If it is Pixar's it is good

What happens when you have the creativity of John Lasseter, the brilliant mind of Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs' money? Well, you are able to create one of the biggest animation studios in the world, the name: Pixar. But, being able to produce great movies one right after each other it's all because of their remarkable and excellent workflow and it all consists of 3 important aspects: talented people, open criticism and a great work environment.

First of all, Pixar has a really amazing team of animators. They believe that it is much important to have a group of really talented people rather than a great idea, because even if it is a bad one they can end up with a great movie. Also, they respect each other abilities and opinions, which lead them to trust each others' decisions. And even though it may have a lot of junior animators there is a special group of called the trust group which will help in order for the project to be completely perfect.

Second, every member working at Pixar is free of creating any kind of suggestion to anyone else's work. Because of the building's design, they tend to run into each other really often and ask if they can share some advice of what they have to do or how it could look better.  At the same time, it doesn't matter what role you are playing in the project you can go to any office and give your opinion about what is going on. This type of getting and giving feedback is what helps Pixar to redo any mistakes or get a scene to look better, because you have a lot of points of view.

Lastly, Pixar's facility and offices create a really great working environment. Not only will you be able to meet interesting people while working, but also you are going to be forced to get to know them because of Pixar's building structure. Also, you have the chance to decide the way your office will look like, giving you a more pleasant work space. And if you are tired, why not getting on your scooter and do a quick stroll and relax a little bit.

Most of the people think that Pixar's success is all because their stories or characters, but in order to create them, you actually need what really made this big studio one of the best. These people's abilities with their wide free suggestion system and all working in an appropriate environment will produce blockbusters one right after another. And that's what I like to call success, so, if it is Pixar's it is good. 

How to Beat a Scene.

How to train your Dragon Scene

1 Scene: It goes from the dragon not being able to fly, and Hiccup having troubles trusting himself, to being able to fly and trust on what he does. The value that changes is not trusting in each other, and then trusting.

Beat 1: The dragon and Hiccup are flying, the he activates a switch he placed on the dragon which opens a fake tail in order for them to remain flying, the dragon moves around to try if it is working

Beat 2: The dragon flies toward some rocks and crashes with them, Hiccup claims it's his fault so the dragon slaps him.

Beat 3: The dragon starts going upwards and Hiccup flight instructions fall down and he unchains form  it, so they start going astray.

Beat 4: When they are falling down, Hiccup tries to get back and the dragon hits him by mistake. After a while he manages to get on top of it, then they start struggling to fly again, and Hiccup activates the switch several times which lets them fly, ending with a fire burst done by the dragon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuuK7QQCkrw&feature=related

Linking Lola's Run

Watching movies that aren't from Hollywood is something we are not used to, sadly most of the times those movies are really boring or repetitive. But if we start searching for foreign movies we can come across a really special and different movie, not only it explains the relationship between time and events, but also it shows how far love can lead a young girl. Run Lola Run's main theme is the resolving of events depending on Lola's actions, how a small event can change everything and how you affect other people's lives.

Most of the time we don't think what we are doing before acting and this is what happens to Lola all the time. She seems to be always acting by circumstances rather than thinking what consequences will occur. First she shoots at a policeman, and then she threatens her father with another gun and so on. But most of the time it seems she has really good luck and things don't go too bad. 

In the movie the key event that changes every run and how every other action happens is Lola's encounter with her neighbor and dog. It depends on how she faces this first problem if she will be able to catch up with other events later on. On the first run it seems she jumps over the dog which clearly makes her be too early, next she was hurt by the neighbor so she starts to limp and be too late for most of the events. Finally, she decides to keep on without caring too mucho about it and being perfectly on time for everything to go smoothly.

Also, the movie shows us how our actions can change other people lives also depending whether we are on time or too early or too late. Every time Lola runs or bumps into a different character the way things go for them also changes, for example, the first time she crashes with the old lady and her baby, it causes her baby to be taken away, the second time, the old lady wins the lottery and the third time she gets into a religious order. 

A movie that plays with the character's actions, the importance of every event that happens in your daily life and explains how everything you do can affect those surrounding you. This magnificent storytelling makes Run Lola Run a great movie about love and circumstances, and it's the perfect example of why we must watch movies from other countries rather than only Hollywood ones.

Helmut Grokenberger - Character Map

The Mask: Taxi Driver, Foreigner, Old

Fears: Losing his job, Not doing things the way he should

Strong Traits: Patient, good learner, humorous, dedication.

Trouble traits: Naive, not speaking English.

