The Peach Orchard

This section was an extension to the “Dreams” movie. So far the sections have been a masterwork. In the film, dolls personify the Peach Orchard. The boy cared for the peach orchards. As the dolls recognize this they believe he only cared for he peaches themselves.

Sunshine Through The Rain

This small film is about art. In this small film, the scenery is beautiful. The forest in combination with the rain captures the attention of the viewer. There is a boy who deliberately disobeys his mother after she warns him of something important. The only reward for his disobedience is death. The only chance for his survival is forgiveness from the Foxes. In the film they are unwilling to accept apologies. They are a sacred group of people. The possibility of him living is slim to none. The child is a character subdued by ignorance and curiosity. As for the Foxes, they are a civilization who chooses to deprive the outside world of the knowledge of their wedding ceremony. Lastly the entire film is tied to art because the cinematography embeds imagery with the beauty of nature, perception, and discovery.

Hero

Hero is a Chinese wuxia film, directed by Zhang Yimou and music by Tan Dun. Chris Doyle is the cinematographer. The Chinese martial artist, actor and action star Jet Li is starred as the nameless protagonist. This film has excellent cinematography. The angle shots of the army scenes are wonderful. The costumes of the characters are interesting in many ways. The robes that the characters wear accommodates the meaning of Chinese culture and history. The costume design along with the scenery fleshes out the visual interest of the film. The sound played an important part of the film because it is in direct correlation with each scene. For instance, the noises from the sword fight scenes are spectacular. It equals the time frame and is sequential. Chris Doyle is a talented cinematographer. “Hero” is the most expensive Chinese movie in history. The battle scenes are the best. The color schemes are fabulous. Hero is a movie I enjoy watching. In one battle scene, there are a swarm of arrows which are fired at the nameless protagonist and it kills him. The frontal shot of the swarm of arrows is extraordinary. The structure it forms and the speed of the arrows amplifies the realism portrayed in this scene. The movie also makes sense on a historical basis. This film is very serious. It deals with the history of ancient China prior to the reign of its first emperor. Lastly this is the best Chinese movie I've seen and I look forward to watching more of Zhang Yimou's other films.

Chinese Cinema vs. American Cinema

Films were introduced to China in 1896. The first Chinese film, a recording of the Beijing Opera, "The Battle of Dingjunshan," was made in November 1905. Chinese films are all about giving the audience what they want. For instance, in a Chinese fantasy film, the hero always win against any villain no matter how bizarre their power may be. The film entertains the audience and requires them to think about what they watched.
American cinema has had a heavy effect on cinema worldwide since the early twentieth century. The Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in America cinema in the late 1920s to the late 1940s, movies were issued from the Hollywood studios. Motion picture companies made money by operating under the studio system. After reaching its pinnacle, the studio system and the Golden Age of Hollywood itself succumbed to a federal antitrust action and the advent of television.

Rear Window

Rear Window is a comic thriller. It is about a photographer who thinks a crime was committed in the courtyard. I like the fact that this movie involved him in a relationship with a beautiful woman. This movie is unique because the entire movie takes place in Jeff's apartment. The cinematography was good. The reason is the shots of Jeff and Lisa was exceptional. It made them look like they were right in front of you in real life. Due to the fact that the film is limited to what Jeff can see, it makes the cinematography interesting. The camera shooting of what Jeff saw in his neighbor's yard made it look real. It was as if the audience were looking through the telescope. The scenes in the movie were clear and distinct to the eye. The camera movement was perfect and was in direct correlation with the motion of the characters.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Journal 2-2

The director of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is Don Burgess. In Terminator 3, Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the older T-800 model Terminator, sent from the future to protect eventual revolutionary leader John Connor from a new T-X Terminatrix. Connor programmed the Terminator to protect him and girlfriend, Kate but the cyborg soon goes beyond control and takes over. Throughout the movie battling the advanced T-X is tough on the Terminator. One thing I really admired was the special effects. Burgess used cross-back key lights to help chisel Schwarzenegger's features. The character T-X was portrayed by Kristanna Loken. At length the T-X Terminatrix displayed unparalleled strength and a number of weapons.
In one scene, the familiar T-800 endoskeletons march toward the rebellious humans as more about the future is revealed. The mirrored ball helps ILM visual-effects artists properly light CG elements that will be added to the shot. Burgess takes his own still photo to check his light levels. Burgess tries for a better vantage to witness the impending T-X assault. Burgess filmed most of Terminator 3 on Kodak Vision 200T 5274. For a film like Terminator 3, contrast is very important. Burgess's cinematography is exceptional.
For one night exterior, Burgess used Vision 250D 5246. During the opening of the film, we see Connor living life beneath society's radar, sleeping along the river ways of Los Angeles. He wanted the foreground to have a warm, fiery feel and the background to be colder, but not extremely cold. The 250 is a contrasty stock with good blacks, and it allowed Burgess to use uncorrected HMI sources in the background, and get a warm look in the foreground with a mix of corrected and uncorrected tungsten sources. Lastly Burgess shoots most of his nighttime photography at around T2.8. It accommodates good depth of field, especially with wider lenses and provides good resolution in the highlights.

Film Awards Flurry as Oscars Near

A flurry of specialist film award ceremonies have been held in Hollywood as the countdown to the 79th Academy Awards show enters its final stages. The Scripter Award was won by the writers of Children of Men for best adaptation of a book.
At the Production Design Awards on Saturday, Casino Royale, Curse of the Golden Flower and Pan's Labyrinth were the big winners. Best production design went to Casino Royale. Meanwhile Curse of the Golden Flower won in the period film category. Pan's Labyrinth won the prize for a fantasy film. Dame Helen Mirren was named best actress for The Queen.
Lastly Forest Whitaker was named best actor for The Last King of Scotland.

Personal Entry

Photography is interesting to me. For a birthday present I received a NIKON F301 camera. Ever since then, I've been taking photos of various things dealing with scenery, nature, machines, people, performances, and sporting events. I want to become a professional at photography. Therefore, I have been investigating this camera. The NIKON F301 was a manual focus, autoexposure, auto film loading and advancing 35 mm SLR camera sold by the Nikon Corporation beginning in 1985. The F301 was identical to the Nikon F501 in almost every way, except it lacked autofocus and autoexposure lock. The Nikon F301 is notable for being the first Nikon SLR sold that lacked a film advance lever. It was also the first Nikon to use Polycarbonates in the building of the camera, and was considered by many people as the dawn of a new era for Nikon.

Hotel Rwanda

Critique: Hotel Rwanda

The film, “Hotel Rwanda” was directed by Terry George. It is a docudrama about the Rwandan Genocide. This movie is about true events that occurred in Africa. The cinematography of this movie is bold and precise. In one scene, the protagonist was in a car with another character and driving over corpses of the Tutsi minorities. The camera shots made the image vivid and excruciatingly exact. The camera shot of the dead bodies on the ground were graphic. Another scene is when the protagonist Paul is standing alongside the refugees he saved, amidst in rain. The camera shot in this scene was direct, clear and distinct to the eye.
In this movie, there was violence, profanity, disturbing images, and nature themes. The camera shots that harnessed these scenes were all good. This movie was basically nothing short of spectacular. Everything director Terry George has done wasn't in vain. I personally enjoyed this film. It informed the audience of a genocidal event that occurred in Africa in which at the time Americans were mostly unaware of Rwanda's civil war. Lastly George created a good movie that could have been exceptional.