OLIVER STONE

SNOWDEN (2016)  will be remembered for many years in the future as a film that shed light how the United States was watching and spying on everyone in the world for a period of time. The film was meant to be as accurate as possible to the events that actually took place. Yes the world is over dramatized, but thats just to make it seem more like a fun spy action movie. I think you should Include this because it is almost like a freeze frame in time of how shocking and chaotic everything was when it broke on social media.Joseph Gordon Levitt as Snowden.

RESEMBLING THE REAL WORLD

This story was very dramatic and induced a feeling of looming danger. At first I was drawn into what was happening in the story, but then realized that something was off because it seemed just way too fake. I took a step back and looked at the text and realized that it was fictional. I cannot find the link to the article now, but I remember this well. It reminded me how I need to slow down my quest for information so that I can better filter and process it. I was so eager to read the information that I did not take into account that it was fictional even though it said it right in front of my eyes. 

LONG FORM TELEVISION SERIES

Recently in my screenwriting class we studied long form television and looked at several examples. We first watched the pilot episode of BREAKING BAD which is really a twist of a story. The characters side characters in the pilot are not two dimensional in any way. That's what great about television. In a movie, it's sometimes common for some characters to feel two dimensional because there is a limited running time and an act structure to follow where everything has to be wrapped up in the end. The long span of television episodes are much like chapters in a novel and we can get to know the characters better. Each chapter brings new and interesting information revealed in clever ways and the main character's situation changes. Another Pilot episode we watched in class this semester during our long form study was the first episode of true detective. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McCaunaughey work together to solve several unsolved murders in a non-linear style. The director made it as intense and dramatic as possible using graphic production design, camera movement, and music. One of our assignments was to come up with three long form television ideas and pitch them to the class. 

COMIC STYLES

I found that I really did not know the first thing about comics when I was looking at the way that the illustrations were put together to form an intricate narrative. Comics are a medium I have never really related to that well or payed much attention to. When I initially saw the comics I read them like I would a storyboard. This sort of got in the way of my interpretation of the comics. Nevertheless I still enjoyed looking at the different styles, color palettes and mediums that were used. I had some questions about the artist's narrative's and what they might really really be about because some had very dark themes.  

CAMERA STYLO (Jean-Luc Godard)

Godard's work is unique in almost every aspect. The style stands out to me for the outlandish music that often is too intense for the scene, quick jump cuts that skip through a whole conversation or wacky scene transitions. The themes in his films also have a certain continuity to them. They talk about relationships among young people in Paris and what they care about. I read that Godard would often put much of his own life experiences into his work as well. The story arch in BREATHLESS (1960) is probably my favorite. BELMONDO has to evade capture after killing a police officer. He uses his network of ex-girlfriends around Paris to evade them for some time before he is caught while explaining all of his side stories with the ex-girlfriends. The most exciting part to me about his camera work is how he uses a style called "camera stylo" where the director chooses exactly how the camera should move. 

ADAPTATION

Adapting a text into film is one of the main focuses of my studies. When I first came to Ringling, I focused on learning how to be the best director of photography that I could possibly be. I couldn't imagine that I would eventually start writing scripts all the time. I usually write my scripts in the screenwriting application called Celtx. So when I conceive my ideas I think about them being in a film from the start. An interesting challange would be to take a script that was written as a book and adapt it into film. Some of the major differences are found in how the action is described. In a film there can be shortcuts visually and in writing can have its own ways of having short cuts to explain things.

VIRTUAL REALITY

For many young kids nowadays, video games are a perfect escape from the stress of school and at home. However, it has begun to effect the psyche of many kids that spend so much time playing games. Their social skills begin to lack because of all the time spent inside of this imaginary world. I watched this happen on a large scale this year with the release of the FREE and HIGHLY ADDICTIVE video game Fortnite. This game is a battle royal game where the players fight to the death on an island. It's basically Hunger Games the video game. Since it's release it has become a sort of meme about video game addiction. This game addictive and designed like no other. Also, I should add that I spend ZERO of my time playing video games.