Authors — Scott Macaulay
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Breaking the Fourth Wall Supercut
I couldn’t make it through House of Cards for one reason: Kevin Spacey’s asides to me, the viewer. Yes, I know it’s from Richard III. But I still found the device insufferable. But it’s hardly something that’s never been done before. There’s plenty of good instances of breaking the fourth wall in films, and many of them — as well as some not-so-good examples — are included in filmmaker Leigh Singer’s supercut, posted above. Writes Singer: A compilation of scenes and moments from films that all “break the fourth wall” – that is, acknowledge (usually directly to the camera, and […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 24, 2013 -
Zach Braff Fights the Money Guys on Kickstarter
What hath Veronica Mars wrought? When Kickstarter began, it was a place for projects that couldn’t find their money elsewhere. Projects that didn’t fit into easy categories. Projects from people without access to typical funding sources. Over the years, it’s morphed into many other things, including a pre-sale marketplace for new tech gizmos. The latest is a Money Guy Free Zone for Hollywood names. First, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas turned to Kickstarter to fund what the owner of its IP, Warner Bros, would not. (Aiming for $2 million he raised $5 million). Now, Garden State director Zach Braff is […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 24, 2013 -
Financiers Don’t Want to Look Stupid and Other Fundraising Truths
“Looking stupid is more feared than losing money.” That’s one of several truths contained in a blog post by Chris Jones titled, “Who Will Finance Your Film and Why.” When it comes to independent film, where the often lack of upfront distribution makes financial modeling difficult, equity fundraising is more art than science. Many articles that purport to tell you how to raise money ultimately don’t. But Jones’ post is a good one; indeed, I pretty much agree with everything he writes. Like about looking stupid. It sounds crazy but it’s true. Looking stupid is feared more than loosing money. […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
POV Offers Funding Suggestions for Filmmakers
Here’s a list to bookmark: the POV for Filmmakers site has handy, spreadsheet-style lists of funding sources for documentary, new media and web films. From the Alter Cine Foundation to World View, the site offers links and one-paragraph summaries of the organization’s mission and funding range. Additional sections of the site provide links to engagement strategists — individuals and companies who can work on films’ outreach campaigns — as well as film festivals and the various entry points to PBS.
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
Six Questions Apple Needs to Answer in 2013
Apple has enabled cottage industries of graphic designers, musicians and, increasingly, Apple bloggers. As someone who uses Apple products, and who owns a bit of Apple stock, I follow the company pretty closely. So, I’m reading all the tech and finance blogs, with their pre-earnings chatter about Tim Cook’s ouster (not happening), dividend hikes (probably happening), and spaceship campus cost overruns (definitely happening). But as someone who wants to see the company grow because its products are evolving, here are the six Apple questions I’d like guidance on. Forget the Apple TV, where’s the Apple TV SDK? The iPhone has […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
Sundance Film Festival 2013
Last year, when I wrote about the Sundance Film Festival, I did so through the prism of its New Frontier section, using artists’ dialogue with mainstream filmmaking as a way to work my way into a broader discussion of the films found at the rest of the festival. Another year, I used the “revolution” theme of Sundance’s pre-film bumpers to discuss evolving changes in the festival’s self-definition. This year, when I interviewed festival director John Cooper before the 2013 edition, I asked him if there were any themes running through the curation, and he mentioned a “fearless” quality among the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
Editor’s Letter
“Should filmmakers learn to code?” That’s the question posed by MIT OpenDocLab’s Katie Edgerton in a story in this issue on the relationship between filmmakers and technologists. Before too many of you complain that you can’t crowdfinance, DIY distribute and now code interactive content, too, while also making movies, I’ll rush to assure you that the short answer is “no.” There’s a “but,” however, and that’s that filmmakers do need increasingly to understand what developers and coders do and how to talk to them. Edgerton’s piece is a companion to a series of interviews on the Filmmaker website, and in […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
SXSW 2013
Mars is a lonely, spiritually bereft place in Philip K. Dick’s science-fiction classic The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Colonists live inside, away from the planet’s harsh elements and unexpected predators, whiling away the hours by playing a hallucinatory role-playing game called Perky Pat. Using little figurines — avatars, really — and a psychoactive drug, they transport themselves into a consumer fantasy world back on Earth. I thought of Dick’s book as I walked past an exhibit at SXSW Interactive this year. A company was demonstrating its 3D-printing prowess by making little plastic figures based on your Facebook photo — […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
Handed Down: On Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
“A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician,” the 19th-century stage conjurer Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin once said. But if that’s true, then what about all those aspects of acting — such as figuring out character, backstory and motivation? Those are questions all professional magicians have to grapple with at some point early in their careers. Or, to put it another way: Where does a magician’s magic come from? A kid doing a magic trick can answer that question easily: it comes from a magic kit their father bought them. The amateur doesn’t need really need to answer […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013 -
Frame of Reference
What does it mean, in 2013, to photograph — to reproduce — a painting? Does it, as Walter Benjamin wrote in his 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” drain the painting of an essential “aura,” even as it makes the image itself accessible to a much larger audience? Does it, as John Berger elaborated in his 1972 book and television program, Ways of Seeing, alter the painting’s meaning, rendering the original a symbol of capitalist exchange? Or, in today’s image-sharing world of Tumblr, is reproduction nothing more than whimsical statement of affinity, of a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 23, 2013
