Mr Movie

Greetings and welcome to all. This is my first dig in the Front and Centre territory, so we start off with the stereotypical introduction stuff. Many of you might know me from The Crow's Nest and The Jedi Knight Academy, my web sites devoted to the Star Wars FPS. So you know I love Star Wars and love to criticize(something genetic I think). I also love movies, and though Jeff has made it clear that I can stray wherever I want(does he realize what he has possibly set himself up for?) this article will focus on the silver screen.

I plan to keep the article totally casual and relaxed; perhaps Harry Knowles is starting to influence me. I'll probably review a couple current US films each month, in addition to a monthly rant on some obscure movie-related topic. If I get something wrong or you want to discuss films please email me. However if you just want to rant a bit and shred my opinions, don't bother; I'm always in the mood for intelligent discussion, but flame wars don't appeal to me(go figure).


Review
This month, it's Starship Troopers that I take a look at. I'm betting that if you live in the US and actually read this article you've probably already seen it. But I want to throw my two cents into the ring for my own sake, and for those where it hasn't been released yet.

On the surface this movie is terrible. Man is it awful. The acting is horrendous, the dialogue is boring or uninspired at best, and you care nothing for any of the characters. You get only the barest glimpse into the lives of these soldiers, and it only comes off as a bad 90210 episode, which I credit in part to the inane subplots. When a comrade is killed, or even a city wiped off the map you don't give it much more than a second thought, assisted by the fast and hard-paced way the film moves. I've heard one theory ventured claiming the director didn't want you to care about the people, just wanted you to root for their deaths. I don't buy it, since I thought I detected an actual attempt in there. The ending of the film feels as flat as the beginning, though I won't go into detail to avoid spoiling it. Considering all of this, you'd think that the movie would be one to avoid wasting money on. So why did I enjoy it?

Weeelllll..... it's fun. And it's got some cool parts. And the battle sequences are excellent, and the effects are great, and those bugs.... are you getting the picture yet? This is not a film to go see if you expect a Best Picture type of experience. This is exactly the type of film I would have gushed over when I was 12, though Verhoeven has dropped that population segment with the huge amount of gore and violence. If you're an action junkie(and can stand the first 30 minutes) or a special effects buff then you likely won't miss the lack of decent acting and won't want to miss out.

The battle scenes in ST are sharp. Fast, crisp, clean and bloody they'll keep you on the edge of your seat. And Tippett Studios has produced what are arguably the most believable CG creations to date. Even Draco from Dragonheart had a few moments when you could tell it was fake. Here the bugs move well with the camera, and intereact with the surroundings to believably it looks like they were filmed on set. One scene where a bug falls on the camera, spattering blood around is absolutely astounding. The best part about it is that the general audience won't notice many of the work done on the film, which is truly the highest achievement for the studios.

That so many companies collaborated on the effects of ST and blended them together also is a fine accomplishment. With Tippett doing the bugs, ILM handled some of the space docking sequences, and Sony and POP worked out the space battles. Just watching the movie only the pickiest people should be able to distinguish the subtle differences.

Does this review sound more like an effects roundup than a movie review to you? With good reason: the stunning CG work is probably the only reason you'd want to see the film. The wonderful social and political commentary that I loved so much in Heimlein's novel is mostly gone, transferred only in the hilarious propaganda notices that are interspersed throughout the film and one early classroom scene, however bungled it was. If you're a big fan of Heimlein, you'll probably be disappointed. This is just another poor adaptation of a book that will appeal to the mass public through big explosions and cool special effects. So go see it if you're anything like me and love to check out the latest CG work. Otherwise save your bucks and see it on video.


Monthly Addition
It just doesn't seem right to leave off with a mere review and opening commentary. So Jeff and I have worked up something else for you. In addition to my love for watching movies, I make my own on the side with the help of my partner in crime Steve Walters. We're in the process of making another and the notion was put forth that people may be interested in how we do it. So this marks the beginning of a monthly update on the process we go through.

Does it match the process they use in Hollywood? I don't know, but I assume it's pretty close in a general sense. You start off with an idea: any idea works, because even the most far-fetched and ridiculous concept can be molded into something cool. The notion for this movie came from my own college experiences and how similar some of them seemed to be compared to themes on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here album. At the basic level it's an excuse to get back in front of and behind the camera, but hopefully the movie will also make some sense to other friends of mine who are going through similar processes. The concept for this flick is to detail a short history of one guy's struggle with life as he enters a new type of world, and to set that history to the 45 minute album. The final result will be something resembling a very long music video, not unlike Pink Floyd - The Wall, that we've titled Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Right now we're completing the opening stages of development, which translates to Pre-Production. Once you have the concept you need a script, right? Thankfully Roger Waters provided us with a semblance of a script with his lyrics; all we need to do is figure out how we want to match the images on the screen to the music. Storyboarding is a pretty simple process(in the way I use it anyway) where you get down on paper the series of shots that you want to make. It's good to get a sequence for a scene down because your partners don't have the ability to see inside your head, and can't comment on camera angles they can't see. So drawing little pictures that may or may not accurately depict what you want to see in the viewfinder(it depends on your artistic ability) is not only fun but useful. Naturally what you first draw out will change, either due to comments from your partners or due to a cooler idea on the set. One rule that I've learned to accept and hopefully use to my advantage: everything can be spontaneous, and change is the norm.

Now we have the concept and what we plan to film. Next requirement: a crew and cast. Seeing that we don't have the millions to pay professionals, everybody involved comes out of the pool of friends and acquaintances. Usually Steve or I end up playing the main character(s), and we fill out the rest of the cast with whomever feels like being in front of the camera. There's a small amount of discussion over who fits what part best, but nothing like the huge casting decisions and tryouts you'd get on a major production. As for the crew: again, whoever will volunteer their time to stand behind a camera, hold up a mike or act as a brace for part of the set. When your resources are limited, you learn to take what you can get, and squeeze every last drop out.

Costumes? Production design? For past endeavors that was a lot more important that it is here. This film takes place in our world, so we can pull from what he have in terms of clothes and locations. Fortunately Seattle is a very cool place to film in, so we have no shortage of nice shots, and we won't need to construct anything new. On our previous film we did need to make our own sets; we confiscated my basement and with an ample supply of wood, cardboard, duct tape, staples and paint we built up the bridge of a starship. Costumes there came from our own wardrobes modified with calculator parts. For a school project of MacBeth we found an empty field for the setting and used costumes borrowed from the local Theater company. Again, you learn to use whatever you can get your hands on.

We have the storyboards, actors, concept and design necessary to begin production. So that's where we'll take off next month, as I go over the equipment we use and how we manage to get our ideas onto film.


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