Saturday, December 22, 2007

Centre For Arts and Technology Film Student Film Premiere Q4 07

Once again the Centre for Arts and Technology had a premiere party to showcase the Centre's Film student's latest works. This premiere had 12 films ranging from documentary to comedy to romance and a little sci-fi.

1) Fish Out of Water by Kyle Pigeau - Apparently people find the word 'Yar' funny. The film had a very stylized animated opening which caught my eye, but the rest of the film was live and felt flat. The film was about a janitorial pirate you finds love. I thought the script needed some more polish and I think I only smiled once.
Grade: C

2) Collide by Ada Jules - I loved the idea, it has potential to hit home with the sci-fi fans and the romance films. The idea is that a guy gets the ability to learn everything there is about an object by touching it. He shakes hands with a girl and falls in love with her. The script needed a bit more polish (romance is hard to write, I know!). But it's the grounds for a good short.
Grade: B-

3) Love Doesn't Hurt, Only You - An interesting short with no diolog, only music. It played very much like a long music video. This short and many others featured copy written music which could effect them in the long run. My instructors always told us never to use copywriten music unless you have permission from the artist themselves. So placing the copywriting music in their short means that they can not submit it to film studios or other film festivals. The short itself could benefit from some cutting and shortening in a few places. For an example, I don't think the viewer needs to see 3 minutes of footage of people playing The Game of Life.
Grade C+

4) Crimson Steel by Brian Dycke - This one was interesting. It stars a guy with a sword in a Mafia movie, in Tokyo. Pretty interesting idea. Much like Loves Doesn't Hurt, the movie also featured copy written music and needs a few more polishing points, especially colour correction and audio sync. For an example when 2 people are sword fighting the swords are completely out of sync. Was interesting though.
Grade C+

5) Passing By by Kaylan Wiebe - A romance story about an actor who gets into a car accident and is paralyzed. The romantic lines and timing needed a bit more polish (I know, it's tough to write romance!), but it was on the right track. One thing I'd have more pronounced in the movie is the relationship with the actor and his friend who was driving when they got into the car accident. At the end of the film I was like: "Who is he? I swear he only had 1 line earlier in the film."

6) Fishers of Men by Cherly Hardy - A documentary question and answer feature about Christian religion. I have to admit, it started off very funny. I don't know what side was funnier, the question askers or the answers. But soon they begun to touch on some more pressing issues. One thing I must point out was a lack of commitment to style. There were questions being asked by people, screen shots and the people answering themselves. It's best to have a set set up.
Grade C+

7) In The Night - A very funny cynical and dark film about a guy's day and his thoughts on several things that he does. It was pretty funny.
Grade B

8) Candy Kane by Jordan Lange - It was nearly anime brought to life. Sure no giant monsters, but there was a scantly clad woman talking to a stuffed toy. It was twisted and a breath of fresh air.
Grade B+

9) A Lonely Day by Nick Starsky - A movie that used the power of green screen in the real world environment. Very surreal and boarder line "mind fuck". The camera man's shadow was vi sable and took away from the experience sadly.
Grade B

10) Untitled by Ryan Hiemstra - A wonderfully dark humoured short about 2 morgue workers. The reactions and set was very well done.
Grade B+

11) Work In Progress by Adam Kitter and Curtis Pittendriegh - After a long wait and technical problems the movie finally got on it's way and it was better then imagined. It was about 2 stoners who decide to make a movie about their lives and the problems along the way. The film had a ton of great gags, jokes prop humour.
Grade A

12) Pancake Day - Best for last I guess. This completely improvised movie was shot in less then 3 hours and was great. It told the story about 3 roommates who each looked foreword to pan cake day, the day they have pancakes. The over the top performance by Josh G really pushed the film down the direction it needed to go. It was shot documentry style and featured interviews with the characters which added to the comedy. Anyway, pan cake day turns bad when a new addition is added to the apartment (won't spoil it) and it turns the guys against each other. There's a great scene which is about 7 minutes long and is a confrontation of Chris about the addition and they pulled it off great, without a cut. Sure there were a few smiles, but they remained in character and the dialog was great for being improvised.
Grade A+

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Why Re-Render?

With "Roy's Revenge" coming out very soon I feel like I should show you why some scenes had to be re-rendered. Below is a shot from my short, the top one is before, the bottom one is after. In the before shot we see that some Final Gathering bleeding has taken place. We also have strange shadows on Roy and have you ever seen a blue sky like that? Didn't think so. The re-render shot has better lighting, no Final Gathering bleeding or strange shadows, the glow on the computer screen is also corrected. Stay tuned for the short, it'll be on here before X-mas.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Hyperpower! remix

"Hyperpower!" the first song from Year Zero has been remixed and ready for download. Hyperpower is an actual economic term that describes a country that is the most advanced militarily, economically, and technologically in the world. The term was used to describe America in the 90's and the British Empire at it's peak. I used the song as an intro piece and extended it to showcase some of the sounds from the rest of the album.

