Good Day at School

Today seemed inspriring enough for me to talk about on this blog. It wasn't your average school day in the least. In our program we are all met with different responsibilities; e.g. This week I have to prepare a report for our weekly show called Waterfront Weekly. Imagine me, nervous as a clam trying to think in terms of thoughts on what my narrative should be. How should I word my phrases, should I sound safisticated or worried. Am I thinking too much into it...probably. My teacher, Steve, wants to talk to each student today about what we want to accomplish by the end of the year....I'm the first one he's talking to.

The day started as a normal day does, my alarm ringing in my ears. This isn't your average ordinary alarm...oh no.. it's the iPhone generic alarm that is suppose to sound like maracas but really sounds like jackhammers at seven am. Wake up, shower, grab a coffee and it's off to the Waterfront campus, where we will be working with the Avid software. I worked with Avid during my summer internship and let me tell you it was no piece of cake.

The man teaching us had edited the entire Theodore Tugboat series. If he knew that I grew up watching the show, I'd have to leave the room in embarrasment. He taught us the fundamentals of Avid and I really learned something about organization. Really cool guy, can't wait to see what he brings next week.

Now for the moment of truth...I follow Steve into a project room to announce something drastic. How drastic could this thing be...well I'm majoring in Television and I am gonna break it to him that with this Major that I would love to work in post-production...in film! Steve calls film the F-Word...let's hope this doesn't kill him!

...he seemed to take it really well! He actually gave me a couple of ideas to think about. This really boosted my spirits! He also told me what I should approve on and gave me some advise that I plan to take. Made me think about what's really important when it comes to social life vs. work. Work should be my priority but everyone needs time to sit back and relax, even for a bit.

Meet up with my friend/radio colleague Lee and talk to him about an upcoming segment on his radio show. I'll be reviewing movies for his show every thursday! Got some ideas in play, so remember listen to Lee on www.nscc.ca/cckc to hear Lee and Me talk about movies! Like I talk about anything else...Pfft.

Special guest speaker, Paul Creelman, came to our class today. He showed us some of the things he has done for CTV....mostly SoundScapes. SoundScapes are essentially telling a story with Video and Audio, no Voice Overs. He had one involving a golf course being torn down for residential housing. It was really well shot, but my favorite was one about a new season of junior hockey. With the sounds and the cheering, it truly felt like I was sitting in the stadium watching a hockey game. Felt embarrased that when one of the players scored, I cheered...that's the power of great audio/video. Yvonne, our Journalism teacher, really got into the videos, and I don't blame her! They were very emotionally powerful. Good job Paul Creelman, your cool in my book.

My day at school ended with Julie, a tv colleague, and I with a bunch of television equipment in our hands. It's time to shoot some footage for my report. I shot some on Sunday but I had an interview with my friend Lee. He has 4 jobs and is a full time student. I give him real props, that must be quite stressful. I don't think i'd sleep...imagine the amount of money tho...

Interview went well, and I find myself back in the Newsroom. Yvonne tells us a story about a radio personality who decided it would be a good idea to talk about handicapped people performing certain sexual acts. I won't say what kind of acts because it's not me to say what, it would just bother me putting that onto my blog. It confuses me why certain people thinks that could at all be appropriate. I'm glad that radio station got in trouble...just not at all good subject matter.

The rest of the day looks to be quite eventful. I plan on writing out a rough draft of my script and I am thinking of going into Halifax for a little bit. Don't know what I'll do but if it's anything interesting I'll keep you informed! So today, in all; I've learned about something I hated and actually enjoyed it, got complimented and developed a kind of idea on what's to come for me, been inspired by a couple of videos, helped a friend, excited at the promise of being able to talk to a bunch of people about my favorite subject, and got grossed at the last second. Good day! Time for me to jet! So as Edward Murrow always said to wrap up his radio show!

Good Night...and Good Luck

Joel D.

Joel's favorite movies

I was sitting in the condo tonight, looking through the movies I own and thought to myself, "Man, what could I really call my top 5 favorite movies?" It sprang to me, well I got a blog, so might as well write it there. I've probably see thousands of films (seeing I own nearly 500 DVDs alone). So I thought i'd count down my top 5 films of all time. So hopefully you'll enjoy watching the trailers, reading why I love theses films so much and maybe you'll watch them and love them too!

5.Children of Men



What were to happen if women were infertile? Director Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban) answers that question in his post-apocalyptic thriller "Children of Men". The cinematography is compelling, utilizing techniques not seen on film, such as a 360 degree look inside of a moving vehicle and a 10 minute one-shot war scene. Clive Owen brings a sort of inner turmoil to his character, Theo. He never expresses his feelings to the general public because there's too much at stake. The more depressed the world gets, the more he holds it inside himself, and as the viewer you can feel it. He expresses no emotion, but by doing so, expresses so much sentimentality that you pity him which is why, to me, this is his greatest performance on screen. The realism is disturbingly thought out, and it is a possibility that it could eventually happen. The humanity is what makes this film such a masterpiece.

