Life in a year - my doc treatment

I am making a documentary on exchange students called "Life in one year". That's what we were told before we left, that our year abroad would be like a whole lifetime of experience, so that is why I decided to call it "Life in a year".

It would be a day in my own skin, filmed from the outside. I want it to look like one day unfolding on the screen. I will add interviews of 3 maybe 4 exchange students including myself to orientate what happens. I want to make to show what we experience, what we feel, and the differences between our countries.

~ starts with me waking up in my room, just like in my routine.
~switch to an interview of one exchange student talking about what is different about their morning routine. Take shots based on what they say.
~Driving to school / interview on the first day of school in the US
~arriving to Booker T / comments on our first impressions on our new schools
~filming the dancers in their lockers and maybe a dance class / interview about what we like about the subjects we study
~film a class (?) and/or close ups from different teachers / comments on how different the relation ship between teachers and students are and how laid back the classes are
~lunchtime / filming my friends, the agitation
~following me in the hall way filming back of my head. No one pays attention / interview about loneliness. Add shots based on interview.
~After school. what we do, the mall, christmas (?), more / interview on what we like most, our favorite moments
~home and family shots / interview on how we felt when we first meet our future family and how we felt about spending a whole year with people who were then strangers.
~night time. Skype with family back home / interview on how we manage that
~as an ending, small interviews on what we love about our exchange and how amazing this year is despite the hard times.

Life in a day

Life in a day, a very special documentary unlike no others. It is made with a series of clips selected from 80,000 home videos submitted on Youtube, all filmed on the day of July 24, 2010. It is the life of human beings on earth, told in their own words. It is very poetic, beautiful really. Some clips are very hard or sad. You see the contrast between different life styles, poor, rich, Japanese, african or american. I loved it, I was charmed. I've seen it maybe 5 times. I can't say much more, I'll just let you enjoy.  

Swimming with sharks

I decided to make my review on Swimming with sharks by George Hugan. 

The title didn't sound very appealing to me at first neither did the summary. I thought "Oh I don't like business movies...". What got me to watch it was the cast, Kevin Spacey playing the role of the main character. Being a bug fan I swore I would see every one of his movies so I had to see this one. It was a very good choice ! 

It is the story of Guy (Frank Whaley), a recent film school graduate with big ideas who just got a job as the assistant of a big studio executive Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey). All his ambition will soon be crushed by his boss who delights in abusing Guy. Pushed over the edge, the young man breaks into Buddy's house and takes him hostage. The film starts when Guy brakes in and then builds up on flash backs that will help us to understand what brought Guy to have such a break down. The whole film is basically about the Hollywood film industry and how hard it is to reach the top. 

It is very intense, I was tied to my seat the whole time, almost having to catch my breath. It can feel like it is being over dramatic but I still really enjoyed it and the way the movie was built was very clever. I wasn't disappointed by Spacey's performance, he was of course amazing ! He gave us a very powerful performance. 

Spirited away

This week, I've realized no one in America knew about all the cartons from Hayao Miyazaki, so I've decided to make a review on one of his cartons. I chose Spirited Away, my all time favorite. I've seen it so manny times and never get bored of it. It is not one of those cheesy disney cartons (although I have nothing against them, I actually love it), it is unlike any other. 

It's the story of ten year old Chihiro, moving in a new city. As they try to find their new house, her and her parents come acros a blocked tunnel. The little girl's parents decide to explore what is on the other side of it, as Chihiro feels something is wrong. They discover a beautiful town that seems abandoned. FInding a giant buffet her parents start eating and Chihiro goes wandering on her own. When she goes to find her parents, they have turned...into pigs. She is now trapped in the spirit world forever...until she finds her way out. 

It is just a beautiful carton with authentic water color drawings, all very pure and colorful. It is poetic, fun, wonderful. I advise it to everyone, children or adults. If you like it, watch all the other ones, they are ALL amazing.

Alright the trailers on youtube aren't very good and I really advise you to watch the movie in japanese because ANY OTHER LANGUAGE sounds awful.

I put the japanese trailer and the french one because I think it reflected the movie very well. You can watch it even without speaking french, the pictures speak fro themselves.

That's the french one.

Midnight in Paris

As a French girl, I have an unconditional love for Paris. Paris, Paris, Paris... To me, one of the most beautiful city in the world. Directed by the wonderful Woody Allen, this movie is a hymn to the city of lovers. All the shots are beautiful, filled with magic. Lead by Owen Wilson and the gorgeous Marion Cotillard, it is full of poetry and love of any kind. You can also find oher french actors like Gad Elmaleh (also my favorite french humorist, he is hilarious !) or Lea Seydoux. Very beautiful, very french. If you want to understand our culture, watch this movie. If you want to feel the admiration I have for Paris, watch this movie. If you just want to have a good relaxing time, watch this movie. To sum it up, whoever you are, watch this movie.

Into the wild - Sean Penn

Guys this is my favorite movie of all times. Well ok not really because there is so many awesome movies that it's hard to make a choice. But let's say he's in my top 5. Anyway. This movie is the most beautiful hymn to freedom I've seen. Adapted by the awesome book of Jon Krakaurer (that you must read by the way), it is about this young man who, feed up by society, decides to leave his cosy life behind to walk all the way to Alaska and live...Into the wild. Throughout his adventures he will get to meet people who will change his point of view on the human race and eventually heal him from his bitterness. Not only is it a journey of the mind, it is a journey of the soul. Breath taking shots and a perfect soundtrack make this movie complete. A critic of today's society, a spiritual journey of a young man and a hymn to nature, beautiful, touching, clever, deep, hypnotizing.

500 days of summer

I've always wanted to watch this movie ever since I saw the trailer on one of my numerous youtube searches. I fell in love with the camera work and the music. It just made me fell all fussy and warm inside.  Now I've finally seen it and let me tell you I wasn't disappointed. It was magical, this is the word. I adored it ! I advise it to...anyone ! Like seriously, not kidding.

The story starts off as all love stories, boy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets girl (Zooey Deschanel). Boy falls in love, girl doesn't. Dilemma. Quite common you'll say. Don't worry, it gets very original. We watch their love story begin, their ups and downs, all through a series of flashbacks very well orchestrated accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack. Cute, heartbreaking, funny, clever, their journey through love doesn't quite end as expected. A beautiful story about love and all it's little things.

Enjoy !