14th November (Issue 1238) - The Courier

30 THE COURIER Monday November 14 2011fi lthecourieronline.co.uk/fi l mc2.film@ncl.ac.ukmfeaturesTop 5Studio productiondisasters5) Terminator: SalvationIf you haven’t listened to Christian Bale’sswear-illed rant, as he ires excessiveabuse at a helpless crew member, You-Tube it now. It’s really quite unbelievable.Tarnishing the ilm as well as Bale’s reputation,this embarrassing and disgracefulmoment is one that he’ll want to forget.4) Passion of the ChristControversy is never far away from MelGibson, with the man being accusedof racism, sexism and homophobia inrecent years. There was no exceptionduring the production of The Passionof the Christ, perceived as having anti-Semitic overtones, which damaged itscredibility, although not its box-oficesuccess.3) The CrowOnly eight days before the scheduledcompletion of the ilm, Brandon Lee wasshot and killed on set, due to a series ofshort-cuts taken by inexperienced crewregarding the preparation of a prop gun.Despite Lee’s untimely death, the moviewas completed and has since become acult classic.2) Twilight Zone: MovieVic Morrow and two child actors, aged6 and 7, died in a horriic helicopter accidentas the pilot struggled to navigatethrough pyrotechnics, causing the low-lying helicopter to spin out of controland crash, instantly killing the threeactors. This tragedy caused regulationsto be tightened concerning children andspecial effects.1) The ConquerorAlthough not conclusive, it is widelybelieved that thanks to the exterior locationsbeing shot near the US Government’satomic bomb testing facilitiesin nearby Nevada, radioactivity caused91 of the 220 cast members to contractcancer. This eventually claimed 46 lives,including director Dick Powell and thelegendary John Wayne.Zak BranchetteBlacklisted?Rod Lundgrendiscusses the mythsand realities ofstudio internshipsPress –Play has long been an importantcomponent of the North East, organisinga variety of special events in and aroundNewcastle. From November 17-20, theirlatest effort has produced a programmeof eclectic ilms ilms at the Tyneside Cinemaexploring interesting individualsand sub-cultures.The rich programme starts with twoilms ilms on the 17th: Crowdsuring, a practi-cal discussion advising young ilmmakersilmmakerson funding and distribution , with a varietyof industry talking heads in attendance,while Just Do It documents a groupof activists over a year as they tackle“Unpaid interns are usually too scaredto speak out [because] it will hurt theirchances of inding inding future jobs,” said attorneyAdam Klein. His clients Eric Glatt andAlex Footman are suing Fox Searchlightover their work as unpaid interns onthe international blockbuster ilm BlackSwan.The lawsuit claims they performedsecretarial and janitorial work. Furtherto taking out the trash and preparing coffee,only Mr. Glatt provides further detailsaying he prepared purchase orders andcash forms.The lawsuit claims that the beneits beneits tothe employer far outweigh the beneits beneitsto the intern. Mr. Footman, a productionintern, will graduate and becomea production assistant, the irst irst step tobecoming a producer. Likewise, Mr. Glatt,an accounting intern, will become anaccounting assistant before becomingan accountant. The tasks asked of themwere normal for their respective departments.If they’re entrusted with tasks apaid employee performs, it provides thema great resume point and a leg up overother candidates in the job market.Labor laws require internships to belearning experiences. Having interned atUniversal Pictures, I had many responsibilitiesincluding, but not limited to,copying scripts and updating productionsbinders. While these seem menial, photocopyingscripts allowed me the chance toread them and develop my own writing,likewise updating production bindersgave insight into changing budgets,updated ilming schedules, and locationchanges. This knowledge could be usedin my own ilm productions.Local film creates waves at TynesideEvery now and then a ilm comes out thatis quintessentially North Eastern, immortalisingthe region’s iconography andsettings, with Get Carter coming to mind.Rising Tide, not to be mistaken for anothermundane eco –documentary, is thelatest addition to this category followinga group of college students trappedon Lindisfarne ‘Holy Island’ plagued bya ghostly apparition. Described as a‘coming of age story of friendship, lossand revenge’ and shot around Northumberlandwith a cast of local young actors,the ilm’s beautiful aesthetics and freshconcept render it one of the more accomplishedrecent products of North-Eastilmmaking.Finishing college, a tight-knit groupof friends decide to go on ‘one last trip’together to a festival, with new memberof the gang Izzy tagging along. Beingkicked off