Two of My Favorite Hobbies Combined into One Person

Who is Alexi Pappas? For starters, she's a professional athlete for Nike's Oregon Track Club Elite, a filmmaker, an actor, and a writer. At Dartmouth College, she majored in English and creative writing, while also running for their cross country and track and field program. Afterwards, she pursued her Master's Degree at the University of Oregon and continued to run there as well. I look up to Alexi Pappas because we are very similar in the sense that she ran in college and aspired to be a filmmaker, just like me, and she still continues to run professionally and is currently working on her next film, Tracktown.  

Some people don't realize how hard it can be to balance athletics and school. For me personally, I take athletics very serious and try to improve myself when I'm not working on filming. It's important to find a good balance however, and whether that's taking my camera and laptop to practice to work on a video for a few minutes before practice begins, or working on an idea for a video on a flight to our next meet, in order to succeed in both. In an interview, Alexi was asked how she can balance being an athlete and a student, and her response resonated with me. She said, "being a student athlete is difficult, but it rules. I think a huge part of managing the commitment was me realizing it was my choice to take on both athletics and academics- having a good attitude about writing a final paper on a six-hour long bus ride to a championship race can be grueling, but it can also be fun!" I feel the same way, it was my choice to pursue both filmmaking and running, and now I even work on videos about running. 

Her film Tracktown, which she wrote, directed and produced with her boyfriend Jeremy Teicher, is not autobiographical, but it's about a little girl named Plumb who's growing up as a runner, and she said the character shares some characteristics with Alexi. She began writing the film in 2013 and the Sundance Institute's Creative Producing Lab Program and the San Francisco Film Society soon picked it up, according to RunnersWorld.com. With more and more people hearing about it, more people have joined her team as well as runners such as Nick Symmonds, and Andrew Wheating.  

In an article with RunnersWorld.com, Alexi spoke of the similarities between running and part of filming and said showing up to set is like showing up to a race or practice. "Even if you're feeling off that day, you do your warmup routine and get into in and give 100 percent of whatever you've got that day," Pappas explained. "I try to remind myself that even though the process is so hard and intense, in retrospect, it rules. I've never felt more excited about something." This is definitely how I feel, although I've never acted in any of my videos, when I've finished a video and I'm about to share it, I get this feeling in my stomach like I do before a race. 

With the olympics less than a year away, Alexi planned her schedule to film the Tracktown movie two summers before preparing for the Olympics. She said filming the movie during the summer of 2014 was strategically planned so that she could focus the next two years on making the US Olympic team. Tracktown is currently in post-production, and Alexi is currently training for the Olympic trials.

Her attitude towards being a filmmaker and a runner is really inspiring because it shows that you can do both, and actually succeed in both. When her movie comes out, you know I'm going to purchase a ticket to go watch it in theaters. When she's on tv during the Olympic trials, you know I'm going to be cheering her on.   

The Amazing Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis, or you may know him as Gollum, Kong, or Caesar, is one of the greatest performance capture artists of our time. Performance capture, or motion-capture, is having humans provide "human movement" which is then applied to another "medium." With Andy Serkis, he has provided movements for characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Kong in King Kong, and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. 

Serkis to play performance-capture character in new Star Wars film

While filming for a movie involving motion-capture technology, Andy Serkis has to wear a skin tight suit with dots all over his face (facial motion-capture) to detect subtle expressions. He then wears 53 other markers around his body to capture those movements. On his website, Serkis describes it as, "where an actor's movements and expressions are electronically tracked and translated into computer generated imagery (CGI) to bring a film character to life."

In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), we see Andy Serkis play Gollum, who was first cast only to provide the voice. With Andy on set, it proved to be important because it's how Gollum was then developed. The production team then took the physicality of Serkis, and found a way to capture that and bring it to the digital character of Gollum, and the idea was motion capture. With motion-picture technology being so new at the time, they hadn't perfected capturing Serkis's movements and translating it to another medium and having it seem like Gollum had a lot of depth to itself such as wrinkles, muscle movement, or light reflection. Although to be fair, at the time it may have looked very real, and as the technology advanced, Gollum looked more and more realistic in recent movies, like The Hobbit.

