Silhouette

I did a silhouette, but as you would have probably guessed, I did not do it freehand. I used my dad as a model. I took a picture of his profile and printed that out. I cut around his face, and placed that on a black piece of cardboard. I trace the contours of his face with a pencil, and then cut that shape out. I continued to add details, such as the beard, curly hair, mustache, etc. Once that was done, I cut a rectangle of white cardboard and glued the silhouette onto it. Then I cut a bigger rectangle of black cardboard and glued those two together to make a frame. I used cardboard, scissors, and an art knife.

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This movie, directed by Tim Burton, was released in 1990. Peg Boggs is a door-to-door make-up sales person who is having a bad day, and she decides she could try the old creepy mansion on top of the hill. There she enters into a beautiful garden, making her think that someone does live here. She enters into the attic and discovers this man (named Edward) with scissors for hands. She takes pity on him and brings him to live with her in her suburban neighborhood. She takes him in as one of the family, and soon he becomes quite useful in shaping hedges and landscaping the neighbor’s gardens. He then does dog hairstyles, soon after switching to human haircuts. Kim, Peg’s teenage daughter, starts to feel accustomed to having Edward around, and Edward, from the moment he had seen Kim, he had fallen in love with her. Except that now, the neighborhood starts to see a dangerous side to his razor sharp ‘scissor fingers’, and Edward has to deal with all the new emotions he feels, plus the growing mob of people who disapprove of his special condition.

I enjoyed this movie because it has beautiful music (from Danny Elfman), and it is a very moving and yet unoriginal story. Moving in the sense that it is a heartfelt tale of unexpected love, but unoriginal in the sense that a ‘monster’ shows up, he falls in love with the beautiful girl, but is chased away by the angry mob. Apart from this, there is some humour if you can see it, but it is mostly a ‘romantic tragedy’. I definitely recommend this movie.

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An example of a silhouette.

Silhouettes are small paintings depicting human profiles. They can vary and are sometimes also for pets such as cats or dogs. They are traditionally made from special thin cardboard glued on to a frame. They can be painted or drawn too, but these are much less common. The term ‘silhouette’ comes from Etienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister. He wasn’t appreciated by the public especially by the richer people because he was forced to impose severe economic demands during the Seven Years’ War. He enjoyed cutting out portraits from paper in his free time, and now, every thing done cheaply or any profile portraits cut from paper are referred to being ‘À la Silhouette’ (‘the silhouette way’).
Silhouettes are made by artists using scissors, a model, glue, and special silhouette paper (sheet of paper with one side black and the other side white). Trained artists can look at a person and cut out their silhouette within minutes. This is called freehand. A long time ago, silhouettes were for the poorer people to have some remembrance of their loved ones, because silhouettes were much cheaper than miniatures. Now, with photographs available, the silhouette artists are few. These few who exist can be hired for special occasions, such as parties, weddings, carnivals, attraction parks, etc.
Here is a video of a man cutting out the silhouette of a fidgety little girl in real time.

Video from Spitballing.
Image from here.

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Atrapado en el tiempo (Groundhog Day) es una película estadounidense dirigida por Harold Ramis. Es una comedia romántica. Phil Connors es un meteorólogo de una cadena de televisión. Es el dia antes del dia de la marmota, y dos periodistas (Larry y Rita) y Phil van a Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil odio la marmota, y su dia, porque todos los años Phil va a Punxsutawney. Pero este año no es el mismo. El día se repite. Phil revive el día de la marmota todas las días. Al principio, hace cosas locas, porque sabe que no hay una mañana, pero Phil se enamora de Rita. Todos los días Phil aprende más sobre Rita. ¿Pero como puede vivir Phil, si Rita no recuerda ayer?

Me gusta Bill Murray (Phil). Creo que es un buen actor, especialmente como Phil. La película es muy bien, hay humor, y un poco de tristeza. Es un poco viejo (1993), pero es un clásico. Usted tiene que verlo.

