Film costing only £45

In the guardians g2 on Thursday this week I read an article about a 30 year old man who had written, filmed and produced a film about zombies called ‘Colin’ for only £45, and it had been received really well at Cannes and we now going to be released in nationwide cinemas in October as well as being released on DVD afterwards. An amazing achievement for a man who works in a call centre. This is the online version of the article - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jul/30/marc-price-zombie-film-colin.

He filmed this film on an old camcorder and edited it on a simple laptop, leaning most editorial and film creating skills from extras on DVD’s. It just shows how developed today general technology, which we can all afford is, and how simple and easy it is for any enthusiastic filmmaker to make films cheaply. But this does bring around the question of why is it that Hollywood films cost so much. I have not seen this film so I can’t personally comment on the quality and realistness of the film, to compare it to the extremely more expensive zombie films, but if it is being released nationwide it cant be to bad. I think out of curiosity I will be going to watch it when it is out. How ever it looks realistic or not its an amazing feet for this one man to have done, to have gone from a bit of fun, to the Wales film festival, to Cannes and finally to nationwide cinemas.

Book 2 – Twenty Years, Two People, One Day by David Nicholls

This book is traditional in layout compared to The Tenth Circle, there this is no hidden quotes and no artist input and it is very different in story telling and story. It is kind of a romance but more just about human life the way we change over the years, the way peoples dreams don’t always work out the way they hoped and the way people paths change and interchange over there life’s. It’s a very real to life book, realistic, raw and highly descriptive, both of places, people and happening. The author has either done a lot in his life, researched immensely or done a very good job a winging it. The book is about 2 young people Emma and Dexter, who meet on there last day of university with high hopes for the future dreams and ambitions and then every chapter after that is exactly a year on in there life, ie the title twenty years, two people. You feel like you know them so well as characters by the middle of the book as you have read about them grow as people and change. Its goes though all the stages of their lifes, from the getting a new house, new job, partners, to their thirties were every is getting married and having kids and what happens afterwards, devoice or happiness, I don’t want to spoil the book but it’s a very sad ending and the best thing about it its so unexpected and shocking. The book was so descriptive and I got so in to it and I felt like I know the two characters that I feel it could work so well as a film, but I also worry when books are made into films, that Hollywood just destroys the story and charters so I hope this book never turns into a film because of this and the love I found myself having for the characters. 

In the past month I have read two really good books, can’t put down page-turners, both very different in approach and story. I highly recommend them both and in the next two blogs, hopefully with out spoiling the story line too much, I shall tell you why.

Book 1 – The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

The thing that makes this book different from others is the comic novel which it is combined with. The main character in this book is a father who is a comic novel artist and he is doing a comic about family life and the nine/ten circles of hell. The novel relates to his life in the book and so at the end of ever chapter is a chapter of the comic novel. The anther got a real comic novel artist to produce this part of the book and so the draws are amazing and so detailed, and fit so well with the books content and dantees circles of hell.

The author deals with so many issues in the book. All which relate to the main theme of dantees 9 circles of hell. (This book has given me a keen interest in dantees circles of hell, so much that I really would love to read his theory book, however its in Italian and apparently the translated version is very hard to read, which is a shame). Such as adultery, rape, suicide, murder, self harm and anger all which are dealt with around this one family. The author does amazingly well with describing teenage life, issues and pain, as well as the emotional straights that parents feel when they children grow up, or are harmed and the lengths parents will go to, to protect there children. It’s a very deep, sad and at times depressing book, but with a happyish ending.

Another thing, which makes this book, so individual other then the novel its self is that with in the comic novel the artist has hidden letters which you are meant to find and with spell out a famous quote and its author. The quote is meant to sum up the book as a whole. However the letters are very hard to find, you are told that there is 86 letters in all, however I have only managed to find 74. So I still do not knew this quote, so it anyone has read the book and found out please let me knew its killing me. The reason that the letters and this idea of finding them are in the comic is because in the story its how the parents met. The dad draw a cartoon of the mother on the street as they do in some places in American and he had hid a time and place for them to meet with the drawing, a romantic hidden gesture. Its clever and nice how the author decided to continue this hidden idea with in her own book.

