a story that, coupled with how stunning the film looks and how emotionally incredible it is, it’s impossible not to be engaged in fully, and I can gladly say I want to be in line to see what the director makes next.
This film, along with “The Dark Knight”, tied #1 for my best film of last year, and that was when I had seen “The Fall” once, and “The Dark Knight” about a dozen times by the end of the year, which tells you the impact “The Fall” had on me. One note, although the film is Rated R for: Some Violent Images (14A in Canada), this film could have easily gotten away with a PG-13 in the US compared to the violence of films such as “Fast and Furious” as the violence in “The Fall” is artistically done and fairy tale like (similar to swordfights in “The Princess Bride”...okay that’s the last time I’m referencing that film). However, it is emotionally intense as some themes are quite serious (Roy attempts suicide, the finale of the story Roy tells the girl gets dark during the climax, the deaths of characters in the fairy tale), but again the film is quite delicate when dealing with these moments, and, should have resulted the film getting a lighter rating than it did. This film reminds me why I love the movies as I do, and how powerful a film can make an audience feel. My friend kept telling me to see this film, and I don’t regret it for a second, and now it’s my turn to pay him back, declaring this film as my underrated film of the week.
5/5 stars.
The Scotch this week is Grants.
Boy was I wrong. Tarsem’s (he gave no last name on the credits, sorta like Prince) “The Fall” is a brilliant piece of art. The story is set in Los Angeles in the 1920’s (Once upon a time, as the film’s title card states) when two hospitalized people, Roy, a Hollywood stuntman who nearly died falling off a bridge into a river during the filming of a western, and Alexandria, a little girl who suffered a fall of her own and broke her arm, strike up an unusual friendship with each other. Both characters have fallen more than just literally, with Roy’s girlfriend breaking his heart, and Alexandria’s death of her father and her house burned down. Roy tells her a fantastic story of a group of people whom team up to get revenge from the evil governor Odious, which parallels both Roy and Alexandria’s relationship as the film progresses, becoming very emotional at some points when the real reason why Roy tells her the tale is revealed, resulting in a moment when I even started shedding a tear or two.
I know I’m going to get hell from my friend for dumbing the plot of the film down to its simplest explanation, however, the film is remarkable simple yet remarkable complex, and similar to “The Princess Bride”, both Roy and Alexandria’s friendship and the myth that Roy tells her are both child-like in it’s simplicity, yet both offer a complexness to the motivations behind why the characters do certain things, and like “The Princess Bride”, the audience just succumbs to the fairy tale like storytelling like going into a warm bath, and every time Roy stops the story, the audience feels just like Alexandria, eager to know what happens next. Really there is very little to say negative about this film, other than the reference I have made to a previous fantasy tale, as The Fall has very little wrong with it.
On the positive side, this film deserved Oscars for the following: Cinematography, Production Design and Costume Design. I know the last few reviews I keep discussing cinematography, but this film really deserves mentioning, with every shot looking like a painting or a shot from the BBC series “Planet Earth”, the film is quite literally jaw-droppingly astonishing (those who have a Blu-Ray player would definitely revel in the clarity and stunning beauty in each shot). Furthermore, the films costume designs (from the Oscar winner designer of Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula) and the films various and vast sets also deserve extreme kudos to go with how beautiful the film is. The acting as well is incredible, with Lee Pace playing Roy as such a troubled figure who sees good in Alexandria and does what he can to hide his pain from her. Special notice goes to Alexandria, played by Catinca Untaru, whom at such a young age, is able to convey so much in her leading performance to the audience, between her innocence and her feelings to Roy, whom she sees as a father figure. Last but not least, credit goes to where it is due: Tarsem for crafting a film which is clearly a labour of love, investing more than 10 years of his life into making this film, and four years of filming, finishing the film in 2006 before the dvd came out last year. Directing, Producing, and Co-Writing this film, Tarsem was able to have complete control over his film, and thus he crafts such a fantastic story in both Alexandria and Roy, as well as the fairy tale, with moments in the latter that are so well constructed and play with the conventions of telling a story that, coupled with how stunning the film looks and how emotionally incredible it is, it’s impossible not to be engaged in fully, and I can gladly say I want to be in line to see what the director makes next.
