Tag Archives: film student

Socio-Political Symbolism in Dracula

Robert Sklar said the horror movies of the 1930s, like the 1931 film Dracula, expressed the public’s “fear for the survival their society and pleasure at seeing someone… vent his rage at it” (179). Rather than venting rage, one could suppose that it was more along the premise of seizing personal power over society Continue reading

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Film Noir: The Mother of the Psychological Thriller

I believe it is possible that psychological thrillers such as Rope (1948), The Shining (1980), Jaws (1975); and the genre of psychological thrillers as a whole are natural extensions of film noir. Continue reading

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Boom Times for Film and Video Makers

Web video has become very profitable and there will be huge increases in motion picture / video related job markets. In other words, now is a good time to be a filmmaker. Continue reading

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‘Tis the Season . . . to Apply to Film Schools (Part II)

Last time, I talked about my top three choices: USC, UCLA, and CalArts. Today, I’m going to give brief descriptions of 4 more schools, some of them unusual choices. Continue reading

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‘Tis the Season . . . to Apply to Film Schools (Part I)

Yes, it’s true that some film programs let you apply for spring or winter admission, but for the most part film students everywhere will be applying for fall – usually a year in advance – just about now, in fact. Continue reading

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My Top 13 Halloween Movies!

The spooky season is upon us once again! For cineastes, that means putting together a marathon of films to watch on Halloween. In keeping with the festivities, I’ve decided to start a tradition on this blog of listing my top 13 movies to watch on Halloween. This year, I’m listing my top 13 comedic Halloween movies: Continue reading

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The Original Version Was Better!

After having recently watched the new versions of Day the Earth Stood Still and Sleepy Hollow, I started thinking about remakes. When is it worthwhile to do a remake? In my own opinion, it’s worth remaking a film if it … Continue reading

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Film, TV, & Modern Media as the New Mythology

In the 1988 mini-series “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” one of the ideas Campbell explores is that fictional media (TV, radio, movies, etc) have taken the place of traditional mythology (religious texts/rituals/verbal histories) in the American culture. He further posits that this new mythology is insufficient to support the American psyche in the same way as ancient religions. Is this so? Continue reading

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The Angsty, Angsty Antihero

My previous post about superheroes got me thinking about the rising popularity of antiheroes. In attempting to define antiheroes, however, there seems to be some conflict as to whether an antihero is a protagonist who happens to be a villain or just a severely flawed hero… Continue reading

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Is There an Easy Genre of Film to Write?

Although, like any form of writing, easy is purely subjective; it seems like some genres are easier to write than others. I don’t know about most people, but for me relationship-based melodramas and horror stories are the easiest. Continue reading

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