So now, with just under three days until “Zombie Exterminator” is released, I thought I’d talk some more about how it will be available on the website.

When you log on here at 18:00 GMT on Friday you will be greeted by a splash screen with 6 (!) different quality settings, depending on how quickly you want to download the film and how fast your internet connection is. First up is Low, Medium, High and Super quality (with the sizes 29, 66, 107 and 191 Megabytes). They all look great and should work on all types of systems, since they only require Quicktime 7 to run. But now for the more exciting part which is that the film will also be released in High Definition (720p and 1080p). These files feature superior picture and sound quality (the larger one even has a DTS sound track) and require the pretty well-known VLC Player to run. Both of the versions look fantastic on a large screen LCD/Plasma or Projector, and if you want the full “Zombie Exterminator experience”, make sure to donwload one of those. The 720p file is 499 Mb, while the very cool 1080p version clocks in at 970 Mb, making it the largest file I’ve ever offered for download from my website. This might not sound interesting in any way at all - but really - if you have the computer and the internet connection to handle one of the two HD versions, I’d suggest you download one of them!

So with the clock rapidly counting down to release, me and my friends from the film group at school will start to promote it around my school by tomorrow! It’s going to be interesting to see how many people download it, and I’m pretty excited to show the film to all of you guys and girls! So stay tuned on Friday at 18:00 GMT (that’s 19:00 for my Swedish friends) for the worldwide release of “Zombie Exterminator”!

I’ve also uploaded 8 new images to the film’s page!

I’ll see you all here on Friday! Take care everyone!

Just came back from seeing the new sci-fi thriller/drama “I Am Legend” starring Will Smith, and here’s what I thought of it!

I really had high expectations of this film, mostly from watching the trailers and hearing people talk about it (it premiered in the US over a month ago, and it just premiered today here in Sweden). I’ve always liked Will Smith as an actor, so I figured it would be fun and also interesting to see him back in the genre he undeniably does best. But how well would the film work, since it relies so heavily on a single actor’s performance?

First of all, the basic story and premise of the film really got to me and made me think after having heard of this film earlier last year. There’s something terrifying about being the last man on earth in such a big city as New York (come to think of it, I’m pretty sure any city would be just as scary to live in). And as if that wasn’t nearly enough, it’s fatal to go out at dusk or night since the “Dark Seekers” will get you. What a life. What a story! The relationship between Will Smith’s character, Dr. Robert Neville, and his fellow dog companion, Sam, is really strong and both of them handle the weight of the film on their shoulders extremely well. One thing I found a bit weird was the american rating of the film, PG-13 (meaning that virtually anyone can go see it as long as a parent brings them). I guess the MPAA only looks at the amount of gore and bad language on screen, since I really couldn’t see how this was a film for young children. It features some very intense and scary sequences, with a prolonged darkened warehouse search being the most rememberable. I’m not one to get easily frightened or scared while watching films, but I must say that this one contained some of the best scary “jumps” I’ve seen for a long while. Definently NOT for the faint-of-heart.

The cinematography is beautiful throughout the film, featuring some very fantastic shots ala “28 Weeks Later” of the empty city, only now taken to an entirely new level. It’s pretty unbelievable what they’ve managed to do with Manhattan, making it look completely deserted. There’s a nice mix of light and dark since as it switches from day to night and back again several times. Going back to the dark warehouse scene yet again, it was really cool to just let a single flashlight mounted to a rifle be the only (and I mean ONLY) light source. This gives it a very claustrophoic feeling and once something actually happens with light just showing glimpses of the horrendous Dark Seekers it all comes together as a brilliant sequence (one which should look fantastic in HD). I also liked how there was a steady mix of close-up shots and rack focusing, as well as some very impressing helicopter shots. The CGI was pretty good, even if it had some flaws in a few areas. I also felt some scenes could have worked just as well with prostethic body suits covering extras - but anyway, I feel this doesn’t really remove any quality from the picture.

