Hey Everyone! I just wanted to point you all to a video that Geno and I made today (a possible VC entry, Chad ):
YouTube - www.youtube.com/us4him
GodTube - http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ff4956ed466a4160072a
Let us know what you think and I hope you enjoy!
Also, here's an interview with our good friend, Chad Stembridge.
Yours Cheesey,
Dominic
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Prince Caspian - Dominic's Review Add-In
I would also like to point out another very important pro in Prince Caspian: the fact that Lucy never loses faith in Aslan even when her siblings are telling her that he won't come and that they've waited for him long enough. Through everything it is becasue of her faith in Aslan that...Well, I can't give it away!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Prince Caspian - Dominic's Review
We went to see Prince Caspian on the 16th for Geno's birthday and here are my thoughts on it.
Yes, Caspian was enjoyable, but there are a few problems with it:
First, I think that after a while they lost the Narnia feeling and went more for, say, The Two Towers. Even though Narnia is a "darker" place I feel that they lost the essence of what Narnia is supposed to be. Second, they don't say the names of many of the main characters from the book making it hard to follow for those of us who have read the book. Third, the conjuring-the-WhiteWitch scene went way too long. In the book, as soon as Caspian finds out that they're using dark magic he, Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin put an end to it. Even though Caspian tried to pull away in the movie, it still went far too long and was far too intense for a PG rating, which leads into the next problem. Fourth, aiming this film at kids is not a good idea. There is no way this film should be PG and, in fact, five years ago it would have been PG-13. I mean, there's a beheading; however obscure it was, it still should not be allowed in a PG movie. I think Caspian would be a great PG-13 film. Fifth, Susan fighting, though not very much, was still totally against her character and my beliefs that women should not participate in combat. Even though she was barely even in the battles, she still fought. Her name is Queen Susan the GENTLE, right? Sixth, were they trying to make Susan look just like Legolas in Lord of the Rings, because they did a good job (just kidding). Seventh, the kiss between Susan and Caspian was just plain unnecessary. All they needed was the hug, plain and simple. Eighth, the modern pop song at the end started way too early. They should have played the Narnia theme until the credits rolled and then played the pop song over the credits like they did in the first one.
Now, since I have all my negatives out, here are the many good things is this movie:
I believe they did a very good job making what is, in my opinion, the worst-written Narnia book into an enjoyable movie. And I think that anyone who has read the book will enjoy the movie more than the people who haven't. If you have read the book, you'll know that it really would be about half as long as it is if Trumpkin had not totally retold the story to the Pevensie's when he finds them. I believe Peter's pride issue and Caspian's want for revenge were dealt with wonderfully. I believe pride and revenge were both shown as wrong character traits that caused horrible consequences and both were overcome with good. Both Peter and Caspian learned from their mistakes and moved on...And Miraz did not. We also see that Edmund has learned from his mistakes in the last film and always does the right thing. Edmund is also very humble in this film. Some of the filmmaking was ingenious, like the use of some of the same music themes from the first one. The acting was superb, the editing was great, the music was fantastic, the visual effects were astounding (though, a few of them looked like The Lord of the Rings, but I'm not surprised about that because the VFX supervisor also did VFX in LOTR). I really liked a lot of the characters like Patterwig, Reepicheep, Glenstorm, Edmund, Asterius, Trumpkin (who also played Miles Finch in Elf)...Not exactly in that order. Though I believe they showed too much of the witchcraft, it is shown as a very bad thing, and it is stopped.
In conclusion, I'm not sure that I could recommend this film wholeheartedly to anyone considering the witchcraft scene and definitely would not recommend it for young kids because of how intense it is. I don't believe in the age standard where you can see more when you're older, but I do believe some things are more appropriate for older people (violence, different levels of intensity, etc.) than for young children. I did enjoy watching it, but being a filmmaker really puts a damper on viewing a movie because I can't stop thinking about the editing, visual effects, etc. I don't think it's better than the first one, but maybe, all things considered, about the same, and I think The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be absolutely awesome! Mainly because it's just better than Caspian and because it's my favorite Narnia story. I do think this is a cool movie, and a very cool, intense, action war movie at that. From a Christian stand point I would give it a 6 out of 10 and from a filmmaking stand point I think I'd give it a 7 1/2 or 8 out of 10.