Serkis as King Kong 

In King Kong (2005), Serkis plays Kong and it is again achieved through motion picture technology. They place the dots, or markers, on his face where motion-capture cameras can sense them, then they could see where those markers are moving in 3D on a computer, and they can then figure out what muscle groups in his face are moving, which is then applied to Kong's face. The markers are able to capture the emotions and expressions Serkis conveyed in order to make Kong seem as real as possible.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) really got to see Serkis's amazing motion-capture performance. Producer Dylan Clark says, "Andy Serkis is unlike any other actor. He can inhabit characters that don't speak and emote in ways that we don't really see often in movies." Serkis describes motion-capture as the audience seeing apes on screen, but apes which he has infused with his heart and soul performance. One of the major improvements since other motion-capture films is the detail and imagery they're getting out of the cameras which gives them more facial information, which is helpful in really making the apes look more real.

Finally, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Serkis again plays Caesar and is able to portray him so well with motion-capture. What made the character of Caesar look more realistic was WETA, they were using motion-capture cameras, tracking markers, and witness cameras in order to capture all the intricate details of the actor's performance. Then they were able to track that detail into a photorealistic model of an ape on a computer. The tracking markers were now able to be applied to the body using velcro so the actor was able to roll around, jump, and really inhabit an ape's performance. What WETA did with its technology advances was beneficial to Serkis who is able to portray an ape in such a unique way, and have WETA capture it.    

What Andy Serkis does with motion-capture, as I've said, is the best our time has seen. No one is able to portray characters the way he has. Actors and actresses he has worked along side with always comment on how easy it is to act with him because he does so well embodying his character. Whether it's Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, or Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, you'll be amazed that it's a single person conveying those characters. It's his body movement and expressions that bring those characters to life. To see Andy Serkis in action, you can see the behind the scenes of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes here.   

  

Movie Trailers Spoiling Movies

I know many people who don't even bother with movie trailers anymore. A movie trailer is meant to be a preview for a film that is coming out soon in theaters. Production companies compile a feature film into a 2-3 minute trailer, and people can decide whether or not they want to see that movie. However, we often see movie trailers spoil the entire movie or reveal major plots and plot twists, discouraging people from going to see the movie since they know what's going to happen.

Below are examples of trailers that spoil their movie:

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Synopsis: According to IMDB, "Two Jedi Knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to reclaim their old glory." Unless you're a massive Star Wars fan, you probably didn't notice Darth Maul's double lightsaber. Although his double lightsaber is in the movie poster and the trailer, it would have been way better had they not shown it and only have people see it in the actual fight scene when he uses it. Here is the trailer: 

    2. Cast Away (2000)

Synopsis: According to IMDB, "A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island." Now, with the trailer we see in greater detail what actually happens in the movie. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland and we see his plane crash, he's stranded on an island, he's there for so long that he grows lots of facial hair and loses a lot of weight, we see that he is able to get off the island, people presumed he was dead, and it then shows Tom Hanks reunited with Helen Hunt. All of this in a 2 minute trailer, and it basically reveals the entirety of the movie. Have a look at the trailer yourself: 

    3. Terminator Salvation (2009)

Synopsis: According to IMDB, "In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?" In the trailer, we see that Sam Worthington who plays Marcus Wright is revealed as a terminator. And during the movie, about half of the film was trying to hide the fact that Marcus Wright was in fact a terminator. Why would the trailer reveal this important plot? People who saw the trailer and still went to see the movie already knew what was going to happen. Take a look:

 

  

 4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Synopsis: According to IMDB, "A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species." In the trailer we see the reason why the war between human and ape begins. Koba, Caesar's "brother," is snarling at humans and Maurice steps in front of Koba to protect the humans. Koba tells Caesar "Caesar love humans more than apes," and the audience is able to assume Koba is the reason why the war begins. We also see Koba pretending to goof around with two drunk men and ends up killing both, which causes a major plot in the movie. The trailer: 

More recently, with the film The Martian, there was a lot of people online who were let down by the trailer, saying it spoiled the movie. On Reddit, someone even created a thread dedicated to warning people not to watch the trailer if they planned on watching the film, since it contained major spoilers. 

