Distance from Camera x Scale of Model=Distance between Foregrounded Model and Background. That simple bit of arithmetic, as illustrated in the latest Shanks FX episode, is all you need to achieve an accurate “forced perspective.” The technique, recognizable from Back to the Future and myriad 80’s blockbusters, allows for the manipulation of objects to appear larger/smaller or farther/closer than they actually are. In other words, it’s VFX done on the (relative) cheap.
The following is a sponsored editorial post from LG. For editors looking to limit the number of screens they’re looking at, LG’s 21:9 ratio 34UC97 monitor is an exciting new option. At 34 inches wide with QHD resolution of 3440×1440, the 34UC97 provides 2.4 times more pixel power than a 16:9 monitor with full HD resolution. Editors worried about the color shift that can occur on the edges of ultrawide monitors won’t have that problem with the 34UC97, whose IPS panel is specifically designed to prevent color inconsistencies at the corners caused by VA monitors. That means you don’t have […]
For many years one of the public faces of Los Angeles’ New Beverly Cinema, today Julia Marchese posted an unnerving account of her experience since Quentin Tarantino became the theater’s owner and programmer. It’s worth reading in full, but the gist is that Tarantino’s team put inexplicably tight social media muzzles on all staff and effectively fired (“demoted”) Marchese less than two weeks after her promotion to a managerial role. In short: her hopes dashed for a New Beverly 35mm premiere of her documentary Out of Print — about the importance of 35mm repertory cinema in general and the theater […]
They’re a tricky thing, voiceovers, and arguably no one utilizes them as frequently and as effectively as Terrence Malick. Where many filmmakers deploy them as an expository device, Malick allows voiceovers to deepen his characters’ perspectives through literal and abstract observations. This video essay from Kevin B. Lee and Scott Tobias at the Dissolve analyzes the evolution of voiceovers in Malick’s films, from a young Sissy Spacek and Linda Manz in Badlands and Days of Heaven to the layered choruses of The Tree of Life and To The Wonder.
This video has been up for a while, but it serves well as a primer for the inexperienced on how to conceal lavalier microphones. With the opening warning that you’re better off not doing that at all, video expert/enthusiast Izzy Hyman demonstrates seven ways to conceal a lavalier microphone on your person while keeping it from making distracting crackling sounds when it brushes against fabric. Starting with a button-down shirt and tie for extra concealment options, he eventually strips down to a t-shirt to show that even there, hiding the mic is possible. Thanks to No Film School for the […]
The video’s issued by Adobe itself, so take the endorsements contained therein with more than a few grains of salt. Still, for those interested in David Fincher’s ever-evolving post-production process, here’s a little over five minutes of his Gone Girl post-production team talking about their all-Adobe workflow. The big takeaway is how this integrated workflow has made it easier to incorporate f/x into the image sooner rather than later, eliminating the sprawl of coordinating efforts from special effects houses spread out all over and accelerating everybody’s timeline.
Ahead of its world premiere in the Main Slate at NYFF tonight, Radius-TWC has released the first trailer for the Edward Snowden documentary, CITIZENFOUR. Directed by Laura Poitras, who, along with The Guardian‘s Glenn Greenwald was the first journalist to be contacted in what would become the NSA leak, CITIZENFOUR purports to tell Snowden’s side of the story. Poitras was years into filming a documentary on post-9/11 surveillance when she reworked the narrative to incorporate her interview sessions with Snowden. Radius releases the film in New York and Los Angeles on October 24.
IFP’s brand new Screen Forward initiative, which offers filmmakers a one-week theatrical run at the Media Center in Dumbo, is now open for submissions. The series kicks off on October 17 with Onur Tukel’s Summer of Blood, followed by former 25 New Face Josephine Decker’s Butter on the Latch and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely on November 14. Here’s the first trailer for the latter title, still making the festival rounds in London this week.
Kevin B. Lee’s new video takes the top 30 documentaries of all time (at least as voted upon in Sight & Sound‘s poll earlier this year) and stitches them together in reverse order, building from #30 (Leviathan) to #1 (The Man with the Movie Camera) by finding a logical chain of association from one film to the next. The on-duty policeman in Chronicle of a Summer) who refuses to talk about his personal happiness on the job (off-duty he might have given a different answer) sets up the recreated killing of a cop in The Thin Blue Line, whose night-and-fog-machine […]
For those interested in using a LUT (lookup table) to obtain a more filmic look, our friends at No Film School have drawn attention to Koji Color’s new suite, which attempts to preserve the appearances of six different 35mm film stocks. The program works with most NLE and post applications, and above we’ve got test footage shot by Paul Schefz. It has a strong look; whether it succeeds at preserving 35mm’s textures and colors exactly is obviously up for anybody who wants to debate that. For those convinced enough to buy, the No Film School link above will allow you […]