Filmmaker Casey Neistat, selected as one of our “25 New Faces” in 2006, camped out at Apple’s New York City 59th Street store to make this short film about the fans who waited on line, credit cards in hand, for over a week to purchase the iPhone 5s. (Were any there for the cheaper, “unapologetically plastic” iPhone 5c? I doubt it.) He asked the Apple fans one question: Why? Watch the video above.
Throughout the month of September, Filmmaker is partnering with the online short film competition Filminute, hosting five of its nominated titles and running interviews with the director’s of these one-minute movies. Tell us who you are (where you’re from, background, previous credits as a filmmaker) After 10 different lives as an architectural designer, graphic artist for video games, etc… I finally discovered the meaning of life as film director in animation. I made several short films and short com’. In the meantime I feed my family by making ads, games trailers and music videos. I’m also writing scripts for future […]
This morning, Norwegian filmmaker Gunleik Groven wrote me with a link to Sweet…, which he described as “Probably the world’s first short shot on [RED] Dragon.” In it, he creates four distinct worlds, each with a different look, and the results are very striking. For those of you who are tech-inclined and want to dig into the processes behind the short, check out this thread on the RED User message board in which Groven breaks down how he achieved each look.
Throughout the month of September, Filmmaker is partnering with the online short film competition Filminute, hosting five of its nominated titles and running interviews with the director’s of these one-minute movies. Tell us who you are (where you’re from, background, previous credits as a filmmaker) I’d like to think I am a fairly regular chap from London, UK. Once upon a time I was a pro snowboarder which led to making snowboarding movies and setting up a production company called Grain Media. I’d always dreamed of making documentaries and eventually after a long time making branded content I managed to get to […]
We’re back to legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis in a Craft Truck interview as he cautions against “dump truck directing” — a term he coined to describe the bad habit of directors who aren’t discerning when shooting and overwhelm editors with footage. Willis’ sage advise comes in handy for the digital filmmaker whose temptation to fix everything in post can overshadow the simplicity of doing it right the first time. You can watch the rest of the interview here.
To my mind, the quality of a really great trailer is that it makes you want to watch the film right then — even if you’ve already seen it. I saw Randy Moore’s Disneyland-shot excursion into the bizarre, Escape from Tomorrow, at Sundance earlier this year — admittedly under less than ideal circumstances — but this incredible and joyously subversive trailer makes me excited all over again about the movie. Though declared unreleasable at Sundance because Moore filmed at Disneyland without permission, Escape From Tomorrow will be having a day-and-date release through PDA (the distribution arm of the film’s sales […]
In the newest installment of our Craft Truck video series, cinematographer Reed Morano offers the career advice of figuring it out as you go, even if that means bluffing a bit on set. In the rest of the interview, Morano, the d.p. of the crime drama Frozen River, discusses how creativity is the answer to limitation, particularly when she learned that she only had one day to shoot on ice in Frozen River. You can watch all of Morano’s charming interview here.
Last year, watching The Gathering Squall, based on a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, alerted me to the talent of the film’s writer/director, Hannah Fidell. Seeing shortly afterward a rough cut of her debut feature, A Teacher, confirmed that considerable talent. A Teacher is being put out theatrically by Oscilloscope this Friday, and to help promote the release The Gathering Squall is now on Vimeo, where it is a Staff Pick. Fidell was one of our “25 New Faces” last year, and Squall was shot by another New Face, Andrew Droz Palermo, who also shot A Teacher and Adam Wingard’s […]
Despite what its title might suggest, The Armstrong Lie is a film which Alex Gibney made with full cooperation from disgraced cycling cheat Lance Armstrong. Errol Morris’ Rumsfeld doc The Unknown Known somewhat disappointed when it screened at Telluride, so maybe this will be the season’s definitive doc about a high-profile American male owning up to his deceit and misdeeds? Here’s the first clip from the film, which shows Armstrong talking to Gibney directly after filming his mea culpa interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The word from Telluride is rather mixed on Jonathan Glazer’s long-waited third feature, Under the Skin, a (by definition) very ambitious adaptation of Michel Faber’s remarkable novel about an alluring female alien (Scarlett Johansson) picking off hapless hitchhikers in the Scottish highlands. This teaser for the film — which plays today in Venice, and in Toronto later in the week — gives us little to go on in terms of plot but strongly indicates that Glazer has created a dark, brooding vision seemingly untroubled by commercial concerns. Johansson, an apt choice in the role of the extraterrestrial temptress, is (fittingly) the […]