INTERTEXTUALITY

I really enjoyed this weeks lecture on intertextuality, it was really interesting and finally put a name to something i knew about, i understood most of the lecture, how directors, artists, writers, and even model makers reference and take inspiration from exterior sources whether consciously or unconsciously. which happens even more in today's trend of remake frenzy.

The most recent source of intertextual film i have watched would be the Nightmare On Elm Street remake which is full of intertextuality, you have the token hat the striped jumper and the iconic bladed fingers, he is also burned but the new make up is more realistic. Also the film has alot of exactly the same scenes in it, the boiler scenes, the body bag sliding down the hall way, the claw coming out of the bath and various others they have been consciously tweaked but they still both trying to achieve the same impact, which is to please the fans but also deliver their own story when added to the rest of the content.

not another remake

just watched the new Nightmare on Elm Street and was actually quite impressed considering its another re imagining (remake) but in some ways they pulled it of really quite well, i was really quite surprised. Its allot darker than the original the Freddy character has been made more serious and rather quite sadistic which work really quite and was played brilliantly by actor Jackie Earle Haley, he really gave the character allot of depth and even more life and expression. he's not better than Robert Englund just different. 

The make up really was effective, allot more effective than the over flamboyant 80s Kruger, mainly because the make up was actually based on real burn victims which really gave the character a greater sense of realism and certainly enhanced the eerie feel of the character, they really managed to stamp a new mark on the Kruger myth and its not a bad one.

Their was allot of weakness in the film like reshuffling plot sequences from the original and filling in gaps with some attempts at jumpy bits, they then finally went their own way with the story and that worked quite well, they should of totally done this to begin with and stopped boring from the original which would have made a much more interesting film but overall it was quite enjoyable.  

realism sculpting

recently while surfing YouTube i discovered some videos on sculpting almost to a hyper realistic standard and was amazed. The videos were made by a company called Creager studios an American couple who do some really impressive sculptures to check the videos out go to...

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo4COOhPk3k

They also have a really interesting website with some really impressive links which i have found very useful for sculpting ideas.

http://www.creagers.com

HAMMERED

I have basically spent my weekend on the good side of a bottle of Ouzo whilst watching a load of Hammer horror movies mainly one's about Dracula, which i actually found really enjoyable, considering the last time i had seen them i was about ten years old. Even though they felt really cheesy their wasn't really that much difference in the story ideas then compared to the 80s and 90s, the only difference was the special effects and level of gore which increased, which just enhanced the level of realism making the films i enjoy to this day.

MORTAL KOMBAT REBIRTH Teaser full

YouTube - MORTAL KOMBAT REBIRTH Teaser full [HD] - 2010

for any Mortal Kombat fan this preview really needs are support because this looks F**king awesome and has the amazing Michael jay White, who is an outstanding martial artist, also watch Blood and Bone and Undisputed 2 for some really good action sequences, especially between Scott Adkins and Michael jay white, the choreography is phenomenal

This trailer is a pitch, the more support we give it the more chance it will be become a film, it really is the movie that the mortal kombat saga needs, truly awesome.

just seen this amazing new predator sculpt by Narin looks totally awesome, can't wait till he posts more on the up and coming beserker sculpt

Can't get this out of my head

Ever since the semiotics lecture i find myself analysing every character under these three headings, denotation, connotation and myth, Ivan was right its actually quite annoying.

realism can it be to real

After having some time to consider last weeks lecture, i keep considering even though we all want films,no matter what genre, to be as real as possible is this crossing a line into the real world. their are more horror movies which are dealing with real events, rape, gang violence, sadistic torture, we watch films to escape reality is this direction of film making bring these aspects, to realistically to the viewer. Don't get me wrong i love horror and i like it to be as realistic as possible but are these latest trends starting to take the imagination and creativity out of the genre.

nothing of great interest

currently watching American Chopper, quality episode with Bill Murray in it " who you gonna call" i really don't have anything interesting to say, oh well i'm sure something will hit me at some point, most likely a bus, oh well over and out.

In the begining their was?

My first thoughts are still stuck on the first seminar, who thought a question i thought was so simple could truly be so complex, so really what is a model? nah just kidding it actually did sink in, but the point that really had an impact was "a model is some thing that communicates to the audience" so it made me look back at some of my favourite films just trying to consider what the model, (which is usually a creature,machine, cyborg, monster,etc)  is trying to communicate.

Firstly i considered the Xenomorph in Alien, i feel with this creature its the lack of communication, it has no eyes we can't see what it is thinking, its actions and overall hostility do all its communication for it, but i feel its that lack of communication which really made this character come to life and really terrify audiences.

Then i pondered over my favourite screen icon the alien species Yautja, from the predator movies, which has a much more humanoid appearance, because it has eyes. At the end of the film when you look into its eyes you know what he's thinking Dutch I'm going to tear you a new one, I'm going to enjoy it and then bits of you are going to look really pretty on my wall. Its this element of communication which made the creature so successful. i really now think communication to the viewer is a very important part of setting up the illusion you intend to loose them in.