This film, along with “The Dark Knight”, tied #1 for my best film of last year, and that was when I had seen “The Fall” once, and “The Dark Knight” about a dozen times by the end of the year, which tells you the impact “The Fall” had on me. One note, although the film is Rated R for: Some Violent Images (14A in Canada), this film could have easily gotten away with a PG-13 in the US compared to the violence of films such as “Fast and Furious” as the violence in “The Fall” is artistically done and fairy tale like (similar to swordfights in “The Princess Bride”...okay that’s the last time I’m referencing that film). However, it is emotionally intense as some themes are quite serious (Roy attempts suicide, the finale of the story Roy tells the girl gets dark during the climax, the deaths of characters in the fairy tale), but again the film is quite delicate when dealing with these moments, and, should have resulted the film getting a lighter rating than it did. This film reminds me why I love the movies as I do, and how powerful a film can make an audience feel. My friend kept telling me to see this film, and I don’t regret it for a second, and now it’s my turn to pay him back, declaring this film as my underrated film of the week.
5/5 stars.
The Scotch this week is Grants.
Underrated film of the week: Serenity
If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for Joss Whedon, the man that gave our generation “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Dollhouse”, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog”, and of course “Firefly”. Now Firefly, a science fiction western (Yes I wrote that right, a western set in outer space) only lasted a dozen episodes which for the most part weren’t even aired in the right order before it was quickly cancelled by Fox. Flash forward three years, and the show was brought back to life into a feature length film entitled “Serenity” written and directed by Whedon himself and with all the original cast back.
Some quick backstory: In the future the earth has become so packed that the human race explore and terriform other planets. In doing so, small towns are formed, and matters such as farming and settling and horses (think America in the old west). However within this some settlers in the outer rims of the new galaxy declared a civil war on the Alliance (the universal government) and, much like the American civil war, the South...errr outer rim planets, lost the war.
The film, like the show (although set six months after the show ended), brings the viewer to the crew of the Serenity, a group of rag tag mercenaries (for lack of a better description) led my Captain Malcolm Reyonlds (Nathan Fillion) who come to discover that one of his crewmates River Tam (Summer Glau) was experimented on by the Alliance as a child because she could read minds, to the point where she’s a little...funny in the head. She’s had so much programmed in her and absorbed that she can’t understand any of it. However, the Alliance wants her back, sending the Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor, from “Love Actually” and “Dirty Pretty Things”) to find her, and killing anyone who is helping her. After seeing a commercial at a bar that is programmed to trigger her, River goes off fighting like Bruce Lee randomly without anyone knowing why, and it’s up to Mal and his crew to protect her from the operative and find out the secrets that River has in her head.
Now for those of you who aren’t a fan of Whedon’s long list of shows, then Serenity may not interest you. Matter of fact if you don’t like science fiction or westerns this may not interest you. However, the film is a marvel, with critics loving it and science fiction authors enjoying it (to the point where Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card stated that if Ender’s Game can’t be as good as this film, I would never want it made. I’d just rather see Serenity again) However the film was barely able to make back it’s $20 million dollar budget worldwide, although finding life on dvd. One note, although the film does a solid job of being self contained for those who haven’t seen the show Firefly, watching the show either before or after would help the viewer understand the background of the character and their arcs which are concluded within this film. And although some main characters on the show were largely sacrificed to minor roles, specifically Sheppard Book, and Inara, which may leave some first time viewers questioning any development or understanding of who they are, the film still remains largely self contained.
