Jake Towey's blog is here!

http://filmblogjaketowey.blogspot.com/

Tasks to complete

Small scale research project checkpoint - Wednesday 10th November:

• Complete film viewings for your 'focus film' and 'related films'
• Compile necessary information on all these films (production co, director, date etc - see green sheets for examples) and notes for each linked to your research
• Notes for your focus film should be detailed and focussed on the research 
• At least three catalogue items with accompanying notes (see p. 39 of green notes)
• Update your blogs to reflect your ongoing work for this important component to your A2 coursework

Davide's Blog

Hi, This is my blog. :)

http://smallprojdh-l.blogspot.com/

BLOG!

Find my blog HERE

My research blog...

There you go!

Marianne x

Interview with Neill Blomkamp - District 9

Alien Prequel in 3-D

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/news#ni2207177

Just thought this would be interesting seeing we are doing American film and Alien :)

"Of course, it'll be 3D" - waah!

FM2 - British Film Topics - British Film and Stars - Past Exam Question

Write a full plan and then answer this specimen question: 

"How far does the star you have studied reinforce or challenge stereotypes in the roles they take on?" [40]

Shallow Grave

Post viewing questions and discussion:

1. Create a character portrait of Alex, played by McGregor - what is he like? what does he do? what motivates him? does he conform to any stereotypes? what part does he play in the narrative? include his relationship with the others.
2. How might McGregors' characterisation affect his off-screen persona? What might make directors and casting agents want to cast him in their films?
3. Compare this performance to the other two we have looked at? What similarities and differences can you see? Cover key concepts such as narrative, genre and characterisation.

Ewan Mcgregor in I love you Phillip Morris

Release date: 19 March 2010
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro


Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor star in this outrageous true story about a conman who meets the love of his life - in prison.

Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) is a happily married police officer who plays the organ at church and prays every night with his wife (Leslie Mann). However, after finding and being rejected by the mother who gave him up as a baby, Steven leaves his family to be his true, flamboyantly gay self. He moves to Miami, finds a boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro) and becomes a conman to pay for his lavish lifestyle. But Steven is sent to prison, were he meets and falls in love with Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). But Steven - a forlorn lover who cannot bear to be separated from his soulmate - will go to any lengths to be with Phillip, including breaking out of jail, impersonating Phillip's lawyer and fraudulently becoming the chief of a major corporation.

Screenplay: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Here's a link to the trailer if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoFANivV44g

Ewan McGregor in Davidoff

Voted one of the worst adverts of all time, Ewan McGregors choice to do this advert has come under huge critisism from MANY different internet sites, most noticeably www.tvs-worst-adverts.co.uk/ewan-mcgregor-davidoff-adventure/ which I would highly recomend everyone read because it sums up everything I thought whilst watching this advert.

The advert plays on Ewan's previous, very successful, Long Way Round in which he and fellow celebrity Charley Boorman travelled 19,000 miles from London to New York on motorcycles.

I loved the series which I have started to watch again since beginning this section in our course.

Ewan McGregor on Stage

The first time I saw Ewan McGregor was on stage, playing Sky Masterson in the 2005 revival of Guys and Dolls.

Guys and Dolls was his first stage musical (although he had appeared on film in Moulin Rouge, 2001) and he admitted to feeling ‘concerned’ about the choreography and singing, which requires more stamina and training on stage than on film. He also took singing lessons ahead of the role.

He starred alongside Jane Krakowski as Miss Adelaide, Douglas Hodge as Nathan Detroit and Jenna Russell as Sarah Brown.

Guys and Dolls is set in the 19, the height of the prohibition years in America. Nathan Detroit, the owner of the local underground ‘floating’ casino, has run out of money, so can’t find a location for his next casino night – the only place he can find, the Biltmore Hotel garage, wants $1,000 in return. In an attempt to raise the money, he bets Sky Masterson, a successful gambler, that Sarah Brown, an unsuccessful missionary, will never go to Havana, Cuba, with Sky for the weekend. Sky sets off on his mission, but only has a few days to convince the stubborn Sarah. Meanwhile Nathan wants to marry Miss Adelaide, whom he has been engaged to for 14 years, but she won't marry him until he gives up gambling and goes straight…

The production was directed by Michael Grandage and produced by The Donmar Warehouse. It won Outstanding Musical Production and Best Actress in a Musical for Jane Krakowski at the 2006 Laurence Olivier Awards. McGregor received good reviews, but unfortunately wasn't nominated for any awards for his performance.

Ewan McGregor - Awards and Personal Quotes

Awards:

1994 Shallow Grave              

           Empire Award for Best British Actor

1996 Trainspotting                  

           BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 

           Empire Award for Best British Actor

           London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best
                        Breakthrough Performance

1996 A Life Less Ordinary     

           Empire Award for Best British Actor

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence 

                                   (shared with Cameron Diaz)

1996 Little Voice                  

           Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for 

           Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

1999 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

           Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for
                           Favorite Actor

           Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for
                           Action/Science Fiction

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight 

                           (shared with Liam Neeson and Ray Park)

           Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor

2000 Nora                            

           Nominated – Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor

2001 Moulin Rouge!               

           Empire Award for Best British Actor

           London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actor of the Year

           MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Sequence 

                  (shared with Nicole Kidman)

           Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical
                  or Comedy

           European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement
                  in World Cinema

           Nominated – Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor
                  in a Leading Role

           Nominated – Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for
                  Best Actor

           Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - 

                   Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

           Nominated – IF Award for Best Actor

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss 

                    (shared with Nicole Kidman)

           Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for
                Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

2001 Black Hawk Down       

           Nominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

2003 Young Adam                

           BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor In A Leading Role

           Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Actor

           Nominated – Empire Award for Best British Actor

2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Fight

                                 (shared with Hayden Christensen)

           Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Hero

Plus:

2001 Hollywood Film Festival - Actor of the Year

2002 British Independent Film Awards - Entertainment Personality Award

2008 Empire Awards - Icon Award

Personal Quotes:

• He says that he was inspired to get into show business by his uncle, actor Denis Lawson. Lawson played Wedge Antilles in Episodes 4-6 of Star Wars.
• I won't buy into the Hollywood thing...I want to be in good movies.
• Film-making is like a series of problems that need to be solved. And the excitement, the adrenaline that you get from making a small film is that you all have to pull together. You finish and you feel like you're walking away from your family. I love that.
• Movies are so draining. They pull away from the actor, but theater just fills you up. I needed my fix.
• I've always wanted to go to Hollywood, drive big cars and be in big movies. But I hope I won't do just any film to become a star. I just want to carry on working, acting. I don't want to direct or write. I think making films is brilliant. I get excited just going on a film set. Going on location is amazing, hanging about with all these film people doing their thing. If I bump into a star I get all star-struck.

Ewan McGregor - David Hodgson-Lorente (H/W)

Ewan McGregor is 39 and is going to be 40 in March. He is 5' 10½" (1.79 m) and for another stalkerish fact he was born at 3:45pm.

McGregor left school at the age of 16 and did one year at his local Repertory Theatre. After this he went on to the London Guildhall school of Music and Drama and almost finished all three years of the course but quite near to the end of his degree he was offered a part in a six part series on Channel 4 called “Lipstick on your Collar” in1993.
This was not what got him famous but “Shallow Grave” (Danny Boyle, 1994) was what first got Ewan McGregor famous. The film is based around three main characters that find their flat mate dead but discover he was loaded. The film then goes on to show the consequences of keeping the money. I personally think the film is really good and I can see how this lead on to Train spotting.  As I already mentioned this was what got McGregor noticed it was not until McGregor played the part of Renton in Train spotting in 1996 (another Danny Boyle Film) before he became a well known actor. McGregor now is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed British actors of his time.

He has played several Iconic parts such as Obi-wan Kenobi in three episodes of star wars.

He had his own production company Called Natural Nylon; they hoped it will make innovative films that do not conform to Hollywood standards. The other owners of the company included Jude Law and Johnny Lee Miller. The first film to be produced by Natural Nylon was  “ExiztenZ” (1999) which was followed by “Nora” (2000),” XX/XY” (2002), “Owning Mahowny “(2003), “To Kill a King” (2003), and “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” (2004). But in 2002 McGregor left due to other film commitments (in Hollywood...) and shortly followed by Jude Law less than one year after.

He originally was up for the main role in “The beach”, but in the end Dicaprio got the part. McGregor blamed studio influence for the casting decision but he has not wanted to collaborate with neither Boyle nor Hodge since. McGregor was offered the part of Jim in "28 days later" but turned down Danny Boyle's offer. 

McGregor was ranked 8th best British actor of all time by Orange film. Going by this I would say McGregor is a British Actor even though he is Scottish. 

Davide and Nathan's Blog

http://filmstudiesdn.blogspot.com/

Here is our blog. Follow us to see how 'Falling Girl' is getting along :)

Jakes Lego Animation

Hey guys, here the link to our blog, enjoy :)

http://jakeslegoanimation.blogspot.com/

FM1 - Creative Project

Remember that the Creative Project (short film) is out of 50 marks.

• 40 for the film
  
• 10 for the Reflective Analysis

The marking criteria for each - levels 3 and 4  - are below.
You should all be aiming for level 4!
Remember:

• The Reflective Analysis can take the form of a blog, a DVD commentary, or a written analysis (with or without illustrative material)
• You should be planning this alongside your actual film

FILM:
Level 3: 24-31
[24-27]
Sequence (extended step outline, storyboard and film)
• Sound understanding of micro features demonstrated in sequence
• Sound creative use of appropriate micro features
• Sound visualisation, demonstrating a reasonable understanding of appropriate conventions.
Quality of written communication (where relevant)
• Soundly-structured and reasonably accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.

[28-31]
Sequence (extended step outline, storyboard and film)
• Good understanding of micro features demonstrated in sequence
• Good, at times creative, use of appropriate micro features
• Good visualisation, demonstrating a good understanding of appropriate conventions.
Quality of written communication (where relevant)
• Well-structured and accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.
Level 4:
32-40
Sequence (extended step outline, storyboard and film)
• Excellent understanding of micro features demonstrated in sequence
• Excellent, creative use of appropriate micro features
• Excellent visualisation, demonstrating high degree of understanding of appropriate conventions.
Quality of written communication (where relevant)
• Excellently structured and accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.

REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS:
Level 3: 6-7
• Sound analysis on how the sequence uses micro features to make meaning(s) for audiences.
Quality of (written) communication
• Soundly-structured and reasonably accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.

• Good, at times perceptive, analysis of how the sequence uses micro features to make meaning(s) for audiences.
Quality of (written) communication
• Well-structured and accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.
Level 4: 8-10
• Excellent, perceptive analysis of how the sequence uses micro features to make meaning(s) for audiences.
Quality of (written) communication
• Excellently structured and accurate use of appropriate language to communicate clearly.