Filmmaking
Filmmaking
-
Cinematographer Reed Morano on the Fight Against TV’s “Smooth Motion” Setting
“Stop motion interpolation!” is the call on a Change.org petition urging TV manufacturers to disable the default “smooth motion” setting on new televisions. As the petition explains, “Motion Interpolation was an effect that was created to reduce motion blur on HDTVs but a very unfortunate side effect of using this function is that is takes something shot at 24 fps or shot on film and makes it look like it was shot on video at 60i. In short, it takes the cinematic look out of any image and makes it look like soap opera shot on a cheap video camera.” […]
-
Ted Hope on the Need for a Sustainable Investor Class
“The best thing we can do as a film industry is make sure that investors earn risk appropriate returns on their money. We need to create a sustainable investor class,” explains Ted Hope in this video interview with Film Courage. In recent years, Hope has shied away from producing as a career, doing it purely out of love for the film while paying the bills as CEO of Fandor. In order to return to the trade full-time, he’d need for there to be guaranteed returns on investments, as it traditionally goes in the realm of startups and finance. The issue, […]
-
Once Upon a Time in Cappadocia: The Scaping of Winter Sleep
According to the Institutional Theory of Art, a work becomes Art only after it has been validated by institutions and other taste maintainers (festivals, exhibitions, etc.). Given that Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest film, Winter Sleep, earned him the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, you could build a case that, officially anyway, his was the best of the 2014 harvest. Now MoMA is hosting a complete retrospective October 29-November 5 of his relatively small body of work (seven features, one short). Nuri Bilge Ceylan (pronounced “noo-ree beel-gyeh jay-lan”) will be present to introduce Winter Sleep and Once Upon […]
-
Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth on Gone Girl, Digital and Working with David Fincher
Gone Girl marks d.p. Jeff Cronenweth’s fourth feature film collaboration with David Fincher, a stretch that began with Fight Club in 1999 and has continued through The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (He also worked 2nd and 3rd unit on Se7en and The Game.) It’s a partnership that has transitioned the pair to digital cinematography, with Cronenweth creating cool, precisely visualized environments for stories plumbing the complexities of life in our globalized, media-saturated information age. To speak with Cronenweth, we asked Jamie Stuart, whose short films have frequently appeared on this site, and who has interviewed […]
-
Julia Marchese on The New State of The New Beverly and 35mm
Cinephiles on both coasts were rattled by Julia Marchese’s blog post last Friday entitled “I Will Not Be Censored,” concerning her departure from Los Angeles’ beloved New Beverly Cinema. Anyone who’s been to the New Bev within the last dozen years will recognize Marchese, for many the welcoming public face of the recently beleaguered rep house. But following a steady trickle of involvement from Quentin Tarantino — first paying the theater’s bills out of love, then becoming its owner, and finally, in September, announcing he’ll be directing a majority of the programming — Marchese was isolated within the staff, and […]
-
At the Illumination Experience Tour with Shane Hurlbut
Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut has been touring the country with The Illumination Experience. This day-long workshop primarily covers lighting: how to get the best results, basic and advanced setups, and even how to do lighting on a budget. But the class also covers a lot of other material for the working cinematographer, everything from the advantages of different cameras and lenses to the correct way to hand off a C-Stand. The class begins with a demonstration of Hurlbut’s “Pirate Death Ship,” three lights attached to a dolly on a 360 degree rail system. With an actress sitting in the middle, the […]
-
“You May Have Made the Most Amazing Film in the World, But You Have Zero Followers on Twitter”: VHX’s Jamie Wilkinson on Building Film Communities
Jamie Wilkinson, CEO of the direct-to-fan online video platform VHX, had some words to filmmakers on Peter Katz’s Hollywood 2.0 podcast. Specifically: amp up your social media game. In the conversation, which also discusses some of the platform’s early successes, the role of filters and gatekeepers, and VHX’s partnerships with distributors, he preaches the virtues of building an audience online. “How do we get people promoting each other’s works?” he asks. “You may have made the most amazing film in the world, but you have zero followers on Twitter. How are you going to get the word out? In the […]
-
Paying your Subjects and other Notes on Morals, Ethics, and Aesthetics in Documentary Filmmaking in the Developing World.
Ricardo Gaona is in the final days of a crowdfunding campaign for his feature, Parque Central, on Kickstarter. Visit his Kickstarter page for more information and please consider donating. — Editor Nonfiction filmmaking is hard work. There are the technical aspects, of course, and (especially right now) the financial concerns that can make you lose your mind a little bit. In the case of our film, Parque Central (now funding on Kickstarter!), which follows children who work in a park in Antigua Guatemala, there’s an extra level of stress that comes with the questions of ethics and representation. I’ve got […]
-
Canon C100 Mark II Adds New Features, But Not 4K
Canon has announced a refresh of the Canon C100, and on the face of it this update fixes many of the issues found in the original model. The Dual Pixel CMOS AF function that was a paid upgrade for the original C100 is included, though it’s still limited to the center of the image area. Also new is Face-Detection AF, which will focus on off-center faces. The EVF, which was widely panned in the first model is now larger, with a redesigned eyepiece, and it now tilts. The rear screen is now a 3.5” 1.23 megapixel OLED, with a new […]
-
Watch: Cinematography in the Films of Martin Scorsese
There’s no particular point of inquiry in this tribute to Martin Scorsese from Alexandre Gasulla, but it nonetheless does a bang-up job of emphasizing what makes the director a master manipulator of camera movements. From his sweeping booms and tracking shots to jarring static lensing, few filmmakers convey the cinematographic agency that Scorsese gets across in a mere handful of moments. Check out the comprehensive tribute above.
