What Happens Behind the Scenes to Create a Great Movie?

Almost everyone has seen what they think is a great movie some time in their life. The movie instantly became great in their mind, maybe in the eyes of others too. They immediately began to tell everyone that they too must see this movie. Yet what made that movie great. Was it the actors? The Director? The Producer? The Screenplay? Was it a combination of all of the above? Often, the things that make a movie great, have nothing to do with what the audience sees, but more likely what they didn’t see. There are many components to making a film. Whether the film is a good or bad relies on a number of factors. Perhaps the movie was given a great marketing campaign. Certainly everyone has seen movie trailers in theaters, on television or on websites. Maybe you have seen posters, or commercial tie-ins with major retail stores, toy companies or fast food establishments. We see these things, maybe not how they were planned, but we do see them. They may increase revenue, but it does not mean it will be a great movie. More often, the greatness of the movie is dependent upon the things the audience never knows about. The desperation and determination of the screenwriter to create a story that the audience can be related to. The working atmosphere between the actors including how they feel about one another. The working environment of the crew. The planning and implementation of the production. All of these things come together without the audience ever knowing, and a great film comes about. The subject brings to mind the story of “The Awful Truth”. This screwball comedy from Columbia pictures was released in 1937. It won an Oscar for Director Leo McCarey and garnered another five nominations. Almost 60 years [...]

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What is Most Important in a Successful Movie?

Since I live near Hollywood and co-write scripts as a hobby, a friend of mine asked me: “Does the screenwriter matter more than the actors in a movie?”. When considering the most important elements in a successful film, it is virtually impossible to separate the actors from the script, to consider the screenwriter more important than the actors or to minimize the role of the director. Since the making of a film is a creative process, redacting any of the participants diminishes the product and prevents its existence. From a gritty perspective, nothing is more important to a film than the producer and the financers, because without them, the film wouldn’t exist. But for argument’s sake, let’s consider my friend’s question from the perspectives of the actor, screenwriter, producer, director and director of photography. The question will have to be re-phrased as “What is most important in a successful movie?”. From the actor’s viewpoint: Of course, the movie wouldn’t exist without the actors. You’d have a blank screen otherwise or a film with an empty set. Who’d watch that? Well, there’s that Japanese film “Isanaquashi” or whatever it’s called that had a Phillip Glass sound track and scene after scene of scorched landscapes. The critics loved it, but what do they know? So depressing. Here’s the litmus test as to what’s most important in a successful movie. Who do you see the paparazzi chasing after? Who’s in the magazines, on TV, on the red carpet, etc.? The actors, right? And whose names are on everyone’s lips? The actors. And who do the crowds flock to see? You know the answer. Now when it comes to making the successful movie, who’s the most important? Well, it’s not the screenwriter. They’ve either handed the work off or they get to sit it [...]

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My Choice Of Comic Movies

Over the years comic movies have really come a long way. From back in the day when there were only black and white silent films to today when we have computer generated images and 3D films, there are movies for all kinds of interests and tastes. One of the most popular genres of movies that have stood the test of time is the comedy. Almost everyone loves putting in a funny movie and escaping with laughter. Plus, comedies allow us to live vicariously through others in crazy situations that most of us will never be in. Here are five family-friendly comedies that are sure to keep you laughing with some good, clean fun. The Princess Bride starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright is the story of a medieval couple overcoming a hoard of crazy obstacles to prove that true love conquers all. It is one of those comic movies full of witty dialogue, quirky characters, including those played by Billy Crystal, Carol King and Mandy Patinkin, and some of the most memorable lines in all of film. “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die!” is probably the most popular. But I have to admit that anytime I was leaving the house as a teenager my father would say; (in his best Magical Max voice) “Have fun storming the castle!”. Plus, if you want to see an adorable ten-year-old Fred Savage acting with the legendary Peter Faulk, you have to see this movie. Truly, it is a funny, family classic. Besides, there is only word to describe not wanting to see this movie: inconceivable! Back in the 80s, Pee-Wee Herman was all the rage. He had his own show on Saturday mornings and was essentially the Peter Pan for a new generation; he was the [...]

