Tag Archives: Film

Adequate Beasts: The Crimes of Everyone

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If you’re looking for questions, I’ve got your answer. The second part of the newly hatched Fantastic Beasts series, Fantastic Beats: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) series opens a lot of new doors and doesn’t close any on its way out. Granted, it does a fine job at following upon the first film and does offer some important plot development, but all in all it’s just far too nonlinear to measure up to the awe of the first. The main issues resonate in the plot.

*SPOILERS*

Compliments of IMDB

Beginning the story, it becomes clear very quickly that there is no central focus to the film. This is because of the number of main characters present. Returning characters are Newt Scamander, Gellert Grindelwald, Jacob Kowalski, Queenie Goldstein, Portpentina Goldstein, and the once dead Credence Barebone (among other side characters). Normally this wouldn’t be a problem. Audiences love familiarity. However, these characters each have their own storylines going on alongside what’s assumed the main plot. Because of this, its hard to tell who the main focus of these movies is. Newt? Grindelwald? Credence?

Recall from the first films the sequence of events. The audience begins by following Newt through New York to capture released beasts. Due to Credence’s magical abilities as an “Obscurial” (something thought of as dangerous to the wizarding world), Newt seeks to capture him in order to prevent magical authorities from harming him. Grindelwald, a wizard seeking power, develops an interest in Credence because of his power. Everything is circular and all stories tie into one. Here, there still is not a central character per se. Newt would be a protagonist, Grindelwald the antagonist ad Credence somewhere between as he has not chosen any side.

Compliments of CNet

The second film, however, rips this premise apart. Credence is on a search for his mom, Newt is trying ultimately to replenish his lost relationship with Porpentina, Grindelwald is trying to coerce credence while also grow a magical regime, Jacob and Queenie are trying to hash out their muggle non-muggle relationship, and somewhere along the line Albus Dumbledore, another main character brought in from the original Harry Potter series, enters the scene to create another story line regarding his relationship with Grindelwald.

In a few side notes we also learn  that Credence is not the son of a Lestrange (a point also brought up in this film, not the first), another characters switched him with a Lestrange on a boat as an infant and is actually a dumbledore, we don’t know where his real mom is, Grindelwald remains interested (presumably because of his lineage but that was never answered), Dumbledore has a pact with Grindelwald which prohibits their fighting, and so on. That’s just a few new tidbits offered in a 2 hour-long movie.

Compliments of threeifbyspace.net

The problem with all of this is that it creates too many stories presenting themselves to the audience at once. It is a lot to remember and a lot to take in. Granted, much of this might be hashed out in future films (the ending set up a continuance), but it doesn’t resolve the fact that all of this information becomes muddled due to the sheer volume of new facts. It might have been better as a season on Netflix or Hulu.

This is definitely a lot to register, but it’s worth seeing. It is very well done in terms of casting, directing, graphics, and much more. It is a beautiful piece. The plot line just muddles things a bit. However, there is no doubt that there will be answers to all of questions presented to us and if you’re a Harry Potter fanatic, the series is worth your time.

Check out the trailer!

PRODusing New Media

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You’re a senior in high school. You’re over halfway through the school year, and you’ve just spent the last four years of your life trying to forget that you’ve spent a good majority of it flipping through math, science, English, and history textbooks. You’re ready for your summer of freedom. But, that’s not going to happen. It’s time to decide your place in life. Your teachers tell you that college is nothing like high school. It’s hard. It’s tiring. You need to know what you’re doing before you do it, because there’s not much wiggle room. And all you can think about is what you haven’t been prepared for.

Our educators expect us to understand the world enough to know exactly what we should do with our lives, even at the age of ten. It’s a scary thought. But there lies the problem. People aren’t expected to have everything figured out once they reach college. However, our younger selves are somehow coerced into believing that picking a major field of study for higher education is a singular choice.

On the contrary, college is a place where learning the steps to make that decision actually takes place. The misconception that high school is where you make your final decision is just downright stressful. Some people get so worked up it actually decreases their likelihood of going to college. They feel so overwhelmed that their solution might be to wait it out. But education isn’t knowing everything in advance of doing it. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need education.

Venturing further into your academic career offers new discoveries and options everyday. The electives at Texas A&M University – Texarkana offer multiple teaching and learning styles, material, perceptions.

