Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta film. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta film. Mostrar todas las entradas

miércoles, 7 de octubre de 2015

Unexpected

   Adam had always been, to the eyes of others, perfect. He had always been taller than others, but not too tall. He was also smart, but not exceedingly intelligent. He was a very sporty guy but also found time to enjoy and participate in so many other activities such as theatre and dancing. Besides, everyone loved his physique, his smile and his nice and gentle way of being. He was perfect, as said before but the only thing people judged him for was the choice of his career. He had envisioned, at first, to become a professional footballer. Then, as he was stopped everywhere he went, he was asked to be a model several times and he enjoyed every experience he had doing that. He even acted on a couple of TV advertisements for products aimed at young people.

 So it was a surprise, to everyone, that he ended up being a porno star. Yes, Adam had found a way to earn his life honestly by taking his clothes of and having sex on camera. As a model, he knew he looked great on camera and as a sports player he knew his body was more than enough to be able to pose naked. The sex part was the most awkward for him but once he got to know the people, it was more comfortable. He had chosen this path, solely because his family was having money issues and he wanted to help them as much as he could so the best way to do it was with porn, as they paid fast and generously. Before he realized, he became one of the favorite actors and he was doing movies in other places, travelling for conventions and getting more and more in the industry.

 Different was the life of David, who was not a perfect guy, or at least he would never be named as such by anyone he knew. He was not good at sports and he didn’t really like any of them. And the concept of going to a gym, a “cage for monkeys” as he put it, was not even in consideration. He was smart but not intelligent and he had no special talents, at least not that he had found in himself. Physically, David was rather short and not fat but not skinny either. He didn’t really like to take his clothes off at the beach but didn’t mind doing it in his house. David and Adam were very different but, somehow, they ended up in the same place.

 But not in the same capacity. David had gone to college and studied to become a film director. He loved movies and wanted to make his own, mainly science fiction and maybe some action ones. He loved everything that had to do with creation and writing and he was ready, at some point, to take over the world with his ideas. But that didn’t happen. Finding a job, specially when you’re young and have no experience. So David sent his curriculum everywhere and only one company responded. He only found it was a porno production company once he went there for an appointment with the head producer. But he saw it was money and he needed experience so he took the job.

 The two guys didn’t meet immediately or anything. Adam was too busy getting famous in his medium and, eventually, he even told his family about what he really did for a living. They were shocked at first and even prone to convince him not to keep working on porn, but then they realized it was that money that had put them through rough times, so they couldn’t really say much. With time, they learned to respect Adam’s decision and they would simply not ask him anything about his job, except maybe when it was him that brought it up, normally something from a trip or a funny story he had lived. He understood those unspoken conditions and was fine with them, as he knew his family would eventually be ok with it.

 He would travel a lot, going from city to city, country to country, visiting all conventions aimed at adult entertainment. The funny thing the first couple of times was the amount of people that recognized him. Both men and women knew who he was from ads online or his movies and that, to him, felt very strange but very good too. He would pose with many fans for pictures and would sign various deals in those places, to put his face on several products sold to adults, toys and so on, but he also signed on for more and more movies, in other countries and with actors and actresses he had never worked with. He had good experiences and bad too but he was always “the perfect guy” and that was even the name of one if his movies.

 David, on the other hand, was working very hard for not so much money. At first the pay was good but then he was transferred to another production company, one that was smaller, and his workload became much larger and his paycheck much smaller. He endured for a bit as others praised him because of his technical ability, something he didn’t even know he had in himself. He did so for several months until he was transferred back to the place where he had a better workload and was surprised to know they wanted him to do the lighting for all the top movies they were releasing. That meant, that all the movies he would do would be the ones the production company was going to push harder on their clientele and that meant also that David’s work would be known.

