La Boheme

"Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score.” Right? And film “emcompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form and when these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring.”

As I watched Mimi and Rodolfo sing their tragic song in the snow, I am gripped all at once by: the terrible camera work; the beauty of their voices; amazement at how bad their acting is (dramatic reaction face, check, kneeling in the snow despairing at life and justly expressing anguish at being poor/dying/being in love, check); the exquisite arrangement of the black costumes surrounded by pure white snow and I didn't know how to react to such a beautiful story being slashed, ruined, hacked, chainsawed, chopped, gutted and altogether destroyed by 'romantic' crossovers, flipped mirror images and about a thousand close up of 'reactions' to something we all know about but are waiting for them to actually SAY it. My, my.

You see, I was very excited to think that an opera had been turned into a film but the singing had been kept. Unfortunately it seems that Robert Dornhelm had failed to see how to marry the two lovely things together and ended up stumbling between a theatrical set and film set. There are rules, dear Dornhelm, when it comes to the two different things, and they must be kept to. It's about just as obvious as the rule 'don't run with scissors.'

I don't mean to rant and I certainly don't want to give the impression that there weren't some utterly lovely moments such as the second last shot of the entire film – it breaks your heart when she dies.

But back to that scene in the snow. In my opinion simplicity is the key, especially when the main attractions of La Boheme are the voices and the tragic story. Therefore the focus needs to be on the voices but whilst being able to move the story forward in a realistic way in that the time frames feel right and that the events which occur provide an appropriate sequence to the ultimate ending. That wasn't achieved in that scene, nor in any other scene really, because at the insistence trying to show the audience the pained expressions of both Mimi and Rodolfo in so many different shots as possible in such a short time. I think it would have worked better if just three angles had been used to show the dialogue between the two. The effect of their black clothes and black hair against the snow (their poverty blackens the beauty of the white and pure snow around them) and their voices would have been enough, perfect even.

It was clear that the positions they used and movements would have worked on the stage (they part and come together, again and again when singing) but on the screen it was stilted. And so they tried to cover it up by breaking it up with lots of different angles instead of biting the bullet by actually taking a step further and getting the actors to move in a fluid manner – and that could've been achieved by cutting some of the dialogue and shortening it as it hampered the 'real' passage of time.

It was like watching something in slow motion but then the characters would move in real time and then the whole world would melt. Then the puzzlement would magnify when the subtitles said that Rodolfo had really just taken 2 minutes to say 5 words. Oh, how awful it would have been if one of them had garlic for lunch.

Am I making sense here?

Basically what I'm trying to say is a film is a film and a opera is an opera. You can't have both and so if you want to tell the story of La Boheme on screen, you have to use the film rules. Bring in longer sequences – forget using the act layout so literally – cut down the long winded nature of the singing (especially if you're translating from another language) so that the audience's attention can be retained as you develop each character and their relationships. We only got to see snippets of each person's personality and I was often confused as they changed so much. The acting – to be a broad actor works well on stage. On screen you see everything. There's no point in standing motionless and blank faced when you discover Mimi is dying, do something!

By making it complicated (ironically by over-simplifying it) you'll lose the new audience that you need to make back the money. I would imagine that La Boheme was a gamble and no one will be too happy if it doesn't sell well.

I would love to get my hands on it and give the opera the interpretation it deserves! Some of it was just so beautiful, I was really quite sad about the whole thing.

nearly the end of term...

After the summative meeting with Andy about the assessments we have had so far yesterday morning, I feel much better. It's true I haven't been blogging enough and so over the next few weeks with vegetarian mince pies and my remote at the ready I'll be posting much more about what I think about the course, what I'm watching (finally I'll be able to feast on TV programmes, even the word documentary makes me terribly happy) and what I'm reading!

So far I've had a great time, but the course hasn't been without its up and downs! The first few weeks were mainly about settling in and getting to know our small and quirky DFTV family (and with 7 birthdays so far we've had a lot of cakes and celebration!) and I'm still so excited about spending the next three years working with everybody's different styles and collaborating with them as well as working with other courses.

