Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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Five Questions with Something Must Break Director Ester Martin Bergsmark
A moody exploration of the human need for connection — with others, and ourselves — Ester Martin Bergsmark’s Something Must Break centers on Sebastian, a queer, androgynous twenty-something, in desperate need of grounding. Drifting through unfulfilling sexual experiences in grungy, modern day Stockholm, a chance encounter leads Sebastian to Andreas, a straight man who nevertheless can’t seem to resist Sebastian’s advances. As their relationship deepens, so do Andreas’ doubts, sending Sebastian towards his feminine alter ego, “Ellie.” Filmmaker spoke to Bergsmark about making the transition from documentary to narrative, and the film’s alternately loose and stylized execution. Something Must Break had its North […]
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Locke Director Steven Knight and Buried Director Rodrigo Cortés with Eight Tips on Directing a One-Man Movie
Opening today in theaters, Steven Knight’s Locke has been winning plaudits since it premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival. Giving a bravura performance, Tom Hardy plays father of two, Ivan Locke, a project manager dealing with stress in both his personal life and at work whilst on a drive to London along the motorway. The whole film takes place during the car journey in which Locke makes and receives phone calls to his wife, a friend in London and a work colleague. The construction job, use of a mobile phone and the fact that just one actor is […]
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25 Great Short Films to Watch Online
The folks at Taste of Cinema have curated a list of 25 of what they dub the best shorts available to watch online. Weighted towards the experimental and animation, it is indeed a good list. One personal favorite is Alison Maclean’s 1989 short, Kitchen Sink, a masterpiece of domestic horror with a strong David Lynch influence. From Kitchen Sink Maclean went on to direct the features Crush and Jesus’ Son and, more recently, various commercials and TV episodes. Back in the day, Kitchen Sink made a huge impact, and I still recommend it to filmmakers looking for an example of […]
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Trailer Watch: When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism
Corneliu Porumboiu’s fifth film The Second Game just screened as part of Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real series, but his fourth, When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism, is still nearing theaters. While several of Porumboiu’s contemporaries of New Romanian Cinema train their eye on domestic disturbances — of both the absurdist and pragmatic variety — Metabolism pulls back the curtain on a filmmaker’s mid-shoot inner turmoil. Plagued by some sort of imaginary condition (the absurd), he falls into an affair with his lead actress (the pragmatic) and suffers a crisis of doubt. Meticulously crafted, each scene is comprised of a single long take. […]
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Five Questions with Point and Shoot Director Marshall Curry
A shy, sheltered, OCD-afflicted only child, Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke was not the likeliest member of the 2011 Libyan rebel militia, but Point and Shoot, the new documentary from Academy Award-nominee Marshall Curry, chalks VanDyke’s trajectory up to sheer sense of adventure. Determined to give himself “a crash course in manhood,” VanDyke leaves Baltimore behind with a camera in hand, winding his way through Africa atop a motorcycle. Along the way, he meets Nuri, his iconoclast counterpoint who will draw him into the revolution. Filmmaker spoke to Curry about relating someone else’s footage, and the documentarian’s dilemma of capturing the moment truthfully and artfully. Point […]
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Five Lessons From a Work-In-Progress Screening
At the end of 2012, Matt Syzmanowski penned a guest post for us on the development of his feature, The Purple Onion. Now, as he’s finishing the final cut of the film, he sends us this follow-up detailing one unusual step along the way: screening the film to a large audience at Cinequest as a work-in-progress. Below are his five pieces of advice for any filmmaker on improving a cut using audience feedback. — SM The Cinequest Film Festival invited us to screen our debut feature film, The Purple Onion, long before it was even completed. We knew we didn’t […]
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5 Questions For X/Y Writer/Director Ryan Piers Williams
An admission of infidelity — hers — sends a pair of twentysomething New Yorkers into separate rabbit holes of desire, regret and personal discovery in Ryan Piers Williams second feature, X/Y. The film is something of a family affair, as Williams and his wife, America Ferrera, star as the couple, with each supported on their La Ronde-ish journeys by a charismatic cast of supporting players, including Melonie Diaz, Dree Hemingway, Common and Amber Tamblyn. Intimacy, IRL and online; sexual fantasy vs. reality; the artist’s life vs. the corporate warrior — all these dichotomies are explored in a film that draws […]
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Red Giant Creates Universe and Updates Software Suite
At NAB Red Giant announced a wide array of updates and new effects across their various programs. A lot of the changes revolve around Supernova, an original framework they developed that enables them to rapidly create new effects that run quicker than before. This is the backbone of their new Universe plug-in suite, a collection of 50 effects, everything from lens flares to retro film looks. Universe is also experimenting with the subscription model, though not forcing anyone to commit. You can choose a recurring pricing option for $10 a month or $99 a year, or get a lifetime membership (essentially […]
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Joss Whedon Sells Directly to Fans Following Tribeca Premiere of In Your Eyes
Earlier this month, we ran an interview with Monica Peña, a first time filmmaker who capitalized on the festival premiere of Ectotherms by immediately selling the film on her website. Such a concept is spreading beyond no-budget land and into the distribution strategy of alterna-mogul Joss Whedon. Following last night’s world premiere of In Your Eyes at the Tribeca Film Festival, Whedon — the film’s writer/executive producer — announced that it was immediately available for rent on Vimeo on Demand. He did so not in person, but from the set of the latest Avengers installment, ensuring the tidbit’s viral-ability. Chances are, it’s working nicely. In Your Eyes is available […]
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5 Things I Learned about the Panasonic GH4 at NAB
I have been a big fan of Panasonic’s GH line since the GH2. When the GH3 was announced I was first in the cyber line for pre-orders and same deal when the GH4 went up. This time I opted to get the YAGH Interface Unit package. My thought process was I’d have a “real camera” setup that can handle XLR audio (I hate dealing with a second recorder and syncing audio), I could jam-sync the timecode on multicam shoots, and then I’d be set up to just rent a 4K recorder for high-end jobs that needed 10-bit 422 recording. I […]