 The young man was happy to see that people know respected him more, even if they didn’t always knew his name. He had control over a whole section of these movies and, even if they weren’t what he wanted his life to be about, it was a good beginning, as his technical expertise would suffice to make someone important look at him. But at the beginning it was all about porn and filming in these crazy locations such as lavish mansions and fantastic forests and even a rundown train station. It was funny to him how everything got into porn in such an easy way and no one even doubted it would work.

 After returning from a filming in Japan, Adam had several hours on the plane to think about his life. He was as perfect and gorgeous as he would ever be and he had the favor of many people that surrounded him but he had started to wonder if he didn’t need something more in life, maybe something to call his own. He had the idea of starting a pizza business but the idea remained there on his mind because of the amount of responsibilities he had and that he couldn’t ignore. People were also asking why he didn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend but he would never answer those questions and he didn’t really know the answer. Maybe it was because, in that line of work, it was best not to combine your personal life and your private one and adult movies are something not every couple would understand fully.

 Meanwhile, David had been contacted by an independent filmmaker, who had asked him to pitch him some ideas for a mystery movie. He had seen David’s work in the adult industry and had also read some of his stories that he published online and had been surprised by his ability to tell stories. So now David had a way to slip away from porn and reroute his life towards what he really wanted. But as he developed the mystery film, he didn’t stop working with the company that had paid him for so long. After all, he had commitments to them and he didn’t wanted to just drop everything and move on to something he didn’t even know if it would work or not. So he opted for patience.

 Eventually the mystery film went into production and David decided it was time to leave the adult film industry. He announced it to his boss and they scheduled together his last film that would star none other than The Perfect guy, in other words, Adam. Curiously, it was Adam’s last film too before he decided to move along and create his pizza business with his family. The filming was very relaxed, despite being quite ambitious for a porno film. They had amazing cameras and lights and costumes. It was a true film being made and it was, for many, the first time porno films were being done in such magnitude, with such grandeur and potential. It was supposed to be a game changer.

 The truth is, Adam and David only spoke once and it wasn’t even a conversation. It was David telling Adam to move a couple of steps backwards for the lights to hit him in the best way and Adam complying. That was it. Adam was of course no interested in David, as he didn’t even acknowledged him at all. David, on his side, did look at Adam extensively as it was stupid not to but he got bored after the first half hour. He was just too “up there” and he was just himself. So after they wrapped up, everyone went home and carried on with their lives.


 Adam’s business was a success, although only in his hometown were the pizzas sold nicely and people would often ask him if he was who they thought it was and also asked for a picture. David’s mystery film was well received in festivals and he went on to win a couple of awards for it. He moved on to be a prolific director, notably adding very intimate scenes in many of his movies, all of them beautifully lit.

domingo, 22 de febrero de 2015

SPECIAL: Oscar Predictions (Winners)

OSCAR PREDICTIONS - WINNERS

My final predictions with who will, could and should win, the latter only taking nominees into account (or we could be here forever). Let's start:

Best Picture


Will win: Boyhood > Of course, the race is between Birdman and Boyhood. But personally, I think the latter will win to its universality, which Birdman lacks. Of course, it's 50-50 right now so, who knows.

Could win: Birdman > The movie has performed very well in major awards and some of the guilds, the key ones, no less, so it's quite possible that the Michael Keaton vehicle will be able to win the top prize:

My vote: The Grand Budapest Hotel > I think it's the most complete of the films nominated. It uses all the tools that cinema can take hold off and is able to tell a compelling story in the most visual and entertaining way.

Best Director



Will win: Richard Linklater (Boyhood) > Yes, I know González Iñárritu won the DGA but Richard Linklater's work is much more showy and it's certainly hard that his effort to make his movie is going to be ignored. Besides, Alfonso Cuarón's last year's win may put them off from voting for González.

Could win: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) > No doubt, the two top races are head to head and any of these guys could win. Both works are good enough for the prize.

My vote: Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) > ok, they were all good but no movie showed the director's ability to handle his craft more evidently than Foxcatcher. I still don't get how it was that the movie wasn't nominated in the Best Picture category. Miller is a brilliant, dedicated artist and he should win one of these soon.