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Ce film est une comédie dirigée par Jean-Marie Poiré. Comte Godefroy de Montmirail était un brave seigneur. En sauvant la vie du roi, il fut récompensé par une épouse, Dame Frénégonde, dont il était amoureux. En passant par la forêt pour rejoindre sa promise, il rencontra une sorcière. Il la captura et comptait bien la faire brûler en arrivant dans son château. Quand son domicile arriva en vue, il ordonna à son escuier, Jacquouille la Fripouille, de l’aider à changer de vêtements. Pendant ce temps, la sorcière mit une potion dans la gourde d’eau. Après que Godefroy ait bu dedans, il vit des formes bizarres. À cause de cette potion, il tua le père de Dame Frénégonde parce qu’il le prit pour un ours. Du coup, il ne se maria pas. Il fallait un magicien pour trouver une solution à ce probleme. Le mage proposa de transporter Godefroy dans le passé, pour revenir au moment où il tua le père de Frénégonde. Lui et Jacquouille burent une potion magique et ils disparurent quand le sorcier eu dit les mots magiques. Après leur disparition, le mage se rendit compte qu’il avait oublié un ingrédient, et Godefroy et Jacquouille se retrouvèrent dans le future. Ils essayent maintenant de trouver une solution pour retourner à leur époque.

J’ai apprécié ce film parce qu’il est très amusant. Il y a beaucoup d’humour et de suspense, quelques effets spéciaux, mais aussi de l’amour et du courage. Il y a eu deux autres films après celui-ci, un étant une suite du premier et l’autre étant un remake du premier film situant la scène à New York. Ce film est très divertissant, et je vous conseille de le voir.

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This comedy film directed by John Hughes, is about a seventeen year old boy, Ferris Bueller. Ferris Bueller is the most popular guy in school and can virtually do anything. On this particular day, he decides to fake an illness and get a day off school. His parents, who believe he is an angel, buy it all. His sister Jeannie, however, is jealous because he never gets caught. Ferris gets ready for a day of fun after all the family is at work and school. He calls his best friend, Cameron, a tight, nervous guy, to come and join in on the fun. He and Cameron then later set up a scheme to get Sloane, Ferris’ girlfriend, out of school. Once they are all out of school and ready in the stolen red Ferrari from Cameron’s dad, they head out to the city of chicago to have a day of fun. Of course, they do run into some trouble, for example, the mileage on the Ferrari is now wrong, and going backwards doesn’t take any of the mileage off. Also, Ferris’s sister and the school principal, are both determined to catch Ferris in the act.

I like this movie because it is plain funny. It has friendship and love, and that cheesy family comedy feel to it, which is what makes it such a great weekend afternoon movie. The actors are all great and even the story has intrigue and suspense.

The Ferrari in the movie, was a rare 1961 250 GT California. As only about a hundred of these were made, it was not possible to buy a couple of them to shoot the scenes. However, the director did want a sense of real, so for when the car was simply parked, or when it was in Cameron’s Dad’s garage, it was a real 250 Gt Ferrari. For the other scenes, three replicas were made, but these were detested by the members of the crew because they did not work properly. The license plates of other cars in the movie were made into hommages of other movies made by John Hughes i.e. TBC (The Breakfast Club), MMOM (Mr. Mom), as well as 4FBDO (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).

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10 000 BC es una película estadounidense del año 2008. Es dirigida por Roland Emmerich. Transcurre en la prehistoria. D’Leh es el héroe de la historia. Una profecía dice que una niña de ojos azules terminaría el hambre. Cuando esta niña va al pueblo, la gente está contenta. Pero ‘los demonios de cuatro patas’ van al pueblo y capturan a muchas personas, incluyendo a Evolet, la niña de ojos azules. D’Leh, que ama a Evolet, va detrás de su amor. En el camino, se encuentra con otros pueblos que odian a’los demonios’. D’Leh y su nuevo ejército luchan contra los ‘demonios’ por la libertad.

Me gusta esta película porque hay mucha acción. Es una buena historia y no es muy larga. Los efectos especiales son, creo, muy buenos. Hay un poco de magia, y esta historia tiene mucho coraje y amor. Recomiendo esta película.

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First official cover for the book.

