Introduction and 10 Favorite Images

Favorite Images:

     Hello! My name is Jordan Willey. I am the founder and owner of Willey Productions. Willey Productions was a production "Company that I made up as a kid for all my home movies. When I reached high school, I started using it as a running joke for all my videos, and to make them unique. However, by junior year, it had taken on a bit of a life of it's own, and I designed the current logo. Willey Productions now has a Facebook page and a youtube page, though both are relatively small. 

     But enough background chit-chat! It is time for the task at hand. Bellow are my top ten images, all taken from movies and tv shows, as well as some context and why I like each one.

10. The Maltese Falcon

     My roots in both writing and movies is mysteries. Mysteries capture my imagination, and Film Noir style mysteries are the stories I first really started to excel in; so it's only fitting that a Film Noir movie starts off my countdown. The Maltese Falcon is the second Noir film I had ever seen, though the first one since I learned what Noir was. One of the technical aspects that I love about FilmNoir is all the shadow play. For instance, look at Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon). Notice how he's the one in the most shadow? But also notice that he is also decently lit as well. This is foreshadowing, because at this point in the film, Sam can either side with Mr. Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) and commit a crime and allow his partner's murder to go unpunished but get rich, or he can  take a step into the light and turn them all in, gaining justice for his dead partner.

9. 42

     One thing that I have always admired is when a film is able to use depth as a way to convey emotion. For instance, in this particular scene from 42, Jackie Robinson is making his way from the locker room onto the field of Dodger Stadium for the first time. Due to our perception of depth, the long tunnel makes you feel claustrophobic and nervous as Jackie makes his way to the field, allowing you to emphasize with Jackie's own emotions. 

8. Saving Private Ryan

     I've always been fascinated by World War Two, and can never seem to study enough about it. So naturally Saving Private Ryan would be high on my list. The one thing that I really respect about the movie though is it's attention to detail. Every detail was made as authentic as possible; from the vehicles and equipment all the way down to the minute uniform details, such as belt buckles and patches. I really have to respect this film for putting so much effort into getting all those details just right.

7. Firefly

     This all-too-short space-western tv show is a favorite of mine. While the show is fantastic, effects are good, and the characters memorable, I actually choose this one for its color. I do a lot of work with sic-fi and Film Noir, so I have a LOT of grays, browns, and reds in my color pallet. One thing that I love about Firefly is that they were able to get all those colors to work on the ship without it being too over bearing or just plain annoying. While I personally think the Millennium Falcon fits even better into that role, I'm actually saving that franchise for later.

6. Singing in the Rain

     And now for the comical relief of the bunch. I love this musical, and I honestly envy it a little. My film talents lie elsewhere and no where near musical, so I could never even come close to achieving this. However, I do try to incorporate some of their camera movements from the musical numbers into some of my own work.

5. The Lord of the Rings (Entire saga)

    

     J. R. Tolken's epic tale is one of the greatest epics of all time, and the film saga is right there with it both as a story and from a technical standpoint. For instance, take the shot above. This shot shows Aragorn charging with the army of the dead. The CGI army of the dead is even to this day one of the greatest CGI armies of all time.

4. Casablanca

     "Here's looking at you kid." Casablanca is one of the world's all time best films, and happens to hold the distinction of the having the largest amount of famous movie lines (depending on who made the list of course. Check out the AFI's 100 years...100 movies list. Also see that it's the AFI's pick as the third greatest movie of all time:http://www.afi.com/100Years/movies10.aspx). The whole movie is fantastic, and one of the reasons for having the most famous lines is the delivery of such great actors, such as the great Humphrey Bogart, and the great actress Ingrid Birgman. With so many fantastic lines, my favorite is the one with the most mystique about it. At the very end as Louise and Rick walk off, and Rick says, "Louise, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship." Few have ever come even close to creating something as classic and all around fantastic a film as this masterpiece. I know, I tried. Click the link to see my high school project of The Last Five Minutes of Casablanca. 

3. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc

     Who has even come within a mile of recreating the spirit of epic adventure and suspense that the three (yes, I said three) Indiana Jones movies created? Not many. And the technical feats of the movies match the feats of Indy himself. Part of the reason for this is Spielberg directing, and a second part of this Harrison Ford actually doing his own stunts. The fact that he insisted on doing his own stunts opened up a HUGE amount of film angles and techniques that could otherwise not have been employed due to having to cover-up a stunt man. 

2. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi

   Star wars is my favorite set of films to me. With so many technical feats of the day to choose from, it's hard to narrow down just one thing to choose, but one of the most influential things from the movies for me is Lucas's balance of long, middle, and close ups for fight scenes. It allowed the audience to see the amazing fight scenes and see what each person was doing, who was winning, and exactly how the fight was going. This is something lost by a lot of modern films that focus WAY too much o close ups for fight scenes, and is part of the reason that lightsaber duels such as those in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are so iconic. 

1. Star Wars: A New Hope

Opening of Star Wars

(Please watch this instead of just looking at the static shot. Use the link above to watch part of the opening scene)

     Ok, go back for a second to the first time you ever saw Star Wars. That famous title crawl had just gone, and we now pan down to an AMAZING scene of no less than three planets. Suddenly, a huge spaceship comes flying onto the screen from above, but thats not all; it's shooting at something. You wonder for half a second what it's shooting at, then all of the sudden an even more MASSIVE space ship comes on screen chasing it. With this scene, George Lucas succeeded in putting a sense of awe in us in the first 45 seconds of the film that would last throughout our entire viewing of the movie. And we were not disappointed. It just got better and better! Few have ever even come close to this feat, and it is this idea of giving the audience an epic sense of awe for an epic story that really got me into film, and drives me to push my boundaries as a film maker.