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| From the filming of 'Questions Questions' - May 2011. |
-Cheers!
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Ah the nostalgia...
Hey guys - Mark here. I was just browsing through a couple of the old Café Studios pictures in anticipation of filming our latest short tomorrow and found this one we haven't released before. Just thought it might be nice to share it with you all :D
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-Cheers!
-Cheers!
Monday, 13 February 2012
Toastie up here
I got out of bed with a set guideline for my day, I was going to play some good games and watch some nice films, maybe think about doing something productive. Instead I wasted it playing WoW... Won't happen tomorrow as I hit the level cap on the starter pack so I am free to actually do stuff again. I was lent a halogen heater for my room today, it's been on non stop since this afternoon and I'm afraid of going leaving my now very humble abode, I left once to go to the toilet and it felt like walking into a blizzard.
I did watch some good films though, the first of which being Rebecca by Hitchcock. I was very impressed with it, I was consistently engaged in the story and characters and there were some moments of creepy tension, particularly in the latter half of the film. I have always been a fan of the 'old house with a mystery' story, especially when there is family drama involved and when it's done well it can get very interesting very quickly. Highly recommend for fans of the mystery genre.
I did watch some good films though, the first of which being Rebecca by Hitchcock. I was very impressed with it, I was consistently engaged in the story and characters and there were some moments of creepy tension, particularly in the latter half of the film. I have always been a fan of the 'old house with a mystery' story, especially when there is family drama involved and when it's done well it can get very interesting very quickly. Highly recommend for fans of the mystery genre.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Potter Party
Sorry for the absence of a blog yesterday, again I was out at a party that finished at midnight but this one was Harry Potter themed! Pretty much all the 40+ people made an incredible effort to look like someone from JK Rowling's universe, I think the best one by far was the guy who turned up as the troll from the girls bathroom (first movie), he covered himself in grey paint, wore a loincloth, potato sack type thing, was barefoot and carried a club; brilliant.
Today was spent at work again, I was given a new blue work shirt and did a lit more washing up and a little bit of customer service. The best and most awkward moment came from a customer asking for their Birthday cake to come through, to which I told them that I would go ask my manager who out of the corner of my eye disappeared into thin air. I went back to my sink, hoping it would all get taken care of, but the customer came back asking for the cake again so I thought that I would sort it out personally. Went into the food storage room, found their Spider Man cake and lit the candles very badly, singeing some of my arm hair with it. Finally I took out the lit cake very sheepishly to their table expecting an angry customer barking about the lateness of said confectionery, however I was greeted with smiles and claps as I produced it and even got into the spirit of things. The perfect mid-afternoon morale boost.
Today was spent at work again, I was given a new blue work shirt and did a lit more washing up and a little bit of customer service. The best and most awkward moment came from a customer asking for their Birthday cake to come through, to which I told them that I would go ask my manager who out of the corner of my eye disappeared into thin air. I went back to my sink, hoping it would all get taken care of, but the customer came back asking for the cake again so I thought that I would sort it out personally. Went into the food storage room, found their Spider Man cake and lit the candles very badly, singeing some of my arm hair with it. Finally I took out the lit cake very sheepishly to their table expecting an angry customer barking about the lateness of said confectionery, however I was greeted with smiles and claps as I produced it and even got into the spirit of things. The perfect mid-afternoon morale boost.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Like and Gentleman
Because I didn't get a chance to mention it yesterday, check out our 'Unprepared Dead' outtake video, especially if you enjoy having a good giggle at our expense. Mark will probably insist that that was the worst filming experience of his life; I could possibly agree...
School today was called 'CoCo day' (Community and Cohesion day,) essentially it was an excuse to make amends to the OFSTEAD report the school got last year complaining about the lack of an existing whole school collective. Apparently that called for making crappy hats and testing urine samples, the latter I will go into more detail on in a moment. We also had to sit through an assembly about MENCAP and learning disabilities, while I have nothing against the charity, they didn't present their point in the most competent way. They rounded up a 6th form and a teacher team to compete in an obstacle course, the necessary instructions were provided in Russian... always helpful. Each team did their best to complete the course and afterwards they basically said 'If you understood Russian then you would know you needed to do x, but instead you did y, dumb asses.' And that was it. I get the whole language barrier thing but it was just ham-handed.
For our science session we were identifying tainted urine samples and producing a poster on our findings. One moment called for the use of universal indicator paper to test the pH of the sample. I thought it would be really cool if we had the bit of indicator paper next to our results to give a bit of spice to the poster, so I dipped my pen into the liquid to retrieve the bit of paper but it was too soggy and it wouldn't budge. At this point the egar to do good year 8 claimed he could help and tried himself with a pencil, gently tilting the test tube into a more horizontal position.
'Nearly got it' He says as the wee trickles out of the tube on onto my trousers leaving a big splash that slowly absorbs into the fabric. Lovely.
Afterwards I walked into town and in preparation for the Harry Potter party I'm going to tomorrow I went into the local costume shop and bought a prop pipe. Now I look pretty boss in a dressing gown and just generally feel a little bit more like a gentleman.