Finally, a look at trailers that don't reveal any plot of the movie, particularly Pixar. Pixar has released a number of movie teasers that include the main characters, but never reveal any plot from the movie. Instead, they create their teaser entirely just to promote the movie, without using any scenes from the actual movie. Some examples include: The Incredibles, Cars, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo. To see the movie teasers, click here.

Although it may not seem like a big deal, people rely on a movie trailer to decide if they want to see a movie. If the movie trailer reveals the plot and major scenes, what's the point of watching it in theaters?  

What's the Big Deal With Film Scoring?

First, what is a film score? A film score is very often instrumental, and it is specifically made for a movie in order to intensify a story. Film score should not be confused with soundtrack, where soundtrack is more of the film company licensing songs or having songs written specifically for the film. , according to Quora.com. Most people, or your average movie-goer, perhaps don't even notice the film score. The people who generally notice it are those who are a bit more interested in movies and know what it takes to produce a film/film score, and all the work that goes into it and therefore can appreciate it. 

Now that we have a general understanding of what a film score is, what's the big deal? It's just background music, isn't it? Well, yes. But it's also something much bigger than that. A film score is mostly often instrumental and orchestrated background music to intensify and bring out emotions in the audience. Why is it that in films we are able to cry of sadness, get goosebumps, jump from being scared, or cry of happiness? Although what the audience see's in the film such as the characters acting is also important, it's the film score that ultimately brings out the emotion in people. 

Here is an example of Rocky with its film score, and without. (Sound effects were added by the publisher)

As you can see, it's completely different, isn't it? There's not much you feel when you watch Rocky run up those stairs in triumph, it almost looks silly. With the film score one feels inspired, like one can accomplish anything in their own life. Film scores play an important role in setting the mood of a film, and without them your emotions don't relate to what's going on in the film. 

Here is an example of a man who needs no introduction. Arguably one of the best film scorers ever, he has scored films for some of the best films such as Jaws, Star Wars, Jaws 2, Superman, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Home Alone, Hook, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, among their sequels and more. His name is John Williams.

John Williams, like other film scorers, is able to enhance a scene or entire film. He's able to move the audience with tears, joy, anger, or any other emotion. The audience knows what may happen in a scene by listening to the film score. For example, when you hear the Jaws theme song you know a shark attack is about to happen, or something terrifying. 

If you'd like to hear more film scores done by John Williams, you can click here, and here. 

Another great film scorer is Hans Zimmer, having scored many of the films we know and love today. Here's some of the film scores he's done: The Lion King, Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, Hannibal, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Batman Begins, The Simpsons Movie, The Dark Knight, Inception, Man of Steel, The Lone Ranger, 12 Years a Slave, Interstellar, among more. 

How is it that in The Lion King, even after watching it several times and know Mufasa dies, some of us still cry? According to LosAngelesBrass.com, "music touches the emotion, the psyche, the things you cannot see...Without music it would be much more difficult to follow the emotional ups and downs of a film," and more difficult to go through the sadness when Mufasa dies and Simba is seen crying over his dead father. 

It's because of the film score that we cry during movies, or have fear something is going to happen. They tend to "heighten our senses," as bbc.co.uk says. Film scorers know what heightens our emotions such as certain vibration sounds, or infra-sounds (mostly linked with paranormal activity), and use that to induce emotions in the audience. So the next time you're watching a film and feel joy during a scene, begin to cry, get scared, feel inspired, or any other emotion, it's the film's score intensifying the movie.