DAVALOSFILM

Updates

2012-01-03T17:31:00.001-05:00

Well, NYU is a no-go. (I found out a long time ago but I wanted to let people know personally before posting this thing). That was pretty disappointing, but what are you gonna do, right? In any case, I'm still applying to other schools, but I can't help but be a little shaken.

In other news, I started writing a script for a miniseries called "Transgressions," which is based on the short film "Frigid," which I wrote a long time ago. I'm really excited about this, and I hope to start working with Miles Carby and maybe other writers to get the series going. Hopefully, I can get that to go somewhere.

Until next time,

Daniel.

The Hobbit Trailer

2011-12-21T20:18:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the first trailer for "The Hobbit" hit the interwebs, and within seconds it was flooded with thousands of views and comments.

As a huge Lord of the Rings fan (the books and the movies), I was extremely excited to see this trailer, and I must say, it didn't disappoint. The only way I can describe it is by saying I got chills... See, every true LOTR fan has a certain scene that gives him chills. For me, that's the scene where Gandalf is talking about the Grey Havens. Anyway, seeing the trailer gave me those chills.

In any case, here's the trailer. Enjoy:

:))))

DIY Boom

2011-12-10T17:38:00.000-05:00

I've often heard that sound can literally make or break your production. Well, if audio is so important, then audio equipment is a must for the wannabe filmmaker. Unfortunately, audio equipment tends to be pricey, with things as simple as booms going for over $100.

Well, frustrated as I was with this, I went around, scouring the Internet, and I found this:

Eager to try this out, I skipped the last two steps, and came up with this:

As you can see, my version isn't exactly the same as in the video. Since I already had a Rode Videomic (which is relatively cheap, running at around $150, although I got it for $120), I took off the shoe accessory and connected it straight to the 3/8" screw and... voila.

Also, I got a 20ft extension for my mic cable at Radio Shack for around $15. All in all, my DIY boom cost me around $35, but that's just because I added some of my own personal adjustments. Still, it's a lot cheaper than $150, and it gets the job done.

I'm Back...

2011-11-07T21:41:00.001-05:00

So, sorry about being so sketch these past few months. Life has been... well...
Anyway, I did end up seeing "Another Earth." It was really good, although I was a bit disappointed just because the trailer made me think it would have more to do with the science fiction story and less with the romance.
Also, I finally finished "Dreamguard," although I haven't really posted the new video here yet... Oh, wait:

Boom, there it is. I won't post the whole thing here for a while, or at least until I have a release party at my house sometime soon.

I still wanna work on it in the meanwhile, and I'm not so sure if I want to show it to people if I don't get into NYU; that'd be really embarrassing.

Anyhow, that's it for now.

Daniel

Another Earth

2011-08-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

I just found out about a movie theater in Atlanta that plays independent films, and they're playing this movie that I've been crazy about for a while now. So yeah, I think I'm definitely gonna try to go see it.

Anyway, the name of the movie is Another Earth, and it was made for $200,000, which is crazy. I'm pretty sure it was made with a prosumer camera, and that's just amazing to me. The movie opened to rave reviews at this past Sundance, so it would be a sin to not go see it.

Anyhow, here's a trailer:

So, if you know anything about me, you'll know that I'm a sucker for good sci-fi. And like Moon, which is one of my favorite science fiction movies, Another Earth looks like it takes the genre to the brink of imagination, which is what science fiction is supposed to be about.

In any case, really excited I am. I'll update once I do see it.

Updates, Updates, Updates

2011-07-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

Haven't really updated in a while, but that's cause I've been kind of busy. I started shooting "Dreamguard", and I plan on finishing sometime next week. In the meantime, here's a trailer:

Also, I put together this quick video with my friends:

Final Cut Plugins

2011-06-07T16:28:00.000-04:00

So recently I've taken the habit of downloading plug-ins for Final Cut. There's actually a bit of stuff out there that you won't know how much you need it until you actually have it... Which is paradoxical, at best. Anyway, in my prodding and surfing, I found this great list of 14 Free Final Cut Pro (they also work with Express) plugins. You can see it by clicking below:

http://www.productionapprentice.com/articles/industry-news/14-free-final-cut-plug-ins-for-download-right-now/

But don't stop there! The possibilities are endless!

