The Moviesite Spotlight: The Focused Filmographer

Welcome to this week’s Moviesite Spotlight. For those who wonder what this is:

Every week I read a lot of great movie related blogs and I thought it was time to give the ones I visit regularly a chance to shine in the spotlight, by interviewing its writers.

This week’s interview is with ScarletSp1der, also known as T, the editor of The Focused Filmographer.

What’s the history of your site, why did you start it?

My page “TheScarletSp1der’s Movie Blog” started on May 25th 2010 after posting 4 mini-reviews on my personal facebook page for my friends. (11 Minutes Ago, Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, and Shrek 4). I have always loved movies and enjoyed writing (studying history in college forces one to grow accustomed to writing quite a bit), so it made sense to blend those 2 loves together and share my passions with more of the world than just my friends on facebook.

I named it TheScarletSp1der because I am a BIG Spiderman comicbook fan and ScarletSp1der is my current gamertag on XBOX 360! Plus, I liked the idea of thinking of myself as a movie guardian superhero to help keep innocents from ruining their eyes and wasting their hard earned dollars on films they shouldn’t see! It is my mission of sorts! You can see that HERE.
With the start of the new year, the website underwent a namechange to make it easier for navigation, searching, typing (avoiding the “1”), and professionalism, as it were and is now called The Focused Filmographer.

What makes your movie blog different from the other ones out there?
There are a lot of great blogs out there! But I’d like to think that mine is a lot of fun on a regular basis! There are 3 regular weekly segments

1. Movie News Monday: focuses on weekend box office reports, 3 major movie news stories, and what to new blu-ray releases to look for later in the week!
2. Time to Vote Tuesday: fun weekly poll for debate and discussion on a topic of choice that is movie related (i.e. Who is the better Superman? Christopher Reeves, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill, or OTHER)
3. Trailer Time Thursday: perhaps the most popular weekly segment that highlights 6-7 new trailers of the week for upcoming titles

Each segment has its own unique following! They really are a lot of fun!

There are also tons of other not-so-regular segments that I enjoy writing such as:
1. From TheScarletSp1der’s Shelf to Yours: Highlighting a movie from my own personal collection.
2. Checking Out the HappyHaps: Sharing linklove focusing on other awesome movie blogs
3. CinematiCaptions: Caption contest for 2 Movie pictures
4. In TheScarletSp1der’s Spotlight: Focus on upcoming film…all the need-to-knows!
Also, every movie review written is SPOILER-FREE!

I try to keep a well-rounded amount of reporting going on for all readers. I have 3 younger sisters that all read my site and that helps me to keep in mind that parents would like to know what is okay for their children to watch. I also know that some of my readers love other aspects of film (independent films, action films, superhero films, horror, scifi, and so on and so forth). You will find a plethora of genres reviewed and reported on at my page. Very reader friendly. And, not to criticize anybody’s page, but I really like the layout of my page. It’s been referred to often as very clean, streamlined, and organized. I like that!

What do enjoy most about your site and what is the reason you keep doing it?
The thing I enjoy most is interacting with other people all around the world who share the same passions as I do when it comes to movies. Some of which I can call “friends!” If you would’ve asked me when I started the page if I expected to get to know people like Novia in Indonesia or Russell in Australia or Ruth and Castor in Minneapolis, or Scott and Claire in the UK, I would’ve said “No!” But, now I can’t imagine blogging without knowing them! It really is a worldwide community that, even though we are spread apart, we remain close! That is an awesome thing!

An author always loves to know when his work is read and appreciated. It takes time to keep and maintain a page like this. But, comments keep coming in, and that inspires me to continue on a regular basis. Sometimes I am up until 3 or 4am working on the next day’s post, but I do it because I know that for some people it is a staple stop in their day. I am humbled by the many people who have told me that my little page is a saved bookmark on their web browser. It truly is humbling and keeps me going to not let them down.

I also have to say that I love keeping my site going because it is fun when you are in a movie-blogger community and yet you are honored to be able to be the one to present them with news first that they haven’t heard yet. It’s sometimes hard to beat Twitter and IMDB, but when you do it feels like a homerun!

In which ways has your blogging changed the way you watch movies?
Great question: I would say that I pay attention to a lot more details. It has helped me to really come to understand what I, personally, look for in movies. When I first started the page, I was just rating films here and there based on how I felt I wanted to rate them. It worked so-so. But then I began to really understand what I liked and created a rating system based off of that, to which I adhere to for every movie review now. (You can see that HERE).
But you know what, it also has made me not care what other people think when I say I like this movie or I hated this movie, etc because I can speak to my reasons why/why not even better now with a greater credibility (if only self-proclaimed)! That’s gotta count for something! 🙂

What’s your favorite article you have written?
This question truly is a hard one for me to answer…I actually read and re-read every article of mine between 5-15 times (and I still miss some mistakes), because I literally have fun writing and enjoy reading so many of them. I’m careful not to come across as conceited in anyway, but I really enjoy my work. (An artist/author should, I believe)
I may ask you to indulge me here with 2 separate answers, if I may:
1. Reviews: Black Swan and Skyline (Click HERE, they are #67 and #56 respectively)

2. Articles: Films That Made Me A Critic and the Morality Bites Blogathon which debated filmmakers’ social responsibility.

Could you name five of your all time favorite movies?

Hook

The Shawshank Redemption

Toy Story

The Dark Knight

The Lord of the Rings (that’s cheating possibly, because it’s 3…but, oh well!)

There are too many movies to choose from, but I think that’s a pretty good stab at it!

How many movies do you watch on average each week?
I watch about 4-5 movies a week. Not all of them are in the cinema, most of them are from my own collection or being streamed via CinemaNow or Netflix.

Do you own any movie related items that you are very proud of?
Yes! I am a BIG movie poster lover/collector, but lately I have also been into collecting the canvas movie banners from the theaters! I currently have a small collection but it is always growing! I am very proud of my Spiderman 2 theatrical movie poster and a 5’x10′ movie banner for 007 Casino Royale which is proudly displayed in my movie room!

Anything else you want to tell us about yourself?

• Yes, My name is Terrence. My friends call me “T”. You can feel free to do so whenever you leave a comment on my page or respond to a comment I have left on someone else’s.
• You will find no profanity in any of the posts that I write. I try to keep it clean for family friendliness (not everyone likes to read 4-letter words).
• I have a big crush on Scarlett Johansson. It is no secret! (Ruth over at Flixchatter and Julian at DirtyWithClass often tease and play around with me on that!) And I have met her. I’ve seen almost every single one of her films, and while other actresses may have better roles and acting chops, she will always hold a fond place in my heart! She is mentioned often on my page. (…Kristen Stewart is also mentioned a lot, but for the EXACT OPPOSITE reason!)
• I am one of the team members/authors over at IEatFilms.com
• I do my best to respond to every comment that comes in
•  I really enjoy when someone has a different opinion of a movie than I do and expresses it. I truly believe that if everyone liked the same stuff then the world would be a pretty boring place. I also believe that if 2 people can express their viewpoints on a movie, then both of us can have an even greater understanding of the film in question! I love conflicting (while still respectful) views on film!

Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about myself and my page here on your site! I truly appreciate it. It is the community of movie lovers that really makes any and all of this so great. Thank you for reading! Happy Watching!