Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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The Ofcom Gap: VOD, UK Broadcasters and Ethical Fact-Based Filmmaking
Netflix’s breakout hit Baby Reindeer brought into vivid relief an issue long at play in the UK: VOD platforms do not have to jump through the same regulatory hoops as broadcasters, for whose programs “compliance” is a necessary headache. The UK’s extensive regulatory framework for broadcasting is overseen by the UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom), a super regulator covering a vast array of communications from postal services to internet provision and online safety, radio and television. The ten sections of Ofcom’s broadcasting code provide a detailed roadmap for broadcasters to ethically make and deliver programs, addressing a vast number of […]
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“How Would Frederick Wiseman Order This Procession of Images?”: Making Robert Kolodny’s The Featherweight
Robert Kolodny’s Venice-premiering The Featherweight is the dramatic story of real-life boxer Willie Pep as he exits retirement to attempt a comeback in the ring — all as he’s shadowed by a documentary crew. The film’s action occurs two decades after Pep’s 1940s heyday, with Kolodny and his team, who include producer and screenwriter Steve Loff and editor Robert Greene, convincingly replicating the look and rhythms of 1960s verite documentary to meditate on both the past as well as the boxing film’s durability in the present. Wrote The New Yorker’s Richard Brody in his review, “It’s an instant classic of […]
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“We Needed to Steer the Film to a Place Where It Wasn’t a Biopic”: Cinematographer Turned Director Ellen Kuras on Her Kate Winslet-Starring Lee
For years filmmakers have tried to tell Lee Miller’s story. Famous first as a model for artists like Man Ray, then as a fashion photographer, Miller became a war correspondent during World War II. She captured some of the most iconic images of her time, from views of Hitler’s life to the horrors of concentration camps. For her feature debut as a director, Ellen Kuras was determined not to fall into standard biopic conventions. Starting from a book of Miller’s photographs, she collaborated with star and producer Kate Winslet and writers Marian Hume, Liz Hannah, and John Collee to find […]
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“Punching Above My Weight”: Director Simon Hacker on Partnering with NBA Star Gordon Hayward and Self-Distributing His Indie Comedy, Notice to Quit
I first met Simon Hacker more than a decade ago when I was teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York and Simon was a film student. He stuck out as someone who responded to what most people around him in the classroom weren’t much interested in: tradition. While the nascent auteurists were looking to reinvent the wheel, Simon grabbed hold of the ideas of a couple of people I introduced him to: Alexander Mackendrick and David Mamet. I was preaching the basics of classical narrative storytelling, and Simon took the time to listen. “What happens next?” became […]
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Film & Television Areas of Study at Full Sail University (Sponsored Post)
If you’re considering a career in film or television, it’s important to understand that there are many different roles in the field, so there are lots of opportunities where your interests and skills can be a good fit. Perhaps you enjoy directing others to perform a certain way. Maybe you’re a wordsmith who wants to pursue work in scriptwriting. Or you might like to design animated characters. Full Sail University offers many different areas of study that could lead to careers in the realm of film and television. While they focus on different aspects, all of Full Sail’s courses are […]
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“Made by Five People Who Love Cats”: Mary Dauterman on Booger
After the sudden death of her best friend and roommate Izzy (Sofia Dobrushin), Anna (Grace Glowicki) starts to act strange. At first, her odd behavior seems easily attributable to intense grief, but soon she begins to recognize physical abnormalities she can’t quite explain. Granted, she was bitten by her and Izzy’s fluffy, inky-black cat (the eponymous Booger) just before he fled via the fire escape. But Anna begins to suffer from far more than just cat-scratch fever and a gnarly hand wound: coarse, dark hairs begin to sprout, her movements become increasingly delicate yet uncanny, and could that actually be […]
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On the Way to the Cutting Room: How to Be an Assistant Editor
If you’ve ever wondered, “What even is an assistant editor, and what do they do?,” you’re not alone. I find myself explaining my job repeatedly to my perplexed but well-meaning family members and even to other people in the film and TV industry. The job varies from project to project, but mostly an assistant editor deals with various technical aspects of post-production so the editor can focus on the creative work of editing. That said, it’s not an entirely technical role. Sometimes, an assistant gets the chance to help the editor creatively through assembling scenes or working on sound design; […]
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The Editor’s Signature
Alex Saks remembers the process of producing Thoroughbreds, the dark suburban teen thriller written and directed by Cory Finley, as a whirlwind. At the time, Finley was a hot up-and-coming playwright making his first foray into filmmaking, and he didn’t have an established team of collaborators. With a limited window of actor availability, production launched shortly after Finley delivered a script, which meant there was a tight window to hire key crew. Among the most important decisions the team had to make was who would edit the movie. “[An editor] really is the department head on the movie, other than […]
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Subtle Inconsistencies: Filmmakers and Generative AI in 2024
In Orhan Pamuk’s novel The Black Book, there’s a story about a mannequin maker and his underground workshop. The craftsman believes that after the introduction of cinema, people began to lose their natural gestures and now simply imitate the movements and behaviors of actors they see on the big screen. To preserve natural and native mannerisms, he undertakes an immense archival project: He makes mannequins of people performing small gestures in great detail. I’m curious what the craftsman would do faced with generative AI. AI film festivals and competitions are growing in popularity. Last May, the second annual Runway AI […]
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Chicken & Egg Pictures Announces 29 Grantees for Year Two of Research & Development Grant
Chicken & Egg Pictures announced today the 29 grantees for its second Pictures Research & Development Grant. From the press release: Chicken & Egg Pictures, which provides support and funding to women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers, announced today the 29 film projects supported by its second Chicken & Egg Pictures Research & Development Grant. The grants provide directors with $10,000 USD for research or $20,000 USD for development of a new documentary project. These critical stages in the life of a documentary are often unpaid and unsupported. Grantees will also have access to the Chicken & Egg Pictures’ team and […]
