The Dark Knight Review July 26, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in batman, batmobile, christian bale, dark knight, film, heath ledger, joker, oscar.add a comment
The cinema was absolutely packed, right up to the front row seats, which were bedazzled by the screen perched a mere two feet away. It reminded me of when Star Wars: Episode 1 was released, which shows just how massive a franchise Batman has become.
Sadly, the first eight minutes of the film were ruined for me, because they’d been leaked on to the internet months before. This was a great shame (though I’m the only one to blame), because the opening scenes are some of the best in the film. Our first introduction to the Joker as a ruthless, chaotic and cold maniac made it apparent that the writing, and Ledger’s portrayal, was spot on.
Right from those opening scenes the Joker never fails to terrify. It was largely due to the quality of acting on display, but the sound track also had an important role. There is absolutely no music in Dark Knight, and what a relief that is. Every blow that Batman delivers seems to reverberate around the cinema, and every time the Joker cackles it sends a chill down your spine. During the most thrilling scenes, a high pitched whine slowly crescendos as the Joker sets about scaring the wits out of his victim, and the audience.
This sparsity is apparent throughout the film. Elements are pared down, to allow them to speak plainly and effectively. The editing is masterful, and considered. There is none of the hyper fast cutting which seems to pervade action films nowadays, especially the Bourne series. Instead, the camera can afford to linger, and let the actors really perform, in an environment which is absolutely believable. The portrayal of Gotham is so convincing, and so cohesive, that I could easily believe it to be a real place; a glass and concrete metropolis, drenched with darkness.
Hopefully Dark Knight will set a precedent for all other Super-hero movies, in the same way that Lord of the Rings did for the fantasy genre. It would be nice to see Dark Knight acknowledged as such in the Oscars, though its rather early to be speculating. Christopher Nolan has proven himself a highly competent director, bringing his highly charged, intelligent aesthetic to larger and larger audiences. The technical components of the film are also worthy of merit. The Batmobile itself, and its ensuing antics, set a new bar for the über cool. As for the costumes, these have come on a long way too. The Batman suit is finally convincing, allowing Christian Bale to convey real menace through the rubber skin. And the initial photos of Ledger dressed as the Joker did much to stoke the frenzied interest in the film, even when the release date was two years away. As previously mentioned, the sound design is top notch, and so is the editing. What I’m getting towards is….this is a nigh on perfect film. There is no getting away from it. It has arguably done more to popularise and intensify the legend of Batman than any other film, graphic novel, or otherwise. Its no wonder the fan boys are so happy. If there is to be a third film, which I’m sure there will be, then the whole cinema will be full of raving fans, in Batman and Joker suits. This is part of Ledger’s legacy, which may seem weird at first, but for an actor to imbue a role with so much intensity and life must surely be testament to his professionalism, talent and dedication. I for one would love to see Ledger win an Oscar. He certainly deserves it.
The Dark Knight Review can be found on Scribd.
Image source: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/
Copyright Warner Bros. 2008.
Sean Connery as you’ve never seen him before… May 28, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film.add a comment
Shocking…..well and truly shocking. I’m glad that this particular vision of the future didn’t come true.
Sean Connery as you’ve never seen him before… May 28, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film.add a comment
Shocking…..well and truly shocking. I’m glad that this particular vision of the future didn’t come true.
Sean Connery as you’ve never seen him before… May 28, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film.add a comment
Shocking…..well and truly shocking. I’m glad that this particular vision of the future didn’t come true.
Derek Jarman February 25, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film, serpentine, video art.add a comment
Image courtesy of cromacom
The latest exhibition in the Serpentine gallery is dedicated to the work of one of Britain’s most important artist film makers, Derek Jarman. He came to prominence during the gay rights marches in the seventies, and was always a forthright and honest figure when it came to his personal feelings – something which is clearly reflected in his work.
The exhibition was curated by Isaac Julien, who has been influenced by the work of Jarman, and has, through this exhibition, celebrated the life of a truly remarkable figure. The first room displays late works, which consist of religious iconography dipped in tar. Though primarily known as a film maker, he worked with a breadth of medium, including painting, and it can be argued that his films have a painterly quality, with their composition, and the swarming, spectral look of 8mm film.
These films, and indeed more commercial ventures, using 35mm film, are featured in Julien’s new documentary ‘Derek’. The documentary succeeds so well, because Derek created work of such personal significance, laying his soul to bear through his work. A chronology of his work, interspersed with archival footage which illustrates the often hostile attitudes of the time toward homosexuality, and serves to enforce how brave and challenging Jarman’s works were, not only in terms of content, but that they actually exist in the filmic medium at all, because the work is so strikingly independent, where today independent cinema is itself a by-word, these films did not pander to audience expectations, but repeatedly exploded existing conventions about what a film could be about. One such instance is where two males, in a highly eroticised, water-drenched scene, exhibit the carnal, vicious, but also celebratory aspects of love, in a way that is not exploitative in the way that pornography is, but rather was a physical manifestation of what Jarman himself thought of homosexuality, in a time when gay rights were beginning to gain recognition, and all of the suppressed feelings found that crucial spark.