Photo by Allison Hall

One class in particular is Dr. Drew Morton’s Intro to Media Production course. The name suggests filmmakers would receive the most benefit, but anyone on campus can gain something. The course teaches students how to properly use DSLR Canon Rebel cameras for photography and video, and how to mash those clips together in Adobe Premiere. The course requires no necessary experience or skill (Hint: “Intro”). The series of projects in the course moves in an elegant and gradual way to ward away nerves about technique and to compliment your available skill set. The course is all about you: What do you want to make? What do you have to say? Film is an easy way to tell a story. A section of the class teaches you to do this without words. Visual elements can instill meaning into a person that words just can’t.

Photo by Allison Hall

One junior history major has ventured much further into the field of mass communication thanks to classes like this. Josh Wattigny has taken several MCOM classes and is now enrolled in Intro to Media Production. Prior to any of these, he hadn’t thought of branching out into media studies. Now, he has his own camera, equipment, and a YouTube channel. “I had an interest in learning about film history, and from there I found out that I really enjoyed everything that goes into film production. I wanted to learn more and make my own movies,” Josh said. The truth is, with or without a degree, we’re all involved in the field of mass communication.

You might think you know what you want, and maybe you do, but there’s always something else worth exploring. Something you might think is too hard, or not worth the time might turn into a consistent hobby, as it was for Josh. Here, we’re discussing videography, but maybe you have a knack for poetry or writing. So, a word of advice: get out there and take as many classes as you can. Wander around and find new media of expression. You never know what’s possible until you apply yourself in a new, scary, wonderful way.

Texas A&M University – Texarkana has some upcoming workshops and lectures you can use to test the waters. November events include a GIS (Geographic Information System) day hosted in the Digital Humanities Lab on November 14th, a Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) screening accompanied by discussion from Jaime Cantrell, Drew Morton, and Rachel Stonecipher on November 20th in Eagle Hall with a live podcast taping, and a walk-through of Audacity applications and podcast recording on November 27th at 12:15 in the Digital Humanities Lab. All these opportunities provide a variety of explorable content. Please check them out and don’t hesitate to ask questions.

Mad Science on Demand

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On Friday October 28, students performed stage plays and showed a short film for Mad Science on Demand. The shows were all written directed, and performed within 24 hours. Theatre on Demand had been an activity at the college for a few years and is open to all students who are interested. They got the topic at 8pm on Friday night and had to put together their shows by 8pm on Saturday. The theme for the productions was mad science, which falls under the PLACE theme for the year of science and technology.

The first production was a short film, Menopause in a Bottle, directed by Hollis Thompson. In the film, two students, Adam and Evelyn, meet with their professor to work on a project for extra credit. The professor traps Evelyn in a glass box and gives her hormones, causing her to have rapid and unpredictable mood swings. After the film, we all took seats in front of the stage in Eagle Hall to watch the stage productions.

The first stage play of the evening was The God Complex, written by Samantha Gallegos. In the play, Dr. Vir is responsible for ending humanity and her apprentice, Wanda, is seeking excitement. While running errands for Dr. Vir, she meets Victor, a young scientist who is afraid of science.

Rachel Mudd, director of The God Complex said her main responsibilities as a director were lighting, sound, and stage direction.

“I had to keep the actors focused and help them memorize their lines,” she said. She enjoyed the experience and sees herself participating next year as a director.

The second stage play was Promises Are for The Weak, written by Edwin Hinojos and directed by Allyson Couture. Professor Chase Morrison wants to get his hands on the youth serum created by his student, Patty Grambles. She insists it is not ready, but he does not listen to her.

The final stage play was Persistence of a Loveworst Mind. The great-granddaughter of Dr. Frankenstein kidnaps a student and replaces his brain with her deceased husband’s. Alex Eyespy goes to her lab to find out what happens to the student and discovers her experiment. Maggie Bunch directed the play and said putting together an entire production in 24 hours was challenging, but writer, Caleb D. Gammons did an amazing job with the script. With such a short time period, there was a question of what to do about props.

“We had to improvise with the props and used the university’s stools,” said Bunch.
David Zwirn has been acting since high school, but this is his first A&M production and Theatre on Demand. He played the comical role of Alex Eyespy. Prior to being in the production, he only knew a couple of people who were participating. The event allowed him to make new friends and meet other people who also shared his interests.

“It’s like Iron Chef, where you only get certain ingredients to work with,” said Zwirn. “We only had a certain amount of time to memorize lines and que. We rehearsed all day from 9am to showtime.”

Zwirn wants to be more involved in the theater program at A&M.

“Dr. Billings wants the program to grow and expand. The more talent we get, the better it will be.”