Foul Ball

My 2017 Year in Filmmaking

     I meant to do this a while ago, but as always I couldn’t make myself sit down and write. However, there is no better motivation than it being the last day of the year to make me sit down and write about having my first film that was all “my own” be in a film festival this year.

     As some of you may know, I had the honor and privilege of having one of my short films be selected to be shown at the 2017 Indie Memphis Film Festival in November. I had also submitted some of my films to other festivals and competitions, but none of them were chosen, so I didn’t have too much hope that this festival would be any different.

     In case you haven't noticed, I love movies: everything about them. I know it’s crazy and unrealistic, and I should pick a particular area, but I want to do it all. There’s a crazy part of me that wants to write, and direct, and edit, and yes, I even still want to act. Now if I'm being honest, this year has been a difficult one for me. However, not all of this year has been low parts. I have had some wonderful freelance opportunities and have worked with some amazing people. Having the opportunity to edit videos for the Tennessee Arts Commission was definitely one of the highlights of my year. I love editing, and getting to edit videos for the Tennessee Arts Commission was amazing. I learned so much about some amazing people from my home state. I tell everyone that I want to be an editor, and while that is not inaccurate, there is always a part of me that wants to do more, too.

     Freelance work is great, but it’s not the same as making your own ideas and stories come to life. It’s not your vision and creation. And after having my films not be selected to be shown in festivals, I was scared that no one, aside from my mom, wanted to see my creations. Maybe I wasn’t good enough. Maybe my calling wasn’t to be a filmmaker. Then, in September I received the most amazing news. My short film, Foul Ball, had been selected to be shown at the 2017 Indie Memphis Film Festival! I was ecstatic. Someone I didn’t even know had seen my film and thought, “This is good. More people should get to see this.” I know you shouldn’t take criticism and rejections, or even selections, too seriously, or let the opinions of others define you. But when it comes to art, whether it be a painting, a book, or a film, how do you know if you’re on the “right” track if no one sees it? It’s hard to be a filmmaker in a vacuum. Films are made to be seen by people, and someone (outside of my immediate family) thought that one of my films was good enough to be seen by people. I couldn’t believe it! Sometimes, I still can’t believe it.

     It is an amazing feeling watching your hard work shown up on the big screen. It was even more amazing having my family there to see it with me. Of course, once it’s finally your film’s turn to be shown, fear comes in again. “What if no one reacts the way I want them to? What if they just sit there in silence?” Thankfully, I worried for nothing. My father proudly pointed out that my film was one of the only ones that elicited a noticeable and audible reaction from the audience. People laughed! Audience members audibly laughed at my film! After all the short films were shown, the filmmakers in attendance were asked to come down, introduce ourselves, and quickly speak about our films. My father again proudly pointed out later, that when it was my turn, I again received a positive reaction from the audience for my film. It was an uplifting experience. To go from wondering what in the world am I even doing with my life, to having such a positive reaction from the audience at the festival where my short film premiered within the same year is nothing short of a blessing.

     Later, my mother and brother pointed out a very interesting fact to me: I was the only female director standing at the front after all the films were shown. I was the only minority director in attendance for my film's showcase. That made me stop and think. How can that be possible? The showcase I was in was titled "Hometowner Rising Filmmakers," and this was Memphis, Tennessee. Now, one of the filmmakers who couldn’t be there due to illness was a young African American man, so a friend was there to represent him. But other than that filmmaker’s friend and myself, the rest of the filmmakers were young white men. There were almost a dozen films in the showcase. This is supposed to be rising filmmakers from Memphis, Tennessee and the only minority filmmakers there are one white female and one African American man? How can that be? It really struck me then how rare it still is to see a woman director. It’s 2017, and there still aren’t that many well-known and successful minority directors in the film industry.

     I have a lot of big dreams, but even being an award winning film director seems a bit too big of a dream for me at times. But when my mother and brother brought to my attention that I was the only woman standing up there, that really struck a nerve. I’ve pretty much always been the kid that when she is told that she can’t do something, goes and does it to prove you wrong. Being told I was the only female director up there really made me want to keep directing. I want to be someone others can look up to. I know that sounds a bit arrogant. The world needs positive role models, and if I can be one, if I can inspire someone in the future to follow her dreams because I did it, then I would consider my career to be worth something.

     This post has turned in to way more than I was expecting it to be. I initially just wanted to document that I had my first film that was written, directed, and edited by myself shown at a festival. In my head, I even like to tell myself that it opened the same weekend as Thor: Ragnarok, and it was shown in a theater that was also showing the latest Marvel film. But in reality, my journey in filmmaking this year has been rather complicated. I have to constantly remind myself that this is a journey. No one gets their dream career overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. And even then, it isn’t easy. So yes, this is a journey, not a race, and I shouldn’t be so hard on myself all of the time. All the same, I hope 2018 brings me further along on my lifelong filmmaking journey.

