Liam Neeson Quiting Action Movies

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/12/liam-neeson-says-hell-likely-quit-making-action-movies-in-the-next-2-years

In a fairly interview, Liam Neeson has been asked how much longer he plans to star as the action hero in thriller movies. His response: "Maybe two more years. If God spares me and I’m healthy. But after that, I’ll stop. I think." Neeson has made a handful of action films ,as of recently, such as Taken 3, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and an upcoming film, Run All Night.

Although Liam is one of the more iconic thriller actors to be put up on the big screen, I absolutely respect his decision is stepping down from such heart-pumping and adrenaline rushing work. At the age of 62, it is more than appropriate for him to settle down in terms of making these kinds of movies. Despite his 'retirement'  from the genre, it most certainly is not going to render him useless as an actor. Sure, most of his work is based upon the action/thriller group, but he is a pretty phenomenal actor with lots of talent and it's very apparent in a lot of his films like Schindler's List. This has taught me that in whatever line of work you are doing, there has to be a line you have to draw when you come to a certain age, especially in film, Will he stay true to his word or will he surprise us with another action film in the next few years?

Walden Media On Board With Speilberg For The BFG

Walden Media has made the decision to help produce and finance a new DreamWorks film, The BFG, an adaptation of the 1982 children's novel by Roald Dahl that goes by the same name. The story takes place in a world where a young girl, the Queen of England and a giant known as the BFG, venture out into the world to stop the evil, man-eating giants that are scattered among the world.  Mark Rylance is said to be take the role of the BFG or Big Friendly Giant, along with newcomer, Ruby Barnhill to play as the young girl. Walden Media claims that they are "delighted to be involved with DreamWorks" and claim that Steven Spielberg is the perfect director to work with. Disney is also said to contribute to the film in term of oversees distribution.
As of recently, DreamWorks seems to impatient in terms of film production. It almost seems as if they are rushing these films out in an attempt to make a quick buck (their newest film Home being an example.) However, I do believe that this does have the potential to be a great film. Steven Spielberg has definitely proved himself to be a near-masterful director and DreamWorks actually has released above average films, making the reality of this film to be great to be a possibility. Will this film be a charmer and reel in some money or will it flop and just be another failed attempt to making a quick buck?
http://deadline.com/2015/03/bfg-steven-spielberg-movie-walden-media-1201386983/

Oscar Ratings Down

The Oscars were recently held last Sunday on the 22nd of February and were hosted by commonly known actor, Neil Patrick Harris. After the show had concluded, the final ratings show that they have went down by a whopping 16% from the previous year. It is also been one of the lowest points for the Oscars in terms of ratings with only approximately 37 million people tuning in. Most of the time, the Oscars are one of the most anticipated events in television, but with not a lot of relative popularity among the films and the protests by some of  the African-American community because of the "lack of black nominees", the viewership was anchored down and didn't exactly come at a satisfying number.
I, myself, watched the Oscars last Sunday and I never thought that I would use the term "boring" to describe this event.  It wasn't necessarily, in my opinion, because of the popularity of these films, but it lackluster host that Neil Patrick Harris proved himself to be. I personally believe that he is a phenomenal actor (his role in Gone Girl being an example) but he simply didn't have enough charm ,as other hosts like Ellen DeGeneres or James Franco, and didn't manage to keep a smile on my face the entre time. I've learned that if you're going to cast a host for a primetime television event, get one with s little more experience.

John Wick 2 Already in Progress

The 2014 film, John Wick, was released on October 24, 2014 and has proved itself to b quite a success given the fact that the film has grossed over $73 million with a budget of $20 million. The film is based off of the graphic novel that goes by the same name. The co-directors, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, have revealed that they are already planning to produce the sequel. However specific details of the story/plot of  said film have not been released, which I believe is a smart move as you don't want to spoil anything for the audience and lose potential movie-goers. Certain critics have stated that the first John Wick lacked character development, which serves as helpful criticism and should definitely be taken into consideration for the production of the sequel.

I don't know whether or not this movie will b a huge success but given that the first movie was so action-packed and was directed fairly well. it is safe to say that this may catch the attention of future movie goers.               