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My Top Ten Scary Movies

Scary movies can be very fun to watch. There are so many from which to choose. There are slasher movies, psychological thrillers, and the classic horror movies. Here is my list of top ten scary movies. Here are my top ten scary movies The Exorcistis a frightening movie with a lot happening in it for my first top ten scary movies. The movie opens showing a priest, Father Merrin, at an archeological dig. He accidently unleashes a demon. Meanwhile, the mother in the movie is an actress making a movie that includes civil unrest at a university, and she is also going through what seems to be a bitter divorce. There’s Father Karras, a priest questioning his choice of profession and feeling guilty about neglecting his aging mother. The director of the movie the actress stars in is interested in her and also accuses her driver/butler of being a Nazi. In the middle of all this is a sweet, outgoing, young girl who becomes possessed by the demon through the recreational use of a ouija board. Fortunately, Father Merrin is an exorcist, and Father Karras is inspired to help by Merrin’s unwavering faith. This movie is not only scary, but it also has everything in it. Amityville Horror is scary because the horror happens in a family’s own home, and it’s loosely based on a true story. The first part of the movie is absolutely true. The Lutz family moves into a home fully aware of its violent history. The entire DeFeo family was killed by the oldest son while they slept in their beds. The rest of the story may or may not be true, but it’s definitely frightening. The evil spirits coming out of the basement wreak havoc on the house, try to influence the father of the [...]

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Can A Movie Change Your Life?

At least four movies have dramatically changed my life, and all of them for the better. This is no real surprise since movies are an art form, and art allows us all to engage beauty, harmony, meaning, expression, mythic themes, problems and solutions in the depths of our souls. When we allow them into our hearts and minds, the arts can bring us to ourselves, shake us to the core, revitalize us or profoundly challenge us. There are certainly bad and there are surely useless films, and some movies begin and end as entertainment that only bemuses the viewer. The same film that reaches me at a particular crossroads can be lost on someone else, and I may be saved by a film that damns someone else. Great films, though, change us all in their own formative ways. When I saw “Gone with the Wind” in high school, its sweeping power tore into my being. Until that night, I had romanticized war, for I had been charmed by growing up near Washington’s Valley Forge and I had been entranced by everything I had ever seen or read about the Civil War. The palpable destruction and suffering portrayed in “Gone with the Wind” made the screaming bullets, throbbing pain, and aching anguish of war real and lasting to me. Now I had a very different sense of my father and uncles who had fought in World War II and were largely silent about all that they had witnessed and done. The realities my male classmates were facing with their draft cards in their wallets and draft numbers assigned to them were hammered home. Now I understood why my father never wanted sons, because sons would go off to war. At the same time, that scene at the battlefield hospital taught me [...]

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My Choice Of Movie Classics

I love old movies. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, the Marx Brothers, Myrna Loy and William Powell, Cary Grant and everyone, almost all of the movies I love (at least the ones that are not special effects extravaganzas) are movies from the golden age. I spent several years working at a video store and loved the opportunity to toss in a tape of Duck Soup or The Bride Came C.O.D.  The challenge for me isn’t deciding whether to watch an old movie but which old movie to watch. Singing in the Rain is a hilarious musical that I return to whenever I need a little pickup. It tells the story of the birth of the talkies. Gene Kelly plays a silent film star who romances Debbie Reynolds while dealing with his irritating, horribly voiced co-star played by Jean Hagen. There are the wonderful songs, “Singing in the Rain”, “Moses Supposes” and “Make ‘em Laugh” as well as some amazing, acrobatic dance numbers and a slew of slapstick comedy. My personal favorite when they show Kelly & Hagen’s first talkie and the sound gets off track. Suddenly their exaggerated romantic scene becomes slapstick with each of Kelly’s lines overdubbed on Hagen’s acting. My other favorite musical is another Gene Kelly picture, An American In Paris. Ostensibly a romantic triangle (almost a square), the movie is more of a celebrations of the music of George and Ira Gershwin. Not only are there great performances of Gershwin songs like “I Got Rhythm” and “S Wonderful”, Oscar Levant dreams his way through a performance of the “Concerto in F”, Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dance through an entire ballet setting of Gershwin’s “American in Paris”. To Have and Have Not is a wonderful drama starring Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Bacall is a pickpocket [...]

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What Makes Good Film Music?

Music has been important to movies and the viewing experience since the beginning. Before “talking pictures”, an organist would provide all of the incidental and theme music for the picture, just as incidental music would sometimes be composed and performed with live theatre productions, as Mendelssohn did for a “Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Music quickly moved beyond an incidental role filling an hour or more of silence to reinforcing character’s emotions and the drama of the picture, eventually playing an integral part in the movie. Emotional signals are provided by the tone of the musical score. Since the first movies had no sound track to hear the actors, the actor’s face and the occasional cue card were the only signals as to the emotions of the characters. A live performer, usually an organist, would establish the mood of the particular scene. A good score will signal and reinforce the actor’s emotions allowing the viewers to become even more immersed in the movie. This relates back to silent movies where the live organist was expected to play in such a way to cue the audience to the emotions on the screen. Another aspect of the relationship between emotions and film score occurs when the music introduces a scene and establishes the tone. Whether it is triumphant, humorous, or tragic, the film music will give the audience a hint where the scene is building. At its most basic, the music will focus on tension and release by either moving between fast complex action and slower, smoother action, or moving from dissonance to consonance. Imagine the same panning vista with stirring music, or with sparse dissonance. One is full of hope, the other is a premonition of danger or destruction. Virtually all movies do this, but some of the most effective and obvious are [...]