But then it was to work...Mondays have been devoted to plant pots and premises and I think I've enjoyed this the most so far. I've always loved writing short stories and so the screenwriting classes have been comforting in that I know what I'm doing. Richard has definitely slyly led us into thinking about things I never thought of before and my favourite exercise has been postsecret. Making my postcards made me able to face to some secrets and more (I had an alarming 5 pages worth of secrets!) but in a good way, because it gave a chance to start moving on from them. Sometimes I wish I could've kept mine, but I know Richard is looking after them, and there is something good about physically letting go of them. What I've really gained from these Mondays so far is the realisation that I can share anything and someone, somewhere will be able to identify with it. That person might be someone who you would never stop to talk to, or even look at but equally it may be the person you call your best friend but the thing you're both thinking is never talked about. But film can change that because as soon as you turn it into a fictional person's story others are able to move forward and connect with that character and by doing that you can give so many more people a feeling of togetherness than you could ever do just by yourself.

My stories, I hope, will start to improve as well and I'm hoping to start working together my fiction and my own personal experiences into convincing scripts in the new year and I want to try out different styles so I can work out what else works for me.

Having Ray for camera has been good fun :) if not a tad complicated for me! I've learned I'm not too great with buttons and finding them, but once I do and when I know the purpose behind it I get much more confident about using it. I need to be taking the kit out and playing about with it though (I'm hoping to do an hour this week before we all leave for Christmas) to really get to grips with it and hopefully I won't be so scared of the equipment next term. I'd also like to go on a shoot to watch the 2^nd years work with the equipment and see how it all works, but maybe that would be too complicated...

In post production, if I'm completely honest, the bits I've liked the most have been the assessments! This is because with Part A (when we had to answer 50 questions about keyboard shortcuts and technical things) I was able to read it all over, highlight the key points and then apply the answer to the question in detail. I haven't felt like I've been able to do this in class and a lot of the information has just washed over me. What Gavin was doing on the projected screen never has seemed to happen on mine and I've often been confused.

A different thing happened with Part B (when we had to edit one minute's worth of footage .. “It's a Ducati..” {woman gazes into the sunset} haha) in that I was able to be creative in the DTU, but I still was much happier than I have been in class. I know it's important to get to grips with the technical stuff but I've fallen behind and it's frustrating when I know editing can be so much fun. I love building up a visual story and experimenting with the tone and mood of a piece.

Over the Christmas holidays I'm going to read over the booklet again and write down the key facts and print out the diagrams (which really help) into a nice notebook titled 'Post Production' and so hopefully the theory and the action will click next term. (:

I really like Adam's classes as well. Working on my premises has been an interesting process. I sometimes feel like I'm one of those board games when at the throw of the dice I could either move forward one step with a good premise or move backwards 5 spaces with a bad one! I find the trouble is compressing it but at the same time keeping the attraction of the idea there, the “sexiness” as Adam likes to say! I like writing them though, so I'll just keep working at them until I know I can throw a good number on the dice each time.

In Andy's classes we've been treated to painful episodes of Coronation Street (but hey, they're only 22 mins) and upsetting group exercises. Only kidding, I have enjoyed CCS1 with all of its marketing facts and the way the film industry works. The classes have given me a good background which we need to keep in mind when we're being creative because essentially our careers will be based on selling at TV programme or a film. What I've learned most from Andy so far is that TV is huger part of my life than I ever thought....I've really missed watching television and when I am at home, I'm amazed at how often I switch it on and how much of an impact adverts have on me, when I always used to dismiss them.

Finally on Fridays we've been able to kick back and watch a variety of films this term. I have to say I've enjoyed Chaplin's films the most and the film about him as well (this was the first time I'd watched Robert Downey Jr and now I'm in love)! Everything about The Kid in particular appealed to me and it deeply moved me as well. The way it was shot was really impressive given that it was made in 1921, and as Andy said, Charlie Chaplin really knew how to manipulate film and how to use timing to great effect (for example when he is running over the rooftops to catch up with the van, the van is always in a realistic place for the time supposed to have lapsed.)

