1. Started to watch an episode of Home and Away.
A self-obsessed young man makes his way to the party-to-end-all-parties on the last day on Earth, but ends up saving the life of a little girl searching for her father. Their relationship ultimately leads him on the path to redemption.
15. Finished watching the film.
I think it was well done for the most part.
I can't say watching it was an enjoyable experience, but it was interesting.
16. Wondered if it would be better if the world ended completely within a few days—everyone dead. Or would it be better for there to be survivors.
I guess it would depend on the problem.
With The Walking Dead, it seems to me that the survivors are pretty much just prolonging their deaths. I think eventually most people are going to become zombies—unless the survivors become more proactive. It seems to me they're more about trying to avoid the zombies than actually trying to rid the world of zombies. Yes, many zombies are killed, but it seems in most cases, it's self defense.
If the survivors of an apocalypse are going to have to live their lives constantly worrying about a threat that's going to kill either them or their still-living loved ones, I'd say the death of everyone is preferable.
With something like The Stand, though, the survivors were able to fight off the virus that killed everyone else. Most of the world is gone, but there's hope that those remaining can rebuild society.
17. Concluded that if a substantial amount of hope remains after the apocalypse begins; then there's some worth in having survivors.
If there's little hope—if for the most part, the survivors are only trying to stay live, it's probably better that all of humanity just die at once.
18. Did recognize that The Walking Dead folks have happy times once in awhile. They laugh together. They fall in love. There's been a lot of bonding.
I just think that the gruesome deaths outweigh the happy moments.
19. Thought of how I'm coming from a very spoiled and sheltered viewpoint.
There are people out there who live very dangerous and uncomfortable lives.
Maybe they'd watch The Walking Dead and think, Yeah. That's doesn't look too different from the life I live.
Some of them might feel hopeless and wish themselves dead. Some of them might actually kill themselves.
But others might feel it's, for some reason, worth being alive. Maybe they DO have hope that things can get better. Or maybe even with the pain, hunger, and fear; they still manage to find bits of joy in life.
20. Started watching an interview with Zak Hilditch, the writer and director of These Final Hours.
There's an emphasis on Western Australia, because the film was made there and takes place there; then also the interviewer is from there.
21. Heard Hilditch call his film a thriller.
I'm not sure I'd agree.
I personally feel it was more of a drama.
I think with a thriller, there needs to be a chance that the characters can escape the death or danger. A thriller needs suspense, and how can there be suspense if it's inevitable that the characters are going to die.
That being said, I did have some false hope that somehow Western Australia would be spared in the end. But as I was hoping that, I realized if that happened, I'd see the movie as being incredibly ridiculous.
22. Learned that Hilditch previously worked with young Angourie Rice in a short film called "Transmission".
I'm going to watch that now.
23. Saw that this film is about an illness.
Maybe it's apocalyptic as well.
24. Saw multiple cars with a door open.
What's the deal with that?
I guess people left their cars. But why didn't they take a moment to close the door before leaving?
I mean it's not a huge deal. I don't think it matters that much. I guess I imagine people would close the door just out of habit.
25. Saw the cars aren't all empty. Some have people—probably dead.
Maybe they opened the door to let more air in?
26. Saw that this film is similar to These Final Hours.
In the beginning, there was a mention of sickness, so I assumed it was about a germy pandemic. But now they've mentioned something about the air. I think that's making people sick. So this, too, is some kind of environmental issue.
27. Saw that it might be an infection, after all.
I'm confused.
28. Finished watching "Transmission".
Now THAT was a thriller. There was a very suspenseful part.
29. Went back to watching the interview.
30. Liked how Hilditch describes the theme of the film. He says, it's never too late to find redemption.
I think it's true. In the movie, there was not any realistic hope of survival. But there was hope of reconciliation and redemption.
31. Learned, from the interview, that one of Hilditch's early projects was a low-budget feature film, that he made with friends, called The Actress. The budget was $700.
That's pretty awesome.
32. Heard Hilditch say something that reminded me of our economics lesson for today.
Hilditch talks about how, in filmmaking, you should work with as many talented people as possible.