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The Psychology Behind Movie Trailers

A movie trailer is a preview, or advertisement for a movie. The first movie trailer was produced in 1913 with a short commercial for a musical called The Pleasure Seekers. Trailers were originally shown at the end of the movie, but since people would leave when the movies were done the trailers were quickly moved to the front of the picture. They would also be shown between the pictures when double features became more common. Early trailers were often a combination of explosive text – often on text cards overlaid on the action, in combination with short clips of the movie and enthusiastic narration. Words like “Terrible” or “Terrifying”, “Gigantic”, “Colossal”, were often over-used as each trailer would try to top the others. The trailers would give a sense of the type of movie be it action, suspense, horror, or romantic comedy. For most of the early decades, the National Screen Service created trailers. However, in the 1960s trailers dropped the text overlays while quick cuts and montages were used more often. Stanley Kubrick was one of the first directors to control the trailers for his movies, using these techniques for a variety of ground-breaking trailers for Dr. Strangelove, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned How to Love the Bomb and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Eventually specialized companies developed to produce trailers for an array of blockbuster movies. Trailers are designed to capture the interest of the viewer and build enthusiasm for the movie in the hope that viewers will anticipate the release and plan to watch the movie. When successful a trailer will draw and enlarge the audience for the movie. Trailers typically follow a compressed three-act formula similar to many movies. Act 1 introduces the idea of the movie, while Act 2 will give hints to the [...]

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What Is Film Noir?

Film Noir, literally black film in French, is a type of movie, which began in the 1930s, and was most popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. There are wide varieties of characteristics that apply to film noir, and film theorists are in disagreement over whether film noir is an actual genre, like western or science fiction, or a movie style that can be applied to a variety of genres. One of the most striking aspects is the visual characteristic of the film noir movie. Lighting is incredibly important. A significant part of the film noir is the dark nature of the look of the movie. The movies tend to be darker visually, often set at night, and usually filmed in black and white with much attention paid to the use of shadows. Low-key or low-level lighting allows a director to have the characters moving in and out of bright light and stark shadows. Often, part of the character’s face will be left in shadow, making it more difficult to “read” the character. They are often set in visually complex environments as well. Gambling dens, chemical or industrial plants, or train-yards. It is common for directors to use mirrors or other reflected surfaces to create other visual effects and distort faces and images. Filters were also used to blur images and create dreamlike sequences. Directors also used a variety of unusual angles for filming. Rather than shooting straight on the actors and actions as most movies do. Low-angle shots where the camera is located below the eye level appear so certain characters look larger and more menacing. Dutch angles or oblique angles are also quite common, tilting the perspective of the viewer, adding to the discomfort of the setting and allowing the director to disguise some of the action. These [...]

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My Pick of Recent Movie Releases

Do you remember what it was like to go see a movie when you were a kid? The excitement and buzz all around you? The air thick with electric charge as the smiles, laughter, and conversation of the crowd gathered around you clung to the atmosphere. People lined up in groups of four and five in long lines that curved around passersby and long carpeted hallways. Everyone with one thing on their mind; the release of the most anticipated movie of the season. Whether it was Star Wars in the 70s or Harry Potter in the 00s, there is one generation gap filler that hasn’t changed in decades and that is movies. The word itself is almost magical in meaning and sound. The elements that bring together the most watched and beloved movies of our time include timeless leading ladies, dashing heroes, dastardly villains, exciting scores, breathtaking backdrops, inventive plots, and unfathomable climaxes. These are the components of a block buster worthy equation that led movies like E.T. Extraterrestrial and The Dark Knight to global and epic stardom as the highest grossing movies of all time. The Dark Knight itself became a legend when it surpassed movies with decades of staying power on the top of the charts. A story reborn of what many thought was a used up genre and character, The Dark Knight brought back to life the excitement of superhero movies and the immense likeability of the ever present arch nemesis. Now it’s been a couple of years since the release and adoration of The Dark Knight and many movies have since been released with the collective eye of the studios and all involved on the top prize of ‘highest grossing film of all time’ but few have even come close. The Harry Potter and Twilight series [...]

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1. My Favorite Recent Film Releases
2. My Overview of Recent Film Releases
3. Recent DVD Releases