the liquid fractal - jayne's hat brigade - blog archive

Jayne's Hat Brigade
fans of Firefly, fans of Serenity, fans of that cunning hat...

I ended up making the earflaps too far apart, so I'll be redoing them. And watching 21. I can't really remember anything about this film, so we'll see how it is.

Didn't remember that Kevin Spacey is in this. Love him!

"21" is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Maybe it's because I'm facing the same "Oh my God, I have to figure out how to pay for college" thing, or maybe it's because this film doesn't really have anything but entirely predictable drama. Either way, I just didn't care about anyone or anything happening in the story. Such a pity. Good credit music, though.

Well, it's too late in the day to do anything really productive, and I guess having coffee with dinner wasn't the brightest idea. So, on to the next film - Taxi Driver. Another one that I've wanted to see for a while. Actually, this might start a whole Scorsese marathon. Just recently watched Shutter Island, which uses music in such an interesting way. I highly recommend YouTubing the ending credits.

It is so strange to watch a movie from the seventies that's been restored. Quality-wise, it looks like it could have been filmed yesterday. Similarly, I remember studying for a music exam (Jazz class) where I had to be able to recognize about six CDs full of music. And it was fairly easy because it was pretty obvious which decade a recording had been made based on how much static it had. I pity the students studying for that class once those songs are remastered!

The other interesting thing is that I'm not used to seeing films set in the seventies that have actually been filmed in the seventies. I think the only other one that comes to mind is Mean Streets. It's refreshing because there isn't that sense of nostalgia that always seems to make its way into films that take place in the recent past. On another tangent, the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk is really fascinating to watch, for both the subject as well as its reflection of two distinct time periods. The reenactments are set in the seventies yet the interviews are done in the eighties.

I'm not putting anything about the plot here because I think it'll give too much away. Just watch the film.

That was not how I expected it to end, which makes it brilliant! It reminds me of a line from Sweeney Todd: "Show me something I can overcome." That's an element that I seem to be missing in many of the more current films that I've seen - they seem to end in ways that are too clean, with no loose ends. Like the difference between Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story: it's certainly more dramatic to have them both die, but more satisfying to me to see that one of them has to live with what happened.

One of the aspects that I've really come to admire about Scorsese is that his films feel as though they can't be set in any other time or place. It sounds simple, but I would say maybe nine out of ten films that I see could easily have a different setting. And for some of them, such as Felicia's Journey or even 21, it's only half-way through that you'll know for certain when the film is taking place! As for Scorsese, he doesn't just focus the camera on the main elements of the story. Nor does he just have small elements happening in the peripheral. No, he has grand, sweeping shots that take in entire street scenes and he combines this with focus on small moments that are just there for atmosphere. For example, in this film there's a scene where a guy is walking down the sidewalk, cursing loudly, and he brushes past one of the main characters. That's it. I can't help but feel that a scene like that in a current film would somehow be made significant to the plot.

Spent way too much time today playing around with the site colours. The first time around, I was using a computer with a pretty dark screen. So, when I got home, the entire site looked washed out. I've hopefully fixed that now.

I've decided to watch a favourite film while I finish up the hat. I hope to have the knitting done tonight so I can put the order in the mail tomorrow.

A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, his fellow inspectors, who are all without exception likeable characters, a rival ticket inspection team, and racing along the tracks... And a tale about love.

Kontroll is my second-favourite film of all time. It's Hungarian and takes place in the Budapest subway system. Because of that, it has the most incredible non-CGI atmosphere of all the films I've ever seen. The story follows a group of ticket collectors (called kontroll) on the subway, but there's so much more going on that I always seem to forget half of what goes on in the movie until I'm watching it again.

Sold another hat on eBay - this time to someone in the UK. So I thought I'd watch something fun while I knit it up.

I've wanted to see this flick for a while now. I can't remember what film has the preview for Brick, but every time I watched it I knew it was something I needed to see. And it has Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it, and he's always fantastic. We'll see how it goes...

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

The most beautiful thing about this film is what doesn't happen on camera. Along with where the camera is placed to shoot the scenes. You know those movies where you forget that you're watching a film because you're so caught up in the story - this isn't one of those. Yes, the story will keep you hooked, but you'll always be aware that you're watching a film because the way the film is shot is an essential part of how the story is told.

The other interesting thing is the language. Everyone's using so much slang that it takes an effort to untangle what is being said. I think it was done with the intent of making the audience aware that they are eavesdropping on a world that they don't belong to, which goes hand in hand with the way the film is shot. I'm definitely going to have to watch this film a few more times before I feel like I can appreciate it properly!

After moving to a new town, two brothers are convinced that the area is frequented by vampires.

It's such a pity - I think I outgrew this movie before I saw it. Oh well. Though some of the lines did call up some of the banter from The Evil Dead, but that may just be because I've been listening to the musical lately.

I can't believe that I've been making Jayne Hats for over six years now! When I started, I was in my last year of university and managed to perfect the design just before going to Toronto Trek that year. I had sold over 50 hats by the time Serenity opened in theatres, and, of course, every time I went to see the film, I'd be wearing my trusty hat.

Every once in a while, I would get tired of making the hats and want to knit something else instead. But I'd always go back - I'm pretty sure I could knit one in my sleep! It's not just that I love the wool. And I do LOVE the wool! It took me three months to find the right colours and textures for the hats, and I've never even thought of knitting with any other yarn - it's just that perfect. No, it's the people that keep me coming back.

Imagine it - I get to talk to members of the coolest fanbase on the planet. You guys are so incredibly nice, and interesting, and such a joy to work with. And every single time I'm knitting a hat, I'm thinking of who might be the person who gets it. I can't wait for the day when I randomly meet someone on the subway and I can tell them that I made their hat!

Now, I'm back in university - it's half-way across the country from my previous haunts. And this time I'll be gearing up for getting a Masters degree! But I'm proud to say that I will happily be spending my downtime knitting up a storm.

Keep flying!
Nightshade