New Stunning Samurai Epic: The Cup of Tears

[Lustful Butchery]

From newcomer director Gary Shore, comes a new mind-blowing samurai actioner.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5mvdyV8J0[/ame]

Plot:
The plot follows a scorned geisha who creates a magical cup made of tears that causes any man who drinks from it to fall under a stasis of permanent sleep. One night the cup is stolen, setting off a chain of events that threatens civil war amongst the clans. Taro, a once gifted samurai, and his companion Jin set out to find the cup and the one who can break the spell before inner turmoil.

 

[Bolt]

I just found out this is an Irish movie and probably won't be getting a theatrical release outside of the UK. It looks cheap. Actually, it looks like "Surii-Hundred." Shot on a Red, too much weird matte painting and green screen. And what's with Matthew Mcconaughey as Taro? Totally doesn't fit the context of the film. Could still be good, but so far, meh.

 

[Exo_Kopaka]

This looks really cool. However, the only turn off I see are the stereotypical characters seen in any kind of Asian-oriented martial arts movie.

 

[Quark]

Was there life before green screen? Sometimes I forget.

 

[Tom Constantine]

That looks pretty awful.

 

[Inui Takumi]

Id have to agree. I hope this doesnt become too big of a trend where we lose the feel of shooting in real sets and locations in favor of cheap effects and sets created using green screens. I saw the trailer for Goemon and even though it looks alright, a lot of the sets look green-screened in. That sorta make the movie lose a bit of character for me, at least.

 

[Exo_Kopaka]

Id have to agree. I hope this doesnt become too big of a trend where we lose the feel of shooting in real sets and locations in favor of cheap effects and sets created using green screens. I saw the trailer for Goemon and even though it looks alright, a lot of the sets look green-screened in. That sorta make the movie lose a bit of character for me, at least.

It's all a matter of perspective. Yes, green screens might sound like a cop-out, but it also helps films achieve visuals that no traditional filming can do. Goemon had an "anime" like feel to it, with the "sets" being ridiculously over the top, and fast paced camera angles which cannot be replicated anywhere else but in animation. Even more so, you can dictate the composition and colors of every frame and shot, making it as artistic as possible. You can take one freeze-frame of Goemon or even Casshern and notice how artistic the shot is.

Just remember, it takes a well grounded filmmaker to make these kind of movies. The shots need to be planned ahead of time, and every frame needs to be inspected carefully. Yeah, they might not be using wires and real physical sets, but the CG artists are working their asses off trying to get camera matching correct and building believable sets.

 

[Bolt]

Not to sound like an ass, but this independent group from Finland that posts on The Stunt People's forum every now and then, HMC, makes short films that look 10x better than The Cup Of Tears on a budget of like, thousands of dollars less. Just because you put something in front a green screen doesn't automatically make it artistic (I'm talking to you Frank Miller/Kazuaki Kiriya/Zack Snyder). If you can't make a competent film and tie everything together, masking it with nifty visual effects doesn't work, which was been proven time and time again. Check out AMC's short film "Apocalypse" on their website, and keep in mind... that was just a location test shoot. Imagine what the completed film is going to look like.