Aaron Leming, who works as a specialist at the Southlake Town Square Apple Store in Dallas, created this resonant typographic rendition of Paddy Chayefsky’s famous Howard Beale “Mad as Hell” speech from Network. Mad As Hell! Kinetic Typography from Aaron Leming on Vimeo.
Back in March, 2007, with his talk with Color Me Kubrick‘s Brian Cook, Nick Dawson inaugurated a new column here at Filmmakermagazine.com: the Director Interviews. Over the course of two-and-a-half years, he infallibly spun out thoughtful and provocative discussions with directors ranging from emerging American indies to big-name international auteurs to everyone in between. Viewing the bulk of each week’s releases before honing in on one person to speak with, Dawson brought dedication, scholarship and personality to a column that was always, first and foremost, simply a great read. Earlier this year Dawson published his first book, Being Hal Ashby: […]
Filmmaker Astra Taylor (Examined Life) gave the debut Artist Talk for the Walker Art Center’s “Raising Creative Kids” series. The series is described as an initiative “designed to make the Walker a destination and resource for families and parents wanting to creatively engage their children.” Here’s their description of the talk: Raised by independent-thinking bohemian parents, Taylor was unschooled until age 13. Join the filmmaker as she shares her personal experiences of growing up home-schooled without a curriculum or schedule, and how it has shaped her educational philosophy and development as an artist. And, it is embedded below:
The Sundance Institute announced today the creation of Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. where direct-from-festival films from the upcoming 2010 festival will be screened nationwide in theaters in eight cities on the Thursday of the festival (Jan. 28). This will conincide with events and premiere screenings back at the festival, including the North American premiere of the socio-political documentary The Shock Doctrine, from directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross. The Sundance Film Festival runs January 21-31, 2010. From the release: On January 28, eight filmmakers and their films will be dispatched from Park City to cities across America, for the first […]
Ex-LAPD Detective, investigative journalist, 9/11 truther, foreteller of the coming apocalypse — these are just some of the roles Michael C. Ruppert has inhabited in his fascinating life, one that versatile filmmaker Chris Smith (American Movie, The Yes Men) has chosen to examine in his newest film Collapse. It is a return to documentary films for Smith, who has oscillated between disparate narrative and documentary work with a rare deftness. His most recent film The Pool (2007), a naturalistic narrative which Smith photographed himself, tracks a rural teenager working in a Panjim hotel to support his family who becomes obsessed […]
Before the tragic sudden death of John Hughes this past summer four filmmakers from Toronto — Michael Facciolo (producer) , Kari Hollend (producer), Lenny Panzer (co-creator) and Matt Austin Sadowski (director) — spent four years making a tribute documentary about the reclusive director, nabbing interviews with some of the main actors from his films (Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson to name a few), directors who have been influenced by his iconic work (Kevin Smith and Jason Reitman) and traveling to Illinois last year to find Hughes. After Hughes’s death the project suddenly became a hot commodity and got a […]
Or I should say, how he did it. Here, Jamie Stuart breaks down the visual effects and tweaks he did for his short, Isn’t She?…, through Final Cut Studio and Photoshop. Watch Isn’t She?… Read parts 1 & 2 of Jamie’s review of Final Cut Studio.
If you’ve read the latest issue (or run into me recently) you know that I dig the blaxploitation spoof, Black Dynamite. From its straight face acting to the way it was shot, director Scott Sanders (aka Suckapunch) and star Michael Jai White have created an impressive comedy that aesthetically holds up to most of the real blaxploitations of the 70s and puts a shot in the arm of the recently watered down spoof genre. But one of Dynamite‘s greatest aspects is its music. The film’s editor, Adrian Younge, created the original score through the use of instruments and analog recording […]
According to Variety, Miramax president Daniel Battsek has been let go. This is on the heels of parent company, Disney, scalling down the specialty division’s staff and release schedule. Under Battsek Miramax released award-winning titles The Queen and No Country for Old Men. And according to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood, Miramax’s New York office is closing down and its LA office will move to the Disney lot in Burbank.
As a genre that’s all about keeping the audience on its toes, the horror movie naturally needs a regular injection of fresh talent, and writer-director Ti West is the latest to give it a shot in the arm. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1980, West spent his adolescence watching as many movies as he could catch on TV or rent from his local video store. Though he made stop motion movies with his G.I. Joe action figures, he didn’t give much serious thought to filmmaking until he decided to make a short film to indicate to colleges that he had […]