Admired traits: Adventurous, family guy, honest people.

The Dark Side: People that lead to trouble.

 

Mercutio, the importance of being funny.

In a theatrical play where the main theme is love and hate between two separate families, who would have thought of a character capable of making fun of the main one, when he is struggling to survive love. Mercutio is a very versatile character. He is neither Capulet nor Montague, and it is because of him, that the story works the way it does. The way it was represented in the 1996 movie Romeo+ Juliet, I believe is really accurate.

First of all, not only in the movie but also in the original play, Mercutio is one of the most versatile roles. He is a funny and entertaining character who is always laughing about life. Also, one of the main purposes of Mercutio is to enhance Romeo's traits, by arguing with him about love, you can understand Romeo's extreme loving nature. But he can also be really serious, and even when he is dying he curses both families for the irrational fighting.

Second, Mercutio is one of the main characters because of the relevance of his acts. If it wasn't because of his teasing to Romeo's loving, he would had never accepted to go to the Capulet's party, resulting in meeting Juliet. When Tybalt seeks to have a fight with Romeo because of his relationship with Juliet, Mercutio starts making fun of him, insulting and taunting him, leading to a fight between Romeo and Tybalt and the subsequent death of Mercutio, which is the turning point of the whole play and when everything starts going badly.

Lastly, the way the movie represents Mercutio is actually really accurate and helps his personality. When he dresses up as a drag queen before the party you understand that he is a funny and free spirit man, and maybe an homosexual dude too. Also, his casual clothes are the ones a clumsy but down to earth guy could use, because he is not wearing the Montague's Hawaiian shirts or the Capulet's suits, but some sort of combination of both. The actor's expressions when he is dying are the final touch that completes the character; he continues to be joking but also angry and mad at both houses.

He is definitely my favorite character,  because he follows the very same philosophy I believe in, life is like a big game, where the only thing that matters is what you do and how you do it. He is one of the most important characters of Shakespeare work. For me, the movie gets perfectly every single aspect of how he should be and the actor did a really good work representing the brilliant and reckless Mercutio.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Freytag's Pyramid

Exposition

We get to meet the 5 children that will enter Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and try to win the big price. We also get to know about their parents and some of Willy's traits.

·      Inciting incident: 

When they enter the chocolate factory, a strange man approaches to Charlie and asks for his help in order to get control over Willy's factory.

·      Rising action: 

They start exploring the factory, and some of the children are left behind because of their bad behavior and obsessions. 

·      Climax: 

      When Charlie is the only child left, you would think he is the one that will have the prize, but Willy says he did something wrong

·      Falling action: 

When Charlie's grandpa and Willy are arguing about if they won or not.

·      Turning point: 

When Willy reveals that the rival that asked for Charlie's helps was actually one of his employees and it was a final trial.

·      Moment of last suspense: 

When Willy asks for Charlie's forgiveness after his last trial.

·      Resolution: 

Charlie wins the competition and is rewarded with the entire factory, so his family and him could live there.

The fast and the Rebel

"Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse." - James Dean

Living life in the fast lane, may not be always good, young actor James Dean had to learn this the hard way. Born in Indiana and raised by his uncle and aunt, he always loved theater and acting, and starting to study in the University of California after moving to Los Angeles. Before getting the immortal part of Cal Trask in East of Eden, he did some minor characters in two movies, a commercial, and a big Broadway play.

In East of Eden, he did a really good work playing a melancholic, passionate and introverted young man. It seems director Elia Kazan chose him because for the similarities between James and Cal. It was with this movie that he got his first nomination in the Academy Awards, for Best Actor in a leading Role. Shortly after finishing it, he starting filming Rebel without a cause and later Giant, and once again he was nominated for Best Actor.

And when everything was going perfectly, his worst addiction made him a bad turn. James always liked to race too, since his early years at Hollywood, he was on the routes racing. Even though he won just once, he was still competing. But, sometimes being ticketed is not the worst part of driving off limits. He was driving his Porsche Spyder, when a 23 year old, driving a 1950 Ford in the opposite direction, hit him in the front part. Luckily for the Ford driver he was just unconscious, but Dean's fate wasn't as good, when both cars crashed his neck broke provoking an instant death.

James Dean may have not acted in a lot of movies, but being a teenager and after his role in Rebel without a cause, most of the American young men and women were devastated. Speculation may lead us to think that he could have been one of the greatest actors of his era, but we will never know for sure. We can only remember him for his great acting and good-looking corpse.