In Economics, we learned about specialization and trade. It's the idea that countries, people, businesses, etc are more prosperous when they specialize in things rather than trying to do everything themselves. Then they trade with others who have different specializations.
On the Crash Course video we watched today, they said self-sufficiency is inefficiency.
Sometimes a small group of people, or an individual, with multiple talents can make a decent film. But I think there's more of a chance of making a good film when you have a large group of people who are experts at what they do.
I think there are often directors who also manage to do a good job writing their own films and also acting in it. But then it's stretching it a bit if they also do the music, set design, editing, sound effects, marketing, etc.
33. Thought that it's probably fine to have a very small crew for a short film.
I still imagine, though, that even then, larger crews are better.
34. Heard Hilditch say that he hopes These Final Hours will make the viewer think about what they'd do if the world was ending.
I did think about that but couldn't come up with anything.
I have no idea.
Maybe I'd want to hang out with loved ones and eat chocolate.
What's selfish of me is I wouldn't want to be around people who were really upset. That would annoy me. I'd want to spend the last hours laughing, celebrating, eating, dancing, singing, joking, etc.
I wouldn't want high drama. Tears would be okay, and of course, we'd all be scared. But I wouldn't want to be around people who were absolutely hysterical.
If the hysterical people were children, I'd be understanding, of course.
35. Thought it would also depend on how much warning we have of the end.
If it's twelve hours, like in the movie, that's enough time to gather around nearby loved ones. You have time to plan something fun.
If I find out now that the world is ending in an hour, there's not much time to plan anything fun. I think I'll just be in shock and denial.
If the end approaches with very short notice—like in a plane crash, I couldn't blame people for being hysterical. I don't think you get past the shock and fear stage.
36. Wondered if there are psychological stages of approaching disaster-death.
Maybe it's the same as any other death, but it just comes at a faster rate.
What are the stages again?
Denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance....
Those are what's in my head.
I'll go look it up.
37. Consulted Lord Wiki.
He says, Kubler Ross's stages are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
I can't imagine people going through all that in the midst of an approaching plane crash.
The only thing I really imagine is bargaining. Maybe there'd be some denial.
I guess there might be fleeting moments of depression and anger.
38. Felt if there's acceptance, it would be there from the beginning. I don't think there'd be time enough to develop it.
But if there's someone who's very at peace with themselves, and or at peace with the idea of death, they might have acceptance.
39. Could imagine the stages happening with an approaching, or in-progress, natural disaster.
40. Thought that fear should be one of the stages. I think, for some people, fear might be there instead of anger.
Anger makes sense to me if there's actually someone to blame. For example, if there's a natural disaster caused by human-induced global warming, people can be angry about that.
But sometimes bad things happen, and no one is to blame.
I guess people get angry about their fate, or if they don't believe in that, the random bad luck they're encountering.
Edited to add: I forgot to pick my next show via Random.org before posting.
So...did that just now.
It's a TV show called Killing Time. The star is David Wenham.
I'll start watching it soon, hopefully.
2. Learned that Andy (Jackson Gallagher) and Josh (Tai Hara) are brothers.
I had no idea!
3. Noticed for the first time, when looking at IMDb, that Josh and Andy both have the same last name—Barrett.
4. Felt that Brax (Stephen Peacocke) was being somewhat selfish...or at least thoughtless.
He's asked Kyle (Nic Westaway) and Ash (George Mason) to break him out of prison so he can be with his family. He's putting his friends' lives and freedom in danger.
Then, on top of that, what about Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) and their baby?
Is Brax sure that Ricky wants the life of a fugitive? He hasn't even asked her. It's not like Brax can break out of prison and then live a normal life in Summer Bay. He and his family are going to have a life on the run. Does Brax really want that for his child?
5. Started watching the rest of These Final Hours.
6. Thought that Vicky, (Kathryn Beck), in the movie, is annoying and disgusting.
I wonder if it's because she's on drugs. When she's not intoxicated, maybe she more tolerable.
7. Thought about how alcohol, and other drugs, makes some people more entertaining, others scary and dangerous, and others simply embarrassing.
