Space Jam

Has anyone else heard about this space hotel? It's called Galactic Suite, and it's planned to start accommodations in 2012. Beyond wondering how people have money to spend, from what I hear, 4.4 million for a three night stay (at least 43 do - they already reserved), I can't help but wonder how on Earth (no pun intended) they plan to get this project up and running.

And then from there, I can't help but wonder if in five or ten years I'll be sitting wondering how I ever though space travel was ridiculous. Will there ever be a time where I'm taking care of my neighbors mail because he's at the six week training session in the tropical island where the space shuttle takes off from? Or is this assumption just as crazy as when 50 years ago people thought by 2000 flying cars will be the norm. This hotel, or rather shuttle, developer may be the biggest nut of them all, or the most innovative genius.

Pounding Headache

Forgive me if this post doesn't even seem to be in English, but I have the sudden urge to blog.

I can't even think straight right now. No, it's not my usual "I'm so stressed out that I'm going to jump off the Empire State Building after devouring fifteen bags of potato chips that I don't even like." It's a mixture of that feeling and physical pain.

I have this pounding headache that will not go away. It's been here for over 24 hours now. If it's not thumping, it's making me dizzy. If it's not making me dizzy it's keeping me from functioning all together. In fact, the only reason I can even type right now is the miracle of Advil.

The only reason I even went to school today was to take a math test. A math test that I couldn't even finish the last five questions of because every time I would point my attention towards my test sheet my headache would knock, as if mocking me and the fact that I'm not doing so hot in math without the German army rolling around in my head.

This post is not supposed to be in depth or meaningful in any way, shape, or form. In fact, I even told myself NOT to writeabout my headache. I had a whole bunch of things I wanted to post about, but they all disappeared. The pounding took it's place.

This headache is like that annoying kid sitting behind you in the movie theater. No matter how hard you concentrate on the movie, and how badly you want to pay attention to it, you only notice the kid kicking the back of your chair. You find yourself counting how many times he kicks per minute, moving with the beat of his kicks, and even anticipating the exact moment where he kicks. The kid stops kicking, but you realize it's because the credits started rolling so he got up to leave. This headache is, undoubtedly, a pain in the ass.

Let The Right One In

1) How is the backstory handled?

Well for the most part there wasn't much of a backstory. You were only given the key information you needed to make sense of the story, and even when you needed backstory you got them in a subtle way. You found out Oskar's parents were divorced when you heard a moment of his mom on the phone saying "He's going to his father's next week." You knew about Oskar's strange news paper clipping fascination once he answered the police's question about how they could tell if a crime was arson, and you we're reminded of the hobby again once you saw Oskar looking through his clippings.

2) How is camera movement used?

The camera is rarely moved throughout, but when it did move it went super slowly. The movie was made mostly of quick shot changes, which once again only showed you what needed to be seen.

3) How is camera distance used?

The camera distance was always an extreme; extremely far or extremely close, there was nothing in between. When there wasn't much to a scene other then the actual character's movements or facial expressions the camera was way up close (one more time: not showing you more then you need to see). When there were scenes that were better off left to your imagination there was a lot of distance between the actual action and the camera, but there were sound effects to help spark your imagination.

4) How is the character developed other than with dialog, or how does the director develop character visually?

The one scene I really can relate to this question is the shot right after Oskar fights back, the camera is looking up at Oskar, suddenly making him seem like he's on top. Oskar is victorious and is finally no longer the one getting hit, and this jump in character was so easily portrayed just by having a camera look up at him from the ground.

5) Sound is used to incredible effect in this movie - how do the filmmakers use sound?

The filmmakers used sound to give the viewers enough for there imagination without actually showing any of the blood and guts. The sound also threw off my senses - everything seemed way too close to me.

6) Håkam - what's up with this guy?

Håkam and Eli's relationship is incredibly weird. I don't really understand why Håkam stays by her side. Håkam's actions are all fatherly though - his killing people just so the sweet Eli doesn't have to get as upset as she does after killing seems like an attempt to keep the already unhappy Eli from getting unhappier.

7) What is behind the puzzles? What do they symbolize?

