Youtube Movie review channels
I understand the idea of a Youtube video as an art form that is worth analyzing sounds completely stupid, especially given the stigma of the youtuber in recent years.
However, there is a thriving underground world of independent movie makers and "connoisseurs" (a generous term) who make a living analyzing films. Usually, the films they choose are really bad, and that's because it makes for an interesting video to watch a smug journalist break away from their levelheaded persona to be angry at a poorly made film.
That being said, as difficult as they may seem to take seriously, they do have an awful lot to offer.
It's really pretty enriching to listen to a careful, well-thought-out essay on why a movie works or doesn't work. As a student in the film discipline, it's a nice, convenient way to learn more.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Monday, April 17, 2017
Bob dylan assessment thing
1. This piece is extremely stylistic. It's written in a very unusual way given the nature of the content. It's chronological, and is explored in mini chapters marked with roman numerals. That aside, the actual story being told is pretty disturbing. It seems to be about a man suffering very badly from post traumatic stress and an abusive personality disorder written form the point of view of his wife/spouse/girlfriend. That is, at least for some of it. It switches between point-of-view from chapter to chapter. The inclusion of Bob Dylan was frankly lost upon me. That may be because I haven't quite had time to digest it yet. The exploration of how Bob Dylan "transformed" seemed important, but perhaps I need to know more about Dylan's life to really know what that was in reference to. Overall, I come away from the reading confused, the story of this gentlemen's life (or six gentlemen's and women's lives for all i know) is fractured and depressing.
2. WELL not really much. Sorry. This article was written in an extremely confusing way. I'm sure whoever wrote it still won an award from someone who is far smarter than me. There was a part at the beginning about how this guy lost his temper, and the way it was described is actually familiar to me a little bit. I've been angry before. Perhaps not homicidally, definitely not enough so to gun a bunch of strangers down through a windshield. The parts that described the man manipulating his wife made sense? I have limited experience with abusive personality disorders, I've definitely read a whole lot about them. That's all that I really "connected" to. Again, this article was written in a pretty cryptic way. Perhaps another article on a similar topic that wasn't written by freakin' Andy Warhol would do this class some good, it's 8:30 in the morning and a selection of these students are still learning English for God's sake!
3.In all honesty, this writing is almost formatted as a screenplay. It's confusing when written, but i think if i were to be turned into a short film with Bob Dylan playing in the background, it might be relatively successful. For whatever the article is trying to convey, I feel like it would be clearer if it were a film.
2. WELL not really much. Sorry. This article was written in an extremely confusing way. I'm sure whoever wrote it still won an award from someone who is far smarter than me. There was a part at the beginning about how this guy lost his temper, and the way it was described is actually familiar to me a little bit. I've been angry before. Perhaps not homicidally, definitely not enough so to gun a bunch of strangers down through a windshield. The parts that described the man manipulating his wife made sense? I have limited experience with abusive personality disorders, I've definitely read a whole lot about them. That's all that I really "connected" to. Again, this article was written in a pretty cryptic way. Perhaps another article on a similar topic that wasn't written by freakin' Andy Warhol would do this class some good, it's 8:30 in the morning and a selection of these students are still learning English for God's sake!
3.In all honesty, this writing is almost formatted as a screenplay. It's confusing when written, but i think if i were to be turned into a short film with Bob Dylan playing in the background, it might be relatively successful. For whatever the article is trying to convey, I feel like it would be clearer if it were a film.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
LONG FORM TELEVISION: STRANGER THINGS
"Stranger things" is a pretty thrilling series.
It's is well-written, emotionally impactful, and implements a very well-appropriated and popular '80s aesthetic in its visuals. What's not to like?
If I'm being honest, long form television is something I just don't really have the attention span for. That's why so many popular TV shows in the past never really got me hooked. With series like "Breaking Bad", "Bates Motel", "The Walking Dead", or "Game of thrones", I knew they were good, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and watch them. This is still kinda the case for "Stranger things", but not enough for me not to want to see more of it. More on that later.
To start, I'll share my experience watching the show. The whole time I was watching, I was thinking to myself "This isn't particularly original, but it's definitely entertaining enough for me not to care." I don't mean to be snobby about originality. I appreciate experimentation, but I guess it's risky on a TV project when there are too many people relying on the creators not to do anything that will put their getting paid at risk.
