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Building a strong film foundation for students is a crucial objective for the theatre and film department at Bowling Green State University.
Bowling Green State University, or BGSU, is known for their film program and offers a variety of different concentrations. Many students who are looking to increase their knowledge of movies from its roots, as well as formulaic themes in film over time utilize the film studies concentration. Other students would rather delve right into the action and take a film production approach.
Regardless of what’s chosen, the theatre and film department at BGSU works hard to prepare their students for life after college. Brett Holden, a professor, advisor and coordinator for the department says that he wants to set his students up for success.
“I’m committed to helping them select courses that fulfill General Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Theatre and Film requirements so that they can construct a powerful undergraduate experience,” said Holden. “ I want them to explore film in a variety of venues, and prepare themselves for careers in film through selecting a complimentary minor and building a strong portfolio of their work.”
Students like Scott Yoder, a senior film major at BGSU, seem to agree that the professor and advisors work hard to ensure their success.
Scott Yoder (middle in all-black outfit) filming
“Professors like Brett are great examples of how amazing our department is. I really feel like he looks at my individual situation rather than lump with the masses,” explained Yoder.
The overall film program is also meant to compliment itself in a sense of classes, whether it’s with film studies or production.
Holden also wants students to better understand the complex nature of the filmmaking process by breaking down the art form and analyzing its individual elements. In addition, he wants them to work to heighten their film-analysis and writing skills.
For more information on the film program at BGSU, visit http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/theatrefilm/
It’s no secret that Marvel Studios has been working diligently to write, shoot and release the necessary superhero films in order to create their big boy, The Avengers. Unfortunately, Samuel L Jackson‘s script was stolen, resulting in a story breakdown of the film.
The person who stole the script quickly turned around in attempts to sell it ot the highest bidder. Luckily, no one was that cold-hearted or viewership-starving to do so. that being said, the script is still now “public domain” and will most likely find its way online any day now. This meand Marvel will have to go back to the drawing board to alter the story. I don’t know about you, but its people like that who ruin part of the anticipation and effect of big name films.
Being a massive Marvel fan, I personally upset at the thief and Samuel Jackson. Mr. Jackson, how do you lose a multi-billion dollar, top-secret script that marvel has been working towards for four-plus years now? I claim it to be sloppy, but I’m sure he has a valid reason.
Other blogs, like Badass Digest are talking about how a film of ‘Avenger’-like magnitude can’t be stopped due to financial reasons. Let’s hope they’re right, because I’ve been waiting long enough as have other Marvel fans. For now, we’ll have to speculate on whether or not the film continues at its current release date or not.
But for now, fill the void with the newly released Thor, which hit theatres in the US today. I know that’s where I’ll be tonight. And let FilmWire know what you though about Thor and leave us a comment.
J. J. Abrams is known in the film industry for keeping his cards insanely close to his chest. His new film, Super 8 which hits theatres this summer is no different. But amid all the hype and praise for the director, it’s important to note that while he was at the helm for Mission: Impossible 3, he will not be directing the fourth installment named, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. The honors in fact went to Pixar veteran, Brad Bird.
Brad Bird
Brad Bird has won two Oscars during his time at Pixar and MI3 marks his first live-action debut. And rather than be weary about this, Abrams, who is a producer for the film, couldn’t be happier about it. In a recent interview with MTV, Abrams goes into details.
“He’s a filmmaker who has happened to use animation as a medium, but it’s his filmmaking and his characters and his rhythm and his comedy, the action he can do, it’s just the humanity that he’s done that comes through in movies that have happened to be animated. Seeing that kind of nuance in a movie with people is just, I’m just so thrilled to be a part of it all. I haven’t seen the whole thing, but what I have seen is sort of mind-blowing,” explains Abrams.
J. J. Abrams
“I couldn’t be more excited about [Ghost Protocol]. Not only is the movie coming along, but what I’ve seen is kind of unbelievable.”
It’s great to hear that things are coming along nicely. It’s also important to note that for a directoral debut, it doesn’t get much better. Not only is Bird working with Tom Cruise, but he’s helming one of the biggest franchises around. The only other director with this big of a debut in recent time has been Joe Kosinski for Tron Legacy.
With blog and news sites regarding film and movies being vast and cumbersome, a select few surpass the clutter and outperform the rest.
In present day media, the world revolves around the Internet and all of its ties. Almost anything and everything can be handled online whether it be maintaining a bank account, applying for jobs, evolving social networking or reading commentary via blog sites. The latest news and opinion on film and movies are no different.