Best Actor in a Leading role


Will win: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) > Another tight race in which I believe voter will prefer the young "newcomer" than the old veteran. Remember Mickey Rourke losing a few years ago? In any case, Redmayne's physicality and love for the character makes a win very deserving.

Could win: Michael Keaton (Birdman) > He's the face of one of the top two movies of the year and he's pretty good at it. But I feel his record with the Academy and the fact that his character is not that lovable or close, will make him lose at the end.

Should win: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) > My favorite of the bunch although I would have loved to see Timothy Spall nominated...

Best Actress in a Leading role


Will win: Julianne Moore (Still Alice) > She has been locked for a couple of months. She's a beloved skilled actress and this is a recognition, not only for her great work in this film, but for her career up to this day.

Could win: Marion Cotillard (Deux jours, Une nuit) > She won lots of critics awards and she is definitively second to Moore although I think it would be a very big surprise if she did won. Foreign language performances are still not that appreciated, in any case.

Should win: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) > Shameful the Academy didn't embrace one of the best thrillers to come out in the last few years. She was brilliant as the crazy and manipulative wife in a loveless marriage.

Best Actor in a Supporting role


Will win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) > For some reason, villainous types are loved greatly in this category. Although not all have won, Simmons performance is too good to be ignored as the cruel, crazed music conductor.

Could win: No one really. J.K Simmons has been locked for months and there's no way he could loose.

Should win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) > Too showy to miss. None of the other gentlemen gave that kind of performance. Not even Norton which, to me, is a very overrated performance.

Best Actress in a Supporting role


Will win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) > Her character is the strongest one of her movie and she shows it every so often. The growing old process is specially remarkable for her as she matures before our eyes, just as her character's son does.

Could win: Emma Stone (Birdman) > Love for Birdman may be strong enough to topple Arquette out of her prize. Besides, Stone is widely beloved as an actress and they may want to give her a boost with an award, even if her character is not all that strong.

Should win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) > She's locked. Let's get real.

Best Original Screenplay


Will win: Birdman > This one seems safe for the movie about a former movie actor trying to put up a play while being hunted by his past. The dialogues are quite remarkable and the movie is quite original in the way it's delivered to the audience.

Could win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > It has won some other awards in this category and I bet many voters were attracted to it because the story is so original, witty and clever. It deserves at least one prize.

Should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel but also Foxcatcher. Both screenplay were very clever and real pieces of cinema.

Best Adapted Screenplay 



Will win: Whiplash > It is normally the original screenplay category that prizes bold new directors and screenwriters but I do believe this time it will be Chazelle's movie about the world of music that will attract the votes.

Could win: The Imitation Game > WWII has always attracted the Academy and this movie has aspects to be liked by any kind of person. Besides the movie has eight nominations and its hard to see it walking away empty handed.

Should win: Whiplash > Whiplash is an actual original piece that deserves to be recognized, even if its a bit of category fraud.

Best Animated Feature Film


Will win: Big Hero 6 > Disney struck gold and got to our hearts with this moving piece of animation that, as always, finds a way to have a happy ending while dealing with grief and pain. Besides, the character and story are too good to ignore.

Could win: How to Train Your Dragon 2 > Succesful with the guilds and even more after The Lego Movie's snub, this piece also deals with grief and pain but also love and family. It's another one of those tight races we love.

Should win: Big Hero 6 > I loved it. Although Princess Kaguya was not bad at all and a win might bring the Academy close to Studio Ghibli again, after that awful snub for The Wind Rises last year.

Best Foreign Language Film



Will win: Ida (Poland) > And, once again, Academy veterans love WWII and, although that's not the main subject of the movie, it is pretty close to it. A nun finding the truth about her family while meeting an aunt she had no idea existed. It's a very good story and the acting is to be remembered.

Could win: Timbuktu (Mauritania) > After winning many César awards (the french Oscars), I believe this movie may have a big chance to win. Americans love to talk about terrorism and it has France behind it whic guarantees quality.

