Anyway, this animation consists of 30 frames, all drawn in about half an hour one evening, and animated within roughly the same amount of time. I’m getting much quicker at drawing individual frames, thanks to the light-box I purchased just before Christmas. I included both ends of this character’s emotional spectrum: happy / adorable, and of course angry / evil / wicked. Because this is a rough test, I didn’t colour the character. When I get chance again, I will do a colour test animation for this character (once I have all of the raw film footage done and out of the way).

The photo background is my own hand. The reason that I chose to place the character here, for this animation, was so that I could get an idea of scale and size comparison between the fictional character and the actors I will be using. Obviously, getting a consistent, and realistic scale throughout the film will be hard to achieve, and there may be a few continuity errors…but overall I believe that it will all come together well, and create an enjoyable end product.

I chose to use the accompanying music: “Mind Heist” by Zack Hemsey (from the film Inception) because it has since gained connotations of the epic / the impending doom scenarios which made the film successful. The music has become a popular choice amongst amateur film editors across the internet, on sites such as Youtube. It manages to put across the idea of this character being horrendously evil, together with the expression and choice of camera movement (tilt and close-up). It brings focus to the character, and emphasizes the point that “Wozzat” is a threat, and not a cuddly little creature.

The last song of the first Transformers movie score, Sam Our Hero is a sweeping beauty from Steve Jablonsky.

Get your hanky ready, we’re talking Titanic now. It’s trendy to hate on it and the James Horner soundtrack but how can you not love Unable To Stay, Unwilling To Leave?

You might have heard of Zack Hemsey from his contribution to the Inception trailer music. A lot of people think it’s from the soundtrack since it sounds a lot like what Hans Zimmer did. While I like it and will undoubtedly feature it some day, I find there are other Zack Hemsey pieces which are more deserving of my love. For instance, End Of An Era.

Hey, let’s see if I can mention Hans Zimmer three times in one post! The German Sensation composed some new cues for Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 At World’s End. This is the playful yet rousing Up Is Down.

The changer of ways...

Whew. Tzeentch. Mmm.

I have to admit, although Tzeentch is my favorite of the four Chaos gods, he is tricky in more ways than one. Of the four Chaos gods, he is the least tangible. For example, the other three gods have associated bodily fluids, but not Tzeentch. His icons, like birds, books and hour glasses, tend to be vast and many, but never deep or clear.

Even the symbol is open to interpretation; Nurgle’s is a bio-hazard warning, Khorne’s a stylized skull and that of Slaanesh overlapping gender symbols. But Tzeentch’s isn’t so obvious.

Some believe Tzeentch’s emblem is a flaming torch while others see a snake or smoke, or perhaps even some kind of water bird. But, like any god of change, magic, trickery and scheming, it doesn’t want to be easily defined. The less tangible and more shapeless it is, the more easily it can take a new form.

On the plus side, this lack of clarity makes Tzeentch a very versatile god to work with writing wise. Plots, magic, scheming, trickery, change, mutations, hope, psychic powers and secrecy are all his calling cards. Tzeentch and his followers are always playing with a loaded deck, and frequently leave their victims a few cards short of one. It also leaves for very few contradictions, as we get with Khorne.

One thing of interest is that, ultimately, Tzeentch constantly seeks power over others and at all times. This at times sets up conflicts with his brother Nurgle, who is all about letting go, and Slaanesh.

Why Slaanesh? Neil Strauss’ book, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists gives one pretty good example of it. In the book, Style (Strauss’ code name) joins a group of self improvement obsessed men who are trying to get luckier with the ladies. But in the course of the book, he learns that some men are less interested in fun and good times, and more interested in power and domination over their fellow man.

Another example can be found in questions of money. Money is definitely a source of power to some, but it can also be followed to the point of excess. Gold for example is a constant indication of wealth. But while some might obtain and horde it as a source of power and influence, others wear it out of vanity, such as Xerxes from 300. He hungered for power, but justified it through belief in his inherent divinity. However, he also flirted with excess in the gold he wore, his slaves, his concubines and very potent hubris.