The soundtrack by James Newton Howard was great, if not very prominent, as it just kicked in when needed during some of the more action-packed scenes. It really is quite a sound effects-heavy film, as it relies on the old classic trick using silence instead of an overkill in sound during some of the more frightening scenes. I really loved how most scenes just ended or started with very loud noises, when they were preceded or followed by a completely different sounding scene with a totally different character in sound design. The most obvious example is the very loud nature of some of the flashback scenes and the way it’s quite shocking as it is intercut with the occuring events.

Overall, this was by far the best film I’ve seen so far this year, and it wouldn’t surprise me in any way if it ends up in my top 10 or top 5 once I get around to write my favorite films list again, in a little over 11 months. Some continuity errors doesn’t detract what-so-ever from the film, and I can’t wait to see the film again (I’ve booked tickets to see it again this Sunday ). If you’re a fan of action-/thriller-/horror- or drama-oriented films, this just might do it for you. Just don’t bring the younger kids to it. It might not be the best film ever, but in a lot of ways, especially from a cinematography point-of-view, it really is legend.

Verdict: 9 out of 10

Hey everyone! As you might have noticed both from the splash page and the “Zombie Exterminator” page, my new film is now completed and is going to premiere worldwide on the internet on:

February 1st, 18:00 GMT!

It’s been a long time coming now, and it’s great to finally have the film completed! Expect more news about the premiere and some new photos from the film in the very near future!

It’s been an interesting week, and also one without any real updates to the website. I havn’t really had anything to write here, since nothing really special or interesting have been going on, apart from school starting once again after christmas break.

Been working on “Zombie Exterminator” quite intensly the last week, trying to finish it for the premiere at school. Well, all the visual effects are now completed, and currently I’m working on the sound design and music for the film. Most of it is pretty much done, and it approaches being ready for release rapidly! I’ve talked to my film class teacher the last week concerning a deadline for the film and we with the rest of the groups in film class decided that we are going to have our little film awards thingy on January the 30th, which is when the film will first be shown outside the film group. Then, based on peoples’ reactions - and including a few alterations I wish to make on my own - I will re-edit it slightly for the internet release in February. Unfortunantly I havn’t really got an exact date at the moment, but for now it’s looking to be somewhere around the end of the month. I have updated the film’s page to reflect this data, and if next week isn’t filled with homework from school, I should be able to post some new images from the film. I have run into quite a load of problems while making this film, and it’s the same problem I’ve always had editing films with loads of shots, audio and effects work (i.e. film projects that have to handle a quite massive amount of data at the same time). So after this film is finished, I’ll be continuing my film work on a Mac instead. After being in the Apple Store near Picadilly Circus in London last week I got a bit heartbroken when I realised a mac laptop could easily handle things like 1080p HD in real-time, something which my current PC struggles quite a lot with. I’ll probably make the switch around the middle of March sometime. I will definently keep you posted on this, and if you have any tips regarding recommended specs, I’d be very happy to hear from you either on e-mail or by submitting a comment to this post .

Not really been a lot of film watching this last week, as I’ve been trying to see the sixth season of “24″. I bought it last week in London, and despite the pretty mediocre reviews it has recieved, I think it’s a great season and not in any way worse or better than what they’ve put out before - which is an action packed show filled with a lot of thriller elements. Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland was born to play this role, as I’m sure you’ll know if you’ve watched it. For my Swedish friends, I went with a couple of good friends today and saw the new high-budget Swedish film “Arn - The Knight Templar”. It was definently the best Swedish film I’ve ever seen (even if that doesn’t really say a lot) with some really cool cinematography and a nice story with good actors. It had a few pacing problems in terms of how the scenes were laid out, but overall it’s a huge step in the right direction for the swedish film industry. Look below this post for a review of “Alien vs. Predator - Requiem” which I saw in theatres this Friday. As “Arn” is not (yet) a very international film I’ve decided not to review it here on the website. If some of you would like to see a review of it though I could probably write one!

