Charlie McDonnell - Our Brother Review

Hey guys!

Quite a few weeks back now, Charlie McDonnell (aka Charlieissocoollike) released his new short film series named 'Our Brother'. I feel like I can't share what it's about without injecting my views about it so here goes!

The two parter is about two siblings who are struggling to cope with the death of their brother after the films start with a video clip of them proclaiming to their brother, who was clearly suffering from some sort of chronic illness, that he was finally coming home. From what Charlie had said about the series before it went live, it was supposed to be quite a teary series and though it was definitely sad, I wouldn't say I was bawling though admittedly, though I cry when things get emotional, I certainly wouldn't have bucketed all the way through.

Despite this initial misconception, the series itself was very, very good and the one thing I loved about it was the fact that it was so completely realistic. It didn't feel like an ideal situation, it felt really organic and that's what I feel Charlie has really done justice too. The elder brother of the two siblings who are left is unwilling to admit how much he misses his brother and the psychological turmoil that he's facing and this can make him appear quite cynical and unsympathetic towards his sister who constantly asks him whether he's ready to talk yet, to which he stoically replies 'I'm not ready yet.'

It's a beautiful series because of the way that their relationship works and just how simply everything works out and how it makes sense. It doesn't feel far-fetched and that's what makes this film series work so well.

I hope that you guys can appreciate this post and go on and watch the first one of the two here and the second here. All of Charlie's videos are amazing so check his channel out here.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I hope to speak to you soon, take care of yourselves!

Falling in Love with Ideals

Hey guys!

It has occurred to me many a time over the past few years or so that we often fall in love with ideals. This theme is also prevalent in many films and can also translate into real life relationships too where people go into relationships thinking they know the other person really well and that they know exactly how it's going to turn out but what they forget is that they expect their ideals to be the truth rather than getting to know and learn about the actual person who's in front of them.

By doing this, which in some way shape or form I feel we're all guilty of, we place unreal expectations on a person who's merely human and not someone who should be burdened with the expectations of being perfect, doing everything exactly like the movies and all that sort of thing.

Just to wrap up, if you ever make friends with someone or start a relationship with someone, make sure that the person you think you know and the kind of person they are isn't your ideal but is backed up by proof and evidence that you've witnessed first hand, not imagined in your day dreams.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post and that you have wonderful weeks and that hopefully, I can speak to you soon!<3

University - the Low Down

Hey guys!

I watched this video from Matt Watson and it really made me realise how big a step university is because of the amount of time you spend there and the numerous experiences you have along the way.

It's very easy to forget the scale when you've not got to worry about it for years yet but it's not until it starts getting closer that you realise why it's so daunting and important and why it's such a fundamental stage of your life.

I do really think that his video was immensely helpful in giving general tips on how to pick the right uni for you so don't forget to check the video out here as well as his channel here!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post and I hope to speak to you soon!

Having a backbone

Hey guys! I hope that you're well!

Having a backbone can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people and it only really struck me recently because it made me question whether I have one and whether the fact that my backbone has a questionable existence is really all that important and whether I need to make it more definite.

What made this spring into my mind was a TV show which is all the rage at the moment in England, coming back for its 10th series, the Apprentice. Just to give you guys who haven't heard of it before, the Apprentice features the successful British Entrepreneur Lord Sugar who puts a number of candidates through 12 weeks of gruelling business orientated tasks as two teams in order to find his next business partner. In previous years he's had 12 candidates for 12 weeks, last series he upped it to 16 and this year, to celebrate the 10th birthday of the program, 20 candidates from the start.

At the moment, the series is on its 3rd week, the 4th week being broadcasted on Wednesday here in the UK. In the 2nd week, the teams were asked to produce a type of wearable technology but what happened was, those who had more expertise in the area than others couldn't push their product idea forward enough amongst the hubbub to be able to produce a product that manufacturers would want to purchase. This, Lord Sugar put down to 'not having a backbone'.

This made me think of the way that I feel like I may also have a similar quality in which I try and please everyone in order to not make any enemies, whether that be a frenemy or just a plain old person who hates my guts. I have no idea whether to consider this a flaw because generally the things that you may dispute about in school aren't really worth losing friends over and therefore, should I really be putting my friendships on the line just for a little pride in being right? That I don't think is right in any relationship. Understandably, when it's a question of making money, the bar is a lot higher and the expectations of the teams are as high as can be but the question I have for myself and anyone else who feels like they're kind of like me, do we have the right mentality and would we be able to fight for what is right and risk losing some friends in order to produce something that's the bests? Would we?

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! Whatever you thought, I would love to hear it in the comments and I hope that you have a lovely weekend and I'll speak to you soon!

Inspirations - The Film makers and Photographers

Hey guys! It's great to see you here again!

This was something that just made me so happy and so I thought I would share it with you.

