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Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:41:00 +0100

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Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:46:23 +0100

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Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:04:28 +0100

Behind [the films of] Christopher Nolan

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:17:54 +0100

I have received hundreds, literally hundreds of requests for doing a [the films of] Christopher Nolan. Somehow, you all thought that if he wasn’t the next director, he wasn’t going to happen at all. That’s not true. [the films of] Christopher Nolan was and always has been planned for November, simply because I wanted to keep you guys very much involved in the project, and delaying it each time would spark up conversations about it (and it did). Finally, here it is. It was one of the more fun episodes to do, but also pretty tough.

Nolan is a fan-favorite and so there’s hundreds, maybe even thousands of tributes to him on YouTube. Naturally, I’d checked some of them out. One incredibly awesome tribute was made by Stas Ivanov, it’s a very trailer-y tribute. I would never have done it quite like that for the series because the series is less about building up anticipation and more about analyzing the director’s filmography, but wow.

The pressure was definitely there but I decided to not let it get to me, I wanted to do the tribute I set out to do back in January. I wanted to somehow create that feeling of information being made unavailable to you, which is often the case in Nolan’s films. That’s not something you figure out in a day or two so that was incredibly tricky. I also wanted that fantastic tension throughout his films, the idea that the story would be resolved in the end, and then that final nugget of information that makes you doubt everything you just saw.

Let’s get down to business.

The video opens with a fade to white. If you think that was on purpose: well done. White, much more than black, creates a feeling of presence, there’s something there. But with the uncommon audio and no real information as to what is there, it’s still nothing. If you think what a load of bullshit then I recommend you watch this bit again, and try to feel it.

I just really love this quote, there’s something about the delivery that makes it so awesome.

If you listen to this on a good pair of speakers, you’ll hear a very low tone penetrating the audio here. It’s from the LFE track of Inception.

I cut these three shots (this one and the two prior) as long as possible, I wanted to delay the hit so as to create suspense or tension if you will.

Even though I tried to refrain from using the big, epic orchestral pieces for this one, there’s no use trying to ignore this stunning score by James Newton-Howard and Hans Zimmer. I also wanted to really familiarize Nolan at first, so that I could do some strange stuff later on.

If you look closely you’ll actually see the title doesn’t just fade in but actually is contracted from the white.

I really, really, really wanted Following in here, not just a glimpse but a proper piece. I always feel people overlook it even though it’s where Nolan’s style originates. What did frustrate me was that this film is not available in it’s original aspect ratio. It’s filmed in 1.33:1, yet the DVD transfer is 1.62:1, and there’s no other version!

Cobb is revealed at ‘go wrong’. I also really like the slow-motion with the track, it makes it look hyper-realistic in a way. This sequence is a tribute to all the villains in Nolan’s films.

One of the main reasons Nolan’s films work so well is because he and his brother write their own scripts. You can feel the trademark in every little bit of film. I wanted lots of dialogue because it’s such a key part of his films.

Love how the guitar note moves up along with the street.

I’m not a big fan of Insomnia but I know many people think it’s overrated, so I wanted a quote in here.

And, of course, Batman’s one rule is not killing anyone, which is what the previous quote reflected on.

This is such a brilliant bit in The Dark Knight. It also predicts mayhem, which is what the next 10 seconds consists of.

This is one of my favorite cuts.

I wanted both the gravity-shift walking and the non-gravity fighting in here, but somehow when I placed them apart, it just seemed like I was lingering on about these two shots, so I placed them together even though it’s a mess continuity-wise. I kind of like it though.

I love the cape-sound from Batman so it has a nice little cameo here.

Are you watching closely? with a black screen. I hoped this would make people somehow guess the next sequence, as if there’s secrets in there.

Caine’s quote is about secrets as well.

The Crystal Method’s Why So Serious Remix kicks in here. I wanted a finale that was both epic and unusual, and this track was just that.

Another Joker-quote, but can you blame me?

I love this bit, the image slows down exactly when the music starts to twist. And of course, he’s falling into a tub of totally still water, so that impact will cause chaos.

The titles are in Bebas Neue and have a light vignette over them which contracts over time, so it seems like the title is moving out of the light.

These final seconds are my absolute favorite, I just love how synchronized the jumpcuts work.

Do I believe the world’s still there?

I put this shot of Inception over this quote, with the world disintegrating. Fantastic scene.

Is it still out there?

The video ends with a question and it’s neither resolved in audio nor video. Just before you can see a reaction in his eyes or face (relieve that the world still exists) the video cuts to white and the audio changes too. Sort of an Inception-ending for this kind of video.

And that’s it! I had a ton of fun working on this episode, I’d already seen all his movies so that was a relieve, for once, because Mr. December is quite a handful. I won’t reveal anything about him just yet, I think a promo will hit soon. Thank you all for watching and liking [the films of]!

Video

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0100

Photo

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:40:27 +0100

[the films of] Christopher Nolan, the eleventh episode of the...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:54:00 +0100

[the films of] Christopher Nolan, the eleventh episode of the series, hits this friday.

Are you watching closely? [the films of] Christopher Nolan hits...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:44:02 +0100

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Are you watching closely?

[the films of] Christopher Nolan hits this friday!

Unrated! NSFW!

