Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I posted a longer round-up about what I’m currently doing in terms of filmmaking, school, movies I’ve watched, games I’ve played and other fun stuff! I’ll also announce a new project, as I’m changing my schedule a bit in terms of films I’ll be working on this year.

So let’s start with what’s probably the most interesting, filmmaking. If you’ve checked out the films on the right-hand side of the website the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed that “Connected” is set to be my next project. Well, I shot about half of it right before we started to shoot “Zombie Exterminator” so I haven’t worked on it for quite some time now. So I’ve decided to cancel that project (although the concept will be used on a future project, more info on that further down though) and shift my focus completely to “Derby”, my first take to create a more drama and reality-based film. I started to write the script and some general ideas for the film earlier during my week off from school last week. It’s going to be interesting to film it, as I’m guessing it’s going to be an easier shoot overall, at least compared to “Zomberminator” (yeah, my internal name for it) and “16″. Hopefully I’ll be able to put together a first draft of the script to send around to some filmmaking friends this weekend, and I’m going to start searching for potential actors and actresses next week. I’m planning to shoot it over a couple of weekends, as the weekdays are just too filled with studying at the moment to get any good filmmaking done. I am practising Apple’s visual effects software Shake a few hours every day though, and it seems like a great piece of software - even if I’ve only barely scratched the surface of it.

But the real news for today is what I’ll be shooting this summer, which is slightly larger in scale. The film doesn’t really have a name yet, but I’m currently calling it my 2008 Halloween project. It’s a more serious and more carefully planned thriller/horror film (with more of the story currently leaning towards the thriller side). It’s going to incorporate some aspects I thought of during the making of “Connected”, with people being chained to one-another - only this time done in a different, more dramatic way. I’m not aiming for the film to be very bloody and filled with shocks, as I think it’d be a much greater challenge to try and create a scary mood. I havn’t started scriptwriting yet, but both my mind and my filmmaking folder (which I recently bought ^^) currently has some ideas in them. I havn’t really started to write a script yet, but I think I’ll start to do this once I’ve finished writing on “Derby”.

I’ve been going through my pile of DVDs I havn’t watched the last couple of weeks, and seen both good and mediocre films! First of all, to start off on a good note, I recently finished watching “Dead Man Walking” (with Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, and directed by Tim Robbins), a film about a nun’s relationship to a condemned person on death row. It was a great film, with some truly spectacular performances and a great twist at the end that left me with loads of thoughts. Another film which I saw, which I guess was ok, but not all that great, was “Big Nothing” featuring Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer. I mean, it had a few good laughs, but it wasn’t at all as comedic as I thought it’d be. It was more or less filled with some very dark humour throughout the film, which I guess works once in a while - but if a whole film is based on it, it can get pretty depressing. Also, Simon Pegg with an American accent is just…strange (read: bad).

I havn’t really got around to play many video games the last couple of weeks, as I’ve been busy with school (currently studying for a physics exam on Monday). But during last week I did get around to play some Burnout Paradise against Johannes and Fredrik, which was loads of fun. Definently recommended game. Add my gamertag if you want to meet up for a race or two. On the countryside where I spent most of my time last week I went back and played “The Godfather” quite a lot. The graphics suck bad, but the gameplay is spot on. Shame there’s no co-operative option, would have been a great addition to an already splendid game.

Well, got to go back to studying now, so I’ll talk to you guys later! And by the way, if you havn’t seen “Sweeney Todd” yet, I’d suggest you to do so right away! It really is pretty amazing and has some wonderful music in it. I won’t write a review of it here on the website as it’s been out for a few months in some areas and I bet it’d be quite unneccessary to write and/or read a review of such an “old” film. Oh, and as you might have noticed, there are some new banners featuring some newer films at the top of the website!

Stay tuned for more news concerning both “Derby” and my 2008 Halloween project soon, and take care!

Hey everyone, I havn’t been able to write for almost two weeks now :S Been really busy with 3 exams in school before I had one week off last week. Spent a lot of time on the countryside, which made it quite difficult to write anything here on the website. But good news! I’ve started to write the script for “Derby” and casting should start soon. I’ve also laid out pretty much my filmmaking scheadule for the rest of the year, so expect to hear more on that later this week, including an announcement of a new film! Going out now to enjoy the last free day before school starts again tomorrow.

Oh, and there seems to be some kind of problem with my Flickr account, so I’ve removed the gallery link for now. Currently looking for another solution of some kind that should make it easier for me to post photos directly here on the website instead!

I’ll talk to you later this week, but until then, take care!

So here’s my take on “Jumper”, which I went and saw in cinemas yesterday! As always, I’ll keep it as spoiler-free as humanly possible (should really stop writing that last bit as it makes me feel like an old nagging lady). Anyway, on to the review!

I wasn’t that sure what I was going to think about this film. After seeing the previews, it sure looked like a cool special-effects extravaganza with Anakin…Hayden Christensen in the lead role. I was sure it’d be another one of those awesome films effects-wise, but would it be backed up by an equally awesome story? I switched off all my senses for logic and gravity (which is needed to see this film) and went in to this film ready to be jumped by anything as awesome as the trailers. Ignore the earlier pun.

