Kid In The Front Row Disaster Filmmaking Competition, WINNER!!!

A reminder of the competition:

The world is about to end. A poisonous gas has descended over the planet, and everyone is about to die. With this knowledge and realisation, you pick up your video-phone, and capture the final two minutes of your life, and in fact, the last moments of humankind on the planet. 

All films must be NO LONGER than TWO MINUTES.

All films must take place in ONE SINGLE SHOT ONLY. NO CUTTING. NO EDITING. 

The WINNER in the Kid In The Front Row Disaster Filmmaking Competition is "LUCKY" by Chloe Thorpe.



The guest judge, actor PETER JAMES SMITH (The West Wing) chose Chloe's film because, against the competition he said he "felt more from it." I agreed. What made this film compelling was not that she had cancer -- but the concept that the actor/director built around it -- that she now feels equal again to those around her, because everyone is dying, not just her. It was a touching concept, which worked due to her subtle performance.

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Kid In The Front Row Disaster Filmmaking Competition, 2nd Place

A reminder of the competition:

The world is about to end. A poisonous gas has descended over the planet, and everyone is about to die. With this knowledge and realisation, you pick up your video-phone, and capture the final two minutes of your life, and in fact, the last moments of humankind on the planet. 

All films must be NO LONGER than TWO MINUTES.

All films must take place in ONE SINGLE SHOT ONLY. NO CUTTING. NO EDITING. 

The runner-up in the Kid In The Front Row Disaster Filmmaking Competition is "The Last Man Breathing" by Nabil Shaban.


You can watch it here:





I chose this film as a finalist because I thought it was very unique, and intriguing throughout. It also had a quietly hilarious undertone throughout -- especially towards the end when he justifies using the gas mask over giving it to his girlfriend.


The guest judge, actor PETER JAMES SMITH (The West Wing), had a hard time deciding on a winner; it was down to this and one other. Here's what he liked about "The Last Man Breathing":


"I liked his use of visual--it wasn't just his face the whole time." He also said that it was "accomplished, intellectually and visually". However, unfortunately for Nabil, it didn't quite grab first place. But Nabil, if you're reading --- you should know that Peter and myself both loved your work!

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Mixed Nuts

1. Bruce Springsteen

Bruce's live stuff from the 70's is electrifying. Listen to the passion and LIFE in 'Wings For Wheels', or heart and soul in those versions of 'Racing In The Street' from the late 70's. Nothing like it.

2. The Big Year

Is a very cool movie with terrific actors. I love people that have passion for the sake of passion. If you're passionate about film, I get it, but there are millions of us. But 'The Big Year'? The characters are passionate about spotting birds.

3. Julie & Julia, Helvetica

That's why I loved Helvetica. It was lots of geeks, obsessed with fonts. They see the world in helvetica, georgia and verdana.

'Julie & Julia' is a film based on a true story, about a woman who decided to cook every meal from a Julia Child cookbook, in one year.

Passion is unique, It's personal. Most people say they never find their passions. I think they do, they're just scared to stand up for them. Try telling your wife you want to go bird watching for a year, or that you're obsessed with fonts--- It's not an easy ride. But how freeing when we embrace the hobbies and passions we're drawn to.

4. Shame

I went to see SHAME with Anna. She's the coolest. We get each other. We know how to piss each other off and we know how to inspire one another.

'Shame' did not inspire us. The performances were good and New York looked great; but not much else worked for me. I like small, artistic films; but this one I just didn't really get. Couldn't care about it.

I do like Carey Mulligan though.

5. Bon Iver

Just discovered Bon Iver. It's good when you learn music can still be amazing. Not for everyone but certainly for me.

6. Composers

I'm still figuring out how to communicate best with them. I love music and always know what I want; but I have no skill to really get that across. I'm still working on that. We usually get there in the end, in spite of me.

7. Upcoming films

Should I be excited about anything? I'm not feeling it.

8. Peter James Smith is the judge for The KITFR Disaster Filmmaking competition. Results soon.

9. Interviewing one of my favourite directors soon, just working around our schedules.

Actually I'm free all the time, so It's his schedule. Anyway, he's awesome and you love his films and we're in for a treat when he does it.

10. Up in 5 hours. When will I learn?

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we were

long lost distant nights
somewhere else
and i was someone else
you're gone gone gone

long lost distant nights
all those places we called home
young and laughing
whispers of years gone by

long lost distant nights
coke cans ice cream vans
we used to be 24

long lost distant nights
were we ever really here at all?

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The Jim Carrey Bang and Swerve

I was introduced to an actor today, and about an hour later we were standing on the platform at Sloane Square station, heading the same way home. And we got to talking about Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler.

A bit before that, we'd been talking about the industry and acting-- he was really interested in what I had to say because he'd not done much screen acting and was on the hunt for some advice. He brought up Jim Carrey to challenge my concepts about 'natural' acting and the 'less is more theory'. After that I rambled about how Carrey's films are different, because the world that exists in his movies is different-- like with Sandler, or Will Ferrell, the films give them permission to be bizarre and over the top.

Anyway, that's not what this post is about. The interesting part came after we stopped talking about the craft (our jobs), and instead, randomly, started talking about our favourite Jim Carrey films and moments.

I shared my favourite Carrey moment, and I was in hysterics as I explained it -- and then it got funnier because I remembered how the scene made me and my friend Nick laugh back when we were in school many a year ago.

Here's my favourite Jim Carrey moment. It's in 'Dumb and Dumber'. Harry and Lloyd have stopped talking to each other-- they go their separate ways.

A few scenes later-- Harry is walking through the desert, alone-- and then in a wide shot we hear Lloyd calling "Harry! Harry!".

Then we see it: Lloyd on a tiny, pathetic scooter. Then there's a BANG, and Lloyd swerves and skids, and then....

The rest is irrelevant. THAT is my favourite moment. And the actor today was like "That's so specific!". But that's the point! That's what we love about movies, those little moments that stick.

'Dumb & Dumber' is hilarious and I find that particular scene masterful for numerous different reasons, there's just something quietly hilarious about it. You couldn't reproduce it, couldn't copy it. The magic is etched in a moment caught on film nearly twenty years ago. It's amazing to me how I can love a scene in such an exact way, and recall it so randomly and unexpectedly on a tube platform in London. And the actor guy GOT IT. And I also remembered Nick from school, and how we spent the whole of school just quoting that damn movie and laughing and laughing.

Aren't movies just magic?

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