Pasted Plastic and Liv's Nose

I noticed something watching Hulk: They really liked Liv Tyler's nose. And, I'll admit, it's a very nice nose. But I don't recall Lord of the Rings focusing so much on her profile and her pout (which she seemed to give us the whole movie).


Liv's Nose 1


Liv's Nose 2

Nothing particularly interesting in this observation, just something that kept happening again and again.


The other thing that kept happening in the movie was that every time Hulk was in the frame, I got pulled out of the film. There was something very wrong with him. And what struck me was just how plastic he looked. Every frame made him look pasted in.


Hulk Pasted In


Plastic Action Figure Hulk

Part of it is lighting. He just doesn't meld well with his environment (even though the lighting effects blend well between the background and him). But another major aspect of his plasticity is, I think, his eyes:


Hulk's Eyes 1


Hulk's Eyes 2


The Incredible Luke Hulk

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor

The Fuzziness of 24P

I've said it before and I'll say it again--I'm sure: I really dislike the look of 24P.

Granted, most of the time I don't even notice, but fans and camera motion give it away. Like this shot from the opening of The Incredible Hulk:


24P Blur

This beautiful camera shot is completely ruined by the fuzzy/blurry image that 24 frames creates. I don't care how "high rez" the image is, if it's blurry then the resolution doesn't matter. In fact, it looks much better squashed down to fit in this post than blown up on an HD screen because of the way the blurriness detracts from the image resolution.

The lesson?

I don't remember who said it first, but he was absolutely right: If the image is out of focus then it isn't HD.

And motion blur is very similar to an out of focus shot.

So don't buy into the hype of 24P or HD if you can't get a good image from it.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor

Cloverfield, the 2000 Edition

I really enjoyed Cloverfield. There were, of course, things that bugged me--like, starting out the movie with, "Oh, I don't know how to use cameras very well" so they can get away with their film style... cop-out--but by the time the film ended I was satisfied.

[Aside: The same could not be said for The Happening which did nothing for me at all and consisted of acting on par with 10,000 BC, only without Camilla Belle to make up for it.]

But I just realized that Cloverfield was a remake of a 2000 music video, only they just added monsters this time. That's right, Cloverfield looks and feels just like Eve 6's Here's to the Night. Don't believe me? Watch the music video.

See? Deja vu.

Almost as creepy as the monster. Almost...

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor