Film Making:Technique Vs Content

When it comes to film making some people seem to think that it is all about pointing a camera, pushing the record button and capturing the performance, and to some extent that is a part of it but only the minimal.
If that was all there was to it anyone can direct and it would not be a skill.

When it comes to making a film It’s all about the execution ,cos even with the greatest script and actors on the planet , if the execution is wrong, especially in genre specific films like Suspense,Thriller Horror or even Romance and Comedy. If you don’t execute it right, you lose the power of the story and the performances on your audience.
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Know your execution,that is what will make your interpretation of one script stand out from any Tomi,Dike or Hakeem that will pick up a camera and claim to be a director.

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Martin Scorcese on Citizen Kane

My Previous post talked about watching cinema of all era, and studying them, doing this would not only make you appreciate the role of a director but also learn techniques from those that have gone ahead of you. Peak performance coach Tony Robbins ususally say “Success leaves clues”, find someone that has done what you want to do and follow it, like you would a reciepe.

Here is one of the most respected and admired directors of the past 40 years, talking about what he learned from the classic and legendary “Citizen Kane”. If you are farmiliar with Marty’s work, you’d notice what he picked up and infused into his own work

How to become a great film maker 101- PT 1

As a film lover and film maker, I’m a student of cinema. A lot of it the cinema that was wayyyyy before my time. From the movies of Hitchcock to those of Frank Capra. From the duos of Abbot and Costello,Lewis and Martin to the buddy films of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.

Last week I met a kid that told me he wanted to become a film maker.I first of all asked him ,”on a scale of 1-10 how much do you love film” His answer was 4/10. I told him he had to increase that to a 12. I asked him what aspect of film making he was interested in, he was not to sure but mentioned directing. I followed that with “Who are your favorite directors” He had a hard time coming up with any names. Not that they were so hard to choose from but he just couldn’t identity who directed what. I was flabbergasted. Could not believe my ears. But he seemed determined enough to go ahead with this pursuit and asked I recommend a film school.

My advice to him before even looking for a film school was to become a student of cinema. Become the biggest cinephile he could possibly become.

Great auteurs like Tarantino, Woody Allen,Paul T Anderson(dropped out after a week) never went to film school , but are some of the best film makers in the world. Marty did, but he is one of the biggest cinephile on the planet.

Most great directors were and still are huge cinephiles long before getting behind a camera.They have seen films from all over the world, beyond their own nation. They’ve seen films from different eras, from their generation and films made long before they were born.

As an aspiring film maker if you only watch films made in your lifetime and only films from your own country, not only is your education limited,but you do yourself a HUGE disservice.

Watch films from the 30s-70′s. Look for films of directors like Charlie Chaplin,John Houston,Frank Capra,Cecile B Demile ,Orson Wells,Alfred Hitchcock,Billy Wilder ,Howard Hawks,Sydney Lumet, Roman Polanski etc

Then leave Hollywood(for a lil while) and watch films from Italy,France,Germany,Brazil,Mexico,Hong Kong,Korea,Japan etc.

Names like Jean Luc Goddard,Akira Kurosawa,Frederico Fellini,Pedro Almovadar,John Woo(the Hong Kong years) etc

Acquire a global cinema education and it will make a better film maker out of you, same goes for actors too.

After you watch, study, then watch then study then watch…I’m sure you catch my drift, but enjoy yourself as you do this.

But better it is to hear this from a legend than just lil ol me.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=kdoC-5OI2xY

Restaurants,Shoes and Buyer’s Remorse

Have you ever been to a restaurant, you arrive and you look at the menu. Depending on the time of the month and your financial status , you look at what they have and then look at what you can afford. You then make your order, somewhat satisfied with the same order you make every time you are there.

When your food arrives you dig and savor the taste which quenches your hunger. And then the waiter brings the food of the person at the next table, the fragrance lifts you off your seat. You look at their food with fascination and then look at yours and get depressed and dis satisfied and you wish you had ordered what he had ordered even if it cost a little more.

Have you ever been on the high street or in the mall. As you pass by a shop, something catches your eye. It’s amazing, so beautiful, you can’t take your eyes off it.

Without a second thought you rush into the shop and put it on your credit card, even though you know you can’t afford it. You take it home and try it on, and absolutely
love it.

