FESTIVAL ROUNDUP



 

ResFest 1998

In part, the term "digital" derives from the stroking of keys by fingers, or "digits" — of course, when used to explain a "digital computer," the term involves the use of a machine that decodes binary information represented as "digits," or numbers. Both are important distinctions to consider when trying to understand the concept and explosive evolution of digital filmmaking. Computer keyboards are an increasingly important tool in the contemporary creation of films. In post-production, an overwhelming number of movies use non-linear editing systems such as an AVID or a Media 100. And this year, distributors such as Strand, Artisan and Zeitgeist nabbed new 35mm features shot with digital video cameras. ResFest, the annual touring digital film festival, offers an important peek at the latest ways that technology is affecting film and video works.

"Never before has the opportunity existed for so many creative people to have the access and the means available to express themselves in the motion picture arts," explained ResFest Festival Director Jonathan Wells and Managing Director John Scalise in their event’s program. Indeed as technology evolves, makers increasingly rely on and experiment with digital tools.

Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta's Roadhead

Three hundred entries were submitted to ResFest organizers for the 1998 Tour which stopped in London and Los Angeles in August, headed to San Francisco in September and concludes in New York City in October. Submissions were three times higher than last year, a sign that the field is widening.

ResFest would appear to be expanding to handle the greater use of digital technology. Back again for the ’98 tour is a program of short films, but a new section of longform shorts has also been added, Cinema Electronica (a showcase for the convergence of the sonic and visual arts) returns, as does a series of panels on the future of filmmaking, and notably three feature-length films (Bennett Miller’s The Cruise, Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s The Last Broadcast, and Iara Lee’s Modulations) are leading the tour.

"ResFest is committed to showcasing artists that are looking for new ways of making more personal, intimate and challenging works," stated Wells and Scalise, their comments resonate when surveying ResFest’s feature work — three movies for which a ResFest spot is only part of a wider release. Miller’s documentary portrait of a New York City tour guide, which was shot on miniDV, off-line edited digitally, and ultimately transferred to 35mm, was picked up by Artisan Entertainment this summer, screens at the Toronto Film Festival and is headed to theaters this fall. Iara Lee’s doc Modulations, shot around the world on digital and analog video and film before being bumped to 35mm, debuted at Sundance, screened in Berlin, and was recently picked up for release by Strand. Meanwhile Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s $900 pseudo-documentary The Last Broadcast, which was shot on miniDV/Hi-8/8mm/VHS with post-production done entirely on desktop computers, is headed for a week run in a handful of theaters in October through a groundbreaking satellite broadcast to movie screens.

"While the digital age has brought about a proliferation of wonderful tools," offered Wells and Scalise in their festival program intro, "It is important to us that they remain an aspect of this festival, not the focus. For it is still true that great films come out of great ideas, and not from new tools and techniques." Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta’s Roadhead works on both levels. Shot on miniDV during a roadtrip from New York City to Austin, the digitally animated short documentary offers a unique view of the random people that the filmmakers encountered, and interviewed, along the way. The footage was animated and manipulated with a proprietary software developed by Sabiston. The crowd-pleasing end result is without a doubt one of the highlights of the tour. TV viewers may recall a recent Pallotta/Sabiston collaboration that used the same technology. Dubbed, Project Incognito, the series of shorts depicted an array of interview subjects and was used as animated interstitials on MTV. Other longform shorts screened at ResFest were Michael Almereyda’s Pixelvision production, The Rocking Horse Winner and Naked Pavement, a short documentary about photographer Spencer Tunick.

Less accessible in a narrative sense were the projects included in the primary Shorts program and in the Cinema Electronica section. "Artists from widely varied backgrounds such as graphic design, illustration, and music are giving their vision motion through the use of computer technology," declared Wells and Scalise. Most intriguing were the short-subject music videos in the Electronica program. Among the standouts were the two Chris Cunningham works that served as bookend for the electronica section. Cunningham’s opening video, Come On My Selector, set in a home for mentally disturbed children in Osaka, Japan, depicts a crafty young girl who captures a security guard and conducts a brainswap between the man and her dog, set to the music of Squarepusher. Meanwhile, Cunningham’s closing video for Aphex Twin’s Come to Daddy (an MTV video award nominee for its special effects) offers nightmarish images that begin with an elderly woman walking her dog, and concludes with a human-like creature that emerges from within a television set. Also arresting were the grids of images in Carlos Javier Gomez de Llarena’s Visionary CCS, a montage of visuals shot in Caracas, Venezuela and set to the music of Plastikman. On the much more experimental side were some of the projects that screened in the Shorts program, giving viewers a sampling of digital desktop software and techniques, including Adobe After Effects, Softimage 3D, Adobe Photoshop, and post-production with Adobe Premiere, Media 100 or AVID technology. Greg Fadell, Peter Wardowski, and Matt Zacharias’ Max, a cleverly shot seven-minute military battle among action figures, was a big hit with the L.A. opening-night crowd.

Saturday afternoon at the DGA in L.A. welcomed the latest installment in the tour’s series of panel discussions on the "Future of Filmmaking." Jonathan Wells introduced director and visual effects supervisor Scott Billups, designer at Digital Domain Marc Leidy, director Robert Weaver, and filmmakers Bennett Miller and Iara Lee for a discussion about how technology is affecting the process of filmmaking as well as the inherent advantages and challenges. While those in the audience that came for an introduction to the field were left rather puzzled, others used the opportunity to inquire about the latest technological advancements. Billups advocated that makers consider creating a "self-contained" PAL environment to guarantee a more seamless "up-res" to 35mm, while Miller and Lee compared notes on their experiences with digital video production and post-production, discussing what can sometimes be a costly and frustrating process. "Baywatch" TV series director Weaver explained how digital desktop "pre-visualization" software has become a valuable tool when working with show set designers.

Of course, in some cases, the reasons for using digital technology are rather generic. "I looked for any way to remove people from the process," quipped Bennett Miller who was the one-man crew on The Cruise.

"I used to like to work with people," commented Robert Weaver, "And then I started doing ‘Baywatch’."



 
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