Another strident theme in his work is evident from his film ‘Carravaggio’, which was based on the eponymous painter, whose subjects were whores, who posed for highly religious paintings of the Virgin Mary. It is in no way a slight against religion, but rather serves to emphasise the humanity of normal people, and it is a common theme in Jarman’s work that his subjects are less than perfect. Often, Caravaggio is seen painting on screen, which is an apt mitigation of Jarman’s preoccupation with film and painting.
One of the greatest successes of his narrative films are the characters, who were brought to life by some of the best British acting talent. An example of which is from the film ‘The Last of England’, where Tilda Swinton performs with characteristic conviction. She is perhaps the most successful actor to have been involved with Jarman, having gone on to win an Academy award for her role in Michael Clayton. Though it is arguably her early work with Jarman that made her the actress she is today, something which she is clearly aware of by her narration of ‘Derek’. The narration takes the form of a recital of a letter which she wrote to Jarman, and is at once heart felt and sincere, and serves to underpin the lamentations of many when Jarman was to pass away after a long fight with HIV.
It was in his latter years, when the struggle with the illness was at its greatest, that Jarman created his most courageous work. Armed with the motifs that had featured so prominently throughout his career, he staged a great work of artistic defiance. It consists of a single shot of saturated blue colour filling the screen, as background to a soundtrack where Jarman’s and some of his favorite actors’ narration describes his life and vision.
The film ends with the words:
In time,
No one will remember our work
Our life will pass like the traces of a cloud
And be scattered like
Mist that is chased by the
Rays of the sun
For our time is the passing of a shadow
And our lives will run like
Sparks through the stubble.
I place a delphinium, Blue, upon your grave
———————————————————————————————
The exhibition is on at the Serpentine until 13th April 2008.
http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/04/derek_jarman_curated_by_isaac.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Jarman
Illuminations – Tate Modern January 20, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film, illuminations, tate modern, turbine hall, video art.add a comment
caraballo-farman, Contours of Staying, 2004
The Tate Modern gets a lot of media attention through its Turbine Hall installations, and upper-floor blockbuster exhibitions. But these are often left to languish for months, and repeat visitors, such as myself, get tired of seeing the same old thing.
On my last visit it was a different matter entirely. Sure, plenty of people were still enamoured by Louise Bourgeois’ spidery legs, and Doris Salcedo’s precipitous crack, but these were by no means the only areas of interest. On the second floor, near the northern most entrance, was an exhibiton called Illuminations. To quote the exhibition literature:
“Illuminations brings together five film and video works that explore gestures, objects and spaces that shape or express belief. The title refers both to the light generated by projected images in a darkened gallery and to metaphorical states of enlightenment attainable through faith.”
I’ll just briefly allude to the second sentence, because as far as the works are concerned using projectors is a pretty tenous metaphor, but what is true about projected works, and video works in general, is that you get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of exhibition space, which was especially true for Valerie Mrejen, whose work profiled a series of people who had come to question religious practices in the context of modern life. They each in inturn recounted tales of vengeful gods who would strike them down for not observing strict religious practice. It made the practises appear ridiculous, built as they were on a bed rock of fear and obligation.
In a work by Dan Acostioaeu called ‘Crossroad’, a steady stream of people are seen ‘crossing themselves’ as they see something off screen. It is a crowded area, and this physical manifestation of community is striking amongst otherwise private scenes, where people go about their everyday lives. The visual effect is stunning, with the threads of religion, or else conformity, animating these people in a communal correography.
There was another video which concentrated on the gestures and objects used by a group of individuals in a temple. Again there was a great feeling of commonality which was ingrained by these harmless practices.
And lastly, was a video which unveiled itself quite slowly. At first the camera is focussed tightly on wafts of yellow fabric which are buffeted by the wind. A face is just about discernible, and a life guard come to mind. Who else would be in such violent weather? And then, like a Sergio Leone film, the camera pulls out, revealing landscapes of flesh and fabric which are still strangely ambivalent. Then a person comes into focus, who is sat on a dusted ground, and looks terribly cold. Now I come to think of the Cockle Pickers off Morecambe Bay. She drives her legs into a tight cross legged postion. The wind howls. There is a feeling of desolation. But she just sits, in either utter desperation or meditation – I can’t decide which. The scene changes further, and the beach becomes an equally desolate concrete pavement, sprinkled with snow. I now see that she isn’t alone. And then that this is a city, and amongst the persistent wind are cars, which pass silently by under red street lamps. These people are protesting; a sea of solidarity against the mechanisms of a modern world. And while religious customs shouldn’t be taken with a closed mind, they can be the threads of community, and can go someway to bridging the social and cultural cracks made manifest in the Turbine Hall.
The God Machine December 14, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in film, graphic.add a comment
**I like every post to be accompanied by a picture, but in this case it’s been a right pain. I couldn’t seem to get it right, and though I’m still not wholly satisfied, after twenty iterations it’ll just have to do! Anyway, on to the post, which will much briefer as a result (yay!).**
So, I had the pleasure of visiting the projector room of our college run cinema the other day. This was a serious event for me, because I love the cinema.