Now the good things: First and foremost, the comedy. A lot of the comedy in this film is dry and mostly things that the characters would probably say, which makes their moments funnier, however like all comedy, some people may not find the humour funny, but it works very well for the film. Also, the visual effects need mentioning. In a year where Star Wars: Episode III, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and War of the Worlds (among others) we’re scooping up all the visual effects kudos, Serenity was able to make a $20 million film look like a $100 million summer blockbuster, with fantastic spaceship action sequences and a pretty sweet chase scene in the beginning, Serenity’s effects deserved more kudos compared to the other films running for the VFX Oscar. Going off that, the films action sequences are also a marvel, with River sporting some amazing martial arts scenes which are done with very few cuts, and the film is also fairly scary (the Reavers, whom are a savage cannibal like villain play a major role in the film, with scared and self inflicted piercings) which really works to ramp up the suspense when it matters. Having said of what a fan I am of Joss Whedon’s work, I have to talk about the writing and directing. It’s stellar: The man has known these characters, created their world on the small screen years before, and even though years have passed since he wrote about the world, the story and the characters fit so well it’s like no time has passed. The characters are written so well, and the plot is, while not complex, still strong. Also a positive note is that many times you won’t know what the film will do next with each scene, although the basic plot has redundant elements we’ve seen hundreds of times over, Whedon tweaks them to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat (including killing a character of two randomly).The directing is also top notch, with Whedon making the budget look a lot bigger on screen then they actually had, playing the drama, the scares, and the comedy with finesse. The acting is also stand out as well, the actors clearly loved their characters and it shows in their performance, with Nathan Fillion both charming and goofily funny, but clearly leader material, and Summer Glau playing insane ninja girl with surprising effectiveness and sympathetic love. Oh, and hats off to Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, the crew’s tough violent thug guy, who is pitch perfect in the film, and Alan Tyduk as Wash, the ships pilot, who spews comedy with every line.
As I have said, it’s not for everyone, but the film hits all the right beats, and sadly didn’t get it’s due when it was released in theatres, which is why I’m proud to declare it my underrated film of the week. Give it a shot, watch it to the end, let the characters absorb you and the action overwhelm you, and if you like it, give the show a shot, since it’s doubtful a sequel will ever be made.
4.5/5 stars
Some quick backstory: In the future the earth has become so packed that the human race explore and terriform other planets. In doing so, small towns are formed, and matters such as farming and settling and horses (think America in the old west). However within this some settlers in the outer rims of the new galaxy declared a civil war on the Alliance (the universal government) and, much like the American civil war, the South...errr outer rim planets, lost the war.
The film, like the show (although set six months after the show ended), brings the viewer to the crew of the Serenity, a group of rag tag mercenaries (for lack of a better description) led my Captain Malcolm Reyonlds (Nathan Fillion) who come to discover that one of his crewmates River Tam (Summer Glau) was experimented on by the Alliance as a child because she could read minds, to the point where she’s a little...funny in the head. She’s had so much programmed in her and absorbed that she can’t understand any of it. However, the Alliance wants her back, sending the Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor, from “Love Actually” and “Dirty Pretty Things”) to find her, and killing anyone who is helping her. After seeing a commercial at a bar that is programmed to trigger her, River goes off fighting like Bruce Lee randomly without anyone knowing why, and it’s up to Mal and his crew to protect her from the operative and find out the secrets that River has in her head.
