First Film Studies Post

Top 3 Films
1.  The Harry Potter films are all some of my favorite movies.  I'm drawn to them not only because I love the books, but also because they are so visually impressive.  The way that magic is shown has always really captured my attention because it all looks and feels so real.  There are people flying, ghosts roaming the halls, talking portraits, 3-headed dogs, giants, huge spiders, and so many more ridiculous creatures that all suddenly become real.  The story, characters, and visual effects all appeal to me.

2.  I recently saw War Horse, and while it may not have been one of my favorite movies of all time, it was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.  First, I really enjoyed how the story was told through the horse's journey.  It showed the perspective of the war through both sides, and by the end I felt sympathy for the soldiers of both sides.  I also loved how visually stimulating the movie was.  When it could have simply shown a horse walking across the countryside, it instead showed an entire hillside at sunset with the most beautiful colors and a boy riding a horse across.  Not only was it a great story, but it was filmed extremely well.
3.  One of the first movies I remember watching and loving when I was little is The Santa Clause.  It sounds silly now to say that it is one of my top 3 films, but it has stuck with me since the first time I saw it.  Certain images associated with it still come to mind when I think of Christmas.  One of the most appealing aspects of this movie is the soundtrack.  It is almost entirely instrumental, but to this day, I can recognize the music and the exact part of the movie that it was played, and it still gives me that excited Christmas feeling that it did when I was little.  I think that the reason this film is so appealing to me is not only that it's funny and about my favorite holiday, but also because the music, story, and effects are all so magical to me.  It might not be one of those award-winning movies in history, but for me it will always be a favorite.

What I hope to learn in Film Studies
I love making movies, and have always made all of our class videos and our ASB videos for assemblies, but I would really like to learn how to make those better.  I also hope to be able to become a better critic of films by watching a lot of great movies because watching movies is one of my favorite activities.

Types of films I'm interested in making, why, and how
I'm not interested in making a particular type of film, but I'm mostly interested in just learning how to make any kind of film.  I want to be able to put together a good, creative, well-edited film about anything I need to in the future.  I have always had to just make short movies that follow a simple plot, which I really enjoy and would like to get better at, but I'm interested in making any type of movie.