Karen’s Opinion

I have been doing some research for this post. I thought I would review the movie hubby and I watched last weekend, All About Steve, but have changed my mind. It was not the best movie and I don’t feel like making this a downer of a post so instead of reviewing the “okay” movie I thought it would be fun to list a bit of Sandra Bullock trivia.

Fist off, Sandra Bullock has a sister. Gesine Bullock -Prodo is the younger sister of Sandra Bullock, whose nose she accidentally broke when they were kids. She sells Macaroon cookies from her own store located on Elm Street in Montpelier, Vermont. The cookies are made from the original French recipe that calls for no coconut. She attended University of Virginia and Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. She is a lawyer and was involved with Fortis Films, the production company owned by Sandra Bullock. She quit the business to pursue her cookie business.

Gesine’s husband is Raymond G. Prado. He is a storyboard artist and has been involved in many productions. He was the storyboard artist for Practical Magic, one of my favorite Sandra Bullock movies. A storyboard artist is able to visualize any stories using quick sketches on paper at any moment. A storyboard artist is also known as an illustrator or visualizer. They are mostly freelance artists, typically hired by art directors and film directors. Deadlines are always tight, and overnight working is very common. In film, a storyboard artist is hired at the beginning of a project. When a storyboard artist is hired by a motion picture company, the artist must break down the scenes of the script into shots which can be filmed. This is done under the supervision of the film’s director in order to insure the director’s vision from the start of the project. Therefore, it can be helpful for the storyboard artist to know the mechanics of filmmaking when assisting the director. As the production proceeds, the storyboards are presented to the cinematographer who is then responsible for bringing that vision to the screen. Film production companies may also hire a storyboard artist to create polished presentation-style storyboards (which might also include sound) which can be used by an executive producer to raise the money to create the film.

Sandra Bullock’s mother, was German opera singer and voice teacher. She taught voice at Mary Washington College in in Fredericksburg, VA for many years. She was born February 12, 1942 and died of cancer in 2000. Sandra lived in Nuremberg until age twelve, where she sang in the opera’s children’s choir at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. She frequently traveled with her mother on her opera tours, and lived in Germany and other parts of Europe for much of her childhood. She is fluent in German. Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child, taking small parts in her mother’s opera productions.

Sandra’s father was John W. Bullock, a voice coach and executive from Alabama. Bullock’s maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist from Nuremberg, Germany.

Bullock married motorcycle builder and Monster Garage host Jesse James on July 16, 2005. They met when Bullock arranged for her ten-year-old godson to meet James as a Christmas present.

Sandra donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti following the Haiti devastating earthquake earlier this month.

And there you have it. A bit of Sandra Bullock Trivia for your day. Oh yeah, my favorite movie of hers is Practical Magic with The Blind Side coming in a close second most favorite.