"The art of cinema acting is the exact opposite of stage acting. In the theatre you have to be as big and broad and loud as possible, even in the quiet scenes, which is a trick that only the best actors can pull off. Film acting, on the other hand, is about standing six feet from a camera in blazing light and not letting the tiniest bit of acting show. If you are doing it right you make it look very easy, but it takes a great deal of hard work to accomplish."
Monday, 14 February 2011
HARRY POTTER - Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema 2011 BAFTA Award
J. K. Rowling had an idea, and saw it through. When that first seed on an idea came; did she know it was a ten billion dollar idea? I'm guessing not. Did she know she'd have the most successful books ever and most successful films ever? Probably not. In fact; if we could take a trip back in an battered old DeLorean, I think we'd find the usual mix of inspiration and self-doubt that makes up every creative project.
The Harry Potter films deserved the recognition. It's easy to be anti-Harry. It's easy to be cynical because of how much money it made. It's easy to moan about how it's one big franchise. But Harry Potter is something special. It got my little cousins into reading. Have you ever tried getting your little cousins into reading? The most they normally read is the back cover of an Xbox game. J. K. Rowling changed that. And the films were giant, epic fantasies, and they took millions of people along for the ride. They made stars out of unknown kids like Radcliffe and Watson; and they brought all the A-Listers together on screen too.
I just found this. "In 1990, my then boyfriend and I decided to get a flat and move to Manchester together. We would flat hunt every once in awhile. One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head. I had been writing since I was six, but I had never been as excited about an idea as I was for this book. Coincidentally, I didn't have a pen and was too shy to ask anyone for one on the train, which frustrated me at the time, but when I look back at it was the best thing for me. It gave me the full four hours on the train to think up all the ideas for the book. A scrawny, little black haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me. He became more real. I think if I might have slowed down on the ideas and began to write them down. I would've stifled some of those ideas."
The books got turned down. Harry Potter didn't get published right away. Those people out there saying Potter was not good enough are the same people telling you your script sucks, or you should give up acting, or your camera-work is all wobbly. HARRY POTTER GOT REJECTED. Remember that every time you feel down or low about your career.
J. K. Rowling was just a woman on a train who had an idea and saw it through. She had a vision of writing seven books and she kept to that vision. Sure, now she's rich and we can be cynical - but she's just a creative woman who created magic. But it's not magic; it's just words on a page.
Harry Potter was just a seed of an idea in a woman's head. THAT'S ALL. But now, we know more about Harry Potter than we do about our government. We can recognize Daniel Radcliffe but sometimes we forget the names of our relatives. Harry Potter is everywhere. It's not just a cash-cow, it's a real life example of dreams coming to life, in so many ways. And I can't get over the fact it was all created by a writer who sat on a train and had an idea.
If you had been J. K. Rowling, on that train, and you'd had an idea about a kid with glasses who goes to wizard school-- I wonder, would you have seen it through? Would you have completed it? Would you have believed in yourself? Whether the answer is yes or no it doesn't really matter. It's just worth remembering the story of how Potter came to be. All of the directors, producers, financiers, marketing executives, actors, red carpet premieres, toys, screenings, etc -- it is ALL because J. K. Rowling sat on a train and had an idea.
The books got turned down. Harry Potter didn't get published right away. Those people out there saying Potter was not good enough are the same people telling you your script sucks, or you should give up acting, or your camera-work is all wobbly. HARRY POTTER GOT REJECTED. Remember that every time you feel down or low about your career.
J. K. Rowling was just a woman on a train who had an idea and saw it through. She had a vision of writing seven books and she kept to that vision. Sure, now she's rich and we can be cynical - but she's just a creative woman who created magic. But it's not magic; it's just words on a page.
Harry Potter was just a seed of an idea in a woman's head. THAT'S ALL. But now, we know more about Harry Potter than we do about our government. We can recognize Daniel Radcliffe but sometimes we forget the names of our relatives. Harry Potter is everywhere. It's not just a cash-cow, it's a real life example of dreams coming to life, in so many ways. And I can't get over the fact it was all created by a writer who sat on a train and had an idea.