Camera Broke...

2011-05-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

So my camera broke just as I was on the cusp of beginning production for Dreamguard...
Oh, well. I took it to the service center at Fry's and I found out we'd gotten a five year service warranty for the camera, so they'll be sending her to Canon and all that junk.
Meanwhile, Fry's gave me a "loaner" camera, which is supposed to be somewhat equal to my camera... But it's not.
It's literally as small as a bottle of Axe with some buttons on the side, and the picture quality is nothing short of cringe-worthy. So here I am, hoping that Canon will have mercy on my soul and hurry up.
I have shooting to do.

Thor

2011-05-10T09:40:00.000-04:00

So I went and saw Thor on Friday with some friends.
It was actually pretty cool, and it was satisfying to see the different comic book characters (forgive the cliché) come to life on the screen. Directed by Keneth (or Kevin?) Branaugh, it was really interesting to see his take on the story. His melodramatic, borderline Shakespearean style and dramatic Dutch angles created a fun contrast with the subject matter.
My only real beef... Or beeves were the costume design, which I found too Power Ranger-ish, and Loki's character, or lack thereof.
Anyway, it was all in all a fun ride, and even though it wasn't a "great" movie, it was pretty fun to watch. The one disclaimer is that if you weren't already a fan of the comic book, then it'll take some real open mindedness to enjoy this movie.
But that doesn't really matter. What matters is that the Avengers is coming out in 2012, which will either be awesome or will totally suck.

Mark Strong/Andy Garcia

2011-04-13T19:11:00.000-04:00

So I was browsing the knowledge nets of my brain the other day, and I happened upon an interesting find: for the longest time I thought the bad guy in Sherlock Holmes was played by Andy Garcia. I was doubtful, however, and a quick skip to IMDb proved me wrong.
The bad guy in Sherlock Holmes is not played by Andy Garcia, but by Mark Strong.
Now, here's the deal: THEY'RE THE EXACT SAME PERSON!!!
So if you've ever thought that the bad guy from Ocean's Eleven was Mark Strong or the bad guy from Sherlock Holmes was Andy Garcia, I feel for you.
In any case, here are two pictures that prove my point:

Which is which? Huh? Huh? That's right, they're the same person trolololololol.

Childish Gambino/Donald Glover

2011-04-11T17:55:00.000-04:00

If you guys don't know who Childish Gambino/Donald Glover is, stop what you're doing and go Google him right now....
Anyway, he's having a show in Atlanta on May 6th. Now, here's the thing, not only is he super talented, but he also represents what I aspire to be: a successful NYU student doing what he loves. What sucks is that he's sold out, which kind of surprises me, since I didn't know he was so popular.
In any case, you should check him out on his website, http://iamdonald.com
And that's it.

Tron: Legacy Soundtrack

2011-04-07T12:55:00.000-04:00

I've been listening to the TRON: Legacy Reconfigured album lately. It's all the juicy Daft Punk goodness, and then some. My favorite song on there is a Glitch Mob remix of Derezzed.

Check it out, it's good stuff.

Tron: Legacy

2011-04-06T18:35:00.001-04:00

I spent countless hours debating wether or not I should write a review of this Tron: Legacy. Generally, and I hope this doesn’t defeat the purpose of writing a drawn-out review, I don’t like to take the time to review movies that I don’t like (the exceptions are those that make me angry), but I felt like I owed it to whoever reads this to write my opinion.

The bottom line (although I write it at the top for some inconceivable purpose) is that Tron: Legacy is not a good movie. Granted, I should’ve seen my dislike of James Cameron’s Avatar as a bellwether of my reaction to Tron, but regardless, I felt that I owed it to movie history to watch this.

I was wrong. Tron: Legacy is no more a landmark in movie history than last week’s local news are pivotal to the liberation of Tibet. Instead, what Disney delivers is a film that honest to goodness believes that it’s good, and so it trudges on with brute strength alone, but halfway into the second act begins to sputter and die.

