This is it

The other week I went to see Michael Jackson's film 'This is it' at the cinema. I was never really interested in going to see this film, the trailer didn't appeal to me and I am not a huge Jackson fan. I do like some of his music but watching what was basically a tribute to him didn't really appeal to me. However Kelsey, who is a big Michael Jackson fan was desperate to go and see this film. Luckily we didn't have to go and see the 12am screening as I know that I would have fallen asleep.

The film started off with the shaky title appearing on the screen, my overall impression was that it just lucked really un-professional. I think a GCSE media student could have made it and it wouldn't have looked much different. The film preceded to show several interviews with Michael Jackson's band members and back up dancers. These interviews pretended to have been filmed before he died, however they were very clearly staged for the film. These interviews featured crocodile tears and people saying just how much they love Michael, they were so cheesy and fake it was unreal.

The film didn't really improve from there. It was basically a documentary of Jackson rehearsing. However most of this was really boring, I actually fell asleep for 10 minutes of it. However I am impressed that a man who is 51 or whatever could still manage to perform the same dance routines he did when he was 20. It was also slightly interesting to see some of the film making and technical aspects that go into Michael Jackson's performances.

When the film ended I was left with the impression that it was obviously sad that Michael Jackson died, its sad when anyone dies. I felt sorry for the backing singers and dancers who never got to perform on tour. Throughout the film all they talked about was how they couldn't wait to get on stage and what a great opportunity it is to perform with Michael Jackson. It seems a shame that they never got to perform and their dreams are crushed. Overall I would say that I did not really enjoy the film, it would have worked fine as a two hour documentary but it does not necessarily need to be made into a film and shown at the cinema. However I understand that they did this as a way to make money, and i can also see how this movie would appeal to those hard core Michael Jackson fans out there. Im just not one of them.

Chaplin

In Andy's lessons recently we have gone back to the very start of early cinema and are viewing silent films. At first I was slightly apprehensive about watching a film without any dialogue, after all you rarely find a film containing a scene where nobody speaks let alone a whole movie. The only silent film I have ever watched has been Nosferatu and that was part of a selection of vampire films I had to study at school.

Although most members of the class had heard of Charlie Chaplin very few of us had actually watched one of his films. Therefore I found it really helpful to watch the film 'Chaplin'. This is basically a biographical film depicting the life of Charlie Chaplin, who is played by Robert Downey Jr. It was really interesting to watch this film as it really gave me an insight into not only Chaplin's work, but also his eventful love life and family problems. I have to say I enjoyed this film much more than I expected to. The fact that several clips were also shown from archive footage of actual Chaplin films caught my attention and made me want to go out and watch them. Luckily we had the ability to do this in our next screening the week after.

We started off our screening the following week by watching a short film staring Chaplin. This was only about ten minutes long and appeared to be equivalent to a modern day short film. We were informed that when the public went to watch a Chaplin film at the cinema they were often shown one of his shorts first and then moved on to watching the actual feature film. I liked the fact that our screening was going to be conducted in the same way as a 1920's audience would have viewed the film. I did enjoy the short film as it went for some slapstick humor. However I definitely preferred watching the 1921 film 'The Kid'. I, along with most members of the class who were laughing out loud, found this film really funny. However 'The Kid' also provided a really sweet and touching story which I did not expect to be present within the film. I found the scene where Chaplin's son was taken away from him to be quite heartbreaking and the little boy was such a good actor.

Before watching this film I was apprehensive about just how much I could enjoy a movie without dialogue. However I can now realize that these Chaplin films do contain dialogue, it's just not spoken. Watching 'The Kid' made me understand that so much can be communicated to an audience via body language, movement and facial expressions. The narrative was totally clear within the film and very few titles were actually needed to move the plot forward. I really enjoyed watching this genre of cinema and am excited to watch more silent films in the future.

We're off the see the wizard (AGAIN)

I have enjoyed the selection of films we have watched in class as they seem diverse in both genre and style. When watching some of the films I could appreciate the technical skills used within them and how advanced they were in relation to other films being made around the same time. However there were also films which I have seen thus far where I have simply enjoyed watching the film. I feel that The Wizard Of Oz falls into this group. The enjoyment of the audience seems like a good marker for the quality of a film is. Therefore in my opinion The Wizard of Oz is worthwhile watching.

After enjoying this film as a child I went into the screening with high expectations. However I did not enjoy this film as much as an adult as I did as a child. It seems that as a child I was drawn in by the vivid colours and magical world that was created on screen. Hypnotized by the catchy songs and intrigued by the wonderfull journey the characters embark on. The emotional memories associated with watching this film at Christmas also lace my view with a certain nostalgic bias. Although I did enjoy the film the second time around I found myself noticing the technical flaws within the film, ( the strings when the lion is moving his tail) rather than just appreciating it for what it is. A classic American movie. When asked who had seen this film, almost every member of the class had watched it. This reflects the success of the film, along with it's wide appeal and ability to speak to every generation. For me, the Wizard of Oz is a truly classic movie.