Now for those of you who aren’t a fan of Whedon’s long list of shows, then Serenity may not interest you. Matter of fact if you don’t like science fiction or westerns this may not interest you. However, the film is a marvel, with critics loving it and science fiction authors enjoying it (to the point where Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card stated that if Ender’s Game can’t be as good as this film, I would never want it made. I’d just rather see Serenity again
Now the good things: First and foremost, the comedy. A lot of the comedy in this film is dry and mostly things that the characters would probably say, which makes their moments funnier, however like all comedy, some people may not find the humour funny, but it works very well for the film. Also, the visual effects need mentioning. In a year where Star Wars: Episode III, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and War of the Worlds (among others) we’re scooping up all the visual effects kudos, Serenity was able to make a $20 million film look like a $100 million summer blockbuster, with fantastic spaceship action sequences and a pretty sweet chase scene in the beginning, Serenity’s effects deserved more kudos compared to the other films running for the VFX Oscar. Going off that, the films action sequences are also a marvel, with River sporting some amazing martial arts scenes which are done with very few cuts, and the film is also fairly scary (the Reavers, whom are a savage cannibal like villain play a major role in the film, with scared and self inflicted piercings) which really works to ramp up the suspense when it matters. Having said of what a fan I am of Joss Whedon’s work, I have to talk about the writing and directing. It’s stellar: The man has known these characters, created their world on the small screen years before, and even though years have passed since he wrote about the world, the story and the characters fit so well it’s like no time has passed. The characters are written so well, and the plot is, while not complex, still strong. Also a positive note is that many times you won’t know what the film will do next with each scene, although the basic plot has redundant elements we’ve seen hundreds of times over, Whedon tweaks them to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat (including killing a character of two randomly).The directing is also top notch, with Whedon making the budget look a lot bigger on screen then they actually had, playing the drama, the scares, and the comedy with finesse. The acting is also stand out as well, the actors clearly loved their characters and it shows in their performance, with Nathan Fillion both charming and goofily funny, but clearly leader material, and Summer Glau playing insane ninja girl with surprising effectiveness and sympathetic love. Oh, and hats off to Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, the crew’s tough violent thug guy, who is pitch perfect in the film, and Alan Tyduk as Wash, the ships pilot, who spews comedy with every line.
As I have said, it’s not for everyone, but the film hits all the right beats, and sadly didn’t get it’s due when it was released in theatres, which is why I’m proud to declare it my underrated film of the week. Give it a shot, watch it to the end, let the characters absorb you and the action overwhelm you, and if you like it, give the show a shot, since it’s doubtful a sequel will ever be made.
4.5/5 stars
Underrated film of the week - Dead Silence
"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She has no children, only dolls. If you see her in your dreams, Be sure you never, ever scream, or she'll rip your tounge out at the seam."
Okay, first thing's first: I'm bias to being creeped out by dummies. They're wooden, they're eyes are freaky when they look at you, and they generally make me feel wierd. (I also have a fear of clowns, but that's another story) Even the Goosebumps "Night of the Living Dummy" series scared me as a kid, but this film's dummy ain't no Slappy.
The writing/directing team of the first "SAW" film, Leigh Whannell and James Wan, must of had a lot of pressure after their new found success with their next film, and "Dead Silence (2007)", despite the critical and box office bombing that it was, (pretty much went into theatres for a week before leaving), I was one of those ones who caught the first screening in theatres between classes because I was genuinely excited to see the writer/director's next horror film.
To summarize the very little plot there is: After receiving a mysterious package with a mysterious puppet (named Billy) inside and his fiancée dead soon after, Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten from HBO’s True Blood *playing Sookie’s brother*) goes back to his hometown to discover why the doll was mailed to him. However he is constantly being followed by a sceptical detective (Donnie Wahlberg) who believes that Jamie is responsible for his fiancée’s murder. Soon Jamie discovers that the doll was created by a ventriloquist Mary Shaw, who after trying to create the perfect doll, is blamed for the disappearance of a child and was killed by the community, and now 50 years later is seeking revenge against all the descendents of the town. The story doesn’t need to rely on gore and excessive violence to be scary, but rather a simple old school ghost story to succeed in it’s job to keep the audience involved.
This film isnt’ going to win any awards for acting or writing, in fact both are pretty horrible. The dialogue is hilariously awful in some spots, although the short runtime allows the pace of the film to be pretty quick at a brisk hour and a half running time. The acting is good enough for a horror film of this shallow range, with Donnie Wahlberg giving as much cheese as he can with his lines, creating the best comedy in the film.
