Robin Hood, Formatting Practical and Life

On May 14th my wonderful girlfriend and I went to see Robin Hood, Directed by Ridley Scott. As many of you know, I have been anticipating the Crowe-Scott dream team comeback for quite some time, watching the amazing trailer over and over up until the release date. I have to say I was quite surprised at the differences in style and narrative that Ridley Scott chose to use in the film since it was not the typical dark-palette, smokey-lighting and gory battle-esque style that I expected. But all the same I loved the way they retold the legend.

Big Warning here, NO SPOILERS!!! But I will set up the film so that if you are one of those people who enter a movie clueless but with expectations *cough*everycriticwebsite*cough* then you will not be dissappointed after reading this. THIS FILM IS A SETUP to the original legend, which means it is the events that lead up to the out-lawing of Robin and his band. The film takes very original liberties with the Robin Hood legend but also mixes them perfectly with the factual interpretations of figures such as King Richard, Friar Tuck, will Scarlett, and little John. Due to Ridley Scott's love for medieval history. He has added some great depth into the family structure of the plantagenets and their political toils between Eleanor of Aquitaine, a now aged and cynnical mother of a cowardly son and a warmongering king. The relationships and connections between them and the Robin Hood legend run very close together in the film as well as the legend which made this film great to watch as a history tid bits, with that creative touch of folklore.

Also if you are looking for a bloodfest like kingdom of heaven or gladiator you will not find it. The film has great battles and seiges, and as Scott's history films usually do, give a great look into the life of the soldier during wartime. Robin Hood is not a forgotten tale, it is known by the eldest of men and women to the youngest children and because of that the fights are kept at a 5/10 ranging from Narnia-Braveheart. I am a sucker for a good battle, and in saying that I can proudly say the film, despite the lack of blood, did not dissappoint in the slightest. Along with a great mix of comedy, romance, action, and glamitics (glamourous politics, kings queens, affairs, and gold chainmail). This film deserves an eight out of Ten, I felt the story pace was great but some of the editing in the first half to be a bit too abrupt. I will probably change my mind after watching it again. BUT GO WATCH IT IT IS AWESOME.

I was going to Write about how rendering videos on a mac is like life, (which is scarily accurate) but I got carried away with the greatness of the movie and what I wanted to say about it. Stay true and steadfast with your cameras and remember.....

Film and Film again, until PA's become Producers

Christian A.V. Petrozza

Editing Trailers, and the Webseries 'Fuzzy Days, Noir Nights'

Ever since I remember wanting to get into film (high school) I always gawked for days at the trailers of my most anticipated up-and-coming films, watching the previews twice or more a day to get pumped for the film. The fact that even after investing a couple of hours worth a month just re-watching these trailers and showing them to friends etc. continues remind me how impressive and fun it must be to be a trailer editor.


Trailers are more commonly known as previews, they show us some exciting plot points and enticing information about the film without giving too much away. In order to keep people excited for the film, I find most blockbusters leave you with a common phrase or image to remember the film by. For example, Avatar constantly had posters of profile shots of the Navi and recently, the Robin Hood trailer, one of my most anticipated films in a long time, has the fantastic use of phrase as Ridley Scott films usually do "Rise and Rise again, Until Lambs Become Lions". The phrase alone leaves shivers down my spine.

I kept these things in mind when editing my trailer for the webseries Fuzzy Days, Noir Nights,(FDNN) which will be released September 2010. Through the process of reading through the scripts, mapping out a Trailer Plot summary, and adding a few sounds, I realized how much fun and how little time it took me to edit it. I spent about 4 hours over two days putting together the trailer and the only proplem was trying to show exciting parts without giving things away.

So here's a few tips.
-if it's a show or series, put enticing and exciting shots out of episodal sequence, this keeps them guessing.
-play with your video effects like fade to white, brightness, simple stuff.
-make sure the people or the camera is moving during each shot when the plot picks up, keep it fresh and use as many angles as possible
-music is key, it drives the preview as much as the occasional dialogue. So as the grail crusader once said "choose, but, choose wisely"
-be sure to put a fresh character in the next shot, or at least a shot where they are in a completely different setting and costume, keep the colour flow constant, human attention spans are low, damn plebs ( :-) ).

But as far as I can tell they are the easiest promotional tool to get people to stay tuned and they can make or break a film. Now here are some production stills from FDNN and an awesome trailer for Robin Hood. Take note, this is what awesome looks like.



Christian A.V. Petrozza