New Year in video

Hello, Today marks the first day of my last semester in entertainment video production. I've done a lot the past semester, learned a lot too. Cinematography, Story, Lighting, Music, Appeal, Pace, a thousand elements have been touched at least once during my first semester.

I soaked in the importance of pre-planning. I understand the roles of creators in small filmmaking groups. I allowed myself to dream big... and produce just as big. I discovered that my ideas really do look good in the real world, not just in my head.

I experienced the trials of low self-esteem, and the rewards of standing up for myself. I acted in a large scale, school-wide film, which was fun and challenging. Challenging in the distractions of the students' interests, and all of their questions.

I hope to act more this semester, dance more possibly, and produce lots of music videos, including some to my own music.

Holes Radical Translation

Here is my radical translation of the book Holes by Louis Sachar

It starts like this, a skinny little white boy in a ghetto neighborhood, who is caught with LSD in his backpack. It wasn't his fault, of course, but having unlucky blood flowing through your veins never helps. He had the choice of jail, or a correctional summer camp. Upon arriving to Camp Green Lake, he finds a dry hell hole, but no lake. Unlucky blood. His moisture is already running for the hills... if there were any. Little Stanley Yelnats digs discipline holes all day, and believe me, it's true punishment. He meets the crew, who have other duties; like filtering through rocks, again, for discipline. The whole of the delinquents are obviously not there just to learn discipline. Those at Camp Green Lake are just free labor. 

 But what are they searching for? Gold? Alien bones? Lost Treasure? Stanley and his new buddy Zero search for the reason. They stumble upon a speck of green crystal lying outside a dark closet, they go in and see the Warden searching through bags and bags of green. The Warden orders them into a locked room, and they don’t hear from anyone in 3 days. When they are confronted again by the Warden, she orders them to run away from the camp, and to get lost in the sahara. They run for another 2 days, until the last of their energy runs dry, just like the dust around them. What were those green flecks? Why was the Warden so stern about them? Could they find some and show it to the world? Reveal to everyone the SHADE OF IT ALL?! Stanley and Zero accumulate a bag of lime green somethings and head towards the camp.

When they reach the camp, stadium lights force the two into any dark crevice they can find. The water truck is in its garage, keys under the pillow of the Driver. Stanley stays by the truck, and waits for Zero to return with the keys. He hears footsteps, too heavy to be Zero. Thump. Thump. Thump... clud. They stop. Stanley slinks behind the garage wall, and waits. Zero comes around the corner, buzzing with adrenaline. “I got ‘em!” Stanley hurriedly clasps his friend’s mouth. The footsteps start up again and they’re faster. The door opens. “You better get to bed!” It’s the warden. She hadn’t seen them, but was warning any delinquents out and about. Stanley and Zero creep further into the exterior corner where the plants are. They crouch against the plants, knowing they need to do something drastic to get in that truck. The warden steps into the night, The pair watches her gaze shift from left to right, onto the plant, and into the leaves. Stanley stops breathing, which doesn’t help because his heart is pounding for its life. Unlucky blood is all he thinks. Suddenly Zero kicks the plant and runs for the truck, the warden screaming after him! In his shock, Stanley forgot Zero’s silent instructions. He crept from behind the plant and met the warden in the eye. “You drop that bag right now!” Stanley obeys, and runs to the passenger side, jumping in as Zero pulls forward in acceleration. They roar forward at 80 miles per hour, speeding down the darkened road. Stanley hesitates to look back, but when he does, all he sees is the Warden lying on the ground, sobbing - all shrinking into the distance.

The mayor’s secretary is staying late tonight, filing the last of today’s papers. She hears the door swing open, and looks over her desk to see a bag of green dropped on her desk. Two sweaty, dirty, orange-suited boys stand in front. She stands up, holds down a button on her desk and looks them in the eye, “I hope you liked digging holes.”

Is love the key ingredient of horror?

Stephen King once discussed his growth as a writer of suspense, commenting that love creates horror. This sounds very logical and makes a lot of sense. If you learn to love someone, you will become very afraid for their lives when they are in danger. When you love Sally, and Sally is being hunted by a shadow, you're afraid with her and for her. Filmmakers and authors always desire to shake their audience, and create an emotion. This love does the trick. King's point is completely valid and solid.

Grounds of Translation

When translating a book to a film, Everyone expects it to be faithful in its translation to the book. But a book is so many things, it's made of specifics and generalities, good guys and bad guys. Many of these factors are common bases of translation; world/setting, timeframe, plot, specifics/details, character growth, group growth, and writer's tone/atmosphere. I think Characters' plots are the most important anchor, and then setting, then specifics. The author's tone will fit the book, but it is up to the filmmakers to recreate or create a tone that will work for the story.

One particular scene to look at for book to film translation would be the mountain climbing scene from Holes by Louis Sachar. In the book, Stanley and Zero look above to see a high ledge they can't reach. Stanley lifts Zero up, and Zero holds onto a shovel while Stanley climbs up the shaft. Stanley makes it up, and Zero reveals his bloody hands accidentally, upon which he doesn't say anything, just accepts the fact and moves on. In the movie, Zero makes it to the ledge without Stanley, and gives Stanley advice on how to get up. Stanley slips and nearly falls, and that is when Zero pulls out his shovel and holds the sharp end while Stanley climbs. Once Stanley gets up, Zero shows his blood and complains about the pain, Stanley proceeds to bandage his hands, while some small talk closes the scene.

The effect brought on by the book creates a strong, unspoken bond between the two friends. The movie scene creates a conflict that is solved by Stanley, but no defining moment of friendship. This bond is emphasized more towards the end of the movie, when Stanley takes Zero home. So basically the characters' plot lines got shifted a little bit, although the situation remains the same.

The book is ALWAYS better than the movie

Hey y'all. I offer my opinion. I've always been a movie kinda person... but I can see the book and movie really are separate pieces of art. When going into a situation like such... I give plenty of grace. I understand that an author writes a story from a point of view for a reason. They write it in a certain tone for a reason. They describe certain things for a reason. The author is creating a story, a sensation, a world entirely from words. They are artists, and their medium is language. They are VERY good at it. (If their book actually gets published) In a perfect world, all books would be great. But to continue my point, an author uses words to create an experience for the reader. It's entirely subjective. If Mr. Writerman chooses to describe a room as orderly, scarlet, and putrid, then each reader sees a different room. It's the magic of a book.

Now movie-making is something of an extension. It involves many readers, many subjective experiences, and many opinions. I imagine most book-to-movie projects are fueled by a love for the original work. So let's see, about 3 big shots get together and read the book, we'll call it Ceiling Dust. It's an adventure story. Each big shot offers their view and sensations about Ceiling Dust, and they argue about how to fit each opinion in. They continue this for a couple months, and end up producing a script. This script is filled with perceptions of the original piece, but it is not the original piece. When filmed and shown to audiences, the crowds get to see Ceiling Dust from 3 readers' points of view. It's like listening to a remix. It contains pieces of the original, but it has been pushed in a different creative direction. They are both hopefully masterpieces in their own regards, but share a similar idea.

I personally think the best book to movie franchise is Harry Potter. Call me common. The books are great, the movies are great. The books are filled with wondrous detail and magic, and the movies offer an audio-visual adaption of the trio and their world.

Movies and books are different disciplines of art, it's like telling a story through a song, and then choreographing a dance to tell the same story. They're so beautifully different and shouldn't be judged based on content, characters, scenes, details, or any lack thereof.

Bye y'all. I offered my opinion.