However where the film does excel though is in it’s scares, something that Wan and Whannell did well in the first Saw film. While the acting and dialogue maybe bad, the film oozes scares, starting with the amazingly creepy score by Charlie Clouser, who also has scored all the Saw films. Clouser, who has worked for Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Mason, knows exactly what kind of music produces an eerie effect which makes your skin crawl, and that’s without the amazing cold cinematography which kicks back to the old school horror aesthetic that the film is harking back too, and gothic sets to reinforce the aesthetic and the scares. Standing out though is the sound design, which is nothing short of breathtaking. When the sound goes from loud to non existent, and you see the lightning but don’t hear the thunder, or hear the slow creaking of every dummy, the film employs the sound perfectly to ramp up the atmosphere of the film. Like the Universal films of the late 30’s such as Frankenstein and Dracula, the scares from Dead Silence come from the mood and tone of the film, which as I’ve said, is handled perfectly, and let’s be fair, people watch horror movies to be scared, and not for the acting, and does this film deliver the scares. (for a fun little easter egg, in the climax of the film you can see the Jigsaw puppet from Saw in the climax of the movie, look closely at 1:13:50 into the film. Rarely the first time watching a horror movie am I scared, but watching this for the 6th or 7th time and still being so invested that i’m terrified is a rare gift for a movie. So sit back, turn the lights off, get some popcorn, maybe a significant other, and get ready to be terrified .
4.5/5 stars
Okay, first thing's first: I'm bias to being creeped out by dummies. They're wooden, they're eyes are freaky when they look at you, and they generally make me feel wierd. (I also have a fear of clowns, but that's another story) Even the Goosebumps "Night of the Living Dummy" series scared me as a kid, but this film's dummy ain't no Slappy.
The writing/directing team of the first "SAW" film, Leigh Whannell and James Wan, must of had a lot of pressure after their new found success with their next film, and "Dead Silence (2007)", despite the critical and box office bombing that it was, (pretty much went into theatres for a week before leaving), I was one of those ones who caught the first screening in theatres between classes because I was genuinely excited to see the writer/director's next horror film.
To summarize the very little plot there is: After receiving a mysterious package with a mysterious puppet (named Billy) inside and his fiancée dead soon after, Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten from HBO’s True Blood *playing Sookie’s brother*) goes back to his hometown to discover why the doll was mailed to him. However he is constantly being followed by a sceptical detective (Donnie Wahlberg) who believes that Jamie is responsible for his fiancée’s murder. Soon Jamie discovers that the doll was created by a ventriloquist Mary Shaw, who after trying to create the perfect doll, is blamed for the disappearance of a child and was killed by the community, and now 50 years later is seeking revenge against all the descendents of the town. The story doesn’t need to rely on gore and excessive violence to be scary, but rather a simple old school ghost story to succeed in it’s job to keep the audience involved.
This film isnt’ going to win any awards for acting or writing, in fact both are pretty horrible. The dialogue is hilariously awful in some spots, although the short runtime allows the pace of the film to be pretty quick at a brisk hour and a half running time. The acting is good enough for a horror film of this shallow range, with Donnie Wahlberg giving as much cheese as he can with his lines, creating the best comedy in the film.
However where the film does excel though is in it’s scares, something that Wan and Whannell did well in the first Saw film. While the acting and dialogue maybe bad, the film oozes scares, starting with the amazingly creepy score by Charlie Clouser, who also has scored all the Saw films. Clouser, who has worked for Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Mason, knows exactly what kind of music produces an eerie effect which makes your skin crawl, and that’s without the amazing cold cinematography which kicks back to the old school horror aesthetic that the film is harking back too, and gothic sets to reinforce the aesthetic and the scares. Standing out though is the sound design, which is nothing short of breathtaking. When the sound goes from loud to non existent, and you see the lightning but don’t hear the thunder, or hear the slow creaking of every dummy, the film employs the sound perfectly to ramp up the atmosphere of the film. Like the Universal films of the late 30’s such as Frankenstein and Dracula, the scares from Dead Silence come from the mood and tone of the film, which as I’ve said, is handled perfectly, and let’s be fair, people watch horror movies to be scared, and not for the acting, and does this film deliver the scares. (for a fun little easter egg, in the climax of the film you can see the Jigsaw puppet from Saw in the climax of the movie, look closely at 1:13:50 into the film. Rarely the first time watching a horror movie am I scared, but watching this for the 6th or 7th time and still being so invested that i’m terrified is a rare gift for a movie. So sit back, turn the lights off, get some popcorn, maybe a significant other, and get ready to be terrified .
4.5/5 stars
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