Erin's Blog

MX4D is marketed as being a step up from 3D. It attempts to provide a true immersive experience by making your seat move with the film's movements, emitting smells that correspond with what's on screen, and other cool effects like strobe lighting, snow, and fog. I was really excited when I went to see Justice League with my classmates for an e-Comm field trip (despite not knowing much about the DC universe, admittedly). I really enjoyed certain aspects of the 4D, like the seat moving during the fight scenes. However, I felt like some of the other effects were just distractions from the movie and seemed kind of  unnecessary, like the water spraying in our faces (it was loud and kind of jarring), and the smells which honestly just seemed "off."  My favorite part of the whole field-trip actually wasn't the 4D at all, but getting to tour the theatre and see all of the cool technology B&B had renovated. ...

For this menu item, I watched a variety of short horror films. I did so in order to get inspiration for my own short horror movie that's currently in the making, Black-Eyed Children. I enjoyed watching the shorts and was impressed by the professional look of them. Two of the shorts were by CryptTV, The Birch and Itsy Bitsy Spiders. The third,  The Moonlight Man, was by Danny Donahue.  Of the three I watched, my favorite would have to be Itsy Bitsy Spiders . It wasn't the scariest film I've ever seen, but I enjoyed thoroughly enjoyed the story and concept. It was about a little boy with a strange obsession of drawing spiders. In the end, you learn the reason behind why he developed his weird obsession.  After watching the short horror films, it helped me make changes to the script I'm currently working on with my friend for our own short movie. I want to make sure our movie has a good mix of character development and story as well as scares, as some of...

Wes Anderson is one of my all-time favorite directors. I enjoy his unique visual style, stories, and the way he writes dialogue. My favorite movies of his are The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Royal Tenenbaums. Most of his movies are immediately recognizable as being by him, because of his very distinct style.  One of the most noticeable aspects of Anderson's directing is that the shots in his films are usually perfectly symmetrical, with beautiful unique color palettes. His films center around unique and realistic characters, most of which have a memorable costume design that distinguishes them and emphasizes their personality. For Margot from the Royal Tenenbaums, this would be her big fur coat or the cigarettes she is often seen with. For Zero from the Grand Budapest Hotel, it would be his bell boy uniform. Another recurring trait in Anderson's movies that I especially enjoy is the often deadpan way his characters address and speak t...

In this tutorial by DSLRGuide, I learned how to properly color grade a film without defaulting to the common orange and teal color scheme most 'blockbusters' use. Color grading is a very important part of the editing process and can give a plain looking clip a visually appealing cinematic appearance that is fun to look at. He emphasized the importance of matching skin tones so they do not appear too red or cool looking. He showed how you can take two visually similar shots and give them completely different tones or emotions just by altering the colors of the clip. He also specified that 'there are no rules in filmmaking.' A film's colors do not  necessarily have to be realistic. For example, the Matrix used unrealistic green tints in scenes depicting simulations, and other movies use unrealistic blue tints to signify sad parts in films. 

One thing in common with many student films is that they lack the 'cinematic' look. This video by MATHIEU STERN showed me how to film and edit in a professional, cinematic-looking way without spending all of the money people spend while filming Hollywood movies. The ten steps included: 1. Framing shots with the rule of thirds 2. Create a shallow depth of field with a lens between F3.5 and F1.2Z 3. Stabilize moving footage 4. Use warp stabilizer in premiere 5. Add 'cine bars' 6. Color grade footage with the lemur color panel 7. When you slow down, shoot at 60fps 8. Use a histogram on camera 9. Use a slider to create depth 10. Use cinematic fonts like Roboto, Didot, and Adam Pro With all of these tips in mind, you are more likely to produce a visually appealing video.