If you had been J. K. Rowling, on that train, and you'd had an idea about a kid with glasses who goes to wizard school-- I wonder, would you have seen it through? Would you have completed it? Would you have believed in yourself? Whether the answer is yes or no it doesn't really matter. It's just worth remembering the story of how Potter came to be. All of the directors, producers, financiers, marketing executives, actors, red carpet premieres, toys, screenings, etc -- it is ALL because J. K. Rowling sat on a train and had an idea.
The FACEBOOK Uprising
There needs to be an uprising. We need democracy. We're being oppressed and having our freedoms curtailed; and we don't even realise it. We could be hanging out with great people, or having movie marathons, or staring at the stars. Instead we're on facebook.
Even when we do look up at the stars, the facebook button on our expensive gadgets compel us to interrupt the experience. We've been living this way for so long we don't even realise it. Ask anyone who has lived in an oppressive state. Pretty soon the voice becomes internalized; "my people are worthless," "I am failing God," "I must, must, must, check facebook!"
It only takes a second to check your facebook, that's what they say, but it doesn't; it takes your freedom and your ability to be independent. You think Shakespeare would have been as good as he was if he was using up his best lines on other prople's profile walls? You think his books would flow as well if he wrote them whilst waiting for Natalie to respond on facebook chat?
I'm not saying you should leave facebook; I just mean it should be used consciously. We need to be able to decide "I will now waste three hours on facebook 'liking' statuses," rather than being under the illusion that you're still working or having a short break.
It'll start with discipline, military rule. You need to set the boundaries. Things are going to change and it won't happen over night. But the goal is democracy-- that you choose how you use your time. And when you're getting on with your life you're not missing your online friends.
Everyone will be protesting against it one day. How it sucked the life out of them and turned everything spontaneous and magical into one big facebook event. But for now, nobody sees it. It's just you and me, and we have work to do, projects to see through to completion.
Even when we do look up at the stars, the facebook button on our expensive gadgets compel us to interrupt the experience. We've been living this way for so long we don't even realise it. Ask anyone who has lived in an oppressive state. Pretty soon the voice becomes internalized; "my people are worthless," "I am failing God," "I must, must, must, check facebook!"
It only takes a second to check your facebook, that's what they say, but it doesn't; it takes your freedom and your ability to be independent. You think Shakespeare would have been as good as he was if he was using up his best lines on other prople's profile walls? You think his books would flow as well if he wrote them whilst waiting for Natalie to respond on facebook chat?
I'm not saying you should leave facebook; I just mean it should be used consciously. We need to be able to decide "I will now waste three hours on facebook 'liking' statuses," rather than being under the illusion that you're still working or having a short break.
It'll start with discipline, military rule. You need to set the boundaries. Things are going to change and it won't happen over night. But the goal is democracy-- that you choose how you use your time. And when you're getting on with your life you're not missing your online friends.
Everyone will be protesting against it one day. How it sucked the life out of them and turned everything spontaneous and magical into one big facebook event. But for now, nobody sees it. It's just you and me, and we have work to do, projects to see through to completion.
Friday, 11 February 2011
10 For The Weekend
1. Alex Gibney is a great documentary filmmaker. "Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer" is a telling documentary about politics, the banks, and how men throw away everything for high price call girls. The film will definitely get you thinking.
Today I watched "Taxi To The Dark Side," the film he won the Oscar for. It's a film about the brutality used by American forces towards terrorism suspects since the Iraq war. The more you watch things, or read things or investigate things; the harder it is to have any sense of who the good guys are in the world. Maybe that's always been the case. Remember in school? Nazi Germany was bad and everyone else was good. Now everybody's bad and nobody's good.
2. Mariah Carey has been irrelevant for years. Nobody listens to her music anymore. But in "Precious" she drops the big breasted diva act and does something incredibly human. Amazing.
3. I met Bill Nighy a few weeks back. I was sitting in the front row of the cinema and spotted him two seats away from me. At the end of the film we chatted for a bit. If you think I'm name dropping you should see the way he casually mentioned Judi Dench.
