Adoration

Adoration tells the very complex story of Simon (Devon Bostick), a young orphan living with his uncle, Tom (Scott Speedman), who explores his family history through a class exercise assigned by Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian). Simon further explores his assignment as he begins looking for answers to his own questions about his deceased parents, Rachel (Rachel Blanchard) and Sami (Noem Jenkins).

Atom Egoyan carefully constructs this screenplay and resorts to familiar themes, many of which he has explored in the past. The subject matter of the film allows for an intriguing story. As Simon develops his assignment, we touch on familiar subjects of terrorism. His story goes on to spark an Internet audience and results in extreme controversy. Surprisingly, technology is a character of its own in this film, and is used as a tool which allows Simon to explore his family history.

Adoration is told in non-chronological order, much like the rest of Egoyan's films. The complexity of the film adds to the intensity, and using this technique allows Egoyan to effectively reveal a certain piece of information at a time, allowing the audience to piece together the overall story. As usual, we are left with a profound and powerful story in the conclusion of the film.
Scott Speedman's performance as Simon's uncle was simply breathtaking. His range of emotion as he personally deals with anger and frustration becomes mesmerizing. As an audience, you're able to feel his words as they pierce through and touch you; however, you're also able to see the pain in his eyes. His sad eyes also tell a complex story, one which we begin to explore in the third act of the film. Also noteworthy is Rachel Blanchard who beautifully plays Simon's deceased mother. Kenneth Welsh, Simon's grandfather, describes her as an angel in the film. Throughout the film, her presence resembles that of an angel's. Egoyan also cleverly explores Rachel's past, which gives the necessary depth to her character, in the third act of the film. The young and clearly very talented Devon Bostick does a superb job alongside these talents.

Although Bostick is not as experienced, this only adds the necessary innocence to his character.
Atom Egoyan tells a powerful story, as always, which provides multiple viewings. In a surprise attempt, the film flirts with the possibility of being a thriller as well explore the complexity of the story. Adoration is beautifully crafted and sets a meaningful story in the rapidly evolving age of technology. Adoration deservedly won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes in 2008 and is written, directed and produced by Atom Egoyan.

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The Experience

American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica held an early screening for Atom Egoyan's film Adoration. Atom Egoyan, Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard and Devon Bostick were also present for a panel discussion following the film. As you would expect, I was extremely excited to finally meet Atom Egoyan who has been very inspirational as an Armenian filmmaker.

Atom Egoyan and his actors were asked several questions by the moderator, who then searched the audience for questions. An Armenian man stood up and claimed he had only seen two of Egoyan's films, Ararat and Adoration. He admittedly said both films left him scratching his head and he wanted to know why Egoyan took this particular approach to filmmaking. I quickly raised my hand after Egoyan answered the man and proudly stood up.

I told Atom Egoyan directly how proud I was, as an Armenian film student, because his films are inspirational. I also went on to talk about his passion for writing and the fact that he is a risk taker. I thanked him for making films this particular way, and not necessarily making everything so clear for the audience. I sat down and, surprisingly, the audience gave me a round of applause. As Egoyan thanked me, he went on to talk why he turned to filmmaking in the first place. He simply views films as an art form and the ability to express yourself allows him to be creative at all times, through the many stages of the production. He also went on to say his son wanted to screen Pulp Fiction on his 14th birthday, which left most of his friends confused, because of the structure of the film. Egoyan was surprised these young adults weren't able to comprehend a story that took risks and presented it in a non-chronological order. Egoyan also explained how film is similar to literature and requires multiple readings/viewings.

I never asked Atom Egoyan a question, I simply felt like I had to make a comment and I received an amazing response. As soon as the discussion was finished, Mary and I rushed down and had the chance to meet him in person. Luckily, Egoyan was kind enough to sign my copy of Ararat's screenplay as well as pose for a picture.

Warner Bros. Studios

I finally made my way in!

Mary and I had tickets to a promotional screening for The Hangover, a comedy due in June, which was being held at Warner Bros. Studios. It's been my dream, for as long as I can remember, to step foot onto Warner Bros. In February, I was filming an introductory video for film school right beside Warner Bros. and told my girlfriend I'm impatiently waiting for the day I can finally make my way inside. Needless to say, I can't remember when I was this excited.

Around 12pm, they guided us inside as we made our way through security. It was a fairly long walk to Building 71, just one of the many buildings which has its own private screening room. This specific room was amazing; nothing fancy, but everything done in taste. There wasn't as many people as I had imagined, but there were several people taking notes for the film. Around 2pm, the film finished and we made our way downstairs.

Mary and I walked around until we spotted a gift shop cleverly called Central Perk. It was spectacular, probably because I love film and television, so I really felt like a kid in a candy store. We ended up buying four Friends mugs and spent some time walking around the spacious studio lot; impressive, indeed. We had lunch at the Warner Bros. Cafeteria, where many executives were also having lunch. Many of them were reading scripts, discussing filming, etc. Pretty much, heaven for me.

We continued to walk around after lunch, checking out each studio building. On each building states what feature films and television shows were filmed inside. You can imagine my excitement when I found the many buildings Casablanca was filmed in. I suddenly recalled Warner Bros. had a museum so we asked a lady and she directed us toward it. Here's where it gets amazing.