4.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind



Memories...an everlasting image of certain significant events that have unfolded in your life. Some may be good and some may be bad...but what if you felt you were sick of those memories. What procedures would be needed to get rid of thoses awful memories? What if there was a way to erase thoses memories? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the brain child of Charlie Kaufman (writer of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) who developped this idea thanks to Michel Gondry. Gondry was asked by a colleague what he would think if he got a small letter in the mail that read: Someone you know has just erased the memory of you. What we end up with is one of the best romantic comedy this side of Annie Hall. Jim Carrey plays Joel (nice name) a man who has just found out that the love of his life had erased Joel from her memory. The logical thing to do? Erase her. The film plays back and forth through different events in Joel's life, from childhood to his last memory of Clementine (played by Kate Winslet). The film is edited beautiful and is visually stunning. My heart breaks every time I watch the film, because there is this one scene near the end.... never mind I won't ruin it. It's quirky, it's funny, it's weird...and that's what makes it beautiful.

3. Se7en

David Fincher's second film deals with an unusual set of homicides. Two detectives are on the look-out for a murderer who kills sinners. Each death is inlined with one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Morgan Freeman plays Detective Sommerset, a cop who is on his way out, while his new partner (Brad Pitt) is young and optimistic about the job ahead. As the film moves forward, our characters begin to crack as the killings get more and more horrifying. The atmosphere is gut wrenching at times and the murders are inventive/grotesque. The film gets better and better with every view, and is quite philosophical. Smart action/writing makes this film a must-watch. I can't stop watching it or thinking of it. Wait til you see who plays the murderer, I won't spoil anything, but once he comes on screen, he steals the show.

2. The Usual Suspects



5 The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. Probably one of my favorite lines from this star-studded crime thriller about five criminals in a line-up who have something in common. The writing and set-up are so perfect that you can watch the film over and over again and find out that you missed something. Every look, every move all planned perfectly. This film was made for movie audiences...Kevin Spacey is breathtaking as a crippled criminal confessing the everyday lives of his partners in crime. Every time I have a movie night I always suggest this film. By the end you'll be asking yourself...Who is Keyzer Soze?

1. The Godfather Saga



I know so many people who can't sit down and watch theses films and it boggles my mind. Of any film series, or stand alone films, it's theses films I can't take my eyes off of. The tone/The acting/the writing/the atmosphere/the cinematography/the relationships/the turmoil/the music grabs you into the world and won't let go.Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino), a sweet and innocent soldier comes home to a family business he doesn't want to be a part of. What business you may ask? They are gangsters. As tragedy befalls the family, it is up to Michael to save his family from war with other mafia syndicates. He tryes to make an honest living but it all goes to hell as events transpire. The stresses of his life brings Michael to a stand still, as he becomes bitter and cruel to the people he loves. The last scene with Michael at the opera house in Godfather III is one of the most tragic moments in cinematic history. The films timeline goes from 1905 - 1990, we experience three generations of crime and war. Every time I hear the theme music, I just want to sit down and watch theses films and once I start Godfather I, I have to watch II, and right after II, I have to watch III. Michael Corleone is my favorite film character and with good reason, he is an everyday man who has to deal with something he's been avoiding most of his life. In the end, all that's left is disappointment and you see that in the performance. I know everyone talks about Marlon Brando (who is spectacular) but my praise goes to Al Pacino. He carried all three films beautifully...I have to give props to the supporting cast as well, such great perfromances. My favorite film of all time has to be three movies.

Thanks for reading, I will probably do more top 5's in the upcoming weeks, so be on the look-out.

Joel D.

CTV News Sept 23rd

It's Wednesday, September 23rd, i'm drinking a cup of joe and watching Jill Matthews as she is closing up Live at 5. I'm sure Steve Murphy is straghtening his tie and finishing off his coffee or tea. Not too positive what he usually drinks, but that's not important here. Let's look at Diversities in the news...

Breakfast Television commercial, showcasing PUMPKIN RACES!!! I am seriously pumped...too bad I have class in the morning.

Steve Murphy seems excited, and why shouldn't he be.

There is already a native person and this is just the promo for the show to come. Good sign, really good sign!

As our first story starts Steve says that elementary schools will have to play the national anthem. Todd Battis is live at the Halifax Regional School Board. For some reason the viz has a lot of snow in it...could it be old footage, or has it turned into winter already??? Is Cindy Day really behind on her weather...who's to say.

