Will 2013 be finally Superman's year?

Image Source: nerdsoup.englishboards.com

The spotlight may have shone on Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Batman in recent years, but many believe that this year’s spotlight is reserved for Clark Kent, aka the Man of Steel.


Even during its development stages, Man of Steel has already been generating a lot of buzz. Because superhero films have experienced tremendous successes over the past few years, it is no surprise that a Superman movie would attract a great deal of attention. Adding to the excitement is the fact that the men behind the film are Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) and Christopher Nolan (the Batman trilogy) – filmmakers known for their “dark” style in action films.

Image Source: weheartit.com

 

























As expected, there are also those who are skeptical about the film, considering that its predecessor Superman Returns was a box office failure despite its critical success. However, given the strong promotion for the film, as well as positive reviews from early screenings, many film experts believe that Man of Steel would surpass the success of Superman Returns.

Image Source: supermanhomepage.com

 

























In addition, Man of Steel’s casting proves to be a factor on its impending success. British actor Henry Cavill seems to have gotten the approval of fans, both men and women, when it comes to playing the iconic superhero. Furthermore, the film boasts of acclaimed actors, such as Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, and Russell Crowe, which adds an appeal to older audiences. And just like this film, Henry Cavill’s career also looks very promising. Previously losing to Robert Pattinson on his roles in Twilight and Harry Potter, Cavill is among those rumored to fill in Daniel Craig’s shoes as the next James Bond.


With this amount of buzz, it is no surprise that this will be the year of the Man of Steel.


 Young film enthusiasts, like Samantha Pouls, are excited about the summer as it brings a selection of big-budgeted films. View this blog for more news and insights on the film industry.

Inception, the dream heist

Take all the gimmickry out of Inception and everything would seem to be just a plain caper movie—a sci-fi attempt to steal not a corporeal matter but something intangible: in Christopher Nolan’s predilection, it’s the human dream.

Image source: nathanielclaiborne.com

Science fiction-wise, the CGI that brushes all the impossible stunts are impressive. The succession of mirrors and the reclining floors and mirrors make the audience believe that borrowing something from The Wachowski Brothers’ The Matrix for the last time is not criminal at all. The plot is as inexplicable as its structure, as Nolan intricately interweaves the past with the present until in an outside standpoint it becomes hard to identify which is which, which is the past or whose dream is showing on the screen now.

Image source: clarionledger.com

At first glance it is as though Nolan is just sketching his enthusiastic horse playing with images, as he makes use of whatever acting chops there are in the brilliantly assembled ensemble of talents—Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine.

Image source: comicbookmovie.com

Sans the flamboyant computer effects the movie remains an existentialist heist film—but one thing is certain: it is well written and properly directed.

And before the credits rule the screen one might think that he has been robbed of his own dream—but it could be the other thing: perhaps Nolan wants his viewers to dream.

Samantha Pouls is an avid fan of many large-scale film productions that have created a strong impact in popular culture and transformed the entire industry of filmmaking. Her exemplary views on films at large are accessible through this website.

Teens and sympathy: Evolving a young genre for adult understanding

Ten Things I Hate About You may be Shakespearian, but it’s no sonnet on the vicissitudes of life. Teen movies have moved forward since then --- at least from the purview of the generation that forgave Clueless and The Hottie and the Nottie. Hollywood has pretty much squandered its high horse among teenagers and their parents for largely depicting adolescence as a squawky mess hall. But with wittier writers, like Tina Fey (for Mean Girls), teen concerns have gone valid. Bullies and crushes are elements of psychological thrillers, even.

Image source: impawards.com

American cinema might not entertain the same illusions for teen movies, unapologetically pushing them into the genre of cheap laughs and publicity for new heartthrobs. The Twilight series attempted to imbue adult problems on teenagers the way defunct TV series Dawson’s Creek did, but these are tawdry nervous breakdowns compared to the more grounded Freaky Friday.