I guess appreciating Chaplin's sense of humour helps as well and I was just as entertained by him than I would've been watching a modern comedic film, maybe even more so because his humour was stripped down to simple facial expressions, body movement and timing without even the help of dialogue. Jackie Coogan's performance as the 'orphan' was stunning though, and I was really surprised at his capacity to act at such a young age.

I think what helped make me love the film even more was that I'd watched Chaplin before The Kid and so I knew about Charlie's own childhood. In addition to that, being without a father whilst growing up has made me more aware of how people can forge their own personal relationships with people who aren't necessarily relatives and one of the father figures in my own life is called Charlie, so even though the film is 88 years old and the situation is different, I can still relate to it.

Overall it's been a great term altogether but I'm going to address the things I've been struggling with like the frequency of blogging, my timekeeping and being able to submit my ideas more confidently! As I can't wait to get back home for Christmas and relax, I know I can't wait to get back again refreshed and ready to go again!

Merry Christmas my lovelies :) XOXO

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari…Creepy, creepy, creepy

Even after reading an intellectual synopsis online, my mind boggled at the storyline and the metaphorical theories attached to each character (is Cesare a representation of Francis's desire for Jane; and is Alan meant to symbolise anything that prevents Francis from winning Jane's affection?) but then I realised that I would never really want to – as much as I like dissecting metaphorical theories within films and assessing the relationships between the characters, this time I preferred watching and enjoying the production design and each scene as itself. The art deco images individually captured my attention, as well as my imagination to a huge extent.

What first struck me was that I was immediately distanced from the emotional potential of the film. This happened through the use of the colours and the cartoon like presentation of the plaques (the words looked handwritten, and the backgrounds resembled a comic strip.) The lurid colours made me think of looking at things from the viewpoint of a bug, or an alien – or as I later thought as a madman, the slides with writing reminded me of Brechtian plays in which the audience were actively distanced from the emotional potential because they were being told what was happening in a written form, and before the event happened – and not simply in dialogue. Which brings me to mention the effect the silence of the film had on me. For me there is something particularly romantic and fascinating about seeing people speaking and not being able to hear them, indeed when are you are so used to be able to in modern cinema. The actors' expressions are so vivid and strong (verging on melodramatic) that their faces were enough for me to look at, never mind the story. I'm always left thinking what they're really thinking, and why they are saying that, when they're clearly thinking something different…or how sometimes how hard or easy it is read people. Accordingly, as is often the case with silent films, watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was like being a spectator of a moving picture storybook. (This is also emphasised by the fact the reality of time is constantly broken by the use of the written slides.) Again, I'm given the sense, when this happens, that I'm seeing a world, a history, a life that I can't quite touch because I can't hear them and therefore they're not real..

Another thing I was very aware of (but something articulate exactly) is that I was watching something, not from, but IN the past. Did anyone else feel this?

I enjoyed it very much, and though the subject matter of madness always makes me extremely uncomfortable as it forces me to assess where the lines of sanity and insanity cross over (strangely, I always get this feeling a little when watching Willy Wonka and seeing fairs and rides always creep me out slightly..In fact, so did Hunger – in a very big way – I don't like madness.) Anyway, I liked watching the visual artistry of the film and the soundtrack was beautiful (it echoed the romanticism, and the emotions felt by the characters perfectly.)

ching and enjoying the production design and each scene as itself. The art deco images individually captured my attention, as well as my imagination to a huge extent.

What first struck me was that I was immediately distanced from the emotional potential of the film. This happened through the use of the colours and the cartoon like presentation of the plaques (the words looked handwritten, and the backgrounds resembled a comic strip.) The lurid colours made me think of looking at things from the viewpoint of a bug, or an alien – or as I later thought as a madman, the slides with writing reminded me of Brechtian plays in which the audience were actively distanced from the emotional potential because they were being told what was happening in a written form, and before the event happened – and not simply in dialogue. Which brings me to mention the effect the silence of the film had on me. For me there is something particularly romantic and fascinating about seeing people speaking and not being able to hear them, indeed when are you are so used to be able to in modern cinema. The actors' expressions are so vivid and strong (verging on melodramatic) that their faces were enough for me to look at, never mind the story. Accordingly, as is often the case with silent films, watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was like being a spectator of a moving picture storybook. (This is also emphasised by the fact the reality of time is constantly broken by the use of the written slides.)

