Yep, you read that right. Someone went to the trouble to put all six Star Wars movies together in the same screen and run them at the same time. To be honest, I don’t know if I love this or hate it. Maybe a bit of both.
I do know I’ve got a headache from watching it. Enjoy and you’re welcome.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOLqGxuvf08?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
Geeks/nerds out there expecting a child in the near future, this video is for you: How to Teach Your Unborn Child About Star Trek. That’s right, it’s never too early to start teaching your child the important fundamentals.
Well, you might want to wait until they actually have ears and can hear (about 20 weeks or so). But then, get to it.
If I ever have children (hey, you never know), in addition to Star Trek, I will also be teaching them about Star Wars during the all-important internal gestation period. This will, of course, inevitably lead to many enjoyable Star Trek vs. Star Wars debates.
That does sound like fun. I may have to work on that.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPt9vVYd-oE?rel=0]
(h/t to Dr. Tom Mahoney for the link)
In truth, this is one film I really wanted to see at SXSW. Sadly, due to other commitments, I won’t be going to Austin this year. Next year for sure. Of course, I said that last year too, so yeah, who knows?
Anyway, Joss Whedon has made an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. It’s got a great cast including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Reed Diamond, Clark Gregg and Tom Lenk, is in black and white and is based on one of my favorite plays. And yes, it’s Joss Whedon so I, of course, pay attention.
Anyway, here’s the trailer. Enjoy.
A couple days ago I posted a video showing some before and after visual effects shots from various TV shows and movies. Many people were surprised at the number of effects being used and also that, in many cases, effects were used at all.
Yeah, Hollywood likes to use visual effects to do almost anything these days. They do it a lot. To help illustrate just how much, a new website has sprung up showcasing what the author calls “The Canvas” of visual effects.
It’s a fascinating look at the “Before” shots in lots of famous movies including The Dark Knight, Twilight, Captain America, Kick-Ass, Avatar and a whole lot more. Plus, it gives you a greater appreciation for what the actors have to go through. Playing a big, emotional scene with a bunch of dots stuck to your face can’t be that easy.
Here’s a few of the “Before” pictures. Head over to the Before VFX website for a whole lot more.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”
“Kick-Ass”
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”
If you watch a lot of movies and TV as I do (and occasionally even make them), you’ve probably sometimes wondered “How did they do that”? Well, as you’ll see from this video, they “did that” with a lot of green screen and visual effects.
Visual effects is a huge part of Hollywood and the men and women who work in that industry should be recognized and rewarded as such. This is only a small fraction of the work they do each and every day.
Enjoy and try not to be too shocked.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
Hey, it’s Friday. Congrats, you made it through another week! I’ve had a fun week (more on that below) but, as usual, I’m glad it’s Friday and the week is over.
Although, knowing me as I do, I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking the whole weekend off or anything. Much too much to do, especially with the new project and knowing we’re going to be moving again in a few months.
But that’s later. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy another edition of Useful and Interesting Things.
• My pal Matt Raub and I are back doing a podcast for The Flickcast. I’m very happy about it and you can listen to the brand new episode which kicks off season two right here.
• Confused about who’s who and who’s related to who in the Star Wars universe? Perhaps this handy chart will help.
• I know, you’re still sometimes having trouble with well-known punctuation like the comma “,” or the semi-colon “;” but that hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals from coming up with 8 new punctuation marks to surprise and delight you.
• Feeling anxious or nervous? Lifehacker has you covered on how to beat it. No, alcohol or other controlled substances are not involved, sorry.
• If you make coffee at home and ever do a Pour-Over, you need a Hario V60 Power Kettle
• Angry, sad, happy, undecided, indifferent about the end of Downton Abbey season three? Perhaps these tidbits about season four will help you feel better/worse/whatever?
Finally, a here’s a little video I like to call Lego Michael Jackson. Coincidentally that’s pretty much what the person who made the video calls it too.
Plus, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a little bit of Alison Brie and her freestyle rap skills. This video is here mostly so I can put a photo of her at the top of this post. Yes, she’s eating ice cream, so?
What, you don’t like ice cream or something?
[vimeo 60169112 w=525 h=395]
First off, I finally saw the latest Die Hard movie. This one, called A Good Day to Die Hard, was not terrible. It wasn’t great, by any means, but it wasn’t terrible. It just was.
I won’t get into a lengthy review here, mostly because Nat Almirall does a fine job of it over at The Flickcast. However, I will say I mostly agree with him and his review, but I didn’t dislike it as much as he obviously did.
I also didn’t have as much of a problem with following things as he seems to have had. Maybe it’s because I have a background in editing or have just seen so many rough assemblies of films that jump cuts and poor attention to scene geography don’t really bother me.
Perhaps it was all the coffee I had before I saw the movie? Or, maybe seeing the movie with Matt Raub made me stay on my toes and pay better attention in case of potential discussion later? I don’t know.
The movie did spark one thing, though, Matt and I have a terrific idea of what the next Die Hard movie should be. Maybe we’ll share that with the class if we ever do another podcast. Hey, it could happen.
Now this:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnM_tcDcZLE?rel=0&w=525&h=295]
Even though they’ve already covered this over at The Flickcast, I also wanted to call attention to it here. As you know, I’m a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick. We’ve discussed this before.
So, when I hear they’re coming out with a movie about Kubrick and The Shining, I take notice. The movie in question is called Room 237 and a trailer for it has recently dropped.
Check it out below. Can’t wait to see this.
Or, so they thought. Turns out he was just working very long hours producing a movie called The Beautiful Ones. But now, at least for the moment, that’s over.
To explain in greater detail, the first phase of the shooting is over. The second phase will commence in about six weeks. I’m still working on other aspects of the production.
The reasons for this particular, and somewhat unorthodox, schedule are many, so I won’t bother to get into them now. Suffice it to say this is the way we’re doing it this time and that’s pretty much it.
Regarding this phase of production itself, I will have more to say about it, and various other related topics, after I’ve slept a bit more. Until then, enjoy this:
[vimeo 27009580 w=500 h=281]
Yeah, been kinda busy, you know, making a movie and all that. Still, I can’t forget you, my dear Internet friends. So, in the interest of furthering our relationship, here’s another in my semi-regular feature I like to call “Useful and Interesting Things.”
I hope you find these as useful and/or interesting as I do.
• This weekend in LA you can take not one, but two walking tours of the secret life of Los Angeles. It’s fun, you learn something and get much needed exercise. What could be better than that?
• Like emoticons? How about a collection of all Japanese emoticons in one place? Yeah, that’s right. My favorite? This one: ⊂(￣(工)￣)⊃
• Are you a writer? Thinking of self-publishing a book? If so, read Guy Kawasaki’s top ten list of mistakes writers make when self-publishing. You’ll be glad you did.
• And, as I’m currently making a movie, here’s a list of five survival skills the movies have taught us that are completely wrong.