Categories
These Are Those Things

Gareth Edwards’ MONSTERS Is A Microbudget How To Model

I recently had the great pleasure of watching MONSTERS.  I enjoyed the movie on many levels, including that it is just good fun.  But what I really loved was how well micro-budget production techniques enabled good story telling.  In my raving about this, Jonathan Stromberg responded and pointed me to his far better articulated post on the same subject.  What follows is his first two paragraphs in CineSpect , but check out the whole post here.

The following review is partially adapted from a workshop I gave to film students at the State University of New York at Purchase College on 6 October 2010.

“Monsters”, the debut feature of writer/director Gareth Edwards, is, from the point of view of a spectator, an imperfect film. It is, however, from the point of view of a filmmaker, one of the most exciting releases I’ve seen this year. Edwards’s production reads like a map for young filmmakers, marking pitfalls with his struggles and showing a way forward with his successes. “Monsters” is one of the clearest case studies yet for the challenges—and advantages—of micro-budget filmmaking.

The ostensible auteur Edwards approached his first feature from his background in visual effects and documentary television. In some ways, this spelled destiny for the production style of “Monsters.” The narrative is basically theatrical, but the shooting style is strongly influenced by the production necessities of non-fiction television. For example, the film has no script per se. Edwards shot using scene outlines and necessary plot points but allowed his cast, Whitney Able and Scoot McNairy, to improvise freely within the scene. The apparent production doctrine was for Edwards, also the cinematographer, to shoot the scene multiple times from different angles to get broad coverage of every beat. The film in this way develops a signature somewhat different from more traditional narrative constructions. Edwards foregoes the “establishing wide then punch in for medium shots and close ups” archetype for something that ends up more like a multi-camera shoot. The angles in any particular scene are more varied, but also less predictable. In documentary television we—I work in non-fiction television as well—often shoot this way. In this way, a decision regarding the mode of production has significant impact on the film’s aesthetic, for better or worse, in a way that contrasts it to traditional productions.

Categories
Bowl Of Noses

Our Favorite Monsters: Mr. Can Can Man

Okay, so he speaks French and we can not understand. But we know he cares about recycling and we really dig how he looks so we just had to put him in our bowl.

You can find him here. There are 4 or so different spots to view — and you can tell your parents you are practicing French!
Categories
Bowl Of Noses

Adopt A Monster

Maybe we are bringing the bowl a little late to the party, but we finally stumbled over Moshi Monsters. We’ve always been more fond of odd beasts over here than stay those monochromatic ground-bound birds (aka Penguins). That said this playground does remind us of the Penguin’s club, only still different. And it does get our “hey, I wish I thought of that” star of the day.

Check it out. We do call it fun.
Categories
Bowl Of Noses

Creepy Lego MiniFigs


Who said Halloween is just for October?  Why not have a little freaky all year round?  Or at least in March?  In our bowl we revisit this Brickshelf Gallery on a regular basis.

Categories
Bowl Of Noses

Monsters In NYC


Groovy beasts in the East Village!  Yeah, so what else is new, eh?  Still this Travis Louie cat is splendid with the pencil.  You can see his monsters here, or go see them live at the Fuse Gallery on 93 Second Avenue.

Categories
Bowl Of Noses

Real Live Monsters!


Well, okay, a real dead one.  This is a 96 tentacled octopus.  Each of it’s tentacles branches out 8 times.  It’s as if each of your fingers had five fingers on them.  Or something like that.  Make a note, you can visit this one the next time you are in Shima, Japan at the Shima Marineland Aquarium.

But this one lives!  This two headed Bearded Dragon Lizard just celebrated it’s first birthday.  Say Happy Happy to “Zak n’ Wheezie”.
Categories
These Are Those Things

Political Monsters by Gerald Scarfe

I have always dreamed of Alternative Careers.  Within that is the subset of Imaginary Alternative Careers.  Pursuits may be a better phrase; I dislike Career as it supposes that work is distinct from life.  The use of our labor is one of primary choices, inherent to whom we are — or rather I think it should be.

But back to the dreams: I once wanted to be a cartoonist.  Unfortunately that takes talent and craft. I once also wanted to be a journalist and also to work in politics — basically I wanted to both observe, comment, and to change things.  
Gerald Scarfe is a political cartoonist who’s stock in trade captures another one of those dreams: monsters.  For me it might have been more of a “monster shepherd”.  I envy that character on Doctor Who who collected all the beasts across time — but of course I would want to live with them, at least not these days.
BBC has a great slideshow profile on Scarfe and his work.  He’s sort of the Brit Ralph Steadman, but you probably know him best from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.