Yours Cheesey,
Dominic
Yes, Caspian was enjoyable, but there are a few problems with it:
First, I think that after a while they lost the Narnia feeling and went more for, say, The Two Towers. Even though Narnia is a "darker" place I feel that they lost the essence of what Narnia is supposed to be. Second, they don't say the names of many of the main characters from the book making it hard to follow for those of us who have read the book. Third, the conjuring-the-WhiteWitch scene went way too long. In the book, as soon as Caspian finds out that they're using dark magic he, Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin put an end to it. Even though Caspian tried to pull away in the movie, it still went far too long and was far too intense for a PG rating, which leads into the next problem. Fourth, aiming this film at kids is not a good idea. There is no way this film should be PG and, in fact, five years ago it would have been PG-13. I mean, there's a beheading; however obscure it was, it still should not be allowed in a PG movie. I think Caspian would be a great PG-13 film. Fifth, Susan fighting, though not very much, was still totally against her character and my beliefs that women should not participate in combat. Even though she was barely even in the battles, she still fought. Her name is Queen Susan the GENTLE, right? Sixth, were they trying to make Susan look just like Legolas in Lord of the Rings, because they did a good job (just kidding). Seventh, the kiss between Susan and Caspian was just plain unnecessary. All they needed was the hug, plain and simple. Eighth, the modern pop song at the end started way too early. They should have played the Narnia theme until the credits rolled and then played the pop song over the credits like they did in the first one.
Now, since I have all my negatives out, here are the many good things is this movie:
I believe they did a very good job making what is, in my opinion, the worst-written Narnia book into an enjoyable movie. And I think that anyone who has read the book will enjoy the movie more than the people who haven't. If you have read the book, you'll know that it really would be about half as long as it is if Trumpkin had not totally retold the story to the Pevensie's when he finds them. I believe Peter's pride issue and Caspian's want for revenge were dealt with wonderfully. I believe pride and revenge were both shown as wrong character traits that caused horrible consequences and both were overcome with good. Both Peter and Caspian learned from their mistakes and moved on...And Miraz did not. We also see that Edmund has learned from his mistakes in the last film and always does the right thing. Edmund is also very humble in this film. Some of the filmmaking was ingenious, like the use of some of the same music themes from the first one. The acting was superb, the editing was great, the music was fantastic, the visual effects were astounding (though, a few of them looked like The Lord of the Rings, but I'm not surprised about that because the VFX supervisor also did VFX in LOTR). I really liked a lot of the characters like Patterwig, Reepicheep, Glenstorm, Edmund, Asterius, Trumpkin (who also played Miles Finch in Elf)...Not exactly in that order. Though I believe they showed too much of the witchcraft, it is shown as a very bad thing, and it is stopped.
In conclusion, I'm not sure that I could recommend this film wholeheartedly to anyone considering the witchcraft scene and definitely would not recommend it for young kids because of how intense it is. I don't believe in the age standard where you can see more when you're older, but I do believe some things are more appropriate for older people (violence, different levels of intensity, etc.) than for young children. I did enjoy watching it, but being a filmmaker really puts a damper on viewing a movie because I can't stop thinking about the editing, visual effects, etc. I don't think it's better than the first one, but maybe, all things considered, about the same, and I think The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be absolutely awesome! Mainly because it's just better than Caspian and because it's my favorite Narnia story. I do think this is a cool movie, and a very cool, intense, action war movie at that. From a Christian stand point I would give it a 6 out of 10 and from a filmmaking stand point I think I'd give it a 7 1/2 or 8 out of 10.
Yours Cheesey,
Dominic
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Book Recommendation: Do Hard Things
My reason for writing this post is to recommend an incredible book by Alex and Brett Harris (www.therebelution.com) called Do Hard Things. I just now finished it, put it down, and came to the computer to write this review.
