Here's a fascinating find via Scott Simmons: David Bordwell admits to being a frame counter, and his calculative observations of edited sequences reveals the differences between film and video formats. Bordwell counts exact frames in tightly edited sequences from 35mm/16mm film prints and reveals the arithmetical precision used by directors and editors to create a specific rhythm. Watching the same film on different video formats (VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc) Bordwell then observes the differences in precise sequence lengths in frames due to differing video frame rates and 3:2 pulldown. It's an excellent read highlighting the differences between film and video frame rates, NTSC vs. PAL, and interlaced versus progressive formats, and how all of these different factors affect the actual rhythm of film editing.
Ok, so I really quite like Children of Men. Partly because it is one of the most convincing films I have seen in a long time, in more ways than one. With other films, I sometimes doubt what I am witnessing, in due part to visual effects that are simply unnatural, for lack of a better word. However, in Children of Men, the implementation of CG and special effects is nearly seamless and unidentifiable, undoubtedly in due part to the overall fluid nature of the film. Nevertheless, CG is there, and this fxguide article does a great job in highlighting how special effects studio Double Negative handled implementing CG into several of CoM's key (and long) scenes. Ordinarily, visual effects artists deal with source footage in several second cuts, but DNeg was faced with compositing shots that went for up to nine minutes. The article also has great technical details regarding the camera rig used during the infamous car chase scene. Very enlightening stuff here. (Here's hoping for a feature-loaded DVD release.)
In yet another recent interview, David Lynch talks about the creative processes behind filmmaking with The Onion. Among discussions regarding the progression of ideas, cinema as a tool for expression, and transcendental meditation, Lynch again gives another nod to digital video, claiming "There were no cons. Only pros," during the production of Inland Empire.
We might be guilty of associating successful distribution to landing films in major cities and established venues. But it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. Filmmaker Magazine has a great article detailing Jay Craven's experiences self-distributing his film, Where the Rivers Flow North in rural Vermont and applying his strategies and successes to his second DIY film release, Disappearances. "...I decided to launch a 100 Town Tour of the state. We needed cash, so while we waited for movie theaters to clear their schedules, we started playing town halls, granges and old opera houses. You can rent most of them for $50 and set up the show in less than an hour. And you take home all the cash at the end of the night."
Definitely an interesting look at alternative distribution strategies.
To the right is a screen grab from the credits of Children of Men which used a sample from the Free Sound Project. The sample is "male loud scream" and is probably the first time a major motion picture used Creative Commons content with proper accreditation. So what is the Free Sound Project? Only the biggest database of free snippits, samples, and remixes available to anyone to download and reuse as they see fit. Go Children of Men. And if you want to see more behind the scenes stuff about the movie, check out our previous post.
Wow. Ok, I'm not going to claim that this is representative of all film trailers during the same time period, but the original Star Warstrailer is surprisingly poorly done. Something that has always irked me about many modern movie trailers is the fact that they practically give away the whole film within a couple of minutes. It seems like trailers have become Cliffs Notes versions of the actual film, sometimes with major plot points and scenes revealed. Why do I mention that now? Well, this Star Wars trailer is so far removed from that idea, so amazingly cryptic and scatterbrained (and just plain ol' cheesy), that it looks like it's for a half-finished film. I wonder if someone spent more than like 20 minutes editing this thing. Something like this would never get by today's standards. Anyway, totally worth watching! I mean, it was "a billion years in the making", after all.
Select Sundance short films have started to make their way online for viewing, and today several of those have trickled into the iTunes Store for purchase. The free shorts can be streamed directly from the official Sundance website, and the seventeen download-to-own (warning: iTunes link) versions are available for just $1.99 each. There are just over 45 total shorts available, so that should keep any prospective viewers busy for a while... And don't forget about the official Sundance podcast, which is freely available for subscription in the iTunes Store.
"You don't find as much originality in Sundance films these days, and for a simple reason. In the beginning, the festival was a home for the homeless, for a rambunctious outlaw take on filmmaking. There was no need to be cautious, since indie films were rarely hits. But as Sundance became the showcase for a form of movie gaining marketplace pull, young directors naturally made films to fit the new mold.... Trying to get your intellectual fill with Sundance films is like choosing homemade popcorn over the concession-stand variety: higher quality, little nourishment."
