Category Archives: 11

Final Project Blog

Posted on by
1

We can definitely mark “Movie Maker” off the list of possible career choices! This experience was insane to say the least. I have never worked so hard on a project in my life.. hands down. I honestly don’t know where to begin. I’ll start with the group of people I worked with.

Macaulay is filled with creative and talented people, and I was lucky enough with not only to work with a group of ladies who were both creative and talented, but also cooperative, thoughtful, and hard working. I was the cinematographer of the group, but all of the other roles were shared and brainstormed together to make the best possible outcome that we can make. We were all very open minded when hearing each others thoughts and ideas (and we definitely had plenty) and tried to make each idea work somehow into the film. I appreciated my group, and working with them was probably my favorite part of the film process.

All the other parts of the film process, was very… ugh. It was hard. We filmed everything in one day, with plenty of time to edit and discuss the film afterwards. Holding my camera for 9 hours straight trying to capture the moment in the best lights and angles possible was so hard, and I appreciate how my group didn’t just leave me to “handle it”, they helped and made helpful suggestions that made things a lot easier for me. My arms and back muscles felt quite sore the next day, but looking at the footage and editing it with the help of my group made it definitely worth it. Editing it was probably the hardest part of the whole process, because after doing a supposedly good job editing the “east village podwalk” I was held at high expectations and I had a big desire to meet those expectations for both myself and for my group.

I felt like the reason I didn’t “enjoy myself” making this film was because I did not connect to the script. I thought it was so weird to be honest, but to each their own. It was upsetting that after working so hard on a piece of work, I couldn’t even show my parents my group and my accomplishment due to the disgusting dialogue from Spider and the amount of cursing that went on. I felt like it wasn’t really meaningful, and once its all over, I will probably not look back at this piece of work.

With that being said, I’m still very proud of the work my group and I created. We worked really hard, just like I’m sure all of our peers in the class did, and looking at it, I can safely say that we really did the best we could. Take after take, we continued and didn’t give up, no matter how many times we burst out laughing, or someone forgot their lines, or I forgot to hit record on my camera. With no judgement, we kept marching on, and now our march has finally reached its final destination!

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve watched a lot of movies in this class over the semester, but it is hard to say that I was really affected by any of them. Did they offer contrasting views of New York City? Yes. But did any of them really change my life? Not really.

Now if I am being asked which movie I liked the best, the answer is simple: The Muppets Take Manhattan. Hensen’s 1984 film is a cut above the rest, in my opinion.

First, who can truthfully say that he or she does not enjoy a musical, especially one with puppets? The musical quality of the film lends a whimsical tone that the others movie lack, what with their murders, unnamed cats, and crazy cab drivers.

Next, Miss Piggy. Miss Piggy is a fantastic character who, while she is a wacky puppet, can serve as a role model for any girl. She does not allow herself to fall victim to cat-callers on the street, she chases down a thief all on her own when no one lifts a finger to help her, and she looks fantastic doing it all. And let’s not forget that she sings a song about how she wants to be a mother but will also master every career known to man and tricks Kermit the Frog into marrying her. Miss Piggy will not be confined in any gender boxes; that is important for young girls to see.

Finally, I felt like The Muppets Take Manhattan was actually one of the realest films I watched this semester, despite its being a goofy comedy, at least regarding people who want to make it big on Broadway. The gang, just out of college, thinks that they can make it on Broadway in just one day when they are discussing the locker situation, claiming that “It’s only for one night; we’ll be on Broadway tomorrow.” But then, they are rudely awakened to find that it is not actually that easy. They end up having to all go separate ways and take terrible jobs just to support themselves. I think that is really realistic because it is really representative of all the young people who come to New York hoping to become famous. The muppets could have been successful on Broadway right away and the film could have just shown them struggling during the production of the show, and that would have been much more unrealistic. This movie also does not shy away from showing the less-than-perfect parts of New York City: the cat-calling construction workers, the thief in Central Park, and the jokes about rats in the restaurants. It is really important that the director did not depict a perfect New York City because the only impressions some people get of other cities are from movies, so it would be almost cruel to lie to people and make them think that this city is a wonderland where the streets are paved with gold. Lastly, this movie shows the audience that, sometimes, people find success by luck; sometimes you just need to meet the right person with the right connections. That truth might be tough to hear, but it still is the truth.

So, maybe The Muppets Take Manhattan did affect me the most in a way. It confirmed some truths for me about New York City and provided powerful influences through characters that people need.

Side note: Did anyone else find it really disturbing that the Swedish Chef guy had human hands? That kind of messed me up for a few minutes.