Should win: Leviathan (Russia) > This is the movie with the best premise and with a strong support by the guilds. Maybe it will win...

Best Documentary Feature


Will win: Citizenfour > The Academy, from time to time, loves to get political and confront the audience with the reality of their world. And what best way to do so that by awarding a daring journalist for her work on a key figure of today's world stage.

Could win: The Salt of the Earth > Wim Wender's documentaries are always beautiful and compelling. However, he has failed to win for a long time. Maybe he's due for a second award.

Should win: Finding Vivian Maier > The premise sounds gorgeous and I'm really sorry not having seeing it yet.

Best Documentary Short



Will win: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 > Well, its the United States and they love to give prizes to documentaries made about their own problems and this one sounds like something they would go for.

Could win: White Earth > Another local piece that sounds interesting.

Should win: Joanna > My favorite premise of all five: a woman is told she had three months to live and decides to start a blog about it.

Best Live Action Short Film



Will win: The Phone Call > Sally Hawkins as a helpline worker... Sounds good enough for a win.

Could win: Parvaneh > Immigration. What's not to like?

Should win: Aya > I find the premise funny and worth of a look: a man confuses a woman for his assigned driver.

Best Animated Short Film


Will win: Feast > Apparently it's very good animation and it has been well marketed. A man's love life seen through the eyes of his dog.

Could win: The Bigger Picture > Uncommon animation sometimes attracts voters.

Should win: A Single life > Premise sounds interesting: Pia can travel through her life when she plays a vinyl record. 

Best Original Score


Will win: The Theory of Everything > Besides Redmayne's performance, everyone agrees the score is one of the best parts of the movie. And it helps that the composer has never been nominated because the Academy loves to give prizes to newcomers in this category.

Could win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Double nomination would normally mean more chances to win but that has proven not quite true with the Oscars. Maybe this time it will happen?



Should win: Interstellar > Without a doubt the best of the bunch: you can play it without any images and it's still magnificent. It deserves to win. Besides, Hans Zimmer hasn't won since The Lion King. 

Best Original Song



Will win: Selma > This will be the only place where this movie will be recognized and, I have to say, it shouldn't. Studios are making all kind of things to trick the rules of this category in order to get in. To me, the song play in the credits and shouldn't be able to compete. Sorry but that's the rule.



Could win: The Lego Movie > Another snubbed movie that may find solace in this category, however unlikely that may be. Selma will have heavy support here, to the low amount of nominations it garnered.

Should win: Begin Again > The best song of the bunch, no doubt about it. It's played at least twice by two characters during the movie and it never feels forced or out of sync with the movie itself.

Best Sound Editing




Will win: American Sniper > With six surprise nominations, its hard to think it won't get at least one and this category is perfect as sound effects are quite important throughout the movie and they used them wisely.

Could win: Unbroken > Another war movie that excelled in it's use of sound to depict certain conditions, specially the one related to the airplanes and the prison camp.

Should win: Interstellar > Not as heavy use of sound as it the other two movies I mentioned but they sure did a great use of them, in this science fiction piece.

Best Sound Mixing


Will win: Whiplash > We're talking about mixing and musicals normally do well here. Of course, this movies is not a musical at all but it engages us into the plot with the sounds produced by an obsessed drummer.

Could win: American Sniper > It is very likely that they could win both. It happens frequently and wouldn't be all that strange.

Should win: Whiplash > Music and images carry the film. Impossible to overlook it.

Best Production Design


Will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Both scene decoration and art direction are simply marvelous to the detail in this fine period piece. Everything was done to the minimal perfection and it should be rewarded.

Could win: Mr. Turner > Recreating the life of a painter living between the 18th and 19th centuries sure proved a challenged for the talented artists that brought us closer to the England of that time.

Should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > It's showy, colorful, clean, beautiful and just breathtaking.

Best Cinematography



Will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > It's classic but a bit daring too and it's a rather calm film, using many of the techniques cinematographers today avoid.