Another thing I was very aware of (but something I can't articulate exactly) is that I was watching something, not from, but IN the past. Did anyone else feel this?

I enjoyed it very much, and though the subject matter of madness always makes me extremely uncomfortable as it forces me to assess where the lines of sanity and insanity cross over (strangely, I always get this feeling a little when watching Willy Wonka and seeing fairs and rides always creep me out slightly..In fact, so did Hunger – in a very big way – ok, I don't like madness.) Anyway, I liked watching the visual artistry of the film and the soundtrack was beautiful (it echoed the romanticism, and the emotions felt by the characters perfectly.)

Coronation Street

Coronation Street is known to be 'The Nation's Street' and it was first aired on 9 December 1960. It continues to be the most watched soap opera on British television and it is the longest running as well.

I watched Friday's episode (4th December 2009) on STV Player and it was clear that the show is based on family relationships, and the structure of the community. The episode opened on a grandparent having a conversation with their grandchild, and this, for me, introduced the family based theme. This was reinterated by a scene showing the strained relationship between Steve and his daughter – both scenes are realistic and reflect true life which will make the audience empathise with the characters.

The relationships between the communities members are complex and within one episode included controversy, manipulation, pretence and love. All these make a good viewing. There was obvious friction between the two characters Ken and Peter, as Ken tried (unsuccessfully) to get Peter to go back on his proposal of a new bar. Scandal is not amiss either when Steve and a young girl secretly kiss and she presses for him to go public about their 'relationship'. There was also a touch of lighthearted comedy – the rehearsals for the Rovers Xmas Panto begin and ends up with a brawl between two characters (both women) but they are comically very pleased with their 'acting' efforts!

From seeing one episode, it was clear that Coronation Street is a success by adhereing to a format which involves the audience to empathise with the characters (family themes) and by creating conflict and exciting, taboo plots. All ages can watch The Street because it's characters represent each generation, as well as both the working class and the middle class.

Paranormal Activity

'The entire auditorium was freaked out of their minds.. people were physically shaken.'

- Dread Central

Paranormal Activity is the new Blair Witch Project and it's currently taking the cinemas by storm as people freak out and argue online about whether it is real or not...

Yes, I jumped and I freaked (but I didn't scream) when she is dragged out of bed by an invisible force, when there are random loud bangs and the door moves by itself, and shadows move when they're not supposed to...but what I enjoyed most was the editing! I knew from the start that it couldn't be a real film and so I really liked how they constructed the film and through that invited everybody to imagine how it could easily be them. The budget was only $15,000 and they have, so far, grossed $100 million, making it the most profitable independent film ever made. The shooting was completed in 7 days - "It was a very intense week," Peli recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the footage was being finalized by the actors whom Peli called, "unbelievably professional and smart" throughout, adding that they surpassed being actors and became true "storytellers." - but it took more than 2 years to reach Cineworld down the road.

(It got taken to Slamdance Festival in 2007 but it spent a few years being tossed between Miramax, Dreamworks and Paramount Pictures. Eventually when the film was screened in Santa Monica with a sold out crowd of teenagers (mostly), its reputation was cemented and Peli and Blum sold its international rights to 52 different countries. The buzz generated from this convinced Adam Goodman (Paramount's main executive) to release the film on the fall schedule. At one point it also received 1,000,000 demands on ParanormalMovie.com and it then jumped over the pond to my wee Glasgow and beyond!)

The set was Peli's own home but he refurbished to suit the setting but the young couple's set up is nothing unusual and they're “engaged to be engaged.” Living in a two-storey house – which is something that's identifiable with people all over the world. – they buy a camera to record what goes on while they sleep...