     Happy New Year, everyone!

Wonder Woman

Fighting For Love   

     I am going to be honest. I haven’t felt this excited for a movie since I was a child. When I was young, we didn’t go to the movies as often as I do now, so any time we did go, it was special. Every part of my being would be excited to go sit in the theater and watch the movie play. Nowadays, I get “excited” for movies, but nothing compared to how I felt when I was a child. Somewhere over the years, I forgot what that feeling was like. With the flood of films over the past few years (in particular, super hero films), I suppose we all on some level have become a bit numb to all of them. Obviously happy to go see them, but overall just more films in ever-growing cinematic universes, the size of which have never been seen before.

     Then there was Wonder Woman.

     I never thought I would feel that deep-down level of excitement for a film again, but obviously Wonder Woman is not your average movie. I’ve been waiting for a Wonder Woman film for years, as I am sure many others have. Over 70 years is much too long of a wait to put the Champion of the Amazons in her own film. Honestly, I didn’t want to get too excited. After the combination of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, I was not too happy with the choices being made to characterize DC heroes in film. Superman and Batman were in many ways unrecognizable from their comic book counterparts, and I didn’t want Wonder Woman’s first appearance in her own film to misrepresent who she really is to the world. While her small part in Batman v. Superman was for me the best part of that entire film, I was still concerned for how her character would be depicted in her own film.

     After trying to keep my expectations low, I was very surprised when I began to feel that childlike excitement as we were driving to the movie theater. I never thought I would feel that way again about going to the movies. I thought I had lost it. I’m glad I haven’t, and I am glad that it was Wonder Woman that made me feel that way again.

     I was not disappointed.

     First and foremost, I would like to make it known that I am a comic book fan. I am not however, a strict DC-only/ Marvel-only fan. I enjoy the entertainment offered by each. I am not a mass consumer, but there is one book I have been getting and reading steadfastly for almost eleven years now. That book – Wonder Woman. I began reading Wonder Woman because she was the oldest/strongest female superhero out there, and I wanted to support the character the simplest way I knew how: reading her comic book.  Needless to say, I believe that a Wonder Woman film was long overdue. Thankfully, I am not the only one who thought so.

     I am not going to sit here and say that Wonder Woman is a perfect film. No film is really. Yes, the pacing was a bit off in a few places and the ending had some very similar elements to that of Captain America: The First Avenger, but I want to focus on what this film means to me. Putting my critiques aside, it is the best film DC has released in years. It proves that studio executives in the past were wrong. The world does want to see (and need to see) Wonder Woman, a strong and compassionate female superhero, star in her own film. What makes Wonder Woman’s success even greater is that it had a female director. Patty Jenkins proved to be a great choice to direct Wonder Woman’s solo debut in film. Jenkins’ respect for the character and story was exactly what the film needed. The combination of Jenkins’ direction and Gal Gadot’s performance was brilliant at capturing the spirit and character of Wonder Woman. In fact, there was a moment during the film when I no longer saw Gal Gadot playing Wonder Woman: I saw Wonder Woman. I sat there in amazement. That was Wonder Woman. She was no longer confined to my comic book pages. There she was, standing on the silver screen.

     I don’t quite have the words to describe how it felt to see Wonder Woman on screen. Not just someone dressed up like Wonder Woman, but everything she stood for: strength, truth, justice, compassion, equality, and love. It might sound corny to hear a superhero say they fight and stand for love, especially a female superhero, but someone needs to say it. In a world with so many films with dozens of superheroes constantly fighting, none of them have really openly said that they fight for what really matters: love. They fight for justice, for what is right, to avenge, maybe even for their family, but Wonder Woman has been the only one brave enough to say that she fights for love. Not for the love of a man, or of family, or of country, but simply for love. Yes, most of those other reasons are worthy reasons to fight, but without love being one of them, they fall short of truly understanding what they are fighting to protect.

     Obviously, I could go on forever discussing this film and I have several more points that I would like to make, but I do not want to push anyone’s attention span any further than necessary. I know it isn’t a perfect film and there are a few things I wish they had done differently, but overall I thought it was wonderful. It was an amazing experience getting to see a character that I have long loved and respected finally appear in a film of her own. I am glad that it brought back that child-like excitement for movies that I thought I had lost. Wonder Woman has finally received the film and respect she deserves, and I look forward to seeing what happens to the Champion of the Amazons next.

Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Old Hollywood!

