The 1880

Done. Celebrate. Do something fun.

Sometimes I wish tassels were more fashionable.

We’ve finished. Rather than just getting smashed, take the $20 you were throwing down on your fourth straight night of black-out partying and do something substantial, k?

• Lewis Black will be at the Boston Opera House tonight, May 8th.
• KRS-One at Harper’s Ferry if you would prefer some hip hop.
• The Boston Pops are doing a Bernstein Tribute this weekend.
• You dorks probably want to go to Mac Camp Boston.
• Ozomatli at The Paradise! Badass world fusion stuff.
• Kaiju Big Battel comes to the Roxy.
• Some Blackberry challenge happens at Faneuil Hall Saturday, too.
• Cut Copy, Black Kids and Mobius Band play The Paradise Monday.
• Superman screens as a part of the Coolidge’s Science on Screen series.
• Afrissipi out at Johnny D’s Uptown Tuesday.

Baz Rox

Auteur patty-cake?

Sometimes I feel like I’m too busy with schoolwork to learn. Might sound weird, but there are worlds of stuff that interest me over the course of a day. I would rather be investing my time in any of them rather than waxing pedantic over some who-gives-a-shit essay on the postmodern condition du jour. Luckily, as of 9:45 last night, the semester has come to a close, inspiring that dizzying sense of freedom some call summer.

Earlier this week, in a fit of procrastination, I came across Apple’s new Set to Screen series. The set of podcasts follow Baz Lurhmann and his production team as they work on Australia, his new film starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. The series is exceptionally well produced, providing tons of practical knowledge and insight into the process of creating what appears to be a seriously epic motion picture. If the podcast leaves you salivating, jump over to the curriculum, which integrates lessons and more in-depth exploration of the topics from the podcast.

If somehow, that isn’t enough, there are also contests with some really cool prizes, including a seat on the film’s promotional tour or a trip to Australia to hang out as they work on post for the film. The current contest, at the link above, is a chance to design the movie poster for the film’s Australian release. Apple provides a set of very high resolution images from on-set photographer James Fisher, featured in the photography episode of the series. If you get bored in the next couple days, fire up Photoshop and go nuts, you’ve got nothing to lose.

I hope Apple has wild success with this project, and gets to do it in the future with other productions. Anyone know of any other opportunities like this anywhere on the internet? I’d love to get some links. Post ‘em here if you have any.

EVVYs Nominee List is up

The 27th annual EVVY award nominations are now up on their website. I’ll highlight a couple of the big ones (at least, as a film major):

Outstanding Intermediate Film
“Broken” Bryce Richards, Michael Grabow and Bradford Wilde
“Front Page” Kevin Mastman, Matthew McManus, Brian Vannucci, Tony Yacenda
“Dream on Cupid” Mike Grabow, Bradford Wilde and Bryce Richards

Outstanding Cinematography
“Billy Club” Elie Smolkin
“Front Page” Brian Vannucci
“2326 Pilot Episode” Elie Smolkin

Outstanding Cinematic Production
“No Wind, No Waves” Julian Higgins
“Animal Magic” Benjamin Phillippo, Katie Machaiek
“Front Page” Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Brian Vannucci, Tony Yacenda

Outstanding Multi-Cam Director
“Johnny Paula Directs GME 11/8/07″ Jonathan Paula
“GME: April 9, 2008″ Zachary Schiffman
“News @ 6″ William Gersh
“Speechless Ep. 5″ Eric Sagotsky

Outstanding Single Cam Director
“No Wind, No Waves” Julian Higgins
“Honor” Christina Densmore
“Looking Up” Ryan Cook

You can read the rest of the nominees on the EVVYs website (although, you guys could use a LITTLE bit of better separation techniques there!).

10,000 Years Before Fact

Fun Fact: Wolly Mammoths = Dating Technique

Things I did not know until I witnessed the glory that was the cinematic marvel “10,000 B.C.”

1. Blue eyes make you special. Very, very special. Why haven’t I recieved this goddess-like status yet?

2. Ten millenia ago, in a northern African area, people of one tribe could come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. I guess they had their own little Ellis Island around there, because I’m sure that there were at least eight different heritages visiable from facial feature alone in this one tribe.

3. Love conquers all, or more specifically, love conquers wolly mammoths. (Because back then, you couldn’t get the girl until you stabbed the hairy beast in the heart. Romance at its finest, ladies.)

4. Speaking of wolly mammoths, did you know they built the pyramids? Fun fact. Not only are the pyramids a few thousands years older than all that silly, inaccurate carbon-dating says, but those slaves got a little help from the furry elephants hauling the giants bricks. Laziness, I say.

5. If you save a saber-tooth tigers life, it will communicate with you telepathically. Seriously.

6. “The Almighty” is German. A crusty, pale, old, withered German. In Africa.

