Originally posted by REDking: Second, HDK is right, even though I think he’s Canadian, you need to put your p.o.v. into the piece or it will come off as fake. When you described being a Christian who's watching his friends struggle with drugs, this is the angle you should use as opposed to focusing on the kid having the issues. So you can express how you felt watching your friends problems instead of mimicking something you don't have first hand experience with.
you dont think a movie about a good christian boy watching his friends do drugs will come off as fake?????? I see what you both mean about my not having firsthand experience with drugs, but are you saying that only people who have done drugs can make drug movies? and do you really think that because i dont know what drugs do to me personally means that i dont know what they do to people in general? like i said before, i have 2 friends in jail right now and plenty more who suffer with drug addictions and you all are telling me that i dont have first hand experience with drugs. im in high school for God's sake.
Posts: 99 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: March 16, 2005
Originally posted by ktabes: I dont care if lighting is good or the music, that stuff might help if your story is crap, but if you make a movie with a good story, then your all set.
Where the hell were you when I had the major battle on the "favorite director" thread? did u mention this then i forgot, anyways, ktabes ur my new hero for being someone other than me who is saying this...
and now to get back on topic, my best example fro this subject is that of holocaust movies. they are always made a sympathetic hollywood movies or heroic accounts of hero jew savers (there is nothing wrong with that, i agree that they are heroe, i am not a racist). but the major problem is that not a single one o these films (Schindler's List, Pianist) tackle the real issues and problems, they do nothing to bring light on WHY the holocaust happened, how it happened, how the germans followed Hitler and something that seems so irrational in hindsight. i myself dont understand why they followed Hitler and waged war and murdered millions of human beings without remorse, i wasnt even properly taught it in my high school history class. what would a holocaust film look like that goes from the nazi point of view? even further, what if it JUSTIFIED what the nazis did? how would u feel about that? how would that change the way u look at the holocaust and such important offshooting issues. look at Schindler's List, it came out in 1993, won best picture in 1994, and yet we still had a genocide in Rwanda in 1994, and the western world stood around and watched 900,000 people die. if Schindler's List had been such a good film, wouldn't it have made us see what was going on right away? and what do we have now? Hotel Rwanda, a movie about the very genocide we stood by and watched over ten years ago. sse, what would a film that actually has a n impact do, i would at least strive for that, because film is one art that provides imortality, unlike a painting, there is no original, unlike a book, it doesnt have to be translated into different languages (unless u need subtitles, i dont). just dont let ur film be another gutless piece that doesnt tackle this subject right, as uve seen with ur two friends, its a serious issue, and if u cant have an impact with it, then uve failed, not just with ur film but with urself and ur belief that u can change things.
Posts: 2173 | Location: n/a | Registered: May 06, 2003
Originally posted by ktabes: I dont care if lighting is good or the music, that stuff might help if your story is crap, but if you make a movie with a good story, then your all set.
A story without lighting or music is a book. Don't be lazy or scared of learning lighting and finding music that compliments your vision. A good story is the most important I'll agree 100% with that so I think we're on the same page in alot of respects. But would FARGO be as great without the unique score? Would GODFATHER work as well lit like a sitcom?
We're making movies! Respect the fact that all things, including writing, lighting and sound will reflect the amount of work you put into your films. If you go half-ass on any of these categories your gonna have problems.
(damn it I usually have some smart-ass self-depricating thing to say so I don't come off as pretensious. oh wait this works.)
Posts: 584 | Location: Killafornia | Registered: July 02, 2004
well i just dont see how i could make this movie "look at the real issues". Do you have any suggestions for me? all i can think about is that the guy doesnt see what hes doing as wrong, he actually thinks that the drugs are improving his life, but thats still kind of cliche for you i guess.
by the way, whoever says that lighting and sound dont play a major role in the emotional attachment of the audience to a film is a complete moron. just look at the original "final destination" movie at the scene where tod is about to die in the bathroom. without the music it just him in the bathroom clipping his nosehairs or shaving, but the music builds the suspence and really gets the viewer's heart pumping. the right music can make any scene really touch the audience. take lotr for example, really cheesy, overdone musical score that, in my opinion, almost ruined the entire trilogy.
lighting also plays a huge role in the mood or feel of the film. you cant have a brightly lit horror movie, or a dimly lit comedy, it just doesnt seem to work. proper lighting is a subtle way of portraying the mood in a film and anyone who doesnt see that needs to go back to school.
Posts: 99 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: March 16, 2005
ive been up all night writing the first draft and came up with an idea. i nte movie, the main characters mother left him and his dad recently and he keeps telling his father that its all his fault that she left and i was just thinking that maybe he could blow up in his fathers face while high or something and it forces his father to commit suicide. is this too cheesy or do you think it will work?
trying to get back onto the topic that started this whole thing, ideas for the script.
Posts: 99 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: March 16, 2005
well i just dont see how i could make this movie "look at the real issues". Do you have any suggestions for me? all i can think about is that the guy doesnt see what hes doing as wrong, he actually thinks that the drugs are improving his life, but thats still kind of cliche for you i guess.
I'm not trying to tell you how to do your movie, it's just that in my opinion, this is what most drug based movies don't do, as said before, they're based on the "Drugs are Bad" mentality. I think films like Requiem for a Dream take a step outside of the normal drug movie by incorporating other kinds of drug abuse, I don't know about you, but I had never seen a movie about prescription drug problems before, and it showed how anyone can become an addict. and as far as the parents go, its my experience that most people I know who use drugs (mainly weed) also have parents who have used it recreationally since their childhood.
Posts: 2173 | Location: n/a | Registered: May 06, 2003
Originally posted by ktabes: I dont care if lighting is good or the music, that stuff might help if your story is crap, but if you make a movie with a good story, then your all set.
Where the hell were you when I had the major battle on the "favorite director" thread? did u mention this then i forgot, anyways, ktabes ur my new hero for being someone other than me who is saying this.
Well for almost all of student films, there is always going to be a flaw, wether its bad acting, lighting, or music copied from other movies, but the reason why we watch them is for the interesting stories they tell.
And for redkings response, yeah the fargo music and the godfather lighting is need, but that is for movies that have the money, i think every movie that comes out in theatres with 40 million dollar budget should be perfect, including the story.
we're students and we're learning
This message has been edited. Last edited by: ktabes,
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