Croma

One day I read that it is more expensive for magazines to pay for a good phostoshop session than to hire a slightly more photogenic supermodel.
Sometimes it strikes me what the real value of different techniques is inside the graphic and entertainment industries. And it is surprising how good these professionals are at playing with the consumer's attention.
Are those that felt so fascinated by the obvious artificiality of Avatar, the ones that are more easily deceived by day to day media? Do you think you can always see the smoke and mirrors?

El Tercero y el Septimo

Very beautiful FG* film by Alex Roman. It is an interesting piece in spite of the lack of plot and the abstract message. Although the background topic is the art of architecture, the photographic medium is the protagonist here. It visually talks about the games of structure and light, relying on the selection of multiple angles and changes of focus points to guide the observer across this hybrid scenery of organic and artificial shapes. This way, the technique defines the pace of the movie and blends easily with the background music.

Light, focus and texture are the only protagonists here. A film about how to look at things.

You will regret not watching it in High Definition and full screen mode.

The Third
& The Seventh

*Computer Generated or Computer Graphics

Cinematográfico

Thanks to a post by Johnny Lee I just discovered a couple of videos by Vicente Sahuc. I have not found much information about him on the internet and his website is rather empty and out-of-date. And that is a pity because I like quite a lot this photographer's work, specially the two videos that he has uploaded.

Both play with desaturation, time wrapping, heavily cinematographic angles and a powerful soundtrack. And the best, it all fits perfectly and the pacing of the images flows quite nicely.
Here you have the embedded videos, and links to the original material in higher resolution in the author's web.

Almería



New York

Algunos hombres buenos

*Spoiler*

Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

I am not a huge fan of Nicholson. Most of the time I have the feeling he is too theatrical, that he overacts a bit, but sometimes he just fills the role and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

This is right at the end of the movie. The cast is pretty good and the tension is well managed along the movie, but you just can't stop feeling this is "one of those" American army films with the flag fading in and some moving speeches about justice, honour, the marines. A bit of a cliché I guess. And, funny enough, it is all about a trial for a murder in the Guantanamo base, a place that is not particularly well-known because of its sense of justice..

A bit long, but worth watching. Good for a Sunday afternoon on the sofa and low lights.