The editing creates a lot of the tension that build up gradually throughout the film – there is a sense of equilibrium at the beginning (and the inciting incident is when the door moves by itself on the third night of filming) but the end is the peak incident and there is no equilibrium achieved, which is what makes the last shot so terrifying.The night vision forces us to see things in a more alien environment – we are not used to that because we are usually sleeping too when it's dark with no lights on. The power in being able to see the things that happen when Katie and Micha can't is scary in itself. There is no warning as to when the next fright is going to come along because they are in the most vulnerable human state – asleep. There's no constant “what was that?”, no “let's get the gun and find them”, and this helps generate pure fear when we hear the loud bangs and unnatural growls as and when the characters do. The only warning that is given is when digits stop fast forwarding and play – the anticipation in that was huge – because we knew we were about to see something awful, or scary, or incomprehensible. By remaining stationary and flicking through the hours and minutes and seconds made me feel time and the night was out of my control but somehow the demon was – because the only reason why the clock would stop is when the demon was present.

The special effects were impressive I gotta say that – the shadows moving with no lead got to me the most – every human being in this world has a shadow which follows them with no exception – so to see that in such a realistic environment creeped me out!

There are three endings for Paranormal Activity and I think a combination would've worked well. In the original cut there was an extended scene about the possessed girl they found on the internet and footage is shown of her chewing off her own arm. (Ewww...) The ending for the original cut doesn't show Micha's body being thrown at the camera, but instead Katie coming back to the bedroom holding a knife with blood on her top. She then rocks back and forth on the floor and stays there for the day. A message is left on the phone by her friend Amber, who then comes to the house to find Micha's body downstairs. Katie is then shot by the police when they arrive as she comes out of her catatonic state, but when the door slams behind them the police let fire. The movie ends with audo of the police discovering the camera as the credits roll. The third ending, according to Oren Peli, was shown at only one public viewing and Katie returns to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in view of the camera.

The audience was interesting as well. The theatre was full (around 600 seats) with adults in their 20s, 30s, 40 and 50s to teenagers ages 12-19. A lot of teenagers came in large groups and they were typical of the working class Glaswegian culture in the way they dressed and acted. (I felt almost embarrassed at the 'arty' trailers as I knew plenty were not interested, or taking the mick.) They were extremely interactive – when the lights went down a big 'oooh' went up and when the timer stopped everyone tensed up and you could hear people muttering “oh my god”. Mainly though, there was just a lot of screaming. Especially from the to girls in my row – it got to the point I didn't even know what screams were coming from the screen or from the audience!

I enjoyed PA for its use of camerawork, editing and the seco poo nd last frame of the film – Micha's body being thrown at the camera delivers a shock because you literally don't see it coming – however, this is let down by the poor anaesthetics (the blood on her shirt looks like tie-dye!) and the shot of her lunging at the camera – its not realistic.

Barely three stars for the end product, 5 stars for the idea.

P.S There is a number 2 in the pipeline....

Blade Runner - the worst and the best in a nutshell..

Having watched Blade Runner twice now, I still find that I have no real interest in the plot or the romantic subplot between the characters Rachel and Deckard, and certainly still abhor the sci-fi backdrop. The reasons are very simple; the plot is confusing and over-complicated; the romance comes across as forced and pretentious and the synthetic world in Blade Runner bears almost no resemblance to my life.

That all said, the 'tears in rain' scene moved me deeply the first time I saw it and I have gone onto Youtube time and time again to watch just that. The film's theme of humanity is expressed best here for so many reasons. Whilst keeping the characters in visual context (neon lights are still aplenty and the colours remain dark and grimy) the audience are given a new insight through the script and the cinematography. Both give Roy Batty – the biggest and meanest Replicant – his saving grace as he finally accepts his own mortality. His humanity has just been proved as he saves Deckard from a fatal fall - with the same hand he had stabbed a rusting nail through minutes before, in efforts to stay alive – even though he is no stranger to killing with his bare hands. The moments he describes:

“I watched C-beams...glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.”

he says, will all be 'lost..in time..like..tears in rain.' The recognition of how those moments are what made him human: the ability to appreciate the horror and the beauty of them – proves that humanity is not something you're born with – it can be learned. The camera work lends the scene a lucid grace that emphasises his acceptance with death ultimately when the dove is let go to fly up against the dark, polluted sky which is heavy with rain. The odd angle of this shot draws special attention to it and the meaning of it is – the world stays the same: there is still a dark world with evil and twisted morals below them but he is now free because he is human.