Here’s the music at last, with a focus on mysticism, power and magic. Music without lyrics is marked with an asterisks (*), while the link at the very bottom is to a playlist of all these songs. Oh, and the first one was chosen because of how I feel it relates to the conflicts of Magnus the Red:

1. A Demon’s Fate, by Within Temptation.
2. Macross Plus – Information High, by Yoko Kanno.
3. Fable 2 – Bowerstone Market, by Danny Elfman and Russell Shaw.*
4. Mind Heist, by Zack Hemsey.*
5. 300 – Xerxes’ Tent, by Tyler Bates.*
6. Battlestar Galactica – The Shape of Things to Come, by Bear McCreary.*
7. Gladiator – Am I Not Merciful?, by Hans Zimmer.*
8. Two Steps from Hell – Heart of Courage, by Nick Phoenix and Thomas J. Bergersen.*
9. The Illusionist – The Chase, by Philip Glass.*

All hail the architect of fate with post 99!

uncurrentevents:

Matthew Brown’s short film “Dear Japan” unfolds like a beautiful letter to the land of the rising sun as a lover, written across the perfect canvas of Zack Hemsey’s “Empty Room.” (2010)

What has two thumbs and makes the summer blockbusters epic? This guuuuuuuuuy!

For about three years, I’ve sharpened my writing skills on first the Black Library’s forum boards (which no longer exist), and then the Bolthole. Well, it’s not uncommon for writers to listen to music during the writing process in order to pump up or inspire them. Music is just creatively inspiring like that.

In the last two years however, I took advantage of the ability to anchor links within words to allow my readers the chance to listen to the same music I did during the writing process. It was a nifty idea only available online.

Still, a lot of talk goes into the kind of music that writers should and would listen to while writing. I’ve personally found that anything without lyrics allows the writer to focus on the work with minimal distractions. So to help out other writers, be they Warhammer fans like myself or doing their own thing, here is a list of twenty music pieces to get the creative juices flowing. It’s up to you to decide what works in what settings. And don’t be afraid to plug the names or artists into Pandora to see what you get.

1. Epic Themes vol. 3, Dawn of War OST.
   An epic war piece great for action.
2. Dream is Collapsing, by Hans Zimmer.
   An adventurous piece where things take a bad turn. I trust you’ve seen Inception…
3. Explosive, by Bond.
   A burst of violins with a beat in the background, mixing classical and technical.
4. Palladio, by Escala.
   You’ve probably heard this before in diamond commercials, so you may want to check out the remixed version.
5. Daath, by Diatonis.
   Creepy ambient music for horror and ghost stories.
6. E.S. Posthumus,by  Ebla.
   Need something biblical? Ready for metanoia or the angels to fall upon a foe with swords?
7. Time, by Paul Cardall.
   A peaceful piece for when you need to build a moment of wonder.
8. Clubbed to Death, by Rob Dougan.
   Because something is happening and you’re not sure what. It neither slows the pace down nor speeds it up, but keeps it even.
9. Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix), by Yoshida Brothers.
   For that mixture of fast paced action and the exotic.
10. Adagio for Strings, by Samuel Barber.
    Do not listen to this unless you feel like being depressed over the results of man made tragedy.
11. Mind Heist, by Zack Hemsey.
    Because someone is clearly up to no good.
12. 

    Yeah, kinda like that...

    Radioactive Sunrise, Fallout 3 OST.
    An ambient piece that is haunting in a way I can’t explain.

13. Uprising, by West One Music.
    A well named piece that suggest people growing tired with the current status quo and moving towards change by any means necessary.
14. Requiem for a Dream Remix, by Clint Mansell.
    To be honest, this theme was used in various shapes and forms throughout the whole of Darren Aronofsky’s film. This remix wouldn’t exactly have fit it, but made it into some kind of epic, almost mythical piece.
15. Def Con, by Immediate Music.
    For when the world’s explosion is pretty imminent.
16. Preliator, by Globus Epicon.
    A chorus filled piece that I believe was used in the Spider-Man 2 commercials. Good for intense rivalries.
17. Linger in Shadows, by Wojciech Golczewski.
    Something mysterious that takes a dark, drastic turn into something violent and tragic.
18. Trailblazing, by Steve Jablonsky.
    Something honorable and sorrowful in one. Makes you instantly think of soldiers forced to do their duty despite the dangers. Probably why it ended up on the Pearl Harbor soundtrack.
19. Ecstasy of Gold, by Ennio Morricone.
    A building piece that screams ‘obsession.’ If you haven’t seen The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, then shame on you.
20. Code Red, by Elliot Goldenthal.
    From the soundtrack of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, this track screams mounting trouble.

That’s all for now. I’ll seek out more within a month.