Spooky

Since coming to the Academy I have found myself watching a wide variety of film, some belonging to genres very different than I would typically watch. I am not normally particularly drawn to the horror genre, but over the past couple of weeks I have found myself watching several spooky films. The majority of these films were watched at the cinema and were probably released because of Halloween and Friday 13^th.

One of the scariest films that I have watched at the cinema this month is Halloween 2. Although I had never seen the original version of the film I decided to go along with other members of the class and give it a try. Although I was expecting to watch a scary film, I was not expecting Halloween 2 to be this scary. Basically from the opening sequence of the film I was terrified, the brutal murder taking place within the first five minutes of the film had me covering my eyes. The film was full of gory moments that had me squirming in my seat. The film was full of tension building moments, which leave the audience anxious and waiting for someone to jump out and murder them. (A typical convention of the horror genre.) I would say that Halloween 2 does not have a particularly strong storyline and is not made to an exceptionally high quality, however for me it fulfils its main objective by getting the desired reaction of fear out of the audience.

One film that I feel is able to achieve a fearful reaction from the audience in a more subtle and sophisticated way is Triangle. This film does not rely on using blood and gore alone to scare the audience. Instead it uses psychological mind games to scare the audience, I feel that when this technique is used successfully it can be even scarier then simply showing a brutal murder. After all when you leave the cinema you are not scared that a zombie is going to come around the corner and kill you. The real fears stem from your own imagination and some how films that play off the audience’s fears that could possibly come true are the ones that scare me most. I enjoyed Triangle because it broke away from some of the typical conventions of a horror film. It was unusual to see that in this film the same character played the hero and the killer. This made for an interesting story that was repeated several times, each version revealing different pieces to the puzzle and showing more information about the protagonist. Another factor, which I enjoyed about this film, was the fact that a woman played the protagonist and hero within the film. So often in horror films you find that women normally play the typical Hitchcock blonde victim. However in Triangle a role reversal occurs as a female actor takes the lead role.

I have to say that the most terrifying movie that I have watched recently is Saw 6. Although I had never seen the other five Saw films I decided that I would watch the film anyway. From the moment the film started I began to regret my decision. I thought that the film was so disgusting I could barely watch. The film began with a scene involving a man and woman both wearing a headset with sharp screws attached. A voiceover informed the audience that in order to fight for their lives they both had to cut as much flesh possible from their body. The heavier the flesh weighed the deeper the screws would be imbedded into the other opponents head, eventually killing one of them. This scene featured a man cutting off fat from his stomach, and a thin woman cutting off her arm in order to survive. At this point I was questioning why I chose to watch this film in the first place. Watching blood and gore really gets to me, I am so squeamish it is ridiculous, so much so that I had to look away when Charlie Chaplin was pulling his eye down when taking off his eye makeup in the film on Friday. Yes I know it’s totally pathetic. Therefore it’s not surprising that when watching Saw 6 I spent most of my time staring at the fire exit and the top left hand corner of the screen in order to divert my attention away from the horrific acts going on in the film. Needless to say I will not be going to see Saw 7.

In retrospect I think that the most enjoyable horror film I have seen recently is Zombieland. Going into the film I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought that it was going to be your typical gory zombie movie, which is something that I am not particularly interested in watching. Within the first few minutes Zombieland appeared to stick closely to the typical conventions of a Zombie horror film. At this point I decided that I would probably not enjoy this film. However it seems that I was a little to quick to judge, as the film progressed I found myself enjoying the film more and more. When the relationships were introduced between the geeky hero and the three other survivors, two of which were sisters, I began to get much more interested. I think that this was because it started to subvert from the typical conventions of the genre and branch out into a comedy with some romantic elements. The film ended with me leaving the cinema smiling and feeling up-beat, not the typical reaction you would expect from a zombie movie!

48 hours of television

In Andy's lesson last week we were set the assignment of recording all the television we watch within a forty eight hour time period. Over the summer before coming to university I think this list TV programs would have been much longer than the one I have been recoding since Monday. This is due to the fact that after finishing my exams in June I had no revision, no homework and no job. This amounts to a lot of free time, some of which was filled by TV. However since coming to the RSAMD I no longer have endless amounts of free time and so the amount of television I watch has decreased. However since Halloween and Chris's Crayola Crayon themed 18th birthday have officially ended, I have had chance to switch on the telly a little more often. Another reason for me not watching as much TV is the lack of a sky box, and I have to say it is dearly missed. I am no longer able to watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice back to back on Living TV, and I have to say that my Thursday's just don't seem the same without it. Yes everyone who is not living in halls, you should all feel very smug.

So as I was saying before, I started to write down what I was watching on TV on Monday. I started off the morning by watching TV online. My choice was 'Live with Regis and Kelly', I first saw this chat show style program when I was on holiday in America last summer. As it is not on TV in the UK I do not regularly watch it, however sometimes in the mornings I like to go online and watch their 'host chat' which is basically a segment where they discuss topical issues and tell stories about their life. It's not hard hitting news but its an easy watch and can sometimes be quite funny.