Harsh words from Richard Corliss in Time Magazine regarding the state of Sundance, yes. Rather than regurgitating his sentiments, I will simply point out a very enlightening book I read a few years ago, Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. If you think this article is being too harsh and unfair, the book very informatively strengthens a similar argument.
Ok, so a few days ago I spout some heavy praise for The Children of Men. More than anything, it is the film's incredible long takes that really amaze me, and thankfully reader Daniel K. brought this Making of The Children of Men to attention. In this seven minute video, director Alfonso Cuarón goes into some depth discussing the challenge of accomplishing a couple of these dauntingly technical shots, and one great segment highlights the custom mobile rig the team developed to get a several minute-long shot from inside of a moving vehicle during a dangerous car chase scene. (Finally, I can sleep at night knowing how they did it...) Crazy stuff. Very informative video. Recommended viewing!
You might be familiar with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's upcoming co-op double feature film, Grindhouse. Now, the directors are offering a chance to screen your own sleazy, raunchy "grindhouse trailer" during a special presentation by Rodriguez at the upcoming SXSW. Rodriguez himself will select the best trailer from all submissions, which are due by February 12th, and play the winner during his "Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse 101" discussion on Sunday, March 11th. Purty neat. Check out Mike's post for the complete rules.
Last week, I saw Children of Men. Two nights ago, I saw it again. Rarely do I pay to see a film twice in the theater, but Children of Men almost demanded that I do so. Not only am I a big fan of intelligent sci-fi films (and books, especially of the dystopian variety), Children of Men represents a startling standout act in terms of actual production. Other than the tight plot, deliciously thoughtful political overtones, pitch-perfect acting, incredible art direction and locations, and superb pacing, this film features some of the most startling long takes I've ever experienced. In fact, it is the film's use of long takes that is the most inspiring and impressionable feature of the film.
In a time where superfluous CG effects and chop-chop editing plague so many Hollywood pictures, Children of Men stands in defiance of the hyper-real. In an early long take spanning at least a couple of minutes, a group of five drives down a road and sees a burning car quickly rolling down a hillside, blocking their path. A massive horde of thugs hoping to do the passengers in come out of the woods and run towards their car which is now forced to speed in reverse. Chaos ensues during the chase, and the camera never cuts away from the perspective inside of the vehicle during all of this. It's an incredibly planned shot, and only a precursor to a much bigger and more technically impressive long take later in the film.
The complete lack of editing during some of Children of Men's most emotionally heated and technically impressive scenes is a real filmmaking marvel. Ultimately, it gives the film a much bigger punch because we are able to experience these scenes uninterrupted, with no disruption to the sense of time. Yes, these long takes give the film an almost "realistic" quality. And that is what separates Children of Men from the rest. There is not only good entertainment to be had with Children of Men, but a valuable learning experience. So yes, long story short: see this movie.
The Sundance Institute and Sundance Channel announced that they will offer a selection of narrative, documentary and animation short films from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival for download in the iTunes Store starting January 22nd at a price of $1.99. During previous fests, Sundance has streamed shorts for free on their website (which is planned again, starting January 18th), but this is the first time that people will be able to buy digital versions of select screened films. The movies will be chosen from the 71 shorts scheduled to play during the festival. In addition to the shorts, free podcasts from behind the scenes of Sundance will be hosted on the iTunes Store. The Sundance Film Festival will be running from January 18th-28th.
Besides the actual invention of movies itself, the next best innovation was adding sound to the picture. How they did this is probably a little hard to comprehend in this day and age let alone in 1929. Fleischer Studios, the animators of Popeye, Betty Boop, as well as Superman, made an educational cartoon to explain to the world how sound becomes joined to motion pictures.
It is certainly entertaining to see how they captured sound waves and transferred them to film. And the beauty of this piece is it is in the public domain so you can download a very high quality MPEG-2 version and do whatever you want with it. Lucky for us, the Vintage Tooncast has gone through all of the trouble of converting it to a Flash movie so you can watch it in a jiffy. But if you want to download a beefier version, then check out the Internet Archive.
P.S. If you like classic cartoons like this, the Vintage Tooncast has quite a collection.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated is scheduled to be released on DVD January 23rd. This is one film I've been eager to see. In case you haven't heard about it yet, this documentary by Kirby Dick does some digging into the top-secret MPAA ratings system and even attempts to find out the identities of the secret-decoder-ring-wearing MPAA ratings board members.
