Musings of an Idiot

Films

Friday morning and things are really calm and quiet. Yesterday wasn't much of a day - it must have been me - gloomy and moody. I did fast voluntarily the whole day and the hunger pangs did get to me sometimes but ignored them throughout - it is said that it is good to fast once a month - it cleanses the body, all you are allowed is fruit juice or water and you can break the fast at dinner. I noticed that I don't really drink that much water -I seem to survive without that - it must have come with practice from childhood :-)nah..seriously..it is a funny story. Kanchan aunty told me that mom forgot to give me water for a couple of months when I was a kid and the first time i drank water i really relished it - heeheee...maybe that where my forgetfullness comes from as well.

The one new thing which I did start was - I started updating the news on the school intranet -because the news remained the same for quite a bit and i thought - if the tools are there why not take the initiative to start putting up important news stories related to media on there...Don't know how many people will even notice it because they have been used to seeing no major headline changes everyday. Let's hope they do.

Learnt quite a few things about audio and audio mics from Darryn as he was marking the exam sheets of this year's students. It was really interesting. The permit for this saturday's filming came through -so got started in confirming dates and times with all involved. I am running the scene through my head and have to organize shooting order by tomorrow morning. Went along with Matt to Protel to pick up equipment for Triangle TV. Triangle studio show is not going ahead this week -atleast not in full swing. It will be a single cam PTC and then Kim Oyston will be editing together grabs from old shows.

I tried going home a little bit early because I have been coming to school at 6.30 -7.00 every morning but i only managed to get away at 5.00 PM -which is the standard time anyway. Greg, my flatmate is out on a trip to South Island, so things were pretty quiet. Got to watch a documentary on Hollywood marketing and campaign machine and mechanics. It was really intersting watching it to come to terms with how they allocate a couple of million to promoting big budget films. The one person who did impress me the most was Harry Knowles, the founder and head geek of 'Ain't it Cool News'. He is an independent person, not attached to any studios or publications and does not have any ulterior motives for writing or reviewing films -just presenting what he thinks of them as a member of the audience. He does present the true and honest opinions of movie goers and even gets their reviews posted on the website. Suddenly the hollywood marketing machine seems to be afraid of him or rather frightened at the power of communication he holds through his website. Hats off to Harry for keeping on doing what is probably one of the best review sites for movies. An honest and fresh opinion on things. Check out his website, if you haven't done so till now.

The whole thing kind of put me in an introspective mood about films per se. We are only in the business of making fantasties and stories come to life but we do tend to take things and the whole business of making films a little too seriously. Audiences have changed over the years and they have increasingly kept ahead of the film makers themselves -more so because of the explosion of TV into every home. Now nothing shocks them or nothing really moves them until and unless it is a moving piece - a good film will be a good film - irrespective of box office returns. As one of the leading producers in hollywood aptly put it - 'either a film works or it doesn't - there is no in between.' Business models are changing all the time and with the advent and rise of digital technologies - newer models are emerging and more will emerge soon. But the point is will the movies make money -as in return any profits at all?? Can they survive without massive amounts of money being poured into them for advertising and marketing? And incase of ultra low budget independent films - how will it work? i guess that is something which i will soon be experiencing while trying to promote the film. Ultimately movies are about people themselves -whether in front of the camera or behind the camera {case in the point: 'Lost in La Mancha'}

The day is catching up with me so I will write more on films later...i am not finished with my introspection on this topic yet :-)

ciao
amit

have a look at an interesting link that i stumbled across on the same topic about distribution and stuff.

Also attached are the pics which I had been promising for sometime now


Left-Right: Alan Brash, Tanya, Natayle, Jarred Tito, Nicola, Maria, Alex jiang




Darryn enjoying the comfy camouflage couch

posted by Amit @ 8:29 AM