My Forty-Eight Hours

Since I don't have a TV licence yet and don't own a TV either, I haven't watched much TV at all since I moved to Glasgow. Instead I watch a film almost every other night so this was hard!

iplayer, Tuesday 3 November

Last night the girls who share my kitchen put on Sunday's show of the X-Factor and so I watched that. A lot of yelling was involved when I realised that the twins had gotten through and Rachel had dropped down to the last two, and some threw a little mini tantrum (not I..)when Lloyd stayed instead of her. The load up was slow though and the sound wasn't working so we got a staggered and jerky show and we worked out everything from body language and facial expressions which was fun!

BBC Three, 12.20am, Sunday 1^st November/iPlayer, Wednesday 4 November

85 mins

Alisa, Becky. Katie. Derek. Claire. Moony, Jay and Trife. Sam. Uncle Curtis. Pregnant with Trife's kid. Slut who gives blowjobs for drugs and is Alisa's best mate. Girl who hangs herself after she gets beaten up by the scaffs, slept with Trife. Brother, who tries to kill Sam, who threatened to kill Katie. Slut no. 2 cheating on Sam with Jay. M helps Derek get a gun off Uncle. Said Uncle initiates T into the gang by getting him to scar a guy who owes. Alisa and T get back together. Sam kills Trevor. Boom.

Watching this really took it out of me, often leaving me with my jaw on the ground, and when it finished I was in a daze. I watched Kidulthood on iPlayer (my first time) and I picked it to be part of a list of things to watch but it was only at the end the penny dropped that it was a film...not an extremely long TV episode...so I only got round to watching the one thing. It wasn't great either, that when pausing the credits a little button with an S on it leaps out and I realise I could've had subtitles on the whole time! Argh! Going back over “Imgunablowyurfuckinheadoff” made more sense, second time round. I seem to be watching a stream of hard core films these days...in the last 10 days I've seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Pulp Fiction, 8 Mile, The Constant Gardner and I'm wanting to watch This Is England, but I might not for a while!

Kidulthood impressed me most with its camera work though, and particularly liked the ending sequence. I was touched by the scene between Alisa and Trevor (good performance given by Aml Ameen) when he offers to 'take care of them both' even he still thinks the baby is Sam's and they get back together. The cinematography helps me feel shocked as the fight goes on even though I had been shocked plenty enough already (Claire and Jay getting on in front of three other guys and Becky giving a guy a blow job in front of Alisa and another guy for drugs.) As Sam reaches for the bat, you can hear the gravel rattle – which for me really gave it an ominous atmosphere, and the clip is slowed down to accentuate his action and so you know this is going to be big. As Trevor is hit the shot is in slow motion and so you see him fall to the ground as a snappy white out brings you a close up of him unable to get up again. As he is dying another shot is taken with both Sam and Trevor in the frame, both lying parallel to each other, when Sam is being held at gun point and its powerful because you are still unsure about who's going to make it. Throughout the film it's been obvious who stands where on the pecking order but here, both of them are vulnerable and either could die. Trevor dies and unwittingly saves Sam, telling Derek (who has him at gunpoint) that “he's not worth it.” Watching something on iPlayer was good, it loaded up fast and since my DVD drive is mashed, it was good to watch a film even though after 40 minutes I was thinking it was going to finish!

Releases that I'm waiting on..

I have just been on the discussion topic 'What we are looking forward to..' on Moodle, and since not everyone can see some discussions I thought I'd put my answer up on here..

