Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Retrospective

The other day, I sat down and shot an interview about my YouTube series, Chronicles of the Chronicler. This is a series of episodic action-adventure themed stop-motion shorts that I've been making since 2010. They have become the most viewed videos on my YouTube channel, and been a learning experience for me in many ways. In this set of seven videos, I reflect on making the series and becoming a respected BioTuber (YouTuber who makes Bionicle-themed videos) without the intention of doing so.

Trailer Reviews - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (SPOILERS!!!)

The time has come again for another Trailer for the next film in The Hobbit trilogy, and with that comes another Trailer Review from me! I don't know about anyone else, but this is the movie coming out this year that I have been looking forward to the most. With the success of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last year, I have high expectations for its follow-up, The Desolation of Smaug. Peter Jackson continues to deliver good-looking footage based on the book by beloved author, J.R.R. Tolkien. Just like in my Trailer Review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, there WILL be spoilers in this review, since the movie is based on a book and the review is geared towards those who have read said book.

Firstly, here is the trailer:

There's a lot packed into just two and a half minutes. As opposed to the teaser for the previous film, which was mainly devoted to introducing the dwarves, this does less about who the main characters are... unless you're Legolas. Anyways, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is an upcoming action-adventure fantasy sequel film based on the book "The Hobbit" coming to theaters December 13, 2013. Sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it is the continuing adventures of title character Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit of the Shire, as he journeys with a company of dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their homeland and treasure from the evil dragon, Smaug. Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

 The Trailer starts out with a shot of The Lonely Mountain. As I brightened the pictures on my computer, I noticed a boat sailing towards it that I had missed while watching the trailer the first five or six times. As we see this, we hear a voice (possibly Thranduil?) asking the question, "Where does your journey end?"

 We are then treated to shots of Erebor up close, and we see the dwarves climbing a statue, which I assume to be the path to the hidden door. Also, like I said above, when I brightened the images, I noticed even more. In this case, I see that at least one dwarf isn't climbing up on the axe like the rest. I think it's Bombur, which makes sense.

We see the ruined city of Dale, which we saw destroyed in the prologue of the previous film.

Here we have a shot of what I strongly believe to be the elf king's hall of Mirkwood. I am very intrigued and impressed by this image. The set bares strong resemblance to both Rivendell and Lorien, the other two elven realms we've seen in LOTR.

It is then we finally get a look at Thranduil, the elven king and father of everyone's favorite elf, Legolas. Admittedly we saw Thranduil briefly in An Unexpected Journey, but we didn't really get fully introduced to him.

And of course, one of The Hobbit's more memorable scenes is the barrel scene where the dwarves escape the elf king's halls by way of hiding in barrels. Depicted above is Bofur in a barrel.

Another image we see is Bilbo at the treetops of Mirkwood, seeing the blue butterflies. It is a moment for Bilbo, as at that point in the story, he and the dwarves have been lost in the forest for several days.

We get to see more barrel shots. Here is Dwalin, half out of his barrel going down a small fall.

Here's where the first added thing that I've notice comes along. It seems as though the elves are racing after and shooting at the dwarves. This did not happen in the book, but I guess it adds suspense.

And here is Mirkwood. A once green, lush forest, no overrun by darkness. We see Bilbo and company over to the right.

Oh hey, look. Legolas is in this movie. This doesn't bother me exactly, even though he was not in the book, because Legolas is the son of the king Thranduil, and given elves' immortality, it is plausible that Legolas could be there. I also see they have his eyes blue. They didn't do a good job keeping them blue in LOTR.

This one I had to think about. Once I realized what it is, I felt stupid. The Dwarves are in Beorn's house, and it seems one of the giant bears is trying to get in.

...And then there's this chick... the one that I'm sure had a lot of Tolkien fans scratching their heads and going "...huh???" I did some research, and found out that she is an original character to this movie named Tauriel. Not sure how I feel about this move. Jackson didn't add any original main characters to LOTR, and I'm assuming she's a main character if they are showing her THIS much in the trailer, and believe me, she's in it a lot more. I also learned that Jackson and fellow writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh added her because they "felt they needed a strong female character in the series". ...So is Tauriel Peter Jackson's answer to The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen?

