Let's Review...

[abrilliantglow-blog]

Critiques

Hey guys I know this is the last stretch. we’re probably all pretty tired of critiquing. But I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

[inhollysopinion]

I really liked your script. I loved the idea that everything was leading to that one moment and then it all comes crashing down. The only thing I would do is shorten it a bit. I also was thinking it might work if the opening scene wasn't the funeral. I think it would work if it started with her picking out her funeral clothes and then switches to her picking out her normal clothes. I think this would keep us wondering what the fash-forwards were leading to. But I do understand why you wanted us to see the little girl before we see her in the past. Just a thought. 

[inhollysopinion]

FYOS Event 3

I went to an event that taught us about learning disabilities that many people on campus have. This event was in the Creswell lobby. To begin, we were shown a short video that featured many past UGA students talking about how they over came their disabilities. It was an enlightening event which brought the forth the realization that many disabilities do affect learning. Nearly every disability is in fact a learning disability.

Next, we all split up into groups and went to three stations that simulated a learning disability. One station allowed you to look through the eyes of someone with dyslexia while writing. Next, we were shown a paragraph on a monitor and were told to read it; however, as we began to read the words would fade away and we could see what looked like an outdoor scene. This was to simulate ADD. Finally, the perhaps hardest simulation reflected ADD again. They played a recording of a teacher talking to children giving them instructions on where to place certain papers. The kids slowly began to get louder and the teacher eventually faded completely away. All of these activities definitely raised my awareness of the disabilities that many of my fellow students face. 

[tabuga-blog]

Critique my screenplay!

[inhollysopinion]

I love the idea and think it was very cute. The only critiques I really have are sometimes the doctor sounds a bit strange, maybe try to reword some of his dialogue to flow better. Also, Judy doesn't seem that freaked out to me. I would be panicking if I was in a car crash and couldn't remember who I was. 

Additionally, I really like the contrast between the flashback of Greg and of Aaron. I like that Aaron seems passionate while Greg just seems comfortable. I think it would be really neat if you could make the fashbacks of Greg's seem like a dream while Aaron’s seem more real. I don't really know how you could pull it off but I think it would be interesting to know that Aaron is now her reality.

-Holly

tabuga:

Hey guys. I’m posting this so everyone can reblog and critique me or whatever. If you don’t remember which one is mine, it was the one about the woman who is married but falls in love with a man she met in a dream, and he ends up being the one who hit her in the car accident, but she still loves him. Critique away!

[ernxxx-deactivated20120301]

Meep, HELP!

[inhollysopinion]

I have always liked the idea of fate. No matter what you do, you can't change the path you are supposed to walk down. The only problem with this topic is that it has been done many times which means you have to work harder to make it unique. I think you did a good job of changing it up a bit.

Some of the dialogue seems unnatural. I know that if I were to say what he said to his teacher, I would have gotten a lot more than detention. Also, I don't know how we are going to visually be able to see his decision to make the next day better so maybe you should add some kind of dialogue to make us realize what is going on.

I think I liked your ending the most because it was not what I was expecting. Part of me wanted him to be dead and him "hearing his parents" was like his spirit still lingering behind and hearing what others were saying about him. This could be why he feels the need to change things, because he doesn't like what others are saying about him after his death. 

-Holly

ernxxx:

Make this better, please. 

[whatbecomesofus-deactivated2012]

Critiques

[inhollysopinion]

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and the idea of inner turmoil. The only thing I really have to critique about it is that some of the dialogue doesn't seem genuine. I don’t know that someone would actually say these lines. It might help to read it aloud to make it sound more conversational. Also, I think I would like it more if some of the criticism coming from the family and teacher were a little more harsh. You want it to be devastating to hear a family talk to their child in that way. This is what the play is about.

-Holly 

whatbecomesofus:

Hi guys, 

I am pretty sure that you are supposed to reblog this with your critiques.

but that might not be correct.

I am a little dense when it comes to tumblr.

But, anyways, thank you for your critiques and ideas! 

[inhollysopinion]

FYOS event #2

Last Thursday I went to a meeting held in the Tate Center about volunteer work. It was held by the ISV program. This program takes 50 students each year to either Ecuador, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, or Costa Rica. This presentation told what we would be doing on this trip. The first two weeks are for volunteer work and the second two weeks are for adventure. So you get the best of both worlds. 

