Weekly Movie Review: X-Men First Class

During the school year I started to write movie reviews for the school paper, naturally I thought that it would be an interesting subject to bring to the blog as well. After all, this blog is about all things that I do concerning art, not just photos. (Not anymore at least.)

I have always enjoyed movies, my minor is film studies, I am particularly interested in the theoretical considerations of narrative voice in movies, and I have begun to explore video documentation (in an augmentation to my photographic work) - in short, I am a bit of a movie nerd. Another subject that I consider myself a bit nerdy about is comics. I fell into the world of webcomics freshman year in college, and last summer got into superhero comics, primarily the Green Lantern. I do read some Marvel titles (and some Dark Horse and Image as well) but X-Men has never been a favorite. I saw the other movies when they came out, but I don't really remember them well; however, I believe that X-Men First Class is a super hero movie that I will be adding to my personal collection.

***There are no spoiler alerts in the following review, there really is nothing in the movie to spoil as everything happens rather straightforwardly.***

This movie can really be seen as an origin story for Prof. X and Magneto. Now at the start I should point out that the storyline that the movie presents is not how Prof. X and Magneto met in the original comics; yet, I think that story in First Class is more compelling than what I have read in the way of synopsis on the original. (There is not that much change, but in the movie as a child Magneto, or Erik, is captured by the Nazis - he is Jewish - and experimented on; in the comics he escapes the camps and goes on to father twins.) There are other storyline facts that I am not exactly sure about their truth to the comic-storyline, however I believe that they make interesting associations (such as a romantic flare between Beast and Mystic, Mystic growing up with Charles, etc.) that make for a more developed "first class." It was also interesting to see Emma Frost and Azazel on screen, as well as Beast's transformation into the blue hairball that we all know him as.

Yet, what I found best about the film was the issues that it grappled with, not just on a character development level, but the moral issue of revenge and justice, forgiveness, acceptance, and how to act in light of [super]physical superiority. These elements are some not commonly found in super hero movies and, in my opinion, not commonly found in Marvel storylines. In these regards, X-Men First Class is a refreshing change from what we have come to expect from super hero movies (which seems to be just special effects and explosions).

That is not to say that First Class didn't have these elements - the final fight scene was actually rather epic in that it was very superpowers focused, but it did not make them more powerful than they should be.

There was also some very well done character development (primarily for Magneto, however to a lesser extent Prof. X and Mystic) for a superhero movie. After seeing this movie I feel like Magneto may be the most tragic heroic villain I have ever heard a story from, and I actually feel like I can understand his decision to split from Prof. X and start the Brotherhood of Mutants.

I hope that the upcoming Green Lantern movie can deliver in the ways that X-Men First Class did, because as of right now First Class is the best superhero movie I have seen since the last Batman film.

-joshua

Death and the Human Response: Buddhism

The past semester I and another student have been working on a series of videos focusing on the phenomenon of death and the human response to death as part of a school research group. There are six of us in the group, and everyone has helped the process in some way, but the whole project was really Brad Sadd's idea, and I was lucky enough to have the cameras needed to film and the computer/software needed to edit the video together. I have really enjoyed working on this project as it gave me a chance to combine photography, documentary film, and philosophy all into one project.

With all of the footage that we have captured in the past semester we have 8 short films in the works, although this is the only one ready to show at this moment. By the end of the month we should have about 4, and all of them should be finished by the end of June, but of course I will keep you updated as we progress.

This particular film raises questions about the viability of the eastern philosophy of Buddhism as an adequate belief system to cope with suffering and the realization of one's own mortality and I believe that it approaches the topic on a level that is easy for all to understand. [View the movie below, or see it on YouTube here.]



The films cover a variety of topic touching on everything from something as general as "What is death?" to famous arguments by ancient philosophers about the futility of dreading death to psychological and biological reactions to death. At this time I have plans to continue this project for another year, expanding the series to look at various religious communities' responses to death and attitudes towards the belief in an afterlife.

-joshua

Art 213 - Final Project [Part 1]

So, tonight's blog post was going to be about a project that I have been working on with another student for the past semester, but I left the jumpdrive with the file on it at work today (I was making a flyer for one of the exhibits at the Museum) and so I don't have it to upload.

Fortunately, I was planning on doing several blog posts this week before my trip to the beach next week, and so I will put up some other stuff tonight.

I have 5 photos that I shot for my final project in Art 213 (Beginning photography) this past semester. For this project we had to shoot at least 4 roles of black and white film, develop everything, and make at least 6 final prints in the style of a famous photographer. I chose William Klein as my photographer (he was a fashion photographer for Vogue (Paris) in the late 1950's early '60's) and I decided to do a fashion-esk mini-story, which had 8 frames in it (if I remember correctly, I only have my extras as I haven't gotten the whole project back yet).