            I love movies. Needless to say, I typically love movies about movies and the film industry. I find it fascinating. (I love meta things in general for the most part: films, television, and plays). It’s one of the reasons I want to become a filmmaker. So, when I first saw a trailer for Hail, Caesar!, I was pretty excited. It doesn’t get much better than a film about a movie studio in the 1950s trying to get back their kidnapped lead actor. Not to mention, the cast looked pretty spectacular. The fact that it was made by the Coen brothers couldn’t hurt either, right? Going into the theater, I thought this movie had everything going for it. An Oscar nomination for Best Picture next year seemed imminent, and I was perfectly fine with that. Walking in, it had everything I wanted in a movie.

            However, the film I saw was not the one I expected to see. Once again, a movie trailer got me excited for a film that didn’t really exist. It’s been awhile since I have left a theater feeling… I’m not quite sure how I felt. I felt disappointed that it wasn’t the film that I thought I was going to see. I felt slightly numb at the fact that there was no actual climax and confrontation in the story before the end. It gave me no release as an audience member taking in the story. I left the theater feeling like the story had not taken me on the complete journey it should have. I left feeling like it wasn’t quite finished, despite the fact that I sat there until the end credits had finished rolling. I did think it was funny and that the actors gave great performances, but in all honesty, I still can’t quite figure out the film and how I feel about it.

            To begin, the movie promised in the trailers is not the one you get. Yes, George Clooney’s character is kidnapped by a mysterious group and an executive at the studio has to get him back, but that is actually the somewhat background plot of the movie. In fact, Josh Brolin’s character has several more separate issues from the main conflict to deal with at the studio: an unwed pregnant star’s (Scarlett Johansson) future, an upset director (Ralph Fiennes), an actor forced into a new genre (Alden Ehrenreich), and two pushy journalists (Tilda Swinton). Not to mention a headhunter wanting him to change professions and his family at home, with whom Brolin’s character rarely gets to spend time. As you can probably tell, this is a lot of sub-plots and characters for a film to take on, especially one that is less than two hours in length. Plus, most of these sub-plots include long homages to the different popular genres of film that were being made in the 1950s: westerns, musicals, huge period epics, and romantic dramas. While enjoyable to watch, it felt like each homage may have taken away some valuable time that could have been used towards plot development. And with the constant introduction of new characters throughout most of the film, it gave off the impression of constantly being in the exposition phase of the story. In fact, the audience isn’t even introduced to (one would consider) the “true” antagonist of the film (Channing Tatum) until almost halfway through. Not to mention, we don’t learn he is an antagonist until right before (what I think) is the climax of the movie. And like I said before, the conflicts of the film are resolved with no true confrontation. In fact, many of the sub-plots are resolved by the characters, or narrator, telling the audience what happened as opposed to showing us. The movie ends with all of the conflicts that were introduced being solved and Brolin’s character being back to where he was at the beginning: solving new problems, with a smile on his face, because he realizes he loves his job.

            When I first left the theater, this ending left me very frustrated and disappointed at the poor script and story development of the Coen brothers. I felt, and still feel like, there was too much going on in the movie that distracted from the advertised main conflict of the film between the studio/ Brolin’s character and the kidnapping group known as “The Future.” The story arc felt incomplete, and there is no reason why the film couldn’t have been longer to do more justice to the storylines. The finished screenplay just didn’t feel right to me. I then started thinking that this type of story, with the various subplots, might have been better served in a television format. That may sound strange, that a film about the film business would be better served as television, but the whole film, at least to me, gave off a very episodic feel with all of the different conflicts, and I think that the very episodic nature of television would have helped that issue. Then, as I was discussing the film with someone, I realized that the film was basically an episode of 30 Rock. Instead of Liz Lemon putting out fires at her television show at NBC, it was Josh Brolin’s character putting out fires for an entire movie studio. Each character starts their day as usual, gets faced with various problems from actors and coworkers, high jinks ensue, eventually the conflicts are resolved, and then the whole process starts all over again the next day. I think this may possibly be the feeling the Coen brothers were going for with the end of the film. There can be no real relief from the resolution of the conflicts, because tomorrow Brolin’s character has to face new ones all over again. If that is what they were going for, I get it, but I don’t quite like the way they did it. You can’t really pull that off in a movie. As a movie watcher, I need the release and relief from the resolution of the conflict by the end of the film. It works for television because you have more time to develop your characters and their conflicts. So, if that is what the Coen brothers were attempting to do with their film, they didn’t quite nail it. They should have consulted the expert (Tina Fey) for some pointers before they said their script was “finished.” As of how I feel about the movie right now, I would suggest watching 30 Rock. I would consider it the far superior modern day, television version of Hail, Caesar!.

