Authors — Sarah Salovaara
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Watch: Breaking Down David Fincher’s Directorial Techniques
While the gender politics behind David Fincher’s much-anticipated Gone Girl adaptation may be muddled, the “dark lord of cinema”‘s direction is as crystalline and precise as ever. Tony Zhou, in his latest Every Frame A Painting, examines how Fincher manages to make even the most expository exchanges cinematic by using framing to relate character dynamics. He also takes a close look at Fincher’s faithfulness to the tripod, sparing use of close-ups, and almost inhuman camera movements. It’s a must watch for anyone who values the abilities of visual language.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 2, 2014 -
6 Lessons on Filmmaking From Darren Aronofsky
Last evening, The New Museum held a conversation between Lynne Tillman and Darren Aronofsky as part of their annual Stuart Regen Visionaries Series. Tillman began with an excerpt from Genesis, a winking reference to Aronofsky’s Noah as well as the frequent depiction of beginnings — of identities and obsession — in his work. Over the next hour and a half, the two parsed through his filmography in chronological order, weighing in on themes and construction. Below are a few major takeaways from the discussion, and if time is not of the essence, the full version can be viewed above. Using Format to Create Cohesion Per […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 1, 2014 -
NYFF ’14: Heaven Knows What, Eden, The Look of Silence
Josh and Benny Safdie’s filmmaking sensibilities are perhaps best summed up by the finale of 2009’s Daddy Longlegs. Unable to hire movers for their spur of the moment decamp to Roosevelt Island, Lenny (Ronald Bronstein) tasks his sons with hoisting their refrigerator onto his back, bootleg straps in hand. Atop Lenny’s spine, the near industrial-sized fridge is then caught between the closing doors of the tram, culminating in a moment that is hilarious, pitiful, and unexpectedly affecting. For years, the Safdies had been perfecting this brand of physical comedy, verisimilitude, cheeky humor and creeping sadness, all rendered on film with a handheld long lens, until 2012’s Lenny Cooke coaxed them outside their comfort […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 30, 2014 -
Steven Soderbergh Re-imagines Raiders of the Lost Ark as a Masterclass in Staging
A little belated in posting the latest installment from Steven Soderbergh’s guerrilla film school, but better than never, as the saying goes. Here, Soderbergh sets Steven Spielberg’s seminal blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark to an electronic tinged soundtrack and black-and-white wash. His reasoning is that a dialogue-free version allows the film to be appreciated as a master class in the elusive technique of staging. In my book, Fassbinder is the top of the heap as far as blocking goes, but Soderbergh makes the case for the other Steven in the following terms: I value the ability to stage something well because when […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 29, 2014 -
NYFF ’14: The Wonders, ’71, Goodbye to Language
Now entering its 52nd year, the New York Film Festival tends to benefit and suffer from its fixed position as last stop on the fall festival circuit. The obvious pro would be that the discerning selection committee, headed up by Kent Jones, is allowed to cherry pick whatever they deem to be the best of the year; the con, at least for those keeping up with film criticism, is that the majority of these titles arrive pre-packaged with their own neat and tidy media narratives. (A year later, I’m still overhearing men debating the virtues of Blue Is The Warmest Color’s sex scenes.) As such, it’s nearly […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 26, 2014 -
Watch: Werner Herzog on What Makes a Filmmaker
“I think cinema can express our dreams more than any other medium,” begins Werner Herzog in this characteristically quotable conversation at Indiana University. Herzog talks his influences, or lack there of, as well as his belief that his written work will outlast his films. Perhaps it has something to do with his axiom that, “If you don’t read, you’ll never be a filmmaker.” That, and more, above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 25, 2014 -
How to Address the Gender Divide in Filmmaking
Recently, I realized that Kelly Reichardt is the only working American female filmmaker with a body of work I can wholeheartedly exalt. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of films to admire that are directed by women in this country, but that those films so often stand on their own, as that director’s first and last achievement. There is no “late period” to debate, because these women are rarely making it on to their second or third feature. TV money and exposure factor, sure, but even the standard bearer success story that is Lena Dunham never directed another after Tiny Furniture. Instead, Judd […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 25, 2014 -
Nick McCarthy Talks The Tank: a Grassroots Screening Venue, Open to Submissions
New York City may not want for nascent filmmakers, but said filmmakers are certainly in need of more grassroots screening venues. Fortuitously, The Tank, a Midtown West arts presenter that specializes in comedy, dance, music and storytelling, is rebooting its film program, dubbed Filmmaker Breakthroughs, this October. Headed up by critic Nick McCarthy, the programming seeks to showcase exciting new talent across short and long form narrative, documentary and animated formats. A one-time haven for Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha, as well as Hal Hartley and Jem Cohen’s early works, McCarthy hopes the latest iteration of The Tank’s film arm […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 24, 2014 -
Watch: Sarah Polley Interviews Greta Gerwig for the Criterion Edition of Frances Ha
Kudos to Vice for commandeering a handful of Criterion extras and uploading them to their YouTube channel, Conversations Inside the Criterion Collection. Their most recent addition, from the Frances Ha boxset, is a conversation between Sarah Polley and Greta Gerwig on the process of creating both the titular character and her written foundations. Polley approaches the interview as both a filmmaker and (former) actor, posing astute observations on the registry of Gerwig’s interior monologues, as well as the nuts and bolts behind the film’s climactic dance sequence. The other videos in the series — Wexler on Medium Cool, Polanski on Rosemary’s Baby and Scorsese on Rossellini — […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 22, 2014 -
Eleanor Burke Receives IFP Durga Entertainment Filmmaker Grant
Last Sunday evening at Lincoln Center, Eleanor Burke was awarded the first ever IFP Durga Entertainment Filmmaker Grant, which offers a $20,000 prize to an IFP alum who juggles filmmaking and parenting. Burke attended the 2009 IFP Filmmaker Labs with her debut Stranger Things, and the 2012 No Borders Co-Production Market with Bright as Day, which Burke says is “about an aging anti-social wanderer and a teenage truant who band together to save an abandoned horse.” The script also took part in the Sundance Producing Lab and the Hamptons Screenwriting Lab. Concurrently, Burke is prepping Through and Through, which will participate in the Venice Biennale College Cinema in […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 19, 2014
