January 31, 2011
Animation historian Jerry Beck released a book in 2005 titled "The Animated Movie Guide," which chronicles just about every single animated feature ever made from the early days of Snow White up to Pixar's The Incredibles in 2004. Given the popularity of CGI films and the presumed decline of 2-D animation since then, it's safe to say that things have changed in the last five years. And with amazing effect.
When the Disney studios bought Pixar in January 2006 by means of a $7.4 billion acquisition deal, new CEO Bob Iger made Pixar co-founder John Lasseter (director of Toy Story 1 & 2 and Cars) the Chief Creative Officer of both studios. Beginning in 2007, Lasseter has had a hand in serving as the executive producer of almost every animated feature released, beginning with the entertaining Meet the Robinsons and the widely-acclaimed Ratatouille in 2007. In addition, on of the goals under Lasseter's leadership was to revive hand-drawn animation, which many have feared dead since the 2004 release of Home on the Range. Thus, Disney veterans such as directors John Musker and Ron Clements, as well as animators Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, and James Baxter, were brought back into Disney for the hand-drawn form. What resulted were the releases of 2007's Enchanted (a live-action/animated hybrid, paying homage and parody to the Disney classics of the early days) and The Princess and the Frog (the studio's first animated fairy tale since 1991's Beauty and the Beast). And with the current release of the CGI Tangled and the upcoming summer 2D release of Winnie the Pooh, I believe we may be in another golden age of animation a la the Disney Renaissance.
The following is a short video interview with John Lasseter from late 2009 regarding the Disney-Pixar acquisition, as well as the medium of animation and what makes is so great.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Films Can Get Overwhelming or, For Your Consideration
I would like to put on record (and, hopefully, I'm not alone in this) that movies do overwhelm me at times. Everytime I come back to my "100 Favorite Films of All-Time" list, I just get lost in different titles, scenes, lines, opinions, lines, etc. As much of a film buff as I am, I have to convince myself that I won't see every movie there is. In addition, I probably will never finish my Top 100 list, as I come back to it and find it not only hard to narrow down my choices, but also hard to avoid or restrain favoritism. I sometimes compare it with a person or relative, if that makes any sense. One more thing I should note: As much as movies can be influential, they should not be classified as a Gospel or Bible. Spiritual health and living cannot derive or be refueled by the arts and media alone. There has to be a greater source. A more worthwhile source. An honest source. A more pure source.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Oscar Nominees 2011
The Oscar nominations were announced at 5:30 this morning. The King's Speech and True Grit lead the bunch with 12 nominations, including best picture, best actor, and best director for each (respectfully). Jeff Bridges received his sixth career Oscar nomination, while newcomer Hailee Steinfeld won her first nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Golden Globe-Best Picture winner The Social Network received eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg), Best Director (David Fincher), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller Inception got eight nominations as well. Nolan received two nominations in the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay categories (but not a Best Director). Pixar's mega-hit Toy Story 3 and Darren Aronovsky's dark fantasy Black Swan each received five nominations. Natalie Portman is a high contender for Best Actress for her role in the latter film. Toy Story 3 became the second film in both Pixar and the Academy's history to be nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Picture, as well as the third animated feature in history to receive the latter nomination (following 1991's Beauty and The Beast and last year's Up).
This is also the second year there are ten films nominated for Best Picture, including all seven films mentioned above. The other three nominated are David O. Russell's The Fighter (with Christian Bale as a high contender for Best Supporting Actor), the lesbian comedy-drama The Kid's Are All Right (with Annette Bening in her fourth Oscar-nominated role), and Danny Boyle's 127 Hours (with Best Actor-nominee James Franco as the real-life Aron Ralston).
I can't really comment too much on these films, since I haven't seen all of them. I've had my concerns about past Oscar shows, specifically due to the fact that many of the films that have been nominated don't come out until the end of the year. I will say, however, that last year (2009 films), as well as this year (2010) have had a lot of interesting nominees and films out - again, not that I've seen every one of them. The nominees this year, in large part, seem very unique that it must be hard for Academy voters to decide who will take home the trophy in the respective categories. I will say, also, that I do have just a couple predictions - just a couple. For one thing, I'm rooting for Christian Bale for Best Supporting Actor for his phenominal performance in The Fighter, and Colin Firth may likely get Best Actor for his role in The King's Speech (which I have yet to see and cannot wait to see). As for the Best Picture nominees - yet again, not that I've seen all of them -, I would narrow it down to The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and Toy Story 3 as high contenders. (This is tentative, and is likely to change.)
More info and updates soon to come.
Sincerely Yours,
B.E.
This is also the second year there are ten films nominated for Best Picture, including all seven films mentioned above. The other three nominated are David O. Russell's The Fighter (with Christian Bale as a high contender for Best Supporting Actor), the lesbian comedy-drama The Kid's Are All Right (with Annette Bening in her fourth Oscar-nominated role), and Danny Boyle's 127 Hours (with Best Actor-nominee James Franco as the real-life Aron Ralston).