I'll post a cover art for the remix CD and links to all the songs soon.

Photo by my mom or sister (not 100% sure). Modified by me.

Friday, December 14, 2007

The Beginning of the End remix

One of my favorite songs from Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails is "The Beginning of the End". So when it came to remixing it, I was very nervous about breaking it's perfection. But I found a way to make it work and I think it sounds even better. Give it a listen by clicking the link or picture.

Photo by me.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Survivalism remix

The third track from NIN's latest CD is called "Survivalism" and the character talks about how life is in the world of Year Zero. The term references a person is is ready for 4 things: Natural Disasters, Man Made Disasters, Loss of society benefits (water, electricity) and the collapse of society as a whole. It fits perfectly to paint the picture of Year Zero. You can listen to my remix of the song by clicking the link, or the picture.

Picture by me.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Good Solider remix

"The Good Solider" from NIN latest album Year Zero seems to be about a solider serving his country and is trying to believe that he/she is doing the right thing and the reason they're at war is justified. They seem to go from a strong, playing the strong solider in the verses to a softer reflective voice in the chorus. I went with the softer side with this remix. Are you downloading them all? I'm closing in on the last songs.

Photo by me.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Vessel remix

The end is near to the Year Zero remixes, only a handful remains. "Vessel" is the 5th song of Year Zero and the character is the vessel of the truth, mainly theories of this song is that it's about a soldier who is taking pills to advance the agenda of the army and numb out feelings of regret and make killing as pleasurable as sex. Thus the character feels powerful and allows it to happen, but does feel like the pills could be ripping him apart. Just one theory of many.

Photo by me.


In animation news, Roy's Revenge is looking even better after rerendering a few scenes and will premiere at The Centre For Arts and Technology's (end of semester) Film Festival on December 20th. I'll be posting the finished film on here on the 21st. Get ready for Revenge!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Me, I'm Not remix

The 6th song from Year Zero is "Me, I'm Not", I'm not too much of a fan of the original mix. The song was very easy and fun to remix, it all just flowed together. I removed an entire chorus because it reminds me of the Fonz from Happy Days. The song seems to be about a person losing control over themselves or something, my theory is that the song is about the person who designed Parepin (see my post about The Greater Good) and is succumbing to the numbness of the drug.

Anyway, enjoy. Photo by me.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Capital G remix

"Capital G" is a song about the president of the USA in Year Zero. The G stands for Greed. The song goes on to say that power can convert people. A person who once had noble intentions can be corrupted and become drunk with power. Click the link, or the picture to hear the song.

Photo by me.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Warning remix

Oops, Looks like I forgot to upload "The Warning" before "My Violent Heart". Oh well.
"The Warning" seems to be about The Presence. What does The Presence look like? On the cover of Year Zero there's a giant partly transparent blue hand? That's it. The question is, what is The Presence? Is it the hand of god? Some kind of strange storm? Aliens? No one really knows. Witnesses of The Presence say that they feel intense fear, insignificance, astonishment, and forgetfulness.
Run the strange static sound through a spectrometer (one found in Adobe Premiere) and you'll see The Presence.

Photo by me.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

My Violent Heart remix

How are you enjoying the remixes Please leave some comments. "My Violent Heart" is ready for downloading at NINremixes.com. This is possibly my favorite song from Year Zero. I used a few samples from the Nine Inch Nails song "StarFuckers Inc" to create a darker mood. Listen to it yourself.

Photo by Sicamous Eye Centre, my eye.

Monday, December 03, 2007

God Given remix

The 10th track of Year Zero is "God Given" and my remix of it is now available for download. "God Given" is kind of a tongue in cheek look at the church in the Year Zero alternative reality. In that reality church and state has merged with large problems. The song has the character singing (it is a concept CD with multiple narratives going) that their religion is the only right one, insisting that every other religion is wrong and several other lines. The song is dance and poppy... an interesting mix to say the least.

Photo once again by me.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Meet Your Master remix

The Year Zero remixes continue with song number 11 out of 16, "Meet Your Master". I'm working my way backwards with these remixes remember?

Meanwhile, I'm testing my new computer's ability, so far it's been doing good, but now comes one of the ultimate tests... Rendering. Stay tuned.

Photo once again by me.