For the volunteering weeks, we would be building houses, teaching about health, conservation research, and other projects. The type of work really depends on where you decide to go.

For the adventure weeks, we could be doing anything from safaris to bungie jumping. Everything that was brought up seemed like so much fun! Some of the activities I had never even heard of. There was one where we would be riding in a raft in an underground cave. It sounds like such an adventure! In these caves there are glow in the dark bugs that hang from the ceiling (this sounds a little gross but also slightly awesome. I’m a little conflicted)

After they tell us how much fun we will have, they tell us how much it cost. You have the choice to do either all four weeks or just the two volunteer weeks. Depending on where you choose to go determines how much it will cost. The cheapest was Dominican Republic and Costa Rica while the most expensive was Australia. 

They also said that it is possible that we could receive credit for participating in this.

So the place I would probably want to go are Australia or New Zealand because the thought of being unable to speak the language of the country I would be living in for a month is terrifying (I know, how American of me, but it is true). But of course, the these are two of the most expensive. However, I am told there are many ways to fundraise. Sounds like a fun challenge to me! 

It turns out today I got an email saying that I was excepted into the program! Not sure the time is right for me but maybe I’ll be brave enough to go someday!  If you are interested then you can apply at isvolunteers.org :) good luck! 

[inhollysopinion]

The Incident

This short film is about a man who’s life seems to be going well until he finds this little old man who appears to be stealing his bike. He pushes the guy down and accidentally kills him. In classic movie form, he decides that instead of telling the truth, he should hide it. He pushes this guy down to a creek bank and leaves him with the intention of bury the man another day. Now keep in mind, thirty seconds ago the park was full of people but now no one sees any of this. Their attention should have been drawn to the two while they were fighting. When he returns to buy the man, as soon as he starts to dig a hole, he is sidetracked and goes through the dead guys belongings. He finds a picture of girl who we can assume to be his girlfriend or wife. This seems to hit home with the accidental killer. He realizes that the dead man had a life and he has ended it. By looking at his wallet it seems that the guy could have been very poor. He had no money or cards. He didn’t appear to be homeless by his look but his wallet tells another story. 

I liked that most of the noises in the movie were natural noises. The sounds of people playing (which by the sound of it, they are only four feet away yet cannot see this dead body), the sounds of a baby crying, and the sounds of the alarm clock. The creepiest sound of the film was the main character’s ringtone. Who has a creepy laugh as their ringtone!? Next, he hears the baby crying. It was kind of like his guilt talking to him. Finally, my favorite sound was the clock as it slowed down when he was attempting to kill his girlfriend.

Ok, it could be argued that he wasn’t actually trying to kill the girl, but when you hold her nose while she sleeps it looks bad. I can’t decide if our main character changed a lot through out the course of the film or if he was already slightly “off”. When he first wakes up, he seems so normal, just the cute boyfriend, but he shortly becomes strange. When he kills the man, his first instinct is not to call for help. I mean it was an accident after all. Sure, the film would have been over if he had called the cops but it just seems like the normal response. When he gets back home, he says to his girlfriend that he killed a man and she writes it off as if nothing had happened. Later, he appears to have brought a lunch with him down to where the dead guy is and even speaks to this dead man. Then at the end he starts to cry over “nothing” and the girlfriend seems scared but when she hears his excuse, she acts like it was normal for him to burst into tears for something so small. She almost acts as if she has a secret as well. She seems so relieved to know that he doesn’t know whatever it is. All of this leads me to believe neither one of them were perfectly average before the manslaughter.

I wasn’t a big fan of this movie. I think it could have been told in ten minutes less and would have been better. There were a lot of awkward pauses. I loved the beginning and the end. The opening shot was of the leaves changing colors. This might represent the man changing right before the fall. The leaves become so important later in the film. Also, the last shot was of an old couple walking down the little lane. This is represents the life the dead man will never have. It is a shame the middle could not have been cut out. 

