My BLOG made the IMDb Hit List !!

J.R. Hudson said:
Damn

it's going VIRAL

6358 Hits and counting in 13 Hours
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Huge-arse font! Man, that's great. I adore your scene breakdowns and just about everything else you have to say (about filmmaking :grin:*) Congrats, John. I wish my blog could get this kind of attention. Maybe someday...

I like next to the link where it says "(Suggested by jrhud)" I wonder who that could be...













*Did you get the inside joke? Did you? Did you? :thumbsup:
EDIT: KIND OF INSIDE JOKE.
 
It's frankly more educational than any class or exercise I recall, from film school.

Not to mention infinitely more useful and less pretentious.
 
count a hit or two from me :) i've enjoyed the visual breakdowns and other aspects of your blog :) keep it up!
 
Terrific as always. I never, never noticed the deliberate avoidance of the ceiling in that sequence before. I've seen that film dozens of time and never noticed it. Fascinating.
 
Everytime I read one of your breakdowns (just finished the Aliens one) I realize just how little I know about storytelling through film. Very informative and re-energizing!!
Thanks a heap and way to go on the imdb listing!
Sam.
 
Someone posted the coolest comment on my blog and I needed to share:

In regards to the ALIENS Breakdown:

Cameron’s suffered from the same critisism that Spielberg endured for most of his career. That some how commercialism and artistry are mutualy exlusive. This scene from Aliens proves that Cameron is a skilled craftsman and a gifted storyteller. I would put this scene up against anything Hitchcock directed. Another director whose talent wasn’t fully appreciated until the very end of his life. In fact I’d be very surprised if Cameron wasn’t thinking about Hitchcock when he directed Aliens. I think Hitchcock explained the ticking clock theory best in the following excerpt.

Hitchcock: There is a distinct difference between “suspense” and “surprise,” and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I’ll explain what I mean.
We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, “Boom!” There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence.

Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: “You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!”

In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.
 
I've checked out your site cineobscure.com several times and your scene breakdowns are great. You even prompted me to rent and watch Tombstone again.

You latest breakdown is my favorite so far.

The only thing I can think to add (or wonder about) is Ray Lovejoy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522487). You mention Cameron a lot, but I'm curious how much impact a good editor must have on a sequence like this.
 
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