Authors — Randy Astle
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DIY Multiplatform Storytelling: Kal on the Tokyo Sally Film and App
Tokyo Sally is the second narrative feature by director-cinematographer-editor Kal, after his 2010 debut Superhero in the Rain. He’s also a prolific producer of music videos, documentaries, and spots for companies like the Food Network. The Tokyo Sally project, which features Anna Adams, consists of one 60-minute film and a related app, Tokyo Sally: Lost Highway, both of which are nearing completion. Kal envisions the film as the first in a series of ten pictures that will explore different aspects of horror and suspense films; each will be self-contained but, when seen together, will relate to a larger story. The film […]
by Randy Astle on Oct 7, 2013 -
The Interactive Mic: Etienne Paquette & Alexandre Lupien on Mégaphone
Mégaphone, an interactive project currently running in Montreal, is designed for a world that’s forgetting that the word social doesn’t necessarily have to precede media. The project seeks to remove the fiber optic interface that currently connects so many of us and move public discourse back into a public space–that is, somewhere outdoors with plenty of foot traffic. Thus it’s built around a pre-Industrial Era public speaking model like Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner in London: anyone can take to the mic to discuss any topic they like (though there is an MC and suggested time slots for certain subjects to […]
by Randy Astle on Oct 4, 2013 -
Elaine McMillion and Jeff Soyk on Hollow
Elaine McMillion, one of Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces of Independent Film for 2013, has been keeping busy since launching her interactive doc Hollow, about life in the hard-hit county of McDowell in south-western West Virginia, in June at http://hollowdocumentary.com. It immediately earned praise and a sizeable audience; she’s since presented for events and organizations like StoryCode and Independent Film Week, and Hollow continues racking up the positive reviews. The project includes an html5 site with dozens of short videos, photographs, text, user-generated content on Instagram, and content such as videos produced by the film’s subjects, many of whom the Hollow […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 26, 2013 -
“Pull the Threads until it Unravels”: Advice from TFI’s Fashion in Film Event
Director and cinematographer Christina Voros nicely summed up the difference between the fashion industry and the film industry at the Tribeca Film Institute’s Fashion in Film event Friday: “Fashion is sort of antithetical to film. The fashion industry is all about making sure the seams don’t show, that every thread is in place. Documentary is about pulling on the threads until it unravels.” She was speaking of the process of filming her second documentary feature The Director, about Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini, but the sentiment was reflected in films and discussions throughout the two-day event. At first blush the […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 24, 2013 -
“We Treat the De-Aging Process Like Plastic Surgery”: Edson Williams on +1‘s Visual Effects
You may not know Edson Williams’ name, but odds are you’ve seen his work. Since the mid-’90s he’s built his career not behind the camera but behind a monitor, creating special effects for well over 100 of the most visually arresting films of the last twenty years, from high-concept films like Titanic, Avatar, Hugo, Prometheus, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Iron Man, Skyfall, and J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot to just as many films where the visual effects are much more subtle, including Cruel Intentions, The Princess Diaries 2, The Devil Wears Prada, J. Edgar, and […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 20, 2013 -
Gabriel Gomez & Julien Melendez on Robert Black and Possessed
Twenty years ago I spent a week with a Boy Scout troop riding a horse through the canyons of Moab in southeast Utah, feeling like young Indiana Jones in the opening sequence of The Last Crusade. Still, the red rocks, the brush, and the steep cliff walls created an ambiance unlike anywhere else, even the better-known national parks in the area like Arches and Zion and Bryce Canyon. While I was riding around half naively admiring the views, cutting edge musicians like Robert Black, a bassist and founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, were discovering Moab’s acoustic […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 6, 2013 -
Indie Film Truly Underground: The 2013 Toronto Urban Film Festival
TIFF isn’t the only festival opening in Toronto this week. For the last six years, the high-profile screenings along King Street West have been accompanied by a cadre of short silent videos screening on monitors in the city’s underground subway stations. The Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF, a nice titular contrast with TIFF) draws submissions from all over the world and — due to its restricted format as much as in spite of it — elicits some of the most innovative filmmaking on show in the city. It’s also seen by thousands more viewers than its above-ground counterpart. This year’s […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 5, 2013 -
Developing Original Horror: Jeffrey Grellman on Writing Mermaid Down
Writing in a genre like horror is a balancing act between striking all the traditional chords and finding a new way to engage — and frighten — your audience. There are certain plot points that more or less must be reached, but how that’s done is where the audience gets all its enjoyment and where all the writer’s creativity comes into play. There’s been lots of engagingly original horror films coming out lately — The Conjuring, You’re Next, etc. — but to specifically discuss the writing process I wanted to talk with someone who’s still at the development phase. Jeffrey […]
by Randy Astle on Aug 26, 2013 -
Jake Price on Unknown Spring and Documenting the Japanese Tsunami
Jake Price may primarily be known as a photojournalist, working for outlets like the BBC and the New York Times. But with his latest project, Unknown Spring, he’s strengthening a new identity as an immersive, interactive documentary filmmaker. As his thoughts below illustrate, however, he sees photojournalism, traditional film, and online interactive media all as an extension of nonfiction storytelling–different tools to explore In March 2011 he journeyed to the Tohoku region of Japan to document the devastation left in the wake of the Pacific tsunami. That project eventually became an html5 website featuring photographs, audio recordings, full-motion video, and […]
by Randy Astle on Aug 22, 2013 -
The Essential Guide to Webfests
Compared to film festivals, webfests — “film” festivals geared specifically toward web series (like Mission Backup Earth, pictured above) and other online videos — are definitely the new kids on the block, but they’re fast coming to fill the role for web video that names like Venice and Cannes did for film decades ago. And they’re springing up much faster — 10 of the thirteen events described below are premiering in 2013 or ’14 — making it appropriate to survey what’s out there, how filmmakers can get their content shown and who’s eligible. TO WebFest (Toronto): Announced Tuesday by the Independent […]
by Randy Astle on Jul 26, 2013