 Yep. She's a Katniss R.O. Seems legit.

The trailer treats us to a shot of the lake town, where the Dwarves stay and rest before taking the final trek to the Lonely Mountain.

And we're back to Tauriel and Legolas. This part confuses me a little bit. Is she also going to be a love interest for Legolas? Two characters who aren't in the book having their own little subplot? I smell some story padding.

 Now, finally, we get a glimpse of the Dwarven treasure. Bilbo is sliding down on it, and that's sure to set off Smaug's OCD. (Dragons know their treasure to an ounce, according to the book).

...And we're back to Dul Guldur, (forgive me if that is misspelled). This is something I knew was coming. I knew that even back as far as when the The Hobbit was being made into just two movies (and even then I was shaking my head that it was two movies). I knew that they would explore what Gandalf was doing while he was away from the dwarves.

...Speaking of Gandalf, here's basically our only shot of Gandalf. I know he's in other shots, but this is pretty much the only shot he's in that he's actually doing something (I.E. says one line).

It also appears as though the non-cannon orcs are going to attack the elves. Mr. Voldem-orc here is still chasing Thorin and Co. for revenge.

After that tangent of things not in the book, we are brought back to the actual story, and this shot made me excited. The trailer teases us with the giant spiders by giving us just enough of a look at one.

We are also treated with our first look at Bard. I'll be perfectly honest... when I first saw him, I literally thought I was looking at Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean. He looks A LOT like Will Turner.

The final collection of action clips in the trailer give me a theory. This shot depicts Legolas and Tauriel fighting orcs (in day light, no less *facepalm*) on what I believe to be the outskirts of the forest. Since we already saw the elves attacking the dwarves in the barrels in the river, perhaps how the dwarves get away involves the orcs attacking while the elves are attacking, and the elves fight off the orcs while Thorin and Co. slip away.

As the trailer closes, my favorite dwarf, Balin, delivers the most dramatic line of the trailer in response to an off-screen dwarf asking "was that an earthquake?": "That, my lad... was a dragon."

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. BUT! Before the trailer ends, there is one last major teaser:

THE DRAGON!!!! Now THAT is a great way to end a trailer, especially since they've been teasing dragon since the first film. I lightened the image up a bit and we get to see a bit more detail of Smaug.

December 13. Another contender for end-of-the-year blockbusters. A a blockbuster it shall be! Overall, I liked this trailer a lot, but was confused a bit by the middle where they focus on Legolas and Not-Katniss Everdeen. But I'm still excited and I still going to see it. Until then, we've been there, and we will go back again when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is released.

Free As A Bird - An Article about the Music Video

We all know and love The Beatles (and if you don't, get the heck off my blog! just kiddin you don't have to read this), they are considered to be the greatest band of all time. We all know the iconic songs, the iconic looks, and the iconic images of their album covers. You know what's even more awesome? The music video for the 1995 single "Free As A Bird", where there are numerous Beatles references to keep even the most avid of Beatles fans on their toes!

The song itself is considered to be the second-to-last Beatles song ever, as it was released with the Beatles Anthology along with another single "Real Love". Both of these songs, however, technically aren't Beatles songs. As the band had broken up after "Abbey Road" (because "Abbey Road" was recorded AFTER "Let it Be", even though it was released first.), these two songs were simply demos by John Lennon during his solo career. Tragically, Lennon was murdered in 1980. And yet, these two tracks were released in the mid 90s? While recording the Beatles Anthology, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr got together with John's wife Yoko Ono and got a hold of these demos that John had never finished. The remaining Beatles took them and finished them together, creating the final two Beatles songs ever.