Image source: fanpop.com

Teen movies are in a genre of low expectations, and moviegoers forgive them easily. But it wouldn’t hurt to keep them more sensible by, in fact, scrapping the informal genre altogether. What sets teen movies apart from other film genres is their vagueness --- whether their classification is based on the ages of the characters, or they are strictly set in high school, or they just have to have jocks and cheerleaders --- and this keeps the genre more pliant. Teens coexisting with adults in films --- and having creepy enemies, like those from the Harry Potter films --- might be preferred by parents and guidance counsellors because these films have an inter-generational understanding about them and have dispensed with the old caricatures.

Image source: harrypotter.wikia.com

Teenagers also make promising filmmakers. Samantha Pouls, an aspiring filmmaker, has advanced beyond teen movies in her repertoire of inspiration. See how a more mature lens about films gives her perspective.

A little quandary: The future of cinema and the young filmmakers

 Image Source: dafilmschool.wordpress.com 


Would-be filmmakers have this inkling that winning a Palm d’Or or any prestigious film award is achievable by making films with ungraspable plot lines, indescribable characterizations, precariously shot sceneries, irrelevant nudities, and multilayers of foulmouthed dialogues and shadowy subplots. The result of believing this notion is multitudes of bad films that smear the prestige of the entire movie industry.


Most film students, upon learning immense textbook knowledge in school, suffer from a very injurious illness of having too much eagerness to deviate from the current standards and trends. These students despise mainstream Hollywood movies, turn to international cinema, and make films that are devoid of delicate cinematography and significant storyline.





Image Source: gifilmfestival.com 


That is why many short films and exploratory films made by film students today are unsurprisingly unpromising.


The other quandary that continuously distorts the future of cinema is the heavy borrowing of student filmmakers from the greats. Films that are obviously copied from the oeuvres of Scorsese or Schnabel or Cukor are everywhere—as if these films have been maliciously transported from the past and lost their elegance along the way.


Impatience is one of the serial killers of cinema today. In this time when the Internet is too gracious in providing every human’s hunger for knowledge, young filmmakers do not do it the master’s way any longer. They are subservient to the free tutorial stuff on YouTube and to whatever Wikipedia is saying. They don’t give their lives to the craft as Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa and the other masters did before.



 
Image Source: vsthepomegranate.blogspot.com  



Samantha Pouls is a junior high school student who is interested in the intricate process of filmmaking. Like her Facebook page to have more updates of the other activities she loves being involved with.

Useful websites for amateur filmmakers

Image source: uproxx.com

Filmmaking has evolved from being a job for the resource-rich class to becoming a creative diversion for aficionados with Internet know-how. The Web provides many tools that filmmaking greenhorns can use to start with the craft. Although film schools still teach the best lessons and techniques in this evolving form of art, it will not hurt if a little help from Mr. Google is sought. The following are useful websites that beginners can visit to hoist the quality of their works:

Jamendo
This site has an ample list of great music that can be used by newbies in their films. Although not all in the playlist can be used, a great deal of them are licensed and can be applied in film projects. Search result is extensive and downloading can be easy, especially since there is a “your rights on this album” section in every album.

Image source: musikality.net

Freesound
This site is a collaborative database of creative commons-licensed sound effects for sound editors and music professionals. Amateur filmmakers, like Samantha Pouls and Jonason Pauley, would find this as a convenient tool to accentuate audio value in their films.

Archive
The American Library of Congress has the rights to a myriad of old footage, most of which have been released into public domain. This site can be very useful for filmmakers who want to inject videos of real-life accounts, such as the speech made by former US President John F. Kennedy or some old propaganda videos, into their work.

Every great filmmaker was once a neophyte in the art and business of movie production. While amateur filmmakers still have a lot of challenges to tackle, they are given a powerhouse of resources that they could use as training ground to become excellent artists in the future.

Image source: freenew.net

This Facebook page provides more ideas about filmmaking.