4. I still haven't seen "Black Swan."
5. When was the last time you watched a movie without a physical or psychological problem? Most of the time we're stressed because of our day, or worrying about tomorrow's meeting, or shifting awkwardly because of a back pain, or feeling restless because of hunger. When is it ever perfect?
6. Does your girlfriend/boyfriend understand your creativity and career choices? Can they support it? Do they know when to leave you alone? Or are you single because of these very difficulties?
7. Have you noticed how your favourite TV shows always have the best theme tunes? Its impossible to love a show and hate the music.
8. You ever been caught between creativity and laziness? You can't be lazy cause you wanna be creative.. But it's not there, not happening. So you don't create, and you don't chill, instead you aggressively log in and out of your emails and make five coffees an hour; the purpose being 'to get working as soon as the coffee is made.'
9. I won a bloggie award last year and It'd be incredible to win for the second year in a row. The realistic part of me says a blog is just a blog. But the ideological side of me says that this blog represents an idea. It represents and champions stories and independence and passion and pure enjoyment of the cinema. And when something represents those things, it needs support; because the other side are over-represented. They have money, advertising budgets, hundreds of staff; and they advertise brands; and they wipe outanyone with a unique voice. So these little awards and links from people, plus the positive word of mouth -- they really mean everything. You can vote for me in the best entertainment blog category here.
10. And point 9 matters and is worth believing in because things are changing. We're in control now, not the big corporate guys. Nobody knows how the future will play out. They're hoping 3D lasts forever, but it won't. The future is being decided by fifteen year olds with flipcams. We can hold on to old ideas of filmmaking and distribution, or we can reinvent things ourselves. The playing field is getting more even. If your video is genius; three million people on YouTube will see it. if you make a second one that's just as good, another two million will see that.
You created them videos. You own them. Some corporate guy will offer you a big cheque to make a commercial or to write a screenplay for the studios. But it's up to you now, not them. You're the kid with the camera. The corporate guy wants money, you want a career. You're in the driving seat. Don't forget that. Nobody knows anything. If you have the talent: keep making stuff until you're so brilliant that they'll be asking YOU how the future will look.
Do you have 10 for me?
Today I watched "Taxi To The Dark Side," the film he won the Oscar for. It's a film about the brutality used by American forces towards terrorism suspects since the Iraq war. The more you watch things, or read things or investigate things; the harder it is to have any sense of who the good guys are in the world. Maybe that's always been the case. Remember in school? Nazi Germany was bad and everyone else was good. Now everybody's bad and nobody's good.
2. Mariah Carey has been irrelevant for years. Nobody listens to her music anymore. But in "Precious" she drops the big breasted diva act and does something incredibly human. Amazing.
3. I met Bill Nighy a few weeks back. I was sitting in the front row of the cinema and spotted him two seats away from me. At the end of the film we chatted for a bit. If you think I'm name dropping you should see the way he casually mentioned Judi Dench.
4. I still haven't seen "Black Swan."
5. When was the last time you watched a movie without a physical or psychological problem? Most of the time we're stressed because of our day, or worrying about tomorrow's meeting, or shifting awkwardly because of a back pain, or feeling restless because of hunger. When is it ever perfect?
6. Does your girlfriend/boyfriend understand your creativity and career choices? Can they support it? Do they know when to leave you alone? Or are you single because of these very difficulties?
7. Have you noticed how your favourite TV shows always have the best theme tunes? Its impossible to love a show and hate the music.
8. You ever been caught between creativity and laziness? You can't be lazy cause you wanna be creative.. But it's not there, not happening. So you don't create, and you don't chill, instead you aggressively log in and out of your emails and make five coffees an hour; the purpose being 'to get working as soon as the coffee is made.'
9. I won a bloggie award last year and It'd be incredible to win for the second year in a row. The realistic part of me says a blog is just a blog. But the ideological side of me says that this blog represents an idea. It represents and champions stories and independence and passion and pure enjoyment of the cinema. And when something represents those things, it needs support; because the other side are over-represented. They have money, advertising budgets, hundreds of staff; and they advertise brands; and they wipe outanyone with a unique voice. So these little awards and links from people, plus the positive word of mouth -- they really mean everything. You can vote for me in the best entertainment blog category here.