The music video for "Free As A Bird" itself is one of the most engaging music videos I've ever seen, and like I said above, there are numerous references to Beatles songs that are enjoyable to look for. Here is the link to the video itself:

It starts right off the bat. Here's what I saw in the video in order:

1. OLD BROWN SHOE - Next to the child portrait of John (the last one they show of the boy wearing a hat) appears to be a little shoe. This could be a reference to the "Let it Be" single "Old Brown Shoe".
2. RAIN - People are shown walking in the rain, and none of them have umbrellas or "don't mind" the rain. It's also worth noting that video footage taken from the Penny Lane music video is used here.
3. BABY'S IN BLACK - In the Cavern Club, a woman who seems to be wearing a black veil is seen in the crowd.
4. MAXWELL'S SILVER HAMMER - Honestly, I've never actually seen this one, but I've been told by multiple sources that as the video leaves the Cavern Club, there is a store sign that says "Maxwell's Silver Hammers" on it.
5. STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER - A sign on a gate says "Strawberry Field". It's not "Fields", but still the reference is obvious.
6. I AM THE WALRUS - A van with the company title "EGG Co."
7. PENNY LANE - A nurse is selling poppies from a tray, a direct line from the song.
8. POLYTHENE PAM - A Woman wearing a leather jacket comes out of a store. I'm told it's supposed to be Polythene Pam, but it went over my head the first several times.
9. HELP! - Polythene Pam passes by a help wanted sign that simply says "HELP!"
10. WHY DON'T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD - John and Yoko are seen making out in a car.
11. BIRTHDAY - A bakery has a birthday cake in their front window.
12. WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR - The birthday cake has the number six on the left side, and the number four on the right.
13. IT'S ALL TOO MUCH - I may be reading into this too much, but there is a line in "It's All Too Much" that goes "All the world is birthday cake/ So take a piece but not too much".
14. DOCTOR ROBERT - A sign on a wall that George is shown walking up to says "Dr. Robert"
15. A DAY IN THE LIFE - A car wreck is shown. Could also be a reference to "Revolution 9", as a car crash is supposedly heard in somewhere in that track.
16. I AM THE WALRUS - Police are standing in a row next to the car crash.
17. HELTER SKELTER - A large carnival slide (a Helter Skelter) is shown.
18. BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. KITE! A kite is seen flying in the sky.
19. SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW - A woman is briefly seen going into a house through a window.
20. PIGGIES - Children running around wearing pig masks.
21. LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS - Large yellow flowers (though probably not cellophane and none are green) are towering over a fence and above the children's heads.
22. HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN - This one goes by so fast, if you blink you will miss it, but as the video zooms into a window, you can briefly seen a lizard on it ("...like a lizard on a window pane")
23. PAPERBACK WRITER - A guy at a typewriter with paperback books around him.
24. ONE AFTER 909 - The clock behind the Paperback Writer guy is at 9:10
25. SAVOY TRUFFLES - A box of truffles is on a coffee table (barely noticeable) next to some green apples, which are an obvious reference to Apple Records.
26. FIXING A HOLE - A man on a roof is fixing a hole.
27. YELLOW SUBMARINE - A Blue Meanie pops out of the hole.
28. HEY BULLDOG - A person is walking a dog (possibly a pit bull dog?) I might be wrong on this one.
29. LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS - A taxi that seems to be covered in newspaper print drives up to a house.
30. REVOLUTION - Two people are carrying a portrait of Chairman Mao across the street.
31. MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR - The bus can be seen passing by in the background.
32. YELLOW SUBMARINE - The Blue Meanie pops out of a manhole again.
33. BUNGALOW BILL - A man in safari attire and carrying a gun walks by, followed by an elephant.
34. SGT. PEPPER - Numerous people in a banquet hall (?) are people seen on the album cover. Also, the drum is shown prominently.
35. HERE COMES THE SUN - The video goes up suddenly and the sun blots out the video temporarily.
36. ELEANOR RIGBY - A tombstone is shown with the name Eleanor Rigby, as a priest walks away.
37. MARTHA MY DEAR - Paul McCartney's dog (Martha, after whom the song was named) runs across the graveyard.
38. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD - A long and winding road is shown in the distance.
39. THE FOOL ON THE HILL - Paul McCartney is shown dancing (directly from the scene in "Magical Mystery Tour").
40. SHE'S LEAVING HOME - A young lady with a suitcase walking alone down the road.
41. LOVELY RITA - A Meter Maid is seen walking down Abbey Road.