My head was full of ideas of what it’d be like. They were like all wildly extravagent, coloured by years of idle thought. It was about time I saw it for real.
Firstly I’d like to explain that student run cinemas are completely different to their commercial brethren. All of the staff are volunteers, and as such are passionate about what they do. This was apparent as soon as I stepped in to the projector room, where I was greated warmly, even though it transpired that a film was due any minute.
My preconceptions were shattered immediately. I was amazed by the amount of film these people dealt with. I expected a reel of film to be the size of the feed mechanism for a tommy gun, or perhaps to be as large as a bicycle wheel. It was the size of a cart wheel! Not only that, but it was mounted on the wall and was whizzing away, as it rewound the film back to the start. When this was done, a tag on the end of the reel was fed into the projector. Just on cue, the film winged its away around the room through numerous tensioning devices, and finally into the hungry lips of the projector, which made a resounding click, click, clicking sound.
The room was very energetic, both with frantic humans, and electronic gadgetry flashing away. However the room was quite cold. The projectionist explained that this was the air conditioning unit that was strapped to the projector to prevent the mega bulb inside from frying. Errant light bleeding out of the sides of the projector casing gave a good indication of just how powerful the bulb was. The light was pure white. Whiter than white. The whitest thing I’d ever seen.
The adverts started. Little figures could be seen through the viewing pane in the cinema beyond. The soundtrack blared to life.
I had the best seat in the house.
Animation December 4, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in animation, film, graphic.add a comment
What is animation? I think it’s about making stuff move in cool, compelling ways. A lot of artists want their work to live and breath, move and be observed, and animation is surely the best way of achieving this.
Animation broadly falls into two categories – story led, where by animation is a facet of cinema, and then there’s the purely visual type, an example of which is music videos or graphic work, where narrative concerns are secondary to pure visual bombast.
I’m not saying that its a clear distinction – both types share many elements. However identifying which animation you are creating is the key to creating good animation. A common pitfall with narrative animation is that the creator fails to tell a compelling story. The results often focus purely on visual, or even technical, achievements. I generally consider this sort of film overindulgant and unwatchable. There are so many student films online which fit this criteria. Animation students should try telling a story with basic means, perhaps a Punch and Judy show, to learn about storytelling in an environment where short comings can’t be deflected by technical frivolities.
Now, there’s also the purely visual form which utilises the strength of animation to switch between subject matter to create a shifting collage. Its this balance between juxtaposition and flux which makes animation so cool. Its the sort of imagery which aligns closest to the sub conscious with its organic developments and free associations. The addition of music makes it nothing short of hypnotic.
The following are links to animation which I think has merit, or else fails admirably and so is equally useful.
Jonathan Barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook is better known for his graphic work than animation. All of his work has an anti-establishment flavour – particularly anti corporation, where he uses animation as a tool to twist advertising and send it back as a forthright objection about the negative effects of mass media.
Audio Bullies music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEx2dHONdok
This is an Audio Bullies video which has a look which can be considered very modern, commercial and exceptionally MTV. But it’s not a bad example of the sort of ‘mish-mashing’ which can happen in an animation video – mixing 2D, 3D and live action elements (often not shot specifically for the purpose in the case of the Nancy Sinatra clips) to create something with verve and its own visual rhythm.
Str8nime
People often recut existing footage to play alongside their favourite songs. This amateur slicing and splicing has become increasingly common with the widespread availability of video editing software and video sharing websites like Youtube, and can often give impressive results. The natural next step is to create original content, when the recutting of material attains a style of its own. An example of such a guy is shown below.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-10/pl_screen
Its also a great example where the lack of narrative focus can prove detrimental to a films success. But on the plus side, just how much can be achieved by one guy with enough passion (he created a full length animated feature by himself – a task which’d usually require the toil of hundreds).
BBC Film Network
Some of the best animated shorts can be found here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/
Ok, that’s it for now as this post is getting quite long. Keep your eyes peeled for more animation posts in the near future.
Brazilian grit December 4, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in Alala, Brazil, CSS, film, music.add a comment
I heard this song on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show, and checked it out on Youtube afterwards, as you do. I was shocked by how violent it is. I’ve posted it for your viewing pleasure/displeasure depending on which way you’re inclined. I’m not a fan of mindless violence, but I do like QT’s revenge stories (Kill Bill and Death Proof), where women beat the crap out of male oppressors. I can only justify this video in those terms, and if you watch it you’ll probably agree that the incision of the cat at random intervals is also very cool. I think that Latin American films generally are a lot grittier – and the results can be extraordinary in the case of Amores Peros (imbd) and Y tu mamá también (imbd). Can you imagine getting away with stuff like this anywhere else in the world?
Welcome! November 19, 2007
Posted by townsend51 in animation, film.add a comment
This is one of the things I made when teaching myself to use Adobe After Effects, and its been repurposed as a welcome message for this blog. However, the original work was done on a Mac, and finding freely available video editing software for pcs is a pain. Even when Avid Free DV was available it had huge hardware requirements. I need something inbetween the atrocious Windows Media Player and a professional package – something like iMovie for the Mac. Or even better a video editor for Ubuntu – that seems long overdue.