And it seems to be working…  Listened to this on my walk to work today – my new theme was especially effective since all the tall buildings were shrouded in fog, lending a sense of foreboding to my morning commute.  I did also feel like pretty much everyone I passed by was in some way conspiring against me.  Granted, this is not all that unusual a feeling for me, though it was certainly heightened today.  However, I kept expecting something to explode without warning or for a Cloverfield-style monster to launch an attack…  Perhaps this is more drama than I’d bargained for.

A while back, I ran into Zack Hemsey and his new album.

For an indie artist, his stuff is pretty good. [After all, he was the composer for the trailer for Inception :]

Although I don’t usually promote secular music, Zack’s songs bring up dark, compelling themes that many people deal with.

From death, to breakups, even to disillusionment, Zack Hemsey compiles the emotions and heart-wrenching feelings from life into this 13-song epic. All written from a secular point of view, the album conveys much of the hopelessness that a nonbeliever wades in this world.

There are some language and strong, mature references in some of the songs. But I do admire Zack’s blunt honesty in the delicate, harsh nature of life. His “Empty Room” album serves as a compelling commentary of this world.

As believers, we should be challenged especially on how we view the world and those of it; the ambiance of “Empty Room” matches the nature of the gritty world we live in, Christians & non-Christians alike. Instead of acting high-and-mighty on our imaginary ivory pedestals, can we sympathize with those who are lost in the mire and say, as one starving man to another, that we found the bread of life?
+Michael K

this is such a chill song
Zack Hemsey, the guy who made the trailer music for “Inception”, produced and rapped in this music video.

“Now, your time on this plane was sacred
And the last years of your stay a gift
If I could just say I wish you well
I wish you well” – Nine Leaves

If one is to believe Twitter and other social media outlines, Inception is fantastic. Though it is too early to start the serious talk about the Oscars, some have put Inception at the top of their list.

The trailer for Inception features music from Zack Hemsey, appropriately titled “Mind Heist“.

Hemsey has an impressive resume. He has composed for the movies Payback and 422. Many of his songs have appeared in commercials and trailers. Hemsey has released three studio albums available on iTunes.

And, go see Inception. It’s great.

The Bad: Some sloppy editing, several characters are sadly underdeveloped, some distracting unanswered questions that could be interpreted as plotholes, not enough Michael Caine.

Basically, Inception is, in my opinion, the best movie of the year and potentially the best of its class, surpassing Nolan’s previous work, The Dark Knight. It’s a smarter action movie, but that doesn’t necessarily make it intellectual genius. Still, while this film arguably missed a few opportunities to explore its most interesting aspects, avoiding pretentiousness and crafting entertaining action scenes makes a great balance between thoughtful cinema and base entertainment — which, in this case, is just the way I like it.

The trailers and marketing for Inception very much made it seem like a spiritual mid-quel to the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise. Panoramic cityscapes, an ominous Hans Zimmer score and a chunk of the Batman Begins cast were the most prominent studio sells for this movie. That alone whet my appetite for watching it since Nolan’s The Dark Knight raised the standard for semi-fantastical action movies. But, while the script was written by Nolan beginning 10 years ago, it was easy to write this off as too derivative of his last movie to excel.

As it turns out, Inception took the genre Nolan seemingly perfected with The Dark Knight and raised the bar in special effects, imaginative writing and mood. In retrospect, TDK was only leading up to this moment – a culmination of a decade of work and patience that has paid off masterfully. After my second viewing, I’m less inclined to tout this as perfection, but it’s easy to get caught up in the Inception cult after seeing it for this first time. Not only is it thought-provoking, it’s fun. And it needed to be this entertaining too, because modern audiences may have dropped Inception like a bad habit had it prodded their brains without delivering the mind-numbing explosions and gunplay. Admittedly, I was one of those people who enjoyed the movie even more with the action scenes.

Let's go confront them with our words!

Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime — Plot & Portrayals

The plot of Inception is not as complicated as some may make it seem. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio – Titanic, Growing Pains) is an expert “extractor,” a skilled con artist and thief who uses his knowledge of dream-sharing technology to infiltrate a target’s mind and steal valuable secrets for his employers. He and his point man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days of Summer, 3rd Rock from the Sun), are backed into a corner after a botched job and end up working for a powerful Japanese energy company CEO, Saito (Ken Watanabe – Batman Begins). This time the job is not to extract ideas, but to implant one through the allegedly impossible process of “inception.” Cobb assembles an expert team that includes a prodigy Architect to build the synthetic dreams (Ariadne, played by Ellen Page – Juno), a Forger who can impersonate subconscious projections of people (Eames, played by Tom Hardy, the next Mad Max), and a talented Chemist who can provide the right type of sedation to get deep into the target’s subconscious (Yusuf, played by Dileep Rao – Avatar).

