Authors — Sarah Salovaara
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Watch: Boyhood Behind the Scenes Featurette
As Boyhood continues to steamroll the Critic’s Awards, here’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes look from Hulu at the 12 year production. Linklater discusses everything from the conception of the project and its autobiographical elements, to the evolution of his working relationship with Ellar Coltrane, and the visual consistency of the film. The short also features interviews with Patricia Arquette Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater and Ethan Hawke from Year One to Year 12.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 9, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows
David Robert Mitchell’s genre juggernaut, It Follows, continues its year on the festival circuit as a just-announced selection of Sundance’s Midnight program. On the heels of said announcement, we now have our first official look at a (French) teaser. The horror film concerns a teenaged girl in a Detroit suburb who is stalked by a sexually transmitted phantom, but as these things are, the less you know going into it, the better.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 8, 2014 -
Watch: :: kogonada Compiles Criterion Designs
Criterion Collection recently put out the coffee table book to end all coffee table books, Criterion Designs. A compilation of the illustrations, sketches and concept art behind the label’s impeccable covers and graphics, the book presents an inside look at the highly elaborate design process. Our recent 25 New Face :: kogonada has created a nice bumper for Designs, with seamless cuts between the films and their illustrations, from Charlie Chaplin to Wes Anderson. Check it out above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 5, 2014 -
Watch: How to Highlight Depth of Field
As a two dimensional medium, film employs a handful of techniques to convey a greater depth of field than what exists in a given frame. In this handy video, cinematographer Matthew Rosen breaks down his five favorite ways to highlight depth, through lighting, focus, perspective, parallax, and occlusion. The dolly effect, which Rosen argues is perhaps most effective in relating depth of field to an audience, is in fact a combination of parallax and occlusion.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 4, 2014 -
Short Film: Ferguson NYC Protests, Scored by Dev Hynes
In the days following the Grand Jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson in the murder of Michael Brown, protests and marches were held throughout the country in solidarity with the people of Ferguson. In New York, crowds wound their way through middle and lower Manhattan, across the bridges, and into Brooklyn. This short film from the music video director Aaron Stewart-Ahn, set to a piano tune from Dev Hynes, captures an evening of protests, with some beautiful, rankling imagery: white people pushing against the crowds as they stare into his camera; bus passengers with their hands held high, mirroring […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 3, 2014 -
Birdman, Citizenfour Top the Gotham Independent Film Awards
One of the more enjoyable aspects of the Gotham Independent Film Awards is that there aren’t really any politics involved. The nominees are selected by critics, and the juries are comprised of filmmakers and actors, resulting in your fair share of wild cards, while the rest of awards season continually awards the pre-ordained “frontrunner.” Last year, it was great to see Inside Llewyn Davis take home the top prize, even if it was scarcely nominated elsewhere. Last evening, at Cipriani Wall Street, there were a few surprises, but I’d wager that Julianne Moore and Michael Keaton are going to continue apace all the way […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 2, 2014 -
Top 10 Round-Up: John Waters, Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight and Sound
Year end top 10 lists are, for some reason, an inflammatory exercise. There are those who balk at the notion of reducing 365-ish days of output to tiers, others who seem to pride themselves on plucking unreleased titles from obscurity, along with the underlying question of authority — as though a given arrangement must be the chosen one. In any event, I just think they’re fun, and few, year after year, are as pithy as John Waters’ list for Artforum. Unsurprisingly, Maps to the Stars and Nymphomaniac make the cut, but he also gives a shout-out to the more middle of the road charmer Gloria, […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 1, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It’s the reboot round two. A year in advance of its December release, Disney has given us the first glimpse of the 7th episode in the Star Wars series, The Force Awakens. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the film picks up 30 years after Return of the Jedi. There’s not a whole lot to glean from, but presumably enough to get the diehards excited.
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 28, 2014 -
2014 “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Series Announced
IFP, Filmmaker and the Museum of Modern Art are pleased to present this year’s slate for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, the annual series that spotlights films currently without theatrical distribution. Screening at MoMA from December 12 – 15, this year’s five films are Approaching the Elephant, Evaporating Borders, The Mend, L for Leisure, and Uncertain Terms. Past selections include It Felt Like Love, Frownland, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty and Sun Don’t Shine, all of which eventually secured distribution. Read below for a full description of each of this year’s titles. Approaching the Elephant 2014. USA. Directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Little Falls, NJ, 2007: the new Teddy […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 26, 2014 -
Watch: Tarkovsky Behind the Scenes of The Sacrifice
A newly restored print of Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice wraps its run at BAM tonight, so now’s as good a time as any to take in Directed by Tarkovsky. A compilation of 50+ hours of behind the scenes footage shot by d.p. Arne Carlsson, along with excerpts from Tarkovsky’s book Sculpting in Time, editor Michal Leszczylowski’s documentary is an insightful window into the Russian great’s exacting process. Especially intriguing is his language barrier work with the actors, of whom he writes, “Cinema demands the truth of a state of mind that cannot be concealed, and the director has to induce the right state of mind in […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 25, 2014