That being said, I don't want to make anybody think "Stranger Things" is some cookie-cutter rehash of a familiar concept and execution. The adrenaline-moments, for one, never feel too melodramatic, yet they're still extremely engaging. Watching television dramas always made me question why the writing was so goddamn dumb when it came to fights between characters. I assume it's a way for the writers to let their audience know that they need to be paying attention, but its unnecessary and condescending.
An example was a fight between two characters, Jonathan and Steve. Screenshots wouldn't do it any justice, but it was refreshing to see a fight that wasn't just "yo-mamma" jokes or dumb catch phrases. It honestly felt like I was watching a fight between two real people. They also beat the hell out of each other, no-holds-barred. I loved it.
There's far more I could go into, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Anyways, as for what I noticed about the medium: I noticed a lot. In long-form television, it's usually pretty obvious. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger or leaves unanswered questions, there's a high contrast between adrenaline moments and relief, comic or otherwise. If I can sum it up in any way, I would just say that it keeps you hooked. It's like how at a casino they do all this corrupt psychological shit to keep people "addicted".
I wouldn't be surprised normally, but the series is hosted on Netflix, so I was even more not surprised. That being said, I was definitely able to "Give in" to the enticing siren calls. It was a series that was different enough for me not to feel like an idiot while i got invested in it, and i wasn't feeling like I was stretching to say that it was a "must watch". I think, given that it was hosted on the internet, it also was great bait for the meme crowd. Watching the logo for the TV show be parodied by my facebook friends using a website hosted by the creators of the show made it all the more fun to watch. As evil as it feels for these TV shows to bend over backwards keeping you addicted, it's a bit redeeming to realize that it's just creating a common interest. It's a platform that many people can unify under.
It's is well-written, emotionally impactful, and implements a very well-appropriated and popular '80s aesthetic in its visuals. What's not to like?
If I'm being honest, long form television is something I just don't really have the attention span for. That's why so many popular TV shows in the past never really got me hooked. With series like "Breaking Bad", "Bates Motel", "The Walking Dead", or "Game of thrones", I knew they were good, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and watch them. This is still kinda the case for "Stranger things", but not enough for me not to want to see more of it. More on that later.
To start, I'll share my experience watching the show. The whole time I was watching, I was thinking to myself "This isn't particularly original, but it's definitely entertaining enough for me not to care." I don't mean to be snobby about originality. I appreciate experimentation, but I guess it's risky on a TV project when there are too many people relying on the creators not to do anything that will put their getting paid at risk.
That being said, I don't want to make anybody think "Stranger Things" is some cookie-cutter rehash of a familiar concept and execution. The adrenaline-moments, for one, never feel too melodramatic, yet they're still extremely engaging. Watching television dramas always made me question why the writing was so goddamn dumb when it came to fights between characters. I assume it's a way for the writers to let their audience know that they need to be paying attention, but its unnecessary and condescending.
An example was a fight between two characters, Jonathan and Steve. Screenshots wouldn't do it any justice, but it was refreshing to see a fight that wasn't just "yo-mamma" jokes or dumb catch phrases. It honestly felt like I was watching a fight between two real people. They also beat the hell out of each other, no-holds-barred. I loved it.
There's far more I could go into, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Anyways, as for what I noticed about the medium: I noticed a lot. In long-form television, it's usually pretty obvious. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger or leaves unanswered questions, there's a high contrast between adrenaline moments and relief, comic or otherwise. If I can sum it up in any way, I would just say that it keeps you hooked. It's like how at a casino they do all this corrupt psychological shit to keep people "addicted".
I wouldn't be surprised normally, but the series is hosted on Netflix, so I was even more not surprised. That being said, I was definitely able to "Give in" to the enticing siren calls. It was a series that was different enough for me not to feel like an idiot while i got invested in it, and i wasn't feeling like I was stretching to say that it was a "must watch". I think, given that it was hosted on the internet, it also was great bait for the meme crowd. Watching the logo for the TV show be parodied by my facebook friends using a website hosted by the creators of the show made it all the more fun to watch. As evil as it feels for these TV shows to bend over backwards keeping you addicted, it's a bit redeeming to realize that it's just creating a common interest. It's a platform that many people can unify under.
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