Dead Poet Society

[Keating stands on his desk]
John Keating: Why do I stand up here? Anybody?
Dalton: To feel taller!
John Keating: No!
[Dings a bell with his foot]
John Keating: Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.

Deconstructing Harry

Joan: Tell me, Harry, just tell me something. Was she the only one, or were there others? 

Harry: No, Amy Pollock was the only one, may God strike me dead if I am lying. 

Joan: You're an atheist, Harry!

Harry: Wha-hey, we're alone in the universe, you're going to blame that on me, too? 

Harry: "Does the president think of fucking every woman he meets? Oh sorry, bad example."

Harry: "The most important words in the English language are not "I love you" but "It's benign."  

Harry: "All people know the same truth. Our lives consist of how we chose to distort it." 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button: "Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss."  

Benjamin Button: "It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you." 

Benjamin Button: [letter to his daughter] "For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." 

Mrs. Maple: "Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?"

Final Advertising Project

The last Wednesday we presented our final project for the subject Advertising. The project consisted on designing a fictional product and its release campaign. We developed an enviroment of different fictional camapigns: the creator of our product was called Technomotion, and the product received the name of BrainCam (a revolutionary device that translate your thought into images) and the advertising agency was called Get to you. Now we are going to attached a video from our presentation and the final spot. We hope this will illustrate how we work in the degree Media Studies and how you must present an oral presentation like this one.

The Secret Life of Words

Josef: I thought um, you and I, maybe we could go away somewhere. Together. One of these days. Today. Right now. Come with me.

Hanna: No, I don't think that's going to be possible. 

Josef: Why not? 

Hanna: Um, because I think that if we go away to someplace together, I'm afraid that, ah, one day, maybe not today, maybe, maybe not tomorrow either, but one day suddenly, I may begin to cry and cry so very much that nothing or nobody can stop me and the tears will fill the room and I won't be able to breath and I will pull you down with me and we'll both drown. 

Josef: I'll learn how to swim, Hanna. I swear, I'll learn how to swim.

Hamlet: Mel Gibson or Kenneth Branagh? That is the question

By: Alberto González Carrascal

Hamlet, perhaps William Shakespeare´s most important play, has been adapted for the screen on various occasions, but perhaps the two most important ones are Franco Zeffirelli´s 1990 version, starring Mel Gibson, and Keneth Branagh´s 1996 version, starred by himself. Ever since this last version, the critics have unanimously declared that it is the best one up to this date, given the impressive directing techniques, the outstanding cast, and specially, due to Branagh´s outstanding performance as Hamlet. But, is this view correct? We would not want to contradict the experts, however, after watching both movies some aspects of them call our attention and make us differ with the established opinion…

When watching Branagh´s film, one thing is clear: it is a film done with passion. Branagh has always been one of the main modern Shakesperean actors, and when taking Shakespeare´s most influential play to the screen, he clearly wanted to make a difference. That is obvious when you watch this four-hour movie, which follows the original play almost line by line, with a cast which is full of some of the most important names in modern cinema (such as Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Billy Cristal, amongst many others), and directing techniques that marvel the audience thanks to their originality and precision.   

However, what is the most important thing about this film? The title should help us answer this question: Hamlet. And who plays Hamlet? Kenneth Branagh. And this is where I differ with the critics. The whole weight of this four-hour spectacular production rests on Kenneth Branagh´s very shoulders, and I honestly don´t think he is up to the standards of the film. Although his directing technique is unquestionable, his performance is completely out of order. In a film supported with such an excellent cast, Branagh fails to deliver the audience what is expected of a Hamlet interpretation: credibility. Branagh overacts in every single scene, exaggerating his manners and speech up to an extent that is almost ridiculous, therefore destroying Hamlet´s image of the calm thinker, whose soliloquies are full of dramatic sadness and deeply-felt grief. Branagh believed so much that he was going to play a great role, that his confidence in himself is even visible onscreen; his exaggeration is, I would dare to say, a direct result of his ego. Some could say: “but this is what great theatre actors do!”, and they would be correct. However, this is not a play acted out in a theatre stage, but a film with a professional cast, all of which manage to provide a credible performance in a calm, cinematic way. Exaggeration and overacting are good for theatre, but not for when you adapt a theatre play to screen. And it is even much less appropriate if the rest of the cast acts exactly as they would do in any normal movie, and Branagh stands out with his unreal performance. Therefore, I would say that this conception that Branagh does a wonderful performance is certainly inappropriate when you take into consideration all of the mentioned aspects.