10. And point 9 matters and is worth believing in because things are changing. We're in control now, not the big corporate guys. Nobody knows how the future will play out. They're hoping 3D lasts forever, but it won't. The future is being decided by fifteen year olds with flipcams. We can hold on to old ideas of filmmaking and distribution, or we can reinvent things ourselves. The playing field is getting more even. If your video is genius; three million people on YouTube will see it. if you make a second one that's just as good, another two million will see that.
You created them videos. You own them. Some corporate guy will offer you a big cheque to make a commercial or to write a screenplay for the studios. But it's up to you now, not them. You're the kid with the camera. The corporate guy wants money, you want a career. You're in the driving seat. Don't forget that. Nobody knows anything. If you have the talent: keep making stuff until you're so brilliant that they'll be asking YOU how the future will look.
Do you have 10 for me?
Thursday, 10 February 2011
1974
So leave us alone
So leave us alone
We're busy being grown"
-Ryan Adams & Alanis Morissette - "1974" (live)
I first found this song in the middle of 2001. I loved music with all my heart. And I needed it too, because I was a miserable fuck back then. Music lets you know that other people are miserable too. Ryan Adams has a way of making misery an art. He makes it beautiful. When you feel the power of someone making misery into art, it's a big insight. It makes misery a good thing. You keep craving it, because it makes your writing better. It makes your singing real. It makes your movies profound.
This song was never recorded in a studio. It was only performed live, and only performed once. It's Ryan Adams, Alanis Morissette, and a piano. And it's luck that someone recorded it.
I was that geek who'd track down rare recordings. I was the kid getting old Springsteen obsessives to send me rare bootlegs in the post. It meant something back then. My friends were out drinking, I was sitting at home listening to Dylan rarities. It seemed sad at the time, or like I was deranged in some way. But it's me. It's those things that add up to make you who you are. I couldn't really say "I am the Kid In The Front Row, I go out drinking a lot and occasionally watch movies and sometimes like Springsteen." No, to be me, it was and is to love movies and music and creative things to the point of exhaustion. It's what I'm about.
This is the only recording of this song. I wonder if even Ryan Adams remembers it. Ryan is better at this than anyone -- at creating masterpieces in one evening and then moving on without ever looking back. The guy is the most prolific songwriter there is. He wrote a song called "Dear Anne" about Anne Frank; he recorded a demo, played it live about five times and broke everyone's hearts, and then he never played it again. Luckily the song survives on Youtube, too.
"1974" or whatever it was really called (not to be confused with another song he sang by the same name on an album); was about the two singers being born in the same year. They sing about themselves and they sing about each other. And I still don't totally get the song, but I love it. There's something remarkably simple, touching, meaningful, and beautiful about it. That's a lot of descriptive words, but it deserves them all.
It's amazing to me how they played it live, once, and that was it. Luckily it was recorded, and put on YouTube a while back for more people to love. It only has 12,000 hits. It'll never have more than 100,000. Music is great like that. Just like movies. What resonates resonates. How popular it is means nothing. I'll take my little Ryan Adams rarities over Lady Ga Ga or Black Eyed Peas any day.
A lot of screenwriters and directors have big ambitions; they wanna make Spiderman. They wanna make a billion dollars. I just want to make a Ryan Adams bootleg. Well, the equivalent. And don't get me wrong, Ryan Adams is successful and rich. But it's not because he's making radio hits -- he's just making his "1974" and "Dear Anne" - but people respond.
You find out who you are more and more by finding the things you love. And you lose a bit of yourself every time you pretend to love something more than you really do just to fit in and not seem different. There may only be nine people in the world who love these songs as much as I do -- but that's such a great and exciting thing! Imagine if one day I meet one!
"I want to thank you for your thoughts
Though they weren't mine to read
P.S. keep an eye on me."
-Ryan Adams - "DEAR ANNE"
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