Paul

A couple of nights ago I went to see Simon Pegg & Nick Frost's first feature departure from the Blood and Ice Cream Saga with Edgar Wright. This time penned by Frogg (I love a good portmanteau) and directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland) the film is a story about two comic book nerds, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) on a road trip across the United States, visiting famous UFO sites along the way. On this child-like journey of the imagination they accidentally make first contact with a familiar face.

Or do they? It turns out that the affable alien Paul has been trapped on the earth by the U.S. government for around 60 years and has acquired a lot of our customs (including smoking, swearing and drinking heavily). The reason he looks so cliche is that his face has been drip-fed to us so that we wouldn't get scared if his race ever came to Earth. THIS is what makes Paul's character so ridiculously believable and sympathetic.

Paul is sympathetic because he is a laid-back guy trying to do the right thing who happens to be an alien on the run. This shows that Pegg has form for writing extremely sympathetic characters who have major character flaws. In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun is actually a bit of an arsehole but his redeeming qualities make him sympathetic. This is the case with Paul. Paul is arrogant, he is rude and he is deceptive but he has a heart of gold. (The scene where he meets up with the girl who found him 60 years previously is as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming).

This is another Frogg film that I could wax lyrical on as it was extremely entertaining, with fully rounded characters, some hilarious moments, tonnes of references (some obvious, some not-so-obvious) and a compelling but standard plot of the big evil government trying to destroy the little guy. There is also a fantastic little twist involving Jason Bateman's character Zoyle (another hilarious reference is here once you find out his first name) who is pure comedic evil throughout the film.

I loved this film and for anybody of a geeky disposition you will feel right at home.

You've got Red on You...

A couple of nights ago, I sat my girlfriend down to watch possibly my favourite feature film 'Shaun of the Dead" Dir: Edgar Wright. As one of the most popular British films of the past ten years (and having been shown ad nauseum on ITV2) I was surprised that she hadn't seen it and I felt she was missing out. I consider "Shaun of the Dead" to be a seminal work, not only in horror, comedy nor British film but in cinema itself.

Now, I know a film marketed as the first Zom-Rom-Com is probably not going to be seen as high art and I would agree with those who said that. It is a very archetypal story. Shaun, 29, has lost the love of his life, Liz, at the same time as a zombie apocalypse. He and his waster best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), must now rescue Liz and her friends and stick out the invasion. This is not high cinematic art, however it details the principles of filmmaking so very well.

The opening scene establishes every single confict and character-trait within three minutes with extremely sharp dialogue and useful camera work and it maintains its hilarity.

The establishing shot above tells you everything you need to know about Shaun and his relationships. He is unaware, he is thoughtless, he isn't taking care of himself or his friends. The first line of dialogue is his name as his girlfriend says "Shaun?" He has to bring himself back to a reality which is not satisfactory. From that point to 3:30 minutes into the film we establish every character's name, every single conflict between them and the tone of the piece.

The concision continues throughout. With sequences, which more indulgent filmmakers would have extended, Edgar Wright keeps the pace going to end the film at one hour and thirty minutes, for instance the scene where Ed and Shaun discuss what their plan is. The first time they run through it, everything is much more full in the visuals by the final time they run through it Shaun is now giving glib in the scenes saying "Sorry" rather than "I'm so sorry, Philip" when planning to dispatch his soon-to-be-dead step-dad. Wright's creative use of camera and sound with Simon Pegg's excellent writing is exactly what got them known for Spaced.

The film is also hilarious. The relationship between Shaun (Pegg) and Ed (Frost) is a classic use of the archetype of the young man with potential held back by the whims of his ignorant slacker friend. Throughout, Shaun's efforts are hampered by Ed's thoughtlessness. Answering the phone in front of hundreds of zombies; crashing a perfectly good car so he can drive Shaun's step-dad's Jaguar; playing the fruit machine when they are trying to stay quiet. (SPOILER ALER!) Ultimately, Ed has to die for Shaun to grow up and by the end of the film we are not just crying for the loss of a best friend but also for our own youth.

I could wax lyrical about every single sequence and scene in this film, but the main thing I have taken from this film is that concision in storytelling is the essence of fimmaking. How to say as many things as possible in the smallest amount of time possible. This is something I always consider when making my own films and I recommend (as I have) that anybody who wants to learn storytelling 101 watch "Shaun of the Dead" over and over (my current count is 67 times).

Hello, Good Evening and Welcome...

... to This Was the Film that Was.

I'm a moving image student currently based at a small college in the Midlands hoping for bigger and better things in the future. This is a blog about films, artwork and literature that I experience over the course of my time studying and working as a video artist/filmmaker.

I recently visited the Tate Modern and saw The Fortune Theatre's production of "The Woman In Black". Due to time restrictions we could only go around the surrealism section. What struck me about both was the simplicity of the work involved to create such powerful images and sounds.

The simple beauty of Dali's "Mountain Lake" (shown above) with it's bizarre inclusion of a telephone receiver off the hook creates a sense of loneliness. This image stuck out to me for the rest of the day until we made our way to The Fortune Theatre.

 Here, we were treated to two hours of sheer terror. The Brechtian use of the stage was never distracting as the play deals with the fact that it is a play. I had heard about this play before and how creepy Mrs Drablow but I had no idea how this was to be done. Her first appearance is truly terrifying. Emerging from the audience under a thick cloud of smoke to torment Mr. Kipps (Anthony Eden, above) just by mere glances. From then on, each and every audience member was paranoid that she would show up again. I was able to part my glance from the stage for a moment to see people looking around for her. The repetition of sound in "The Woman In Black" made for an  incredibly suspenseful build-up to a final reveal that made us (as well as the rest of the audience) ready to throw up our guts with fear.

I am inspired to tell a classic ghost story in film and this play really helped me understand the nature of horror. The audience cannot stay tense the whole way through and will see through your attempts at making them scared if you are too bold. Introduce the fear gradually and let it build delicately, relieving the tension as you go along - the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock used to always put a joke in after something terrible happening to remove some of the tension before building it back again -  until by then the paranoia has set in and the audience is helpless against what you are about to show them.