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:29:41 +0200

Unrated! NSFW!

Video

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:59:06 +0200

Behind [the films of] Tim Burton

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:48:38 +0200

Tim Burton is a genius. His films are incredibly rich, feature memorable characters and unforgettable visuals. They also happen to be perfect Hallowe’en movies, so the choice to do [the films of] Tim Burton now was easily made. The video, however, was not. With capturing Burton’s vision, I encountered a few problems that occured in the past of this series as well. Here’s how I brought it all together, why I made two different versions and what I think Tim Burton’s films are all about.

The video opens with this shot from Big Fish and the opening notes of Danny Elfman’s Edward Scissorhands score. Tim Burton and Danny Elfman are a gold combo so I immediately threw that in there.

Difference YouTube / Vimeo version: booty alert! I don’t consider this ‘explicit’ or anything (I’m not one of those) but it is NSFW.

Let me use this first shot of Corpse Bride as an excuse to explain why The Nightmare Before Christmas is not in here. It’s directed by Henry Selick, Tim Burton didn’t direct it himself and was only on set for about four days. That’s why.

I love this reveal. Burton always has incredibly rich environments and surrealistic worlds, which is one of the many things I love about his films.

This is done with a very simple key effect. First off, the title is keyed to white and tolerance is slowly added, so that gives it that expanding effect, and the Alice shot is duplicated and invert keyed to black, so that the branches move over the title.

Fantastic shot. I absolutely love this movie.

In one week I saw Batman Begins, Batman, Batman Returns and finished Batman: Arkham City.

Here you have my favorite Tim Burton movie, Sweeney Todd.

I like how the transition between this shot and the previous is almost seamless, it’s because of movement rhyming.

There’s not a whole lot of Planet of the Apes in there, that’s no matter of taste or anything but the material was playing hard to get with Final Cut and so I had little shots to choose from. I know, terrible excuse, but I wasn’t a big fan of the film anyway so I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

What did you expect, you’re dead!

Brilliant line (and I love this character as well) from Beetlejuice (or is it Beetle Juice?). Augustus Gloop intros here, it’s the orchestra only version from the Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Box Set.

All right, let’s shoot this f*cker.

Iconic line here, but just a tad too explicit for the YouTube version so head on over to Vimeo if you want it included. After Ed Wood my sister and I watched a few of Edward’s films, but didn’t make it past Plan 9.

There is no horseman. There never was a horseman. There never will be a horseman.

Great line, but it needed some kind of resolution (which in the Vimeo version is Uncle Vernon being decapitated) and I couldn’t find a suiting one without someone getting his head chopped off, so only in the Vimeo version.

DECAPITATIOOOOOOOOOOON.

I don’t know whether it’s the make-up, the lighting, the angle or all of the above, but Danny Devito is so fucking creepy here.

And naturally, Joker makes an appearance as well.

Changed this as well, because in the YouTube version it’s not entirely clear what Benjamin is about to do. And well. Here it’s really clear.

The last 2 minutes of the video were all edited in one day, that includes this title sequence. I was so happy when I found this perfect music.

The font of the titles is Alice in Wonderland and it’s stylized with a little embossing and color correction. I really like them.

I sped this footage up by about 100%, else it just wouldn’t work. If there’s any Batman-fanatics out there who noticed, I’m truly sorry.

This is my favorite one.

The lightning effect was done frame by frame.

Nothing’s impossible, Charlie,

Not just a great quote, also really fitting with Burton’s style.

I like how the title really looks drenched in blood.

A man tells his stories so many times, that he becomes the stories.

I put a shot of Ed here because I think his (truly) unique vision is what kept him going and even if it’s not anyone’s taste, you have to respect the man telling stories in an unique way.

This shot is shortened in the YouTube version, again for the NSFW reason.

They live on after him. And in that way, he becomes immortal.

Great line that reflects on all the filmmakers in the series: they each create something that will live on forever, even after they’ve passed. That’s really beautiful, I think, and I can only hope to be part of such a process one day.

I always save the best for last, you might have noticed I haven’t mentioned the problems I encountered yet, that’s because I wanted you to understand the video before truly exposing what I struggled with.

The problem was similar to the one I ran into with [the films of] Wes Anderson: Burton’s films are so strong in style that they magnetically click into each other, which is a blessing if you look at it wrong. I wanted to communicate how unique each movie was, not just how unique Tim Burton was, and that was tough. I eventually decided to focus more on characters and have a short stylish montage at the beginning showing Burton’s style. That way we had covered the basic and stereotype Burton-grounds (crooked trees, snowy landscapes, mist..) and could focus on deeper intentions.

I think Burton’s films are mostly character-driven. That’s also why he’s such a fan of Johnny Depp: it’s not laziness or lack of inspiration, it’s the fact that Depp is an amazing character actor (just look at Jack Sparrow, Ed Wood, John Dillinger…) and that just clicks with the way Burton wants to make his films. I have no problem with that at all and I think people using that as an excuse to call his films stereotypical are just simple. His stories work because of the way he tells them.

I can’t believe that was the tenth episode. Wow. Only two more to go, and the next one is going to be an absolute blast. I won’t reveal anything just yet, the promo I have lined up for next week will hopefully do that in the best way possible.