I wouldn't say that 'the film is in the style of silent films' tho, because it wouldn't be relevant to make a movie like that today *unless the theme of the movie was self-referential, meaning the director is making cinema about cinematography itself, therefore the objective is not to re-live the style but to make a comment about technology using the very modern technology that has outdated silent movies.

Those scenes where there actually is sound, like when Valentin, in his nightmare, puts that glass down and it makes a thud against the table are a representation of the very new style of movies that the character is so afraid of and the fact that both styles are present in the same film is key.

Another issue that I would be very interested in addressing is how the director, instead of having a soundtrack specifically composed for the movie, appropriated soundtracks from several other classic movies, which is another little anecdote he makes about cinema.

When the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies, 'Vertigo' by Alfred Hitchcock started playing to the dramatic scene where the protagonist contemplates suicide it immediately jumped to me that this music was familiar, and though it felt a little unsettling to hear it play to a different film, I appreciated the reference, and it was a great moment and fitting scene for the music.

I personally believe the director plays tribute to these classics by using their soundtracks, but it caused much controversy, the lead actress of Vertigo, Kim Novak, said that hearing the soundtrack of the classic play to another film was like 'rape'!

Tags: Carol Seleme Daniel

This is a portion of the first take Mal did of the book review. Her anecdotes about being voluptuous are totally different in this one than the main video. There's something a little sharper and not as mellow about her in this one (aside: As taskmaster, I think I might have driven her to drink, literally, lol (you may discern a slightly buzzed Mal in the main video). For those extra observant readers, I have added an unedited version of one of Mal's takes of the David Boring review as of June 8th - completely different material.

Every now and again I will post a tip for photographers in this section. This one concerns what to charge for your photo services. Newbie photographers often underestimate the amount of time that goes into a professional shoot, only to later resent the client and doing the project.

One of the key things I learned with pricing photography jobs is that a photo gig itself involves a lot more than taking the photos. When you hear about a noted photographer getting paid $10,000 a day for a shoot, it's because much more than a day’s work is involved...

Tags: Olivia Jensen