I'm unsure about how to answer this question, but it basically seems like there are puzzles throughout Oskar and Eli's relationship. There's the Rubiks Cube that initiates the relationship, there's the morse code that is their own way of communicating, and I'm not sure but I think the egg that Oskar tapped was a puzzle Eli completed. Beyond the actual games, I think their relationship was a bit of a puzzle at first since Eli had a mystery about her after telling Oskar they can't be friends. Also, all of Oskar's news clippings seemed to end in mystery (since none of the crimes were solved) and Eli was actually the answer to all the deaths Oskar would read about.

8) Plot point one is?

I think plot point one is when Oskar hits the bully. This was the first time Oskar fought back, and he had a liberated look on his face once it was done. A part of Oskar's personality had changed after he took Eli's advice.

9) Plot point two is?

Plot point two is when Oskar "invites Eli in" after he saw her dying. After this point you knew that no matter what Eli was, vampire, human, boy, or girl, Oskar still cared about her. After the hug it was evident that the fact that Eli was a vampire became just a small detail in their relationship.

10) Is this a happy ending?

It's not a happy ending, Eli's still something she doesn't want to be and Oskar doesn't seem to be completely satisfied with his life, but it's not unhappy either. It's not a happy ending but it's happier then what there life was like previous to their meeting each other. They've been alone in the world, and now they can be alone together.

On another note:

Let The Right One In Trailer

I absolutely loved how fitting this trailer was. There was a total of three lines of dialogue in the whole thing, but it managed to get to me anyway. For me, the scariest parts of the trailer was when the loud and close to you sound effects kicked in and that first moment with the bully, which is incredibly close to the movies effect on me.

Lina Leandersson Interview

After I clicked on Lina Leanderson's IMDB profile and realized that she had no professional work before Let The Right One In I was intrigued. I found this interview where she says that she found out that they were casting online, and asked her mom if she could go to an audition. Out of the large casting Lina, a girl whose only previous experience was acting classes that got cancelled because not many people in the town had signed up for them, got the role of Eli.

last screenwriting workshop

We only went over three scripts today in the workshop, but I still got a few pieces of advice that I think will really help my writing now and in the future. In regards to Zach's piece, Steve mentioned that if your writing a story based off true events that happened in your life you shouldn't rewrite every detail of the event as it happened if it doesn't work for your story. If you can manage to portray the same meaning in a much easier and more effective way, do it - don't be focused on keeping the unnecessary details true to what really happened.

At the end of the workshop Steve urged us to make the best films we possibly can, avoiding all the classic high school film mistakes. At first I was unsure of my capability to even make something as good as a crappy high school film, but after creating my storyboard I think that I am closer to bringing this film to come out exactly as I imagined while writing it. Hopefully I can be as creative and innovative as possible during filming my script.

screenwriting three

Since the idea of filming my screenplay scares me out of my mind, todays workshop was extremely helpful. I've never wrote a screenplay before this one, let alone made a film. Although I have ideas for how I want each scene to look, everything film-making-wise is still completely foreign to me. I now have crisper ideas of what I want when shooting. Steve gave me really helpful advice and thoughts; How to portray a person is at their end or beginning, how to make a scene feel really carefree or filled with tension, etc. I now have tons of thoughts on things to make my film better, plenty of thanks to Steve and Cassie who gave me the best ideas. Now I just have to get all my thoughts in order. But, I'm still plenty scared. It's hard not to be when doing something new.

life and art

I, undoubtedly, live many lives. In a way it makes me feel sneaky, and unwilling to admit. But honestly, doesn't everyone live different lives? Even the president wears different hats for every job he has.

I'm almost positive that you treat your best friend differently then you treat your buddy in math class. You save all your sacrilegious jokes and nasty comments for some one you that know won't judge you. Because if your neighbor in class happens to be in the Christian fellowship club and is best friends with that shady looking guy you wouldn't feel to hot after letting your mouth spill.

My dad has constantly told me to stop living a double life. He says I'm one person with my friends and one person with my family. It's wrong, I know, but I can't help it. Although he isn't completely right (there are some quirks you can't hide no matter how hard you try) I don't think I am completely capable of "being myself", or even knowing who "myself" is, all the time. It's not that my parents are abnormally unfair or are completely unsympathetic with their fifteen year old daughter, it's just more of a personal issue for me. Basically it's not them, it's me.