Facebook featured question, Should O Canada be played in all schools... with that questions Battis' report is over...no minorites...next story.

Steve Murphy talks about an attemtped abduction in Spryfield. No people in the story.

NSCC!!!!!! Yay....but kind of sad story really. Story about the strike. Cute girl on screen....and she goes to school with me..ignore that... Kayla Hounsell reports the story, kids don't know what's going on...I don't even know what's going on...is that a good thing? Still no minorites...seeing that Ishan, James, Brynn, Erin, Julie, Jaclyn, Floyd are all in that subject, I kind of find that hard to believe they couldn't be like HEY YOU, COME HERE!!

Helicopter comes back to Halifax for emergency landing, no viz, just story. White seems to be the dominant color today.

Man stabbed fataly...is that a correct term, fataly? Seeing that there is a red line under it, I guess not.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JIMMY MELVIN JR. He seems happy, I'd be too seeing my old cop friends!!

A story about the stinky harbor, sewage plant. Kelland Sundhal is reporting, her name sounds diverse, but like a lot of people in this show, she's white. Peter Kelly makes his daily appearance on the news. RIMA THOMEH, a streeter, is some degree of Latino. Sundhal finishes her report with a live tail.

First Nation story!! Some diversity finally! Chief Jesse Simon is asking people who move to the reserve for a criminal check. Not a very positive story, but a story none the less. He's looking for people who have commited serious crimes....oh ok...I'm confused, he wants bad people to live on his reserve...I have really no comment. I'm sure it's nice to want to maybe rehabilitate criminals, but bringing them all to one place where they can join together and maybe commit more crime...there seems to be a word for a place like that..prison?

John Ross makes sure emergency rooms don't close...good for him!

Two fatal crashes in New Brunswick...people should really be careful but that's story's done. Onto next story...

Greg Thompson spends money to create 100 new jobs for Nova Scotians!! That means I can hopefully find a new job soon!

Cole Harbor!! I live there...now. There is a player shortage for Hockey for Cole Harbor District High School. Jacqueline Foster reports, I bet it was filmed close to here. More white people...this seems to be a running theme.

The open hydro...a huge fan, tide flows throught the turbine and it turns the fan creating electricity. It's going through a test run. The guy talking is British...he's not a diversity.

Moving sidewalks at the Halifax airport, that's pretty cool. Tried one in Calgary...didn't want to get off of it.

BATMOBILE!!!!! for the disabled? A van to help the disabled get around. Arthur Neilson cannot move his legs and Doug Bridgman is commited to a wheelchair. Brunswick Accessible Transportation (B.A.T.) Mobile is a nice little concept...and I kind of got over excited...kind of wished it was the real Batmobile but this is nice too. So far we've got three stories with diversities under out belt.

SPCA story about a puppy who has been adopted. Snowball seems happy with his family. When camera rolls back to Steve Murphy, he is found smiling (as if he's the happiest man in the WORLD) must be a dog person.

Commercial break, which can only mean one thing...more coffee.

Back after commercials, we get the financial report. I should invest in stocks...maybe when I get more money.

Swine Flu vaccine V/O with African American kids. More diversity!!

Iranian President is on the screen, the story is pretty much giving the audience reasons to why he is not popular. Too short to talk about, next story.

Heist in Sweden, something out of a movie. Climbing on roof, trying to make their escape. Pretty cool...the movie will be out in a couple of months, no doubt about it.

Story about Princess Diana's boys, Harry and William. William visited Africa, and helped homeless children. Good to hear he's becoming more like his mother and less like his father. Harry doesn't do the dishes supposedly...why that's important...I don't know.

Almost 6:30 and it's time for Cindy Day's weather. I doubt there will be any diversity in her weather report so I guess this is the end of the broadcast.

Alright, so our final diversity score is: 6 stories involving diversities in some sort of capacity. It seems every other story prominently featured white people.

Well i'm out, so i'll be writing more frequently on the blog, talking about news, school and movies.

See Ya!

Joel D.

Up In The Air

Trailer

This is Canadian director Jason Reitman's follow up to his Academy Award winning film "Juno". This film screams Academy Award Nomination, especially after I heared it is being praised at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film stares George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Reitman, Danny McBride and J.K. Simmons. Here is the official synopsis to the film and it's perfectly short and sweet.

"Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams"

The film will hit theatres on November 13th as a limited release. You can check out the trailer for the movie underneath the poster at the top of this post.

Lights, Camera, Movie Time!

