This article in the Hollywood Reporter talks about actor John Boyega stepping down as an ambassador to Jo Malone. Boyega, famous for his roles in the new Star Wars movies. His decision apparently came after the brand filmed an ad in China that apparently had no black actors in it. Boyega said he had no knowledge of the shoot until it actually was published. He also said the original ad was shot in His hometown with his friends and family. I feel that while it is an actors decision to leave or stay with a brand, I feel that this may be more personal for Boyega since the original ad had people very close to him. I can imagine he was pretty insulted deeply by the company replacing the ad without his knowledge. He apparently has also had several business feuds with China in the past as the article says like when the Chinese Poster for The Force awakens apparently shrunk Boyegas head. I can feel how offended he felt when he likely saw that. I think that businesses can’t just make changes without someone’s knowledge. They needed to run it by Boyega first before switching it to something else. Now the company did apologize and said it was a mistake and They praised Boyega as an artist.

Today’s episode of Scriptnotes talked about going back to basics to talk about what screenwriting actually is. I think this is a good idea because I’m sure most people, including myself, have no idea how screenwriting works. They also spent some time talking about the current happenings in their lives. This is a good way to balance things out. They state that there is a difference between a movie script and a stage script. On a stage the scenes are pretty minimal, while in film they tend to have more production values. They say that the fundamental thing that you have to come back to is a scene. I agree with that statement because in film scenes are life in this situation. Not just whats going on in a scene but also what the idea for a scene is. Both of the hosts also discuss that part of a scene. They also say the grammar in a script is sometimes analyzed by a grammer analyst. I guess that is someone who reads the script to make sure it is comprehensive and coherent. They also state that a script needs to have transitions and breaks such as INT or EXIT. I agree that this is an important part to know what comes next.

Today’s episode of scriptnotes that I watched talked about how to write a movie transcript. I think that this is the same as a script except it’s just the dialogue. Craig Maizin was the only person on the show since John was on vacation and they had no guest. That’s fine with me. He says that most transcripts are looked at the wrong way by just analyzing it instead of actually doing the symptom which is structure. Structure is key according to him because it really builds up a key format to help you find the dialogue the way it is. He also says that “real writers follow their characters.” I think this is good advice because it helps you realize the dialogue more carefully and can also become one with the characters. It helps make their dialogue more better and much more carefully structured. It also makes you realize the why what where and how of the plot of these characters as well. You also want to put yourself in the characters place as well and figure out what would you do if this was you or what would you think about this? This way it can really help you understand the plot much better.

Today I read an article in the Hollywood Reporter that was kind of interesting. It said that Disney’s remake of “Mulan” was filmed in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, which apparently has been the site of multiple human rights abuses by the Chinese government. More specifically it is the site of where Muslims have been persecuted in the country. Apparently pro democracy groups have been boycotting the film because the credits have included a thank you to the people of Xinjiang. I have seen the film on Disney plus and I actually really liked it. My mother thinks it’s better than the original. Although there is no Mushu the dragon, it is still pretty good. I also am aware of the multiple human rights abuses committed in China under the communist party. From The great famine and murders that lead to at least 65 million deaths under chairman Mao Zedong to Tianneman square, China has one of the worst human rights records in the world next to Syria and North Korea. However I believe that this wouldn’t be the first time a film was shot in an oppressive country though so for me it’s not a big deal but we shouldn’t ignore the abuses either.

Today’s article in the Hollywood Reporter that I read is about the Famous Venice film festival. More specifically they’re talking about the film festival re opening to the public, tomorrow on September 2nd actually! According to the article this will be the first in person major film festival since the pandemic started. I do hope that they will be alright doing this and the article mentions they will have some safety guidelines. They quote the festival manager as saying that “no one can stay in lockdown forever.” He’s right about that, because this year has already been pretty terrible with COVID, protests, and lots of other terrible things. So what people need now is a little stress relief so that they can let off some burden. Don’t get me wrong they should still be smart and take precautions, but still should be having fun doing it. We can’t just stay locked up till a vaccine comes. The festival has already picked up a film line up as well with movies called “Nomadland” and “The World to Come.” This is what the film business really needs right now, because since the pandemic started, they haven’t really been able to release much new stuff in theatres. I just hope it goes well and that everyone there stays healthy.