So, what of the Zeffirelli version? Zeffirelli is supposed to be a great filmmaker, and yet, his version of Hamlet fails to provide the audience with any great camera techniques, or any great shots for posterity, like the Keneth Branagh version does. However, there is one great aspect which fixes the film and saves it from falling into oblivion: Mel Gibson. His performance as Hamlet is, for a person who has read the book and watched several versions of the play, the closest one to what Shakespeare seemed to have in mind. Mel Gibson puts all of his talents as a dramatic star into practice and surprises the audience with an outstanding performance, in which the audience can feel Hamlet´s suffering and mental exhaustion, but all of that through extremely subtle and carefully studied acting techniques. Mel Gibson gives cinema audiences exactly what they shold see: a cinematic character. His performance as Hamlet is exactly as natural as any other character in any other of his movies, with the added value of being a much deeper character, and therefore offering much more possibilities for Gibson as an actor. In scenes of sorrow, Gibson has always shown an innate talent to show grief (it is extremely easy for him to convincingly cry onscreen) that he can transmit to his audience, and he certainly exploits all of these capabilities in Hamlet, and complements them with all his violent physical strenght in which he has become a specialist all throughout his carreer. To sum everything up, he offers a supreme performance, which is certainly the best thing about a movie that, in other aspects, is completely expendable.

Therefore, after this brief analysis, it can be be partly seen that maybe the critic was´nt so right about praising Kenneth Branagh as the perfect Hamlet, and I think that even Branagh knew that Gibson did an oustanding performance which would be hard to imitate (and failed to do), when he himself said that “the best thing about Zeffirelli´s Hamlet was Mel Gibson´s performance”.

Cine Doré, for the first time

I’ve never been in such a magnificent and simple place, a little cinema in the centre of Madrid but far enough from the mess of the city; a perfect place to enjoy the art of cinema. When you enter you may experience the feeling of being in other époque, we were a group of university students surrounded by people from all different ages, but the atmosphere wasn’t the same as the one in a “normal” cinema: people were drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, commenting the latest premieres. The canteen of the cinema remembers me of the old bars where the poets and writers used to gather in order to talk about literature. Our clock was about to mark half past seven so we entered in “Screen 1” where the film ‘A Woman’s secret’ was going to be projected. The “Screen 1” was really crowded and from the first step I made, I fall in love with the place, it was so old and little but with a sense of magnificence with all the red armchairs and the screen that was hidden behind big blue curtains and also the ceiling was beautifully decorated.

The film started and due to the fact that it was an old movie in black and white it remembered me as the old cinemas that sometimes appear in movies like “Singing in the rain” where people are sitting in a place similar to a theatre rather than a cinema as we know it nowadays. In my opinion the movie wasn’t a great one although it wasn’t a hard movie to cope with. We enjoyed it and I laughed so much with the character of the wife of the police inspector because I considered her as a gossip version of Sherlock Holmes. Watching a film in that place was really inspiriting, it’s hard to describe but I felt like I was in the right place to enjoy a film, maybe that is because as many people will say: cinema is our goal and we love to imagine people like us going there to watch one of our future films.

When the movie finished I felt strange because I wanted to say a bit longer. But it was really late so we had to go. The experience was unique, and I’m sure I will return to the Cine Doré, a place that can captured your cinematographic soul and make you feel like a person in the old times enjoying our passion: cinema.  

The Cider House Rules

Dr. Wilbur Larch: "I know it's against the law. I ask you, what has the law ever done for this place?"


Arthur Rose:"Well, someone who don't live here made those rules. Those rules ain't for us. We are supposed to make our own rules. And we do. Every single day." 

American Beauty

Por: Antonio Cabello Ruiz

Alan Ball es guionista, director y productor de cine y televisión estadounidense, entre sus trabajos podemos contar la dirección de series tan importantes como A dos metros bajo tierra y True blood. Sin embargo, la entrada de hoy versa sobre el magnífico guion que firmo Ball para la película American Beauty (1999), dirigida por Sam Mendes y protagonizada por Kevin Spacey y Annette Bening.

La película consiguió cinco Oscar´s, entre ellos el de mejor película, director, actor y guion original, este último premio fue a parar a las manos del debutante en esos momentos, Alan Ball. Este guionista guarda su Oscar´s en una caja de la Barbie y con cazadora encima.

El guion de American Beauty es una muestra perfecta de cómo tiene que ser un guion, una lección de cine como pocas se han visto en el cine. Es cierto que el film consiguió su promoción gracias al guion, ya que el máximo encargado de Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg, leyó el guion de cabo a rabo un sábado y le sorprendió tanto que el lunes compro los derechos de la misma. Sam Mendes sería el encargado de realizarla, para ellos Spielberg ponía una sola condición: que no cambiará ni una sola coma del texto.

