Take away all of the nails and screws. Not a bad idea to cut down on the materials used in bombs. But why stop there? Get rid of aluminum, tin, copper, silver, and every other metal on the periodic table. Ban the creation alloys, synthetic metals, and anything else that could be used for shrapnel. We could have a whole society built with wood, rope, plastic, and an occasional squirt of glue. Maybe we could just live in tents. I agree with Ryan, guns don't kill people, people kill people. But let's change that just a bit. People buy guns, and then people kill people. Would it help to change the second amendment? Probably. People argue that taking away guns is taking away from their entertainment. I guess it is always fun to go and pop Bambi now and then, but how much is that fun really worth? Does anybody think that the people in Colorado are saying, "It's so great that Americans can buy guns off of the shelf to hunt with..."? Of course not. If the banning of guns will cut back on your leisure time, find a new hobby. I certainly do not want anyone banning football. It's a great sport. Likewise, I am sure that hunting is just as great of a sport. But when crazy fuckers start going to Oshmans to stock up on footballs, walk into schools, and start killing people with them, I will be happy to change my opinion.
|
One day I came down the staircase and into my condo's parking garage over at 32nd and Duval (just north of UT Austin's campus). It was late, probably between 2am and 3am. I only took a couple of steps into the garage when I noticed two guys near the corner trying to break into one of my neighbors cars. I looked in their general direction and one of them made eye contact with me. He was like a deer in headlights.
He signaled to his buddy and they very slowly and casually started walking away from the car they were attempting to rob. I started walking faster towards my truck and they did the same towards the exit. I finally ran to my truck and they ran out of the parking garage. A small white car was waiting for them and they jumped into it.
I started up my F-150 in record time and hauled out of the garage in pursuit of them. Since my car was still equipped with an external sound system, I thought it was far time that I use my siren for a good purpose and proceeded to chase them towards campus. My lights were flashing and my police siren was at full volume.
I pursued them south down Duval street all the way to 26th street. They ran the light and turned west on 26th. I followed. We hit upwards of 60mph as we traveled westerly through campus. They took a hard right onto Guadalupe and I was still in close pursuit. Finally as we neared 29th street, they did a 180 through traffic. I couldn't safely make the same turn, especially in my truck. By the time I did turn around (probably just a few seconds later), they had gotten far enough away from me that I lost them.
If only cell phones had been available...
I typed up an indecent report and posted it in the elevator at my condo complex in case anybody had been burglarized. Fortunately I was able to run them out before they actually did any damage. It sure would have been nice to catch them.
|
KEVIN LUDLOW
RTF 317 FINAL PAPER
"REBECCA AND MANDERLAY - OCEANFRONT PROPERTY"
FRAN GUILFOYLE
APRIL 30, 1999
In March of 1940, United Artists released one of Hitchcock’s most memorable movies. Staring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, Rebecca won the academy award for best picture of the year. By this time Hitchcock had released over twenty other films, none of which measured up to the intensity of Rebecca. Why? Perhaps because of the incredibly developed plot which Hitchcock managed to capture in perfection. Rebecca has a series of plot twists within it. Through these plot twists, the viewer’s feeling towards the characters changes steadily throughout the movie. The resolution also remains uncertain up until the very last minute.
