Authors — Sarah Salovaara
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Bond/360 Launches Cinepacks: Pay What You Wish Bundles
Scott previously wrote about and interviewed Bond/360’s CEO Marc Schiller on his decision to bundle and sell their movies via a pay-what-you-wish “Radiohead-esque” model. What began with the “Creativity Bundle,” the packaging of four titles that all dealt with making and creation, now looks to be a recurring initiative, with the company’s introduction of Cinepacks. Through October 23, you can purchase the Sports Docs pack, which allows you to own Medora, Desert Runners, Stephanie in the Water and Doubletime for no less than $1. While this may be a financial gamble, Schiller is certainly capitalizing on the notion of fan engagement, with each collection catering to a specific interest […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 21, 2014 -
When Restoration Met Distribution
As CEO of the Los Angeles-based creative studio and postproduction house Cinelicious, Paul Korver had the unsettling feeling that too many deals were passing him by. The preferred film scanning and restoration vendor for Criterion and Alamo Drafthouse, Cinelicious was also making a name for itself as a digital intermediate supervisor. Touring the festival circuit with the likes of Boyhood and Prince Avalanche, Korver found himself in conversation with various rights holders who were looking to restore films but without the funds to do so. What if, he thought, Cinelicious had a distribution arm to monetize that restoration investment? Thus […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 20, 2014 -
Watch: Film Noir as a Subversion of Melodrama
Noir is a “challenge to dominant values,” according to critic Peter Labuza in this concise visual essay on one of cinephiles’ favorite “modes.” Bridging The Classical Hollywood Cinema with the writings of Linda Williams, Labuza considers film noir as a method of subverting the building blocks of melodrama, thus imbuing its viewers with a “feeling of displacement.” Perhaps most disorienting is that in everything from Mildred Pierce to My Name is Julia Ross, there is no weepy sense of satisfaction for the taking.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 20, 2014 -
Watch: How to Create a Forced Perspective
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.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 17, 2014 -
Watch: The Art of Terrence Malick’s Voiceovers
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.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 15, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Laura Poitras’ CITIZENFOUR
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.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 10, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Josephine Decker’s Thou Wast Mild and Lovely
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.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 9, 2014 -
Watch: Three New Shorts from Errol Morris
“I don’t usually like my own work, but I’m rather proud of these,” tweeted the self-effacing Errol Morris, sharing a link to three new shorts about peace for the New York Times Op-Docs. His eclectic subjects include the Nobel Prize Winners Leymah Gwobee and Lech Walesa, and the nominee Bob Geldorf. Visa hired Morris to shoot the laureates as part of a commercial campaign for the World Cup, and he took the opportunity to conduct extended interviews on activism and widespread change. Head to the Times to view the short documentaries, alongside a long-form introduction by Morris.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 8, 2014 -
Sundance Institute Announces 2014 New Frontier Story Lab Participants
The Sundance Institute has announced the six projects set for this year’s New Frontier Story Lab, a hands-on initiative for developing content that converges at the intersection of “film, visual art, media, live performance, music and technology.” The 2014 creative teams and projects are Karim Ben Khelifa and Chloé Jarry (The Enemy), Dandypunk and Darin Basile (Heart Corps), Tracy Fullerton and Lucas Peterson (Walden, A Game), Braden King and Matthew Moore (Weather), Hasan Minhaj and Greg Walloch (Sakoon/Paint The Town) and Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari (1979 Revolution). Previously supported projects include #PostModem (from 25 New Faces Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva), Kill […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 6, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper
Here’s an effective alternative to the traditionally jam-packed action thriller trailer. The first bumper for Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is structured entirely around a white knuckled do-or-die scenario in which the titular protagonist, played by Bradley Cooper, wagers whether or not to make a kill shot. Based on Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s autobiography and co-starring Sienna Miller, the film opens on Christmas Day, just in time for awards season.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 3, 2014