8. Saw that an actress from Love My Way is in the film. I didn't know her name, but I found it on IMDb. It's Lynette Curran.
Curran plays the mother of James (Nathan Phillips).
9. Remembered that Curran is also on Wentworth. Well, I saw that on IMDb when I looked but didn't remember her character.
Now I do, because her character on These Final Hours is similar to her character on Wentworth. Both women are bitchy, difficult mothers.
10. Saw Curran's character in this movie isn't so bad, after all. She's just a bit rough around the edges.
11. Thought that Angourie Rice, the young actress who plays Rose in the movie, looks a bit like Candace Cameron.
12. Thought this movie was hard to follow emotionally.
I think I'm supposed to feel a strong bond between James and Rose, but I'm not. I know it's supposed to be there, but I'm not feeling it. I think it's because there haven't been enough scenes of them enjoying each other's company. I know that's hard to do when the end of the world is approaching, but still....
Maybe if there was just one or two scenes of them having a good time together. Maybe they could have danced to a song or played a board game.
They did have a moment where they laughed together—part of a conversation. But I don't think that was enough.
13. Realized I probably have it all wrong.
I don't think it's supposed to be around James bonding with a young girl.
I think it's what being with the little girl teaches him.
NOW I get it.
14. Wanted to confess that what I read yesterday, on IMDb's plot description, is partly responsible for the light bulb going off in my head.
15. Finished watching the film.
I think it was well done for the most part.
I can't say watching it was an enjoyable experience, but it was interesting.
16. Wondered if it would be better if the world ended completely within a few days—everyone dead. Or would it be better for there to be survivors.
I guess it would depend on the problem.
With The Walking Dead, it seems to me that the survivors are pretty much just prolonging their deaths. I think eventually most people are going to become zombies—unless the survivors become more proactive. It seems to me they're more about trying to avoid the zombies than actually trying to rid the world of zombies. Yes, many zombies are killed, but it seems in most cases, it's self defense.
If the survivors of an apocalypse are going to have to live their lives constantly worrying about a threat that's going to kill either them or their still-living loved ones, I'd say the death of everyone is preferable.
With something like The Stand, though, the survivors were able to fight off the virus that killed everyone else. Most of the world is gone, but there's hope that those remaining can rebuild society.
17. Concluded that if a substantial amount of hope remains after the apocalypse begins; then there's some worth in having survivors.
If there's little hope—if for the most part, the survivors are only trying to stay live, it's probably better that all of humanity just die at once.
18. Did recognize that The Walking Dead folks have happy times once in awhile. They laugh together. They fall in love. There's been a lot of bonding.
I just think that the gruesome deaths outweigh the happy moments.
19. Thought of how I'm coming from a very spoiled and sheltered viewpoint.
There are people out there who live very dangerous and uncomfortable lives.
Maybe they'd watch The Walking Dead and think, Yeah. That's doesn't look too different from the life I live.
Some of them might feel hopeless and wish themselves dead. Some of them might actually kill themselves.
But others might feel it's, for some reason, worth being alive. Maybe they DO have hope that things can get better. Or maybe even with the pain, hunger, and fear; they still manage to find bits of joy in life.
20. Started watching an interview with Zak Hilditch, the writer and director of These Final Hours.
There's an emphasis on Western Australia, because the film was made there and takes place there; then also the interviewer is from there.
21. Heard Hilditch call his film a thriller.
I'm not sure I'd agree.
I personally feel it was more of a drama.
I think with a thriller, there needs to be a chance that the characters can escape the death or danger. A thriller needs suspense, and how can there be suspense if it's inevitable that the characters are going to die.
That being said, I did have some false hope that somehow Western Australia would be spared in the end. But as I was hoping that, I realized if that happened, I'd see the movie as being incredibly ridiculous.
22. Learned that Hilditch previously worked with young Angourie Rice in a short film called "Transmission".
I'm going to watch that now.
23. Saw that this film is about an illness.
Maybe it's apocalyptic as well.
24. Saw multiple cars with a door open.
What's the deal with that?
I guess people left their cars. But why didn't they take a moment to close the door before leaving?
