🎭 | "The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~ George Washington Burnap

‘First & Final Frames’ of Films Supercut

•March 22, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Seeing a film’s first and last shots side by side can be an illuminating experience, highlighting hidden themes or revealing whether or not a character grows over the course of 90+ minutes. Video editor Jacob T. Swinney juxtaposed 55 opening and closing movie shots — from classics like The Searchers and Dr. Strangelove to recent hits like Birdman and Whiplash — that are intentionally similar or contrasting:

MUSIC: “Any Other Name” by Thomas Newman.

“What can we learn by examining only the first and final shot of a film? This video plays the opening and closing shots of 55 films side-by-side. Some of the opening shots are strikingly similar to the final shots, while others are vastly different–both serving a purpose in communicating various themes. Some show progress, some show decline, and some are simply impactful images used to begin and end a film.” ~ Jacob T. Swinney

Her (00:27)

Children of Men (01:27)

Inception (04:26)

Gone Girl (00:47)

Kill Bill Vol 2 (00:53)

Whiplash (04:37)

Punch-Drunk Love (00:59)

Posted in 🍿 F I L M : M O T I O N, 🎨 A R T : A U D I O 🎶, 🕶️ C O O L : S T U F F
Tags: ‘First & Final Frames’ of Films Supercut — Part II, First & Final Frames of Films Supercut, Juxtaposition, side-by-side sequence comparison

Silo Park Cinema presents: The Intouchables

•March 21, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Last night’s outdoor movie screening at Silo Park was of French film, The Intouchables. A truly lovely story about friendship. It was a good turnout with a very responsive audience.

SiloPark - TheIntouchables

The starlit sky was clear, the Auckland harbour bridge was fluctuating with colours in the background, and the superyacht anchored in the harbour had left its purple hued lights on, adding to the visually pleasing atmosphere.

During the 15 minute intermission, not content in my spot, I decided to climb a nearby staircase and watch the remainder of the movie from above. I was surprised more people weren’t up there with me. It was a good view.

This was my first time at a Silo movie screening. I had always been meaning to attend one, and not only did a friend send me an invite for this particular screening, but the movie trailer alone was enough to convince me to go:

The Intouchables is a 2011 French comedy-drama film directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano. An unlikely friendship develops between a wealthy quadriplegic (François Cluzet) and his caretaker (Omar Sy), just released from prison.

Posted in 🍿 F I L M : M O T I O N, 👽 [F]-F I L E S, 🥝 K I W I A N A
Tags: Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, Ramari Rakuraku-Foster, Sci-Fi Under The Stars [F], Silo Park, Silo Park Cinema presents: The Intouchables, The Intouchables is a 2011 French comedy-drama film directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano

Nirvana “Dumb” [♬]

•March 20, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Posted in ⏪ T H R O W B A C K, 🎨 A R T : A U D I O 🎶, 👽 [F]-F I L E S
Tags: ♬, Having one of those days, i think i'm dumb, In Utero, Nirvana "Dumb" [♬], Throwback

Looking at You [movie montage]

•March 14, 2015 • Leave a Comment

It is common practice when making movies, not to look into the camera. It’s like crossing a dimension, or rather, acknowledging the audience and awakening them to reality and their own subconscious suspension of disbelief. It’s a plain and simple no-no. But like many rules, when tested and executed sparingly, they can be put to dramatic effect.

Many of these shots are subtle and easy to miss, but highly effective — see for yourself:

Song: “Can’t take my eyes off you” performed by Manic Street Preachers and also by Muse.

This is a tribute to the wink of complicity from the filmmakers to the audience when they make actors look straight into the camera. It is not a tribute to scenes where the fourth wall is broken (when a character addresses the audience directly), some clips in the video belong to that category but most of them don’t cause it is not what we wanted to show.

There are 150 different clips (from 148 films) in this video, but at first I had selected more than 200 films. I left out dozens of scenes on purpose, cause I didn’t want a 15 minutes montage. Apologies in advance for every film I deliberately discarded, forgot or missed. For example, I really regret forgetting about Kurt Russell in “Death Proof”, Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins” and Tilda Swinton in “Orlando”. ~ Brutzelpretzel

Posted in 🍿 F I L M : M O T I O N, 😂 F U N N Y : J U N K
Tags: "Hello" [mashup/montage], "Ice Ice Baby" [mashup/montage], fourth wall is broken, Looking at You [movie montage], Song: "Can't take my eyes off you" performed by Manic Street Preachers and also by Muse

Darren Aronofsky’s “Pi” (1998) [movie trailer]

•March 14, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Posted in 🍿 F I L M : M O T I O N, 👽 [F]-F I L E S
Tags: "π" 3/14/15 — International Pi Day, cult movie, Cyberpunk, Darren Aronofsky's "Pi" (1998) [movie trailer], mathematical constant, Movie Trailer, Nature by Numbers

“π” 3/14/15 — International Pi Day

•March 14, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Celebrate Mathematics on March 14th …with a PIE!!!

pi bg

Pi Day is celebrated yearly, but this year, 2015, is special because this sequence happens once in a century. For the first time in a 100 years, Pi Day will represent the first 10 digits of the mathematical constant — It’s the Pi Day of the century people!

Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.

Posted in 🔬 S C I E N C E/T E C H : N A T U R E 🌲, 🕶️ C O O L : S T U F F
Tags: "π" 3/14/15 — International Pi Day, Math magic, Pi, science

Bridge lighting up for birthday buzz

•March 12, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Bridge lighting up for birthday buzz

The lights and music on the Harbour Bridge will run for four hours tonight, tomorrow and Saturday for the next six weeks.

