Sir Isaac Newton once said that, "if I see further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." He was of course referring to the great astronomers who came before him, people like Galileo and Kepler. Most physicists believe Newton to be the greatest scientific mind ever in their field and yet Newton gave the credit for his success to others.Everyone I know who is good at what they do will
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Paddy Chayefsky’s Dead
Posted on 7:36 AM by christofer D
Starting sometime in the 80’s film directors became art directors. The look of a film became more important than any other aspect of the film. So all of the guys who cared more about style than substance have been touted as geniuses. It is not unusual nowadays to hear a critic wax poetic about the look of a film regardless of the narrative substance of the film. Not to pick on Memoirs of a
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
MYTH OF GENRE part 2
Posted on 8:40 AM by christofer D
If you think about it, Jaws is just a monster movie. And, like a lot of monster movies, incidental characters are picked off as our hero tries to stop the creature. But, somehow, the film transcends genre. It’s because it has an armature and a character of change. Lots of films came out after Jaws which tried to repeat its success. One film used an orca whale in place of a shark, and another
Friday, March 10, 2006
THE MYTH OF GENRE
Posted on 2:37 PM by christofer D
Genre is visible. People know if they are watching a western or science fiction. But invisible ink is about the inner workings of story, not the costumes the characters wear.Among the people who know me, I am known as the guy who doesn’t like any film that comes out. This isn’t true. It’s mostly true. Anyway, they rack their brains trying to figure out what it is I do like and why. They
Monday, February 27, 2006
DIALOGUE part 4 (ADDRESS AND EXPLAIN)
Posted on 8:28 AM by christofer D
This is related to “address and dismiss” but serves a different function. The best example is in the first Star Wars, when Luke Skywalker sees the Millennium Falcon for the first time. After it was revealed, a hush came over the audience as they took in the magnificent ship. Then Luke exclaims, “What a piece of junk!”The crowed erupted with laughter, because that’s not at all what we were
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
DIALOGUE part 3 (ADDRESS AND DISMISS)
Posted on 8:13 AM by christofer D
The first time I noticed this technique, I was watching John Carpenter’s The Thing. In the film, an alien creature with the ability to assume any form terrorizes a group of men in an isolated research base.In this particular scene, the alien has assumed the shape of one of the men, but then begins to distort. The neck stretches impossibly and tendons snap. The head detaches from the rest of the
Friday, February 10, 2006
DIALOGUE part 2 (SOUNDING NATURAL)
Posted on 9:32 AM by christofer D
Over the last few years, I have noticed that every character I read, or see in the movies or on television, sounds like another movie or television show. Real people don’t talk like movie people. Listen to how people speak. They didn’t all grow up in your neighborhood, nor do they all have your educational background.Because I’ve worked in both animation and comic books, I know a lot of
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