Deja Vu
Just came back from a screening of '
Deja Vu' and it was an interesting movie. It is a sci-fi movie hidden in the form of a thriller. The movie did surprise me on how well it was made - it's only major flaw is it's story ending which gives the whole movie an unsatisfactory feel because of inherent questions raised. Time travel is always a hard thing topic to pull off on film and unfortunately this movie doesn't quite pull it off in that department - what is interesting though is how they treat time travel. It definitely sets out to do something different but then falls into the hollywood movie trap. It is a enjoyable watch nonetheless - if you put the time travel logic aside.
You would think I would be updating the blog more often - especially since I have finished my teaching job and have more time on my hands. Well - that ain't true - i mean with having loads of time on my hands - it has been an extremely busy week.
The green screen stuff went well on Wednesday and it definitely was a steep learning curve working with the HVX camera and P2 media. Later that evening I had a meeting with Anita, Marjan and Andy over the climax of act 2 of 'Five' which we have to film in January. It was a productive meeting and the story strands are coming together.
I had 2 afternoon shift training sessions at TVNZ on Thursday and Friday - which meant that my days were really long. I managed to squeeze in 4 hours of editing 'Five' in those 2 days and I am learning to pace myself - so I can still give a 100% to my training sessions. It is holiday season and I don't have any sessions worked out for further work at TVNZ next week, so I will have a full week dedicated to editing 'Five' - which should be heaps of fun.
My physio sessions were supposed to be complete yesterday but I have to go back once more in the new year for them to make sure that I am all fixed up. My neck and back are feeling heaps better and I am continuing the exercises I have been suggested to help the process.
'The Fountain' graphic novel that was resent to me by amazon.com - arrived in mail on Thursday and I read it straight away - it is fascinating. The story combined with the art work pull you into another world. I am not going to discuss the plot or the story because it is hard to explain the depth and philosophy in the story by trying to give a synopsis of it. It was a worthwhile purchase and I am now looking forward to the movie - when it gets released.
Nothing much else to update about for now.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Five, Graphic Novels, HVX, Movies, P2, Physio, TVNZ
Three Burials and a Wedding
It has been a busy few days - it almost feels like eons since I posted.
First I would like to say 'Congrats' to my sis - Veni, who got married on the 15th of December. There are no other words to express my joy - it is always hard finding a life partner and it is great that she found hers. All the best for the life ahead sis.
My neck/back is feeling a lot better. Another 2 physio appointments to go and I think it will get me back on track. Saturday went into cleaning up my room - which had become a complete mess again. It took me longer than normal as I did not want to strain my neck or back.
I did watch '
The Three Burials of Melqauiades Estrada' on Saturday and it was an awesome movie. One word for describing it would be - 'poetic'. It is beautiful and lyrical and gentle. It transports you into another world and it is a highly recommended watch.
I have started assembling 'Five' on Sunday and spent about 5 hours before I had to stop because of my back. Editing is so much fun - I had almost forgotten how good it felt in front of an edit suite playing with the footage.
On Sunday evening - I went to a Christmas dinner at Barbara's flat. Each of their flat members could invite 2 friends and everyone had take a cooked dish along with a 2 Dollar gift. I cooked some 'Tofu Curry' and I wasn't particularly happy with it - mainly because tofu doesn't have any taste and to me that is boring. Next time I will use paneer {Indian cottage cheese} and I think it will taste heaps better. It was a nice dinner - got to try different types of dishes and also got to meet some more wonderful people. It was a pleasant evening.
Monday was a bit tiring as I did about 10 different jobs through the day ranging from sorting out stuff at TVNZ with my ID to a job interview in another department at TVNZ to picking up my new printer - to name a few. I later went and watched '
Jindabyne' with Julia and Barbara. It turned out to be a terrible movie - it was beautifully shot but the story and the pacing were completely out and it just felt like an overdrawn soap opera. It was annoying as hell trying to sit through the movie and the movie felt like an exercise in trying to showcase the scenery and trying to portray some of the Australian indigenous cultural issues - it succeeds at showing off the scenery but everything else about the movie was bland. Maybe the movie works for australian audiences but it definitely did not do it for me. I felt shattered by the end of the day and today was no different.
Got another big day tomorrow where we will be shooting some green screen stuff for the movie - which means that I will be picking up and dropping off the camera and the green screen for the shoot. Also have a script workshop session later in the evening with the cast of 'Five'. Auckland Regional Council came back to me after I put in request for additional shoot dates in Jan and have generously agreed to grant us permission under our existing cover - which is fantastic as I don't have to sweat about the location now.
Anyway I think I will go to bed for now.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Festival, Filming, Five, Movies, Physio, Post Production, TVNZ, Wedding
Pain!!!!
The pain is searing through the body and the head. Feeling better than yesterday because of the physio treatment earlier this morning but still in a pretty bad shape. Sleep is painful. I might change my computer chair and my bed - it is still a thought but I think I need to take more care of my body. I don't want to end up immobilized and end up harming my work.
I suddenly realized something - 'PAIN' is a 4 letter word as well. Hee..heeee...
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Physio
Where the truth lies
I am sitting in excruciating pain with a heat pack across my shoulder, neck and back. I somehow managed to hurt myself without knowing it and woke up at 3.00 this morning with unbearable pain and couldn't go back to sleep. I rang up a physiotherapist first thing in the morning and arranged for an appointment - which was not till later in the morning. Normal routine things were painful to do - even putting on a T-shirt was a mission. Anyway the physiotherapy session itself went well and I am feeling a lot better than I was in the morning. I have 2 more appointments - one tomorrow and the other on Friday to try and sort out the neck and back. I had to cancel my last swimming lesson for this year as there was no way I could even get to the swimming pool leave alone getting into it. And I won't be attending this year's graduation ceremony either since pain is not good in a social event and I can barely keep a straight face with the discomfort I am in.
The gone weekend was busy in a different way - I have been doing frame grabs from the movie, so that I can put them up on the wall - that way I can visually see the overall structure of the movie and identify key emotional and story points which have to come through. It is important because when you are working on a big project it is easy to get lost and loose track of what you set out to achieve. I was taking the frame grabs to different photo places to get them printed and see which one got good results - out of the 5 print places there was only 1 which kind of printed decent pics and if I go with them it will cost a small chunk. To me it seems like an unwise business decision that I should give someone else that much money when I can buy a printer, which will become a future asset. So I am seriously thinking of buying a multi-function printer which can print photos, normal paper and DVD/CD's - that way I can maximize the cost-benefit of the purchase. I ended up doing lots of research and I am veering more towards buying a Canon iP5300 printer - haven't made up my mind yet but getting pretty close.
I rented out '
Where the Truth Lies' - a movie by Atom Egoyan because it was a movie mired in rating controversy last year and I did want to see what the fuss was about. The movie turned out to be a really well made movie and doesn't fake its punches. It is an artistic achievement and features brilliant performances by Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and Alison Lohman. The camera work is exquisite and so is the editing. I definitely think the rating board killed the movie's reach. It is a different kind of film-noir and it would have been great seeing it on the big screen. I also got out a movie called 'The Squid and the Whale' but didn't get a chance to watch it - I might do it this weekend.
More things simmering quietly underneath (well not so quietly since i just wrote it on the blog) and will update things as they happen.
Till later,
Amit
Labels: Movies, Physio, Post Production
