The Social Network

The Social Network is possibly one of the most depressing films I’ve ever watched. One way to look at it is a film about a young Harvard student who creates a social networking website to become the world’s youngest billionaire. Here’s how I saw it: A guy puts all his time and effort into making something to gain the interest of his ex who broke up with him because he was a douche while at the same time alienating his closest friend while not showing a single bit of emotion throughout the entire film.

Yes, he was rich and set for life but he practically stabbed his best mate in the back who had worked his arse off and actually put in the money to help start The Facebook going. Frankly, I found that extremely depressing.

Now that that’s done, I can say it was a very well made film and deserving of its academy award  for best adapted screenplay because I was able to grasp what they were saying and I’m crap with computer techno language. It manages to keep you on your toes throughout the film as Mark Zuckerberg and his gang get steadily more and more successful climaxing in reaching a million users. Of course, then again, it keeps bringing you down with scenes in an office where Zuckerberg is being sued for hundreds of millions of dollars so it doesn’t let you stay cheerful for too long.

I know it’s supposed to be factual and so not given a happy storyline like most fiction works do, but that doesn’t stop me feeling depressed watching a guy treat his supposedly best mate like that.

It’s an interesting film and is actually funnier than I expected it to be so I would recommend it.

Zuckerberg’s still a douche though.

The Meeting Pitch and Synopsis (re-done)

PITCH

A dark romance about a student blaming himself for the death of his girlfriend, whose spirit comes back to confront him.

SYNOPSIS

Sam Bauer is a nineteen year old university student. He lives in a one room apartment and he is extremely depressed following the death of his girlfriend Louise. She was killed by a speeding car after being convinced by Sam to walk to his flat. Sam feels responsible for Louise’s death and refuses to talk about the incident to anybody. He keeps a stiff upper lip when Jack - his friend and flatmate - is around him because he doesn’t want to burden Jack with his problems. 

The story revolves around Sam being visited by the spirit of Louise during the night setting up a dark confrontation from beyond the grave. However, as the encounter continues it soon blends into a less morbid discussion between the two. But Sam’s mind is still clouded with guilt and still can’t forgive himself.  Will Louise exonerate him of his actions? Or will she confirm his worse fears and hate him for what has happened?

The Meeting is a dark romance about how a young man must learn to forgive himself for his own actions. It shows a rare instance of someone who condemns themselves but finds a chance at redemption. Louise was kind and gentle in life, but will death have changed her outlook on the one she loved?

Trailer Week

One of the key things I’ve learnt this week from working on our trailers is how crucial it is to keep the “meaty bits” in. I hadn’t noticed before how very little dead space there is in actual movie trailers. It’s helped me realise how much you need to keep the audience focused on what is occurring, meaning always use the part of a clip that has something going on, rather than footage that isn’t relevant to the overall story and will not grab the audience’s attention. This is definitely a tip that I will keep in mind when making my trailer to The Meeting.

Soft trailer made by Lauren and I

FINALLY put something on here (Sorry Simon)

How To Train Your Dragon is fast becoming my new favourite animated movie. I never managed to watch this film when it came out due to spending money on pub outings rather than going to the cinema. I wish I had though.

Hiccup, a young Viking underdog, seeks approval from the village and from his dad who happens to be the chief. Unfortunately for Hiccup, being one of the more “scrawny” Vikings, he has to kill a dragon in order to gain acceptance. After capturing one however, he realises that he can’t bring himself to kill a dragon. The dragon he captures is maimed and can’t fly away. Hiccup takes this opportunity to spend time with it, naming it Toothless and learns how to ride on it.

One of the things that impressed me with this film is that it prides itself on how good its animation is but backs it up with good storytelling. Some of the best scenes in the film are without dialogue, and just show the interaction between Hiccup and Toothless, using music and facial expressions to convey the characters emotions.

 It’s a feel good film where a young lad who was an outcast and thought of as an annoyance to everyone including his father, uses exactly what makes him different to save the day and become a hero to the village.

However, there’s one thing that took me a while to notice and since then hasn’t stopped bugging me; there’s no opening credits. I know a lot of films don’t have an opening credit sequence (George Lucas was fined for not having one in Empire Strikes Back) but in How To Train Your Dragon it doesn’t even mention the name of the film until right at the end when the end credits start to roll. Usually the title is one of the first things you see but not in this film; it goes from the Dreamworks logo straight into the action.

One more thing, and I know this sounds nerdy of me, but real Viking’s didn’t have horns on their helmets. Then again, the films about dragons so I can’t really criticise them for historical accuracy.

All in all this film gets an 8/9 out of 10 from me. Definitely worth a watch.

Spaced Synopsis

Spaced is a quirky comedy where Tim, a lovable stoner who works as a comic book artist, is dumped by his girlfriend and finds solace in the form of Daisy, a self-deluded but likeable woman who has moved out of her squalid flat and looking for a new place to live. After many encounters, they both realise they need each other and must pretend to be a couple in order to rent a flat from a mad alcoholic landlady. While living in their flat, they go through day to day experiences with their friends Mike, an idiot with a gun obsession, and Brian a strange “artist” who lives downstairs and has a girlfriend called Twist.

Throughout the series, Tim and Daisy form a connection with each other, and as the series progresses, they both mature and grow emotionally. Although the idea is teased at times, the pair never actually begin a relationship and stay friends throughout the story.

Spaced is set in an urban area in North West London, but is mainly set in the flat. It uses creative techniques such as fast editing with multiple camera shots and creative and unusual camera angles. Animation is used interestingly with the cartoon characters created by Tim. Pop culture is used cleverly in scenes where even if the audience doesn’t get the joke, they still have something to laugh at. It’s got quite dark humour but one of the most attractive things about the series is that it’s relatable for the audience and therefore even though it shows everyday events occurring, it is still enjoyable to watch.

Being a sitcom, another advantage to Spaced is that it has multiple story arcs. This means that even if a viewer misses one of the episodes, they aren’t completely lost when watching the next instalment.

In conclusion, Spaced is an everyday, rat race sitcom, but manages to hook onto its audience with relatable characters, new and interesting storylines and creative, unique camerawork and editing.