[inhollysopinion]

Doodlebug

By Christopher Nolan

This film was about this guy who appears to have gone crazy. At first I identified with him because I know I would go crazy if there was a little bug in my room that I couldn’t kill. Then I realized, “Oh wait, this guy has literally lost connection from reality”. For some reason, he believes that he sees himself running around the room and tries to kill himself. It just occurred to me that maybe that is his point. He wants to squash himself for some reason. Maybe it is because of something he has done or something he is about to do. He continues to stare at the clock which may indicate anxiety about upcoming events. He also is avoiding the phone call as if he knows who it is and what they have to say. 

When the phone rings, it immediately begins with the woman’s voice saying “hang up and dial the operator”. This makes me think that maybe the phone wasn’t really ringing and he heard it all in his head. 

Even the opening shot of the title makes this guy seem mentally ill. His eyes are the o’s in doodlebug. They are searching for who we find out to be himself. In the end we see the man starring at a smaller version of the man standing over yet another smaller version of the man. All of the men are doing the same thing and are in the same stance. They are smiling as if they had accomplished something. This camera angle makes them look powerful despite the insanity in their eyes. This might even enhance the craziness of it all. 

The film was shot in black and white probably to add to the old scary movie feel to the movie. It in some ways reminded me of Hitchcock movies. This, along with the music, made the movie uncomfortable. In fact, that is exactly how if felt while watching the film: uncomfortable. I just didn’t like it. It felt forced. I was disappointed because I was just expecting an amazing Christopher Nolan film. While it was definitely a Nolan film with all of his usual oddities, it wasn't as gripping as I was hoping.

In the beginning the man’s face was mostly in the shadow and just hard to see. It made it hard to read his expression which might have been the point but I would have just preferred to see his face, to connect with the only character in the film. 

The overall story also reminded me of the Tell Tale Heart mixed with The Yellow Wallpaper. I believe, that while this was a movie surrounding a man full of guilt, it was also depicting a serious mental illness. For instance, the clock, the phone ringing, the operator, and the scuffles on the floor all point to signs of his mental decline. 

Side note: I really didn’t get the title of the movie. I guess I’ll have to look it up. 

[inhollysopinion]

Post-it Love

This film was about office coworkers sending each other symbols to express their love using Post-its. 

This was such a cute short and it lasted just the right amount of time. I mean I don’t think I could have listened to that music for three more minutes. However, this is not to say that I didn’t think that the music was perfect. It had the right amount of cute awkwardness to tie in with our awkward romance between the two main characters. 

All of the colors of the film were so bright; the paint alone was enough to make you happy. Each of the main characters had a quirky style about them. The way the Post-its were used was cleaver as well. It makes me want to put Post-its up for someone. The directing style perfect captured their love as well. My favorite shot was of the flowers. When she was holding the light switch, it looked like she was holding the bouquet. My absolute favorite part of the film was when the woman took the office supplies from the supply closet and the sign next to the door said please only use this supplies for working purposes. It makes me wonder if they have had other office romances that have done this. 

I was so entranced by this film, I watched additional films by Future Shorts, the uploader of this film. I highly recommend Black Hole.

[inhollysopinion]

Bean Cakes

This short film was about a boy named Uchida who just moved to a new school that is clearly a lot different than his old. He wears very traditional Japanese clothes while the other children where American looking school uniforms. He feels out of place and the children don’t do anything to help make him feel more welcome. When asked what he cares most about he states that he loves bean cakes most of all. He says this even though he knows this is not answer the teacher is looking for. He sticks to his beliefs while the teacher insists on him changing to what the teacher believes to be how all Japanese people should think. He even makes Uchida sit Japanese style while sitting in the hall. Finally, in the end Uchida conforms. In the end, he is forced to answer a slightly different question. Does Uchida like a particular girl more than bean cakes. Although his answer is not revealed, his “well I’m not sure anymore” face leads us believe bean cakes may not be what is most important to him any longer. 

If there was some deep meaning to this story, it got lost on me. It just seemed to be about a country boy becoming accustomed to the ways of the city. It took place in 1933, which is right before WWII. Maybe this is how the Japanese prepared their students since the Japanese are known for their pride. Maybe it is about how Japan is going to have to change in a couple of years just like the boy has had to change. 

It was also very interesting that the set and outfits did not seem to be from 1933. I am not sure why this is. In contrast, the way it was shot and sounded was very old fashion. It was made in 2001 yet it looks like it could have been made in the 1940s. This is odd because there are other ways of making a movie feel like it takes place in another time than to make it in such poor quality. 