The first time I picked Do Hard Things up was in the car on the way home from Illinois where we shot 'Precious Treasure' with Chad Stembridge(thank you for the book, Chad). I decided to start reading it and see where I got. At about 2:00 AM I we were almost home and I had read almost half of the book! This book is very encouraging and insightful. It is full of stories of young people all over the world that have stepped out of their comfort zones to do something amazing for God.
I am strongly recommending this book to every young person in the world and I pray that everyone that reads Do Hard Things will be touched to start living their life and doing hard things for Jesus Christ.
Yours Cheesey,
Dominic
The first time I picked Do Hard Things up was in the car on the way home from Illinois where we shot 'Precious Treasure' with Chad Stembridge(thank you for the book, Chad). I decided to start reading it and see where I got. At about 2:00 AM I we were almost home and I had read almost half of the book! This book is very encouraging and insightful. It is full of stories of young people all over the world that have stepped out of their comfort zones to do something amazing for God.
I am strongly recommending this book to every young person in the world and I pray that everyone that reads Do Hard Things will be touched to start living their life and doing hard things for Jesus Christ.
Yours Cheesey,
Dominic
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Precious Treasure Teaser!
God was so awesome throughout this whole shoot,; I can't wait to see the finished film! Keep Chad in your prayers as he travels the post-production road.
Also, check out the article series on the film here.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Precious Treasure
Well, my Family and I just returned from a wonderful week in Illinois helping my great friend Chad Stembridge film his newest movie, Precious Treasure. You may remember that, a while back, I wrote a post requesting prayer support for this project. Then, the Lord opened the door for my Family and I to go help, which we were very excited about. But for a while, it seemed it wasn't going to work out. The crew was there, but there was no cast.
So, Chad and I began praying for different ideas so that we would be able to make something while we were in Illinois. Then, by the grace of God, Chad received an email from Hannah Miller, who was wondering about the lead part and if it had already been cast. Her sister, Christy, had emailed Chad previously about being on the crew, but the email had not gone through. Next thing you know, Hannah and her Father, as well as Christy and another of her sisters, Emily, joined the cast. Mark Schneider was then cast as the Waiter. Dominic and my Dad were given small roles, as was Chad's brother Tyler. So, God had given us a cast and crew!
Filming the movie was an awesome experience, but also wonderful was getting to know the cast and crew. John and Sage Naylor (whose brother started the Christian Media Forums, the site where Chad and I met and by which John and Sage found out about the project and came to help) stayed at Chad's house with us. Getting to know them and the rest of Chad's Family was a great joy. The week was filled with smiles and fun and the Lord blessed us with a great shoot.
So, head on over to check out the film's site! There are lots of pictures on the blog and several posts to keep you occupied. And keep Chad in your prayers as he begins post-production on the film! God is SO good to us!
God bless!
Geno
So, Chad and I began praying for different ideas so that we would be able to make something while we were in Illinois. Then, by the grace of God, Chad received an email from Hannah Miller, who was wondering about the lead part and if it had already been cast. Her sister, Christy, had emailed Chad previously about being on the crew, but the email had not gone through. Next thing you know, Hannah and her Father, as well as Christy and another of her sisters, Emily, joined the cast. Mark Schneider was then cast as the Waiter. Dominic and my Dad were given small roles, as was Chad's brother Tyler. So, God had given us a cast and crew!
Filming the movie was an awesome experience, but also wonderful was getting to know the cast and crew. John and Sage Naylor (whose brother started the Christian Media Forums, the site where Chad and I met and by which John and Sage found out about the project and came to help) stayed at Chad's house with us. Getting to know them and the rest of Chad's Family was a great joy. The week was filled with smiles and fun and the Lord blessed us with a great shoot.
So, head on over to check out the film's site! There are lots of pictures on the blog and several posts to keep you occupied. And keep Chad in your prayers as he begins post-production on the film! God is SO good to us!
God bless!
Geno
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