Okay, so it might not be my favorite website yet, but Trailer Addict, like its name is insanely addictive. The site compiles and streams every trailer, TV ad spot and behind the scenes feature that is put online. This includes the ever popular Red Band Trailers, and its nice for a change not having to run for my wallet and search for my license to watch a trailer online. The site also features posters, news, and a nifty ratings system for all trailers. You can check it out here.
The experts over at Indy Mogul have put together a short video on how to build a $15 boom pole. Having followed this video (and their written how to), I can say that this really does work. My producing partner and I built two boom poles with mounts (it is always good to have a back up just incase). And click here for the detailed step by step on how to build your own $15 dollar boom pole.
He went ahead and made 20 pieces of music that he is offering to the public to use that are royalty free. Unlike most sites that offer royalty free music, Mr. Ross is completely cool with you using the music on films that you are trying to sell and make a profit on.
The catch? Absolutely none. All that he asks in return is that you credit him (which I know you would have done anyway). All of his tunes are instrumental, so you don’t have to worry about cutting around lyrics, and he offers a wide variety of sounds; from an “Ultimate 80’s Anthem”, to “Jazz”, “Techno”, “Soul” and downright “Eerie”. There is something for every genre in the 20 songs. Worse comes to worse, you can start cutting the different songs together or you can use them as a base and add your own beats (from Garage Band or a similar program) over them to create something new.
You can get the free beats here, and view Peter John Ross’ films here.
Reading screenplays before or after viewing a film can teach you a lot of about how a film changes and develops throughout production. It is also a lot of fun to find missing things and figuring out if you should blame the writer or director for particular scenes. One of the best sources for screenplays on the web is Drew’s Script-O-Rama.
Script-O-Rama is a collection of links to film, TV and anime scripts from across the web. The site is a direct path to hundreds of scripts. A lot of the films featured have multiple drafts and there are even completely unproduced screenplays (wanna read Michael Chabon’s Spiderman 2, or how about two different rejected Freddy vs Jason scripts? How do these stack up against the one the studio finally settled on?).
You can check out Drew’s here.
Welcome to myhollywooddream.com! On this site we will be featuring film (television, webseries, etc.) making how tos, posting resources from around the web, checking out the latest “Hollywood” trends in movies and TV, reviewing independent and mainstream films, showing indy trailers and talents, and posting where you can find free stuff from around the web!
If you have any questions, or are looking for particular tips/suggestions, just drop us a line to let us know and we’ll do the searching for you and make a post about it. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!
Thanks for checking out the site!
This blockbuster was actually based on a short 50’s sci fi novel by cult writer Richard Matheson, which has been adapted to film three times now, though upon comparison you may never have known.
The Book:
A great, quick little novel that puts a unique spin on the age old vampire story. In Richard Matheson’s world, vampires are the product of a virus that’s been around for centuries, spawning all the myths and fables. The virus experiences a surge in its spread, aided by the fall out from a nuclear war, and seizes the entire population, save for Robert Neville, a lowly office drone who becomes the “last man on earth.” Every day he searches for supplies and survivors, every night he sits in his house, listening to the vampires calling out to him, beckoning him to come out. Neville begins to study the virus, taking blood samples from test subjects during the day when the vampires are comatose, and seeks a cure. The inner dialogue is key in this novel and Matheson writes Neville with a great familiarity. His burning sexual desire is that of a man who hasn’t touched a woman in 3 years and his curious will to live, despite the deterioration of the world around him, is uplifting as the reader roots for him to make it home before sunset each night. The novel captures human nature in such an interesting setting, as Neville teaches himself how to be a scientist and learns everything he can about the virus infesting the Earth’s population, because he believes he is the only one out there who can. I found Neville so relatable and interesting, as he tests and debunks old vampire myths (the garlic works, the mirrors do not, and the crosses only work on those who were Christian when they were alive…a Jewish vampire cowers from the Torah!) and rids the surrounding area of vampires once he finds out he doesn’t need stakes to kill them and can simply drag their bodies into the daylight. Eventually he comes upon a dog without the virus which gives him hope that there may be others out there. His plight comes to an end in the form of a woman named Ruth, whom he finds walking in the sun during daylight hours. At the end of the book, he is a legend that will go down in history, though in a completely different way then how it is portrayed in the film.