[thisiswhatdelaneythinks]

[inhollysopinion]

I loved your parallel to a hospital scene and the first shot of the film. The night shift is like death. Great thought.

thisiswhatdelaneythinks:

The film opens with an image that easily could have been the cliche shot used in hospital scenes when a person hanging on to life is being brought into the emergency room. The beeping of the checkout line sounds as if it might be the heart monitor of the person being rushed in for help. The only...

[inhollysopinion]

For Our Man

This film revolves around a man who is trying to write another man’s death. He starts out with the little boy fantasies about awesome death scenes. He slowly begins to realize that life is not something you can just throw away. He also seems to realize that life is ambiguous. He notices that in a few generations, his life and the life of the man will not matter anymore; yet it is still important to live life in a way that will help others. If the man had not saved a particular boy then he would not have any future generations to live this seemingly pointless life. He then realizes that life itself is the end. The end of the Earth is simply the entanglement of people’s lives. He also seems to realize that children might have it figured out. Maybe we should be asking why and realizes that sometimes the answers really are “just because”. 

The beginning of this film gave me a Edgar Allan Poe feel. This feeling changed quickly but it still feels worth noting. By the end, it felt like I was reading the last few chapters of The Lord of the Rings. For Our Man, created a swirl of emotions from beginning to end. It had me questioning each moment. It was hard to separate entertainment and deep thoughts. I felt that I had to take a step back to fully understand what the film was saying to me.

As for directing, I thought it was very cleaver that when our man was about to be killed by the bullet, the camera zooms in on the old man writing the death. The edges of the screen are rounded like we are looking at him through the barrel of the gun. I also loved the way this started to look like a very strange action film when he began to fight the five masked guys. As well as when he is remembering his childhood. At this point it begins to look like an old home movie, just like the end when he is thinking of past and future generations. The director connected his different styles in a nice round circle. 

I have such mixed feelings about this film. I think I liked it but at the same time it took a while to get to the point and I was beginning to think there was no point. In the end, I understood the purpose of bring in random characters and loose end stories but as I was watching it, most of it felt like just that. Random. 

The costumes created a lot confusion for me as well. Maybe the man was wearing the outfit he had because he was suppose to be wise and discovering the secrets of life. To begin, I couldn’t figure out why Santa was being so morbid. He never spoke the entire film, this along with his outfit makes me think he was meant to parallel a monk discovering the secret to life. Maybe the little boy’s wish was our man being reincarnated. Or maybe he was saying that our man figured out the purpose of his life and left the world so the boy could find the purpose of his own life. This would makes sense because the boy was just pondering the purpose of life and why he would possibly want to stay in it. 

I believe the coin represents innocence and the ability to ask why. In the old man’s memory, Hans gives him a coin and says sorrow is not for children. Instead he should spend it on candy. When we first see the coin it it was being flipped in the air as a bullet flew by. Maybe this means that it was by a flip of a coin that our man and this boy were put into this situation and which one of them would die. Then it was the coin Han’s gave the author of this story. Finally, we see that it is just a penny, and the boy gives it up not for candy but on a wish for our man who saved his life and come back. Maybe this is the boy giving up his innocents or maybe it is him asking why. 

I don’t know. Maybe a lot of it went over my head or maybe this is how I was supposed to feel. Short films sure can be a mystery to me at times. 

[inhollysopinion]

Cashback

This short film revolves around a boy named Ben who works the night shift of at a supermarket. Ben seems like the typical employee; he doesn’t want to be there but he is putting up with it. He is narrating his life during the this time and telling how he and his fellow employees get through it. He tells us that each person has perfected an art of making time go by faster. It is all in how you view reality that gets you through a day of work. Everyone in the supermarket views it differently. Two imagine different ways of avoiding work, one completely zones out to avoid the clock, and Ben imagines the world frozen so that he can draw women. He tells us from the beginning that working the night shift is like living in a dream. You don’t really know what is happening until you awake. 

Ben tells us from the beginning that he is an artist and it makes sense that he would want to draw people but we really see his artistic side for the first time when he stands next to a bag of busted open peas. He stares at it as if it is something beautiful to look at. And then he goes on to describe the female body in an admiring way yet not derogatory. He pictures them as forms of nature that you can’t get very close to or they will disappear, like the fawn. 