As the movie opens, we learn that Mr. de Winter (Laurence Olivier) is an extremely wealthy and unhappy man. Hitchcock holds out on the audience as to why Mr. de Winter is so unhappy, but we are given some hints. He soon falls in love with a young lady (Joan Fontaine) who is being a paid companion of one of Mr. de Winter’s female friends. They know each other for an extremely short time period and are married. Although this happens early within the story line, there is certainly a feeling that Maxim is rushing things along from a viewing standpoint. It appears that he is a lonely man searching for love and that he could not have found it with such a lady. When we view Joan Fontaine’s character at this point in the story, we see her as a young and naïve girl that would do anything not to work as a servant. It is hard for us to view her as a bold and independent woman ready to face the challenges of marriage and a new life. The new Mrs. De Winter is soon taken to the infamous castle of Manderlay, the home of Maxim. As the plot continues, Mrs. De Winter comes into many conflicts with a castle servant, Mrs. Danvers. The servants look down upon her because they all compare her to the first Mrs. De Winter, Rebecca. Around this point in the story, Maxim gets very upset with Mrs. De Winter on several occasions. On one particular occasion Mrs. Danvers dresses Mrs. De Winters up in a beautiful ball gown for a party that Maxim is throwing. It seems at this point that Mrs. Danvers is being exceptionally nice to her and that she is a very dynamic character. As Mrs. De Winter makes her way down the grand staircase in the house, Maxim is immediately upset with her. He asks her where she got the nerve to wear such a costume and makes her take it off. It is at this point that we realize that Mrs. Danvers has tricked Mrs. De Winter and is not changing after all. Through sequences like this, our emotions change for the characters. From the first minute that we are introduced to Mrs. Danvers we see that she is a bitter woman and almost get a sense of hatred towards her. It appears that she will not change throughout the entire movie despite Mrs. De Winter’s constant kindness towards her. As a viewer we had a sense of relief when it appeared that Mrs. De Winter’s efforts had finally paid off. Especially after Mrs. Danvers kindly created the dress for her. Hitchcock had an incredible way of playing with our emotions in this way. He would never reveal the ‘behind the scenes’ look at Mrs. Danvers, but instead led us to believe that she was finally changing. It is nothing more then a kick in the teeth when we find out how Mrs. Danvers has wronged her once again. Hitchcock could easily have shown us, just for a second, a mischievous look on Mrs. Danvers face or anything to lead us to believe that she was up to no good, but he did not. This is one of the ways that he was able to create such incredible mysteries.
When it appears that she can take no more, Mrs. De Winter finally learns that Rebecca drowned while sailing in a storm, or so it would seem. We eventually learn from Maxim that his first marriage was nothing but a fraud, and that Rebecca never did love him. It was all for an image that he wanted to have. Our emotions are once again toyed with at this point in the story. Maxim goes into great detail about Rebecca at one point in the story and it almost seems as if the new Mrs. De Winter is playing the same role to him that Rebecca did. He tells her how he loves her and would not hurt her, but can we really believe him at this point? It seems that Maxim has been all but a good husband to his new wife since very early in the story. There is no reason for the viewer to believe that he is all of a sudden going to change and be kind to her as he should. We must also question the idea of what really happened to Rebecca. Maxim has so much anger and aggression towards his ex-wife that makes it seem as if he has killed her. Obviously this is exactly what Hitchcock wanted us to believe or he would have told us otherwise through the use of flashbacks or narration. Maxim’s character has fluctuated throughout the film, but around this point he is certainly at the peak of throwing us off. He fell in love with Joan Fonatine’s character in the first few minutes of the movie. After marrying her, he mistreats her and neglects to give her the love that she feels for him. After it finally seems that he may be ready to tell the truth to Mrs. De Winter, it is impossible to decipher what the truth really is. As an audience, we feel that the only protagonist in the movie is Mrs. De Winter. Both Mrs. Danvers and now Maxim seem to have turned for the worst. He claims to be innocent of killing Rebecca but there is suspicion from her ex-lover that foul play was involved. For several scenes Hitchcock has us jumping back and forth in our heads trying to figure out what really did happen. To view this movie for a second time with a person that has never seen it can be very humorous during these scenes. The frustration level that Hitchcock manages to build up in our minds is incredible. When we can finally take no more confusion abuse, a doctor proves Maxim could not have killed Rebecca, therefore changing our opinion of him once more. To those who hated him for believing that he killed Rebecca and lied about it, a sense of relief. He is once more a likeable character, but we now need to find out what really did happen to Rebecca. However to those who loved the idea of Maxim being a killer and not really loving Mrs. De Winter, the frustration sets back in. Someone obviously killed Rebecca and if we can prove that it was not Maxim, who was it?
