Authors — Scott Macaulay
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Bryant Crenshaw, Gummo Co-Star and Nashville Icon, R.I.P.
Bryant Crenshaw, the local Nashville icon who co-starred in Harmony Korine’s Gummo, died Thursday night after being struck by a car. He was crossing Murfreesboro Road in Nashville around 7:00 PM when he was struck by a pick-up truck, local news reported. He was 42. The dwarf actor was best known for his appearance in two of Gummo‘s most indelible scenes — the last two shot for the film on its storied, 19-hour final day of production. In the first, Crenshaw, clad in an “Israel” t-short, arm wrestles and beats skater Mark Gonzalez. In the second, he hugs it out […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 7, 2015 -
How to Hack Google Cardboard VR into a DSLR or Phone Lens
Google Cardboard was a hot piece of Sundance sort-of-swag at Sundance this year. (“Can you get me Google Cardboard,” several friends emailed me during the fest.) I happened to check out one of the pieces designed for Cardboard, Chris Milk’s Evolution of Verse, a beautifully disorienting lakeside mountain-scape with an enveloping, 2001-ish finale. But, if you’re like Slamdance co-founder Dan Mirvish, and “the whole virtual reality thing gives you an aneurysm,” you can hack Google Cardboard into a rather arty-in-a-low-fi way 35mm lens. Check it out above.
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2015 -
SXSW Announces the 145 Features Playing in its 2015 Lineup
SXSW announced today the 145 features being show in its upcoming SXSW Film Conference, March 13-21 in Austin, TX. From a record number of 2,385 feature submissions will be shown new work by directors Hannah Fidell, Benjamin Dickinson, Patrick Wang, Ron Nyswaner, Alex Sichel, Ondi Timoner and Alex Garland, among many others. The festival’s Episodics strand continues, with five new web series being shown in this second year. Of the large number of submissions, Festival Director Janet Pierson said, ““When faced with a record 2,400 feature submissions, we had every intention to cut back on the total number in our […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: High Maintenance, Season Two
The back half of the second season of our favorite web comedy series about weed delivery, High Maintenance, drops on Thursday, and the trailer is above. If you’re a regular Filmmaker reader you’ll know creators Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair from their inclusion on our 25 New Faces list in 2013. They landed on the list based on the first episodes of High Maintenance, which has since taken off (check out the list of plaudits at the head of this trailer). For the second season, Blichfeld and Sinclair have added production polish by virtue of a deal with Vimeo, and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 3, 2015 -
Cinematographer Martijn van Broekhuizen on Shooting Sundance Horror Drama, The Hallow
Among the positive qualities cited by Variety in their review of the Sundance-premiering horror film The Hallow was the cinematography of Marijn van Broekhuizen, with Geoff Berkshire writing that it “plays with shadow and light in eerie, evocative ways and beautifully embellishes the script’s fairy-tale quality.” Below, van Broekhuizen answers questions about being hired by director Corin Hardy, basing his lighting schemes around backlight and the challenges of night shooting. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Van […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 2, 2015 -
Cinematographer Adam Hobbs on Shooting Sundance Competition Doc, Finders Keepers
Premiering this past week at the Sundance Film Festival was Finders Keepers, the tale of an eccentric Southern feud pitting two social outsiders against each other for the possession of a severed foot. Here, cinematographer Adam Hobbs discusses the challenges of mixed camera formats, long days and natural lighting, and choosing to shoot with prime lenses. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Hobbs: In 2010 I was working in commercial production, A close friend told me about […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 2, 2015 -
Watch: Sundance Doc Winner Crystal Moselle Directs Urban Ballet in “Shapeshifting”
Just a few months before she won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for her documentary, The Wolf Pack, Crystal Moselle gained attention for this hypnotic video for the band Color War. Three teenage dancers (Cassiel Eatock, Isabel Ball and Elizabeth Van Genderen) turn the parks, streets and underground parking garages of New York into their own ballet stage while Moselle’s camera lurks behind. Check it out above.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2015 -
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The Wolf Pack Top 2015 Sundance Film Festival Awards
In a ceremony tonight hosted by Tig Notaro and filled with special jury awards, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and The Wolf Pack took home the two top prizes — the Dramatic and Documentary U.S. Grand Jury Prizes. The former is an Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s adaptation of Jesse Andrews’ young adult novel, a film that picked up steam throughout the festival as word spread about its fusion of slacker comedy and heartfelt emotion. Fox Searchlight won a bidding war for the film. The Wolf Pack is Crystal Moselle’s bizarre and troubling documentary about six kids who find escape through […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2015 -
Short Film: Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please, by Jillian Mayer
Filmmaker and Borscht co-honcho Jillian Mayer literalizes herself into a piece of internet clickbait in Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please, a witty short that screened in December as part of Miami’s Borscht Film Festival. Check it out above, and read more about Mayer in our 25 New Faces profile of her and partner Lucas Leyva.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 31, 2015 -
Cinematographer Peter Donahue on Shooting Sundance Documentary Prophet’s Prey
PROPHET’S PREY – Peter Donahue I first got involved with the Prophet’s Prey project after meeting Amy Berg. Her work has always been something I have admired since seeing her “Deliver us From Evil.” To shoot a documentary, you first have to know that you are in good hands and feel passionate about the subject. So when Amy said she was going to make another film about the abuses of power within an organized religion — and it involved John Krakauer –I was in! Like all documentaries, our first challenge was budget. We first thought we should stay away from […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 28, 2015