The Warner Bros. Museum is two stories; the first floor is filled with costumes and props from films from the past century. The second floor is filled entirely with Harry Potter costumes and props; we gave it a look but considering I'm not a big fan, it didn't do anything for me. You're not allowed to touch or take any pictures, but nothing in the store was behind glass; they're all within arm's reach. Tempting. So, we walked inside and what I saw blew me away.Directly in front of the entrance was the costumes worn by Heath Ledger (Joker) and Christian Bale (Batman) in The Dark Knight. In between them, stood the four clown masks from the bank robbery scene. Also featured from the film was Heath Ledger's nurse uniform, along with the miniature Tumbler (Batmobile) as well several props; Batman's gun, Joker's cards, Two-Face's coin, etc.

Also in the museum was a display for Casablanca. Costumes worn by Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart stood proudly beside the piano famously played by Dooley Wilson (Sam). Also featured was the score from the film, which also began playing in the museum shortly thereafter. The museum also included a pretty big display for The Departed. Featured was costumes worn by Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson. Also included was many props; Billy Costigan's cast, Frank Costello's card, prescription note and bottle, etc.

The museum also feautred several Academy Award statues; Michael Curtiz's Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture Oscar for The Departed. Yes, they were beautiful. Hopefully, I'll get closer to the statue one day. The museum included many other noteworthy items from Gran Torino, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, The Matrix (costumes for all characters) and so much more. I also couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a display for The Assassination of Jesse James. It included Casey Affleck's gun, Jesse James storybooks, lighters, etc. They also had the famous horse picture Brad Pitt dusts during the climax of the film.

Upon leaving the studio - I had to leave sometime - we asked the security guard if we could come by again without having to schedule a tour. He said it wasn't possible unless we knew someone who worked there. We then realized he was Armenian and he was kind enough to give us his phone number, telling us to let him know in advance when we'd like to come, and he'll prepare us visitor passes.

I don't want to forget this day.

Burbank International Film Festival

Mary had received an e-mail from Woodbury University asking for volunteers for the first annual Burbank International Film Festival. I signed up and volunteering for two days and, although it wasn't the greatest learning experience, I met some pretty entertaining people. I also met a Woodbury professor who is a recent USC Screenwriting graduate. He is signed up to teach a Screenwriting course in the Fall; I also discovered Woodbury offers a Film minor. He seemed like a very great guy and we discussed the possibility of signed up for his course. Unfortunately, I don't think non-students can enroll in a course at the school.

Other than this, I am still waiting to hear from USC, Chapman and NYU. I also applied to Woodbury as a Psychology major, just in case everything else fails, I suppose. I would love to do my undergraduate in Psychology and possibly minoring in Film. The Screenwriting professor would also be a great Letter of Recommendation if I applied to MA/MFA in Film. I guess we'll see if I'm accepted and, if I am, we'll have to see how long it will take.

Now that the application process is completely over, I'd like to share some thoughts. This was truly a very difficult process and I think everybody in my family will agree. It wasn't as difficult as I had imagined to write everything. However, the process itself was devastating, at least for me. I've been constantly surfing forums and discovering other applicants. I've been getting extremely discouraged as I've been reading their stats: better GPAs, better extracurriculars, better experience, etc. I'm directly competing with these candidates so how can I keep myself hopeful? The only part of our application we can't directly compare is our Letters of Recommendation and Essays/Writing Samples. Even then, how good are mine in comparison to theirs? Good enough to find my way in?

I think I'll be receiving my answers in mid-May (best case) or mid-July (worst case). I've been checking my mail, e-mail and online status dozens of times a day. I've analyzed this application process more throughly than anyone else; is it mainly based on grades, extracurricular activities, or writing samples? Is my GPA good enough? Is my Personal Statement good enough?

At the end of the day, I'm just talking to myself.

Jolie

Here's another day of waiting... for nothing to happen.

I still haven't heard back from USC or Chapman, obviously. It's still way too early. I'm growing very anxious, though. I keep thinking over my application and Dodge College video, wondering if it's any good. I think I've reached a point where I have literally read every post on every forum regarding Chapman. I also feel like I know everything there is to know about the school. I guess I should keep waiting... easier said than done!

Oh, and my sister got a puppy! Her name is Jolie. She think it means 'beautiful' in French. It actually means 'pretty.'

Honor

Last night, I logged into my WebAdvisor account for Chapman to check up on my status. I nearly screamed when I realized it said "Application Incomplete." I called the school this morning and apparently they haven't updated it, and later today, it was corrected to "File Complete: Decision Pending."

I received a letter from Los Angeles City College today, stating I have been accepted to the Dean's Honor List. I'll be receiving a certificate and can pick it up in person, probably on stage. I can't believe I didn't get this letter sooner, I could have included this honor in my applications!

Encore!

I mailed some of my application to Chapman yesterday. I still need to complete my video essay and upload it along with the other essays. I stopped by Shervin's office and he showed me a list of celebrities interested in doing our show. Amazing. I'd love to work with any of them. Actually, I'd love to work. Period.

I think the best feeling in the world would be getting accepted to film school yet declining because your television show got picked up.

Finish Line

It's only fair I update this blog on the night of the Academy Awards.

I am nearing the finish line; I have completed my essays for Chapman University and will be working on my two-minute introductory film this week. My plan is to capture all the necessary images by mid-week to edit and complete the film by Friday.

I am days away from sitting back in my chair and taking a breather. Am I anxious? Am I terrified? Yes to both. I've realized I shouldn't put all my hopes, or any hope, on these applications. I can't wait to be done with this all to finally go back to writing and, possibly, directing. I have so many ideas I haven't had the chance to expand, this will finally give me the opportunity.

Chapman. Five days away. Let's do this.