It has all the right components: a large budget, a talented cast, great music, and stunning special effects. But it appears as though somewhere between the batter phase and the delicious pastry phase something went wrong. From the beginning, there is forgivable blandness, but about forty minutes into the film I caught myself dozing off. There was nothing engaging about the characters, and the plot devices were some of the most ridiculous I’ve seen.

The plot itself was pretty flimsy, too, and wouldn’t stand up to the lightest scrutiny. And it’s not about plot holes; the story is so superficial that it would take true genius to find any. It’s about substance.

That said, once the film breaks free of its own conventions (and it does so quite carelessly) it becomes fun. It is a ride of lights and sounds that made renown film critic Roger Ebert wonder how the experience would be if one were stoned. Suddenly, you are in the Grid, whatever that is, and you’re transported to an obviously artificial world, yet a stunning one, nonetheless.

Once there, I caught some throwbacks to film noir, which I enjoyed, and some references to today’s cyberpunk sub-culture, which I too enjoyed. But these moments were not long-lasting, and their effects were not enough to carry the movie onward.

One thing that caught my attention was the editing of a certain sequence with Daft Punk, who have a glorious cameo, and it made me think that the crew should have focused more on a music video career.

The end of the movie is far-fetched, even for the world created by the film, and some of the plot devices are downright laughable. But somehow, everything culminates at a predictable ending, and you’re free to take back any emotional investment you’d put into the movie due to its nostalgic appeal.

And, on that note, if you didn’t like the original, there’s no way you’ll like this one.

True Grit

2011-04-06T18:34:00.005-04:00

True Grit is not a film that can be done justice by a retelling of its synopsis. At first glance, the movie’s plot seems like your stereotypical, run-of-the-mill Western, complete with the shootouts, the Indians, and the Texas rangers. But a run-of-the-mill Western this is not, as the Coen brothers have been able to do something with the seemingly bland story to transform it into something of value. What this “something” is is quite unclear. Of course there’s the Coen brothers trademark of making ridiculous characters seem real, and there’s the ever-present ability to make us feel for these farers on-screen, to “break the fourth wall”, if you will.

True Grit is full of heart. What the Coen brothers have here is an art-house interpretation of your dry Western novel, sans the pretense of either. The characters are all fleshed out and have a past. They’re believable, regardless of their ridiculous demeanor, and their interactions are fitting. Never does the film seem cheesy, as all of the emotion serves to highlight the difficulty of the mission at hand, rather than to create roadblocks; two completely different purposes.

For once, the setting of a Western seems habitable. Still propped up against unforgiving deserts of caustic sand and rugged, sentinel-like mountains far in the distance, the human habitats seem authentic, and there is a fortunate lack of the “rough bunch” cliche that plagues these frontier-based films. No cliche saloon scenes, no cliche sheriff’s office scenes, and no cliche town square duel.

As should be expected of the Coen brothers, the dialog is marvelous to listen to. As I sat in the movie theater, I found myself thinking about how privileged I was to be able to witness such clarity of meaning. That said, True Grit is a flood of words. The first dam to break is the Mattie Ross character, and from then, just know to brace yourself. A small caveat, this warning comes in the “you’re about to experience an intense roller coaster ride” type of bracing yourself, as opposed to the “you’re about to experience a nuclear blast” type.

The characters are some of my favorite within recall. Jeff Bridges plays a brilliant Rooster Cogburn: nasty, lazy, and gritty. He plays the character with the grace of Jabba the Hutt, and as well he should. Hailee Steinfeld, a benefactor of the Coens’ uncanny ability to pick up actors from the bowels of who-knows-where, is dim, but brilliant. The luster of her performance hinges on her ability to code-switch between cold, calculating, precocious businesswoman and tender, loving, emotional young girl. Matt Damon’s LaBoeuf is sheer brilliance. More than an ability to delve into both the brokenness and pride of a character, the difference between this character and, say, Jason Bourne gives testament to Damon’s formidability as an actor. Indeed, this is a character unlike any of Damon’s previous ones, and he plays it better than any other.