One of my favourite YouTubers and inspirations, Louis Cole (aka FunForLouis) and his friends, also great inspirations of mine Ben Brown, Steve Booker (Blog and YouTube), Will Darbyshire and Nick and Ang Miller are all in NYC at the moment and just the talent that they all have and the beauty of the shots that they're capturing at the moment there are absolutely stunning. Ever since Louis got his new camera, the slow mo shots have been absolutely brilliant! Here are some of them and the videos/links to where you can see all of them :D

'Double Date Night' - 22/10/14

'Double Date Night' - 22/10/14

'Double Date Night' - 22/10/14

'Sunrise & Pennyboard Adventures' - 21/10/14

They also went to go and see Casey Neistat and his studio which are absolutely insane (the vlog is here). His camera collection is well and truly mind-blowing and incredible and to see some of the film-makers that I adore like Jack Harries asking him about the quality of the camera was amazing. It's always great to see who inspires your inspirations and that was just amazing.

Some more screen caps of the vlog just to give you an insight - absolutely amazing:

Casey's punch bag which he uses as a distraction

Ben and Casey take to the rings!

An awesome set up

A giant screen which you can use to see yourself - Ben's funny faces :D

So yeah, this has been something that has inspired me beyond belief this week and just to see all of them getting awesome shots and working together to produce awesome content has made me incredibly happy :D If you guys do have an hour or so to spare, go to Louis' channel and check them out! They're absolutely brilliant and always make my day, especially when he has his friends goofing around too :D

I hope that this has inspired you too! As always, leave your thoughts below, I love to hear them and I hope to speak to you soon!

The Perfect Person for You

Hey guys! I hope you've been well!

I was thinking a while back and now about a topic that Will Darbyshire brought up in his video named 'A Letter to My Future Wife' and it really hit me when he talked about how she was somewhere in the world, growing up, getting on with her life. It struck me that that is true for all of us. We all have someone out there who is probably the best person for us and yet we're, at least for the moment, on completely different paths, living our lives as we normally would. It feels so mundane thinking that someone who can change you so much and make you feel so great is so intrinsically normal. It's both brilliant and amazing.

For me, it was quite a revelation simply because of the 'Prince Charming' stereotype I guess. Fairy tales and all of that jazz. We forget that amazing people do exist and no, they're not going to be perfect but hey, they're real people and do exist and there is a chance you could meet them one day. Isn't that a lovely thought? :D

I just thought I'd share that little bit of hope and sunshine with you and I don't know what you guys think of this information, whether you agree with me that it's a wonderful thought and revelation or whether you think that there's barely any chance of finding someone that's right for you.

Whichever you choose, you can tell me about it or just go along and have a wonderful day! I hope I can speak to you soon!

Passive Aggressiveness - My Thoughts

Hey guys! I hope that you're as well as can be!

Passive aggressiveness was something that has been stirring itself around my mind in a number of ways.
For example, on Thursday, my French class had a debate, in French, about the legalisation of cannabis, just to get us used to replying to each other in French, articulating ourselves and remembering the vocabulary that we've recently come across. According to our teacher, it was the most lively and engaging debate that she'd ever seen from the Year 12 class and I loved it though I came out of the class feeling like, at least during the class, I may have made some frenemies.

As I may have told you before, my French class is the one class where I know the least people and is also the smallest class of the four I have this year with a grand total of 15 people in it. For many people and I can certainly say I fall into this group when I'm not careful, a debate in class can feel quite personal though whatever happens may not be as close to heart as it comes out as. For the cannabis debate, we were split randomly into two teams and that meant that you just had to fight the corner that you were sat at. Sometimes though, it feels as if it can become a matter of who's right and who's able to get the other person down rather than just a matter of the class and that can become problematic when you're trying to make friends with new people. Nevertheless, in this specific case, I haven't had a French lesson since the debate so I'm hoping no lasting damage will have been had because my French class is pretty awesome.

This also leads me on to another thought that stemmed from this from another debate that we were having in my health class, whether giving into do what another person wants to avoid arguments is the best thing to do. For many of us this was definitely a grey area; isn't it better on a small scale to sacrifice the small things so that everything in the bigger picture can move on more swiftly or is it more detrimental to a relationship when the person who's leading forgets that there are limits to what the other person may feel comfortable and within their boundaries to do? In the end, I think it's probably a bit of both but I guess it's always going to be slightly different in every set of circumstances.

Overall, sometimes passive aggressiveness can be good because debating in a formal manner without being rude or saying things out of turn, though it can feel like you're personally attacking another person, it can actually be really good and can really help you develop your character and the way you face defeat and the way that you learn how to not take it personally and how to actually make good friends out of those who you debate with. However, passive aggressiveness in a relationship can be detrimental when it means that one person is constantly having their opinions repressed and their feelings ignored.

So, what do you guys think on this subject? Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments because I'd love to hear them and I'll speak to you guys soon!

p.s. on this note, I did have a little specific picture that came to mind when I thought of this post, so here ya go :)
p.p.s. who knows what film this is from? :o :D