Welcome to my Brain - Favorite Film Edition ;)

Ok, so. When thinking about favourite films there so many things to consider and I genuinely don’t believe it’s possible to have a favourite film! With this in mind I am going to share the films I love for different reasons hope you enjoy!

Let’s start at the beginning… Treasure planet!

This film is incredible for so many reasons. First of all the aesthetic and ideas behind the design of the film are just amazing. Creating a cyber punk vibe spliced with historical stereotypes of pirates is just (chefs kiss). Treasure planet was my first favourite film I watched it almost every week as a child this love initially was due to the aesthetics, but as I have grown and studied film my respect for the process and innovations that the film contains has developed and made me love it more! The combination of 2D and 3D elements within the film was done so perfectly for example, the opening shot shows a 3D ship moving through space but the characters aboard are all 2D. This allowed film makers to create one 3D asset/background for the shot (that could be used in multiple shots throughout the film) and therefore use more interesting camera moves and angles without worrying about requiring multiple 2D backgrounds. This is innovative as well as smart meaning the film could be cheaper and more stylised. There are so many stunning cinematic choices throughout for example the match cut at the beginning is just so stunning and really grasps you as a viewer as well as being a dream choice for a film lover (kind of nerdy but it literally gives me goose bumps when I watch it and I don’t think it will ever loose that effect no matter how many time I watch it). Treasure planet sets up the world so perfectly showing an out of this world action sequence and breaking this idea that, that was the film we are watching by showing the young Jim Hawkins on the outside watching the story from a hologram projection book. This therefore shows the technology as well as setting up the ideas of pirates within the film allowing us as an audience to expect was is to come as well as showing the characters love through his life.

I could talk about this film all day and honestly is difficult not to do a shot by shot analysis as to why I love it so much! This film helped me respect film and the process behind it and although it’s not the most well-known Disney film is was a childhood family favourite and its one of the first films I recommend to anyone.

Avatar – Not the last air bender!

First of all this is a science fiction/ fantasy film so of course I’m going to love it! The first time I watched this film I was in ore of the world, the art form, the narrative just everything it was and is so beautiful. Might be cliché but this film actually inspired me to pursue a career in CGI and animation even before I knew what Maya, substance painter, Brush etc… even were and now I’m producing things with the same software (although nowhere near that standard right now but I hope one day!). I always wanted art to be my career path and I’ve always had a passion for film but after watching avatar the idea that these thing could merge became a reality and my heart was set. Anyway back to the film… some specifics! One sequence in particular is just stunning, the camera moves, audio tricks, VFX and simulations all just work together so incredibly and create a perfect shot. This is the scene where the main character Jake jumps off of a cliff into a pool beneath a waterfall, the water interacts with the environment so seamlessly crashing up against the tree roots. This was the first time I had seen simulated water and it’s done so perfectly that I thought it was real! The camera/audio choice of cutting of the sound when the camera submerged is a stunning choice by the director. This film mixes live action and computer generated shots seamlessly and although this film came out in 2009 I still think it holds up to today’s cinematic standards.

After watching the remastered version of Avatar at the cinema there was a sneak peek scene from the new film. It looks so photo real and even better and the original! It was really interesting seeing the original Avatar and then the new release straight after one another as it was almost a side-by-side comparison of how the technologies have changed and developed overtime. I have recently been to watch Avatar The way of water! (on opening night!!!) although nothing can beat the first film it was incredible! I have never seen a film seamlessly weave live action footage and CGI environments/cameras etc... for this reason the film was a pure joy to watch. It is so clear how far the technology has come in just over a decade. Even the way that the hair looks is so clear, you can see every whisp and loose strand, you can see the pores on the skin, the wet skin catching the light I could go on forever listing all of the elements that stood out to me as being just incredible.