The music prior to when time stops is fun. The music seems to embody time passing. This sounds crazy but if I were to just hear the music, I would imagine time passing. But when Ben stops time, all of the music stops as well. It was a rather eerie feeling. Finally when he starts drawing the women, peaceful music plays. The end of the film brings back the original music to tie it all together.

The opening shot of the ceiling reminded me of food in a buggy. I feel like if food had senses that is what they would see and hear. This mundane feeling carries out through the beginning of the film. 

I loved the name of the movie for what it stands for in the movie. It is a new way of thinking of work; you don’t work to get paid, you trade your time in for cash back.

Side note: I discovered that this short film was raised to help raise the funds to make this a full length movie. After seeing the short, I watch the full length and must say that I preferred this version. The full length seemed take this idea of freezing time too literal. I understood that Ben was able to do this talent solely in his own mind; however, the full length insinuates that Ben is actually freezing time. It changed my entire perspective of the movie. 

[alexandryarbrfyos-blog]

[inhollysopinion]

I was kind of thinking the title of the movie meant that sooner or later he would get it right. I think that your take is really interesting and might be right! 

alexandryarbrfyos:

Time travel is a cinema staple and it typically always makes for an interesting (and confusing) story. Sooner or Later is no exception— it is really interesting and it is definitely confusing.

The title seems to imply the most important question of the film “Is he sooner or later?” and,...

[inhollysopinion]

Sooner or Later

This film takes place during World War II in a Nazi headquarters. Several things pop into my head when I think of Nazi and none of them are good so you kind of come into this film feeling a certain way. The way this Nazi is acting like nothing is going on when clearly outside there is a serious war makes you hate this guy even more. I immediately connected with the prisoner.

The military man is clearly trying to collect some data on some serum that they are studying. It turns out that it must be a time travel serum. The only indication as to when we are in time is the cigarettes and even that becomes to hard to follow. The first shot we see is of the officer emptying his ashtray into a trashcan. As the story progresses the camera continuously shows the man’s ashtray. It is this ashtray that indicates to the traveler that he has in fact traveled through time. At the end, the future prisoner puts the cigarette so that it seems like it is the officer’s so it will seem like nothing has changed when he goes back to the past. At the end, we see that clearly this has been happening many times because once again the ashtray is full. 

Also, another indications to his time travel is that his shirt was unbuttoned. I still can’t figure this one out. I never saw when he unbuttoned it. We do see that the last version of the guy that time traveled seemed to have learned his lesson and buttons his shirt before he goes back to the present (or maybe past, I’m still a little confused). 

The prisoner at the beginning seems very scared to be there and not 100% sure what is going on. When he sees the officer dead, he reacts like he is completely out of the time travel loop. When he talks to his future self, the man tells him he will get use to smoking which makes me think this is his first time traveling adventure as well. I want to believe that this is the original guy that time travels but if the full ashtray at the beginning of the film is any indication, he has time traveled before. Also, when the officer shows the prisoner the piece of paper, the prisoner looks at it like he knows he is suppose to get it. Really the shock of a dead man popping up in front of him was not too bad. He knows exactly what he is suppose to do. So basically, I still have no idea what is going on. Maybe this man has not time traveled before but has met his future self before and the man told him what would happened and what to do. Although later he needs to be told to take the paper out of the room and that someone would explain it later. 

The Nazis clearly thought that this tool would be an advantage to them when perfected, and who knows, it might have been if they had not used it on someone who was clearly not on their side. Instead, this tool seems to be working against them.

The way the camera flowed made me feel like I was discovering what was happening with the prisoner. The camera is focused on the man’s face and the glass as he drinks the water then travels with the glass as the man goes to get more water. We discover (along with the loud burst of music) that the officer is dead. After the man returns to his seat, the camera follows him and does not let us see the rest of the room. This allows the prisoner to time travel without us even noticing. 

Despite my confusion, I really liked this movie. It feels like a never ending cycle. Somethings just don’t add up. Unless we caught it at the beginning (which I don’t think we did, once again, because of the cigarettes), it seems like the guys pocket would be full of hats. Also, why does some of the room go back to normal, like the paper and gun are back in the man’s pocket, yet the water stays in the glass as if he had already poured it. I have probably watched pieces of it ten times and each time feel like I have more questions. 

