The Burj Khalifa (orginally called the Burj Dubai), the tallest building in the world, had its grand opening yesterday in Dubai. Watch the video on the New York Times website. It is pretty incredible what they have acomplished:
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Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Fall
I have had time this break to catch up on some movies I have been wanting to see and re-watch some of my favorites that I keep at home. The Fall is by far one of my favorite movies. While the initial reviews were almost entirely split, negative and positive, the only fundamental criticism people had with it was the lacking story line. I would have to argue that the film has a clearly definitive story line and while it might not be the most complex narrative in the history of film, it isn't nearly enough of a detriment to the overall movie to call it a flaw. One of the reasons I love the film so much is because each scene, and each frame it seems, could make an incredible still which is something that I absolutely love to see in a movie. I know that doesn't make a film worth watching but I tend to be drawn to movies in which beautiful cinematography plays an important part in the overall film. One of my friends says that the cinematography for this film inspired her to study filmmaking and cinematography specifically in college.
The film centers around an ex-stunt man, Roy (played by actor Lee Pace), and a young girl, Alexandria, in a hospital in 1920's California. As Roy establishes a friendship with Alexandria, he begins to tell her stories, and the film switches back between Roy and Alexandria in the hospital and Roy's stories as imagined by Alexandria. She cleverly imagines people she encounters in her life within the hospital as the characters in Roy's story. Alexandria is played by Catinca Untaru, whose performance in the film is so convincingly real it makes the realization you are watching a film fade away, and instead we enter fully into Roy's world and Alexandria's imagination.
The characters, the stunning locations (the incredible number of locations), the cinematography, the colors, the clothes, and the performances complement each other to make the film the contemporary epic that it is. While its release in 2006 wasn't very widespread, the film was championed by filmmakers David Fincher (Fight Club) and Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are) which helped both its marketability and to further spread the word. Check out some amazing sites about the film.
THE TRAILER:
The original film website that has an incredible gallery of stills to check out and a better synopsis.
During the time of the release of the film, the filmmakers spread the fact that they filmed on location during the course of 4 years in over 18 different countries. The sheer amount of locations is mind blowing and for anyone interested in where the beautiful locations actually are, this blogger has used screen captures to describe where a majority of the locations are.
Original Poster:
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Stop-Motion Short Films
For Christmas Eve my family made a stop-motion short film in our backyard. Stop-motion films are made from hundreds or thousands of still images that are played at about 8 frames a second, which is relatively slow for a stop-motion film. We put a tea light in a paper bag and decorated our lawn. This film below is the result of our experimentation. Credits are at the end of the film. You can also watch it bigger on my vimeo page. Enjoy!
100 Luminaries on Vimeo:
I came across a few amazing stop-motion films on vimeo and I'm sure there are even more on youtube. This one, titled Notte Sento, was one of my favorites that I have come across and once I did a little more reading about it found out that it has been remarkably widespread for a short film. It is an incredibly well made short and I hope everyone will check it out and let their friends know about it.
Notte Sento:
Friday, January 1, 2010
Limerence
Limerence: The sheer shining moment and a brief period of time when a person falls blindly and intensely in love.
I realize that I haven't shared my film from this past semester. I was going through some of the work that I've made this past semester and I know I've shared my film in other places but not here. Working on this film and learning Final Cut Pro made me realize how much I had to learn technically for my classes. While I have learned an incredible amount about film and editing programs I've noticed that I can't really say the same for photography. There is so much more I have to learn about the technical part of photography and editing that I don't want to comitt to because the creative part, the actual going out and shooting, is what I love to do. I am generally very impatient and its incredibly apparent with my photography. Without going off on a real tangent, I know that I really need to start learning and committing in all respects to photography and with it being the new year and all I think this is a pretty good place to start.
In 2010 I look forward to working with more people in terms of my shoots. I want to start collaborating more and branching out into doing things I haven't done, like work with a team, and establish an idea for a shoot before I go out blindly clicking away. I want to take a second to thank everyone who has helped me in any way this past year. I love working with people and photographing people and of course I can't do that myself. It is because of other people that I love doing what I do and can continue working and learning. I'm excited for a whole new year of art, friends, photography, learning, and collaborating.
Enjoy my film!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Shoot Two
Sophie, Ryan, Gabe:
Start by lake & Sophie's house/dock. Photograph on dock as 3 friends. Sophie in bigger more masculine clothing to "fit in" with the guys. Playful and friendly. Part 2. Cornell. Action shots around Cornell focusing on linear architecture and solidity and contrast with loose and flowing action and movement poses.
By lake: S-hood? Masculine
C/U of parts of clothes, hemlines, accessories
S- teased hair and masculine/beautiful pose
Rain boots
G & R - @ Cornell playing, jumping, climbing all over steps & buildings
Loose teased hair as if S doesn't care. Just playing with the boys.
S- teased hair and masculine/beautiful pose
Rain boots
G & R - @ Cornell playing, jumping, climbing all over steps & buildings
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
David & Sophie Winter Shoot '09
Newest shoot with my gorgeous models Sophie Reppert and David Favaro. Special thanks to Rorie Dean for makeup and set help. Comment and let me know what you think.
All photos taken by Mathea Millman