I can't really comment too much on these films, since I haven't seen all of them. I've had my concerns about past Oscar shows, specifically due to the fact that many of the films that have been nominated don't come out until the end of the year. I will say, however, that last year (2009 films), as well as this year (2010) have had a lot of interesting nominees and films out - again, not that I've seen every one of them. The nominees this year, in large part, seem very unique that it must be hard for Academy voters to decide who will take home the trophy in the respective categories. I will say, also, that I do have just a couple predictions - just a couple. For one thing, I'm rooting for Christian Bale for Best Supporting Actor for his phenominal performance in The Fighter, and Colin Firth may likely get Best Actor for his role in The King's Speech (which I have yet to see and cannot wait to see). As for the Best Picture nominees - yet again, not that I've seen all of them -, I would narrow it down to The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and Toy Story 3 as high contenders. (This is tentative, and is likely to change.)
More info and updates soon to come.
Sincerely Yours,
B.E.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Inspiration for Transition Story
One of the challenges in writing a good story or article or essay is figuring out and deciding what the most interesting things are, also the most unique, the most important. I first developed an idea for a story as far back as my senior year in high school, centered on students who were going to be graduating soon. It started out as a cartoon series, having made two previous cartoon series myself. This time, I figured, since it was the last semester of my senior year at the time, I would devote my new series to that time and illustrate characters who had different struggles in terms of what would happen or what they were going to do after graduation.
I watched several teen/high school-related movies within the past two years, and have come to the near- conclusion that three of them are the most resourceful for my current story (which I've been shelving and updating on-and-off for the last six years): American Graffiti (1973), Breaking Away (1979), and The Breakfast Club (1985). To me, these are films that contain unique characters, a unique setting, and a specific time duration.
American Graffiti is set during the course of one night before students head off to college. It takes place in and around the town of Modesto, California. Its cast of characters includes between 10 to 15 students entering (while some are fearing or questioning) adulthood, all representing distinct cliques or sorts - jocks, "populars," outsiders, etc. Breaking Away is set in Bloomington, Indiana, during the course of one summer - about a year after a few characters (refered to as "cutters" - that is, a slang for local townfolk) have finished high school and are in no hurry for the next direction in life. Other characters include students at the local university, as well as the parents of one central character. The Breakfast Club occurs during one Saturday detention period at the fictional Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois. The five main characters represent different cliques - the brain, the princess, the athlete, the criminal, and the basket case. Eventually, they discover that they have more in common than they believe.
Another challenge in writing an original story is avoiding what's been done before (e.g., best moments in high school, graduation celebration, and so forth). The present setting I have for my piece ("Colleagues," as the working title) is the last semester of the senior year in High School. It is also set within the first few years of the new millenium, as to illustrate and present a more up-to-date version of high school life. What I wish to avoid is showing a graduation story and (I'm presently debating) flashbacks from a present time to a past event or situation. One strong choice is to show certain events in pictures or dialogue, as a way to avoid overt sentimentality and such. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the power of emotion in film, but there's a certain line that you can't cross or only cross over so far when it comes to authenticity and believability.
Because it's a coming-of-age story (or, as I prefer, a "transition" piece), it's important to have characters go through real emotions and situations. I said that I started this concept with a series of cartoons (and believed the story could be told through animation, as a form of authenticity), but I'm debating if I should go for a live-action take.
More notes coming soon from yours truly,
B.E.
I watched several teen/high school-related movies within the past two years, and have come to the near- conclusion that three of them are the most resourceful for my current story (which I've been shelving and updating on-and-off for the last six years): American Graffiti (1973), Breaking Away (1979), and The Breakfast Club (1985). To me, these are films that contain unique characters, a unique setting, and a specific time duration.
American Graffiti is set during the course of one night before students head off to college. It takes place in and around the town of Modesto, California. Its cast of characters includes between 10 to 15 students entering (while some are fearing or questioning) adulthood, all representing distinct cliques or sorts - jocks, "populars," outsiders, etc. Breaking Away is set in Bloomington, Indiana, during the course of one summer - about a year after a few characters (refered to as "cutters" - that is, a slang for local townfolk) have finished high school and are in no hurry for the next direction in life. Other characters include students at the local university, as well as the parents of one central character. The Breakfast Club occurs during one Saturday detention period at the fictional Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois. The five main characters represent different cliques - the brain, the princess, the athlete, the criminal, and the basket case. Eventually, they discover that they have more in common than they believe.
Another challenge in writing an original story is avoiding what's been done before (e.g., best moments in high school, graduation celebration, and so forth). The present setting I have for my piece ("Colleagues," as the working title) is the last semester of the senior year in High School. It is also set within the first few years of the new millenium, as to illustrate and present a more up-to-date version of high school life. What I wish to avoid is showing a graduation story and (I'm presently debating) flashbacks from a present time to a past event or situation. One strong choice is to show certain events in pictures or dialogue, as a way to avoid overt sentimentality and such. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the power of emotion in film, but there's a certain line that you can't cross or only cross over so far when it comes to authenticity and believability.
Because it's a coming-of-age story (or, as I prefer, a "transition" piece), it's important to have characters go through real emotions and situations. I said that I started this concept with a series of cartoons (and believed the story could be told through animation, as a form of authenticity), but I'm debating if I should go for a live-action take.
More notes coming soon from yours truly,
B.E.
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