El guion de American Beauty se sustenta en el personaje central de Lester, un ejemplo perfecto de creación de caracteres que perfilan un papel que provoca la empatía en el espectador.

A partir de aquí tenéis que tener en cuenta que mi análisis contiene ciertos spoilers de la película.

Ball es autor de todo un alarde que mezcla elementos como la muerte, la vida, la trascendencia, la opresión, la decadencia, la familia, la incomunicación o la infidelidad. En cierto sentido, nos acercamos al hombre, a la familia rota y a los quehaceres de un tío cuyas primeras palabras nos hablan sobre su propia muerte, a la cual pone fecha.

El guionista dota de una importancia significativa a la historia poniendo fecha de caducidad a la misma, ya que todo nos interesa más si contiene una serie de cotas que centran nuestra atención y estas cotas son establecidas por el personaje principal y la fecha de su muerte.

La conexión entre sentimientos, palabras y poderío visual se nota; hecho que nos lleva a pensar que Ball tenía ya en mente la adaptación de sus palabras a imágenes.

La muerte de Lexter es la excusa perfecta para retratar una familia incómoda destrozada por la rutina, una rutina que se ve alterada por elementos como la amiga guapa de su hija, el vecino que graba en la oscuridad o la pérdida del trabajo de Lexter.

Estos elementos producen un desarrollo perfecto que se plasma en giros sorprendentes de todos y cada uno de los personajes, dichos giros confluyen en una serie de escenas que tiene una carga visual y emocional de gran calado, como pocas hemos visto en la historia del cine.

Y Alan Ball tiene la culpa de que al acabar de verla nos echemos las manos a la cabeza y pensemos en nosotros mismos. La vida es así y cuando una historia te hace reflexionar hasta el último punto de tus convicciones, esa historia vale la pena y entonces queda en la historia como un ejercicio brillante.

Love Actually

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

Mean Girls

"There are two kinds of evil people in this world, ok? People who do evil stuff and people who see evil stuff being done and don't do anything about it."

Hitch

"Here's to lying, stealing, cheating, and drinking.   

If you must lie, lie with the one you love.  

If you must steal, steal away from bad company.  

If you must cheat, cheat death.  

And if you drink, drink to the moments that take your breath away."

Alice In Wonderland

"That's just the trouble with me,I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it."

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices."

The Haunted Mansion

"You try,you fail,you try,you fail... But the real failure is when you stop trying"

Finding Forrester

"We walk away from our dreams afraid we may fail, or worse yet, afraid we may succeed."

Now and Then

"As we grow older, it becomes difficult to just believe. It's not that we don't want to, but too much has happened that we just can't."

Empire Records

"I don't regret the things I've done, but those I did not do."

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones was originally a book written by George R. R. Martin and later become an HBO cable TV series produce and partly write by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.The TV series is based on the book of “A song of ice and fire” and has been filmed in the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast and in several countries as Northern Ireland, Scotland (Winterfell), Malta, Medina etc.

We could talk about it as a social and cultural phenomenon since 17 April 2011 when it started till now, but in this blog we are going to focus on the process of adapting the book into a script. The TV series has won lot of awards including “Screen Actors Guild Awards”, due to the well and almost perfect adaption that their screenwriters have done.

The principal characters are the same that in the book and were selected after a huge and difficult process of cast, where the producers tried to select those who fits better to their characters and, personally speaking, they did a really good job. About the plot and the dialogues, they are really close to what George R.R. Martin wrote in the book.  The conversations fix really well with the ones in the book. The only thing that is a bit different from the book is the transition to one scene to another, sometimes they leave out characters that are not important in order not to extent too much the chapter and make it boring. The book gives a lot of descriptions about the physical aspect of the characters as well as of the emplacements; that fact has helped a lot in the process of transforming the book into a TV series.  

One of the reasons of the huge impact of Game of Thrones is that the TV series achieve to keep the same or even more intrigue and mystery of the books. The fact that this series has become an audiovisual phenomenon has produced a high increase of the sales of the books A song of ice and fire, what has been really good for George R.R. Martin. This TV series is one of the best nowadays, everyone should watch it or unless try it in order to now if you like it or not.

We have shared our point of view on this audiovisual and literary phenomenon, but you can leave a comment below the entry and tell us about what do you think.

Little Miss Sunshine

"You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work... Fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I'll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest."

-Dwayne-