El Orfanato, a spoonful of sugar...

So just to warn you right off there may be a spoiler, and it may be a bit of a Guillermo fest.

The Orphanage, produced by Guillermo del Toro, directed by Juan Bayona. Right off you can surmise why Guillermo would produce a ghost story taking place in an orphanage. If Guillermo had directed this movie I would have started off skeptical because he's already coved that ground in Devil's Backbone. However I can see why he produced it and, if I'm not mistaken, can see his influence (either direct or otherwise) in this movie. Not that I am a Guillermo expert, I've only seen three of his fantastic movies. A definite style prevails in his movies tho, simple stories with complex intertwining themes that marry fantasy with reality. I will have to check out Bayona's other movies and see if his style is indeed that similar to Guillermo's.

El Orfanato seems to progress smoothly taking you through the story, not forcing you to assume the course of events to try to set up a surprise twist (Re. 6th sense) ending, but giving you both sides at the same time. You naturally assume the supernatural safe in you comfy seat, but if you were experiencing these things the storyline gives you and the supporting characters an 'out.' setting up the tension beautifully. The action progresses in an unpredictable but undeniable way, progressing in ways I didn't expect (eg typical horror tropes) but once there it seemed the natural progression of things.

all in all a great movie, one that makes me wish more new material would come out in broad release in the states.

Film Making

So among you readers, I'm sure there is at least one burgeoning
filmmaker out there (I know because the only other reader is max :-). I thought it would be cool to use this post as a seed for any comments or suggestions you readers (max) might have for other (hypothetical) readers out there as far as resources on the web for a beginning filmmaker. Pod casts, stock video sources, software recommendations, etc. Basically a place to start for those wide-eyed beginners that have yet to budget out their first script and saddle up to investors with the promise of stinking-rich money.

So to get the ball rolling i recommend you check out the filmmakingcentral podcast, it gives a kind of 'one mans perspective' to film making. I would recommend you go to the site except the podcast page says you have to sign in to get the podcast?! (Edit: He has the wimpy player on the front page that has all of the pod casts, why it's not on the podcast page... who knows.)I don't want to get into a web design tangent so we'll leave it at 'look for it on your podcast aggregator.'

A book that the Film Making Central guy (David Basulto) recommends that looks pretty cool is "The DV Rebel's Guide." I've picked it up but have yet to browse through it. Perhaps I'll do a more in-depth review later on, but the dust cover is pretty compelling provided your the type who likes jumping into the nitty-gritty of your projects. Another book "Make Your Own Damn Movie!: Secrets of a Renegade Director" By Lloyd Kaufman is an entertaining read, and provides some good tips on making low/no budget films (my favourite tip is never do a casting interview alone with an actor when there is nudity involved, unlike the B-movies your making - nothing good can come of it. learn from Lloyd's mistake :-)

So feel free to leave your comments with suggestions to the newbies (me included).