We have learned that Maxim did not in fact kill his wife. However, about three fourths of the way into the movie we learn that she wanted to die. She committed suicide. Even though Rebecca is never actually in the film, this brings up several questions as to the kind of person that she was. She had gotten almost everything out of life that one could possibly ask for. She was given an incredible home in which to live, more money then she could possibly spend, a husband, and even servants. She did lack one thing however, love. As a viewer, it is hard for us to feel sorry for Rebecca. She is the second hand cause of the pain and suffering that the new Mrs. De Winter has gone through. But still, she was willing to take her own life? As we learn more and more from Maxim, we not only begin to understand how their marriage was a fraud, but also Maxim would be ruined if he left her. Rebecca claimed that she would tell people how their marriage was a fraud which would make him look terrible in a to others. As we hear more and more from Maxim, we begin to feel less sorry for Rebecca and more sorrowful towards Maxim. Although after time there was not necessarily love in their marriage, he still gave her everything that a person could give to another. He was also not abusive to her like we might expect. To make things even worse, Rebecca happened to take her life in the presence of Maxim. It is hard to speculate whether or not she did this on purpose, which leaves more confusion inside of us. She may have purposely killed herself in front of Maxim for the sake of making him remember such a site, or she may have just thought it was a way to make things right. Rebecca’s last intentions alive are never really unveiled in the story line, but we know she is dead and that Maxim witnessed it. Whether you have loved and prospered, or loved and lost, it would be a horrible site to see a loved one take their own life. To complete this confusing sequence, we learn that Maxim put a body on another boat and sent it off in the storm. He was afraid of what people might say to find his wife had killed herself, or worse to be accused of murder. When the authorities found the boat, they assumed that it was Rebecca but could not tell because of the damage that the body had gone through. Maxim could not face the reality of his own life and was forced to make these decisions in haste. Many people could say that Maxim was not a very smart man because of such a decision, but I feel that in such a case, others would do the same. He placed Rebecca on a sailboat and caused it to sink, which leads to the previous explanation of her body being found.
As the story nears an end, the new Mr. and Mrs. De Winter are almost able to go about their lives but not before one more fateful scene. As they return home to Manderlay, they discover that the beautiful mansion has been set ablaze. We feel almost sorry for the turn of events in Maxim’s life, and now it has gotten even worse. One of the final shots reveals Mrs. Danvers in the window of the burning building with an expression of pure evil on her face. We as viewers are racing with mixed feelings about the plot while watching this scene. It finally becomes evident that Mrs. Danvers can be considered the antagonist in the movie not only to Maxim, but also to his wife. When we look back at all of the wrongfulness that Mrs. Danvers has brought upon Mrs. De Winter, we feel a sense of justice being done. As in most classical Hollywood narratives, the antagonist is taken care of. In this particular case it is safe to assume that she has killed herself. At the same time, however, it brings a feeling of sadness to us to see Maxim’s estate burned to a ground by a servant that he has housed and fed for so many years. Also, by this time all of our feelings that Maxim could have been a bad man have been altered. He did not kill Rebecca, he married Mrs. De Winter because he loved her, and yet, everything that he owned has been destroyed. It is terribly upsetting, or is it? One of Hitchcock’s views towards movie making was never to leave the audience with the antagonist getting his or her way. He would create that realm of suspense and make you think that everything had gone wrong, but then fix it. The protagonist will win. So leave it to him to once again twist things around for the better. If we read into what Manderlay really was, we find that it was nothing more then a graveyard of memories of Rebecca. Everything from the carpet to the ceiling was designed and picked out by Rebecca. Maxim is finally given a chance through fate to start a new life, to rid himself of the horrible memories that Rebecca has left him with. Of course, who better to do it then Rebecca’s personal servant, Mrs. Danvers. Although it is somewhat harder to find then in many of Hitchcock’s movies, all is well for the protagonists. We feel a sense of relief for Maxim and are happy that he and Mrs. De Winter can move on. I can only imagine if the story had continued that Mr. and Mrs. De Winter would be seen building their own house, together.
