I used to write reviews as any other person does..speaking from own viewpoint and found myself forced to give it a value. I actually did not like this idea because you can look at a movie in many ways and how does a movie from one genre compare to another? A movie can be a piece of art, yet be very boring. Or well made, but very gruesome.(I read Saw falls in that category, but I do not like those kind of movies, so I did not see Saw and thus I can not tell much about it.).
I therefore use Henry and Kristl to create a kind of dialog in which two persons watch the same movie, but experience it in a different way. But there are limits to this idea and one limit is a movie that is so utterly appalling that it is a true waste of time. Orc Wars is such a movie.
Now normally I would not even write a review for a movie like Orc Wars, but it amazes me when people give such a bad movie points for odd reasons. For one.. the fact that a movie is made with a low budget is not an reason to give it more points. A movie is bad because it is badly written, badly acted, badly shot and badly cut. It is bad because each and every step in the making of the movie has been done in bad and sloppy way. And to underscore ad nauseum: Orc Wars is such a movie.
There are fan movies on you tube which are more watchable than Orc Wars. And made by people with no budget at all and only a handy cam. Orc Wars has at least a production team of sorts and look how it turns out.
Now I could try and hammer down on the badly made stuff, but let me direct myself to the people who made this movie happen. And I do not mean the actors, but the director, director of photography, the producer. The people who took the decisions.
Rule 1: Be original. Stop trying to making another Lord of the Rings! You do not have the money, the talent, the actors and all the other stuff that is needed. And any cheap rip-off will just look like what it is: a cheap rip-off. And no, your movie will not become a cult classic, for you need a good script and good dialogue.
Rule 2: Do not be cheap. When you do not have the money for it then do not substitute with a cheap version. Why have a dragon in a movie, when you haven't got the money to make it look awesome?
Rule 3: Visual style. Stop using drab colors because others use it or you need to hide your bad costumes. Stop using those mediocre shots and angles. Do not show something that looks bad. Just do not have it in the movie at all. Here is where you can make a difference without having to spend a lot. Use fitting colors and a good shooting plan. It makes your movie so much better.
Rule 4: Invest in your actors. Most actors who have finished successfully an acting study will be decent enough to do the job. In a fantasy you can actually get away with using starting actors as adventures so there is a lot of possibilities. Bad acting is usually caused by the lack of good dialog and script. It is here were you lot should provided your actors with the proper equipment. In my country they got something that is called back to the stage.. in which actors are put on the stage without any script. Without a script most of the time the actors will start joking. Very few actors can create a good serious dialog and act it out at the same time.
Now let's give an example from the opera. What you basically are doing is pushing aside Mozart or Verdi or Wagner. Put a bunch of singers and actors on a stage, throw in some scenery and voila, you think that a new opera has been created. It has.. but it will be an utter mess.. Like this movie.
Rule 5: For godsake..invest in a script. A script is the framework that keeps the whole thing together. Orc Wars has no script..it has just one single idea: Orcs invade our world and a lonely hero fights them using modern weaponry. Nothing else is going on. No character development. No drama. No twists. No deeper insights. It is an idea that has fifteen minutes of running time at the most. You need to have more.
Rule 6: Use good fitting music and sounds! Being cheap with the sound and music is just bad. There are many starting artists that would love to make a good soundtrack. And some are talented.
This movie is a classic example of a movie that should not have been made. I read it was a sort of sequel to Orcs (whatever). It would not be surprising that there will be a third. The infamous orcs-trilogy. Where the heck do these people get the money to finance it?
I therefore use Henry and Kristl to create a kind of dialog in which two persons watch the same movie, but experience it in a different way. But there are limits to this idea and one limit is a movie that is so utterly appalling that it is a true waste of time. Orc Wars is such a movie.
Now normally I would not even write a review for a movie like Orc Wars, but it amazes me when people give such a bad movie points for odd reasons. For one.. the fact that a movie is made with a low budget is not an reason to give it more points. A movie is bad because it is badly written, badly acted, badly shot and badly cut. It is bad because each and every step in the making of the movie has been done in bad and sloppy way. And to underscore ad nauseum: Orc Wars is such a movie.
There are fan movies on you tube which are more watchable than Orc Wars. And made by people with no budget at all and only a handy cam. Orc Wars has at least a production team of sorts and look how it turns out.
Now I could try and hammer down on the badly made stuff, but let me direct myself to the people who made this movie happen. And I do not mean the actors, but the director, director of photography, the producer. The people who took the decisions.
Rule 1: Be original. Stop trying to making another Lord of the Rings! You do not have the money, the talent, the actors and all the other stuff that is needed. And any cheap rip-off will just look like what it is: a cheap rip-off. And no, your movie will not become a cult classic, for you need a good script and good dialogue.
Rule 2: Do not be cheap. When you do not have the money for it then do not substitute with a cheap version. Why have a dragon in a movie, when you haven't got the money to make it look awesome?
Rule 3: Visual style. Stop using drab colors because others use it or you need to hide your bad costumes. Stop using those mediocre shots and angles. Do not show something that looks bad. Just do not have it in the movie at all. Here is where you can make a difference without having to spend a lot. Use fitting colors and a good shooting plan. It makes your movie so much better.
Rule 4: Invest in your actors. Most actors who have finished successfully an acting study will be decent enough to do the job. In a fantasy you can actually get away with using starting actors as adventures so there is a lot of possibilities. Bad acting is usually caused by the lack of good dialog and script. It is here were you lot should provided your actors with the proper equipment. In my country they got something that is called back to the stage.. in which actors are put on the stage without any script. Without a script most of the time the actors will start joking. Very few actors can create a good serious dialog and act it out at the same time.
Now let's give an example from the opera. What you basically are doing is pushing aside Mozart or Verdi or Wagner. Put a bunch of singers and actors on a stage, throw in some scenery and voila, you think that a new opera has been created. It has.. but it will be an utter mess.. Like this movie.
Rule 5: For godsake..invest in a script. A script is the framework that keeps the whole thing together. Orc Wars has no script..it has just one single idea: Orcs invade our world and a lonely hero fights them using modern weaponry. Nothing else is going on. No character development. No drama. No twists. No deeper insights. It is an idea that has fifteen minutes of running time at the most. You need to have more.
Rule 6: Use good fitting music and sounds! Being cheap with the sound and music is just bad. There are many starting artists that would love to make a good soundtrack. And some are talented.
This movie is a classic example of a movie that should not have been made. I read it was a sort of sequel to Orcs (whatever). It would not be surprising that there will be a third. The infamous orcs-trilogy. Where the heck do these people get the money to finance it?