the bus, they ind themselvesstranded on an island at high tide - andwhen tensions lare and people start todisappear, things become horrifyinglysurreal. Beautiful direction, a hauntingsound track from renowned Northumbrianmusician Kathryn Tickell, andstriking performances are amongstmany of Rising Tide’s assets, with severalcomedic moments complimenting theA coming ofage story offriendship,loss andrevengePress. Play. Enjoyhorror. However, it isn’t perfect, withthe fragmented plot and confoundingmystery, which director Philip Shottonconirmed ‘may have been a dream’,dropping this sigh-provoking revelationat the Tyneside Q&A.Nevertheless, for a ilm made on a shoestringbudget of £23,000 it is an impressiveeffort, and with a sequel continuingthe elliptical plot already shot (withthe same cast) and plans to release thetwo ilms as a double-bill, let’s hope theilm’s potential will be realised within afranchise.Chris Bindingclimate change. On the 19th, Australiandoc Shut Up Little Man explores the storyof a viral internet sensation producedfrom the secret recordings of two punks’lamboyant neighbours, while WinnebagoMan chronicles the impact of Jack Rebney,‘the angriest man in the world’, as ahistorical phenomenon in viral internetculture. Canadian ilm Beauty Day (Nov20) looks over the life of Ralph Zavadil,whose televised shenanigans inluencedMTV’s Jackass and the festivals closing filmVigilante takes an ironic look at a new breedof superhero, ‘the anti-graffiti vigilante’.With a playful mix of entertaining, bizarreand personal themes at the heart of theweekend programme, Press- Play have evidentlyworked their magic yet again.Chris BindingIllustration: Emma RawsthorneLawsuits by people other than overworkedchild actors or writerswith allegedly stolen ideas arerelatively new to Hollywood.In recent years, child starsfrom The Kite Runnerand Slumdog Million-aire have sued studiosfor being overworked andunderpaid. Likewise, writershave sued over similarities intheir works to such ilms ilms as TheHurt Locker,The Hangover Part IIand many more. Klein claims there willbe more lawsuits iled iled in the near futureover Hollywood’s internship practices.An internship is what you make of it.With a positive attitude and eficient eficientworking method, an intern becomesmemorable in the minds of busy executives.In my experience, executivesoffered guidance and introduced me toexecutives outside Universal. And, whilethese internships are very competitive,you can wow by polishing your resume toperfection, networking ‘til you’re numb,and being the anti-Debbie Downer.The plaintiffs worked on this AcademyAward winning ilm ilm with DarrenAronofsky and Natalie Portman. If theyclaim to have not had a ‘learning’ experiencethen it seems right to claim theydidn’t make the most of their internshipand that their lawsuit stems from theirdesire to cash in on this indie ilm’s $329million gross. In fact, Footman said the$13 million dollar budgeted ilm has nowearned more than enough money to paythe interns. It seems these audacious,opportunistic Hollywood hopefuls willbe walking away with no money andno hope of working in Hollywood againafter admitting the true motives of theirlawsuit.Not just since director Park Chan-Wook‘sthriller Oldboy won the Grand Prix at theCannes Film Festival in 2004, Koreancinema has grown in popularity andestablished itself amongst internationalaudiences; the fantasy drama Il Marewas remade with Sandra Bullock andKeanu Reeves in 2006, and the rom-comMy Sassy Girl from 2001 was the highestgrossing Korean comedy ilm ever made,outselling several Hollywood blockbustersand triggering a number of remakes.Despite the tremendous national andincreasing global success of its ilms,Korea is not yet regarded as one of theleading ‘movie meccas‘. The London KoreanFilm Festival, set up by the KoreanFilm Council, is thus aiming at introducinga broader audience to the country‘scinema, and in its sixth year of running,the festival will screen a variety of genresfrom animation to contemporary workin numerous venues in and outside ofLondon.The Tyneside Cinema in Newcastlewill host three ilms at the end of thismonth, the irst being Detective K: Secretof the Virtuous Woman on November 20,an Inspector Clouseau-inspired comedyabout the eponymous hero chasing aserial killer in 16th century Joseon. OnNovember 22, Dance Town tells the storyof a woman who, after escaping to SouthKorea from the North, inds herself in astate of complete isolation and begins toight her loneliness. The third ilm willbe Ryoo Seung-wan‘s 2010 crime dramaThe Unjust on November 24, an intensecat and mouse game set in Seoul afterthe police fail to close a case of numerousmurders in the city and are forced to allywith a gangster in order to avoid publicattention.Lisa Bernhardt