Sci-fi and Cinema
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3144311
Looks like there is going to be a Halo movie -- produced by Peter Jackson? I approve. Comic book adaptations and now video game adaptations. It makes sense to me. I think cinema has come a long way, and quite frankly most of the greatest and simplest stories that could be portrayed on screen have already been portrayed expertly by past directors. Right now we're scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with new and interesting stories. How many movies out there remind you of others?
Not only do comics and video games contain fresh and interesting stories, but they can also explore aspects of humanity from new and enlightening angles. Science Fiction has the greatest potential for exploring interesting facets of humanity, and when taken seriously can yield amazing results.
I think it's important that comics and video games are being taken more seriously these days as wellsprings of creativity. And although it's true that the movie industry's move towards sci-fi blockbusters was primarily based on sci-fi's pop-culture influence on the current generation, movies like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Spider Man 2 show not only that excellence in film making is possible, but also that fantastic plots are not incompatible with traditional dramas.
For instance look at The Matrix or Dark City. These movies reveal aspects of humanity not easily explored without science fiction elements. TV shows like Red Dwarf and Star Trek similarly explore uncharted waters.
I also think that cinematogrphy and direction style will be more and more important in future movies. We're slowly seeing the development of creative camera movements (eg Matrix), interesting special effects, color filtering, and atmospheric texturing through set design. These innovations will not only set the mood of future films but will also consume the story telling. The editing in Memento turns what would normally be a great story into an amazing cinematic experience told in a creative way that is wholly relevant and immediately engaging for the audience. I believe that not only editing, but cinemtography and directing style and even animation style will be the future playground for innovation, and that science fiction movies will provide the inspiration.
In the new movie Doom we're going to see another adaptation of a video game to a movie. There haven't been many of these, I can think of Resident Evil and Tomb Raider off the top of my head. We're also going to see extended sequences of a mobile first-person camera perspective (like in Being John Malkovich). I'm amazed that the persistent first person perspective hasn't been used more often in cinema. It is extremely effective when used and doesn't have to be jittery. I'm still waiting for a movie that is 100% first-person.
Looks like there is going to be a Halo movie -- produced by Peter Jackson? I approve. Comic book adaptations and now video game adaptations. It makes sense to me. I think cinema has come a long way, and quite frankly most of the greatest and simplest stories that could be portrayed on screen have already been portrayed expertly by past directors. Right now we're scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with new and interesting stories. How many movies out there remind you of others?
Not only do comics and video games contain fresh and interesting stories, but they can also explore aspects of humanity from new and enlightening angles. Science Fiction has the greatest potential for exploring interesting facets of humanity, and when taken seriously can yield amazing results.
I think it's important that comics and video games are being taken more seriously these days as wellsprings of creativity. And although it's true that the movie industry's move towards sci-fi blockbusters was primarily based on sci-fi's pop-culture influence on the current generation, movies like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Spider Man 2 show not only that excellence in film making is possible, but also that fantastic plots are not incompatible with traditional dramas.
For instance look at The Matrix or Dark City. These movies reveal aspects of humanity not easily explored without science fiction elements. TV shows like Red Dwarf and Star Trek similarly explore uncharted waters.
I also think that cinematogrphy and direction style will be more and more important in future movies. We're slowly seeing the development of creative camera movements (eg Matrix), interesting special effects, color filtering, and atmospheric texturing through set design. These innovations will not only set the mood of future films but will also consume the story telling. The editing in Memento turns what would normally be a great story into an amazing cinematic experience told in a creative way that is wholly relevant and immediately engaging for the audience. I believe that not only editing, but cinemtography and directing style and even animation style will be the future playground for innovation, and that science fiction movies will provide the inspiration.
In the new movie Doom we're going to see another adaptation of a video game to a movie. There haven't been many of these, I can think of Resident Evil and Tomb Raider off the top of my head. We're also going to see extended sequences of a mobile first-person camera perspective (like in Being John Malkovich). I'm amazed that the persistent first person perspective hasn't been used more often in cinema. It is extremely effective when used and doesn't have to be jittery. I'm still waiting for a movie that is 100% first-person.
posted by flowbeus at 10:00 PM
5 comments