 There may be a ton more, and I dealt mainly with just the song lyric references. There are other references to The Beatles as persons themselves, such as an old man with a sitar (a reference to George and his interest in Indian culture). All in all, a really awesome video. An oldie nowadays, but always a goodie. I mean, in the words of Paul McCartney "It's the Bloody Beatles!"

Best of the Worst #2 - More Movie Mistakes!

Here are five more Best of the Worst mistakes made in movies!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The movie's villain, Khan Noonien Singh, was first introduced into Star Trek lore in the Original Series episode Space Seed. At the beginning of this film, he recognizes Chekov and says he "never forgets a face". However, Space Seed was a season one episode, and Checov was not introduced into the series until season two, so Khan should not have known Chekov at all.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
When Harry and Hermione go back in time and witness events earlier in the movie, nearly every single event takes a ridiculously longer amount of time the second time through than they did the first time. Some events happen differently all together. It's not like they are changing the past, because the way time travel works in the Harry Potter world cannot change the past, anything they do the second time was done the first time, just unbeknownst to them.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007)
Do I even need to say? Forgive me, I do all these mistakes from memory and I haven't seen National Treasure 2 in years. But I do remember that if you actually sat down and did the math, you'd notice that next to NONE of the clues add up. Some of them would have had to have been made before the next clue could have even existed. After the first movie being such a great movie, the whole sequel itself was one big mistake anyway.

The Hunger Games (2012)
At the end of the film when Katniss, Peeta, and Cato are surrounded by the Muttations ontop of the cornucopia, Katniss only has one arrow that she shoots Cato in the hand with. However, when she mercy-kills Cato from the Mutts, she suddenly has another arrow.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
I can probably list one mistake from this movie in every single Best of the Worst post (and probably will. As much as I love the Indiana Jones movies, I can't deny that this film is full of mistakes). This movie is riddled with mistakes, but one of the most aggravating to me is the amount of unsynchronized audio clips. So many lines of dialogue in the movie don't match up to the actors' lip movements. This happens throughout the entire film. Who edited this film? Michal Khan...

Trailer reviews - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (SPOILERS!!)

As I said in my pre-review, here is my Trailer Review for the upcoming movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I'm not gonna lie, I am very excited for this movie more so than other movies I'm interested in seeing this year (second only to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug). Before reading this Trailer Review, however, I must warn you: I will more than likely spoil the plot for the film. If you haven't read the book, you might want to refrain from looking at this review. You might also want to just read the book. General rule: Books are better than their movies. Unless it's The Wizard of Oz or The Prestige.

Here is the trailer itself:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is an upcoming action-adventure film based on the novel Catching Fire by Susanne Collins that follows Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they tour the districts of Panem on their victory tour after winning the 74th annual Hunger Games. What they don't realize is that their defiance of the rules that they demonstrated in the Games has made them into role models for a rebellion rising in the districts. This prompts President Snow to mark them both as well as the previous Game victors as threats to be resolved in the Quarter Quell.

Okay, now onto the actual trailer.

The first clips we see in the trailer are what I'm guessing to be from the part where Katniss and Peeta are on the Victor's Tour, and I'm pretty sure this is District 11, the home of Katniss's friend/ally Rue in the previous book/film. The mayor of the town introduces them as victors...

...And out they come. Effie still looking as much like Lady Gaga and/or Nicki Minaj as ever. This scene is a good way to open the trailer, because it was the point when Katniss really starts to realize the gravity of her situation and where she now stands with The Capital.

