Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I hope that if your reading this that you have seen or even heard of The Chronicles of Narnia. Whether it is the book, a picture, or the movie I can't help my imagination. I like C.S. Lewis' books and recently the next movie in the series came out. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is not the next book chronologically (there is one called "The Horse and His Boy", which is next), but The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the next adventure for the Pevensie children. Now Edmund, Suzy, and their cousin Eustace meet up with Prince Caspian on a voyage to the edge of the world.

First let me say that I have read the book and seen the older movies made for BBC. That said I thought it was a good movie, not particularly a perfect adaptation, but C.S. Lewis' books are very allegorical and I understand that some writers and directors would like to "filter" out the messages Lewis put into his books.

The age range of the Chronicles of Narnia is about 9-12 and the first book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was released in 1950. One book was release every consecutive year and Voyage of the Dawn Treader was the third so it was 1952 before it was released. This means that even if the reader started reading at 9 years old they would have read the third book as a young adult.

My point I am getting to is that the movie isn't age appropriate. In the book there is real danger, the characters get captured and sold into slavery, they nearly starve in the middle of the ocean, and on top of all that there is a mysterious mist that eats people. As in the other movies there is no blood, except when one of the characters receives a paper cut from a mouse with a dagger and that was a drop. It is scary and the characters in the book are scared, in contrast the movie is very lax like they are visiting their grandmother, not wanting to be there, but silently protesting.

I will not give any spoilers, but a creature in the movie transforms and the way he does is he sheds his skin. I know it may be hard to believe, but I liked how the book explained it. In the book he has to rip the skin off like a snake, in the movie it just disintegrates. I disliked this because it was takes away the whole meaning, because it shows that he had to go through some effort in order to be a better person, a "transformation" if you will. The suspense wasn't there for me. I was there with the characters fighting seas and swordsmen, but I felt little worry that the characters were in any real danger. In a horror movie the way you show the beast is a killer is, somebody gets killed. If the audience isn't showed what the danger is there is none.

I liked the movie, but there are some things I would have liked to change. The characters develop nicely and the elements that were changed in the story did not affect the outcome in the end. Allthough I did not see it in 3D the visuals and CG characters were believable and the giant battle at the end is amazing. Considering my expectations I give it an 8 out of 10.

Homemade Steadicam

The Filmmaker community was introduced to a revolutionary new device, originally named the "Brown Stabilizer" in 1976. For obvious reasons the device was renamed the "Steadicam." The first film shot with Steadicam was the Movie Bound For Glory, about artist Woodie Guthrie's life. Recently I saw a video on Indy Mogul on how to make an old tripod into a Steadicam system. I had this tripod sitting around that a friend of mine gave me, but I could use it because it was broken.

Materials

1x L-Shaped Scrap Metal

5x 1/4 - 20 Bolts

Assorted Nuts and Washers

Tools

Screwdriver

Tap, With 1/4 - 20 Bit

Adjustable Wrench

Drill

Saw

This particular tripod had no base plate, no tilt lock bolt, no pan lock knob, and no knob for the crank riser. I thought this was a good project for this tripod, I can't lose.

So I don't have a base plate with this particular tripod. So I had to use a 1/4" 20 thread bolt. Now the way it works is you extend the legs on one side to balance out the camera. Now I don't like that the legs are so long and they get in the way if you are going through a door or other enclosed area. What I did was grabbed a small tool bag I had in my car and weighed it down a little on the opposite end of the camera, make sure not too much because of the length of the legs it will take less weight because it is closer to the center of gravity. Using the adjustable crank head I balance the camera and tighten it down. Bingo. Steadicam. Now with this you will be able to get reasonably good steady shots. Here is a test video using my homemade Steadicam.

Hart "Car Show" Music Video

On August twenty-eighth I went with a production company called K2 Productions down to South Carolina to shoot a music video. I was to be a Production Assistant and helping the crew with anything they needed. First thing I did was read up. This was my first rodeo and I was not going to look unprofessional in front of the entire production team. So I went on to Google, Wikipedia, and any Film Making website I could find to research what I needed to look prepared. 

What I discovered is that Production Assistants or P.A.s do everything that nobody else wants to do. You are the lowest man on the totem pole, digging ditches, going for coffee, and any other backbreaking job your co-workers can concoct. This is a good thing, because I have a lot of experience with being a doormat, not literally, but I can work well in high paced stressful situations.

Second thing I did was emptied a backpack and packed it full of pens, pencils, markers, and paper. Then I packed my tool bag, making sure to include things like allen wrenches, flashlight, knife, and assorted screwdrivers. Then I carried it to the car and began to make a checklist of everything I had in my tool bag and backpack. Then I packed it away and made sure to stay up late so I could sleep in to throw off my schedule to compensate for the late night.

The meeting was at the producer's house at one o'clock we all met and I got to know everyone and casually introduced myself. Then we all piled into the car and drove to Shelby, NC. We arrived at the first location in a parking lot at about three-thirty and immediately started to set up. I was instructed to help set up the Jib with one of the camera men. We began the assembly process and attached the Jib arm to our tripod, then proceeded to attach the camera. I'm glad I had my tool bag handy, because I was going back and forth getting allen wrenches and screw drivers to tighten bolts and attaching the camera.

