Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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Missy Mazzoli, Royce Vavrek, and James Darrah On Their Opera Adaptation of Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves
Lars von Trier’s fantastically wrenching 1996 film Breaking the Waves has been adapted into a new opera by composer Missy Mazzoli, librettist Royce Vavrek and director James Darrah. Excerpts from the opera will be performed this coming Monday, September 12, at the Guggenheim Museum and then the opera itself will officially premiere in an Opera Philadelphia production in Philadelphia from Thursday, September 22 through Saturday, October 1. At I Care if You Listen, Mazzoli and Vavrek discussed their adaptation. From Vavrek: I have loved von Trier’s film since I first saw it at the age of fourteen. I can remember […]
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What Filmmakers Need to Know About Indie Film Distribution in 2016
You’ve made an independent film and you’d like to get it out into the world. Unfortunately, unless you’re already a “name” director with an established track record or your film has played at top festivals, there’s no clear route to getting distribution. In recent years as the traditional distribution model has shifted, the future of film distribution has been murky. But at a Portland Film Festival panel devoted to distribution, Drafthouse Films chief operating officer James Shapiro declared that “We have finally arrived at a place where we know what the future will look like, at least for the immediate […]
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Watch: Spike Jonze’s Amazing, Four-Minute Kenzo Perfume Ad
Whether the performer is Bjork or Christopher Walken or even himself, Spike Jonze has committed some amazing dance scenes to film. Add one more to his impressive choreographic filmography with this brand-new Kenzo perfume commercial. To the beat of “Mutant Brain,” composed by Jonze’s brother, Sam Spiegel, actress and dancer Margaret Qualley escapes the suffocating drone of some kind of charity event by cutting loose in the conference hall’s surrounding hallways, staircases and balconies. The dance was choreographed by Ryan Heffington, known for his work with Sia and Maddie Ziegler.
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Trailer Watch: Borbetomagus Documentary A Pollock of Sound
Well into their fourth decade, experimental music trio Borbetomagus remain for the musically adventurous an ear-blistering and essential listening experience. With saxophonists Don Dietrich and Jim Sauter in New York and guitarist Donald Miller in New Orleans, that experience is one caught live on one of the band’s European tours or occasional U.S. one-offs and mini tours. But now moviegoers will have a chance to take in some of Borbetomagus’s impact with A Pollock of Sound, Jef Mertens’s documentary about the band. With commentary from, among others, writer Byron Coley and Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, the documentary should place […]
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DP Eve M. Cohen Discusses Virtual Reality and Crowdfunding
In part I of this interview, cinematographer Eve M. Cohen talked about working on the independent feature Be Somebody. In the second part of the interview, she talks about her experience with shooting for virtual reality projects, as well as Seed and Spark, a crowd funding and community site for filmmakers. Filmmaker: You’ve started working in virtual reality. Can you tell us about that? Cohen: Virtual reality is really exciting and I think that it’s important to differentiate virtual reality filmmaking from 2D or linear filmmaking. Virtual reality is a completely new medium and it takes place completely surrounding you, […]
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Blumhouse Picks David Lynch’s 10 Scariest Moments
Uncanny, unsettling, disturbing, surreal — David Lynch’s work summons up no shortage of adjectives. But one that gets applied surprisingly rarely is scary. But precisely because of its inflection of horror with the qualities listed above, Lynch’s films can be terrifying in a much deeper way than your normal, well-executed jump-scare thriller. The folks at Blumhouse certainly know horror, and this week site contributor Gregory Burkart posted a nicely curated list of annotated clips speaking to Lynch’s ability to scare, particularly nailing a couple that have long haunted this Lynch fan. The first is from Eraserhead, the “ooh, you are […]
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Expert Tips for First-Time Documentary Filmmakers (Like Myself)
Months ago, I got the crazy idea to write, produce and direct my first documentary. I wasn’t completely unrealistic — I knew enough to start small with a short, micro-budgetfilm. I also knew I could count on a supportive network of documentary filmmakers — including pros such as Doug Block, Marshall Curry, Laura Nix, Tracy Droz Tragos, Robert Greene, and others — to help guide me through the process. Later in this piece, I’ll share some of their invaluable wisdom. But first, here’s a bit about my film and my process so far. I had been on the lookout for a subject that […]
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86 Pages in 12 Days: DP Eve M. Cohen on Shooting Be Somebody
Eve M. Cohen studied art as a painter and a photographer in undergrad, and received a Master’s in cinematography from UCLA. Beginning work in narrative film and documentary, she has most recently been diving into virtual reality, and filming interviews for an unscripted series on TV. “I don’t focus on one kind of filmmaking,” she says. “I really like a variety.” In this first part of the interview, she talks about shooting the narrative feature film Be Somebody that was shot in December, and released in July. In the second part of the interview she talks about shooting for virtual […]
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Playing the Fool: Embracing Tarot while Kickstarting For Entertainment Purposes Only
Last Thursday, in a fortune telling shop in Manhattan’s West Village, a woman around my age told me the Evil Eye was on me and my family. She told me she was afraid for my life, and I needed to give her $500 right then so that she could burn a candle for me. When I told her I didn’t have the money, she asked if I had an ATM card and could bring her the money quickly. I said “thank you” and left. I wasn’t worried about the “Evil Eye,” but it was an eerie brush with the city’s […]
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Watch: Werner Herzog on Virtual Reality, the Future of Humanity and Internet Trolls
“I have a lot of trolls and a lot of imposters. I’m on Facebook, but it’s not me. I’m on Twitter, but it’s not me,” says Werner Herzog in a recent installment of VICE Talks Films (above). Herzog is doing press rounds to discuss his latest documentary Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, which is now in theaters, on Demand, on iTunes and Amazon Video. The film, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, examines the past, present, and evolving future of the internet in Herzog’s signature voice.
