Mortar in the Making
Senior discusses original boxing film
|Feature by Michael Leach
What can a movie inspire? Can it inspire the next generation of filmmakers? Can it mobilize a group of people to recreate their own vivid stories, unique to themselves? All of these questions and more can be answered by exploring one of the products of these movie inspired souls. Senior Andrew Monahan shares his perspective on and motivation to create his own hit-film.
“The movie I was in was called ‘Mortar,’” Monahan said. “[It] was self-directed and produced with my co-star.”
The inspiration behind the film came from Monahan’s deep-ro
oted interest in boxing. He feels as if
he has always had a proclivity for boxing, saying “it’s just something I live by; my code.”
One of the biggest incentives for Monahan’s production was the 2015 film “Creed.” The movie details the journey of a boxer played by Michael B Jordan, and it proceeds the story of Rocky. Monahan deeply related to this movie, and wanted to express it in a way unique to him.
Monahan believes that in making these films, he is doing more than just having fun with his friends, but entertaining people with his expression of art.
“It felt more like an expression of a story that needed to be told, rather than just for fun. It felt like it poured out from my artistic reservoirs,” he said.
Monahan would also like to credit his co-star, saying “My co-star goes by many names. During his process he went by ‘The Monarch,’ but you may recognize him by his iconic dreads and rippling physique during the process of filming.”
Future in Film
Juniors share aspirations in the production
|Feature by Sami Sandler
As they say in Hollywood, “go big or go home ”–– this could not be any more true. While the film industry is difficult to make your way into, there are many ways to involve yourself in the process. Juniors Isabelle Liekus and Tom Fullerton give a glimpse into what part of that world they hope to be included in one day.
Liekhus participates in choir and theatre at Blue Valley and would like to continue those passions through being an actor. However, knowing the industry’s competitive nature, she is setting her expectations on the technical aspect. “I’d love to be on the acting side but I realistically would like to be directing,” she said.
She enjoys critiquing the writing and creative choices made by directors and would like to one day be a part of that decision-making process. “I’ve always been a film nerd and loved analyzing films,” Liekhus said.
Despite being aware of how easy it is to fail in the film industry, Liekhus still wishes to pursue this career and said, “I hope to end up working [with] a bigger company.”
Fullerton, on the other hand, is associated with the editing sector of films.
“I enjoy taking footage that’s been provided to me and making it eye-catching––appealing to people,” he said. “I’ve always been big on YouTube and content creation. I figured I could use my editing skills for other people.”
Fullerton wants to study media production in college and pursue this as a career. “I’ve got a good editing job right now,” he said. “I want to build off of it and get some good opportunities to be a renowned editor.”
The two share advice to those also interested in these pursuits.
For those wanting to dive into editing, Fullerton advises to start with a free Software, learn the basics and test things. “You’ll get better,” he said.
Liekhus advises anyone going the directing route to persevere through the hardships. “Obviously [this] industry is going to be a struggle—on any side of it,” she said. “Just stick with it.”
Why is the Film industry struggling so much?
Junior share aspirations in the production
|Opinion by Lucy James
So far, the 2020s have been a very interesting decade for the entertainment industry. From the Covid-19 shutdowns to the SAG-AFTRA strike, there have been many reasons why the film industry is struggling. But why have they not bounced back yet?
Recently, movies that were supposed to be major box office hits, like “Caption America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts*,” or “Elio,” didn’t perform as well as they were expected to do. They were this year’s greatest movies, so what happened? Why are major production companies ‘flopping’ on the big screen?
The first problems are money and time constraints. It takes so much more money to make a movie now, and big companies have a tendency to spend too much on a bad movie to try to make it good. With time constraints, they put so much pressure on workers and actors that in some movies, you can really tell when they rushed through the production to meet a deadline. Companies can also push for more content to be made in a shorter amount of time, focusing on quantity over quality, causing the new projects to be watered down and the audience won’t want to build up any hype towards the projects because they don’t know if it will be good or not.
The second problem is how quickly the internet moves on between films too fast. Newly released movies used to be the forefront topic of internet discussion and pop culture for months, but now they are barely lasting more than two weeks before falling out of discussion. It could be because of the quality of the movie, or just the PR or the drama surrounding the movies that make the audience focus on that and not the actual film.
The third conundrum problem is the rise of streaming services. With readably accessible movies from the comfort of your own home, too many people stop going to the movie theatre and just wait to watch it online. While it is good to have access to more movies on demand, it severely harms the movie theatres because they generate less revenue. People also do not want to go to a movie theatre because the ticket and food prices are way too high to just see a film that they can just wait for a month or two to go onto the streaming service they already have. All of this contributes as to why a movie can ‘flop’ opening weekend, as less people are not generating money for that film, which can show people that others really do like a movie, no matter what critics say.
The fourth problem is the quality of the writing. The storyline, dialogue, and the characters’ actions are the most important parts of a movie, so if they don’t make any sense, people will not like it. If the writing or message doesn’t connect with the audience, then it will not be enjoyed. The writing of a movie makes or breaks the overall film, and so many recent projects are just …bad. You can’t really make up for horrible writing, and that really shows in some movies.
Fifth and finally, live action remakes and sequels are seen as just a cash-grab by studios. I get why they want to remake classic movies in a new style to keep the love of the story alive, but no studio does it right. They change key events, original jokes, and the important message of the originals. Why watch a subpar remake or sequel when I can just watch the good original? Why would I want a carbon copy of the original when I can just watch that instead?
Of course, bad movies will always be made no matter what you, anyone, or I say about it. It’s okay to like ‘bad’ movies because all art, or media, is subjective to each individual person who watches it. All movies have good and bad aspects, and you are able to form your own opinion on any of it. Stop caring what the movie critics or others say and watch all the terrible movies you want, because all that matters is that you enjoyed a movie