Well, as I said just above this, the story isn’t realistic in really any form or way but as it’s a science-fiction film, I didn’t find it annoying in any way. It’s a basic story about a boy, David Rice (Christensen) who finds out he has a genetic anomaly that allows him to teleport pretty much anywhere, as long as he has a visual reminder of the place (for example, a photograph). It doesn’t take long until David starts using his power for worse things, and before you know it, he’s robbing banks all over the world while travelling to sunbathe on top of the Sphinx. It doesn’t take long before an evil organisation within the NSA is on his trail, which means David has to join up with another “Jumper”, Griffin (Jamie Bell, of “Billy Elliot” fame). Oh, and the villain, Roland, is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Awesome.

It was pretty interesting to see Christensen in another film than Star Wars. He’s a good actor with good emotional range. Jamie Bell really looks quite odd in this film, but works pretty good (his character has killer sideburns). The main girl and love interest for David is played by Rachel Bilson, who I believe have been in some kind of TV-series before this film. She’s a good actress, but I’m sure she’d do better off in a more dialouge-based film or TV show. Samuel L. Jackson plays pretty much the same role as he always plays, but that’s not a bad thing, as he is a real oneliner-machine.

So, the thing you’ve been waiting for (well, at least I’ve been looking forward to writing this ): The visual effects and the cinematography are awesome. The visual effects are some of the best I’ve seen in quite some time, with people dissapearing and appearing out of thin air throughout the entire picture. And this isn’t your ordinary “let’s keep the camera going and run out of the frame” trick, this is some pretty mindblowing stuff they’re doing. The cinematography is great too, and it feels like some sort of mix between the shaky-cam stuff of “28 Weeks Later” but with a steady-cam and some cool whip-pans involved. I’m sure there’s some movie-making witchcraft involved in some of the whip-pans (such as cutting in the middle of one), but then again, that’s pretty much the entire point of filmmaking. Can’t wait to see this on Blu-Ray, I’m sure it’ll be amazing.

I really liked the music by John Powell, famous for creating some of the more memorable themes from the Bourne films. I seriously recommend you check it out on iTunes (or similar) as it’s really worth a purchase if you’re a fan of majestic movie scores. The sound mixing is equally cool, with the teleporting stuff being best parts.

The only real thing that I thought dragged down this movie quite severly was the last five to ten minutes. The movie just ends very suddenly, and it feels as if they ran out of money or something, because it really is somewhat dissapointing. It doesn’t detract that much from the film itself though, so I’d say if you’re a sci-fi fan, definently go watch this right away!

Verdict: 8 out of 10

Hey everyone! First of all, I wanted to apologive for the lack of updates! No news posts in over two weeks is pretty crazy, but loads of things have been going on both in school and other things. Well, I’m giving you all a pretty cool update on what I’ll be doing next in films. It is afterall, the 200th news post on the current website so I’ve got to give you all something special!

After writing the last article here on rhp.se, I went for a week’s holiday in Dubai. It was nice and fun to get away from the stressful environment that is the city and to just watch films, read a book (heh, which I don’t do that often ) and just generally relax and take it easy. I took a pretty large amount of photographs while I was there. I still havn’t found the time to work on them. I mean, I guess I could just upload the photos the way they were shot, but I feel half the fun is coming up with cool looks and colours when you retouch them in Photoshop and/or Aperture. Keep a steady eye on my Flickr gallery, and the pictures should pop up during next week.

Been thinking about my future film projects, and what I’ll be focusing on next. It’s hard to really start shooting a real project during the next couple of weeks, as school is as always crazy with exams, homework and much more. I’ve been thinking about shooting some kind of commercial though, as that’ll only take a day or two. Should be a fun experience, while it gives me a chance to learn Final Cut Studio 2 and my new mac-based editing setup (more on that futher down this news post). After the commerical I think I’ll continue/reshoot “Connected”, a short thriller project I’ve been working on - it’s really more of a cinematography test than an actual new film. After that I’ll start to really work on my next “real” film, the drama “Derby”. I’m aiming to start filming this late May, early June (probably with some parts being shot during summer break as well). Going to put in a lot of time writing it in two weeks, during our easter-based one week off from school. I’m pretty sure it’ll also be the first time I’m going to talk to friends and family about the script and the whole film before it’s released, as I’ve figured I could do with a test audience once in a while.

Been watching a few new films, most notably “Zodiac” (by David Fincher) and the oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men” by Joel & Ethan Coen. As they were released quite some time ago in theatres, I’ve decided not to write reviews of them here, as I’m pretty sure I’d be quite late to the party with them, so to speak. But without dwelling in on too many details, let me just say I thought both films were very, very good. Some very solid acting from most part, and some beautiful cinematography, especially in “Zodiac”. If you’re a fan of thriller films, I suggest you go and watch both of these films right away!

So I’ve finally done the unthinkable and switched to Mac. I’ve always been a pretty avid Windows user, but after having tried editing on a Mac, there really is no way to go back. Everything’s just so silky-smooth and fast! I’ve updated the equipment page to reflect the new software and computer I’m using. I’m also thinking about getting around to update the crew page soon, and adding more people. The core team will of course still consist of me, Johannes and Nils B, but I’d be fun to add a few facts about actors I use often and some other associates. After I’ve had my massive test in biology class, I’ll see if I can find a free afternoon to write some new stuff!

That’s pretty much all I had for you guys and girls today! Make sure to check the Flickr page during next week for some pictures, and I’ll talk to you all again soon!

Take care!