MX4D Experience: Justice League

So recently we went on a field trip to a local theater to see Justice League. The theater we went to had recently remodeled to include an MX4D room, a brand new movie experience. Today, I'll talk about that, and how it enhanced the movie.

What it MX4D?

Have you ever been in a 4D theater at Disneyland or somewhere like that? Well, MX4D is basically that with big production HD movies. The seats move around, air and water spray at you, a grass smell effect, and there's even sparse snow and rain. Currently, there are only 5 theaters in the nation to have this technology (the one we went to is the first in the midwest). The reason a lot of theaters are going to start building them is because many are in a financial struggle right now. Most people don't go to the movies anymore, they use Netflix and other streaming services. The goal of MX4D is to give viewers a movie experience they can't get at home. This is the future of movie theaters.

What do I Think of MX4D?

When I first heard about this, I loved the idea of it. For one, it sounded very fun, like an amusement park ride and a movie all in one (which it basically was). I also thought it was great to revive the glory of movie theaters. Don't get me wrong, I still thought this was pretty darn cool, but after experiencing MX4D first hand, my opinion changed a little.

One small fear I had was that it would be uncomfortable. It wasn't too bad. Although my friend, who wears glasses, said that whenever water sprayed her glasses would be fogged up. So if you're going to ever see something like this, contacts are probably better.

A small issue: I don't think I was fully invested in the movie. It was exciting to be moving around with the movie, but that amusement park ride and movie comparison I made? This leans more towards the ride part. Unlike 2D or 3D movies where I can talk about all my favorite and least favorite parts immediately after the movie ends, most of the plot details seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Looking back, I remember the movie is about DC superheroes. If your going to experience MX4D, it's probably best to also see the regular movie earlier.

Also, MX4D seems limited on what movies would be showing. For Justice League, we were completely still, watching the movie during the non-action scenes. Mrs. Smith also said that the theater has played horror movies like It in the MX4D room. So if a movie has no action or scares, it seems like an MX4D experience would be slightly awkward with it.

However, I still thought it was a lot of fun to go see, just mostly for the moving seats. The grass smells, well, those could be improved.

MX4D And Filmmaking

Before and after seeing Justice League, the class discussed that if this is the future of movie viewing, then what does that mean for us, future filmmakers? Well, it's to include more sensory imagery. Crane shots are also great, because the MX4D seats will move with them.

Conclusion

Well, that day was very cool to experience something that was previously only available in California and the northeast. It's also good to know where movies are going, and I'm excited to see this in other theaters, and go to an MX4D movie again.

Some Short Films I Was Watching

So whenever I don't have anything else to do in class, I usually go to YouTube and watch short films. It's great to study other filmmakers and see their methods, stories, characters, and how they flesh them out. It's also great to watch a lot of films for technical reasons. You can see what shots they used, how they framed their subject, and how the lighting and editing appeals to the story. So here is a few I've watched:

Andy

So here is the first one. Out of all of these, it's probably the one I, personally, can relate to most, being an average teenager and feeling pressure to do what everyone else is doing. I can really understand Andy and why he falls into peer pressure. The framing of his character is also something I caught. He seems almost inferior to everyone else, which was good for what the film makers were portraying.

Emily

Warning: Very emotional video above. I mean, just from the thumbnail you can tell this is about a girl going through a rough time. Emily dares to touch sensitive topics like depression and suicide, and if executed poorly, it would have offended a lot of people. But the film crew knew this and were very careful with how they portrayed it, while still giving enough to stab the viewer's heart. Very sad and very good. Congrats on the award, it's well deserved.

The Hit

So after the previous two films, I needed some comedy to lighten up. I clicked on this one because I once had a film idea of the same name. It was pretty short, but creatively executed in that short time. The humor felt original, and I held back laughter in class.

The Gunfighter

I don't watch a lot of Westerns, but I felt I wanted to branch out. Overall, this was a very clever idea I didn't know I needed until I watched it. I've bet all of us wondered how the story would play out if somehow the characters could hear the narrator, and The Gunfighter executes that concept well. It was also a little unexpected that it'd be a comedy, but not that that's a bad thing.

Time Trap

I also don't watch a lot of Sci-Fi, so I felt I wanted to branch out a bit more. I really liked this. Usually when I do watch Sci-Fi, it confuses me too much since all the characters talk about complex math and aerospace. This helped by not having much dialogue, and the viewer is focused on what the robot is doing, not what he's saying. The humor whenever he goes back in time was also nice.

Alone Time

This is probably the most life-like one here next to Emily, except there's no obvious conflict. The main character is just exhausted with her average life, and goes camping to find peace and relief. The editing of the forest and shot choice is very beautiful though, so "Alone Time" is more aesthetically driven.

Nadia

This has to be one of the most interesting films I have ever seen. It is a short film with the way it has characters, a plot, and conflict. But if you watch it, you'll notice it's also a PSA about abuse, and it doesn't try to subtly hide that. The man tells us facts and statistics about child abuse in the UK, while also tying it into a fictional, yet sadly realistic story.

Sentio: A Short Film

So we made this and recently presented to the class. This was the short film me and the group (Brett, Lizzie, Damien, and Brandan) created. We each had our own ideas for a short film, but we chose to make Brett's because we thought his was the most compelling, yet doable for a high school project. And then we got to the process.

Pre-Production

We started by splitting production team roles. Brett was the director, screenwriter, and editor. Damien was the cinematographer. Lizzie was the production designer and makeup artist. Brendan was in charge of sound. I was the art director and location scout. To find actors, we decided to hold auditions. However, we only posted flyers day of, so we ended up having to go around the school and find people willing to audition. Yet, we managed to find good actors.

The storyboards took a while, since the script was 18 pages. Lizzie drew up most of them, but we all drew a few scenes to help get them done.

Then I went out to scout a location for the restaurant. It's actually a church youth-group room. The lack of windows meant we could make it dim and evening-like while filming in the middle of the day. The only tables they had were quite big, but that's easy to compromise. The other location was at Brett's house.

Production

This only took two days. The first day we all showed up to the church in the morning. Korbin and Avery were dressed formal for the scene, while Connor put on the entity costume (and scared us all when he emerged from the hallway). Brett and Damien had the DSLR camera with some changing lenses. I was in charge of continuity, so for those scenes it meant keeping track of whether or not they had food in front of them in the shot. While this was happening, Lizzie was practicing her makeup skills for when we would need them. The first day went very well and we were done within 3 hours.

The second day I could only be there for an hour. This was at Brett's house. Lizzie couldn't be there at all, so Damien and Brett were the only crew members seeing it through. That day, we had the boom mic, so I was operating that while I was there. I heard the rest of the filming went well.

Post-Production

This was pretty straightforward. Brett is a self-sufficient editor, so there wasn't much for me to do at this time. Still, I made a few suggestions. At this time, we found out that some of our audio was too quiet. Brett met up with the actors to redo those shots. Since we finished production quickly though, we had a lot of time to edit and really make it good.

In Conclusion

I am super happy with the way this turned out. I daresay it's probably the best short film I've ever worked on.