[For those that are curious, these were shot and printed in black and white film/paper, but I have scanned them in and did some levels/contrast adjusting in Photoshop afterwards.]

I was really drawn to Klein's work because of his technique, which at the time was a challenge to the norm. He shot with wide-angles, telephotos, and flash, when the standard was the 50 prime, and I really liked the voyeurism and photojournalistic edge that he brought to his fashion photography.

I didn't have quite the budget that I would have liked obviously, but I believe that the shoot went really well considering all of the circumstances, and I really enjoyed this project.

When I get my portfolio back I will scan and upload the rest of the photos from this series, and make a flickr gallery for them all as well.

until then,

-joshua

It's Been a While...

So, it has been a while since the last time I blogged. School turned out to be a bit more than I expected this past year, but now that it is over I am going to do my best to start blogging again. (For the summer at least.)

I am not going to make any promises as I might not be able to keep them, and it might turn out that I am not happy with blogging. But for now I come back to blogging with the intention of sharing some of the things that I have been working on. For this first post I am going to post a photo that I have on the facebook page, but I have tweeked it a bit and I think that it is better now. I am considering entering it into a contest that Digital Photo Pro has going on.

I am working on a few more to go with this series, so I am going to wait until I post them to talk about the technical aspects. Also, tomorrow I am going to post a video that I have been working on for school, with some more information about that project, but for now, enjoy this:

-joshua

Assignments for Student Media

This week's first blog post (which really should have been last week's, but it was a really busy week) is mainly just some assignments that I had for yearbook and the newspaper. Unfortunately most of these stories didn't run (something you have to deal with in the world of newspaper) but I still had a good time taking these photos.

These first two stories are from a story that I didn't expect to run because it wasn't assigned (we didn't know about it and it happened on a Friday, so even if we ran it it would have been a week late) but I thought it was a cool story and wanted to take pictures of it. I was pretty happy with the two shots that I got.

This was the "safe shot" that I got. One thing that I have been noticing this year is that I have been thinking about photography assignments much more like a photojournalist. Whenever I get to the assignment I first think about the safest photo that tells the story but it easy to get. Then with the remaining time (most times there aren't a time limit, but it seemed like everything I did this past week there was) I try to be a bit more artistic.

What I like about this second shot is that it is from an unusual and unnatural angle (unless you are naturally 10 feet tall) that shows pretty much what the whole story was about (the landscape architecture group made two parking spaces into a small park).

I had to take some photos of Fike for the yearbook, and in the past it seems like most of the pictures have just been general pictures of the overview of FIke. So I tried to get some more close up pictures of people working out. These are a few of them.

The reason I was in Fike was to shoot the Orange and White Swimming and Diving meet. (Although this story didn't even run.) I have never taken a lot of pictures of swimming, and it was kinda tough because the action is mostly underwater, or you can't get a good angle on shot and the whole area surrounding the pool is water (which doesn't mesh very well with multi-thousand dollar camera equipment) so there are more than a few considerations when taking pictures at swimming events. But I think that I got some good ones, and as with anything, the more times I shoot in that environment the better the pictures will be.

This one I liked because it was a little artsy with the way that the water splash mimics the motion of the swimmers arm.

I also covered Glenn Beck's performance at Littlejohn Coliseum which was pretty fun, but to avoid a political discussion, I am just going to post these photos and not talk about the performance.

The last story I had for this week was CCIT moving to the library. I figured they would just want a photo of someone behind the help desk helping a student (they actually ended up using a photo of just the guy working behind the computer) but I took the opportunity to take some photos of the people behind the desks and the techies.

Anyway, that is all for this update. Sunday night I will have an update about all the sports that I have been taking these past few days, volleyball and soccer. It's not football but it is something. So, until then,

-joshua

Sorry

I know that I missed the update last week (nothing interesting was going on anyway) but although I have a LOT of photos and news this week, I really just don't have time (as I don't need to fall behind on my homework as I am already trying to catch up some) so for now I would just say check out the flickr and look for a post to be up later this week.

NCAA Football: North Texas at Clemson

So I shot the football game this last Saturday and it was really my first event shooting something since about the middle of basketball season last year. I just got wrapped up in school work and that took over last year, but it feels good to be back and I think that I got some good shots yesterday.

I got quite a few shots from the game yesterday, and I am going to post a lot of them here, but if you want to see the full gallery you can see them over here on my flickr. (Also, if you want to see the captions for the photos then go to the flickr.)

As I started to do in a few posts last year, I want to use this blog as a way to show you not only how I see things while I am down on the field, but also as a chance to explain my reasoning behind each shot and why I choose it out of the more than 800 photos that I took Saturday.

So, let's get started:

I have never taken pictures of the Tiger Walk, so I figured that this year I would try some things and shot it from a few different angles. This week I was up on the balcony in the West End Zone and I got some pretty cool shots. I know how it works now, so when I am back up there I will know how to get a few better shots, but I will also be trying to get some shots by walking with them next time I am at a game.

