Person to Person
Modern cinema, deconstructed to its most basic elements, is the art of combining light and sound to tell stories. If you’re reading this, chances are you can name five cinematographers. But how many production sound mixers can you name? To find out what it’s like to be in this essential line of work — and to hear their hard-earned advice on getting great sound — I spoke with three sound mixers working in independent film about a job that is, by its very nature, the sort of thing audiences only tend to notice if there’s a problem. Gillian Arthur, 30, has been working as a sound mixer and boom operator for almost 10 years. Her recent sound mixing jobs include… Read more
By Audrey Ewell
In the three years since its founding in 2014, San Francisco-based Kaleidoscope has made itself a major player in the virtual reality landscape. The company began by hosting exhibition events for new VR pieces, which they’ve done more than 40 times across the world. Now, with major film festivals like Sundance and Tribeca increasingly filling that need, Kaleidoscope has turned its attention to production. Late last month the company announced the launch of a funding platform to connect independent VR creators with the financing sources that could fund their work and potentially turn virtual reality into a more consistently robust investment. The new project is another step for Kaleidoscope from exhibition to production. The company has already executive produced various projects… Read more
By Randy Astle
Mister Universo
You wouldn’t typically catch me recommending a movie on the basis of its crowd-pleasingness or heart-warmingness, dead or alive. But we’re living in warped times, and it’s a travesty that Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s crowd-pleasing, heart-warming not-quite-documentary feature Mister Universo — which I caught by happenstance at last year’s Festival International du Film de Marrakech — didn’t have the good fortune of securing a US distribution deal after playing festivals around the world last year. The movie stars Tairo Caroli, a 19-year-old lion tamer from a real-life traveling circus in Italy, as himself. Among his few prized possessions is an iron horseshoe which, the movie would have us believe, was hand-bent by veteran muscleman Arthur Robin — the first black… Read more
By Steve Macfarlane
Cubby
IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project), Filmmaker‘s parent organization, today announced its 2017 IFP Week feature film slate, highlighting over 110 narrative and documentary projects in development from over 15 countries. This follows the earlier announcement of 37 television, digital and web series in development that have also been selected for the annual event. Combined, over 145 projects will be presented in DUMBO, Brooklyn September 17-21, 2017. “This year’s feature film program doesn’t shy away from tackling the controversial and key issues of our time. Art often reflects the times we live in, and this slate certainly represents a multitude of points of view and perspectives on America today,” says IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente. “Through the lens of race, religious expression, disability,… Read more
By Filmmaker Staff
Angry Black Women
IFP, Filmmaker‘a parent organization, announced today the more than 35 television, digital and app-based series that will be included in the 39th annual IFP Week, taking place September 17-21, 2017 in Brooklyn. For the last several years, IFP has been broadening its mandate to include both script and non-fiction series of all formats and genres. This year’s IFP Project Forum, writes IFP in a press release, includes “series from veteran and new creators, with 70% of works at the scripted/early development stage and 30% with independently shot pilots. Of the series featured, 51% are made by women and overall, 74% of the series are made by diverse creative teams. IFP’s Project Forum is the United States’ only international co-production market… Read more
By Scott Macaulay
True Conviction
There’s an argument happening at the bar of the Texas Theater. No, it’s not about politics, as one might guess with a liberal film crowd taking over a small pocket of Texas. This is Oak Cliff, the blossoming cultural community north of the Dallas Trinity river, and no, the conversation is not about karaoke either. The Oak Cliff Film Festival opening night party was at Barbara’s Pavilion, a dive bar in a re-purposed home. As the film festival crowd rolled in around midnight, badges and conversations about Lemon and 35mm making the nerd fumes quite potent, the argument was about whether or not the karaoke night should move to a new spot next year — a more “exclusive” venue where… Read more
By Meredith Alloway
Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman
I have to admit I can no longer distinguish 35mm film from high end digital cameras when I go to the movies. I can spot 16mm or anamorphic lenses, but the line between digital and 35mm celluloid has become impossibly blurred. Wonder Woman cinematographer Matthew Jensen can still spot the subtleties, but for Jensen the aesthetics of film are only one of the reasons he enjoys working in that format. “It’s very hard to tell the difference, especially when you’ve gone through a DI (digital intermediate) process and you’re projecting digitally. We have some shots that are digital in Wonder Woman and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell which is which,” said Jensen. “I think film is kinder… Read more
By Matt Mulcahey
Listen to This: Independent Sound Mixers Talk On-Set Production Tips, Career Strategy and Work-Life Balance
Jul 24, 2017
Kaleidoscope Launches New VR Marketplace
Jul 24, 2017
How Viral Video Contests Led to Will Blank’s Beautiful Fantasy Short, Limbo
Jul 19, 2017
IFP Announces Series Lineup to be Presented at 2017 IFP Week
Jul 19, 2017
Inclusive Feelings at the Oak Cliff Film Festival
Jul 19, 2017
Twin Peaks: The Return: The Cult of Faith
Jul 17, 2017
The Making is the Dream: A Filmmaker Figures Out What It’s All About
Jul 14, 2017
Watch: “The Invisible Thelma Schoonmaker,” Martin Scorsese’s Editor
Jul 12, 2017
Five Ideas Regarding Twin Peaks: The Return (Parts 7-9)
Jul 11, 2017
Web Series Trailer Watch: Let Me Die a Nun