Worker Killed On Set of Scorsese Film

Martin Scorsese is currently in pre-production of his new and upcoming film, Silence, and is also directing while they are in Taiwan. The movie is based off of the novel that goes by the same name and is written by Shusako Endo. Tragically, while working in CMPC Studios in Taiwan, a worker died and several others suffer from minor to major injuries. These casualties were due to the collapse of a back lot  which had been deemed unsafe after a supposed 3rd party contractor was hired to reinforce it.

It's not uncommon that situations like this occur during the process of shooting  film or making any sort of practical visual art, but that's not to say that this is not tragic. Not only is it horribly sad that someone did while on the job, but it is also a waste of time, money and energy now that legal actions may occur. It shouldn't be a surprise if the film is somewhat delayed or held back, however this may serve as a lesson to filmmakers everywhere at that is to make sure that you're able to take risks but stay safe while doing them.
http://deadline.com/2015/01/silence-martin-scorsese-tragic-death-on-set-taiwan-1201362165/

DreamWorks Experiencing a Bumpy Ride

As of lately, DreamWorks has been struggling financially because of it's recent work. Past films, such as Mr. Peabody and Sherman and Turbo, can be used as example as to why DreamWorks has been struggling in the past year or so, with the exception of How To Train Your Dragon. in point of fact, these movies have made less money than it cost to make them, deeming it appropriate to be called flops. Their struggles have been do bad, that they have sadly left them laying about 500 people off, scrapping a movie project in total, and a reduced slate. To make up for this conundrum, they play to release a great amount of movies in the future, such as Kung Fu Panda 3, Boss Baby, The Croods 2 and so on.


First off, I believe that is sad to see that as many as 500 people have lost their old jobs most likely doing what they loved. I think that DreamWorks definitely has the potential to make some pretty memorable movie such as Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Chicken Run etc., however I think it is fair to say that they have lost some of their mojo. Nowadays it seems as though they just make movies to make a quick buck, but yet sadly, they fail to do even that. With the release of these new movies, I can unfortunately predict that some will be flops. For example, making a third Kung Fu Panda doesn't seem like that much of a great idea, considering the fact that the release date from its most recent sequel to the one that is about to come out in the following year is 5 years apart. Making another Kung Fu Panda is like trying to start a fire from ash. People have seen the first two within a respectable 3 year time gap, but there may be some to little hype surrounding the new release that is half  decade away from its most recent one. All in all, it is a shame that so many people have lot their jobs and if this has taught me anything, its that jobs come and go in the industry.

Production Journal

As film students, we are encouraged to take risks and try new things. Unleashing your true potential can be achieved through broadening out and taking leaps of faith. In my case, my group and I have taken the opportunity to branch out into the style known as film noir. Despite that we have only had few lectures on the style, we have been able to learn through our own experiences as individuals. We have taken as much information as we got, put our brains together and have come up with ideas that we may not would have thought of if we had worked by ourselves. Creativity was key and we didn't want to follow such a formulaic way of making the movie. By that I mean we wanted to think of different kinds of shots, angles and lighting to make our own story unique. After coming together and throwing in our own ideas, we finally were on the same page as to what we want our film to look like. The vocabulary was a novelty for us and we found ourselves laughing at the different words we have stumbled upon in the collection of film noir jargon. After we had gotten used to it, we were able to weave it into the dialogue and give it a slick and witty feel. Finding out what different kinds of shots we needed definitely strained my creativity, however with the help of others, everything turned out alright. Not only did we get the shots we want, but it also served as a learning experience for me. Lighting also was an outlet that let us work together and visualize as a group. We decided where to place what lights and what to emphasize. Though this, I got the opportunity to see what other people had envisioned. 

I originally wrote the story, but as a group  we worked on it and tweaked it so that the story was just right. We decided that I would be the main actor, however whenever the crew needed ideas I did everything in my power to give ideas. The director felt that I was good with a camera so whenever the D.P. needed help with the camera, I instructed him the best that I could and hoped that he would do it better. 

I have learned that I need to be committed in making a film. In other words, there may be times where I need to sacrifice certain things in order to keep my group happy and my movie looking good. Being punctual is always encouraged as it is advantageous for your group. Finding time has been a real hustle due to the fact that there are other things going on in our lives. Finding a date that accommodates all of our schedules definitely proved itself to be a challenge,but in the end I know we will do good especially with the group I have.