[inhollysopinion]

Morning Fall

This film keeps the viewer in the dark about everything for most of the film. The main character is figuring out what is going on along with the audience.This would also be the conflict: what is going on? There are so many questions that pop up as I watched the film: who is this guy, what happened, if he was in an accident why is he so far from the road, why did he grab that hairbrush like it meant something, and why did he have it? Some of these questions were answered while others weren’t. As for who the guy was, we don’t really know. When we are first introduced to him, he is lying on a ground and there is a bunny near him. This makes me think that maybe he has been there awhile since wildlife is getting close. We can assume that he hit a deer and flip out on the bike. The guy is very banged up yet he walking around looking for a lighter. He even tosses aside a first aid kit when looking for the matches. I find it odd that he doesn’t even think to go to the road for help until he hears the car. I guess this shows how most people will go back to the basics of surviving when in need instead of looking at the overall picture. Then when he thinks of being saved by a passerby, he passes out in the road. This doesn’t seem like the most intelligent thing to do considering he just hit a deer and someone could very easily hit him. I guess, if he doesn’t get hit, someone will see him. 

As for the hairbrush, we discover that it is his girlfriend’s and that she was in the accident with him. This was the big twist that the whole film had been leading up to. 

The film starts out very peaceful and innocent like every morning. We see the deer crossing sign, our first clue as to what may have happened. Even when the man is lying on the road, we see a plane pass over just doing what it does everyday. Nothing seems aware of what has just happened. 

When I first started watching the film, I was thinking why doesn’t he just pull out his cell phone then began to wonder if this movie was made before everyone had one. Ironically, we discover that the girl had a phone when he calls it and we see it next to her dead body. The focus changes from the lighter that he threw into the grass, to the phone, to her body. The part of her body we see first is her hand and on it is a ring with a lucky horseshoe, the same one that he was wearing earlier. The last line in the song that plays before we see the lighter is “You’ll wish you wore the rings I bought for you.” It makes me think that maybe they were just coming back from getting married. “Morning Fall” might refer to their marriage ending some prematurely. 

I like that when they show the guy come and save him, they never show his face. It kind of makes you aware that this guy being rescued is not what the film is about. Its about all the other questions that surround him. 

[inhollysopinion]

Lunch Date by Adam Davidson

The first thing I noticed about the film was that it was filmed in 1989 yet was shot in black and white. At the very beginning, I got that that early 1900s feel good type vibe. Like “Gridlock,” the music at the beginning does not accurately tell what the movie is going to be about. However, it slowly becomes clear that maybe the reason black and white was chosen was to show the main character’s feeling against the African American race and maybe everything isn’t as black and white as she thought. 

Its clear from what the lady is wearing that she is a member of at the least the middle class with her nice fur coat and hat, carrying around shopping bags indicating she has money to spend. At first, I thought she just had a prejudice towards the lower class when she gives the homeless men funny looks as she passes. But when a clearly upperclass African American man runs into her she gets very offended. 

After she misses her train she is forced to go eat in some shop and just barely has enough money to buy a salad. When she comes back, a African American man who seems to be homeless is eating a salad and she assumes it is hers. The first thing I noticed was that her bags were not there anymore. The man tells her that she is crazy and that it is his but she is sure that he is lying. She begins to eat the salad with him. This is the conflict of the film which really isn’t resolved. When the guy returns with coffee, she is at first taken aback but finally drinks it. It seems that they have both brightened each others day when she walks away. 

When the lady returns and finds that her bags were actually at another table and that it really wasn’t her salad, she laughs it off. She seems to have learned that the guy was willing to share coffee and a salad with her even though at the beginning of the movie we see him in the background searching through the change returns at vending machines for money. Hopefully she realizes that her assumptions are not true. I feel like her feelings towards other races has changed at least a little. 

On another note, I love black and white films because of what you can do with the lighting. Two of my favorite parts was at the beginning when she was walking through the train station and the sun was coming in behind her through the skylights and when she was walking in the restaurant and you could see her shadow before you saw her. I just wish the rest of the film had more moments like these.