Interview - Lobb's Bush

Documentary Reviews - World War II in HD, Straight Outta LA

WWII in HD

World War II is a popular subject, and one assumes it is fairly dry as it tends to target a certain demographic. When I began watching this documentary, I learned how wrong that assumption was. This documentary uses many styles and techniques that make it captivating to me and, no doubt, to a larger audience.

One thing that makes this documentary so incredible is its extensive and vivid footage of the war. It uses never-before-seen, re-mastered clips with intricately accurate created audio. These clips served to help portray the stories of certain individuals who were involved in the war.

World War II in HD was told from the perspective of a number of veterans, using present-day interviews along with voiceovers to represent the veterans in their youth. These voiceovers are paired with the footage of the world as it was in WWII, as well as pictures from the storytellers' pasts. These are very effective tools to "set the stage" for the story.

The interviews were also very interesting. In most of them, the interviewee was in a setting in which we feel he is comfortable. The current interviews were broken up with B-roll of the veterans looking at old photographs, looking out the window, walking, and more. These images work well because you see the vitality of the young soldier in the photograph, contrasted with the age and lost innocence of the men now. The interviews also work well because they are used at random intervals all throughout the documentary. There is never an interview sequence that bores us with its length.

The music in this documentary is an important part of its make-up. The music always fits the mood the filmmakers are trying to convey. They use a lot of intense, driving music for scenes of war and action. They use melodic, emotional music for impact in scenes with the veterans remembering hard times, footage of destruction, and more. Often, the music is jazzy, Big Band kinds of music if the scene is describing carefree city life, aspirations of soldiers, and the like. At one point, the makers of the documentary use a piece of vocal church music.

The variation with which this documentary is cut together also makes it enjoyable to watch. There is never the same type of clip, image, or technique used too often in sequence. Since there is a wealth of material used, and the material is so varied, the documentary is more interesting. The way that the clips are organized is important as well. Every detail seems to be planned to the nth degree. For example, images of happy young people, children, and families are used often to stress the carefree life of ordinary people before the war. These images also stressed for what the soldiers were fighting. Images of soldiers playing cards, having fun, and doing normal activities help us to identify with them as people. I was also impressed with the footage used to depict the States' incompetence when it came to military training. We saw images of soldiers who could not complete the simplest drills. Also, the images of Nazi invasion demonstrated the vast number of soldiers and resources at their disposal.

Radio broadcasts were also key to this documentary. Broadcasts were used to show public opinion and the fear with which everyone lived during the war. Using radio broadcasts over footage of war is a very effective technique.

These are just few of the important things that make this documentary exceptional and riveting.

Straight Outta LA - Ice Cube

This documentary was also very interesting, though on a completely different subject matter: rap and football. I found this interview quite fun and entertaining.

The first thing that got me right off the bat was the subject matter. I thought it was really interesting the way they combined two seemingly unrelated topics to create something really interesting.

Since this documentary had a much lighter subject matter, there were a few elements that the filmmakers did differently. It still used many of the same techniques, such as interviews, stills, old footage, suitable music, and interesting B-roll; however, they were presented differently.

First of all, it was highly stylized. There were lots of bright colours, a lot of movement, and even cartoon/comic book type of sections. This reflected their young target audience and dynamic topic.

This documentary differs from the other in that the creator of the documentary is in it. In this case, I think it works well. Since Ice Cube is so involved in the topic, he can give us his perspective on the events as well as ask others about their opinions.

I found the interviews in this documentary particularly interesting. They, like the rest of the piece, were very stylized. The filmmakers used close-up shots of interviewees' eyes, nose and mouth, glasses, and more. Oftentimes the people being interviewed were way in the right or left of the shot. The lighting for the interviews was dramatic and different. Most of them were lit more sharply from one side, casting shadows on the other side of their faces. Unlike World War II in HD which used real settings for the background in the interviews, Straight Outta LA used plain black and white backdrops. This also fits with the style of the documentary.

The individuals who were interviewed were also very interesting. There were famous musicians, athletes, businessmen, and managers who gave the interviews more interest.

I also liked the interview with Snoop Dogg that was used throughout. It was interesting how Ice Cube interviewed him conversationally outside. Sometimes they were just standing outside, sometimes they were throwing a football back and forth. During these interviews, the subjects were filmed using an active camera. This gave the video more of a genuine feel.

I also enjoyed how Straight Outta LA used cartoons. These added to the fun aspect of the documentary. They were black and white, in an almost comic book, stop-motion style.

Just like in the previous documentary, the music was really appropriate for the subject. Often the filmmakers used rap (for obvious reasons), but they also used some funk music, some popular hip-hop, a tango, and some pieces that were mostly rhythm.

There were many colourful images in this documentary as well. In particular there were many images if extensive and bright graffiti used at various times in Straight Outta LA.

The busyness, bright colours, and style of this documentary make it really entertaining, and even though I do not really like either football or rap, I enjoyed Straight Outta LA.

Opposite Assignment

In this assignment, our class was to take clips from a movie or TV show and edit them and cut them together to create something totally different. I chose to do a different version of Lord of the Rings (mostly because I could find a whole lot of clips easily). I made it into a drama. Anyway, here it is!

Song/Slideshow Assignment

For this assignment, we had to make a song on Garage Band or a related program (I used Logic Express), and put a slideshow to it. It took me a while to write the song, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and if the project weren't getting ridiculously late, I would keep changing it, because it definitely still has some problems. But that's all right (sort of). Anyway, the slideshow I chose to use (Actually a movie, made in iMovie) depicts scenes of nature in different ways. For the verses of the song, I used pictures of human interference with nature, and for the chorus I used pictures of nature without a lot of human influence. The question I want to ask in this slideshow is should we interfere? 

