Carter Vance

This past weekend I invested the time in the newly released movie, Shazam.  David F. Sandberg is a filmmaker recognized for his unique approach to storytelling in his films.  David was diagnosed at a young age with autism and some believe this way of thinking has led David to a different perspective in how he creates images in his film.  In Shazam, David used practical effects instead of relying solely on CGI.  One example is he used practical suit for Shazam's costume rather than simply using an entirely computer generated image (CGI).  The use of these practical effects adds a senses of realism to the film making the character appear for real and interact more convincingly with his surroundings.  David says he prefers this approach because he can see things in real time and adjust them when needed.  David is the creator of "Lights Out", a short horror film  He used his signature approach to create tension in the film and scare the viewers with r...

 As our team worked to create our movie, Chair, we were limited by resources and knowledge.  If we had endless time and resources, we could have really made our "chair" come to life. Shaman uses cutting to emphasize timing and we did use some cutting to show the "chair" stalking our poor victims.  We were really able to create a montage with the sequence of shots.  It would have been cool to create a montage of the chairs demise. Shaman uses montage to create emotion and show passage of time.  We could have shown the anger from the chair if we had done this approach.  We also could have used cross-cutting which would have let us show parallel events but that was way out of our scope.  This could have helped us build some tension to the story but alas, we had to work with what we had and I think it turned out pretty good! Dissolve is another approach Shaman uses.  Dissolve is a gradual transition between shots where you can fade in and fade out....

Swiss Army Man directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheiner used a combination of special effects, unusual imagery and creating storytelling to make a movie using a "dead body".  The premise of the movie is a man is stranded on a deserted on an island and out of loneliness befriends a corpse, Manny, and together they go on a journey of self-discovery.  They use imagery to make the connection loneliness.  In the first scene, the main character, Hank, is seen hanging himself which is powerful in conveying his desperation and level of depression.  Later, the directors use a dreamlike atmosphere that blurs the lines between reality and imagination.  At one point, Hank is firing rocks out of Manny's mouth to kill animals for food.  This level of imagination is seen throughout the movie intertwined with reality.  While Hank needed food, the idea that the rocks were being fired from a corpse was clearly imaginary.  Another example, is the use of the corps...

When watching a movie, how many times do we pick our movies based on who is acting in the movie?  In our reading this month,  we learned how actors make a difference in establishing the mood or changing the viewer's perspective.  One actor that I tend to like to watch is Benedict Cumberbatch and if you watch him, he has the ability to convey messages with just his facial expressions.  Actors use different facial expressions to create emotion or moods. Benedict has an intense facial expression that he uses to convey deep thought without ever saying a line in Sherlock Holmes.  Another way good actors can change how a movie is received is through their body language.  They use body language such as a confident stance to show power or slouch to show insecurity.  We all know the heroes in a movie because they stand with confidence.  The really great actors also interact with their surroundings. They can use their "sets" to change a perspective.  W...

 This weekend I invested three hours of my life in John Wick 4 and while I will never get this time back, I think it was time well spent from a cinematically interesting movie.  Here comes the spoiler- alerts for those of you who may want to still invest the time.  In the film, the use of stairs is an important part of the movie and represents John Wick's climb to overcome constant adversity.  At one point, there is a scene, where John fights his way up this very tall staircase.  As he climbs, the camera pans out to show the sheer scale of the climb and building at the top of the staircase emphasizing the enormous task ahead for John. Once at the top of the stairs, the camera viewpoint shifts to show John tumbling down the stairs through a very long scene with no noise.  The whole theater is merely focused on the fall as the camera shows him descending down the stairs and further away from his primary goal.  If he doesn't reach the top, he dies. The di...