Untimely Reflection on the Movies of 2009

With a young son at home, I hardly have an opportunity to get out to a theater and catch a movie. NetFlix is all I have :( So, now that I'm finally catching up on some of last year's flix, here are some thoughts.

If you haven't seen MOON, stop what you are doing right now, buy it on BluRay (if you don't have BluRay, buy a BluRay player, too) and watch it. This film is almost perfectly executed. It's a fresh idea that cautiously explores a hot topic in society today. Sam Rockwell, as the only actor in the movie, is solid and believable. But, the biggest reason you should see this movie is because of the direction. They were able to accomplish quite a bit with a very limited budget, and still maintain a quality and feel that aligns perfectly with the genre. Watch it, and you'll see what I mean.

I thought my little boy would like to see a movie about talking foxes, but Mommy made me turn off Fantastic Mr. Fox until the lad was down for nappy. At times, the content was adultish, gruesome, but always fun. The animation was never lazy, but some of the jittery-ness of the stop motion can be distracting for a moment. The film is quite clever, and maintains a good independent feel, despite some fancy Hollywood names being involved. Must-see.

The Lovely Bones is one of the most unforgettable films of 2009. This movie is strangely sweet, mixed with very dark and sinister themes of the human psyche, murder and hermit-ism. Peter Jackson definitely left his fingerprint on the "heaven" scenes. As the movie progresses, it almost feels like a thriller, following the narrow story of a young girl, her loving family, and how they all react and cope with a heinous murder. Gripping.

Typically, I pass on movies like Precious, but it did get a lot of buzz amongst fringe film fans, so I watched it. The acting performances are quite impressive! I was totally immersed in the story for the entire film. Mo'Nique was disturbingly fantastic. But, the real treat in this film is the adaptation of the book. Precious was perfectly paced, and kept my attention throughout. It's not a fun movie, but well worth the two hours of being immersed into another world.

I love little gems that hardly anyone has ever heard of, like, Across the Hall. It's an irrational thriller that doesn't make complete sense...but I kind of think that's the point. Across the Hall has a fun, edge-of-your-seat pacing, but still has a independent feel to it. Not a great movie, but a good movie when you wanna think...just not think logically.

I really have to hand it to the crew of District 9. The movie was a technological wonder. Some of the motion-tracking CG FX were amazing. The story was OK, and the translation of the story to the screen was a tad awkward, albeit a very valiant effort to try a novel storytelling technique in this genre. MOON was way better.

And there were several other forgettable movies, for better or worse:

Up in the Air was quite average.

9 was unique, but the story was elementary.

Bad Lieutenant is one of Cage's better recent efforts.

The Men Who Stare at Goats...the book was probably a lot better, I just don't like to read.

Inglorious Basterds was a lot of fun to watch...what you would expect from Tarantino.

Twilight: New Moon...I saw it.

I was excited to see Surrogates because I like the premise. Hated it.

Julie & Julia was cute, and Meryl Streep was awesome.

And I'll wrap it up with The Hurt Locker. I didn't love this movie, but I am a huge fan of it. Independent film has come quite a long way, and The Hurt Locker is one example among a plethora of quality films that have the freedom to do what Hollywood is afraid to do - be creative. The Hurt Locker had heart, it had guts, and it had no where to go. There was no committee making this movie. Money was not the driving force behind creative decisions that were made. There was practically no marketing for it until after it was released. Despite how big and popular The Hurt Locker has become, at heart, it was a grassroots effort of independent filmmakers trying to make a great movie. I'm sure the Best Director Award had some politicking behind it, but this was far and away the Best Picture of 2009.

But, MOON was way better.

Using a VDSLR in a Client Environment

In case you haven't heard, digital SLR still cameras are now including features to allow shooters to record HD video in the camera. Why is this a big deal? Well, first, it offers a much larger imaging sensor than typical prosumer video cameras. The bigger the sensor, the more shallow the depth of focus can be...and that's what gives you that deep Hollywood feel to your footage. Second, shooting on a DSLR opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for using good still lenses for video. Super wide fisheyes, ultra-telephoto, Lens Baby's, etc.

This is a new technology...in fact, Canon and Nikon sort of accidently included HD video as a feature on some of their newer DSLR camera bodies. They had very little idea that this feature would be so popular...especially with the independent filmmaking community. I was struck by all of the buzz, and I ran out and got one...a little early Christmas of '09 gift to myself.

The thing to remember is that this is a new technology. It's a stills camera that just happens to record HD video...I'll get more into the limitations that brings later. The camera I purchased is the Canon 7D. Shoots 18MP stills, as well as full 1080p 30fps video (not to mention 1080/24p and 720/60p). To go along with it, I purchased a Tamron 17-55mm lens with vibration compensation; and for sound I acquired a Samson Zoom H4n recording device. All of the other support and grip gear I already had.

So, anyway, it's a stills camera. There's no zoom rocker on the lens. No zebra bars on the VF. To white balance you have to jog through menus, shoot stills and tell the camera what white is. Hardly any audio controls whatsoever. No built-in ND filters. No gamma or paint functions. The video out is only via HDMI...which turns off the camera's VF, and only takes up 80% of the display of your external monitor. Plus, the camera is the size and shape of a DSLR...which could scare off a paying client really quickly! And I had to really dig in and figure out what an ISO is, and what "fast glass" meant. Quite the learning curve, as I have experienced...at least for someone who has never owned an SLR before.

Now I am using the camera for real paying clients. And, well, I'm not looking back! The look of the footage is something I was never able to obtain from other HD camcorders...even 2/3" full-body cameras. Not even a 35mm adapter on a prosumer camera can reproduce the look of a real full-frame sensor. You can tinker with the color (tint, saturation, contrast and brightness) in the camera; at default settings the colors are quite accurate, although fleshtones seems a bit flat. Reds can be noisy, especially at higher ISOs, but the rest of the color spectrum is clean and full of detail. The sharpness is astounding...a good lens can go a long way! Low-light shooting is worlds...WORLDS beyond what smaller-sensor'd camcorders are capable of. And the shallow depth of focus that's all the rage right now...it's easy to obtain with these DSLR cameras.

All rigged up with a big lens, support rails, and an on-board LCD monitor on an articulating arm, the camera doesn't look so small. It looks more like a science project. Haven't had a client balk at me yet. And the footage has only brought smiles...and more projects on the way.

I'll continue to post some footage and stills from my work, and comment on future experiences as more projects and toys come my way.