The documentary asks whether Hollywood movies and independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA entirely unaccountable for its decisions.
The MPAA also provided a little comic relief when it got caught with its hand in the cookie jar and admitted to making 10 copies of the movie to distribute to board members without the filmmakers permission. You gotta love it.
Ahh to be young again! Full of dreams, uninhibited, not a care in the world...except for how many DV tapes it will take to record you friend Joey's birthday party...
My Life As A Child is a 6-part documentary series where children record their lives on video from a first person perspective. The Learning Channel selected 20 youngsters ages 7 to 12 for the project, checked out some video gear to them, and let them tape for 4 months. The footage they captured makes up the 6 one-hour episodes, and marks a first for TLC in melding user generated content and television. The show claims to be "frank, intimate, and eye-opening" as children share their perspectives on growing up in the 21st century.
I couldn't find any hard DVGuru info about the production (camera info, production notes, behind the scenes info.) Still, I can't help but be a bit fascinated by the fact that this sort of thing wouldn't have been possible 7 or 8 years ago. The relative price of camcorders, this generation's experience with video, and the popularity of "viral" video content all seem to culminate in a project like this one.
My Life As A Child airs on Monday, February 26 at 7PM (ET/PT.)
Here's a fascinating find via Scott Simmons: David Bordwell admits to being a frame counter, and his calculative observations of edited sequences reveals the differences between film and video formats. Bordwell counts exact frames in tightly edited sequences from 35mm/16mm film prints and reveals the arithmetical precision used by directors and editors to create a specific rhythm. Watching the same film on different video formats (VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc) Bordwell then observes the differences in precise sequence lengths in frames due to differing video frame rates and 3:2 pulldown. It's an excellent read highlighting the differences between film and video frame rates, NTSC vs. PAL, and interlaced versus progressive formats, and how all of these different factors affect the actual rhythm of film editing. 
Ok, so I really quite like Children of Men. Partly because it is one of the most convincing films I have seen in a long time, in more ways than one. With other films, I sometimes doubt what I am witnessing, in due part to visual effects that are simply unnatural, for lack of a better word. However, in Children of Men, the implementation of CG and special effects is nearly seamless and unidentifiable, undoubtedly in due part to the overall fluid nature of the film. Nevertheless, CG is there, and this 
In yet another recent interview, David Lynch talks about the creative processes behind filmmaking with 
We might be guilty of associating successful distribution to landing films in major cities and established venues. But it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. Filmmaker Magazine has a great 
To the right is a screen grab from the credits of Children of Men which used a sample from the 
Wow. Ok, I'm not going to claim that this is representative of all film trailers during the same time period, but the original Star Wars 
Select Sundance short films have started to make their way online for viewing, and today several of those have trickled into the iTunes Store for purchase. The free shorts can be 
"You don't find as much originality in Sundance films these days, and for a simple reason. In the beginning, the festival was a home for the homeless, for a rambunctious outlaw take on filmmaking. There was no need to be cautious, since indie films were rarely hits. But as Sundance became the showcase for a form of movie gaining marketplace pull, young directors naturally made films to fit the new mold.... Trying to get your intellectual fill with Sundance films is like choosing homemade popcorn over the concession-stand variety: higher quality, little nourishment."
Ok, so a few days ago I spout some heavy 
You might be familiar with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's upcoming co-op double feature film, 
Last week, I saw Children of Men. Two nights ago, I saw it again. Rarely do I pay to see a film twice in the theater, but Children of Men almost demanded that I do so. Not only am I a big fan of intelligent sci-fi films (and books, especially of the dystopian variety), Children of Men represents a startling standout act in terms of actual production. Other than the tight plot, deliciously thoughtful political overtones, pitch-perfect acting, incredible art direction and locations, and superb pacing, this film features some of the most startling long takes I've ever experienced. In fact, it is the film's use of long takes that is the most inspiring and impressionable feature of the film. 
Besides the actual invention of movies itself, the next best innovation was adding sound to the picture. How they did this is probably a little hard to comprehend in this day and age let alone in 1929. Fleischer Studios, the animators of Popeye, Betty Boop, as well as Superman, made an educational cartoon to explain to the world how sound becomes joined to motion pictures.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated 
Ahh to be young again! Full of dreams, uninhibited, not a care in the world...except for how many DV tapes it will take to record you friend Joey's birthday party...