Throughout this part of the trailer, we hear a conversation between President Snow and Plutarch Heavensbee, discussing how Katniss can easily become a threat and how she must be eliminated. Now this conversation was not exactly in the book, but the implication of something similar is suggested, seeing as President Snow has his hand in the design of the Games and Heavensbee is the Head Game Maker of the 75th Annual Hunger Games. Now from a filmmaker's standpoint, adapting a book written in first-person present-tense is not the easiest, as the book will deal exclusively with just one character's point-of-view and his/her perceptions of other people's point-of-views. So for a movie like this, adding scenes like these is simply logical so that the audience (who didn't read the book) can get a better understanding of what's going on outside of Katniss's limited perspective. You can say what a character is thinking or figuring out in his/her head in a book, but in a movie, you have to show it. So added scenes like these don't bother me one bit.

Another reason I find this piece of the trailer interesting is that it shows Heavensbee playing his double-agent cards. For those who read the books, we know that Heavensbee is secretly a leader of the rebellion, and his influence as the Head Game Maker is a pivotal plot point in the story. I think it is wise, for those who don't know the story to introduce him like this.

The trailer intercuts Snow's and Heavensbee's conversation with clips of Katniss and Peeta's appearance in District 11, leading up to the execution of Rue's family member (at least I think he was family, forgive me but I've only read Catching Fire once so far).

Katniss and Peeta are then informed by Hamitch that they are in a more desperate situation than they realize, and that to avoid more conflicts and deaths of loved ones, they must play along with The Capital's little games (lol puns). Katniss and Peeta keep making appearances as the "Star-Crossed Lovers from District 12"... but of course, Katniss can't keep it up.

At this point, we are treated to scenes of open rebellion while Gale informs Katniss that she has become the symbol of the rebellion.

In the middle of this section of the trailer is a short exchange between Katniss and her sister Prim. I'll be perfectly honest, this is the one part of the trailer I can't place to any specific part of the book.

The rebellion scenes continue on, showing the destruction of The Hub, which I don't recall being directly witnessed in the book, but hey. Like I said, you can say something in a book, but in a movie you've got to show it.

The trailer then teases us with Katniss and Gale's forbidden kiss. I'm sure all the girls out there were happy.

Following that, it shows another important point in the story: Gale's whipping.

This part shows when Katniss jumps in front of the whip for him, but I'll be honest, it looks more like he punches her full on. Maybe they picked this take on purpose as a means of misdirecting the viewers until the actual movie when they use a different take that actually shows her getting whipped in the face. Trailers are known to do such things. They are also known for covering up blood and such, not just for censorship for younger audiences, but to mislead the viewers. In the book, the whip leaves a mark across Katniss's face, which freak her make-up artists and Effie out, but no such wound is shown in the trailer. But I think this is just another case of trailers covering the blood up digitally. They did this in the Harry Potter trailers as well, pictured below:

The above shot is what is seen in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 trailer, and below is what is seen in the actual film. See what I mean?

One of the last shots that they show is Katniss, sad in the woods. This scene could be one of three possible scenes from the book. It could be (my first impression) when Katniss meets the two escapees from another district running to District 13, or when Katniss visits the lake and meets up with Gale, or just Katniss going there on her own to be alone. Like I said, the first one of these possibilities that came to my mind was meeting the escapees.

The trailer ends by returning to Snow and Heavensbee's conversation. At this point, the Quarter Quell is hinted at, but nothing specific is shown.

November 22nd. Can't come fast enough, am I right? Overall, this was a pretty good trailer. I noticed that it left several important plot points out of the picture, which is very smart. The purpose of a trailer is to get the audience interested, to give them enough information about the plot, but not to give the plot away. Most trailers nowadays are not that good at keeping important things out of them, especially movies based on popular books. They gave a lot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows away in their trailers. But this one has no mention of Katniss and Peeta's planned wedding, only hints at the Quarter Quell, and does not show any of the other significant characters in the second half of the book, such as Finnick, Beetee, or Johanna.