Finally, I went out to see the Artist this evening. I had been greatly anticipating the film since its 5 star Empire review and it is certainly worth a watch. It starts off with a great title sequence that is hugely reminiscent of movies from the 'Golden Ages' and presents to us George Valentin in a very charming opening sequence. There are a couple of great shots and good moments throughout the film, however I was questioning Valentin's motive to refuse to work in sound pictures but I am willing to put that down to his issue of self pride. It is also worth mentioning that the film does not have any laugh out loud funny moments, it is not a silent comedy but it sprinkles in a few pleasing lines and actions but by the second half there are hardly any humorous moments which is unfortunate as some later moments failed to capture my attention for the duration of the scene. If you have EVER seen a silent movie however you will very much enjoy this, it's almost a love letter to cinema purists and will be a new, refreshing experience to contemporary audiences.
School today was called 'CoCo day' (Community and Cohesion day,) essentially it was an excuse to make amends to the OFSTEAD report the school got last year complaining about the lack of an existing whole school collective. Apparently that called for making crappy hats and testing urine samples, the latter I will go into more detail on in a moment. We also had to sit through an assembly about MENCAP and learning disabilities, while I have nothing against the charity, they didn't present their point in the most competent way. They rounded up a 6th form and a teacher team to compete in an obstacle course, the necessary instructions were provided in Russian... always helpful. Each team did their best to complete the course and afterwards they basically said 'If you understood Russian then you would know you needed to do x, but instead you did y, dumb asses.' And that was it. I get the whole language barrier thing but it was just ham-handed.
For our science session we were identifying tainted urine samples and producing a poster on our findings. One moment called for the use of universal indicator paper to test the pH of the sample. I thought it would be really cool if we had the bit of indicator paper next to our results to give a bit of spice to the poster, so I dipped my pen into the liquid to retrieve the bit of paper but it was too soggy and it wouldn't budge. At this point the egar to do good year 8 claimed he could help and tried himself with a pencil, gently tilting the test tube into a more horizontal position.
'Nearly got it' He says as the wee trickles out of the tube on onto my trousers leaving a big splash that slowly absorbs into the fabric. Lovely.
Afterwards I walked into town and in preparation for the Harry Potter party I'm going to tomorrow I went into the local costume shop and bought a prop pipe. Now I look pretty boss in a dressing gown and just generally feel a little bit more like a gentleman.
Finally, I went out to see the Artist this evening. I had been greatly anticipating the film since its 5 star Empire review and it is certainly worth a watch. It starts off with a great title sequence that is hugely reminiscent of movies from the 'Golden Ages' and presents to us George Valentin in a very charming opening sequence. There are a couple of great shots and good moments throughout the film, however I was questioning Valentin's motive to refuse to work in sound pictures but I am willing to put that down to his issue of self pride. It is also worth mentioning that the film does not have any laugh out loud funny moments, it is not a silent comedy but it sprinkles in a few pleasing lines and actions but by the second half there are hardly any humorous moments which is unfortunate as some later moments failed to capture my attention for the duration of the scene. If you have EVER seen a silent movie however you will very much enjoy this, it's almost a love letter to cinema purists and will be a new, refreshing experience to contemporary audiences.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
3.14159265...
I remember having a bit of a dig at Nosferatu for not being what I thought it would be, today in film however we started analysing it and it has certainly become quite interesting. The DVD has this awesome commentary done by some guy with an amazing voice (a bit like Christopher Lee) and he really provides a useful insight into the film and underlying intrigue. Looking forward to the chance of school being snowed off tomorrow, otherwise I will have to endure a awkward PSHE day with the lower years, I have also heard rumours that we will be checking urine samples in some lessons, the theme is Olympics and were are supposed to test for the drugged wee, don't know if that sounds quite fun or just disgusting.
I rounded off the last of Darren Aronofsky's movies today with his directorial debut: Pi. The recurring theme of Aronofsky's work is characters clinging onto an obsession or social addiction, in this case it was mathematics, a subject I rarely find myself interested in unless it is done in such a way to capture my imagination, which this film did quite well. The black and white palette can be pretty tough on the eyes and give you a bit of a headache but it definitely puts you into the mindset of the character who gets close to cracking the ultimate code. It has elements of the thriller genre in it as well, keeping you on the edge of your toes and your sanity, Clint Mansell's musical score seals the deal (as always). Not my favourite of his films, that would be the superb 'The Wrestler' but a short, smart and thrilling ride well worth taking part in.
I rounded off the last of Darren Aronofsky's movies today with his directorial debut: Pi. The recurring theme of Aronofsky's work is characters clinging onto an obsession or social addiction, in this case it was mathematics, a subject I rarely find myself interested in unless it is done in such a way to capture my imagination, which this film did quite well. The black and white palette can be pretty tough on the eyes and give you a bit of a headache but it definitely puts you into the mindset of the character who gets close to cracking the ultimate code. It has elements of the thriller genre in it as well, keeping you on the edge of your toes and your sanity, Clint Mansell's musical score seals the deal (as always). Not my favourite of his films, that would be the superb 'The Wrestler' but a short, smart and thrilling ride well worth taking part in.
Facebook Giveaway!
That's right people - the next UK Café Studios fan to 'like' our Facebook page and get the number up to a nice, round 200 will receive their very own free Café Studios mug! Spread the word.. and get likin' here:
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