Cobbers gonna....Cobb.

Comparisons to DiCaprio’s last flick, Shutter Island, are inevitable. In both movies, he plays an imbalanced protagonist suffering over family trauma and dealing with psychological manifestations. But whereas I found Shutter Island too indulgent in its pathos, overlong and ultimately cheap in its ending, Inception manages to deliver its story in a much more elegant manner, sidestepping cliche in favor of innovation. DiCaprio himself is a much more sympathetic and tolerable character in this movie, though I wouldn’t say it’s nearly his best performance. Dom Cobb is understated, but less cagey than Shutter Island‘s Teddy Daniels. To DiCaprio’s credit, as Cobb’s story progresses, the audience becomes more invested, making that final scene so much more important.

The rest of the characters have also become instant fan favorites, which is somewhat more of a credit to the cast than to Nolan. Sure, everyone has some fun and sometimes thought-provoking lines to deliver, but I would say characterization is one aspect where Inception falls short. We get to know Cobb pretty well, but the rest of his mind-heist team are often relegated to functional duties. For example, we know that Arthur’s a stick in the mud, but we never find out why or whether he realizes it — though we do get a fair amount of screentime devoted to him floating around in zero gravity wrestling with projections. Ariadne is cute, sincere and observant, but I’m left intensely curious on what her subconscious holds – not to say they need to necessarily physically explore that, but there are more traditional screenwriting techniques for subtly shedding light on a character’s fears and desires. The playful Eames is probably one of the few characters who stands out from the crowd of super-serious dream professionals, though it is a well-known team-movie trope to have the witty Englishman in tow.

Left: Marion Cotillard (Mal). Right: Ellen Page (Ariadne).

Babewatch

Speaking of the cast, it’s a very pretty-looking ensemble.

Though Ellen Page still looks like she should be lugging around 12th grade calculus books, she’s a cutie and plays Ariadne with a subdued sweetness that doesn’t come off as either overly childish or unnervingly calm (though she does seem to pick up on the dream-sharing concepts unrealistically quick). Page excels in one of the movie’s best early scenes, when Ariadne discovers her powers as an Archtiect-Dreamer and starts to manipulate the world around her M.C. Escher style.

Ultimate Babeitude has to go to Marion Cotillard, though. Her Shade projection makes for a beautiful femme fatale and is slightly underused. We also get to see Dom’s memories of Mal in several flashbacks and dream sequences. It’s a complicated character, simultaneously loving, tragic and sinister. Cotillard shines in a chilling sequence where Ariadne intrudes upon Cobb’s most buried memory.

And, having been looking at the “Inception” tag on Tumblr a lot, I realize that I owe a Babe to the other side of the attraction spectrum, as well. So here’s a picture of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, ladies.

Unfortunately, if you’re of the classically trained actor persuasion, don’t hold your breath for Michael Caine’s role in this movie. He appears very briefly, despite the misleading top billing.

The Most Resilient Parasite – Music & Mood

Hans Zimmer composes the bombastic score for Inception. The Zimmer-esque song we heard in the trailer is actually “Mind Heist” by Zack Hemsey and may be the best piece of music associated with the film. Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien” also has a strong cameo as the kick-countdown music (coincidentally, Marion Cotillard won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007 for playing Edith Piaf).

Zimmer himself does a really good job within the movie, though. Nolan reportedly only provided him with the script to work from as he was composing, taking the existing themes and attaching them in post-production. The result is a score full of thematic motifs that weave in and out of the film. Zimmer has two modes for this soundtrack — ominous danger and tragic emotion. Both are very well done and fit the scenes well, adding even more tension to heart-racing scenes and enhancing the emotional edge as the story unfolds. There isn’t anything terribly groundbreaking here — like many composers, Zimmer recycles some previous work, drawing heavily from the deep brass and electronic pulses of The Dark Knight. But it’s ultimately fitting for the film, culminating in the deeply emotional track leading up to the credits, “Time.”

Okay...but can you make a burrito so hot even you can't eat it?

The score complements a seriously atmospheric film, much like The Dark Knight. There is little levity to be found, though the darkness and suspense are not as overbearing as the last Batman film was. Inception manages to take every locale, even the “real world” ones and give them their own sense of intrigue. The actual dreamscapes may seem relatively mundane given the possibilities, but are each directed with detail and for their own purpose. Admittedly, sometimes that purpose is simply to have raw, visceral action (as is the case with the snowy mountain dream), but even that is done very well. CGI was used responsibly for this movie, seamlessly interacting with real stunts rather than distracting from the rest of the filmcraft.

