FACT

FACT (The Foundation for Art & Creative Technology) is a Multimedia complex in Liverpool which was founded in 1989 to inspire people, and promote film, video and new media. FACT offers many opportunities for audiences, and a support system for artists.



The building itself is aesthetically impressive, covered in zinc tiles and LED columns; it's the perfect home for such an expressive and stimulating complex. Facilities include galleries for moving image and streaming media broadcasts, a Medialab for workshops and the development and production of artists' projects and The Box gallery and projection space. Not to mention a cafe, bar and 3 cinema picture house, screening the latest arthouse releases.

FACT really is an inspiring organisation, providing endless opportunities in the world of film and new media. Definitely worth a visit at least.

3 Minute Wonder

3 Minute Wonder is a short Channel 4 Television slot where first time Directors and Producers can broadcast their work to a large audience. Channel 4 is aiming to help new talent break into the very competitive UK Television industry - something that they might not be able to do by themselves.

Channel 4 provides the Directors with £4,000, and offers them their assistance in making their short film. This is a great way of getting their name out there, and pushing them one step further towards their ultimate goal. Channel 4's 4talent also runs competitions, so the winners get even more publicity. Any up-and-coming Director should jump at the chance to help their career, and when handed on a plate like this, it is the perfect opportunity.

This is one example of the short series, a 3 minute documentary about street art:

Saw IV

Dare you see... SAW IV???

The first was well thought out, dark, twisty and like nothing I've seen before. Great!

The second was predictable, gory, hectic and yet somehow still pretty good.

The third was sickening, far-fetched and a step too far.

So six films later, I'm not quite sure what the producers are thinking, or where they are going. It's not original anymore - hopefully they're not going for a horror version of James Bond, because I'm not sure I can cope with 21 Saw films. Not that it directly affects me, but they're taking up precious cinema slots.

Defintely less a case of 'Do you dare?' and more 'Do you care...?'

500 days of Summer

Boy meets Girl.
Boy falls in love.
Girl doesn't.

I've got to admit, 500 Days of Summer is quite an emotional journey not only for the characters but for the audience too. The film follow aspiring architect Tom's growing obsession with work collegue Summer, however as stated in the opening, this is by no means a love story - more of a break up story. As a retrospective film, the audience's emotions are unsettled from the start when the end of the relationship is shown first.

I enjoyed so many aspects of the film, paticularly its quirky nature. Normally I'd cringe if one of the main characters broke into song and dance (unless of course I was watching Grease), but the Director really pulled it off. The seasons, wardrobe and production design matched the emotions of the main charater - noticeably duller when he was feeling down, and the killer soundtrack assisted in making the audience feel truly zealous and emotional.

Just a Daft Punk?

Literally too much time on their hands or just sheer entertainment? I'm going for the latter, any other opinion is probably jealousy.

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange was released in 1971 by director Stanley Kubrick, as an adaptation of Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel. The story follows psychopathic delinquent Alex Delarge and his gang of 'Droogs', whose interests and lifestyle largely revolve around a combination of classical music, rape and violence.

There's no question that the film is very controversial and disturbing at times, proven by the fact that it was originally banned in the U.K. and was largely censored in the U.S. However, what interests me most about the film is Kubrick's use of contrasting sound. Particularly during scenes of extreme violence and molestation, Kubrick has chosen to use classical pieces of music - particularly Beethoven - in order to portray the character's enjoyment. By using lively, classical pieces of music that the majority of the audience will recognise, Kubrick manages to enhance the shock factor of his film. This is also the case when Alex serenades his victims with 'Singing in the rain' whilst attacking and violently raping them - successfully creating unease within the audience.

Environmental WALL.E?

After watching Pixar's animated WALL.E for the second time recently, I started thinking about the messages within the film, as opposed to just enjoying light-hearted story of a garbage-cleaning robot.

The film tells the story of a not so unrealistic future, where mankind has abandoned Earth due to it becoming overrun with rubbish, leaving WALL.E to clean up the mess. It seems on watching the film, that the main message is about what might happen in the future, with all of mankind becoming lazy and obese. However, after reading an interview with Andrew Stanton, the animator, it seems that this might not have been his intention.

He was interested in showing the most human thing in the world as a machine; as WALL.E is more interested in finding out the point of living than an actual person is. According to Stanton, the entire film is based around relationships, and the fact that humans are not engaging in them, when two robots are.

It's not a bad thing that kids might only get enjoyment and a glimpse of an environmental message out of this film; however, a deeper meaning of the film is that humans live to be cared for rather than to care. In contrast, a robotic trash collector comes to love the creatures that inhabit the Earth.

I'd say that's something to watch out for...