The Movie:
It is ironic that this is the third incarnation of this book on film, yet the first one to use the book’s title, since the title is nearly the only thing the book and film have in common. There is the main character still, Robert Neville, who seeks a cure to the virus that has spawned what he calls “The Dark Seekers.” Neville spends his days driving around the deserted Big Apple with his German Shepard Sam, conversing with mannequins that he has set up all over town (presumably to keep his sanity somewhat intact, though he looks a bit crazy eyeing up the mannequin in the video store every day and never getting up the courage to speak to her), and experimenting on test subjects to no avail. He also waits by the Brooklyn Bridge every day at noon to see if anyone will answer his distress broadcast. By night, he sits in his bathtub with his gun and Sam, hoping that the “dark seekers” will never discover where he lives. When one day he falls into a trap, he spirals into an angry rampage against the dark seekers that leads him to meet Anna and Ethan, a mother and son who have been beckoned to New York by his broadcast. During the last half of the film, the quiet, solitary life we have seen Neville lead turns into an action-packed crusade to find a cure and avoid the “dark seekers.”
What’s New:
The movie takes place in New York, the book in Los Angeles. The virus was spread by nuclear aftermath in the book, and by a cure for cancer in the movie (explained by Emma Thompson, in a really random cameo). Neville is conveniently a scientist in the film, whereas in the book he has to teach himself science and biology in order to start seeking a cure. Sam the German Shephard was Neville’s dog before the virus hit in the film, and in the book he simply comes upon an unaffected dog one day. Neville’s past and family differ greatly from the book to the film. There is no mention of vampires in the film, and the “dark seekers” don’t go comatose during the day, they simply hide in dark places and are just as deadly. There are a thousand other differences, but most notably the second half, at the point where Neville meets the woman (in the film’s case it’s Anna and her son Ethan, in the book’s case it’s Ruth), things change drastically. The biggest difference, perhaps, is the reason why Neville “is legend,” as the title suggests. This change affects how each version ends; the book being a far more eerie and poetic ending, while the film opts to take the Hollywood route.
Overall Adaptation:
If I hadn’t read the book at all, then I may have enjoyed the film a little more. Will Smith has certainly proven himself as the type of actor who can hold his own for an hour of just him and a dog. And while the end turns a bit towards mindless, jump-out-at-you, action, the first hour or so of the film is pretty engaging. However, having read the book first, I was annoyed by how little justice the film did to it. Why bother taking the title if you’re going to take just one element of the plot, one surviving man against a virus who seeks a cure, and change everything else? I’d love to see a film that honored this book, as it is a truly wonderful story, but this is not that film.
I love Sin City and I love Frank Miller’s comics, but I’m still not sold on The Spirit. It really irritates me when people talk about “Frank Miller movies” and his “film style” when they fail to realize that he has no style yet. Sin City was only co-directed by Miller; the actual directing was done by Robert Rodriguez. He brought Miller on as a co-director in order to preserve the style of the comic books. Miller had previously never allowed his work to be filmed, but when Rodriguez offered him co-director credit and an opportunity to be on the set to be certain that Rodriguez wasn’t screwing up his work, he agreed to let him make Sin City. Miller had little to no part in the actual directing of the film and the style is literally his comic book brought to life.
The first clip showed The Spirit with one of his many women, Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson) as they have an intimate conversation. The second clip was prefaced with a long explanation of this new technology that they used in order for the actors to look like they were underwater though they actually weren’t…however it didn’t look to me as though they were underwater at all. The clip showed Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) looking for something in a lake when The Octopus shows up. The final clip was a campy fight sequence between The Octopus and The Spirit, and the closest thing to the actual source material.
The problem with all these clips was that they all looked like they were from different films. The first conversation appeared out of a 50’s noir flick, the second underwater sequence out of a cheesy sci fi flick with bad effects, and the third appeared to be a campy super hero flick, which is what I think the rest of the film should look like. It all makes me just a little nervous that Miller’s trying to do too much in his first outing. If anything though, it certainly looks like he’s enjoying himself.
