Terrence Vance ‘Terry’ Gilliam, Born 22nd November 1940 is the next personal profile for my blog. I chose Terry Gilliam because I personally love his film-making and animating style. ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, directed by Gilliam is one of my favourite films of all time. His adaptation of the Hunter.S.Thompson book should go down in film-making history. Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, director, animator, actor and one of the key members of the ‘Monty Python’ comedy group.

Gilliam first started out with animation and some would say his animating is his greatest profession. He worked using shooting photographic strips for the magazine ‘Help!’ but when the company shut down he moved to England. It was here he created animated features for children’s TV show ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’ which is where he met his future Pythons colleagues Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. After previously meeting John Cleese when working for ‘Help!’

Gilliam was a part of Monty Python’s Flying Circus from the outset and although he was firstly the sole animator he was seen as a key member of the group because his animations are what linked the sketches together and some would say without those animations the show just wouldn’t have been the same.

When the Python inevitably broke up Gilliam then went into directing and screenplay from all the knowledge he’d picked up along the way and his surreal style this was sure to hit big. Gilliam then went on to create his Trilogy of the Imagination which was three surreal films about three different people of three different generations struggling to escape from society but through their imaginations. The first ‘Time Bandits’ was released in 1981, the second ‘Brazil’ in 1985 and the third ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ in 1988.

‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. I think this film needs a special mention as the screenplay on this film is fantastic. Johnny Depp as the lead character makes possibly his greatest performance as an actor with the help of Gilliam’s guidance this film was a sure fire hit with me. I also admire Gilliam’s style and how different it is to most animators/film-makers. Gilliam’s surreal animations in Python have such a distinctive, memorable style by mixing his own art, soft and odd bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and moving cut-outs from photographs mostly from the Victorian era just add that extra thing that the show would have missed without him. Truly one of the greatest animators of our time.

Edward Zwick

This blog post is about a film-maker who some people who looked at the name wouldn’t know. But with major budget blowing films like ‘Blood Diamond’, ‘The Last Samurai’ and ‘Defiance’ under his directing I thought he would definitely be worth a mention.

Edward Zwick, born 8th October 1952 is an American filmmaker and film producer who has been noticed for his extravagant war films. He was described as "throwback to an earlier era, an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently feature fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues, and plots that thrive on the ambiguity of authority.” I have seen two of his films ‘Blood Diamond’ and ‘The Last Samurai’ and I fully agree with the statement above. I think ‘Blood Diamond’ is described fully in that one sentence. I think in the whole of Leonardo Di Caprio’s career as an actor Edward Zwick brought his best performance out of him in the film.

Tim Burton

Today’s blog is on a film-maker who specializes in the dark and quirky and even a bit strange side of film. Timothy William Burton or Tim Burton as he’s mostly known is a producer and director of possibly some of the weirdest films made in the past 25 years. Not only is he known for his dark films but also for his blockbusting hit films like Batman, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes and so on. But even though these films aren’t seen as his classical style his style still runs throughout all of his films. He is mainly a producer and director because he wants to have creative control over the films he makes and because he has a certain style which is recognisable throughout his films.

Over his time as a film-maker he has creating a lot of films, some I found better than others and some I didn’t like at all. But noticeably through them all that same gothic weird style was there. My favourite film by Burton is ‘Beetlejuice’ which I watched as a child and grew up watching. This film is the first film that Burton’s recognisable style first began and this is what I refer the rest of his films too. Other films made by Burton are ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure’ (1985), ‘Batman’ (1989), ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990), ‘Batman Returns’ (1992), ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993), ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999), ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (2005) and his latest film ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010). These are just a few of his films released so far.

In conclusion I found Tim Burton isn’t one of my personal favourite film-makers but I do like the fact he has a certain style which is apparent in all of his films. I think this makes him unique but I also think it doesn’t give him as much creativity in his films because they all feel a bit like you’re watching the same film with just more weird characters and I also don’t like how he is re-making a lot of films now. Although he puts his own spin on them I found his remake of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ to be pointless as the first one was one of my favourite films. I would prefer more films like ‘Beetlejuice’.

Johnny Depp

John Christopher “Johnny” Depp, born on June 9th 1963 is an American actor most known for playing distinguished and eccentric characters throughout his profound career. I think his most well known character roles are the eccentric drunk pirate ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’ from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, the timid unusual character ‘Edward Scissorhands’ from the self entitled film and my personal favourite his portrayal of one of his closest friends Hunter.S.Thompson or ‘Raoul Duke’ from the 1998 Terry Gilliam film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.

His first real break into movies was in 1984 when he played a victim of the infamous ‘Freddie Krueger’ from the film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. He then went on to broaden his horizons by working with Tim Burton on hit 1990 film ‘Edward Scissorhands’. The success of this film is what started Depp’s future collaborations with the director Tim Burton. This turned into another 6 films in which they have done since. The films being ‘Ed Wood’ (1994), ‘Sleepy Hollow’(1999), ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’(2005), ‘Corpse Bride’(2005), ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’(2007) and his latest collaboration on Burtons remake ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where Depp plays the role of the ‘Mad Hatter’. His collaborations with Burton have won him awards and made him a household name that everyone recognises.

My favourite film of his is ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ was directed by Monty Python co-creator Terry Gilliam. The film is a representation of Hunter.S.Thompson’s book ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. Being Thompson’s friend I think Depp portrayed his character perfect with the mannerisms being almost identical to the real Hunter.S.Thompson. The film is basically a drug fuelled trek around Las Vegas with a reporter (Depp) and his Attorney trying to find a story for his the magazine company he works for but drugs and senselessness get in the way. I think the parts where Depp was seemingly on drugs made the film extremely funny and gave a real sense of what type of person Hunter.S.Thompson was, I think he would be proud of Depp’s portrayal of him.

Johnny Depp is hands down one of the greatest actors in films at the moment. He has the great ability to commit to his characters 100% and make every film a performance. Although he has starred in films I personally didn’t like, he always shone through that and made his performance one of his own and stand out on his own which is why I believe he is one of the best and deserves that status. I personally look forward to his September 2010 release of another Hunter.S.Thompson book turned film ‘The Rum Diary’.

Stanley Kubrick

Today’s blog post is my first of this kind. Being a media student I found I should do personal profiles on film makers, film stars and even just plain films because these are the types of things which interest me. This post is a personal profile of one of my favourite film makers, Stanley Kubrick. I will be writing about his life and basically how he got into film and some of his most famous films.

Stanley Kubrick, born July 26th 1928 in New York City is one of the most accredited film makers in the history of film. Kubrick wasn’t book smart which showed throughout his school career. He attended a local grammar school in New York. Kubrick became an apprentice photographer at the age of 17 which was his first contact with media and the move onto film making followed shortly after.

His first real budget film was a documentary called ‘Day of the Fight’ and this was merely the start of his profound career. His more acclaimed films are ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, ‘The Shining’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’. I and many others would class these as groundbreaking films that changed a lot of the ways to approach film-making.

He is also very well known for his cinematography. I think what really makes his films stand out from others is his unique style which is in some ways different to other popular film makers.

This is a notice to all you independent film fans in the North-East!

Tyneside Cinema, 10 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6QG
24 October, 8.30pm
To book tickets call Tyneside Cinema on 0845 217 9909
Full price £7.00, Concessions £6.00

Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.

Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects with which we surround ourselves?

www.tynesidecinema.co.uk

You can see the trailer here: http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/objectified-trailer/