A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard

A Morning Stroll is about three New Yorkers, each from a different generation, and their reactions to seeing a chicken while walking. The first one, who is from 1959, just stands there, and eventually walks away. The second one, from 2009, tries to take a video on his smartphone, but gets distracted. The last one, who is a zombie from 2059, tries to eat the chicken but eventually dies.
This one was a bit less serious than the others. I really liked how the animation style slowly progressed and became more advanced as it went on. This short was probably my favorite because it was a lot more creative than the others. All of the other shorts were trying to be meaningful and inspirational, while A Morning Stroll was just fun and cheerful. The music, which was pretty joyful and cheery, helped raise the mood and make the video lighter. I'm giving this video 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I would've been 5, but there was no really plot in it, it was merely for entertainment.

La Luna by Enrico Casarosa

La Luna is about a young boy who learns about his family business, turning the full moon into a crescent moon. His father and grandfather disagree on many things while teaching him ,like how to wear his hat and what tool to use for the job, but when they're overcome with an obstacle, a huge star that fell and won't budge, neither of their ways work. The young boy then comes up with a way to fix the problem without anyone's help.
I like this short not only because the animation style is one that I like and am used to, but it teaches kids that it's okay to follow a different path then the one their parents set out for them. It lets them know that everything will be okay in the end. While that's not always true, it gives kids hope. I'm giving this short 4 out of 5 stars. It would've been 5, but this short follows the same plotline that's in many other Pixar movies and animations.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce is about a writer, Mr. Lessmore, that is writing his book when suddenly, a tornado strikes the town. It had taken all the words from Mr. Lessmore's book, and left him without inspiration, making him monochrome. He's walking away from the town, when a woman flying through the air surrounded by flying books sees him, and leads him to a house full of books. She flies away, and Mr. Lessmore wanders through the house. As he does, he sees all the flying books, and gets inspiration. He lives in the house, reading, restoring books, and giving them to people to spread the joy of books. One night, he starts writing again. This goes on until he gets old. When he finally finishes his book, some of the flying books take him with them flying, and he dies, but not before leading a young girl to the house.
I really liked this short because it shows that books can be magical, and can inspire anyone. That and the animation style is really good. The music really helps in showing the mood of different scenes, by becoming quick and fast during the tornado, and slowing down as he loses inspiration. Overall, I'm giving this short 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's not 5 because it's not interesting unless you like books, which isn't a lot of people compared to people who like technology.

Summarizing My Work So Far

From what i have learned so far while working on this project this year is that the soundtracks chosen for a movie are a very important part of its making. The effect the music has on the mood of the moment is also often overlooked by the audience. After watching many movies and listening to the tracks chosen for them, and the timing at which the music is played, has made me notice that music is, in fact, a very important factor in movie making. It often backs up the visual aspects of the movie as it does in, for example, a sad moment where the music played helps the audience better understand the feelings of characters and the mood of the moment. In other cases the music played can foreshadow something to come, as it does with a sudden pick up of music, moments before the tide of the battle turns and the main characters begin to overpower the opposing force. At times the music in the movie can be so soft that even when you try to hear it its hard to make out, but subconsciously your brain still acknowledges its presence and uses it to better connect you ,as the audience, and the movie with its events and characters.

Dimanche by Patrick Doyon

Dimanche is an animated short film about a boy's daily routine on a Sunday. He's dragged to church, and then later on to his grandma's house, by his mom. His dad is apathetic to everything that happens, and just watches everything around him. He doesn't seem to have any friends in the short, so he plays with a coin by putting it on the railroad track next to his house to flatten it, but by doing so he harms a bear.
It has a muted color palette and a simple animation style, and I'm not really sure about the plotline. It doesn't stand out from the rest of the short stories, so I'm giving it 2 out of 5 stars.

The Silence in Movies

One problem that got in my way was finding movies with soundtracks that can be reviewed. Very often movie makers use music as a filler, for example, to entertain the audience during the movement of a character from one place to the next. The music here does not symbolize much and although it may hint at some events to com there is not much to discus about it there. In decisive moments in movies, silence if often chosen in order to give the audience to a feeling of suspense, sort of like everything in the forest goes quiet before something big happens. This anticipation is also a very important tool used in movies to keep you on the edge, hooked up in the action of the movie. In this case the music is often used as a means of breaking this suspense and either reflecting or foreshadowing the outcome of the tense moment.

The Dark Knight Review

For the first time ever, I watched The Dark Knight and reviewed its cinematography. I was not only surprised by the visual aspect of the movie, but also the movie as a whole. Believe it or not, the movie included several life lessons incorporated into the plot. In addition, the role of the characters in the movie taught me a little bit about how people communicate with each other and have relationships.

Overall, the movie was shot incredibly beautifully and I really enjoyed it. The thing I want to focus on for the purpose of this post is the special effects and makeup, especially that of the Joker and Two-Face. So far for this project I haven't ever really talked about the special effects or makeup that I have seen but this is a perfect opportunity to do so.

I was utterly fascinated by the Joker's makeup in the movie and decided to do a little bit of research on what it entails and how exactly the look is created. I couldn't find anything  directly from the set of The Dark Knight but I did find a YouTube video tutorial of how to create the same look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2K1eOa6uKc

I also found an interview with the Joker's makeup artist talking about how he thought of the look as well as the techniques used.
http://www.resource411.com/411update/issue_59/articles/dark_knight.cfm

After a quick Google search I discovered that besides the makeup that is used to create the creepy face of the Joker, Heath Ledger also wore prosthetics on his cheeks and mouth to create the scars that form the Joker's "smile." Below I created a transformation timeline of how Ledger becomes the Joker.
          

        Heath Ledger's transformation from a normal face to that of the Joker.

Another interesting transformation in The Dark Knight is that of Harvey Dent into Two-Face after being burned in a gasoline fire. I did some research on how this process occurred and discovered that his Two-Face look was created using digital imagery editing. I found a brief video of how this editing takes place and creates his ugly face that will make you cringe.

Here's the link to the video regarding Harvey Dent's face alterations:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/dark-knight-effects-two-face-video_n_1718650.html


     
Aaron Eckhart's transformation from Harvey Dent to Two-Face.