Definitely not a despicable movie

In a world where animated movies are ruled by two big and really competitive companies, Pixar and DreamWorks, it seems anything will be as good as Toy Story 3 or How to train your dragon. But, they were wrong, Universal Studios comes up with a really cool, funny and interesting movie, not only it will have an original idea, but also, spectacular and fantastic characters. Despicable Me, the movie that showed us that being bad may not be what we thought it was, a movie that is simply brilliant.

First, there is this really different story, which makes it an original and funny movie. Have you ever thought how villains live? Or how they really are? Besides doing bad stuff, they sure have other cool things going on their heads. Well, no need to worry, because Gru will show you how he manages to get some money from the bank, to try his new plan. But, not everything is going smoothly for him, he needs 3 little girls in order to accomplish it, 3 little girls that will open his eyes and show him that been a villain doesn't mean you have to be grumpy all the time. It's this fascinating event that will help Gru evolve into a better human being.

Second, imagine you have a top class villain, with a plan for stealing the moon, 3 girls, wanting to be adopted, and a million of yellow pill-shaped minions, the result........ a funny and really entertaining movie that will make you laugh out loud. All of the characters have really special traits that you will either love, or laugh at them. There's this little girl named Agnes, she will be as cute and funny as any little girl can be, also, you will not stop laughing when the minions start acting, this strange characters are really entertaining in many different ways.

Lastly, the animation is really great, and it has a really good quality, even a lot more than expected from Universal pictures. Although it may not have the complex scenes or movements that Pixar and DreamWorks are capable of achieving, it sure has enough advanced parts in order to be competing against both companies in a near future. Every character in the movie moves in a fluently and good looking way, and the facial expressions done by most of them helps enhancing their different personalities.

Despicable Me is a heart-moving and funny story that will be liked by adults and children alike. With a unique story, which will help you understand that being a villain doesn't mean you are one of the bad guys. Also, the awesome personalities of all the characters within the movie will have you laughing so much you will want to watch it again. For all of these reasons and more, Despicable Me will always be a brilliant animated movie.

The Viking's Realm

Four years ago, when I was 16 years old, I went to Sweden to visit my cousins. When I got there I noticed everything was really quiet, and that everyone minded their own personal business. First, it seemed to me that was the way things should be, because at the end, it is only you and no one will take care or worry about what you do or don't do. For me it was the perfect world, at last I was enjoying myself without having to worry if someone else is bothering me because of how I dress, or the way I talk, even my not so good English was really cool for the flight attendant.

After some weeks of hanging out with my cousins and doing really cool things, we went to some amazing castles and big Viking villages, where we learned a lot of not so useful, yet really fun stuff, like throwing axes. Actually, I still don't know why I would need to know how to throw an axe, but it was something I will never forget. Also, we went water skiing, which is something that requires not only a lot of strength in the legs, but also in the upper part of the body, and in that specific time of my life, I lacked both. But alas, everything was going smoothly, for some strange reason I was able to keep myself in the correct position for a good amount of time, until I decided I was ready to jump from a wooden ramp.

Yeah, me, a wimpy kid, with any kind of strength whatsoever, in my first water skiing class, thinking I could do something cool with just being 1 hour on the water. Even though I was able to perform a really decent jump, the landing part was actually the tricky part, the water strike, when you crash with it, is really strong, I would say you need double the toughness in order to get on your feet again. I guess you can imagine what happened next, my legs when backwards and the water pulled me so strong I couldn't handle the rope you are supposed to have in your hands. The bad part, I hate cold water, which being in Sweden means it wasn't cold, it was almost frozen!!! The moment I felt my body starting to chill, I knew it was it for me. Nevertheless, being 16 years old made me think that it wasn't the way I wanted my life to end, I hadn't done anything I was really proud of, and I really wanted to learn how they do all those awesome animations in videogames. Also, there were a lot of things I wanted to do, other countries I wanted to go. So I started to fight back, or swim in this case. By the time I reached the surface, the boat was already over me, so they just pulled me away from the water, gave me a strange hot drink and a blanket.

Before that moment, I never thought if what I was doing was being helpful or at least meaningful, if I had to change how I was living or any kind of philosophic thought. I assumed everything was ok the way it was. To be honest, I learned 2 things that day, the first one, dying as a frozen Viking isn't as awesome as it may seem. And second, you have to live everyday trying to do something useful for you and for the people around you, trying to enjoy every minute, not like your last day, because that is depressing, but live it like if it is going to be the best day you will ever have!!!

Snow Warrior

by WolfBerserker