I always take these shots although I don't think that anyone would run them (except the organization - ROTC) but I like taking them. I also really like the balance and sense of place that is in this photo.

Obligatory cheerleader/rally cats photo. I didn't really focus too much on the cheerleaders and rally cats Saturday (actually this is the only photo I took of them) but there is still plenty of time in the season for some pictures of them.

I was up on the hill this Saturday trying to get a shot of Dabo and the other coaches on the hill, but this was really the only shot I got. I like it though and it gives a nice sense of place, but it is really a hassle to try to take photos and fight the crowd to get back onto the field and worry about getting everything in frame, so I am not sure how many more times I will be joining the fans up on the hill.

This was my first good shot of the game, and while it isn't really an awesome shot, it is a really interesting shot of a fumble. The North Texas ball carrier got destroyed by about the whole punt return team.

Always good to have some nice stock photos of the QBs and other "famous" team members that did really well that game or that are expected to have a really good season. Unfortunately most of mine yesterday were of the North Texas QB, but there is still plenty of time in the season to get Clemson shots.

One thing to say about these "stock" photo shots is that they are the safe shots. Everyone can use a shot of the QB doing his thing (or another "famous" player from the team) because sometimes there isn't something particular that makes a game special (like a field goal kick in double over time or a game changing fumble) so it is always a good idea to take the easy shots when they come to you. Some of the first things I try to shoot are both teams QBs and the running back or wide receiver that had a really awesome game last week or is suppose to have an awesome game that day.

I am not sure if this photo would make it anywhere other than a newspaper's online gallery of the game, but I thought that it was a cool shot of the ball carrier being chased down the field.

This is a really nice shot here of the QB in action (he is being pursed by the Tigers player) and you can see his face and it has some nice emotion on it. This here is really a nice shot that shows what sports shots should be about: emotion, face, shot from the front, tight-cropped. Now of course there are exceptions to all these rules, but this is really the staple sports shot.

This is an interesting photo I think that shows some nice action.

This is a photo that I don't think would even make it into the online gallery but I thought that it was a pretty interesting shot of one of the North Texas players about to get stepped on.

Shots of the coach interacting with players are always good shots to have.

This was my favorite shot of the game; the North Texas ball carrier is sliding across the back of the Clemson player and there is a lot of intensity in his eyes. One thing that you really look for in sports shots is if you can see the player's face, because you really want to be able to feel the emotion that the players are showing. What I really like about this shot is that you can see the face of both the ball carrier and the Clemson player right beside him.

Two other shots from the sam play. I really like the action that is happening in the background in these shots.

Pictures of sacks are always a good thing to have. This one could be a little better (like say if you could see the Clemson player more clearly and if you could see the face on the North Texas QB better) but those things aside it is a pretty solid sack photo. In cases like this, the high action and the difficulty of capturing this type of shot (because there are usually other players in front of the QB, or other people rushing, or any number of things make shots like sacks and punt/kick blocks hard to get) make up for the other things that might keep a different shot out of a gallery. (Although angle is important here. In this case a side view might also be a compelling shot, but something from the back - where there is no chance at all to see the face - would make you not keep the photo.)

I find that some of my favorite shots in sports are the fouls and penalties. I have a really cool one from last basketball season of Booker fouling the daylights out of someone, and in this photo you can see that not only is the North Texas ball carrier facemasking number 36, he is ripping his helmet off.

It would be great if everyone in this photo were in focus and sharp, but the reason that I decided to keep this shot was because the intended receiver's face shows such good emotion that I thought it made up for the softness of the Clemson players and the uninteresting background. Wouldn't expect a newspaper to be interested in this shot, but you might be surprised sometimes.

Shots of players celebrating after plays are sometimes hard to capture because they will either turn to the fans closest to them (which usually leaves their back to you - or at least that seems to be the way it works for me lol) or run and interact with their teammates, which also leave them not facing you. So when you can get the shot, it is a nice one to have. A shot of a player celebrating can be the shot that best represents the game in some cases like if it is of a coach and player after the winning kick or touchdown or after the interception that seals the game. This picture here is actually after an interception in the third quarter, but it was nothing near game changing.

Tajh Boyd (our next quarterback) got to play for a little in the fourth quarter. I wanted to make sure that I got some shots of him since it was his first game, and I wanted to go with something safe. I figured that he wouldn't be doing anything too complicated, so I was fine with the positioning on the field even though I was set up a little further behind the players than I like to be.

So that is really it for this post, I have some school work to do before school today, and I might have some really exciting news coming up soon, so just stay tuned for that. I am not shooting the game this coming up weekend that I know of yet (though that may change) but I should have something else up this weekend if not football. Have a good week everyone, and until next time,

-joshua