Welcome to the Blog of Joel, i'll be your poster, Joel D. I should introduce myself to the world of blogging because, to be honest, this is my first blog. So I thought it would be a great idea to review 5 of my favorite blogs on the internet. Theses five blogs have one thing in common: Movies. They all deal with different aspects of the industry, such as; independent filmmaker, awards buzz, upcoming films, the art of animation and ultimately film in general. So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy!

A blog I stumbled onto a couple of years back is AwardsDaily.com (originally known as OscarBuzz.com) which is basically a blog about the buzz surrounding films and actors alike. Sasha, the blogger, writes about her thoughts on certain upcoming films and also gives the readers the stories that matter. E.g. A story that broke onto the bloggers site before any other medium caught onto it was the story about a little girl named Colby. She was diagnosed with vascular cancer and was told that she only had a few months to live. She told her mother that her dying wish was to watch Disney/Pixar's film "Up" because she was really anticipating the movie. When Pixar caught wind to the story, they rushed to her house with a DVD copy of the film and a bunch of stuffed animals. They even gave her an Adventure Journal, which was featured in the film. A couple of hours after the film Colby passed away due to her illness, but stayed alive long enough to finally see the movie she'd been waiting for. It's uplifting stories like this which really makes me appreciate the industry and the blog. The site mainly runs on story revolved around Oscar season, such as buzz and theories. Sometimes they even hold statistics and polls to see how certain actors or films are doing. When it comes to Oscar night, I always use this site to help me guess who will win the big prize.

Onto our next blog which is TheFilmExperience.blogspot.com, another Oscar blog that focuses more on community based blogging. Nathaniel, the blogger, involves the reader into his articles by having little contest revolved around the viewers knowledge about film. E.G.: One time, he created this little daily quiz to see if anyone could guess a film by it's first and last shot. Some were really simple but a lot of them were either impossible to figure out or down right confusing. He also has predictions on his site for award season and has created a little award ceremony for his favorite films of the year. A community based blog is always a fun way of getting your message across to the reader and hearing what other people have to think on the matter. Sometimes I don't agree with some of his opinions on certain films, such as the film "Inglorious Bas@#%ds". The film was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and Nathaniel described the film as all talk and no action. I, on the other hand, disagree with his views. I found that the film was perfectly balanced in both fields. The dialogue was fantastic and at times it created an atmosphere both daunting and terrifying. Good reviewer on films but I think at times he takes it too seriously. Some films are ment to be analyzed and some films are ment for entertainment.

Let's look at another blogger, who has been making short films since he was in High School. Cinemassacre.com is home to James Rolfe, an internet celebrity. His love for movies inspired him to create some of his own films and also start a blog about his fascination with the subject. His most famous offspring would be his character named: The Angry Video Game Nerd. He reviews really bad video games and loves to curse frantically. It's entertainment value is astonishing and what makes it better is that he reviews movies as well. He is an average Joe who basically reviews films/video games/board games for entertainment purposes and even gives some history on the medium in general. If horror is your passion, then i'd advise you to check out the site, because everyday in October he reviews a film in the genre. From"Nosferatu" to "The Descent", he's probably seen them all. He also just got a deal with Spike Tv to create reviews for their website, so check them out.

Three down, Two to go!

This time let's go back to Pixar, one of my favorite film companies of all time. Not only have they created some of the most endearing characters and films of all time, but they mastered the craft like no other. When it comes to hard hitting matters, they don't sugar coat it. Pixarblog.blogspot.com is a fan made blog about the company that brought us "Toy Story" and "Wall-E". Anything new from Pixar is shown on the site; whether it be film trailers, news or even merchandise. The blog has a number of followers on twitter and usually updates on a regular basis. I love going to this site every once and a while to see what Pixar is up to theses days. Another thing that's great about the blog is that they are in contact with company so they usually treat the fans to interviews from directors, animators, etc. New innovations are happening in the industry and I'm glad it's Pixar at the forefront. If you love animation, check out this blog!

Last movie blog would have to be a little blog known as Cinematical.com. The blog is all about what's new in the world of film. From casting news to film reviews, they are your average ordinary film blog. They usually have a top 7 list (odd number I know, but it's kind of straying away from the normal top 10) which revolves around a new subject every week.E.G. This week they made a Top 7: Superheroes without Costume list, which basically listed heroes who have actual personality underneath those funky spandex. Some of the articles can be funny, but it mostly just tries to be more journalistic and less of a commentary. They also find obscure fan videos online, which can be interesting at times. All in all, it's a decent site, not one of my favorites, but if your looking for movie news, it's the place to go!

Thoses are my 5 movie blogs of the week, I hope you enjoyed my little commentary. I'll try and think of something clever for next week, so stay tuned readers!!!!

Joel D.