Paper Heart, PG, Friday 6 November 2009.

Starring Michael Cera, and (for me) introducing Charlyne Yi, this film looks good already. Momentarily alarmed as my iTunes starts to sound weird and have voices that didn't belong to the tune playing, I watched the trailer…Although I suspect its plot might be slightly confusing, it looks great. The stars play themselves as Charlyne's character makes a documentary on love and it's puzzling myths, taking her all over America. A modern, and a much cooler, quicker, quirkyer, fun Broadcast News - Paper Heart grabbed me by it's name (is love real or just a fictional thing – something as substantial as paper?) and now has convinced me to go and watch it from its trailer.

The Magic Hour, Friday 13 November 2009.

Having met the film-makers already at a Q&A at the Edinburgh Film Festival, I have always intended to see this film. I have seen clips of the film but since the link doesn't tell me what the film is about but more about the company, I'm afraid I can't remember what it's about exactly…

However: 'The Magic Hour scheme is a groundbreaking UK-wide short film initiative aimed at disabled filmmakers. We are looking for writers and directors with passion and talent to make bold films which portray disability on the screen in a way that is innovative in both form and content.

Film ideas can be up to 20 minutes in length and any genre: drama, documentary, animation or a mixed medium. The Magic Hour wants edgy, challenging, satirical, funny, surprising ideas that have something fresh to say about disability but are accessible to a wide audience.

A total of four films will be produced each with a budget of £10,000. Applications are open from November 3rd to midnight on January 15th 2010. To download guidance notes and application forms click here.

104 films is the production company behind The Magic Hour scheme. We are the UK’s leading production company specialising in disability and film.'

Great people, great company.

Unmade Beds, 15, Friday 11 December 2009.

A brilliant film - I have seen it already at Edinburgh Film Festival. I throughly enjoyed the plot (if a little mad, and far-fetched, but not so much when you think of all the mad nights out and roll them into one and the types of characters - it certainly echoes some life experiences of my own - EXCLUDING, however, donkey heads and crashing out in extremely odd places…) Anyway, the performances are fascinating and it made me a laugh a lot. The director (Alexis Dos Santos) and Fernando Tielve, who plays Axl, are credibly mad - I listened to them at the Q&A after and I almost cried with laughter just seeing them- hence the film's genius quirkiness and loveability. On IMDB, a user comment says: 'A wonderful little gem which is close to perfection.' I agree - and I think those who liked Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, 500 Days of Summer and Away We Go might agree too. Oh and the polaroids…..

The Lovely Bones, Friday 29 January 2010.

I have waited for this film since I was 11 years old, after having first read the book then. This book is revered and sits a small pile of my best books….has anyone else read this book?! I love this book for several reasons but most of all, for its beautiful writing (this is the best way I can describe it), and so I have high, but anxious, hopes for Peter Jackson's adaptation. An exclusive interview with Jackson in the 20th Anniversary Edition (Guest-edited by Steven Spielberg), however, made me very happy. Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) is cast as Susie, the main character, and from that I know the film has great potential to win a lot of awards. In fact, that's why I've had to wait a few more months for its release because in order to be nominated for awards they had to put it forwards from June this year. Rachel Weiz is Susie's mother and this also leads me to believe I will love this film, as her performance in The Constant Gardener (but Fiennes is astounding), still makes me cry! Prepared for things to be left out: 'Jackson wants to be clear that this is a "personal adaptation of the book" by himself and his Rings writing partners, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh.' but that's okay because, as the interview finishes, he comments: 'We assumed everyone's inbetween would be personal to them.' I think that is the best approach there could be, so I'll be there ready with a box of tissues, and a notepad to let you know what I think!, on the 29th.

JUNO

“Your eggo is preggo.”Juno is a film that has me smiling from the start and its one I'll pick up again and again to remind myself of a girl who wears skirts over trousers and yet is mature beyond her years.

