The Next New Level

Cameron is a certified genius, or is at least smart enough to work with the right geniuses. And he's right about the higher framerate being the next step. If you've ever watched the 120 Hz mode that some HDTVs display, you can see a big difference in sports or movies.

I haven't seen Showscan or any other high framerate formats, but I can imagine how vivid it'd be on the big screen. 24 fps is the bare minimum for the illusion of motion, and the earliest filmmakers had to make do. But in this digital age, we could and should do better.

A tentpole release like Avatar, or Spider-Man or Disney's Pirates, would see its effects budget skyrocket, more than doubling its render time and processing needs from an increase from 24 fps to 48 or 60 fps. Movies released in 3-D already have a substantial cost added to them for re-rendering the effects for both eyes.

However, if more special effects, not visual effects, were captured in camera, then the increase in framerate would be a non-issue. By now, matte painting, rear projection, miniatures, puppetry, animatronics, and make-up are becoming lost arts, but would become necessities and revitalized in a 48/60 fps production.

Before Pandora's digital forests, Peter Jackson realized King Kong's Skull Island through big-a-tures. Independence Day was a perfect melding of digital and model work, as were Jackson's Lord of the Rings series. And the T-Rex attack in Jurassic Park wouldn't have been as visceral or withstood the test of time if not for Stan Winston's work.

So, to realize a high-def, high-framerate feature in 3-D, and to maintain current costs in effects, concessions would be needed. 2000 effect shots in 24 fps would cost the same as 1000 shots in 48 fps, or 800 shots in 60 fps. And what happens next?

Davy Jones becomes KNB makeup or Henson Shop animatronics? Worked for Predator. Worked for Ninja Turtles. Iron Man and War Machine are 100% Stan Winston suits instead of a shot or two? Worked for Robocop. More in-camera explosions? More live-action footage and plates? Why not? What better way to reproduce photorealism than to use photographic actuality?

What better way to recapture the wonder of cinema? Without the Pace-Cameron Fusion camera to ground Avatar's live-action sequences, the film might have lost its moorings visually. There is still room for magicianship in cinema, and not just at the keyboard. And maybe the new next level is a very familiar one instead.

The Adventures of Tintin

KJ here. This is another link to another of my hilarious, furious TalkBacks at Ain't It Cool. Here's the link: http://www.aintitcool.com/talkback_display/40467#comment_2562011

And here's the talk! Enjoy:
Alright, geeks, time for some education. If you're an 80's kid that had HBO (not as many as you'd think), you'd remember such greats as Encyclopedia, Fraggle Rock, BABAR, Encyclopedia Brown (no relation to Encyclopedia, which was friggin' great!), and Tintin.

For many of us, if any of us, it was our first exposure to the character, who predated Johnny Quest, James Bond, and Indiana Jones. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Spielberg namedropped Tintin in those INdy story conferences on mysteryman's blog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/The_Adventures_of_Tintin

Anyway, Tintin was a kickass show, for its time. Serious in a way no other show was before it, until Batman The Animated Series. Still, a great show, and a clear translation from the comics. Here's the opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =o82nM-NW4hE

Cool, huh? No?

Screw you, then. Anyway, those who'd like to know more (and you're cool, btw) can check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T he_Adventures_of_Tintin_(TV_se ries)

The closest thing to doing a show like this, tapping into such a wellspring of history, would be doing a Jack Kirby Fourth World series (which was technically the last season of Justice League), or The Spirit (which is technically what Frank Miller did. But with humans).

Ah, screw it. Here's, for all intents and purposes, the whole damn series: http://www.youtube.com/view_pl ay_list?p=8EA2E81D2D853E6C

Enjoy, and educate yourself before opening your tech-mouth.

Stop hatin'! Nivek out.

I Watch The WATCHMEN (on IMAX!!!)

KJ here. This is a link to a short review I gave for Watchmen. It's R-rated, as the film is, and quite graphic (I was surprised, but hey, it was the only way). So, if in your heart and mind, you're underage? Please don't follow the link. Anyways, here goes:

http://www.aintitcool.com/talkback_display/40326#comment_2542629



PEACE!