I took all of these images (except one I believe was taken by my little brother), and some are from around Goderich, and some are from Colorado. Some are even around the school. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

In-Class Interview - Gina Lomas

M - So, I hear you’re interested in film editing..

G - Yeah.. when I was 12, I used to use my webcam and use Windows Movie Maker to make short films and it was really easy to use. It was when I first became interested in filmmaking, and I was on it for hours. I was also in grade 11 Communications Technology class and we made a chase scene. It was fun and Mr. Lobb said I would make a good film editor, so a couple of years later I decided to do it for a career.

M - So you have a co-op in film-making? What do you do there?

G - Yeah, I work at the Office of Development and Planning. I’m learning how to use Final Cut Pro and After Effects and it kind of opened my eyes to some special effects and I got interested in that.

M - So what do you think you’ll do with this as a career?

G - Hopefully I’ll be a film editor and get to work on post production, cutting things together. I like editing because it’s where the magic happens; where you make the story. It’s definitely one of the most important aspects in a film. 

M - So what’s your goal in this respect? What are your "dreams" for the future?

G - I want to be a film editor for a multi-milion dollar production. Maybe get some awards for it. I want people to be asking for me because I’m a good film editor. That would be pretty awesome.

M - Who do you look up to in film editing?

G - I don’t really know that many film editors, which I like. I don’t really want to be famous like an actor, but I want my work to be known and well-renowned.

M - Would you ever teach film editing?

G - I don’t really like the idea of teaching; I don’t like parents. If I wanted to be a teacher I’d want to be a university or college prof because the students would be genuinely interested instead of just taking the course because it’s “easy”.

M - Do you think high school programs adequately prepare you for university or college in film editing?

G - Film is the kind of thing where you have to go out and do it yourself; a lot of it is independent. I don’t think high school can really prepare you for that in itself.

M - Do you consider yourself a really independent person?

G - Yeah, in some respects I do; definitely in comparison to some people my age. I didn’t live with my parents for a while, just with my brother. So it’s taught me to be a bit more independent.

M - So, you were going to go away to university last year, why didn’t you?

G - I was accepted into Waterloo for Communications before I really knew I wanted to go into editing, and I kind of wanted to just go to university to see what it was like. But I decided I wanted to stay and maybe go to school in Toronto, and take some co-op that’ll really help me.

M - So what do you anticipate your university/college education will be like?

G - If I get into university it’ll be a lot of theory, which is good and bad. College is more hands-on, so I’d get experience, but I wouldn’t get a degree. So I’ll probably have to do both.

Letters from the Sky - Civil Twilight

The song Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight is one of my favourite songs. It's very simplistically built, with a single chord progression being the basis of the entire song. The progression is not commercial, but it is powerful and works for the subject material. Its slow build makes the song even more appealing and powerful. Also, the singer, Steven McKellar, has an interesting voice, which adds to the emotional tone of the music. The instrumentation is also very simple, but still provides depth. There is a piano, guitar, bass, drums and synthesizer. The beginning with just piano and mild accompaniment and vocals adds to the emotionally charged nature of the piece. The style of this song is hard to peg. It's alternative, mixed with a little bit of rock and some Indie. The use of the Steven McKellar's falsetto range also adds to the piece. The breathy tone of his voice when he sings quietly is also very powerful. 

Civil Twilight is a band from South Africa that now works out of Los Angeles. It is a trio built of three members: Steven McKellar, his older brother Andrew McKellar, and their friend Richard Wouters. The McKellars grew up in a musical family, listening to music throughout their childhood and having a classically trained pianist as a mother. And Wouters was a childhood friend that wanted to start a band with Andrew McKellar when they were in their teens. When they discovered that Steven could write music and sing, they did a bit of instrument shifting and made a band together.

The song starts with a hushed synthesizer chord that sounds a bit like an organ. It builds with more synthesizer sounds and a unique piano chord progression. The vocals are very free and arrhythmic above the structure of the chords. The song gradually builds, adding guitar and heavy percussion which multiplies in dynamic level as the song slowly progresses to its climax. The vocals start out soft and breathless, but build to a stronger, firmer tone. The singer uses his falsetto range, which is very high and strained sounding; however, this tone of voice adds to the “realism” of the song. According to Steven McKellar, Letters from the Sky is just a “desperate, delusional love song”, and the timbre of his voice reflects this desperation. The song feels like it’s just spilling out of the singer. Again, the free vocal line and the way it moves over the chords makes it feel this way. It feels like he has a lot to say, and is just “spitting it out”, so to speak.

There’s a lot of emotion in this song too. For having such a simple structure, the song has amazing emotional depth. It’s so bittersweet and I feel the singer’s longing. I have a deep connection to the loneliness that this song portrays. When I listen to this song, I see a dead tree in the middle of a corn field after all of the corn has been harvested. It’s at the end of the day when the sun is going down, and the whole scene is bathed in a golden light. I’m not a hundred percent sure why, but since the texture of the song seems so expansive that would account for the field. It also feels really empty in parts, which lends itself to the emotions and images of loneliness the song evokes.

Letters from the Sky is a really interesting song. I enjoy the bittersweet sentiment of the piece and the simplicity of its structure. The build-up of layers makes it emotionally powerful and it evokes vivid images and feelings. I think this is a great song, and that everyone should listen to it!

Movie Poster - First Draft