My conclusion to this is I think this might be apart of the reason why art appeals to me so much. My work may be the only place where all my lives merge into one, because no matter how small that role of yours may seem in your life it will always have some sort of an effect on you. Those effects on me throughout the day are what changes my thoughts and brings me new ideas, allowing me to create.

The fact that my art may be a merging of all my lives may just be the reason I don't like people reading a lot of my work. Am I ready to show the whole world the real me all at once? Well, all the real "mes".

screenwriting two

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

JULIA and KAITLYN are sitting on a bed gossiping and squealing. They're whispering and are clearly giddy over what was just said. The two begin laughing.

JuLIA

I can't believe he finally asked you out!

KAITLYN

I know! It's tomorrow too I have no time to get ready.

mom

(yells)

JULIA! Can you go run to the store quickly and pick up some more cranberry sauce?

Julia

OK, you wait here, and after I get back from the store I'll pick out an outfit and everything for you.

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

JULIA runs down the stairs and approaches her mom.

JULIA

CHRIS ate another whole can?

MOM

Yes, I don't know what to do with him! It's all he's been eating for the past two weeks.

JULIA

Alright. I'll go now.

INT./EXT. FRONT HALL - DAY

JULIA grabs her bag and keys off a table near the front door and runs outside. She then waves to CHRIS who is bike riding.

JULIA

Hey kiddo. You really ate another whole jar of the red stuff?

(smilingly)

CHRIS

Yep!

JULIA smiles and walks to her car. She opens the driver's door and sits inside. She ignites her car and glances back through the back window. She pulls back until she hears a loud scream andshe immediately stops the car. She opens the door to see CHRIS' bike rolling down the sidewalk.

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

It's three months later. JULIA is sitting nervously in a chair, biting her nails and playing with her feet. Her AUNT JANE is cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

JULIA

AUNT JANE?

aunt jane

Yes?

JULIA

I haven't really spoken to KAITLYN since, uhm, it happened.

AUNT JANE

Why do you think that is?

JULIA

She thinks I'm a murderer.

(thinking, pause)

I wouldn't even speak to me.

AUNT JANE

Honey, I think she knows you're not a murderer. I think she just misses your brother, and she needs some one to blame.

JULIA

I miss him too.

AUNT JANE

She probably knows that too. I mean think about it for a second sweetie. She wants to be able to take out her frustration somehow, and if she takes a second to think about how this might be even harder on you then it would be difficult for her to take it out on you.

(pause)

Has she even attempted to start speaking to you?

JULIA

No.

AUNT JANE

Give it time, she'll come around. You are sisters, after all.

JULIA nods and looks down at her hands.

INT./EXT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

JULIA walks into the kitchen as KAITLYN is picking up a dish of mixed vegetables. The two look at each other uncomfortably until KAITLYN walks out of the kitchen herself. Julia looks at the kitchen counter to see what is left to bring to the table and sees that only the cranberry sauce is left. JULIA freezes and stares at the bowl, as if debating picking it up or not. KAITLYN walks into the room and stops dead in her tracks when she sees JULIA and what she is staring at. KAITLYN slowly walks to the bowl herself and places one hand on the side. She then gestures to JULIA to come pick up the other side. Julia walks slowly towards the bowl, not looking away from it for a moment. Once she reaches the bowl she looks up at her sister, and KAITLYN gives a small smile. The two then carry the bowl out of the kitchen together.

I got a lot of great and really helpful feedback on this script today. I think the best suggestion I was given was to change the second to last scene with Aunt Jane around a little. It would start off with Kaitlyn walking into the kitchen as Julia and Aunt Jane are preparing the dishes to get ready to be taken outside. Julia and Kaitlyn would have this awkward tension between them for a moment, and then Kaitlyn picks up some dishes and goes outside. Aunt Jane would be watching the whole encounter between the two knowingly, and once Kaitlyn leaves the room Julia would start off the conversation with Aunt Jane about how she no longer speaks to Kaitlyn. I love starting that scene like this because it really allows another peak at that tension between the sisters even before the final scene. Another idea of shooting the last scene with multiple endings (Julia begins to pick up the bowl and Kaitlyn stops her, Julia and Kaitlyn both refrain from picking up the bowl but Aunt Jane comes and picks it up, etc.) is helpful because after seeing all the different possible ways in film it would definitely be easier to pick the best one. I'm genuinely excited for rewriting, filming, and seeing the end product.