And go see WATCHMEN! (On IMAX!!!)

You Should Watch MY Films

Hey, everyone and all. KJ here. Since I am an independent filmmaker after all, I would be remiss if I didn't show you me very own films, now would I?

Yes, I would.

Take my word, and don't just look up "remiss" at m-w.com (even though I just did).

This piece is titled "A Midnight Snack". It was my entry for YouTube's 'Project:Direct' 2009. It didn't win, or even place finalist, but I'm proud of it all the same. I shall let it speak for itself.






Up next is a short called "Election Day", which I directed and co-wrote with my brother, who produced. It was submitted into the 15 Annual Hayti Heritage Film Festival, where it won Best Short Film. I'm quite proud of it, as you can see. Anyhoo, here it is.





Thanks for checking out the films, and I hope you enjoyed them. I'll let you know when the next one comes around. 'Til then, take care. And go watch some more movies!!!

PEACE!
KJ

You Should Watch Skits

This is the funniest skit from SNL I've seen in years. Check out Andy Samberg's delivery of the word 'goat'.

Concerning GHOSTBUSTERS

On Aint-It-Cool-News, an article was posted on Bill Murray commenting on developments for Ghostbusters III. Murray had mentioned that "the wounds of Ghostbusters II are healed," and that he would be interested in doing another one. One talkbacker had this to say:

"What Wounds from GB2? was it a bad shoot or something?"

Now, I've loved Ghostbusters as long as I can remember, and as much as anybody else. I had this to say in return: [beware foul language]

"Compared to the original, Ghostbusters II is a train wreck, albeit a financially successful one. It undoes every triumph of the first, on screen and off screen, and completely focuses on set pieces, no matter how detrimental it was to the characters.

Every last one of them in the beginning of GB2 were LOSERS. Down on their luck, defeated, and marginalized. You could say they were even worse off than before the start of GB1. The fuckin' cartoon showed how viable a continuing fight against the paranormal could be. JMS (Bab 5) wrote episodes that rivaled the first film, let alone beat the shit out of part 2!

Ackroyd and Ramis reset the characters out of laziness, so they could virtually remake the team buildup of the first movie. Dana is apart from Venkman so they can fall in love all over again, when the script really works if that was Peter's son all along.

Reitman allowed this farce to happen so he could make lots of money easily - he's directed so many of those same beats before, he might as well have been on auto-pilot. Ramis already showed he's a better wielder of Murray's talents on Groundhog Day, which is much more of a spiritual sequel to Ghostbusters, or any other Murray-Ramis-Reitman teamup.

Columbia was going to make fistfuls of money no matter what kind of shit they flung on screen. Ditto for any other franchise in the 80s, 90s, and today. It's up to the fans to scream "you fucked up" and that didn't start happening until I dare say five years ago. Even Lethal 4 and Beverly Hills Cop III got a pass. Now, Live Free and Indy IV get the shit beat out of them. What chance does GB3 stand UNLESS they go back to the irreverential, gutsy, character-driven approach of the original, not the Bobby Brown-pink slime-everyone in New York forgot that ghosts exist-bullshit of part 2.

When I was a kid, I loved it but even then something didn't feel right. Not when my favorite film AND cartoon heroes are suddenly downtrodden, and untrusted. Not when the life lesson is that heroism and intelligence is all for nothing in the end. Not when the story structure is so similar to the first, that subliminally you're left unsatisfied with what is essentially a re-quel.

Bring on GB3, bring on the game. Even Extreme GB was a step up from part 2! So, in response to [xxxxx_xx], what wounds? All you gotta do in just pop in the tape and take a look for yourself. That, and Wikipedia. Signing off."

That Talkback and others can be found once again on Aint-It-Cool. More coming soon, I promise.

SnagFilms Is Now.

Shortest post ever (even though it's only my second post ever). Free films on blog. You should watch. Now. PEACE!