THE MORNING AFTER

You wake up and see the newly purchased item , and it doesn’t look so good. In fact, you are thinking What on earth was i thinking???. But it’s too late, you have spent the money, and are stuck with something you don’t want.

Ladies will be more familiar with this. Those expensive shoes that are too tight, but look so great, you still buy them, and then a day later they look ugly,tighte than you remember,don’t match anything in your wardrobe and now you have a debt that isn’t worth it.

It’s called Buyer’s Remorse.

Unfortunately, many people take this approach to relationships. They see or meet someone and get all excited. Like the person that rushes into the store without a second thought and put that item on the card, they rush into relationships;relationships that they can not psychologically,emotionally ,financially or spiritually afford in the long run. A relationship they enter based only on attraction or personality but not character.

Unlike the shoes, they may enjoy the sensation for weeks or even months, before remorse of some sort kicks in. They have invested in a person, a relationship, that may have some sort of value, but is more of a burden than they bargained for.

I’m not a relationship expert, far from it.In fact, i’ve been told categorically that because i don’t bounce in and out of relationships every so often, i know nothing and should not talk. So you can discard these analogies, and tell me that

“Love is not a science”.

“It’s not black and white”,

and my personal favourite

“You can’t translate such analogies to real life,things don’t always work out that way”

MAYBE, but one thing i know is, i can vicariously learn from other people’s mistakes and avoid them myself . I’ve seen too many “madly in love” engagements scatter beyond repair within a few minutes, and it had nothing to do with infidelity .I dunno about you, but i bruise like a grape,and I’d rather learn vicariously from those observations than experience it for my self.

Many of those that tend to make those excuses,are caught in vicious cycle.They are in and out of the same type of relationships 2 or 3 times within an 18 months span. They’d rather endure the pain of temporary pleasure they get from those relationships, than the patience of some ALONE time without any form of romantic involvement. A time they take to discover themselves and working on becoming the person that is ready for a better longer lasting and permanent relationship.

For those of you leaving your 20′s and still single. You may feel the need to “go for the next cute person that approaches”, as u feel u are running out of time. Unlike shoes the buyers remorse of relationships is a lot more painful, emotionally, psychologically and in some cases physically.

“Lead your life with your heart, but guide & manage your choices with your head”

Lady in the Red Dress

No, i’m not talking about the Chris De Burgh song, that one is actually Lady in Red(1986).I’m referring to a minor character from a scene from the 99 hit “pop culture affecting, trendsetter”, movie THE MATRIX. (there’s only one Matrix, the others are Fa(ke)trix,Wa(ck)trix)

There is a scene where Morpheous(Lawrence Fishburne) is guiding Neo(Keanu Reeves) through the rush hour streets in matrix.

He talks as he walks , revealing to him(Neo) the world they are in;how it functions, the dangers ahead. Struggling to keep up Neo is suddenly takes his eyes off Morpheous as he’s distracted by a beautiful woman in a red dress, that walks by with a sweet smile. Morpheous , notices and queries

MORPHEOUS:Were you paying
attention,or were looking at the woman in the red dress

NEO:Huh

MORPHEOUS:Look again

Neospins around to find Agent Smith at point blank range with a Glock
22,the room freezes

It turned out to be a training sequence, just a simulation of The Matrix , the agent wasn’t real,but Neo had learned a vital lesson that day,much like Lot’s wife , when you take your eyes off the goal, very bad things are likely to happen to you.

While this is not an endorsement for the movie,one can take a vital lesson from it. Neo got distracted, by what seemingly looked amazing, (which she actually did). He took his eyes off his leader and if it had been a real situation, that would have been “bye bye Neo”.

No, this not a rant against beautiful women that wear red dresses,lol , this analogy applies both to males and females, we all have our points of temptation,disillusion and distraction. Morpheus also said something very striking in that scene

“If you are not one of us,you are one of them”

the “them” refered to those still plugged into the system of “The Matrix” and could be used by agents at any point in time to bring down the resistance. In spiritual terms , that refers to “children of this world” those that live by the constantly changing declining and fickle philosophy, standards and ideals of a God denying and often God hating world.

They are still plugged into the system of what is culturally or socially acceptable,but against the will of God, whether that be pre marital or casual sex, abortion ,drunkenness, lewd behavior and language, hedonism, cultural “christianity”, alternative lifestyles and other lifestyle to that effect as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9 .