Been playing quite a lot of Guitar Hero III the last week, mostly with friends. I set it up for my other film class members to play while I did some voice-recording work (ADR) for the film with them. I think everyone enjoyed playing the game, even if I too find it a bit odd that I’m better at the game using a standard 360 controller than the supplied wireless plastic guitar. It turns out that a lot of my friends who’ve never played the game before actually rock at the game, which is pretty fun. I got inspired to pre-order “Rock Band” (basically Guitar Hero on steroids with more instruments and a vocal part) after playing GH3 with a bunch of friends earlier today. Although when I found out about the extremely over-the-top price of 1990 swedish kronor I decided it really wasn’t worth paying that kind of money, compared to the 170 US dollars it costs over in America.

Overall, it’s been an interesting first week back in school. It’s great to see all my old friends, and it feels good to finally be able to see the light in the end of the tunnel with the “Zombie Exterminator” project. Look right below this post for my review on “AVP-R” and I’ll talk to you soon!

Take care everyone!

I went to see “Alien vs. Predator - Requiem” in theatres this Friday. This is what I thought about it!

I’m going to be completely honest with you. My expectations walking in to this flm were quite low. I expected the film to be a pretty good ride in terms of the action and obviously a few good scares considering it carries both the Predator and Alien legacy with it in a way. I was not sure what to make of the first film, except I guess it was a good adrenaline ride with an interesting storyline and some cool setpieces (remember the underground upside-down pyramid?).

Well, first of all, this isn’t connected to the first film in almost any way, except for a very brief prolouge scene onboard a Predator ship. This story takes place in a small suburban city, where a large Predator ship crashlands after being infested with an Alien attack. The focus of the story then radically switches to a small group of teenagers, as well as an ex-convict, a US marine and a local police officer living their when suddenly the city is overrun with aliens from the crashed Predator ship. The predator ship sends out a distress signal to the Predator home planet, who sends presumably their top Predator to wipe out all the Aliens in the small society on Earth. Actually, I’m going to stop right there. The story is to be honest, quite ridiculus and the characters just serve as cannon fodder. The story itself is basically built up by clichéd events you’ve seen a million times before. But, then again, let’s not forget that this isn’t really a film that relies heavily on story or deep character dramas.

So, the acting. Well, the actors and actresses all do their jobs as planned, with no real standout performances or really horrific ones either. It features a cast made up mostly of c-list celebrities and TV actors, It’s pretty interesting to spot people you might have seen in other TV shows (one of the main characters feature in a pretty big role in earlier seasons of “24″ for example).

On a positive note, the cinematography was a nice surprise. It’s a very, very dark film with many of the scenes taking place during night within the city, which loses power during a battle between the predator and several aliens - which is probably the best scene in the film according to me, with some really cool shots (we already learned from “Aliens” that scenes with flashing orange warning lights are cool).

The best thing of the film by far is the musical score, made by Brian Tyler who’ve made the score for “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and “Constantine” among others. It really feels as if they spent a whole deal of their investment on making the score sounding as epic as possible. It’s really worth checking out on iTunes if you’re a fan of film music!

To summarize, I’m not sure what to make of this film. It’s clearly not a very good film, but as an action film it was a really fun experience with some really cool shootouts and some pretty neat one-liners. Just be aware that if you’re going in expecting another legendary film like “Alien” I’m sorry to inform you that you will be very dissapointed.

Verdict: 5 out of 10

Just came back from London, where I’ve been for a few days. Bought a whole bunch of films, both new and old, and it’s always great to have a stack of films you need to see when you have nothing else to do! As I’m sure you noticed, the article about how last year was hasn’t come up yet. This is due to me currently being quite busy with both school and film stuff. As we havn’t really got a final deadline for “Zombie Exterminator” by our film class teacher yet, I’ve been trying to work on it quite intensly, while still keeping a good balance of “ordinary” school work. Unfortunantly that meant I had to push that article aside for a while. Not sure when I’ll post that, since it will be pretty long, but make sure to check back in a few days to get a few more glimpses from “Zombie Exterminator” and an heads-up on what I’ve planned to start writing as soon as “Zombie Exterminator” is done. Will contact some of my script- and storyloving friends during the upcoming week to pitch some ideas and also hopefully be able to put down a real date when we can all sit down and just brainstorm.

I’ve got some pretty interesting ideas for my next film, that are still reachable within the almost non-existant budget I’m making films on!

Take care everyone, talk to you guys and girls later!