Today on a recent episode of the Script notes podcast, they talked with two people who worked on the movie “Hustlers” on how to visually create a story. Also they pointed out that the episode was recorded pre pandemic as well. They talked about ways of appealing to certain cultures through things such as costumes. I think that this is a very common thing throughout filmmaking: appealing to a certain culture or demographic. Filmmakers want to sometimes make sure that their film is as appealing as possible to young people, women, or any other group. They said that “Hustlers” was really a “movie told through wardrobe.” This I guess means that the clothes that people wear in certain scenes in a movie can really tell the viewer a lot about the characters themselves. One example of this may be “The Breakfast Club” because in that movie the way the characters are dressed tells the audience a lot about their social standing (jock, rebel, outcast, popular, etc). They are basically saying here about “Hustlers.” They also said that they did research on certain clothing styles as well and I think all filmmakers should do that to make sure whatever wardrobe the characters have is as realistic and accurate as possible.

Today I read an article in The Hollywood Reporter on the new Russel Crowe movie “Unhinged.” I haven’t seen the movie in fact I have only now just heard about it after seeing it’s poster at my hometown movie theatre while I was attending an event there. However the article states some good news about it that might be music to the film industries ears right now. “Unhinged” opened to 4 million dollars at the box office! As the article states, this should be a good sign of a revival in the movie industry as it is coming back right now. I sure hope so because with the pandemic happening right now, a lot of things ended up going straight to streaming services in order to be watched by the public and so the box office hasn’t had much to work with recently. The article also says that a Chinese film also had a good opening at the box office in China. So hopefully things will be getting better for the box office soon. The Box office I believe has been a big sign of film success throughout the decades from “Gone with The Wind” to Avatar.” So while I do think it will take time hopefully the box office can recover from this terrible health crisis.

Today in Scriptnotes they talked about the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have seen that movie several times it’s such an iconic famous movie. They talk about the opening of the movie and how all of it’s characters are represented well with their personal strengths and weaknesses. This is true and I never realized that before but now I realize that Indiana Jones represents the good side of archeology while his rival Belloq represents the greedy side of it. I also believe that the movie does well with its religious themes, which are mainly Judaism and Christianity. I also agree with them that the set pieces are well designed or chosen and that the opening is very iconic. They also said that some of the stuff they do in the movie probably wouldn’t be done today. I agree because I watched a behind the scenes documentary on how they did the scene where the character of Tohts face melts at the end. It wasn’t easy but in the end they pulled it off. Now today they would probably use CGI to replicate it which is ok but I feel that practical effects are better. I also find it funny that one of the hosts had never seen the movie and even thought it was called “Lost Art.”

Today I read my first Hollywood Reporter article. I usually don’t read stuff like this but I now have to for film class ha ha. This article was talking about actress Julia Garners rise to fame. I haven’t really heard about her but one part of the article that stuck out to me was that she failed an audition for a Nickelodeon show once but instead of discouraging her it actually encouraged her to keep trying. Look at her now she’s as the article states “a scene stealer and an Emmy favorite.” This is a very encouraging thing for up and coming actors and actresses. It reminds me of the story of how Jazz musician Charlie Parker became famous. He was 17 and was invited to play the saxophone with a band that featured Count Basie orchestra drummer Joe Jones. However Parker messed up an improvisation and that led to Jones angrily throwing a Cymbal at His feet and him getting laughed offstage. However instead of discouraging Parker this actually encouraged him to try harder and the next year he was totally different. I learned that from the movie “Whiplash” and in it JK Simmons character says “Now imagine if Jones didn’t throw a Cymbal at Parker imagine if he just said ‘well that’s ok Charlie you did alright good job’ and Charlie thinks ‘we’ll maybe I did do a good job’ end of story no bird.” He argues here that then Charlie wouldn’t have practiced harder. So I guess in some people’s view “good job” just means stay the way you are and never try to be better. Well clearly Julia Garner didn’t just settle for Good job and instead try harder just like Charlie Parker did and I think every up and coming actor should do the same.

Today I watched my first episode of the script notes podcast. It was over psychotherapy for scriptwriters. They had a guest on that show to help discuss that issue. I think that mental health is something some people don’t think about when it comes to people in the entertainment industry. However we’ve seen several examples throughout history. Walt Disney had several mental breakdowns due to high workload during his lifetime. He never let it show to the public but he had them. Also more tragically we had Marilyn Monroe and her constant fits of depression which led to her barbiturate addiction that ultimately killed her. So I think that it’s something people need to talk about more in the film business. Dennis Palumbo was the guest on the podcast he’s a psychotherapist who also worked in “Welcome back Kotter.” However he also had a crisis in his life that cost him his marriage until he went on a trip to the Himalayas and decided to change his life. They also talked about things such as writers block, which means writers don’t know what to write. I think it’s good that these guys are talking about mental health issues because I believe that just by talking about it we can actually help them overcome these issues.