After assembling the Jib arm I watched the trailer and the equipment, which I learned was called Fire Watch. I was also trusted with a co-worker’s camera and took pictures of the crew working. The video was a rap video, so we had girls, smoke, and cars everywhere. Now I can tolerate a lot, but when a very heavy stranger comes over and sits on the company’s trailer that I am trusted to care for, I couldn't believe it. I will not go into details, but if something like this ever happens to you ask someone, don't leave the equipment unattended, but ask a department key or the director before you say anything.

After the parking lot scene was dinner and then we proceeded to the next scene, which was at a Holiday Inn. I helped get gear off the trailer and then resumed Fire Watch. As I was sitting there there were multiple crowds of people who came by and asked who I was with and how I was doing. I had been with working with them for a day I was a representative of the company.

After the hotel the camera crew and the artists took a ride in a stretch hummer and me and the remainder of the crew followed, shooting the hummer from the outside. We travel for a while and arrived at a club in a downtown area and the crew shot another scene inside while me and the hummer driver talked outside. Finally the stretch hummer arrived at the final location at a night club.


Again I was on Fire Watch, so I took this time to reorganize the equipment trailer and put that equipment that was in the car into the trailer. If you have free time always use that time to be more productive, organizing, packing, exercising stands, and so on. After the camera crew was done we were off. Good thing I stayed up late the night before, because I was driving home. The crew arrived back into Greensboro at about seven O' clock in the morning and we were bushed, all of us.


I carpooled with someone so we all went our ways and I left with a new confidence about video making. We had little to no knowledge about each of the locations and none about the crowds that were attending. This production really put into perspective what kind of challenges you as a video producer can face and I can't wait to do it again.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

I recently watched Lemony Snicket's A series of Unfortunate Events for the first time in about two years. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is about three children whose parents Die in an Unfortunate fire and are sent to live with their closest relative, Their Great Count Olaf, played by Jim Carey. Director of Photograph Emmanuel Lubezki really sets the mood for this film, he does a fantastic job at taking the audience into the beautifully built sets and illuminating our hero's sunny, warm personalities and creating the great contrast that these children have with their surroundings.

Jim Carey is said to be "uncontrollable," quoted from Lemony Snicket's director Brad Silberling. Jim Carey's personality and improvisation skills are said to be amazing. When beginning the process it began with getting Jim Carey into costume and allowing him to improve. Many of the lines in the film were written into the script from Jim Carey's Improve tapes. No film is complete without scenery and John Dexter is in my opinion one of the best. You may not know him by name, but as a Production Designer his work speaks for itself. Some of his more note worthy films are; Sleepy Hollow, The Big Lebowski, Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, and At World's End. You can look at his complete Filmography here IMDB.



I really enjoyed this film because of its Eclectic look, Mediterranean looking architecture such as triangular doorways and tall columns combined with old decorations and props that are both elegant and rusted. The world of Lemony Snicket's is hard to place, whether it is in current time or some other relative time line to our own world. This is essential in order to allow the audience to enter the world of Lemony Snicket's.

Last year there was some news of a Sequel to the film from the director Brad Siberling saying, "I would love nothing more than to a that(sequel) and we’ve been hoping to, so I think there will be a chance it may take a wildly different form but I think it will probably happen." In it's opening weekend the film pulled in roughly $30 million, then $12 in it's second, and $14 in it's third. Not a huge success considering the Studio's $140 million budget. All in all the total worldwide gross for 19 weeks of screen time was approximately $209 million dollars. The film was nominated for Four oscars including; Best Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, and Best Original Score. It won Best Makeup, by Valli O'Reilly and Bill Corso.

There are no confirmations of any Sequels yet, but keep your eyes out there and your fingers crossed, because I would like to see more of the world of Lemony Snicket's.

48 Hour Film Festival 2010

This Summer I participated in a festival of sorts that encourages filmmakers to get out there and make films. The 48 Hour Film Project's goal is ".. to advance filmmaking and promote filmmakers." Over one sleepless weekend filmmakers complete a film that can be anywhere from three to seven minutes long. Every part of the filmming and production process must be done within the set start and finish date, including special effects and score. I participated in two different cities and I can say that I have a new love for making films. Well enough talk, I'll show you.



I was the camera man for this project that I did along with some of my classmates. We were required by the competition to include a prop and a line into our film. The line was "That sure looks good to me" and the prop was a bottle, we won awards for the best use of both.

This next film for the Greensboro 48 hour film festival was with a couple of my friends and one of my teachers. This was my first introduction to the project and I can say that I have become more experienced from working on this project. An interesting thing about this film was that all of the scenes were shot chronologically. Our elements for this film were the line "You think you know everything" and the prop was a handkerchief. I was production designer and I also had an assistant. The cast and crew were excellent and they were thoroughly rewarded, winning awards for best Cinematography, best Special Effects, and many other awards and honorable mentions.



If you really want to make a movie try out the 48 hour film project it is a great experience and you meet a lot of interesting people and make some great movies. Challenge yourself, make up your own scenario, a random character, a prop, whatever it is get out there and make your own movies. I would like to see what you made, post your comment with a URL to your video here.