7. There was some sort of ten-foot-tall ostrich-pterodactyl-velociraptor creature alive in 10,000 B.C., and it got screeching mad when it couldn’t eat the crunchy little humans.

8. They had domesticated horses? What?!?!

9. They had corn too? Pretty sure that one is strictly American continental cuisine. I’m positive.

10. Too much of a spiritual connection with someone causes nosebleeds. Kind of like cocaine.

All in all, I’ve realized that no one, absolutely no one, involved in the making of this movie has ever picked up a 6th grade social studies book. “Artistic license” took on an entirely new level. If this was 10,000 B.C., it put the golden age of the Egyptian Empire at around 25,000 B.C., because they trumped them in more than a few ways. Archeology, schmarcheology–it was a good excuse to put a saber-tooth tiger and ostrich-raptors into a movie. God bless. I’d recommend a very un-sober viewing though, or you might not make it.

Lessons from The Magic Kingdom, Part II

You sound like one of the guys on that commentary I watch all the time.

Storytelling Through Animation
2/28, 12:00PM, Max Mutchnick Campus Center Multipurpose Room

Making his directorial debut with 1994’s The Lion King, Roger Allers expanded upon a career as an animator, writer, story supervisor, and storyboard artist. He spoke to an attentive crowd of Emerson students and faculty as a part of the Professional Development Conference.

Allers opened his talk with us urging us to follow that which excites us. Allers had been fascinated with art and animation his entire life. After graduating with a degree in fine art, he decided to travel, notably living in a cave for some time. Always fascinated with animation, he purchased a do-it-yourself animation kit, produced a small bit of work, and came to work at an animation studio in Boston in 1974. Hearing of a professor at Harvard teaching animation, armed with his portfolio and what he called a “mix of determinism and naiveté,” convinced the professor to let him audit the class. This experience sparked an interest in more narrative work.

Leaving Boston behind, he fell into a storyboard position at Disney, where he helped develop ideas for the film Tron. Considering video games barely existed at this point in development for the film, there was a considerable amount of creative elbow room. Storyboard artists would be given script pages, audio samples, artistic renderings, and be required to dissect a scene. “What is interesting or unique here? How are these characters special?” Boarding scenes allows for the first step towards visualizing a story. The actions, the pacing, and the rhythm of a scene can now be extrapolated and understood by other members of the project.

Read the rest »

Lessons from The Magic Kingdom, Part I

Chris Montan wears expensive jeans and wants you to be successful.

Beyond Networking
2/28, 11:00AM, Max Mutchnick Campus Center Multipurpose Room

Chris Montan is currently the president of Walt Disney Music. He’s acted as the Executive Music Producer on just about every significant Disney feature, stage production, or animated release of the last twelve years. His son happens to go to our school, and he was so kind as to bestow some of his most insightful precious stones of knowledge upon us as a part of the very valuable “Professional Development Conference.” What follows is what he had to say.

Entertainment is a hard business to get into, and hard to stay in.

There’s is always some day, some event, some serendipitous moment that acts as your big break. You need to work to improve chances and prepare for that luck. Be ready when your door opens. He was lucky enough to make a huge lateral shift through corporate trees of Disney when Eisner and Katzenberg were reorganizing the company.

Only do things you are perpetually passionate and excited about. Noting the clichés of the statement, he refers to passion as what your friends can see really excites you. For example, Bette Midler has been a long time buddy of his, and as long as he has known her, she approaches every new project with the same excitement as she ever has.

Continually educate yourself in fields that really fascinate you. Give yourself as much information as possible. In college, Montan read all he could about successful singer-songwriters, because that was what he wanted to do with himself. Don’t be the disengaged student that drops out of school their sophomore year when you get bored or realize you’re not doing what you want to do.

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The New England Patriots Have Propelled Me Into a Nosedive of Depression

No one's perfect, Tom! Kill me.

There are certain things that I regard as “holy” in life. The Vagina, for instance. Jesus. The microwave. Breasts. Grain Alcohol—I could go on. But one thing that I could pray to every night was the New England Patriots football franchise, and I blew 18 weeks-worth of my life (and hundreds of thousands of dollars) betting that God wouldn’t bring down the hammer on Belichick, Brady and myself—but it seems Eli Manning serves a dark and a vengeful God. To top it off, I was COMPLETELY and CRUELLY SOBER when it happened—the lone loss that sent me careening into the depths of a personal hell darker than any hell I’ve experienced, and I’ve seen Dark Hells: the day after the Yankees toppled Boston in the 2003 ALCS comes to mind, naturally; as does the night my mom caught me masturbating. But as I and my companion walked aimlessly around Fenway, which just a few short months ago rang loudly with riotous and alcohol-aided joy, we found it now host to tearful and confused zombies and a handful of the worst Giants fans I have ever seen (one that was beating his chest was wearing an oversized leather jacket and had a soul patch). It was Sunday night, and all of the liquor stores were closed. God truly hates me.

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