Watching a film such as this one in the cinema (the way a film should be watched for the first time) was such an honour. The experience of seeing Avatar the way of water just made me want to work in this industry even more! The fact that in 10 years such a change could be made and its so clear and incredible that the level of realism is so seamless that it just looks completely believable and completely real. I love that I went to see the original film in the cinema before my career/interest in this industry began ( Avatar was even the catalyst for my love of CGI and film art) and now after finishing uni and working my way into the industry I am able to watch it and see all the changes and beauty within the art of film.

Just look at the difference in poster its just... stunning!!! the eyes!! the skin!!! the light reflections!!! the hair!! its so amazing!! showing these posters so close together just shows how amazing the technology has become and how stunning work in this industry is! both films are stunning and ground-breaking in their own right but just seeing the change is insane!

Moving on to a bit of a guilty pleasure film now… Shrek 2!

Ok so I don’t love this film because of any technical reasons, camera moves or any of that fun stuff. My love for this film is purely on the basis that it is a work of art that I could watch on repeat all day long!!! (I have…) it’s just amazing and if I’m ever upset Shrek 2 can fix that! That’s something that I really love about the film industry. As an audience we can use a film to reflect emotions, cheer you up or even just distract yourself and forget about what’s going on. There is so much that art can do to help people and for me films do that, they make me happy or allow me to be sad and not just for myself but for the characters on screen.

But back to Shrek 2 (sorry for the detour!) this film is so funny and I recommend it to everyone and even if they are hesitant they end up loving it! It’s just such a feel good film that I quote daily (I basically communicate in film quotes and no one ever notices it’s like a little self-Easter egg, I can chuckle to myself about all the little jokes and references I am making without anyone knowing). From a story telling and animation standpoint it’s also amazing and having studied Animation and VFX at university there were a lot of people with a lot of opinions on animated feature films and TV shows. It was very clear that Shrek as a franchise was praised for how amazing it is so I think that just shows how good it is! (although my lecturer hated it and knew the people writing the screen play and creating the story boards and he told them to give up because it was a terrible idea guess he was very wrong about that one…but he still refuses to say it’s good I think he might be salty).

We Bought a Zoo

This film came out in 2011 and I must have watched it hundreds of times. The time I remember watching it most was when we went on a road trip to Switzerland, we used to have a DVD player that me and my brother used to watch films on during really journeys. This one specific holiday, I think I was around 13, we watched We Bought a Zoo 6 times back-to-back… it got to the point where we would start reciting the film and see who knew more (we now both know pretty much the whole script).

During this age I couldn’t appreciate cinematography or anything along that line I just knew I loved the film and I knew it was stunning. Now watching it I can appreciate the scenes, the lighting and the acting just everything! For example I love the scene when Benjamin and Rosie mee go and look at the Rosemore zoo property for the first time and he starts to say no then looks at Rosie. She is framed so perfectly with he sun behind her the light reflections on the lens and the colour scheme mixed with the music just makes this shot so perfect. I have always loved films based on real events like Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge, soul surfer, The Imitation Game… I don’t know what it is the films might not be technically perfect (like in the film soul surfer, this film in about a young girl who loses her arm during a shark attack but during the rescue scene her arm is still present in one of the shots even though it had been digitally removed in others), but they have that heart and that ‘real’ nature to them. The films of this nature that are more about ‘normal people’ rather than celebrities such as the film Rocketman, I enjoyed it but I enjoy films about ‘normal’ people or events more.

Ever since the first time I watched this film I haven’t stopped its always one of my first suggestions for family film night. I think the memories I associate with this film allowed me love this film but now I’ve grown up I can really appreciate it from a technical stand point. Although I am a very visual film watcher I really appreciate the music chosen for this feature its so immersive and although most of it is in a different language or are instrumental scores the music chosen really helps the story along and works in cohesion with the visuals.

Ok so this is far from all of my favourite films but this is just a little glimpse into the films I love and why I love them so much! I have a countless number of go to films depending on how I'm feeling, what I want to watch, whether I want to be nerdy (I have been told off countless times for my annoying nerdiness while watching a fav film... well its normally after we watch the film and I info dumpy on everyone).