One thing I didn’t like about this book however was the cover, yes the book does half take place in a cold snowy area of American so it represents that, whoever it is a very family issue based book, so I feel it should have had at least 3 people on the cover not just 2, especially as this family was 3. But that is a very minor thing and me just being extremely picky, however I do usually choice a book from its cover naively and I was initially attracted to this book because of its cover.

September 4th 2009 - 

I have literally just had my lunch brake from work and seen this book as a film on channel five, I was shocked and quite happy at first to see that this good book had been make into a film and only last year. But as I sat down to watch it, I was disappointed, the thing which makes this book is its comic book, and in the film there is no comic book, we are not even told what the dads job is, which was very disappointing for me, as that is why I liked the book so much, other then that though, I have to give the film some credit as it sticks to the story and pretty much uses the same words which are in the book for its script. It is one of the only book films that  I have watch which sticks so closely to the books story line.

Larger packaging

(Bucanero beer can and Cristal beer can, photos taken by me, all others are google image picture)

I have just been on a two week holiday to Cuba, and noticed that the beer can Cristal looked very familiar. I realized that is was because most European beer cans have the name and branding of the beer in an oval shape such as the Stella beer can and Becks beer can does. Then I remember a beer that I had in brazil on my gap year called Skol and that too had its branding in an oval shape on its cans and even bottles. Why does this oral seem to be an international form of branding style among beer companies, is it because it is the best and most ascetically pleasing shape to have an on circular packaging? It just seems a bit boring even though the Cristal have tried something different by having its name diagonal crosses the oral compared to the straight across of the European beers.

I was very happy to see that another local cuban beer that I found on the last day called Bucanero, was completely different in design. It has no oval shape and its name was vertical on the can. It had some individuality and character to the branding, because of this it stood out well amongst the other brand and so I was drawn to buy it as it was different. Its a shame that all beer companies seems to have the same branding style and no real individuality to them. However as I was looking for pics of the European and Brazilian beer I came across the Bucanero bottle and saw that it had the branding in an oval shape. Is there a technical reason for comapanies to have branding in an oval shape on bottles and cans or is it the designers lack of creativity?,  I do hope its the first reason.

Film deception

I was recently watching the film 'JUMPER' with a friend. There is a scene where the main person is stood on top on one of the pyramids (ie, in the above picture from google images), when I saw this I was like wow that is amazing I would love to go see that, it looks so isolated and magical. I have only ever seen pics of the pyramids and in films so believed naively that what I saw was the truth. But my friend, who visited egypt last year, destroyed this perfect image I had of the pyramids by telling me that what you dont see on the films is that just behind the camera is a huge town with a Mc Donald's, and that in any film your watch with the pryamids in you will see the same shot, as the film people dont what to show this eye saw of a Mc Donald's and distory the magical appeal of the place.

After thinking about this I do start to wonder in what other films the film makers have conveniently decided to take shots at certain angles to make places seem better or more eye pleasing then they actually are. They choice the shots to make them look good for the film but are they creating disappointment when people travel to these places because they saw them on films and thought that it would be amazing to go and see them in person.  I was personally disappointed when my friend told me about the pyramids, but still would love to go and see them. 

Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival

I have just spent the last 10 days at a reggae festival in Italy, I have never spent 10 days straight being so relaxed and chilled out in a long time, it was nice. i was already a huge reggae fan, i love the music and way of life, but the two friends that came with me were not so in to the music they just come for the holiday, i was a bit worried what they would think of 10 days of pure reggae, literally no other music was played. would they get bored of it because there was so much or would they start to really like it, like you do sometimes when u here a song or new tv advert and you are like that a rubbish song/ tv ad but then the more times you see/ hear it the more you start to like it.  on the last day i asked them what they thought and one of them said, it was like those halifax adverts the first time you see them your like what the hell and then the more times you see it the more you get it to it and start singing along, but my other friend was like i approached the music and all around me but i am fed up of reggae i need some house music. which made me realize that in my own work in design i can produce things that maybe not everyone will like, but which they can appreciate or grow to like the more they see it, basically i realized that i have to stop worrying so much abbot what everyone will think of my work and try and be a lot more adventurous and creative.

I also want to mention on this post that i have been to 3 different festivals know and at each one get a material wrist band i am amazed that each design represents the festival so well. the over all vibe of the festival and especially the music is represented so well on just a small peace of material, i do wonder who the festival organizers get to design the bands.