Could win: Birdman > Lubezki's cinematography is brilliant although it looks better because of the great editing, that sadly wasn't recognized by the Academy. Somehow, I doubt he will be honored twice in a row.

Should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > But although great, I have to say it's sad not to see the beautiful work of Hoyte Van Hoytema recognized in the category, for his beautiful work in Interstellar.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling


Will win: Guardians of the Galaxy > Besides being a box office hit, which helps, the movie's best feature is the makeup work. And science fiction has often being recognized in this category.

Could win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Tilda Swinton's character, in particular, is showy enough to make a the movie win.

Should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > The movie is just to beautiful to overlook.

Best Costume Design


Will win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Milena Canonero is to great to be ignored. Her work is simply marvelous on this movie.

Could win: Into the Woods > But they also love Colleen Atwood and her work in many movies, even the ones that weren't that popular with the public.

Should win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Canonero deserves that Oscar, her fourth.

Best Film Editing


Will win: Whiplash > Fast paced, lots of different frames and angles and a story that advances pretty fast. And it's all about the editing.

Could win: The Grand Budapest Hotel > Although it might be more because of its cinematography, the movie relies on a soft form of editing that many often ignore.

Should win: Whiplash > Editing in its best form, without a doubt. Although Birdman is not a movie I love, this category was theirs and somehow it missed.

Best Visual Effects


Will win: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes > No one understands how the first one lost this award to Hugo. But the sequel is equally brilliant when using motion capture technology as well as creating new characters with it.

Could win: Interstellar > It has done well with critics and with the general public. Besides, being a movie with a message may be good enough for many voters. Anyway, many sequences and specially the robots are just brilliant.

Should win: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes > Motion capture technology has not being properly recognized with an Oscar and this should be a first step to actors being nominated for their work in that new artform, post-Avatar of course.

Final Count
Will win

Whiplash = 4
Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel = 3
The Theory of Everything = 2
Still Alice, Birdman, Big Hero 6, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, American Sniper, 
Guardians of the Galaxy, Ida, Citizenfour, Feats, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Selma = 1

viernes, 13 de febrero de 2015

The last scene

-       Cut! That’s a wrap, people.

 Every single person on set relaxed their muscles. The shooting had been going on for three months, and they were simply exhausted. Besides, being in such a fantastic place was too good and perfect to be there only working. It was a large forest, almost like the ones in fairy tales, with perfect pine trees and rocks of all forms and shapes.

 The shooting had been going on among some of these trees, in an area where they grew a little bit more separated from each other than in the rest of the forest. The trailers and camp in general was located not very far, around a large lake that was almost perfectly round. The sound of birds and other animals came from the farthest places; it was as if you could hear forever.

 The lead actress, a beautiful young woman by the name of Samantha Hart, was the first one to return to her trailer. She was accompanied by the costumer designer, some makeup people and her personal assistant. She had to remove every single thing belonging to the movie in order to be able to rest in peace for the first time in several days. It wasn’t strange that all actors were wearing heavy makeup to conceal the traces of their lack of sleeping time.

 Otto Fröm was the name of the director, a big man, tall and fat with a beard that covered half his face. Although he was a very nice person as a friend and when the cameras were not working, he was ruthless when making a film. He had a vision for every single thing, for every single frame of the movie, and he wasn’t going to compromise that for anything in the world. He just wouldn’t.

 He left too for his trailer, to check the footage of the day with his two assistants and the director of the second unit that had arrived that very morning. He had been in charge of shooting some scenes very far, by the coast. They went into the trailer and kept working. For Fröm there was no resting or peace until he finished his movie. He wasn’t interested in what the production or distribution companies said. He always sent one of his assistants to speak on his behalf and his answer to everything was “When the movie’s done”.

