Sundance Film Festival 2016
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Sundance Veteran DP Patrice Cochet on the Male-Bonding Comedy Joshy
Sundance regular Patrice Cochet has served as DP on four films at the festival since 2002: Better Luck Tomorrow, The End of Love, The Good Life and, as of this year, Joshy. Cochet speaks below about the perils of lighting improv, DPing on little prep and shooting on the Alexa. In addition to Joshy, the prolific Cochet has at least six other films set for release in 2016. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Cochet: Joshy was a film that Producers […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 30, 2016 -
“Acceptance Remains Elusive for Gender Non-Conforming People”: Director Jason Benjamin | Suited
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? When I first contacted Rae Tutera with the hope of making a documentary about Bindle and Keep, we […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 30, 2016 -
Cinematographer Matthew Irving on the ’70s Stylings of Sundance Premiere Outlaws and Angels
For Outlaws and Angels, seasoned DP Matthew Irving and first-time writer/director JT Moliner wanted a film that looked as though it were “excavated straight out of a vault from the 1970s.” Irving shot the film on 35mm and used Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller as a chief reference point. Below, Irving talks about shooting on 35, the film’s elaborate 11-minute long take and the “grit and grain” of ’70s cinema. Outlaws and Angels made its world premiere at Sundance 2016. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
“That Feeling of Director’s Guilt”: Director Diego Luna | Mr. Pig
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? There are many secrets around this script and how the story was formed… I will take those […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
Sundance Dispatch 5: Weiner and Holy Hell
I watch the local news a lot. It’s a fun, seemingly randomized mash-up of crimes caught on security cameras, traffic and weather updates, forced banter, cooking segments, deep concerns about marijuana use and “reporting” that’s thinly-veiled support for the NYPD, etc. Sometimes you see a story and wonder whether it’ll remain tristate fodder or leap to the national agenda: e.g., I wondered that when the stairwell shooting of Akai Gurley was first reported, and I was equally uncertain when Anthony Weiner’s 2013 run for NYC mayor was derailed by the “Carlos Danger” sexting “scandal.” It seemed like an OK joke but not much […]
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 29, 2016 -
“Why Not Just Try to Shoot an Entire Feature Film in Four Days?”: Director Andrew Hyland | The 4th
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? The “secret story” of The 4th, without hopefully taking too much away from the audience’s own interpretation. […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
“Finding Depth and Detail in the Sound of Falling Rain”: Director Peter Middleton | Notes on Blindness
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? Two hidden stories spring to mind. The first is of John’s decision to share his account of […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
Five Questions for Life, Animated Director Roger Ross Williams
Chances are you’ve experienced one or two-dozen animated films from Walt Disney Studios. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King: the studio famous for introducing the world to Mickey Mouse has produced some of the most identifiable films (and, subsequently, images) of the twentieth century. One of the studio’s most ardent fans is Owen Suskind, a young man diagnosed as autistic at the age of three and the subject of a memoir, Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism, written by his father Ron Suskind. Using Disney films as a guide to communicate and express himself to […]
by Erik Luers on Jan 29, 2016 -
Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road Takes Sundance, Part Two
In part one of this video series, Jim Cummings and his team got ready to go to Sundance with their short. In this installment, they’re on the ground and feeling shaky. Actor PJ McCabe practices his networking skills in front of a mirror, there are arguments about who was supposed to get tickets to the premiere, and of course there are parties. Funny stuff.
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 29, 2016 -
“He Existed Quietly Orbiting Stars”: Directors JJ Garvine and Tai Parquet | Film Hawk
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? For us, and most cinephiles over a certain age, the name Bob Hawk already carried a certain […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016