What did you think of the trailer? Are you as excited as I am? Let me know in the comments below!

Best of the Worst: Movie Mistakes #1

This is the first post of what I hope to be regular posts here on this blog where i highlight the biggest movie mistakes I know. Like they say in the YouTube channel CinemaSins, "No movie is without sin". It's definitely true. Here is a list of a few of the biggest mistakes I've noticed in my favorite movies.

1. INDIANA JONES and the TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)
This movie is just FULL of mistakes to begin with... the amount of audio/visual unsynchronizations alone is pretty laughable, but the biggest mistake that stands out to me is during the fight between Indy and the big thug before the crusher scene. When the thug picks Indy up and tosses him into the minecart, Indy's arm flops backwards as it hits the rim of the cart, revealing that Indy is a dummy. Not only that, but his hand makes it worse, because since it's a dummy, the hand remains in one position whereas if your arm really hit the side like that, your fingers would be splayed in pain.
It's also worth noting that the mine cart itself in the same shot is being towed by a cable which is very visible in the shot.

2. JURASSIC PARK (1993)
Everybody knows and loves the scene where the T-Rex breaks out of its pen, but it creates a HUGE problem continuity-wise. The problem is when Grant and Lex escape the jeeps but are pushed back in towards the pen. Suddenly, it's revealed that the edge of the wall is the top of a steep drop. Since this is the exact same spot that the T-Rex simply walked out of earlier, it is impossible that the drop should be right there, or else the T-Rex would have had to climb out (impossible in and of itself).

3. HARRY POTTER and the DEATHLY HALLOWS part 1 (2010)
It's not really a big deal that the Harry Potter movies take place in the 2000s instead of the 1990s like the books. Its excusable, as exact dates as to when the books take place weren't even given until after the movies were already being made. What IS a problem, however, is that in the movie Deathly Hallows part 1, where the year is supposed to be 1997 in the book but 2007 in the movie, they include the dates of Harry's parents' deaths on their graves. These dates are directly from the book, which means that in the movie, they are off by ten years. Following this logic as well, this makes Harry 27 years old instead of 17.

4. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012)
This really can pertain to any of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit films, but it is established in this film that elven blades, like Bilbo's sword Sting, will glow when orcs are nearby. It is also established that Gandalf's sword Glamdring and Thorin's sword Orcrist (forgive me if these are misspelled) are elven blades. However, neither of them glow in the movies (and Gandalf's doesn't glow in LOTR either). It can be noted that in the book The Hobbit and in the Lord of the Rings book series, Glamdring was said to glow white. There is also a moment in An Unexpected Journey where Orcs are close by, but Sting does not glow.

5. STAR WARS episode V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
As much as I love Empire Strikes Back, I have to say this one is just REALLY contradictory. While fighting the AT-ATs on Hoth, Luke clearly tells his fellow snowspeeder gunners "That armor's too strong for blasters!" However, after tying up the legs of an AT-AT and causing it to fall, they blow it up using... BLASTERS.

Are there any more big movie mistakes you can think of that deserve to be mentioned in a future blog post? Let me know in the comments!

NEWLY ANNOUNCED - Chronicles of the Chronicler 4: The Search for Life

It has been announced that a new season of Chronicles of the Chronicler has been secretly in the works. As most of it is super secret, I can only confirm a few things. Firstly, I am happy to say that Shannon Asprooth and Frank Padour will be returning to voice Hahli and Tahu respectively. Secondly, this story will be highly different from the previous ones, more humor, more mystery, and more focus on the characters. Thirdly, confirmed characters are Takua, Jaller, Tahu, Matoro, Nuparu, Nuju, Altair, and Hahli, who will be the main character of the story. Fourth, a new original character will play an important role, but I'll keep who she is secret for now. But I can say she will be voiced by my friend Sarah Kusz.

Other than that, here are some new photos for you.