Coppola and the merits of stealing

I've been on a Coppola kick, but hey, he's a smart guy:



As an aside, when I was fortunate enough to take a few art classes with George Pratt, we would copy master paintings to understand the mindset of particular artists. In emulating them, we solved some of the same problems they had to solve in compositions and essentially, we stole their knowledge. Go. Steal. Create.

Coppola and the merits of risk

Risk
-noun
-exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance
-to venture upon; take or run the chance of



If you're wondering why should you listen to this man, it's because if anyone knows about risking all for a passion, HE would. The risks Coppola took to film a little movie called 'Apocalypse Now'(considered to be a masterpiece and #30 on AFI's top 100 movies in the past 100 years) were great and include:

-mortgaging his home
-spending large amounts of his personal savings on his film
-suffering a breakdown
-dealing with actors' heart attacks, obesity and drug problems
-extending the shoot by 13 months
-enduring typhoons
-filming in a country at war with local guerrillas
-entertaining the idea that George Lucas should direct his film....

"The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live."

more about the filming of Apocalypse Now

A peek into the mind Darren Aronofsky

"What was interesting was that swan lake the ballet is just this great fairy tale filled with Gothic and scary elements, and this one dancer was telling me how the swan queen is a half swan half human creature and this idea of a were-swan went of in my head and I realized, we were kinda making this were-wolf movie and it sort of built out of that."



My first Aronofsky experience took place in college and it came with a warning, "Raph, if you're gonna watch 'Requiem for a Dream', you NEED to have a happy follow up movie or your emotions are gonna be jacked for the next few days." I thought I was an avid movie watcher at the time, so I naturally scoffed such a ludicrous notion. Two hours later, I found myself sitting on my futon, clutching my blanket, and looking at my friend with eyes that screamed "Hug me!"

Years later I saw Requiem at Best Buy for 4 bucks and couldn't pass up the deal, however, it was at least another 2 years before I ever thought about watching the movie again because the thought of seeing Jared Leto shoot up into a decrepit vein made my skin crawl. I eventually manned up and re watched the flick, and because the initial shock was gone, I found that it was indeed a really great movie.

Fast forward to the theatrical release of 'The Fountain'; the day I went to see it, I had the top row, middle seat of an empty theater save 3 teenagers, 2 twenty somethings and a couple at least in their fifties if not older. At the end of the movie, I sat in silence because I really loved the film and as I proceeded to look around, I noticed that the teens made jokes about the movie being stupid, the twenty somethings seemed to be satisfied with the evenings entertainment and walked out, but the older couple, they really got it. Mid way through the movie, they started holding each other and at the end, they looked into each others eyes, passionately kissed, and walk out hand in hand. To evoke such different emotions from three different age groups according to their understanding of life astonished me and from then on I knew, I was in love with Darren Aronofsky as a film maker.

Needless to say, hearing Aronofsky talk about his new film Black Swan is super inspirational to me!

Rocky Says Break To Build

GET HYPE. STAY HYPE. IF NOT, ALL THAT EXISTS FOR YOU IS HELL. IF YOU AIN'T HYPE, CHANGE THAT SHIT. KNOW IT'S GONNA HURT, BUT ATTAINING YOUR SELF WORTH SHOULD HURT SO YOU KNOW YOUR ALIVE. GET THAT INSPIRATION BITCHES!

"Miyazaki wouldn't tell you nuthin' that ain't true"

"I give young people this advice because jumping into the industry four years early isn't going to help them become full animators any faster. Once your in the industry, you'll be overwhelmed with work and you won't have any time to study or learn for yourself.
One of the things about drawing is that, if you put in serious effort, you will be good at it, at least to a certain extent. But that's all the more reason to study a variety of things that interest you while you have the time, before you enter the professional world, in order to develop and solidify such fundamentals as your own viewpoint and way of thinking.
If you don't do this, your life will be treated as just another disposable product. In the animation business, most people spend a long time working at the bottom of the organizational ladder. You usually have to endure a lengthy apprenticeship period, waiting patiently for the chance to someday demonstrate what you can do. But the opportunity to demonstrate what you can do only comes along once in a while, so unless you are extraordinarily lucky, you'll probably never make it.
To endure something is obviously exhausting and agonizing. But at the same time, you must also continue to hold what you regard as important close to your heart and to nurture it. Should you relinquish what you truly hold dear, the only path left to you will be that of a pencil-pusher...the type of animator whose sense of self-worth is determined by the numerical amount of his earnings, or who cycles between joy and despair over the high or low ratings his work receives.
It is all well and good to love animation, but I always counsel people, it is best not to think of entering this business lightly. Animation is still a very new field, and there are only a few works in existence that we can really call classics. But it is essential to watch as many of these classics as possible. And it is also essential to be interested in subjects that have traditions going back hundreds of years, and to broaden your own knowledge. In exerting yourself to this end, you will find that you develop something truly all your own."


taken from a section of "Starting Point :1979~1996 Hayao Miyazaki"

P.S. - Though Miyazaki-san is talking about animation, his wisdom can be applied to any field. Don't get caught in the tide of bullshit, stay hype!

The Curious Case of Movie Wisdom

I've maintained for some time that in many forms entertainment there are always kernels of unfathomable truth no matter how outrageous the story. So many people are putting forth so much effort into production that something real is almost always transferred, whether on purpose or not.