If it seems strange, or even superfluous that I’ve used the word “brilliant” to describe a great deal of the film, that’s because “brilliant” is the only fitting word. “Brilliant,” which connotes a superior manipulation of intellect, is just right. Undoubtably, True Grit will outlive the Coens, and for Western fans and Coen brothers fans alike, it is a must-see.

Unstoppable

2011-04-06T18:34:00.003-04:00

Indeed, it is.

Some people are known for their greatness. Other people are known for being related to other people. Like a pesky virus, Tony Scott will never be able to fully shed himself of the reality of being director Ridley Scott’s brother, but that doesn’t mean that the man is any less talented. In a time when wizards are flying and Mark Zuckerbergs are creating Facebook, it’s easy to miss “Unstoppable,” Tony Scott and Denzel Washington’s fourth collaboration. But if you do happen to catch the flick, you won’t be disappointed.

As is popular with big Hollywood films now-a-days, the movie is “based on true events.” The premise is simple enough: there’s a runaway train headed toward a heavily populated area, and it’s Denzel Washington and the guy from Star Trek’s (Chris Pine, I know his name) job to stop it. Throughout the film, things happen, situations occur, and events take place. And, to make matters worse, everything that can go wrong does.

But, then again, is the audience ever uncertain of whether or not Denzel will be able to stop the runaway train? The simple act of having Denzel trying to do something in a Tony Scott film lets even the most ignorant moviegoer know that he will succeed. I can imagine the writers coming up with something like this:

“Now, in this scene, the man asks the lady, ‘How are you planning on stopping this thing?’ To that, the lady responds, ‘Denzel.’ Problem solved.”

Regardless, the film is successful in maintaining the tension, and like some sort of musical instrument, is careful to play hard, but not so much that the strings pop. Indeed, the tension is taut, and there were audible gasps emanating from some of the audience members in my theater. Which is to say, “Unstoppable” is not for the faint of heart. As a general rule of thumb, anytime you have a train full of children undergo any sort of dangerous situation, the tension is hard to bear.

The characters are realistic and the dialog is bearable, but sometimes, it seems as though the actors lack that humanity that this type of movie necessitates. Because, despite the fact that the driving force is a ten-thousand pound train, lack of a human element would equate to expecting to make a movie out of bringing your camcorder to a roller coaster ride.

However, the sheer spectacle more than makes up for the lackluster performances from some of the more expendable characters, and you find yourself wondering just how everything is going to be resolved. In that, the film forces to invest your emotions and nerves, which, for this type of film, serves the purpose.

When all is said and done, the film isn’t emotionally draining. The resolution will make you feel that everything is fine in the world, as it must be, because it is a Denzel Washington movie. And like a casual date on a Friday night, your time will be well-spent, but you never have to think about it ever again.

Well played, Tony Scott, well played. It seems like Denzel is to you what Russel Crowe is to your brother: a gold mine.

Movie Reviews

2011-04-06T18:33:00.000-04:00

So, since I transferred to BLOGGER, I figure I should transfer all of my stuff from the old Wordpress I was posting on. Pretty soon I'll start putting up my old movie reviews on here, so watch out for those.

Dreamguard

2011-03-23T20:23:00.000-04:00

So, I'm currently working on my next project: a short film called Dreamguard that sounds a lot like Inception but isn't. Actually, I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time but I haven't been able to.
In any case, I finally finished writing the script and I think I'll start shooting in May, going into June.
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep you posted on the whole process!
Anyhow, here's a link where you can see the first two pages of the script!

http://www.box.net/shared/3qkjr1sglf

Black and White

2011-03-22T22:10:00.000-04:00

I think I have this thing for making short films in black and white.
I don't know, every time I see a short film in black in white, it just screams "artsy" to me. Sometimes I feel like the lack of color can be so much more poignant than the existence of it. That's why, when I'm trying to portray a feeling or emotion more than an idea, I immediately go for the black and white; color, I think, gets in the way of emotion.
Then again, it might just be that I think that black and white looks pretty...
Speaking of black and white, check out my latest video: