Anya Silver Arts Award - First Man Review

First Man is a biopic about the astronaut, Neil Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon. Although the film is always building up to when Armstrong finally sets foot on the moon there is also a lot of back story about the main character’s personal life.

The side of the film about Neil Armstrong’s family life made me feel sorry for him because he had a lot of sadness and worry to deal with.   His daughter, Karen died from cancer when she was only a small child and going into space meant he might die too.  The film shows how Armstrong had to carry this with him and how he managed his emotions by being very serious most of the time.

One of the things that I thought was sad about the film was how we got to see a lot from Armstrong’s point of view, especially when he is either training or in space. Seeing from his view point makes the audience feel how claustrophobic it must be being strapped into a small capsule. One scene that was very effective shows Armstrong in a training session floating down in a parachute. It is all from his point of view looking down at the ground until his descent suddenly picks up speed and the film cuts to a tracking shot of him hurtling towards, and the hitting, the ground really hard.

Another scene that I found memorable is where three other astronauts die in a simulation exercise. The three men are strapped into a dark capsule when a small fire breaks out. The fire grows really quickly and the film cuts to outside the capsule which is a large brightly lit room. It is very shocking because the audience realise the astronauts are dying in the training capsule without actually be shown what’s happening. 

The use of sound is was also very effective. There is silence at the start of the film which begins with the Universal Studio logo and then near the end of the film when the astronauts are in space and when they are on the moon.

At the end of the film you would expect lots more POV shots. There is one as Armstrong steps off the ladder onto the moon, but mostly it is God’s eye shots of Armstrong’s face through his space helmet visor. He cries as he throws his daughter’s bracelet into a crater. I thought it was surprising because you would have expected to see him planting an American flag.

Although the film does feel a bit long at times overall I thought it was a good representation of history because it shows an important historical event in a very personal way.

Anya Silver Arts Award - Venom Review

Venom is an unusual Marvel film because unlike most Marvel films the main character can be seen as much as a villain as a hero.

 In some ways I would say that the idea of Venom isn’t all that original because the idea of a person transforming into a monster is similar to the Hulk. Also, the idea of parasites coming from outer space is a lot like Alien and there is one scene that is copied from Alien. However, I also think Venom is quite original in other ways because when the main character, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is taken over by Venom the two characters are sharing one body and are consistently communicating with each other. The dialogue between Eddie and Venom is very comedic and this comedy undercuts the otherwise dark themes of the film.

The special effects, sound and camera work are all used effectively to create lots of exciting scenes. In one scene Eddie transforms into Venom while surrounded by police. Venom sweeps the police aside and one is hurled through glass and then literally right into the camera! There is also a funny scene where Venom takes over a dog and the audience see Venom’s point of view from low down as though it is through the dog’s eyes.

Although the story, which ends up with basically two Venoms fighting each other, isn’t all that original, I thought some of the characters were well developed. The main villain, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) is manipulative and callous and really deserves his comeuppance.

The film’s San Francisco setting was a good backdrop for the action scenes. However, the big fight on the Golden Gate Bridge would have been better if Spiderman had been involved in some way instead of it being just Eddie’s Venom against Carlton’s Venom. After all, Venom is Spiderman’s enemy in the comic. Maybe they are saving that for the sequel!

Although Venom’s appearance is very scary and a couple of the scenes were quite violent overall I don’t think the film needed to have a 15 certificate. A lot of teenagers who would like to see this film won’t be able to which is a shame as Venom could easily be a 12 A. I’m glad that I am 15 so I could see it and I’m already looking forward to the next Venom movie.

Binary Match Teaser Trailer

The Clash Stay Free Cover by Anya B

Owen's GCSEs & College

Over the past 2 years Owen has been working on passing GCSEs for college.  It is fairly common for home educated children to start taking their GCSEs early and then take a few a year rather than take them all in year 11.  This is partly due to cost as home educated families have to pay for their children to sit GCSE and the average cost is around £150 per GCSE.  Home educators also need to find the time and resources to guide their children through the GCSE which takes a great deal of time and planning.  We discovered that a good knowledge of the mark scheme is pretty much as important as covering the actual content.  There are very specific ways of answering questions in order to obtain good marks.  The HE Exams WIKI is an excellent resource for home educated children wishing to sit formal exams.

Owen has managed to pass all the GCSEs required for his college course with good grades.  He will be studying BTEC Computing and A Level Maths at college.  Our home education journey with Owen is now complete and has been an rewarding and incredibly wonderful experience.

Anya passed a couple of GCSEs this year and will take a few more next year with the hope of being offered a place into music college.