Like I mentioned, the story only gets more gripping as the action progresses, rather than devolving into a backdrop for the gunfire. As we get deeper into Cobb’s psyche, the stakes become more important, the music more pensive, and the directing more tuned to the character’s emotion. The editing also gets tighter and more relevant too. That was one of the only technical elements that distracted me in a second viewing of the film. It seems like some lines in the script may have been overused, leading to a couple of awkward cuts (hint: compare “it’s not, strictly speaking, legal” in the trailer to the film). But as the movie takes on a life of its own, it all comes together quite beautifully.

Going Deeper - Questions and Analysis **SPOILERS**

Though you shouldn’t need more than a couple years of high school to get through the basics of the plot, it does move quickly enough that the viewer can temporarily lose the thread.

To be clear, here’s a chart from CinemaBlend that explains the Fischer-job and its dream level hierarchy (according to one interpretation).

This explains why it’s constantly raining in the city (Yusuf has to pee) and why Arthur can create a stair paradox to shake off his pursuer (it’s his dream). It also raises some more questions.  For example, if Eames is spinning in zero-gravity in the Hotel, why is there only a single avalanche to signify this in the next level? If inner ear function is intact (even as a dream avatar), why doesn’t Arthur’s constant flailing in the van collapse the Hotel dream and why doesn’t everyone kick during the van flip? These are the type of technical questions that were probably going to inevitably arise from a novel science fiction concept and are ultimately the least interesting or important. At some point, the movie just needs to advance and certain allowances have to be made.

The concept of Limbo is the more complex and mentally taxing idea, probably the one that has “taken hold” of me most since seeing the movie for the first time. Apparently, there are a couple of ways to reach Limbo, the world of pure subconscious. Cobb and Mal apparently kept going into “dreams within dreams,” which brought them onto the subconscious shores. In the Fischer mission, Ariadne and Cobb were apparently confident that they could arrive there with one more dream level beyond the snow fortress. Dying under that amount of sedation was the most dramatic way of reaching Limbo, and probably the most disorienting.

The questions associated with Limbo are more pertinent to the ultimate meaning of the film and thus more important. But part of the film’s intrigue is that interpretations of Limbo are open-ended. Take Saito and Cobb in Limbo, for instance. We know from the beginning that Cobb, who is still young, finds Saito, aged and withered. But how long did Saito actually spend there? It seemed like Ariadne and Cobb entered Limbo before Saito died.

This is what the Republicans think Obama will do to America.

This implies that the passage of time and aging process aren’t necessarily constant for all Limbo visitors. Something about your preparedness for entering the shared subconscious state determines whether you “lose yourself” or not. Cobb, who had almost lost himself there before, had a purpose – find Saito and get back to his children. Though Saito may have entered a little bit after Cobb, his experience in the raw subconscious was ultimately more dangerous for the psyche – leaving him an old man filled with regret.

The one major plothole in all of this is Fischer, whose return from Limbo is all-too convenient. The only way to really look at it is from a storytelling standpoint. Fischer didn’t just drop into Limbo as a result of a randomly inflicted wound — he was essentially taken there by the Shade. By Mal, when she intentionally assassinated him in one level to take him hostage in her own. Therefore, rather than finding himself lost in his own subconscious, Fischer was abducted by Cobbs’, a foreign entity that kept Fischer’s individuality distinct.

This sheds light on the dangers of Limbo — not only is it a deep space of eternal dreaming, it’s a potentially consuming experience to be thrown into your own subconscious. In Fischer’s case, he was merely a prisoner who needed to be released from Mal, not from his own angels and demons. This is a lot of extrapolation on my part from an unexplained moment in the climax that seems like it happened for convenience’s sake.

Which brings us to the major question — what the hell was up at the end? Is Cobb in a dream or not? It’s clearly the question Nolan wanted to leave us with, which I think also makes it indeterminate. In my opinion, Cobb could likely have ended up in a form of his subconscious after Saito refused or failed to bring him out of their own shared version of Limbo. Saito could have shot him, but the frightened and traumatized Cobb, who had a very pensive look on his face as they were exchanging poetic lines, may have rejected waking up, on some level. This may have reverted him to an alternate form of Limbo, a lucid one in which he controls his ultimate fate, rather than risking regret.

