Here’s the first trailer for Ender’s Game. Was it worth the wait?
Archive for the ‘Movie’ category
So THAT’S what Battle School looks like
May 7th, 2013The Giver Movie
November 7th, 2012Jeff Bridges owns the rights to the Lois Lowry book and will be playing the title character. No word as to when it will come out.
Using Hitchcock’s storyboards to address Common Core standards
September 24th, 2012Reading Standard for Literature 7.7 in the Common Core reads:
Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).
When I think of effective (and just plain downright cool) use of lighting and camera angles, I think of Alfred Hitchcock. That’s why I was excited to see FilmmakerIQ.com’s collection of storyboards from 13 of Hitchcock’s greatest films.
Using something like the storyboard from The Birds will help illustrate the effect of angles. Have students come up with other ways that they could have shot the scene from different angles and discuss how those changes affect the feel. (When the bird attacks Lydia, why do we want to be zoomed in on her face? Why not be side-on from a distance?) Where’s the emphasis of the action? What’s the pacing of the action? How do those factors impact characterization? This will help add a common vocabulary for you and your students which will hopefully in turn create an informed discussion when you discuss other adaptations from print to screen.
A day with Pelican House Productions
May 15th, 2012
Yesterday we had the privilege of hosting Pelican House Productions, the film company behind General Education. If you’re a fan of quirky comedies, this is one that you will want to see in August.
One of the reasons that we hosted Pelican House is that a founder, Elliot Feld, used to be a student at our school and it’s great to see a Hurricane come back to share experiences with current students. Their group did a great job of talking to students about how to pursue goals and how to work as a professional. Over and over again they talked about taking opportunities as they came, but also learning how to say no to things that didn’t line up with their goals.
They were very approachable and related well with the students. They put on a marathon presentation schedule yesterday, but were good sports about it and were happy to meet with as many students as they could. More than once they mentioned to me how much they wanted to give back to the community.
As co-writers of the screenplay, they had great insight into how to create a story that would not only translate well to the screen but would emotionally connect the audience to the subject matter. A big lesson for the students was that planning is free and crucial. The more effectively you plan, the more money you save. Each day filming translates into money. These guys had a budget to shoot for 18 days, not 90 like a blockbuster. Also, you have to be super-planned because it’s not just you and some friends messing around with a video camera. When filming the graduation scene in General Education, 500+ people were on set. Without planning, the movie would have  ground to a halt in the chaos. It was great hearing the producer talk about his role in organizing things ahead of time.
Check out the movie trailer here and marvel at the cast they have listed at IMDB. They can be reached on Twitter at @PHPfilm and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pelicanhouseproductions. Message them to schedule a visit. It’s well worth your time.
Photos of the Ender’s Game cast
March 10th, 2012Sure, everyone’s hyped right now about the Hunger Games movie, but have you seen photos of the cast of Ender’s Game?
Send Your Parachute
February 24th, 2012So, seeing the art direction for the Hunger Games movie got me intrigued, but I still wasn’t sold on the movie being awesome.
If you read my review when I got the ARC of Catching Fire, you’ll remember that I really liked the social commentary that was in book two of the series – specifically, a commentary on consumerism without concern for those that are going hungry.
The Hunger Games team did the best possible promotion, in my opinion. They are using their media hype force to educate about world hunger and hopefully alleviate starvation at home and abroad.
Check out their Send Your Parachute (fans of the book will get the cool reference) campaign trailer. You can text to donate to World Food Programme and Feeding America.
The Hunger Games videogame
February 16th, 2012Adam Saltsman, maker of Canabalt, has been asked by Lionsgate Studios to make a Hunger Games videogame. My guess is that it’s going to have a lot of running and jumping with some bow and arrow action thrown in.
It is yet to be determined if there will be Team Peeta/Team Gale angst.
Okay, so I’m starting to dig the art direction for the Hunger Games movie.
January 30th, 2012
The Hobbit trailer
December 20th, 2011I didn’t expect the trailer to have so much stuff from the book already. Check it out here.
We have our Ender Wiggin!
November 24th, 2011Asa Butterfield will play the young space prodigy from Ender’s Game. He was also the lead in the film adaptations of Hugo Cabret and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Yeah, it’s going to be good.
