Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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MORE THOUGHTS ON WALKING OUT OF MOVIES
Every Thursday we do a weekly newsletter that includes links to that week’s content, festival deadlines, and an original letter from me which I usually don’t repost on the blog. (And if you don’t get this newsletter, why not? You can subscribe here. It’s free.) But I’ll reprint this week’s because it’s a response to James Ponsoldt’s blog post about walking out of movies. “When is it okay to walk out of a movie?” James Ponsoldt asked on the Filmmaker blog yesterday. The post was inspired by his sitting through at Sundance a film he loathed; it was his attempt […]
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SXSW REVEAL MIDNIGHTERS, SXFANTASTIC & SHORTS
The South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival announced today the lineups for its Midnighters, SXFantastic and short films sections. Midnighters has always been a popular section at SXSW having highlighted the talents of Eli Roth and Ti West in the past, but its notoriety grew a few years ago when the fest added the SXFantastic sidebar, which are midnight films programmed by the largest genre fest, Fantastic Fest. Last year, the section had the world premiere of Gareth Edwards‘ impressive debut feature Monsters. The complete list of Midnighters, SXFantastic and short films titles are below. SXSW will take place […]
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When Is It Okay To Walk Out Of A Movie ?
Sundance is over. Ditto, Rotterdam. With Berlin right around the corner, it seems a good time to ask the question: When is it okay to walk out of a movie? I saw over 25 features at Sundance this year. Many of those films will receive serious releases in 2011 and wind up on “Best of” lists at the year’s end. Some of my favorites are still seeking distribution. I interviewed directors of a number of films. Of the features I haven’t already written about, personal favorites include Pariah, Terri, Catechism Cataclysm, The Mill and the Cross, Hell and Back Again, […]
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WHICH COMES FIRST? THE CHARACTER OR THE WORLD?
In film we are used to starting with the character (the protagonist who faces conflict in order to achieve his goal) or simply the concept (which usually yokes together the bare bones of character with a simply stated narrative). But what if you started elsewhere — with, for example, the world? Mike Mignola is creator of Hellboy and the new Baltimore and a visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Hellboy, Hellboy 2, and Blade 2. From an interview at BLDGBLOG titled “Ruin, Space and Shadow.” BLDGBLOG: … Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a setting […]
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ELLE FANNING’S DAYS OF RODARTE
Todd Cole directed this short film, The Curve of Forgotten Things, for Rodarte starring Elle Fanning and with music by Deerhunter. The film was shot by Matthew J. Lloyd on the RED using Cooke lenses from the 1970s. From Nowness: As for the title, Cole explains: “It’s the title of a Richard Brautigan poem. The poem and the film are about forgotten things—circles and the curve of time.” The film follows on from last spring’s intergalactic project that Cole shot with Rodarte and comes at an extraordinary moment for the designers, whose dazzling costume contributions to Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan […]
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“LOST IN SUNSHINE” — CROWDFUNDING TRANSMEDIA R&D
Writer/director Jentri Chancey emailed to tell me about her and producer Lorrie Marsh’s approach to developing their independent film project, Lost in Sunshine. She writes: We’ve been continuously working to lift this project from its feet for the past two years. Our approach is to reach out to our (target) audience before the movie’s ever made. And creating an online prequel by expanding narratives, and enhancing audience participation via games, etc., is how we’re attempting to do it. Instead of raising money for actual film production costs right now, we’re raising funds so that we can use fan input, digital […]
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Are You A Nobody Filmmaker ?
Filmmaker Christopher Boghosian has a great post up today at Truly Free Film. Titled, “I am a Nobody Filmmaker,” it’s not a self-pitying whine but rather a rational discussion of what a young and relatively unknown filmmaker can expect from the independent film marketplace as well as audience. He writes: I’m a nobody filmmaker: I don’t have a recognizable name nor a recognizable film. In essence, most of the world couldn’t care less about me nor my movies. This sounds pathetic, I know, but coming to grips with this reality has truly liberated me and provided an invaluable perspective on […]
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Jamie Stuart’s Sundance Masterpiece
From the shards of our experience shooting interviews and seeing movies at Sundance 2011 comes Jamie Stuart’s “Masterpiece.” With appearances by: Miguel Arteta, Alrick Brown, David Carr, Paddy Considine, Nekisa Cooper, Phife Dawg, Danfung Dennis, Andrew Donsunmu, Sean Durkin, Liz Garbus, Paul Giamatti, Megan Griffiths, Colin Goddard, Rutger Hauer, John Hawkes, Azazel Jacobs, Miranda July, Tom McCarthy, Peter Mullan, Adepero Oduye, Elizabeth Olsen, Jessica Oreck, Lindsay Pulsipher, Michael Rapaport, Calvin Reeder, Dee Rees, Amy Seimetz, Kim Wayans, Vilmos Zsigmond. Shot on the Canon 7D. Download the Quicktime here. (Contains adult language — NSFW.) Look for the longer edits of these […]
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WHAT’S IN MY INSTAPAPER: SUNDAY MORNING LINKS, 2/6/2011
Here’s what’s in my Instapaper this week. At Hammer to Nail, Mike Ryan returns from Park City and declares, “Indie is back!?!” Specifically, he sees the festival embracing a wider spectrum of the independent community and jettisoning its reflexive propensity towards cinematic naturalism: First off, what is great about Sundance 2011 is not only the selection of unusual, formally inventive films, but the near total absence of corporate engineered, market driven, faux indie high-budget QUIRK CRAP (although there were some more offbeat versions of the old style quirk like My Idiot Brother and Terri, there was not an Answer Man […]
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MAKING LOW-BUDGET, INDIE ACTIONER “RETRIBUTION”
Retribution is a low-budget indie action film that its producers at Openview Cinema plan to release April 1, 2011. Producer Cody Norris sent me the below trailer, and I asked him for more info on how they got the movie, directed by Colten Kidwell, made. Here’s what he wrote: We made Retribution with a tiny budget. Our actors were all volunteers, we were given the use of all our locations, we borrowed or made props, and we didn’t hire any additional crew. When we couldn’t buy things, we improvised. Production lasted more than a year because our actors were volunteers […]