Okay, I admit half the reason I used this picture was cleavage.

This fits with the mysterious old man in Mombasa who drops the heavy line about dreaming to “wake up” and the subjective nature of reality. The fact that we can question whether the whole thing was a dream at all strikes at the interesting core of the movie. Does it matter if Cobb wakes up, if he finds his catharsis? This is essentially an argument for why movies are important, whether they’re real or not. Catharsis is possible and that form of reality becomes more important than whatever physical form we may originally belong to. This blogger covers his theory on how Inception reflects the art of filmmaking extremely well.

One last question that I admit is just irrelevant — how long did the mind heisters spend in the first dream level? Didn’t Cobb say it would take a week before the 10 hours on the airplane were up? Does this mean that everyone except for Cobb and Saito, who had to wake up on their own, are just chilling in the rain for six days before they wake up? I assume Fischer’s mind army has retreated after his moment of catharsis, but still…that’s a long time to do nothing. Without a kick on the plane, how else would they get out? Does anyone know?

**END SPOILERS**

Waiting for a Train

“You’re waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away. You can’t be sure where it will take you, but it doesn’t matter. Because we’ll be together.”

This is one of the underlying messages of Inception. How our imaginations can bring us reconciliation. Imagination can give the senselessness of life a narrative, it can bring us calm in moments of turbulence and it can even marry two concepts like psychological study and “dumb” entertainment. It’s been doing this for as long as we’ve had thinking human beings, back to the mythologies of old.

A lot of people want to make Inception a higher-concept film than it actually is. They want to gloss over its imperfections and insist that everything is intentional, rather than the creative interjection of their own minds. That’s, of course, their prerogative, but my second viewing of the film taught me that this movie is ultimately a well-done, traditional vessel of entertainment and commentary. It uses Jungian concepts with the end goal of entertaining audiences and making money. It could have gone much deeper, artistically speaking, but honestly, I’m almost thankful it played it safe and avoided getting caught up in the overly abstract.

"All right, what Hollywood Liberal's idea was it to meet at the corner of Hope & Change?"

Inception – 9.5/10

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan
Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by Wally Pfister
Editing by Lee Smith
Running Time: 142 Minutes
Rated PG-13 for deceased lovers trying to stab you

Critic Reviews
MetaCritic — 74
RottenTomatoes — 86
MRQE - 82

2011 Academy Award Nominations
Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay
Best Original Score
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Visual Effects

I can’t pretend I haven’t been busy, but I really should have been posting more regularly.

I recently found out that the composer of the music for the latest trailer of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Inception is in fact NOT Hans Zimmer, the film’s prolific composer, but actually an up-and-coming guy named Zack Hemsey. The trailer music, entitled Mind Heist, is embedded below. Take a listen. It shows tremendous promise for Hemsey and is a clear indicator that he will be one of the major faces (or rather, pens) of film scoring in the years to come. Remember his name.

Philips Cinema is holding a contest called Parallel Lines, in which you submit a film of no more than 3 minutes with a set of scripted lines provided by Philips:

What is that?
It’s a unicorn.
Never seen one up close before.
Beautiful.
Get away, get away.
I’m sorry.

To launch the competition, 5 up-and-coming filmmakers made films according to the contest rules, which Philips posted on their website. Although they’re all great, my two favorites are Carl Erik Rinsch’s The Gift and Johnny Hardstaff’s Darkroom. Brilliantly shot and beautifully illustrative of film’s ability to transcend dialogue and tell a compelling story without it. Check those films out below.

Finally, on a more personal note, I finished watching season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix streaming yesterday, and boy was it an amazing, epic, emotional, and satisfying ride. When the series first came out in 2005, I caught the first few episodes and was instantly hooked, but couldn’t keep up with the episodes due to schoolwork and such. At the time, Hulu wasn’t big and Netflix didn’t stream movies. But now, with the feature film about to hit theaters, I realized that I should probably catch up on it, and so I basically marathoned the entire show for the past few weeks. I loved every minute of it. And now I have James Newton Howard’s score for the film because iTunes released it early for some reason. O fortuitous happenings! The score is definitely worth a listen, but I’m still part of the ‘give James a retroactive Oscar for Atlantis: The Lost Empire.’ Oh well. Expect a full review of the new score in the weeks to come!

Hope you enjoy the links!

~ Adhish

Zack will be there in person to meet and greet with fans, friends and family alike. Be the first to buy the new album before it hits stores.

Doors open at 9, No Cover
Boca Grande
564 Washington Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