Critics such as Jeff Dawson and Hadley Freeman, writing for the The Sunday Times and The Guardian respectively, however have suggested that Juno is a pro-life film. Freeman slammed it for “completing a hat-trick [referring to the 2007 releases of Knocked Up and Waitress] of American comedies in the past twelve months that present abortion as unreasonable or even unthinkable – a telling social sign.” Although Juno decides against an abortion after visiting the clinic, I wouldn't have thought it was a 'telling sign of American society.' (The point of the scene when she runs away from the clinic is that she – Juno – is unprepared to take that step for herself and also having been swayed by Su Chin – a protestor.) It also simply enables the story to move forwards. Moreover, I agree with the view of the film's star, Ellen Page, when she says that it had frustrated her when “people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd..The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that.”

Juno has also been labeled as feminist by other critics by its apparent atypical portrayal of the female lead as confident and smart. According to antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly the theme of Juno "isn't love, romance, or respect for life, but the triumph of feminist ideology, i.e., the irrelevancy of men, especially fathers".Wesley Morris, writing for The Boston Globe concluded "Juno serves cool, intelligent girls something they rarely see in a movie: themselves". Personally, to say the film is about feminism (and to say that it's not about love or respect for life leads me to think Schlafly watched another film entirely), is reading too much into it even though Page is correct in saying that her character is interesting because of her freshness and how she is “completely devoid of stereotype."

The cinematography and mis-en-scene impress me by telling me more about the characters than the dialogue sometimes does. The best example of this is when Juno goes to meet the unborn child's prospective parents. A montage sequence is used to quickly show the audience that the Loring couple are rich and constantly checking their appearance and status in society even before they are in the frame. It is painfully clear that they have everything; the symmetrical outline of the neighbourhood indicates a respectable area; big house after big house shows their obvious wealth (Vanessa and Mark have the largest house on the street); two cars (a possible indicator of both having a job – and successful ones at that); cream and white upholstery neatly presented and clean; professional photographs showing off a perfect couple; everything except a child.

As well as explaining things to the audience the cinematography provides great comedy. When asked whether she put something in the urn by her step-mother, I'm forced to laugh hysterically as she blames her younger half-sister Liberty Bell whilst a flashback shows the truthful version of Juno throwing up a Slush Puppy into the urn. “No, no...I would never do that Bren.” The pace of the film is also set from the cinematography. The quirky yet snappy animation of the opening sequence (900 hand cut images were composited onto a background whilst Page walked on a treadmill to create this moving effect!) confirm the audience's expectation of a light-hearted movie; an indie movie; a movie with comedy and reality in one. Before I had wished that the animation approach had been continued throughout, but now I realise that not one thing is repeated in Juno – which is on purpose and it makes the film more successful in conveying its core message – nothing in life can be planned.

Rather than feminism, pro-life, pro-choice or even growing up – the essence of Juno is about relationships and the oddities of the thing. The film said to me that relationships are great, awkward, difficult, real, fake and altogether confusing and odd – and that is normal. Director Jason Reitman auditioned the initial cast together on a screen test, to then show to Fox Searchlight for funding, rather than auditioning them individually because he believed that Juno is "all about relationships and the idea of auditioning people outside of each other, one-on-one with the casting director, didn’t make sense." The amazing performance of all the cast, Page in particular, mean that as a consumer I was able to appreciate certain situations without feeling led and ask questions that otherwise have been awkward – like should it not be acceptable to hang out with people who make you feel good and accepted, regardless of their age? The characters, through the predicament of a pregnancy, are able to grow individually and review their relationships with others. The Loring couple are able to step back eventually and realise that you shouldn't sacrifice your own goals in order to make another happy or that to be a good parent; a good family, doesn't necessarily mean a 2.4 unit. Juno is able to grow closer to her family and hold onto – not discover – love. Garner's last line in Juno: 'I have a son' demonstrates this as well because the audience can see that a parent is not necessarily blood and family trees but a internal preparation to love a child as your own (shown again when Juno's stepmother defends her, as her own kid, at the ultrasound.) The best example, though, is this:

“Look, in my opinion the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what-have-you. The right person is still going to think the sun shines out of your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.”