Sam's Comics: The Christmas Special

I love it when my film making and my comic drawing cross over, and this holiday season, they have done so in a new way: Animation! Special thanks to Zach Jarom of Misconduct Films for doing a voice over!

Cast in order of speaking first:
Sam Shenberger - Sam
Shannon Asprooth - Shannon
Amelia DeWane - Amelia
Frank Padour - Frank
Zach Jarom - Zach
Sam Shenberger - Santa

Again, like I said on my Comics blog, Blogger/YouTube/Google is being buggy and I have to link it via URL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qglrTw-5uIA

Merry Christmas, one and all!

CLUTCH

Today, I finally got to shoot my first film school project. There's quite the story involved, let me tell you. It all started out as a horror film/comedy short, but evolved into something completely different and much more.

The original story was this: A young girl (Annie) and her friend (Claire) are watching horror films together. Annie makes fun of Claire for being afraid of the movies, saying "they're too fake". However, when she returns home that night to find her house empty and the lights not working, she begins to think she herself is stuck in a horror film. Just when she's the most afraid, the lights come back to reveal it was just a surprise birthday party. But wait! Plot twist, there WAS a killer in the house with her who now feels cheated out of killing her because of so many people.

That was the original. It turned from a house to a school due to location agreements. Then today when we got to filming it, we had to drop this story completely due to our actresses backing out. Determined not to back down, I wrote a new script on the train ride to the city and finished it before reaching the school. I'll wait to give you more details about the story until after I put it out, but here's a summery.

A girl cannot find the inspiration for her script, until a friend comes by and provides her with just the thoughts she needs.

The film stars myself and my assistant director, Amelia DeWane. She did an amazing job and I can't wait to share the whole film with you. In the meantime, here are some pictures:

My Classes According to The Office

As a general note, these aren't how I actually view my classes. I made this just for the laughs.

PRODUCING

SCREENWRITING

DIRECTING

EDITING

PROD MOD

CINEMATOGRAPHY

MOVIE REVIEW - The Book Thief (2013) - NON SPOILERS

I had the amazing privilege of seeing an advance screening of the upcoming movie by Fox 2000 Pictures and Studio Babelsberg, The Book Thief. The film is based on a novel by the same name written by Markus Zusak. The film won't be released until November 8th, which puts me in a prime position to write a review of this movie. Don't worry, I know when I do reviews of movies based on books, I typically write for those who have read them, but in this case I have not yet read the book, so I won't say anything that will spoil the story. I promise.

First off, I will give a brief summery of the plot (again, no spoilers!). In late 1930s Germany, young Liesel is sent to live with her new adoptive parents. She develops a keen interest in books and learns to read with the help of her new father, Hans. Their relationship deepens as World War II breaks out and Germany goes to the front. Liesel begins "borrowing" books from the mayor's wife while Hans shelters Max, a jew, in their basement, and tension runs high in this epic emotional journey.

I'm not the best at creating my own log lines, so if that wasn't good enough, here is the description straight from Internet Movie Data Base: "While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents."

Sophie Nelisse as Liesel, Emily Watson as Rosa, and Geoffrey Rush as Hans in The Book Thief (2013)

The film stars Sophie Nelisse as Liesel, Geoffrey Rush as Hans, Emily Watson as Rosa, Ben Schnetzer as Max, and Nico Liersch as Rudy.

I'll just start off with my initial thoughts on the film in general. It is VERY well done. The look is pretty accurate to the time period, and the emotional arc of the story is steady and heart-felt. It is interesting to see WWII from the eyes of the Germans, something we the American audience don't see as often. The narrative follows a little girl as she adjusts not only to her new life with new parents, but with how the world itself is changing around her.

Geoffrey Rush as Hans and Sophie Nelisse as Liesel in The Book Thief (2013)

For acting I must say, Geoffrey Rush is plain old AMAZING. He gives another compelling and engaging performance to rival even his role in The King's Speech. Yes, he is that good. He really sells the movie. Emily Watson is the perfect counter balance to his character as well, and there are many comedic yet heartwarming moments with them.

Sophie Nelisse as Liesel and Nico Liersch as Rudy in The Book Thief (2013)

Liesel is played by Sophie Nelisse, a young Canadian actress with only three films currently under her belt (including Book Theif). As the protagonist of the film, she has a lot riding on her shoulders, and she certainly delivers. Not having read the book, I cannot judge her on how close she is there, but going strictly by her performance in this film, she is really good. Her fellow young cast member, Nico  Liersch, also delivers a great performance as Sophie's friend and neighbor, Rudy. Their on screen chemistry works very well for the story and feels very natural.

Ben Schnitzer as Max and Sophie Nelisse as Liesel in The Book Thief (2013)

Being a jew hiding in the basement of a German's house, Max's story brings a sense of tension and excitement to the film. The friendship that develops as a result between Liesel and Max only heightens that tension, and every actor's performances really shine.

There wasn't much of anything in this movie that really disappointed me. I'm sure if I read the book, I would probably find something to complain about because I'm a bit of a purist in that respect, but other than that, there was one thing at the very very end that did annoy me a bit. I won't say what. It had nothing to do with the story, it was just a little visual problem I had with the final scene.

I would give this film a solid 8.5/10. A very deserving film. I highly recommend seeing it when it comes out. Geoffrey Rush alone makes it worthwhile.

My Adventure: Stumbling Upon Transformers 4 Filming Location Accidentally

This month, I start school at Tribecca Flashpoint Academy in downtown Chicago. There, I will be studying the aspects of film making. Today, my dad and I went downtown to scout out the school and make sure I could find my way there and back from the train station. On our way, we crossed a street that was blocked off. We didn't think anything of it right away, but then Dad noticed a helicopter hovering around down the way. Once at the school, we found this truck parked outside.

A truck that had a sign that reads "operated by Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, CA". In the back there was a crate filled with what seemed like filming equipment. I didn't get a good look, though. We were about to start walking back to the train station, Dad and I soon realized that there was actually a movie being filmed on LaSalle. We decided to take a closer look and we discovered that we had stumbled upon the filming site for Transformers 4!

Obviously, we couldn't get too close, but I got to see a quite a lot, all things considered. No actors were present, but there was a large transformer part out in the street (I couldn't get a good picture of that, it was too far away and my phone doesn't zoom). I did get to see a car with a camera crane on top. That was cool. We thought we had seen all that we could see, so we headed back to the train station. BUT! There was more! On the way back, there were several Transformer cars just parked on the street! Most of them were covered in tarps (including one I think was Bumblebee). One of them was OPTIMUS PRIME. He was not covered, as he was being washed. It was super cool.

 I went and looked them up on IMDB as soon as I got home. There indeed was Optimus and that military vehicle.

Opportunities like this don't happen very often, and I just happened to be passing the street when they were setting up. And there were very many people there, so I could get clear pictures of the cars. It was a cool experience. I may not be the biggest Transformers fan, but still. That was cool.