Tony Scott: in memoriam

Tony Scott's life was tragically cut short on August 19th 2012. I've been thinking about how this man from Northumberland has affected not only my life but Hollywood itself. He made his first short film at the age of 25 and 14 years later his first feature film, The Hunger, was released. The film itself was not a commercial success, but it caught the attention of producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. His next film would be one of his most memorable of his career. Not only would it launch Tom Cruise into superstardom but it would also contain many future film stars first or early roles. Tony followed up Top Gun with Beverly Hills Cop II, again with producers Bruckheimer and Simpson despite being fired 3 times during the production of Top Gun.

Throughout his career Tony Scott would go on to work with some of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time, Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Christian Slater, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Will Smith, the list goes on. As a talented director he had a close working relationship with his brother, each of them producing some of the other's directorial efforts and working together as producers on several projects. They also were both quite different film makers, if Ridley could be seen as the philosopher then Tony was the entertainer. Many of Tony's films would be commercial successes, however he was also a very likeable and approachable person. Dakota Fanning spoke of Tony in an interview regarding their first meeting before she was casted in Man on Fire. She made note of his trademark "pink" cap and the cigar in their first meeting and that he was very protective over her during filming.

Tony wasn't afraid to try new techniques such as playing with frame rates or even playing around with exposures, Man on Fire is a visually stunning film with a visual style that has been copied by several different things, most recently the newest instalment of the Max Payne video game franchise.

His loss will be noticed and my thoughts are with his family in this truly tragic time, we must remember to not remember how he left this world but remember the legacy he has left behind and his impact on the world.

Rest in Peace Tony.

Run through the night

So a lot of things have changed in the last few months, for one thing I'm now employed, but I can't seem to change the title of this blog so it will just have to stay the same until I figure out how to change it. Another thing that has changed is I have just started a new fitness regime to get me prepared for the big airsoft events that are happening this year. Well I say I've started, I have literally started tonight, whether I keep it up or not, well let's see how it goes.

I was listening to music tonight on my first run (as you do) and the music I was listening to was the score from the film Drive by Cliff Martinez. I don't know if this is by chance or by fate or something but as I was walking back to my house I was looking over in the distance at the various lights that lit up the darkness and the track that was playing seemed to fit the mood perfectly, it almost felt like a scene from a film it fit so perfectly. It got me thinking about how music can make us feel and how sometimes a song can come on that seems to fit the images you are looking at perfectly just by chance. Or is it by chance, do we subconsciously know when a certain track will come on and find something that will relate to the music to look at? I don't really have the answer to that question, all I do know is either it is subconsciously or I always seem to find myself in places that fit the music I am listening to perfectly because it has happened quite a few times lately.