I mean it's not a huge deal. I don't think it matters that much. I guess I imagine people would close the door just out of habit.
25. Saw the cars aren't all empty. Some have people—probably dead.
Maybe they opened the door to let more air in?
26. Saw that this film is similar to These Final Hours.
In the beginning, there was a mention of sickness, so I assumed it was about a germy pandemic. But now they've mentioned something about the air. I think that's making people sick. So this, too, is some kind of environmental issue.
27. Saw that it might be an infection, after all.
I'm confused.
28. Finished watching "Transmission".
Now THAT was a thriller. There was a very suspenseful part.
29. Went back to watching the interview.
30. Liked how Hilditch describes the theme of the film. He says, it's never too late to find redemption.
I think it's true. In the movie, there was not any realistic hope of survival. But there was hope of reconciliation and redemption.
31. Learned, from the interview, that one of Hilditch's early projects was a low-budget feature film, that he made with friends, called The Actress. The budget was $700.
That's pretty awesome.
32. Heard Hilditch say something that reminded me of our economics lesson for today.
Hilditch talks about how, in filmmaking, you should work with as many talented people as possible.
In Economics, we learned about specialization and trade. It's the idea that countries, people, businesses, etc are more prosperous when they specialize in things rather than trying to do everything themselves. Then they trade with others who have different specializations.
On the Crash Course video we watched today, they said self-sufficiency is inefficiency.
Sometimes a small group of people, or an individual, with multiple talents can make a decent film. But I think there's more of a chance of making a good film when you have a large group of people who are experts at what they do.
I think there are often directors who also manage to do a good job writing their own films and also acting in it. But then it's stretching it a bit if they also do the music, set design, editing, sound effects, marketing, etc.
33. Thought that it's probably fine to have a very small crew for a short film.
I still imagine, though, that even then, larger crews are better.
34. Heard Hilditch say that he hopes These Final Hours will make the viewer think about what they'd do if the world was ending.
I did think about that but couldn't come up with anything.
I have no idea.
Maybe I'd want to hang out with loved ones and eat chocolate.
What's selfish of me is I wouldn't want to be around people who were really upset. That would annoy me. I'd want to spend the last hours laughing, celebrating, eating, dancing, singing, joking, etc.
I wouldn't want high drama. Tears would be okay, and of course, we'd all be scared. But I wouldn't want to be around people who were absolutely hysterical.
If the hysterical people were children, I'd be understanding, of course.
35. Thought it would also depend on how much warning we have of the end.
If it's twelve hours, like in the movie, that's enough time to gather around nearby loved ones. You have time to plan something fun.
If I find out now that the world is ending in an hour, there's not much time to plan anything fun. I think I'll just be in shock and denial.
If the end approaches with very short notice—like in a plane crash, I couldn't blame people for being hysterical. I don't think you get past the shock and fear stage.
36. Wondered if there are psychological stages of approaching disaster-death.
Maybe it's the same as any other death, but it just comes at a faster rate.
What are the stages again?
Denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance....
Those are what's in my head.
I'll go look it up.
37. Consulted Lord Wiki.
He says, Kubler Ross's stages are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
I can't imagine people going through all that in the midst of an approaching plane crash.
The only thing I really imagine is bargaining. Maybe there'd be some denial.
I guess there might be fleeting moments of depression and anger.
38. Felt if there's acceptance, it would be there from the beginning. I don't think there'd be time enough to develop it.
But if there's someone who's very at peace with themselves, and or at peace with the idea of death, they might have acceptance.
39. Could imagine the stages happening with an approaching, or in-progress, natural disaster.
40. Thought that fear should be one of the stages. I think, for some people, fear might be there instead of anger.
Anger makes sense to me if there's actually someone to blame. For example, if there's a natural disaster caused by human-induced global warming, people can be angry about that.
But sometimes bad things happen, and no one is to blame.
I guess people get angry about their fate, or if they don't believe in that, the random bad luck they're encountering.
Edited to add: I forgot to pick my next show via Random.org before posting.
So...did that just now.
It's a TV show called Killing Time. The star is David Wenham.
I'll start watching it soon, hopefully.