Who am I?

Welcome fellow movie lovers! I am Allison Macready, author of A Thursday Turtle blog. Growing up, I would spend almost every weekend with my dad. Each night before bed, he would put on a movie for me to watch. We had a large variety of films, and we watched things ranging in genre from action-comedies to psychological thrillers to science fiction; he also put on a number of classics and blockbusters for my viewing. I believe this is where my love and appreciation for film began. When I first found myself away from this tradition, it felt as though I was missing something. This not only represented me missing the time with my dad, but it also highlighted how much those movies meant to me. It took me some time to realize this, but once I did, I began looking at television differently as a whole.

Now that I’m a little older, I know more about some of the details that go into filmmaking, and I have found that the more I learn, the more I want to learn and the more interesting everything seems to get. I have taken a couple of high school classes that focus on different genres and different aspects of the behind-the-scenes of movies, such as camera work and editing. These classes helped open my eyes to the world of filmmaking, encouraging me to try and dive even further into the depths of movie-land. I now also have a friend who is similarly interested in related ideas. Currently, he and I are working together to construct our first screenplay, which we plan to try and film ourselves as well. This is a big challenge for the two of us, and we are very excited to continue our efforts. This project is helping me gain more experience and knowledge in the way of films, and speaking with my friend has introduced me to even more of the grand film world and helped me realize just how interesting and detailed it all is.

So many aspects of film are appealing to me. I find enjoyment researching and participating in everything ranging from acting and screenwriting to camera work and editing. Sometimes “research” even just refers to watching films and observing their elements, which I find often happens automatically for me at times. I don’t currently know much in the way of directors, though I plan to start my own “director spotlights”, where I watch films by specific directors to observe the common elements and styles within their films. I have never really decided on a favorite actor, as there are way too many factors that need to be considered for that, but at the moment I can say that Edward Norton and Hugh Jackman are towards the top of my list (and both have been named as my favorite at some time or another). I find their range of acting to be incredible and have been amazed by some of their performances (I also saw Hugh Jackman live on Broadway once, which makes it all the better).

When I was younger, if asked my favorite movie genre, I would have likely said “action-comedy”. My favorite genres were action and comedy, so I found that action-comedy was the perfect medium. While I still do enjoy those kinds of movies, I would answer that question a bit differently now, by responding with “psychological thriller”. I’ve never really been a fan of horror, and I tend to find myself just waiting for the movie to be over whenever I watch general thrillers. For a time, I didn’t even know about the existence of psychological thrillers, and upon hearing the term, I of course thought I would hate the genre. Little did I know, I had already watched a couple of them… and really liked them. I had, for example, already been exposed to the genre by movies such as The Game (1997) and Shutter Island (2010). When I first watched them, I didn’t appreciate these films as much as I do now, but I still liked them nonetheless. After putting some thought into the question, I think that I like this genre so much because of the amount of thought that is put into the films. The foreshadowing, fine details, and plot twists in most of the psych thrillers I have seen have awed me. I also enjoy being able to watch the movies a second time from an entirely different perspective and look for the foreshadowing that is hidden throughout the films.

In making this blog, I hope to be able to see my progress and thoughts while learning in a clear layout. I also hope to add ideas that I will be able to use in future projects, and I am excited to share my learning process with anyone who is interested.

To be continued...