As we look back at this immeasurable plot line, we can understand why Rebecca was such a successful movie. With the exception of Mrs. De Winter, every character goes through drastic changes throughout the film, or so Hitchcock got us to believe. Mr. and Mrs. De Winter are clearly the protagonists of the movie. Maxim and Mrs. Danvers appear to be very dynamic characters but I disagree. Mrs. Danvers has nothing but bitterness running throughout her from the beginning of the film until her death. At times it seems that she is changing, but it never does once stick with her. Maxim is just the opposite. He is so full of love for his new wife but it seems at times that he is not treating her as he should. He is, however, merely trying to protect her from the past that he himself can not deal with. As things wind down, it is quite clear that he is still full of love and that his second marriage has a strong foundation. It has been said that a fool builds his house on sand and a wise man on solid ground. If this is true, Manderlay was a beach. Fortunately for Maxim, solid ground was just around the corner.
|
Alive April Chase is the first movie I've ever shot on actual film. The film is being shot for my RTF314 class on a Super-8 reel.
Script
Open with computerized credits.
* three-o-three productions presents (hold and fade)
* a film by: Kevin Ludlow (hold and fade)
* Alive (fade) April (fade) Chase (hold and fade)
SCENE 1
(the printing press)
Opening shot takes place in the Daily Texan newspaper room. A person is sitting at their desk hard a work on a sketch. After a few seconds of shooting, they get up and walk out of the room (cut).
Begin in the hallway outside of the door and follow them from the front down the hallway with the paper in their hand. (cut)
As they walk into the pressroom we are behind them again following along to a table. They reach their hand down to the table.(cut)
Do a close shot of their hand setting down the paper on the desk and zoom out as they walk off and someone else picks it up. The person who picked it up walks it over to the press machine and appears to be laying it for the copying process. (cut)
We follow the press machine along and it should appear that we are following the paper that was just put in. (cut)
Do a close up of two of three of the machine processes.
Finally get a frontal shot of the paper coming out of the machine as it slides down the beltway. (cut)
Somebody walks in from the other angle and picks up the stack of papers and sets them down on a desk. The person leaves the room and the camera “walks” over to the papers and up above them. In this same shot the camera slowly gets closer and closer to the papers from the top until the shot is completely black and out of focus. (cut)
SCENE 2
("April Chase")
We zoom out of the blackened paper and as we do it opens to the comic section. We pan over on top of a comic strip titled “April Chase”
The "April Chase" scene is animated in single frame 12fps mode. There will be 360 frames shot or 30 seconds of 12fps animation. When played back at 18fps this will appear to be a faster 20 second shot of “April Chase” moving about. (cut)
The paper quickly closes itself up and we see yet another person tying up the papers with rope or twine. As they do this a light blinds the camera (slowly pan a flashlight at the lens). (cut)
This shot is the hardest to film because it is so time consuming. The camera sits atop the roof for one hour before sunset. Every 20 seconds one frame should be shot. After one hour of this, 180 frames will have been shot, or 10 seconds of a time lapsed sunset. (the flashlight in the previous shot is necessary to make a smooth cut from the dark shot to the sun shot)
SCENE 3
(delivering)
We see the paper trucks driving out on their way delivering papers to the boxes. (cut)
There is a shot of the driver getting into his truck and backing out. (cut)
We are in the street as he pulls into the street as well. (cut)
We see him at a Daily Texan box dropping off a stack of papers. (cut) and then at another one (cut) and then at one more. (scene fades to black) (to do this, completely underexpose the frame one F-Stop at a time).
SCENE 4
(reading the comic)
(scene 4 is subject to change)
We follow one more person as they make their way in the morning.
