Risky Business

We all know that the producers’ aim is to make a profit. And it’s logical: like any company, they are moved by obvious interests:

  • Position in the Industry (I mean, having a predominance in a market segment against other companies)
  • …which allows them to be able to have at their disposal better human and material resources;
  • …which means they are able to tackle the biggest projects;
  • …which (they believe) will yield larger profits and cost-effectiveness.
  • Then, it’s sensible to think that every film will be considered a product to exploit economically. There’s nothing wrong with it.

    Simplifying a lot, let’s Continue reading Risky Business

    From here to Moroder


    This is a great video featuring Giorgio Moroder playing one of his most famous hits, “From Here to Eternity”. Moroder was one of the greatest contributors to the electronic music scene in the seventies and eighties, producing music for countless artists (i.e., Donna Summer) and a handful of soundtracks, like The NeverEnding Story, Top Gun or Midnight Express, for which he was awarded an Oscar. In some aspects his music hasn´t aged very well, but he was a pioneer, and many of his songs will remain fresh forever. My personal favourite: chase!

    In the mood for Love

    Well. I don’t know the reason, but this afternoon I feel naive. Maybe it will be the nearness of summer time, or maybe not. One thing is true, today we are going to talk about romantic moments in the movies. Why not? Don’t I have the right to be mawkish (I expect I won’t) at least once every quarter?

    Love or romantic scenes in the movies seem (too often) to be written by teenagers while hugging their pillows. Ugh! Bad vibrations, if we want to make a high-quality film. Is there a hope? I think so, and that is the reason why I will Continue reading In the mood for Love

    Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

    http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thedavincicode/

    (…) a secret that threatens to overturn 2000 years of accepted dogma

    I wonder if “The Da Vinci Code”, the movie, will ever have a life outside of “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, just as much as I wondered before if “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, would ever have had a life outside of its title. In my opinion, both the book´s title and its cover design were the true reasons for its success, more than the plot, which albeit interesting was nothing new sub sole (for instance, check Peter Berling´s “The Children of the Grail“). In this way I would say that I Continue reading Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

    Game design as software engineering

    A video game is not that different from any other software development; it perhaps depends more on hardware, but even so it is very similar. When you describe a program you need the client’s opinion and plenty of information to determine how the issue was being taken prior to the new development. In the end it is obvious that albeit there won´t be much relation between the analysis and the final development, that relation will still be more or less recognizeable.

    But, what about video games? To start with, Continue reading Game design as software engineering

    King’s Pupil

    The first thing you should know, I’m not a Stephen King fan, but I feel interested by the fact that many of his novels have been taken to the Big screen, though not always with great success. I’ll overlook the sometimes terrible or unimportant adaptations, and the overrated ones (sorry, but I don’t enjoy “Carrie” very much).
    For a great movie tour around King’s novels, Continue reading King’s Pupil

    Remembering synthesizers

    It is curious, this of trends. I remember the synthesizer boom around the second half of the eighties. And I say it is curious because the “synthesizer phenomenon” is much older. More than fifty years ago, avant-garde composers (Ussachevsky, Subotnick, etc…) were already using electronics in their music. However, I recognize that I identify myself more with the seventies´ boom and Schulze, Tangerine Dream or the megapopulars Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre. Continue reading Remembering synthesizers

    A fish-ful of pounds (and other singular creatures)

    Hi everyone! We can consider this article as a continuation of those “Five remedies for sadness” released several weeks ago. Today we are going to concentrate on a film which, in 1988, revitalized the comedy genre: “A fish called Wanda”.

    There is something that distinguishes this film from many others: surely, the charisma of the four main actors and their brilliant and hilarious performances. But, let’s start with the beginning.

    Mythic John Cleese (along with Graham Chapman, the two most outstanding members from Monty Python) dumped his acid sense of humour in a story about burglars, and he decided to offer it to a filmmaker (Charles Crichton, who hadn’t shot a movie since the late 60’s). Cleese succeeded in putting pressure on the producers, and (along with Crichton) wrote the final screenplay. They opted to dispense with the dark surreal humour from Monty Python’s stage, and they also impregnated the absurd situations with more dramatic likeliness. And the bet was complete, because they Continue reading A fish-ful of pounds (and other singular creatures)