Pet Sematary, is a horror novel written by Stephen King in 1983. It got nominated with a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and was then later made into a film. It is the story of the Creed family moving into the countryside from Chicago. Their home appears safe and their only neighbors are elderly, friendly people. The only real threat is the road passing by their new house, with the constant passing of large trucks. Louis Creed, a doctor and the man of the house, had gotten a job at a local university at the infirmary, and on his first day of proper work, he receives a patient who is surely going to die. The road accident victim, Victor Pascow, dies in the arms of Louis and haunts him continually in his dreams. When Church, the family cat, becomes a road kill while Louis’ wife (Rachel), his barely two year old son (Gage), and his five year old daughter (Ellie), are in Chicago visiting relatives, Jud Crandall, the friendly, elderly neighbor, helps him by taking him to beyond the Pet Sematary. The Pet Sematary, built and looked after by the children of the village (hence the misspelling), was built for all the animals who were run over by the dreadful trucks and some animals who died of old age or disease. But what was beyond the Pet Sematary, through the woods which used to belong to Indian tribes? Louis, led by Jud, found another cemetery, this an old Indian one hard to reach. When instructed to bury the cat there, Louis did and the following day, the cat returned alive. Slightly changed, and clumsy and untrusting, but still alive. When Louis’ son, Gage dies in another road accident, and Louis buries him in the Indian cemetery, Gage comes back much changed, in a very evil way.

Movie poster for Pet Sematary

I liked this book because firstly, it was written by Stephen King (who I think is awesome), and secondly because the story contains a lot of intrigue and suspense. Although at times some little plots are so obvious, the ending comes with some surprise. This being said, the ending is more of an open one, letting the reader imagine what they want to complete the story. This is a very frustrating and yet exciting way to read this novel. Frustrating because you do not know if your made up ending is the intended one, and exciting because you feel the author trusts you with his narrative.

This was made into a movie in 1988. It was directed by Mary Lambert, and Stephen King appeared in it as a small role of a priest at a funeral. A sequel movie was also made, Pet Sematary 2, but this movie was met with less critical and financial success. The movie does differ greatly in some very important details, sometimes the details were left out or else completely changed. The end also has an alternative feel to it. It does not have the same unfinished ending the book displays, forcing a definite end on the watcher. But I still think both the movie and the book were good in their own rights. I definitely recommend both of them.

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Camping, une comédie française écrite par Fabien Onteniente, cause de Michel Saint Josse et sa fille, qui partent en vacances en Espagne dans l’hôtel de luxe de Marbella. Étant un chirurgien esthétique, il a les moyens d’aller un Espagne avec sa nouvelle Aston Martin grise, la voiture de James Bond. Mais elle n’est pas fiable et elle tombe en panne juste à côté du Camping des Flots Bleus. Comme c’est le mois d’août, il n’a pas d’autres choix que de rester dans la tente de Patrick Chirac (Franck Dubosc), un campeur régulier au chômage. Les réparations de la voiture de Michel prennent du temps et il se retrouve coincé dans le camping pendant plusieurs jours. Mais il ne sait pas encore que c’est ici qu’il apprendra vraiment ce que sont de vraies vacances. Il apprendra aussi ce que le mot famille veut dire.

Je trouve que ce film est un bon film, mais je ne le regarderais pas deux fois. Il n’y a pas vraiment d’humour, mais plutôt des bétises et c’est ça qui est rigolo. Il y a du suspense, du romantisme et aussi de la tristesse. Je dirais qu’il faut le voir au moins une fois, pour la culture générale.

Jacky Pic est un vieux monsieur qui vient tous les ans avec sa femme au Flots Bleus. Cette année leur emplacement avec leur arbre a été réservé en avance par des Hollandais et il essaye de récupérer son emplacement habituel. Ce rôle avait été originalement écrit pour Jacques Villeret mais il est mort avant que le film commence. L’acteur qui l’a remplacé (Claude Brasseur) avait demandé que le film soit dédié à Jacques Villeret.

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My Charcoal Pencils

For an art project, I chose to use charcoal. I went to my local Eason, and bought a set of four charcoal pencils: Light, Medium, Dark, and White TC21 (Tinted Charcoal).

My Putty Rubber

I also bought a ‘putty rubber’, a kneadable rubber recommended for when using charcoal. Everything was from the drawing company Derwent. I looked on the internet for a picture of a black and white cat, I wanted to do a cat, and it being in black and white would have helped me a lot. I finally chose this one:

My model picture. From: here.

My Charcoal Cat

Original cat picture from: here.

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