Some people actually think they are unplugged,attend the services, speak the slang, wear the t-shirts, but their lives show no evidence that they are free

“by their fruits you shall know them grapes do not grow on thistles”

They intellectually acknowledge God, but their hearts and consequently their lifestyles are far from any acknowledgment him.

Others have no idea of the system they are trapped in and don’t realize what lies ahead if they stay in this system. Unlike the movie, we aren’t in a simulation, we are in the real world, where “we wrestle not against flesh and blood”, if we get distracted the room won’t freeze to give us a chance recompose and change strategy and keep in mind, the enemy does not take prisoners.

We have to keep our eyes on the Cross , which is our GPS(Sat Nav) in our journey through this world. It’s our obligation to unplug as many friends, family ,colleagues from the system of this world just like we were once unplugged; but we also have to remember that anyone not unplugged posses a danger to our spiritual progression if we get distracted by them.

Many of us would already have had an “i should have known” moment ,at least once or even several times in our life already from distractions we have experienced.

This may be a crush,love interest, relationship, career pursuit or passion for anything else that can take us off tangent; it would vary with each person, we all have to search ourselves using the scripture as a compass and find out,what is our “Lady in the red dress” could possibly be,before sashays into our line of sight.

“The prudent see danger and take refuge,but the simple keep going and suffer for it -PROVERBS 27:12

Confessions of a Denominator

I am a denominator
the one recurring factor in the
vicious cycle that is my life,….my existence

I am obsessed with romance
I ignore all self control and throw caution to the wind
I enter relationships at the flick of a switch
driven by my hormones
i date whoever fires off my “feel good” neurones
regardless of if they lack character or respect me
I consider caring friendships that support me least priority
as they can never fulfil my romance fix
i jump in with my eyes closed and never test the water
and leap out scalded , because i never saw the fangs
showing as the lips peeled back behind that charming smile
and then i do it all over again because
well….all that affection ,care attention and support
from the sweet and nice person
still does not make my heart skip a beat
the way that charming devil, key word devil, does

Im lovely, why can’t i find a loving relationship?

I am an attention junkie
I move from person to person
and get attention from wherever i can
i barely pay attention during a conversation if its not about me
I prattle on all about ME ME ME
and check myself out in anything that reflects
i compose songs about myself and sing it to everyone that has ears
I am an emotional leach and i suck as much attention
that i can from you and move on to get a better fix elsewhere

By the way, why don’t you call me anymore?

I am like a tiger on the prowl
waiting to pounce and maul you
immediately you say something that offends me
i am berserker , I’ll tear you to ribbons
if you dare speak to me in any such manner that displeases me
my amnesia for all the wonderful things you said and done
kicks in the moment that you criticise me
i am meticulous about what i condone
and i will not be spoken to, by you or any other
in a manner that i only know, and deem worthy
you are expendable and i can do without you

….Hey ! where have all my friends gone?

I hate conflict and try my best not to rock the boat
I do my best not to offend anyone
and say yes and nod in agreement just to keep the peace
I approach everything in an understanding manner
and try to be as diplomatic as possible
i pay attention and hold my tongue when i should object
because i just don’t have the strength to debate about it
though it may be an issue that need to be addressed
I exercise patience even though you abuse that fact
every single chance that you get with no apology
I am easy to bully, all you have to do is
loose your temper, turn on the water works,
and i apologise even when i’m not in the wrong

Then why like Jabber Jaw, do i get no respect
from those i show nothing but respect?

I love adventure
I am down for whatever and up for anything
I love living for the moment and don’t care for consequences
Whatever is the flava of the moment count me in
life is too short to think about the long term
we might not be here tomorrow so seize the day
if it feels good, just do it
i have all forms of myopia,
my hedonistic desires blur the consequences
of my instant gratification needs
I’m fun, I’m exciting , I’m full of life

Then why is everyone else moving forward
and in meaningful relationships except me?

I have a list of everything that you must be
You are to fufill all my need and desires
as i lean back and make no effort to improve myself
you have to maintain me and be pleasing in my eyes
I verbally strip you down because i have to keep you in check
I show no appreciation, because you already know
Read my mind, you know what i don’t like
Change, Think, Keep that, Stop saying that
it’s just who i am , and i like it that way

Wait , where are you going , Are you leaving me??

I am the Denominator

(C)OLU YOMI OSOSANYA