Good Sunday morning to any one who will read this blog. I am hoping Sunday, May 2 2010 will be alot better than Saturday,May,First 2010 was. But I digress.
Todays topic is films. Granted since starting this blog no one who has left comment's has asked me why I like them so much. They dont have to. I just thought that since this blog is entitled, 'from paper to film' it might make some people curious of why I like the medium so much.
I think it's the art of it. How they are made. if you would pardon the pun, when its all done from paper to film. As I had mentioned in my introduction on Tuesday if you dont have a script, you dont have a movie. Granted there are documentarys, but i think even to a small degree they have a script. Its imagination for a screen writer that gets me. For instance, Woody Allen. Just about every year Allen comes out with a new film. You may not hear about it because it doesnt get a huge release like a summer block buster. In over what I think is a 40 year history of being a writer/director. Woody Allen has made some of the most acclaimed fims in history. And with New York City as the background, I think even brings them more to life.
In his Oscar winning best picture for 1977, 'Annie Hall' Woody demonstrates, love, loss behavior issues, growing up in the 1940's with his parents etc in a funny innovative way that to this day 33 years later is still being talked about by film scholars.
My faveorite type of film is called a period pieace. I love how one, the screenplay is created. The writer's imagination to go back in time and create a story on an historical figure like say a past president or even more of a folklore
say a fifth century king or queen of a european country. Than, it's the props and costumes. How do they find the props for these period films? The costumes are some times made depending on how far back you wanted to go. If it's 20 or thirty years ago you can still find those clothes in a used clothing store. But even they are custom made depending.
Than, there's the acting. The actor or actress is in costume, getting him or her self mentally prepared and all of a sudden the director yells "action" and these actors go if you will back in time and say their lines and try to make it believible. Untill the director yells "cut"
I have a friend who is actor. I dont know too many actors personally so I am glad to call this one a friend. I asked him once whats it like doing a period piece and how he prepares himself for the period roles he has done. What he told me in his opinion, is that he imagines himself in that time and what he might have been doing if he was born around that period. He said it helps him to make his character more beleiveible
I am also facinated with the editing process. Putting the film together. Alot of long hours with both the edtior and the director of the film. Going over countless scenes they think works best and which ones dont.
I love dvd special features because at times, depending on the film you can find features like deleted scenes and I dont know about you reader's and your interest in movies, but when I watch a deleted scene in a film its awesome to think that even though the scene didnt work or might have worked but because of time, wasnt in the movie you get the idea of how it was like.
Than, once again most importantly, theres the director. The person that basically calls all the shots. Tells you where to stand, some times from what I have seen his take on the mind frame of the character and keeping a good steady pace with the film when you see it either in theather's or in your homes.
The American Film Institute hails Orson Welles "Citizen Kane" to be the best film ever made. It is no doubt a very entertaining easy to follow movie that has its own twist and turns. Excellent, no other way to describe it. It is going to be on cable television later on this week. If you have cable or a dishnetwork/directtv sattalite, I recommend watching it, or if you cant watch it, record it so you can watch it when you choose. You wont be disapointed. Or, if you do not have access to those providers, pick it up in your local video store. You would be glad you did
I am going to quote my actor friend slightly......
D.... out