Beyond Home Education

After 9 years of autonomous home education my son and daughter made a decision to take GCSEs as they wanted to go to college and take Level 3 qualifications. My son split his GCSEs over two years and passed 6 GCSEs plus his Level 2 Art.  He will be starting college in a few days to study BTEC computing and A Level Maths.  My daughter took 2 GCSEs this year and passed them both. She will be taking a few more GCSEs next year and hopes to go to music college the year after.

Moving from autonomous home education to following a strict GCSE syllabus and learning exam techniques has not been easy but both my kids have been very motivated to pass and achieved fantastic results. 

Silver Arts Award AEFES Documentary

Silver Arts Award Art Review Ant Man & The Wasp By Owen Bedford

We last saw Ant Man in action in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War which was a much more grown up film than the new movie, Ant Man And The Wasp. The latest in the Ant Man franchise has the same comedic tone as the first film (from 2015) and includes many of the same characters such as the Ant Man suit inventor, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). This means that Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who reluctantly powers down into Ant Man again also continues his funny and awkward relationships with Pym and Hope.

Most of the film’s other characters, whether from the old film such as Rudd’s business partner, Luis (Michael Pena) or new such as cyber gangster, Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) build the comedy which makes the film quite light hearted compared to other recent Marvel films such as Avengers Infinity War and Dead Pool 2, which had a funny and dark tone. The Ant Man film does also have a more sinister character, Ghost (Hannah John Kamen), who causes everyone trouble with her ‘phasing’ power. CGI is used well to show Ghost’s power to phase through matter and has the effect of looking like editing within the frame. 

The trouble with the film is there is too much going on. Scott also has to be a good dad to his daughter and trick the cops into believing he is at home under house arrest. One of my criticisms of the film is that there are too many  peripheral characters in set piece scenes whose main purpose is to distract the audience from the fact that the main narrative arc, about going back into the ‘quantum realm’ to rescue Pym’s wife, The Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) is actually quite weak.  As with the first film there is lots of stereotypical science which gets a bit tedious. At one point Scott says to Pym “why does every word have to quantum before it”.

Although the plot is a bit on the thin side the visual effects come thick and fast. Ant Man shrinks and grows like a yoyo, supersonic cars turn into hot wheels toys and a whole building transforms into a suitcase. One of the best scenes is early in the film where Burch and his gangsters are chasing Ant Man through a hotel kitchen. It is watching Ant Man dodging giant kitchen knives and potato mashers that is great fun. It’s the same kind of comedy that made the giant bath and plug hole scene so memorable about the first film.

Anya Bedford Silver Arts Award - Interview with Inside Film

Silver Arts Award - Review 1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Silver Arts Award

Art Review 1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

By Owen Bedford

 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the second movie in the reboot of the CGI dinosaur franchise.  The film follows Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) who both featured as the main protagonists in the previous movie, Jurassic World (2015), as they try to rescue the artificially created dinosaurs from the island Isla Nubar which is being engulfed by an active and deadly volcano.

The film begins with news broadcasts and clips from a court case that discuss the morality over whether artificially created dinosaurs should be saved from extinction or not, which is quite an interesting ethical question which I think is a theme that doesn’t get explored enough throughout the whole film.

It is a film of two halves. The first act of the film takes place on the island that audiences will be familiar with. The CGI dinosaurs roam, roar and rampage as we would expect and are shot from low angles to show their intimidating presence. There are plenty of great quality sound effects and an epic soundtrack which all create the right atmosphere.  However, the story is a bit flat and the characters are not very well developed. The rescue mission is led by stereotypical mercenaries who I thought were very two dimensional. Grady and Dearing team up with two other dinosaur conservationists but they are also weak characters.  There are some technically good sequences such as where the conservationists are trying to escape dinosaurs and lava in a pod and end up trapped under water. The editing is effective but I didn’t feel it was as exciting as it should have been.

Although this part of the film lacks suspense there is quite an emotional part where the rescuers’ boat, which is like a Noah’s ark of dinosaurs, leaves the island as it is being engulfed by the volcano. The sound comes down and the apocalyptic scene of brontosaurus dinosaurs disappearing in the ashen smoke is quite moving and upsetting.

After this the film slows down. The dinosaurs are all caged and sedated so they can be auctioned to the highest bidder. Unlike the first half of the film all the scenes in the second part are in dark interiors. The film seems to drag on for a long time without much really happening. Even when the dinosaurs break free I didn’t think there was enough excitement. I thought the rooftop fight was a bit lacklustre.

I think the film would have been better if more had been set on the island and the moral issues that were introduced at the beginning were developed more. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this film. The plot and characters don’t have a lot of substance and the second half lacks the spectacular CGI action of the first half (and the earlier films).

Silver Arts Award Interview with Inside Film

Anya Performing in His Dark Material at South London Youth Theatre

Straight to Hell sung by Anya B - Joe Strummer Tribute Maxilla Hall