For the rest of the day we had classes so I didn't get round to watching anything until about half ten at night. At first I only had the TV on as background sound whilst copying up my notes into my technical diary, however I somehow managed to get drawn into watching 'Americas toughest prisons- kids behind bars'. This type of program is by no means the type of television which I normally like to watch. I am not a fan of prison shows in general as they normally seem to act as a device for the criminals caught on camera to display just how tough they really are. However although I cant say that I enjoyed this program it did appear to be slightly better than other shows I have seen that are focused on the same subject matter. I think this program was more compelling as some of these boys who were prisoners in this very scary American jail were only 15 years old. I found it shocking to see children who are a similar age to my younger brother talking about their life in prison and the serious crimes that they been accused of such as murder. These boys seemed much older than their actual age, it was hard to believe that they should still be at high school. The program also focused on the prisoners rehabilitation into society after leaving the prison, I found it interesting to see the young adults meeting with their parents again during their graduation ceremony from the jail bootcamp. However at the end of the program text came on the screen informing about the location of each of the men featured within the episode. I found it quite a shame to see that most of the people were either still in jail or had been released and committed other crimes and now have another prison sentence.

Moving on from that I decided to flip over to channel four and watch the program 'Did Heston change Little Chef?' It was about 11/11.30 ish at this point so I wasn't really surprised when there was nothing amazing on ( If I had sky I could have watched 'Sex and the city' but oh well). I did quite enjoy this program, I mean it wasn't an amazing documentary and the audience always knows that by the end of the program Heston will have infact improved Little Chef, but still it was reasonably entertaining, at least enough to keep me awake.

Finally that night when I was getting really bored I watched 'The Apprentice USA'. This episode was shown at around 12am and I think that the entire season was running throughout the night on BBC1. I had really enjoyed the UK version of 'The Apprentice'. I really got hooked on it this year and I think it is one of the best reality TV program's on TV. I like the fact that they are not competing simply to be famous, well maybe some of the contestants are, but still they are competing for a prize with some academic and intellectual basis. Plus the tasks look really fun, it even makes me want to become a business woman every time I watch it, I think that really shows the power of television. Anyway I felt very disappointed when I watched the American version as it seems to be nothing like the British version. For starters it seems way to over the top, the lighting looks like that out of a movie and most of the female contestants all look like they are going to step out of the office and go on to compete in a beauty pageant. A realistic representation of most women professional women in America? I don't think so! I also found Donald Trump totally unappealing, Alan Sugar is a much better boss when comparing the two shows. In this particular episode Donald Trump seemed to be using the program to show America how good he is, and even though he is so rediculously rich, he still does his bit for charity by building a park for kids. Even though I watched the whole episode I dont know if I would watch any in the future. I might give the celebrity version of the US Apprentice a try but who knows.

So that was pretty much everything I watched on TV on Monday, now onto Tuesday. As it turns out I actually didn't watch any program on an actual television, I caught up with the Xfactor on the ITV version of iplayer whatever thats called. Even though I had seen most of the results show and already knew who got voted out (poor Rachel) I missed seeing everyone actually sing and just had to see how everyone was before casting my expert opinion on who should get voted out! (JOHN AND EDWARD, JOHN AND EDWARD, JOHN AND EDWARD!) I actually think that this hype within the media about how terrible they are is actually doing them more good than anything else. Think of the amount of press attention they get within the media, its tons more than most of the other contestants. Although I think that John and Edward wont win the X Factor, simply because most people aren't stupid enough to think that they are at the same standard as Leona or Alexandra, I do think that they might be around for a couple more rounds yet. God knows what silly costumes and uncoordinated dance moves we will be forced to watch during there next performance but I am sure it wont be pretty.

The only other thing that I watched last night was Grey's Anatomy. However this was a brand new American episode! I would normally have watched it on Friday night as it is released in the USA on Thursday but I was busy and didn't have a chance to get round to it until yesterday but trust me it was worth the wait, it always is! I know that it is cheating and that i should wait until it comes out on TV in the UK, but I cant, its just to good. I feel as though if I dont watch it straight away when it comes out I am not a proper fan, and plus I wouldn't want to be missing out on anything. I don't watch all my American programs online though, only Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, America's next top model, Project Runway and Desperate Housewives. Okay that is quite a lot but these are only my favourites. Plus I think it is more exciting when you know that you are watching the show at the same time as everyone else, not a couple of months later when it gets around to appearing in the UK.

From looking at the amount of television programs I have watched over a 48 hour period and from reading other peoples blogs, I get the impression that most people tend to watch more television than they actually think they do. This may be because the majority of programs are viewed without the audiences full concentration and sometimes simply as background sound. Therefore people may not remember how much they actually watch, sometimes time seems to slip by when watching television. For me it is easy to look at my watch after three hours and think 'what have I been doing for all this time?'. When considering what I watch in general, not just within the 48 hours i documented it seems that if I actually set out to watch a program it will either be online, on iplayer or on a dvd boxset. Very rarely will i go and switch on my TV at a certain time to watch a particular program. Why bother when you can watch it any time you want? If I am watching TV it will just be because I have some spare time, I will look through the menu and see what catches my eye. So in other words I typically watch TV when it is the right time for me, not at the precise time it is transmitted on television.