VHS
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Stinking Heaven Filmmakers Create Limited Edition VHS
Stinking Heaven, Nathan Silver’s latest film, opens in select theaters this week and is available digitally at Fandor. But distributor Factory 25 is also making the new lo-fi rehab drama available in VHS. If any film deserves a VHS release, it’s Stinking Heaven, which is set in 1990, when VHS was still the norm, and was shot on Betacam video. Set at a communal home for former substance abusers, Silver’s fifth feature has a gritty, documentary feel to it which lends itself to the outmoded VHS format. Factory 25 founder Matt Grady explained the genesis of the VHS edition. “I’ve been […]
by Paula Bernstein on Dec 11, 2015 -
Watch: 50ish VHS Production Company Logos Piled up on Each Other
Has it been too long since you saw the Trimark pyramid logo? Would you like to revisit an ill-spent vidiot past but you’re in a hurry? This efficiently quasi-nightmarish video exploits the inherent strangeness of logos derived from primitive computer graphics and rudimentary synth tones, layering about 50 such specimens on top of each other. The dual visual and sonic pile-up is hypnotic in a vaguely unnerving way.
by Vadim Rizov on Oct 22, 2014 -
Win a Copy of The ABCs of Death
Inspired by children’s books, The ABCs of Death is a wildly ambitious anthology that draws upon more than two dozen of the horror genre’s most creative, and macabre, directors from around the world (spanning fifteen countries) to bring you segments that range from provocative to hilarious. Under the auspices of the project, the filmmakers were each assigned a letter of the alphabet and then given the freedom to choose a word to craft their short film around. The only requirement was that it dealt with death. The result is a collection that Fangoria called, “a stunning roll call of some of the […]
by Billy Brennan on May 20, 2013 -
Celebrating the Obsolete: Films on Film at SXSW
It’s no secret that the independent film industry has been irrevocably altered by the modern financing and distribution landscapes. With new technologies rendering traditional media — both film itself and releasing platforms — obsolete, filmmakers have managed to weave the presence of such nostalgias and tropes into their work. In Josh Johnson’s Rewind This!, which had its world premiere at SXSW, the effects of the home video revolution are dissected by collectors, fanatics, programmers, and critics alike. Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess, which screened at SXSW following its world premiere at Sundance, is a comedic period piece in which programmers and […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Mar 15, 2013 -
DISPOSABLE MEMORIES FROM SXSW
I pack quickly the night before leaving for SXSW. Not only do I forget to bring business cards, I don’t even pack my digital camera. I pop into a CVS once I’ve landed in Austin and pick up a two-pack of disposable cameras. I’m surprised they still sell them. My five day jaunt across SXSW is a flurry of rain, movies, tacos, friends, panels, and long lines. I watch Purple Rain on VHS. I watch V/H/S in a movie theater. I’m asked by multiple people if I’ve heard what this year’s Tiny Furniture is. I hear a big-four agent tell […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Mar 16, 2012 -
“V/H/S”| Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Chad Villella
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin: For our segment of V/H/S (“10/31/98”), we spent an entire night searching for a train. After hours of driving around, we still couldn’t get what we needed, so we decided to park near some tracks and wait. It was a little after midnight on a Tuesday and there we were: four friends, grown men sitting in a parked car with lights off, down a dark alley somewhere in South Los Angeles, dressed up as a pirate, a Marine, a life-sized teddy bear & the Unabomber. A woman walking by caught a glimpse of us and quickly picked up her pace–and I’m sure our awkward attempts […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2012 -
FILMMAKER FLASHBACK: SPRING, 1996
Spring, 1996. It’s so strange now to look back at a piece in this issue by David Leitner on the new digital camera technology and read this bit of breaking news: 1996 will witness the inauguration of prerecorded films on CD-sized Digital Versatile Disks or “DVDs” (you and I will call them Digital Video Disks). DVDs not only doom VHS but also CD-ROMs as we know them for the mere reason that single-sided DVDs store 8.5 gigabytes compared to the puny 680 megabytes of CDs while manufacturing costs are the same. Also in this issue was filmmaker John Landis (yes, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Aug 17, 2010
