On the Move
June 4, 2008
Lobby card for Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927)
“I found myself becoming bored with the stationary camera, and I wanted to be completely free. The cameramen never refused to do what I asked of them, but they were not particularly pleased at the idea of having to hold the camera. At that time there were no lightweight cameras, and hand-holding was very tiring. Eventually, we invented a sort of cuirasse which, strapped to the chest, supported the camera.”
– Abel Gance, interviewed by Kevin Brownlow for his book The Parade’s Gone By (1968)
Link to a forum : Christians Boycott The Golden Compass
December 7, 2007
First comment from this forum :
6 Dec 2007 (140 posts)
By now, you probably have already gone to the movies and noticed a huge banner for the latest fantasy movie being released on December 7th by the name of The Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman. If it wasn’t the poster you saw, it was probably an advertisement on T.V. Before you decide on whether or not to take your kids to watch this movie, I just thought that I might give you a little bit of information about what inspired this movie and about the story itself.
In the 1950’s, an Atheist turned Christian author by the name of C.S. Lewis, wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of 7 books. All 7 books reflect Biblical stories and characters. C.S. Lewis wrote the series in order to spark the imagination of a younger reader to better understand important moments and characters in the Bible. He created a character named Aslan who was a lion that represented Jesus Christ in many ways. He also created a character named Jadis, the white witch who represented Satan. The Chronicles of Narnia incorporated Christian theology in a fantasy like state, with its overall intention of giving an understanding of the Word of God.
Upon reading The Chronicles of Narnia, author Philip Pullman decided to put together a fantasy series of his own. Philip Pullman, an atheist, wrote an anti-Narnia trilogy named, His Dark Materials. The first book in the series named, Northern Lights, is the first book to be adapted to film with the titled being changed to, The Golden Compass. This film has been watered down in order to avoid criticisms from believers of Christ. This is in order to use the movie as bait to lead children to read his books in the series.
While Northern Lights being the least offensive of the books, the books that follow such as The Subtle Knife then ending with The Amber Spyglass worsens, promoting ideas on atheism. In the last book of the series, a boy and a girl are depicted representing Adam and Eve, kill God, who is referred to as ‘YAHWEH’. If none of you knew, ‘YAHWEH’ is one of the Hebrew names for God in the Bible.
Phillip Pullman is known to be a hater of C.S. Lewis, the ideas in Narnia and spirituality. Phillip’s intention with the series, is to give the idea of atheism to the children that read the His Dark Materials trilogy. Phillip Pullman stated in 2003 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that “My books are about killing God”
If you love your kids, please do not let them watch this movie, or read the books.
And also be sure to keep Phillip Pullman in prayer, so that God will continue to tug at his heart and eventually show Phillip that He truly does exist. God is graceful, and even those who mock God deserve a chance to serve Him!
p.s. The New Narnia Movie ‘rince Caspian’ will be released May 16, 2008!“
A Beautiful Mask
January 29, 2007
Image from Queen Christina (1933)
“Garbo asked me, ‘What do I play in this scene?’ Remember she is standing there for 150 feet of film — 90 feet of them in close-up. I said, ‘Have you heard of tabula rasa? I want your face to be a blank sheet of paper. I want the writing to be done by every member of the audience. I’d like it if you could avoid even blinking your eyes, so that you’re nothing but a beautiful mask.’ So in fact there is nothing on her face: but everyone who has seen the film will tell you what she is thinking and feeling. And always it’s something different. Each one writes his own ending to the film; and it’s interesting that this is the scene everyone remembers most clearly. . . .”
– Rouben Mamoulian, speaking about the final shot in Queen Christina, interviewed for Sight & Sound (Summer 1961)
The Mamoulian Palette
January 29, 2007
“Color cinematography tends to brighten and cheapen natural color. The problem was to counteract that. I realized that color in films is nearer to painting than to the stage. . . . So I treated the color the way a painter would. I devised what came to be known as the Mamoulian Palette. . . . I had a collection of spray guns beside me, so that I could spray color on a costume or set or even an actor. The art director had made me a beautiful chapel; and he was very upset when I sprayed everything with green and gray paint. There were flowers on the table and (naturally) the leaves were green. I think when they saw me painting them black they went and told Mr. Zanuck I’d gone out of my mind. . . .”
– Rouben Mamoulian, speaking about the 1941 film Blood and Sand, interviewed for Sight & Sound (Summer 1961)
Better Something Bad
December 13, 2006
“I watched Preston Sturges work on Sullivan’s Travels. He let me go through the entire production, watching him direct — and I directed a little. I’d stage a scene and he’d tell me how lousy it was. Then I watched the editing and I was able to gradually build up knowledge. Preston insisted I make a film as soon as possible… He said it’s better to have done something bad than to have done nothing… so the first picture, good or bad, that came along, I decided to do.”
– Anthony Mann, interviewed for Screen (July-October 1969)
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