Shoot them walking down the street and picking up a Daily Texan from the stack. (cut)
As they open the box door of it, the camera appears to be inside of the box but is really behind it. We see them reach towards us to pick up the paper. (cut)
The camera moves out of the way as the person walks over to a bench and opens the paper. The camera is steady in front of them as they chuckle just a bit. They throw the newspaper down on the bench, get up, and leave. The newspaper is sitting stuck to the side of the bench due to the wind. (use a fan and a piece of tape on the back of the newspaper for this shot). We zoom into the newspaper once more and again see "April Chase". (cut)
We go back to single frame animation but this seen will only appear to be 5-10 seconds long at 18fps. "April Chase" turns and looks at the camera and shrugs her shoulders at us. (fade to black). (cut)
'No Mas' fades into the screen.
THE END.
|
I think that Corn on the Macabre is a great intro level film. It needs some editing work but the storyline is great. Excellent acting skills in the commercial. Hope to see many more flicks like this in the future.
|
Kevin Ludlow
Extra Credit Paper III – “Early Times”
RTF 316 – History of Radio and Television
Amanda Lotz
December 3, 1998
It is not often that I get the chance to talk to my 74-year-old grandmother about anything that interests her, so she was delighted to be asked about the radio. She was born sometime in 1925 and has a recalled listening to radio broadcasts ever since she was a young girl. I first asked her simply what it was like listening to the radio and her responses were certainly much more positive then mind towards radio. My grandmother explained to me how although they were listening to the radio, it was so similar to watching television, but at the same time better. She told me how the front of the radio had a large fuzzy screen on it that was often stared at like a picture was inside of it. The best part, of course, was that it was all in the imagination. She and her brothers would sit in front of the radio and stare at the blank screen imagining that there were really actors there to watch. No matter what kind of show they were listening to, they were always able to come up with a visual story to follow along with in their heads. At times, certain stories could stretch the images in their mind much more elaborately then today’s greatest special effects can. One of the biggest problems that they had was being allowed to listen to the shows that they wanted to. She explained to me how the content of many programs restricted them from listening in on the radio. Although we would probably view such content now as children’s programming, back in the 30’s, she explained, such content was much more regarded by parents.
Amongst her favorite programs was “Tom Mix” who was a movie star back then. He played the role of a cowboy on the radio and was apparently quite popular. “The Lone Ranger” was also a program that was broadcast in her household during that time period. One of both my grandmother and grandfather’s favorite programs was “Jack Armstrong, The American Boy” which at that time which was sponsored by Wheaties. I asked her if she recalled any comic shows that she may have watched during the time period and she told me about Eddie Couter. He was a comic on the radio around the middle 1930’s to early 1940’s. He was a household favorite as well. On the weekends, the radio was used more as what we understand today. It simply broadcast musical programs during the peak hours of the day. She recalled listening to the “Metropolitan Opera” every Saturday afternoon from 1:00 in the afternoon to about 4:00 in the afternoon. They would broadcast whatever was being played that day at the Metropolitan Opera House. On Sunday’s she would tune into the “Firestone Hour” which was a musical broadcast sponsored by Firestone tires. In order to gain a common point with my grandmother, I asked her if she ever listened to the Orson Welles show. She jumped into stories of him very quickly of how her and her brothers used to listen to his show weekly. I proceeded to ask her about the infamous “War of the Worlds”; she of course had heard it. She explained to me that she remembered that October day very well. Growing up in New Jersey, the show was focused right around town. She explained to me that she understood that it was only a show and that aliens were not really taking over the planet. However, at the same time she remembers being very frightened because of the incredible realism that Orson Welles used for that time. My grandmother also recalled how the radio station got hundreds of calls the next day and how the newspapers made such an incredible ordeal over it because of the panic that it had caused.
Although the radio had always been a part of my grandmother’s life, she remembers when those days started to slow down. In the early 50’s, her father went out and bought a Muntz television set from the popular salesman Mad Man Muntz. It was a simple black and white television and best of all it was brand new. After that, the radio started transforming into what it is today. Radio shows slowly began to cease, and musical broadcasts became more common.
|
|
Newly Created Albums
Recent Blog Posts
Blog Categories
Blog Archives
|
