2001: A Space Odyssey
-
“We Treat the De-Aging Process Like Plastic Surgery”: Edson Williams on +1‘s Visual Effects
You may not know Edson Williams’ name, but odds are you’ve seen his work. Since the mid-’90s he’s built his career not behind the camera but behind a monitor, creating special effects for well over 100 of the most visually arresting films of the last twenty years, from high-concept films like Titanic, Avatar, Hugo, Prometheus, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Iron Man, Skyfall, and J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot to just as many films where the visual effects are much more subtle, including Cruel Intentions, The Princess Diaries 2, The Devil Wears Prada, J. Edgar, and […]
by Randy Astle on Sep 20, 2013 -
“I’m Envisaging a New Kind of Movie:” SFX Legend Douglas Trumbull on Kubrick, Malick and the Future of Film
Douglas Trumbull has been behind some of cinemas most spectacular special effects. His impressive C.V. includes working on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner and most recently Tree of Life. He also directed Silent Running in 1972 and Brainstorm in 1983, most remembered as the final film appearance of Natalie Wood. He has also been one of cinema’s great pioneers, always pushing technology to its limit, whether that be designing films for World Fairs, making rides for Universal and Luxor Hotels, or simply backing new technologies such as IMAX. Never standing still, the self-proclaimed […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Aug 28, 2013 -
Upstream Color — A Hammer To Nail Review (and Interview)
(Upstream Color premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in January. It opens theatrically in New York on Friday, April 5, and will roll out to other cities in April and May before becoming available on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD on May 7. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.) Here’s the plot of Shane Carruth’s new film Upstream Color, for all the good it will do you: A young woman named Kris (Amy Seimetz) is kidnapped by a man named in the credits only as the Thief (Thiago Martins). The Thief has been conducting secret experiments in mind […]
by Nelson Kim on Apr 4, 2013 -
The Up Films: The Speed of Life
“If one were to watch all of them, god forbid at one sitting, but over a period of time, how different they’d all be…” Michael Apted on the Up Series, from the director commentary of 42 Up. It begins in grainy black and white. A rambunctious boy runs in front of a brick wall, another walks through the foggy, rainy English countryside, three girls in a playground descend a slide side by side by side toward the camera. “In 1964,” a buttery, avuncular English voice-over begins, “Granada Television brought together a group of seven year olds, from all over the […]
by David Licata on Jan 8, 2013 -
Kubrick’s One-Point Perspective
From Kogonada is this supercut of scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s films showing his fondness for symmetrically composed wide shots. Check it out, and follow the comments thread at the Vimeo link, where the conversation continues. (Hat tip: Text of Light.) Kubrick // One-Point Perspective from kogonada on Vimeo.
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 30, 2012 -
“#2” IS NUMBER ONE
Seattle filmmaker David Russo, one of Filmmaker‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” has begun work on his debut feature, #2, with the support of the Northwest Film Forum and it’s “Start to Finish” grant. The grant was previously awarded to Robinson Devore’s Police Beat, which was one of the best features to premiere at Sundance this past year. Russo’s award-winning shorts include “Populi” and “Pan with Us.” Russo calls the movie “a janitor movie par excellance, designed to be wildly entertaining as it is meaningful. It’s about some hardworking, invisible misfits at the waste end of our wasteful society […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 27, 2005