            Overall, it was a funny movie, the actors’ performances were great, and the cinematography was well done. It was a good movie, aside from the story and writing needing a bit more work. It’s hard for me because I wanted to like the movie, even love it, but that is not how I came out of the theater feeling. I feel like I may need to watch it again to fully appreciate the writing and story arc, but that may have to wait until it’s on Netflix. Until then, I’ll probably still be trying to figure out the film and how I feel about it.

Back to the Future Part II

The Future is Going, Going...Gone

Considering what today is (Wednesday, October 21, 2015), there can only be one movie that I could be wanting to write about today. I am of course speaking of Back to the Future Part II.

I love this movie and the trilogy, and I could go into great detail about all of the wonderful things about it, but for right now, for this day and moment in time, I want to talk about what this particular installment of the trilogy has meant to 30 years of movie-goers and the future.

Just like many a fan of this film franchise, for years I have been waiting for this mysterious, ever distant October 21 in the year 2015. Also, like many fans I decided to watch Part II to celebrate the day. It wasn't until after I finished watching the film again for the (I don't even know how many) time, that I finally realized what the arrival of this day actually meant. Especially, the way I and several others will watch the movie in the future. Please hear me out. This might sound a little strange, but think about it for a moment.

I will no longer be able to watch Back to the Future Part II the same way from this day forward. What takes place in the beginning of the film is no longer the future (at least from our standpoint). As of right now, the time to which Marty and Doc travel is the present. Our present. Tomorrow, the events of the film will take place in the past. All of the events. The whole film will take place in the past.

I don't know about other fans of the movie, but I was not fully prepared for everything this day would mean when it finally came. For years, I waited for October 21, 2015 to come. I was so excited to find out how close we would get to the future they had created in the movie. Now this day has come, and it's almost over. Terrifyingly enough, this movie will now take on a different meaning for future generations, because every bit of the movie will take place in the past for them. There will no longer be a past, present, and future for them (in the sense of the film). There will only be the past for future viewers.

I don't know about you, but "that's heavy," and it weirds me out thinking about it.

I'm sure this may not have even occurred to most people, but I wanted to record my strange realization about this movie today for others to read, too. What better a place to write about this subject than a movie blog. Please forgive me for the rushed, probably confusing writing. I wanted to get this done today, October 21, 2015 before it was too late.

Anyway, see you all in the future.

The Lego Movie

This post was originally written on February 9, 2014 for the Daily Beacon, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's student-run newspaper. It was in fact featured in said newspaper, but I wanted to post the original version here.

“The Lego Movie:” Where Childhood Meets Adulthood

I grew-up with Legos. Now, when I say I grew-up with Legos, I really mean that my older brother had them. I did have a few of my own though. We had a pretty large variety, providing hours of fun.

            When I learned that there was going to be a Lego movie, I was extremely excited. The thought of seeing something beloved from my childhood put into cinematic form was something I couldn’t ignore.

            Obviously, this has become somewhat of a trend recently. Major production companies have turned toys and board games from our childhood into blockbusters in the hope that our need for nostalgia will drive us into theaters to buy tickets. For the most part, this has in fact worked. Unfortunately, the filmmakers have sometimes forgotten to also create a good story line.

            Thankfully, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the directors and two of the writers of the film, used their inspiration to create an engaging story that appeals to both children and adults.

            The movie’s main protagonist is an average, Lego construction worker named Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), who finds “The Piece of Resistance,” which is the only thing that can stop President Business (Will Ferrell) from ending the world. Emmet must save the world by discovering that he is in fact special in a world that is under the control of the instructions given by the overbearing President Business.

            The film is filled with amazing voice acting from an all-star cast, including Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, and Elizabeth Banks. The comedic one-liners and puns are also consistent and hilarious throughout the film.

            The animation in itself is brilliant. Although the majority of the movie is CG, the animation flows as if it was stop-motion, like the filmmakers are actually sitting down and playing with their Legos as they act out the story. The cinematography and sound also adds to these effects. One minute, it has the feel of an intense action movie, and the next minute the viewer is reminded that the characters are Legos through the use of silly, human voiced sound effects.

“The Lego Movie” proves that just because a film is animated, does not mean that it cannot have a deep and profound theme fueling it. What makes this film great is that it moves beyond the surface comedy. It is a true hero story, with major themes interwoven underneath. Not only must Emmet save the world, but he must also break out of his comfort zone in order to discover his true worth as an “ordinary” individual.

At the end of the film, the underlying theme of letting go of control, and sharing what we love with the next generation, is brought to light. Unfortunately, I cannot go into detail without giving away the ending, so I will leave it to the reader to go out and get the full experience of the depth and nostalgia that helped create this wonderful movie.

Sitting in the Theater

This is an informal blog about movies written by someone who loves movies.