War Horse: Visual Storytelling
January 16th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
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I recently saw Steven Spielberg’s War Horse at the Highland Park Village Theater (my new favorite place to watch movies). The movie, set against the backdrop of WWI, is about a horse named Joey who is separated from his owner and must travel across the battlefields of Western Europe to eventually make it home. The film is a tear-jerker about friendship, loyalty, and hope in the face of insurmountable challenges – all subjects that Spielberg treats in a masterful way.
Gran Torino: Why we care about the Grumpy Old Man
December 29th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Gran Torino is another movie that has been on my list for a long time. The film is about a crusty Korean War veteran who grudgingly befriends his Asian refugee neighbors and later protects them from a local street gang. It’s a character-driven movie that asks the audience to care about the characters and their relationships.
Getting the audience to care about on-screen characters is one of the biggest challenges of filmmaking, and it’s an area that young filmmakers often struggle with. By comparison, getting your low budget film to “look” like a Hollywood movie is relatively easy.
Visual Storytelling in “Super 8″
December 21st, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I finally got around to seeing Super 8, which was directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. I was really excited about this film, being a long-time Spielberg fan and also enjoying Abrams’ work on the latest Star Trek film.