 Samantha had already taken everything from her: the beautiful jewels, the amazing costume and even the tons of makeup that made her look beautiful. Not that she wasn’t beautiful on her own right but she was human and she had many flaws. As a matter of fact, she spent several minutes in front of the mirror, looking at herself. She particularly hated the freckles that seemed to occupy most of her face. She would have loved to remove them but that wasn’t possible so she had learned how to conceal them with makeup.

 When every single person had left her, she lay down for a while in her bed and stared at the ceiling of that tiny space. Another movie had passed by and now she was technically unemployed again. Well, only for a couple of weeks until she had to travel to Peru and begin the production of a new film, a historical depiction of the Inca Empire. She got up and looked herself in the mirror: she would have to dye her hair and let it grow longer. Maybe they would force her to use contact lenses because she had never heard of Incas having blue eyes.

 In the woods, however, people were still working. They were the gaffers and electricians that had to pick it all up, every cable, light and accessory used in the production of the film. Noah was one of them, a man aged thirty-five, very strong although not very tall. He had been working in the business for the last ten years and knew every trick and technique to help the director of photography to do his job.

 That man had already left following the director, who Noah thought was too obsessed with perfection. In his experience, he knew some things have better results if they just happen or if they are improvised. As he gathered several lights boxes, he realized this Fröm guy had not let any of the actors improvise the scenes. This was very particular as most of the action scenes Noah had been in, the actors had had the necessity to improvise because they felt fear of the situation, even if they knew it wasn’t actually threatening.

 In his trailer, Fröm consulted every single detail of the scenes done that very day. Although he had made the actors repeat the last scene at least ten times, and it was a very long scene, he felt the ones that had been done lacked something. He asked the director of photography but him, being a rather older gentleman, thought it was all perfect and that postproduction may help him have a more shocking scene.

 But Fröm, who was a purist, didn’t really like all the beautiful things promised by the visual effects people. If he could, he would avoid them at all costs but the production company had already paid them to be on the lookout once Fröm delivered his rushes to them. He asked his assistants if he could shoot the scene again but they told him that most of the materials used had already being removed from the forest and that it would be very costly to put them up again for one scene.

 The crew organized a small gathering that night, on the beach of the circular lake, in order to celebrate the end of the shooting. The director was absent and the lead actress appeared only very late at night, when most of the people had already gone to bed. They had no way of drinking alcohol so the party was all about eating the food they hadn’t eaten for the last few days, as well as several bottles of water and soft drinks. The producer that was present didn’t object and actually offered to put on some music from her trailer, were she had a computer with good speakers.

 Of course, the amount of noise that could be done was not very high. Amongst them was a man from the government that had to ensure the preservation of the site during the shooting. He agreed to the celebration but made them promise that the music won’t be very loud and that they would finish it all by midnight. That wasn’t an impediment to have fun for a few hours, eat a lot and celebrate the end of another day of work.

 Seeing she had arrived to late to the party, Samantha sat down with the makeup people and started chatting amicably with them. She felt closer to them than anyone else on set as she spent a lot of time in their quarters. Same with the costume designer and her assistants but that woman was always so busy that she didn’t seem to have fun doing her work nor realizing that she could relax once in a while.

 They spoke about their families and the beauty of the place. The lake looked now like a large tar pit, in the blackness of the night. Eventually they all went to their respective “dormitories” and had the best night of sleep for weeks.

The following day, a helicopter arrived to start transporting equipment back to the nearest city but the director surprised them by announcing that no one was leaving until they had done the last scene one more time. Every single person was annoyed and most workers refused, threatening to get their unions involved in the matter. But the man had received an authorization from the production company that made them stay another day.

 Setting up everything took four hours and the proper shooting of the last scene last almost that same amount of time. But this time, one the director had yelled “It’s a wrap now, for good”, they start dismantling everything so fast that in an hour every single prop and accessory was put away and on the helicopter.


 Samantha left with Fröm on the first helicopter and Noah had to wait almost until dusk to be able to leave. When in the air he looked one last time to the forest and the lake and smiled. It was always fun to enjoy work, even if he had no rest for months or his boss was a jerk. He loved it all.