Auckland’s Harbour Bridge will light up tonight as part of celebrations for the city’s 175th birthday, thanks to telco 2degrees.

More than 51,000 light bulbs and 1000 LED light tubes along the bridge will be flicked on for the ‘Play the Bridge’ show’s opening evening at 7.30.

“This has been six months in planning so we’re really excited to finally be in a position to share this with New Zealand,” 2degrees chief marketing officer Malcolm Phillipps said.

The four-hour show, which will also feature music selected by members of the public, is due to run every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7.30pm on the city-facing side of the Harbour Bridge for the next six weeks.

“We are proud of this Kiwi innovation and very much looking forward to the whole country getting involved in playing the bridge,” Mr Phillipps said.

~ NZ Herald

Posted in 📰 N E W S, 🥝 K I W I A N A
Tags: Auckland City's 175th Birthday, Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, New Zealand

Snakehips “Forever” (Pt. II) Feat. Kaleem Taylor [♬]

•March 12, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Coming off an unexpected, but extremely dope, collaboration with Tory Lanez, Snakehips released their highly anticipated EP yesterday. “Forever (Pt. II),” the title track from the project, sees the UK production duo returning to their signature future R&B style bringing in the immensely talented Kaleem Taylor to carry the vocals. The resulting song mixes truly soulful vibes with the distinct Snakehips bounce. Out now on iTunes. / Music video features dance choreographers Aya Sato & Bambi:

Posted in 🎨 A R T : A U D I O 🎶
Tags: #R&B, ♬, Electronic, https://instagram.com/ayasato1006, https://instagram.com/bambi_0615, I ♥ MUSIC, Snakehips "Forever" (Pt. II) Feat. Kaleem Taylor [♬], Snakehips (ft Sinead Harnett) "Days With You", soundcloud

My 1st Double Exposures

•March 10, 2015 • Leave a Comment

2015-03-09 17.45.09

A multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image. This imaging technique is easy enough to manipulate on digital devices, such as on a computer, but there is something special about the in-camera chemical reaction that takes place there in your hands, and when you see the result, it’s like a neat & unique surprise — a truly one of a kind picture. Some people hate the randomness with a passion, which is understandable because commercially it is considered unprofessional. However, if you’re anything like me, it is quite easy to fall in love with the low-fi aesthetic of analogue film photography. I love it!

Anyway; I’ve decided that this year will be the year I get back into photography, all analogue and mostly experimental. So with my newly acquired secondhand Lomo LC-A+, I decided to try something I’ve always wanted to — the multiple exposures on a single frame of film photo.

Firstly, I aimed the camera at the table because I thought it had a good texture, then I aimed behind me. I waited until there was no one in frame, then snapped the picture.

A life drawing session down by the Auckland waterfront provided me with another opportunity to experiment with my new camera technique, with the life models proving to be interesting subjects in and of themselves:

I’m still a bit green with reading and using light sensitivity controls, but just looky!!!

LOMO-INSTAX001.5

Mmm, photographic surrealism. Me and my exploits aside; if you would like to chill outdoors by the waterfront and sketch amid other creatives, do come along to the last drawing club session of the year, on APRIL 7, 5:30pm – 7:30pm, rain or shine. Live model, still life backdrops + live DJ provided. <www.facebook.com/events/468950006576424/> Plus if I see you there, I’d like to fuse your head with a Nīkau palm or something. Cool?

Posted in 👽 [F]-F I L E S, 📷 P H O T O G R A P H Y
Tags: aesthetic beauty, analogue photography, Cleo Barnett, DRAWING CLUB on Queens Wharf, experiment, Girl, Lomo LC-A+, model, My 1st Double Exposures, photogenic, Surreal Artwork, The University of Auckland, unique

The Oscars without Dialogue

•March 6, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Take away the unfunny jokes, cheesy musical numbers, and the long lists of thank yous, and the show would probably amount to a long night of uncomfortable silences:

Posted in 🍿 F I L M : M O T I O N, 😂 F U N N Y : J U N K
Tags: actor, Music Videos Without Music: "Turn Down for What", The Oscars without Dialogue, Tonight's Top Story - Awkwardness

DaShuHua (打树花) — China’s Blacksmiths Put On Dazzling Display for New Year

•March 5, 2015 • Leave a Comment

DaShuHua (打树花) — China's Blacksmiths Put On Dazzling Display for New Year

Clothed in sheepskin and armed with wooden ladles, blacksmiths in the old Chinese steel town of Nuanquan ring in the Lunar New Year, not with fireworks, but by flinging arcs of molten iron against the cold brick of the city wall:

The dangerous tradition of Dashuhua has been practiced by blacksmiths as part of the Lantern festival for over 500 years. It involves throwing scraps of molten iron towards the bricks of the city gate, resulting in a fiery visual spectacle.

During Chinese New Year and also during the lantern Festival, many people light-off fireworks as a traditional effort to scare off demons. During this festive season, only the wealthy could ever afford to buy fire-crackers while farmers and blacksmiths could not warrant such an expense. So by taking inspiration from the sparks of their iron work, a group of blacksmiths 300-years ago decided to splash molten metal against the walls of their city and create beautiful flower patterns from the cooling iron.

As years passed, locals began calling it DaShuHua Firework. And ever since, the people of the city have continued to donate their scrap metal to perform this illuminating ritual. Only iron was used at the very beginning stage, but gradually aluminium and copper was also added to produce white and green coloured flowers. …I love this!