Filmmaking

MICHAEL MOORE COMMENTS ON IOWA

If you’re a Democrat in Iowa — or if you’re just a Democrat who, like many, are still trying to make a decision about who to support in ’08 — Michael Moore has collected his thoughts in a letter posted on his blog. He’s not endorsing anyone yet, but he does offer some cogent commentary on current candidates.

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 2, 2008 Filmmaking
CONNECTION TO HER FANS

The new issue of Filmmaker, which we just sent to the printer, has author Jonathan Safran Foer interviewing Michel Gondry about his new feature, Be Kind Rewind. They talk a lot about invention, DIY artmaking, and artists who gaze horizontally at their audiences… all of which are echoed in Gondry’s new Bjork video, just released today, for her single “Declare Independence.” Check it out below.

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 2, 2008 Filmmaking
MASH UP IT UP UNDER THE LAW

Over at the Center for Social Media/American University Law School, Pat Aufderheidi and Peter Janzi have published a study of online video and user-generated content that attempts to chart the limits of fair use within this emerging field. From their web page: When college kids make mashups of Hollywood movies, are they violating the law? Not necessarily, according to the latest study on copyright and creativity from the Center and American University’s Washington College of Law. The study, Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video, by Center director Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, co-director of the law school’s […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 2, 2008 Filmmaking
THE ORCHESTRA AS GUITAR

To make it two Radiohead-related posts in a row, I’ll note Mark Pytlik’s review at Pitchfork of Jonny Greenwood’s There Will be Blood soundtrack, which succinctly nails where Greenwood is coming from in his work for orchestra. The lede: The first hint that Jonny Greenwood might make a gifted composer came in 1997, when, bored with the syrupy, provincial strings that dominated the tail-end of Britpop, he channeled Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki for the arrangement on OK Computer’s “Climbing Up The Walls”. Essentially a wall of quarter notes played against each other, that noisy squall stood out in dramatic opposition […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 2, 2008 Filmmaking
SCOTCH MISTING IN THE NEW YEAR

My first act of cultural consumption in the New Year was watching “Scotch Mist,” Radiohead’s webcast/live session/fans-New-Year’s present, on one of the late, post-midnight Current TV rebroadcasts before falling asleep. A really great hour of TV with the five band members playing in their small studio shot with locked off webcams, some odd off-kilter interstitials and spastic animations, a slow-mo music video for “Nude,” and a stunning version of “Faust Arp” with just Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood singing/playing at magic hour in the outdoor hills. The complete show is embedded below. All the cuts are recommended, particularly, my favorite, […]

By Scott Macaulay on Jan 1, 2008 Filmmaking
IF YOU ARE ON FACEBOOK… (PLUS THE AUTEURS)

… then become a fan of Filmmaker. Okay, I know the “fan” terminology is annoying, but, trust me, we’re not asking for adolescent idolatry. In fact, I had us all set up with a nice-looking Group page, but was then counseled that, for a magazine, the Page/Fan structure was the way to go (thank you, CineVegas). In addition to being able to send you individually messages and bulletins, there’s a bunch of apps and functionalities that can be added vid the Page/Fan structure, so the page is something we can grow into. And, other cool sites are set up this […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 30, 2007 Filmmaking
FIGHTING THE STEREOTYPES

Over at the Emerging Pictures blog, Ira Deutchman responds to Stephen Holden’s review of John Sayles’s Honeydripper, in which Holden finds stereotypes in the film’s 1950s’ Southern characters. From the Deutchman blog post: Why is it that every African American audience we show the film to is thanking us for its realistic portrayal? Is it that the Jim Crow era is just so loaded with baggage that it is not acceptable to portray a small story within that era without showing the lynchings? Is it that a white writer/director is tackling this subject? I ask these questions merely to provoke […]

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 30, 2007 Filmmaking
CRITERION EMBRACES VIRAL VIDEO

There can be no greater statement about the impending supremacy of user-generated, viral, and online video over what we now quaintly call “cinema” than this news from the Criterion Collection that the tony, canon-certifying brand is embracing the best of the Web. Below you can find the “Criterion Edition” of the already classic short The Landlord, with star Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay’s video commentary track embedded. The Landlord: Criterion Edition on FunnyOrDie.com

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 25, 2007 Filmmaking
BLOOD AT MIDNIGHT

I’m editing now James Ponsoldt’s interview with Paul Thomas Anderson that will appear in our Winter issue, and I’ve seen There Will be Blood twice so far, once at a screening and once on a DVD screener. I’ll try to write a few thoughts about it in the coming days, but, for me, and definitely after the second viewing, upon which it gets even better, it is my #1 film of the year. Here’s Paramount Vantage’s internet clip announcing this weekend’s nationwide midnight sneaks. (Hat tip: Movie City News.)

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 24, 2007 Filmmaking
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

In the midst of shopping, cooking and, yes, trying to close the next issue of the magazine, which ships at the end of this week, I want to take a second and wish all of our readers a great holiday and New Year. We really appreciate your readership and look forward to bringing you lots of great stuff, both in the magazine and online, in the coming year.

By Scott Macaulay on Dec 24, 2007 Filmmaking

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