When I found out that Sony invited a group of moms to LA to get photo/video tips while using Sony Digital Imaging products, I was very excited to use the Sony cameras and camcorders. I was also told that we were going to the premiere of the new Sony Pictures 3D movie came out THIS WEEKEND: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs“. 

I enjoyed reading the “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs book to my children when they were younger, and spent the week before the trip asking my sons and their friends what they liked most about the book. They all remembered numerous vivid details in the book, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The images of falling food was obviously so rich for these kids’ imaginations. Lucky for them, and for parents who like to sneak in some hidden learning with the nighttime “read me a story” request, there are also weather-related Language Arts and Science lessons tied into the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs book and movie. Scholastic published an interview with the book authors Ron and Judith Barnett.

After seeing the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” at the premiere (See disclosures at bottom of this post) last weekend – I had a MAJOR epiphany. The movie not only has amazing 3D graphics and animation to give viewers a “real taste” (yes, pun fully intended) of what it is like to experience falling hamburgers, a spaghetti tornado, a Jello palace, candy rainbows and other food fun – but it also has positive messages for kids and adults alike and geek
surprises along the way. One geek surprise in the film that is also on
the Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs website is a poster of Nikola Tesla,
who was a real life inventor and electrical/ mechanical engineer. Next
time I see the film, I will be looking to find more surprises. The movie is one of those feel good movies where the only violence is against gummie bears, geek (including science and math) is cool for boys and girls, the main characters all struggle then improve communication to their loved ones, selfish is NOT cool and the most important things in life are family/loved ones, as well as embracing your true self.

On a personal note, I reached an epiphany with the help of the “story” behind the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and the interviews with the Directors and cast. My ten year old son is bright and like many of his peers inspired more the technology of movies and movie making than by his 5th grade homework. He can figure out the intricate features of my and my friends’ digital cameras faster than any adult. This inquisitive 10 year likes to spend time explaining to my 6 year old twins – while they are watching shows or films -  what is real versus what is computer generated and how it is done. One of the first things he did when he received his new MACbook was to play with iMovie, create green-screen movies and then attempt to explain the whole process to his family and friends. “Look mom, I figured out how to use the green screen function“. To that, I said “Later, I am cooking dinner“. One morning while I was asleep my son found my DSLR camera tripod and figured out how to use it for the his digital camera to take videos with the timer function. The first thing he said to me that morning was “the video quality is much better when I use a tripod“.

Then, I attended the movie premier and witnessed the main characters of the film “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) struggle to embrace their true self. Flint’s father also struggled to support that journey. Another message in the movie was that math and science, along with other fundamentals, are important to master if you are going to “save the world“. This helped me see that I should be more active in supporting my son’s interest in the production side of video/films. I decided to hand over one of my camcorders and a memory card to my son so that he could take and manage his own videos. I set aside time this past week to discuss how to edit videos and tied in the less-exciting school work part of his life by explaining that he needs to do his homework if he wants to go to a college and study filmaking. Best of all I explained to my son that if he is going to save the world, I mean master the art of filmaking, that mastering math, science and language arts now in school will help give him the fundamentals he will need for future success.

I then used Twitter to share my epiphany with the film’s directors, Phil Lord responded with:

The Writing/Directing team for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is Phil Lord and Chris Miller. We had the chance to interview both of them during press rounds the day before the premiere. The first thing I learned was not a big surprise: when they were younger, both enjoyed writing plays and creating short films. They met in college and realized they have similar interests. During the interview they were funny, completely engaging and witty as they explained that the movie production was a team effort – with over 500 team members (or “cells” in an organism as they called it). Each day on the set was like a food fight as they had to build each part of how food falls into the overall animation. When asked what hints Phil Lord and Chris Miller would give to kids, a few were “math/science is cool”, “school is important”, “Be comfortable with who you are”, “Embrace your inner wierdo/geek”, “Do something original and do it boldly”. The last hint “Do something original and do it boldly” is what resonates for me as a way to describe the effort behind creating the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”.

The RED CARPET PREMIERE

Armed with a Sony A330 DSLR
camera that we each had use of for the weekend and my smartphone (for
live Twittering) I and the other moms each had our own spot on the red
carpet to catch the action. We loaded our pictures to the Flickr group Sony Mom Event 2009.

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