JAWBREAKER

Jawbreaker is a messed up film about three girls playing a prank on their girlfriend, which turns from a hilarious birthday prank into a very serious problem. The three main characters decide to prank their friend on her birthday by kidnapping her and throwing her in a trunk to take her out to breakfast. Before throwing her into the trunk of the car, one of the girls shoves a jawbreaker in her mouth and puts tape over it so she cannot scream. When they arrive to the diner where they had planned to eat at, they find their best friend dead in the trunk with the jawbreaker lodged in her throat. In a panic, the girls run her back home and place her in her bed as they devise a story to tell how she died once she was found. One of them, is very persistent in not telling anyone, the other is a follower and agrees with the first, while the third is very hesitant about it all. So, they all figure out a story, then head to school. Once they arrive, they have one of the girls call in as the dead girl's mother, saying that she is home sick. The principle has a not so popular girl take home the dead girl's homework at the end of the day so that she does not miss any assignments. When she arrives to the house she walks in and goes up to her room, finding the three friends along with the dead body and she hears their plans and runs out screaming. In order to calm her down, the persistent one stops her and tells her that if she does not say anything, they will make her popular and give her everything she has always wanted; good looks, popularity, sex, etc.. So she decides to go with being popular finally, which happens to be a mistake for her, and she ultimately teams up with the hesitant one in order to point out the persistent one as the one who devised the whole plan in the middle of their school dance. 

THE REVENANT

Spoilers!!!!!This past weekend I watched this astounding movie for the second time. The Revenant is a story following fur-trader Hugh Glass (Leonardo Dicaprio) and some fellow fur-traders. The film surrounds Dicaprio and other fur-traders who are on the road to selling their furs after a six month travel. Glass was the father of a bi-racial white/indian boy named Hawk, who was criticized for his looks and ethnicity. As the story progresses, Glass is mauled by a bear with little hopes of survival, when the group finds him they patch him up and try to carry him with them while traveling. A few of the traders see this as a lost cause because he would most likely die after a day or two. So, the captain of the group asks three men to stay behind with Glass until he finally passes for a pay of $100 each. Hawk stays and says that whoever else does can have his pay, another young man named Bridger says he will stay as well, giving up his pay to the final person who stays, which happens to be Fitzgerald, who was one of the men who viewed carrying him as a lost cause. After a day, Fitzgerald wants to leave, but Glass is still alive, so he muzzles Glass in hopes of killing him. Hawk catches him and tries to get help from Bridger, but Fitzgerald ends up killing him while Glass watches. Fitzgerald then manipulates Bridger into leaving Glass after telling him Indians were hot on their trail. This is the beginning of a story of revenge. Glass revives himself and goes on a very gruesome journey to get the revenge he deserves for the killing of his son. This story gives me chills just with the story, but the cinematography is absolutely stunning. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Hiccup and Toothless return, in a whole new world where Vikings ride dragons. The past success of Hiccup's endeavors has led to viking's and dragons to become allies and friends. Hiccup learns that a man named Drago, who had started a war with the dragons, capturing and enslaving the dragons to rule the world once and for all. Rather than fighting as a viking would, Stoik decides to lock up instead. Hiccup would rather reason with Drago, but his father warns him of the evil that is present in Drago. Hiccup decides to travel away from Berk. In his travels, he finds a mysterious dragon rider, who turns out being his mother, releasing all past tension of growing up without a mother, and reviving a love between a mother and son, who share a common interest. Both of which, are looking to stop Drago's reign of terror among the dragons. Now, Hiccup, his mother, and a band of misfits who have learned to ride dragons, all are in the center of a battle between man, dragon, and dragon riders. Hiccup and Toothless must come together in order to stand up for what is right, and find that together they can overcome any obstacle that is too much for either one to handle alone, while also realizing that only they can change life for man and dragon. 

How to Train Your Dragon 1

Hiccup, a young viking, who does not seem to fit into the 'Viking' class, which he is completely surrounded by. His father, Stoik, is the most respected Viking on the Island of Berk. So, Hiccup has some very large shoes to fill. Stoik will not allow Hiccup to join the battle to fight dragons which raid their town often. So, regardless of what his father says, Hiccup decides to go out and find a dragon to slay. With an invention he had made, Hiccup was able to take down a Night Fury, but could not bring himself to killing it. This is when he learns his fondness of dragons, and where an amazing friendship between a boy and a dragon begins. Although Hiccup has a newfound interest in this dragon, he must hide it from his father and the townspeople, because they would immediately disagree with his judgement. This dragon becomes attached to Hiccup and begins following him everywhere. Hiccup learns about the dragon, and names it Toothless. As the two learn about one another, Hiccup learns that the Vikings have misinterpreted the species and are taking it wrong, rather than killing the dragons, they should tame them and use them as allies. The plot of this film is to take the misinterpretations and ignorance that plague this world and turn them into what they really are, gentle and helpful creatures.

Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter

Shrek Forever After revolves around the idea that you do not know what you have until it is gone. In the movie, Shrek makes a contract deal with Rumplestiltskin to have one day, 24 hours to regain the feeling of being a real ogre again, in exchange for Rumple to have a day of Shrek's life that he does not remember. He tells Shrek to pick a day in the time of his infancy to make it easy. In that day, Shrek finds the enjoyment of scaring the townspeople, but comes to realize soon after that he and all other ogres are being hunted by witches. While Rumple was in Shrek's past, he picked the day Shrek was born, ultimately erasing Shrek from existence. In doing so, Shrek was not present to rescue Fiona and pursue all the actions leading to the events up to this film. The day that Shrek was sent to, was in an alternate universe where ogres were being hunted, Rumplestiltskin was king, and Donkey, Fiona, Puss, and all the other side characters did not know who Shrek was. So throughout the film, he must teach each character that he knows who they are, and they, in turn, knew him in their alternate life. In a course of events, Donkey helps Shrek realize that only true loves kiss will render Rumple's contract void. So, he tries to teach Fiona that they are lovers, however she is a badass who is leading the ogres in a resistance against Rumplestiltskin. So, it is hard for Shrek, but he prevails, and in the end receives a kiss from Fiona as he is withering away after the 24 hours are coming to an end. Which, fixes everything as the contract said. What I relate to in this film is that you really do not know what you have until it is gone. I lost my father and it was very hard to come to realization that he was gone. The impact of not even getting to say goodbye really hit me when I heard the words, "Your father is gone."

Bunny

In the short film: Bunny, an old bunny is trying to cook some sort of food, but is annoyed by a persistent moth. I believe this film is depicting perspective. When the bunny sees the moth, she sees nothing more than an annoying little problem that will not stop buzzing around the light. The moth is "pushing her buttons," so to speak.

After she forces the moth outside, and it forces itself in through the window, it flies over her food preparation. She then swats it, and kills it, and it falls into her food. Angrily, she stirs it up and proceeds to cook it. After a little bit of cooking, and her falling asleep, she awakes by seeing a bright light coming from the oven. As she investigates it, she sees a beautiful light, and finds that the moth is still alive. After her realization of this beautiful light, she crawls into the oven and goes towards the light with multiple other moths.

The moral of this story is that when one views from a one-sided standpoint, you cannot see the beauty from the other side of the story. The moth sees this beautiful light which is what they strive for. The bunny sees this moth as a pest, and does not understand it's love for the light. Except when she crawls into the oven, she then realizes that the light is just as beautiful as it is to the moths. What can be so meaningless to one, can literally be the most beautiful thing to the other. Which is, at least what I think the filmmaker was trying to achieve. To understand the real beauty of life, you have to view that life from multiple point of views. Once you view life this way; you will truly appreciate that life we are given.
 

Father and Daughter

This short film really hit home for me. When I was thirteen, my father passed away due to a severe heart attack. In this short, the father leaves in a boat, while leaving his daughter at her lonesome. Before he leaves he hugs her and shows his love for her, then sails off. She is not really aware of what is going on, but she stays for a little while, then rides back.

As time passes, she grows, yet still continues to ride to the spot her father sailed away from, searching for him. I believe that she is searching for her father's guidance, and his input on who she should become. When she returns each time, the lake decreases in it's vastness; it eventually dries out and becomes a plain. When she is able to walk out onto the dried lakefront, she sees a boat; her father's boat. At this time, she is an old woman and she finds comfort in laying next to this boat. Night passes, and she finds that she is once again a young woman, and runs into her father's arms to conclude the film, indicating her death and being reunited with her father.

I can relate to this, because after my father passed I felt as if I needed to search for him wherever I could. Searching for the guidance on who I should become. I did not have a father figure to look up to in the years of immense growth, so I had to become my own man and teach myself the values and morals of life needed to pursue the life of a good man. With this sort of life, I valued the fact that I had to go through this struggle, because I am stronger because of it. Do I like that it happened? No, not at all. I'd give everything to see him again, but like this story, I know at some point, I will reunite with my father, just as the daughter did.

Who is David McCallister?

If you would like to get to know me, there is one thing you should know; I am just like most of you.

Am I the same? No. No one is the exact same, but we are here for a common purpose. That purpose is what we strive to accomplish. Becoming successful in the position that we have placed ourselves in. For me, it happens to be film. It is the one job that does not feel like a job whatsoever.

A little background information about me, is that I attended a vocational school for my final two years of high school. In those two years, my knowledge of film, grew immensely, learning how to edit video within the first two weeks of classes. I believe that was what really made my interest to film grow so quickly. As a junior, I became a 1st place regional and state Digital Cinematographer in the SkillsUSA competition, thus allowing me to become a national qualifier in the same competition. When my senior year came around, it was almost an exact replica of the previous year, I was once again, a 1st place regional and state cinematographer, which again, allowed me to qualify for nationals. Did I win either year at nationals? No. But, it was the experience that helped me grow, and learn more about becoming a filmmaker.