Readers can delve deep within the subject and find exactly what they’re looking for. Some surf for the latest developments in upcoming films while others read the gossip on their favorite actors and actresses. But each of these is part of niche markets and viewership. Most sites maintain one specific topic, which allows them to cater to their audience. An issue arises due to the fact that this creates hundreds of blogs, which not only clutter search engines, but also frustrate people attempting to find news on movies. The process of sifting through blogs can be tiresome to Matt Petrella, a senior at Bowling Green State University.
“It ticks me off that I literally spend more time searching for the right film blog versus reading actual articles,” said Petrella. “You would think there would be sites that can fix this and cover a lot of general news in movies.”
Luckily, there are two sites that specifically aim to not be specific.
/Film, pronounced ‘slash film’, and Cinema Blend are two blog sites that cater to approaching film
Image from Cinema Blend
and movie news on all fronts. With a diverse writing staff focusing on different aspects of the subject, both sites do a wonderful job of not only creating quality content and timely news, but organize it in an appropriate way for easy navigation. Both sites also keep a fresh and modern template, which gives them a more “current” feel in today’s ever-changing world.
Image from /Film
/Film is also very skilled in their comments section of each post and article. With the average number of comments reaching 50 per post, it’s apparent that the writers, designers and staff of /Film take their blog site very seriously.
Through the mess that is film blogging, it’s good to know that at least two sites produce quality work while still maintaining a wide and diverse audience. /Film and Cinema blend have worked hard to surface to the top and it shows.
Awhile back, I took the time to make a video review on ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. The trouble was, I never got to post or publish it anywhere. So, for your viewing pleasure, I figured I would post the video. I provide footage from the film, my two cents and a final score.
In my early to mid-twenties, I grew up with ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise. While it’s no surprise that Universal Studios is continuing the movies for financial success reasons, it is surprising that the main characters and original actors and actresses are coming back for a second-err…third time. It’s even more shocking because the original cast will be back for a fifth installment.
The story for the fifth film in the series looks pretty standard, per usual. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and company are on the hunt for riches and need to do so stylishly and without catching the eye of the law. You know, since they’re always subtle with loud muscle cars, crazy highway chases and massive explosions. Yeah, subtle is the perfect word to describe the anti-heroes.
An official poster for 'Fast Five'
Anyway, I digress. While the crew is hatching a plan to steal millions, one badass cop will stop at nothing to foil their plan. This cop? Yup, you guessed it. Dwayne Johnson, AKA The Rock, plays Agent Hobbs. He specializes in big muscles and an angry looking goatee. The two forces collide and the result should be a series of insane (and impossible) car chases and stunts, along with some epic fight scenes and of course, an explosion or two…or three. Maybe four? Who am I kidding; we’ll probably have one explosion every ten minutes.
All joking aside, ‘Fast Five’ does look fun. And let’s be honest, you never see these movies for Oscar winning plots or story. The acting has always been decent with the original cast, and most importantly, they’re familiar. Since we’ve been around these characters for ten years now, it’s easy to feel a sense of attachment. I also like the idea of Dwayne Johnson jumping in, being a fan of his action work.
So bottom line, the film looks good for a Friday night out. Grab a bucket of popcorn, get comfy and enjoy the excess filmmaking that Hollywood offers.
What do you think? Will it fly or flop? Leave a comment below.
Fast Five hits theaters Friday, April 29th.
I had the chance to sit down with Scott Major last week and talk about his time and experience as a film major at Bowling Green State University. Click the link below to here the interview.
Although Bowling Green is a smaller community in comparison to other larger cities in Ohio, it still offers a variety of different film and theatre options. There are several places in BG that provide entertainment and education regarding film, movies and theatrical performances and this map will allow you to see where all of these locations are, based off of the central and familiar Bowen-Thompson Student Union at BGSU.
View The Film Scene in Bowling Green in a larger map
To view this map on a seperate tab or window click here.
If you’re a huge pocket nerd like me, then learning that a sequel to Tron was in development a few years ago was anything but expected. Now that the film has come and and gone out of theaters, fans have anxiously awaited the release of the Blu-Ray. On April 5th, this Tuesday, the wait is over.
But one thing that every major studio does is release different editions of their films, ranging from your basic film-only copy to editions with every bell and whistle imaginable. So before you set off to purchase Tron Legacy, here’s a list of what each edition holds and their estimated prices.
Tron Legacy Digital Download $9.99-$19.99
Tron Legacy 1-Disc DVD Edition $15.99
Tron Legacy 2-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack $24.99
Tron Legacy 4-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack $29.99
Tron Legacy 5-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack $49.99
Tron Legacy 5-Disc Blu-Ray Collectible Edition $64.99
Information regarding edition differences can be found here. Prices can be found here and on iTunes.