Unfortunately, I know a lot of people who have forgotten who they are and what they're capable of and have simply lost the true meaning and worth of life in dealing with the daily bullshit grind. I dedicate this clip to you. Get that inspiration at all costs or resign to being a cog of no worth, the choice is yours



“For what it’s worth -it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it -I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of -If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

Daniel Day-Lewis can teach everyone passion

I really, truly like and admire passionate people. There is something about a person being excited about/dedicating themselves fully to an idea, a craft, a person, a whatever, that to me is one of the purest traits that we as humans have. In my eyes, passion is truly one of the doorways to experiencing the best life has to offer.

So what does this have to do with Daniel Day-Lewis (DDL for the rest of this post)? Everything. I wasn't really made aware of DDL until I saw the Scorsese flick "Gangs of New York" and was blown away by the character Bill the Butcher. Their was an electricity in his cruelty that was simply undeniable and unforgettable to me. Soon afterwards, I rented "My left foot" and was sold on his commitment to his craft forever. For those who have not seen the movie, he plays a man that has cerebral palsy and had you not known he was an actor, you would have guessed that DDL was stricken with that in real life. Just as some examples of how far DDL takes his craft:

"My Left Foot":
Playing a severely paralyzed character on screen, off screen Day-Lewis had to be wheeled around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Brown's life, including the embarrassments. He broke two ribs during filming from assuming a hunched-over position in his wheelchair for so many weeks.

"Last of the Mohican's":
he reportedly underwent rigorous weight training and learned to live off the land and forest where his character lived, camping, hunting and fishing. He even carried a Kentucky Rifle at all times during filming in order to remain in character and learned how to skin animals.

"In the Name of the Father":
He lost a substantial amount of weight for the part, kept his Northern Irish accent on and off the set for the entire shooting schedule, and spent stretches of time in a prison cell. He also insisted that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him.

Now as I was reading the above examples, I know I must come off as fucking insane to some. "Raph, you expect me to break my ribs and have bitches yell at me and shit for a job??? Mutha fucka you need ta...." and it goes on and on. The answer, no. But I do believe that everyone can benefit from doing what they enjoy and doing it well. While I was still working at the-job-that shall-not-be-named, I often found my refuge at Barnes and Noble and there was one employee in particular that amazed me. She was this much older french lady with a slight hunch, interesting teeth, big glasses, and so-so english; every time she rang someone up, she just seemed to be happy and in turn made the customer happy and it was in these moments she was just as potent as academy award nominated acting.

So basically what I'm trying to say is find something you can dedicate yourself to and go DDL style

links:
DDL's wikipedia page











p.s. - like everything in life, passion can be a double edged sword, but this particular sword for some is potentially the most dangerous of character traits.

F for Freedom, V for Valerie, V for Vendetta

Why is it that we must wait until we face death to actually consider living free, living fearless? Is it because as a society individuals are not taught to be free because it doesn't benefit capitalist ideals to breed mavericks? Is it because of religion, fear, family? At the end of the day it doesn't matter what it is that the chains are made of, only that you recognize them and destroy them no matter what the cost. I encourage you all to live with freedom, don't be bound by anything like so many are. Rise above commonality, control your fate, become the undeniable pillar that people are forced to look to because you withstand all. Don't be held down by bullshit jobs, relationshits, titles, bullshit political systems, fear, be free. It is the road less traveled and lonely but in my opinion, it's the only road worth traversing.


suggested reading:



suggested vocabulary:

in·teg·ri·ty

–noun
1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

Ideas that are given to the world

In honoring the memory of a budding artist whose work I enjoyed, I'm taking this time to applaud him on the physical direction that he decided to take this lunatic character . Classically (never thought I'd be using that term to describe comics) most of the world knows the joker as this : the well-groomed-perfect-white-complected-well-placed-red-lipstick wearing madman. The legions of comic nerds know him as such especially, and when dealing with them, you tread on dangerous territory because despite their looks, they will fuck you up. I'm not sure if Heath Ledger knew of these dangers, but he flew in the face of all that and brought a new version of the Joker to the masses. When this image of the new Joker was first released, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen, but it made sooo much sense. From one image, you could tell it was a real life mad man, a Joker that, apparently toward the end of shooting the "dark knight", was staying in Heath so much that he was getting only 2 hours of sleep a night. Fuck the perfect green hair, you can see that my shit is clearly dyed, but I'll still cut ya! Fuck the chemical bath perfect white skin, my shit is makeup, makeup runs, but I'll still shoot ya! And lastly, fuck the permanent smile, that shit hurts and I can't have my face hurting while I'm being devious so I'm just gonna carve it into my fucking face!

Combined with a great online marketing strategy, new trailers and a 6 minute preview of the film, Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan have forever changed the image of the Joker. Already, a google image search of the character yields many images of this interpretation (as well as the occasional porn). Though the character didn't start out this way, once it was released into the world, it began to morph and change in nature. That, in my opinion, is probably the highest honor any creator can have; being present for your idea to be birthed into the world and then watching as the world molds it. Though the world may fuck your shit up every now and again, when they get it right, its truly something to behold. Now get those ideas flowing and release them into the world and as I always do at this time, get that inspiration bitches...

Heath Ledger (1979 - 2008)

just added: Christopher Nolan's Newsweek article about Heath

"Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them."