I am absolutely for the possibilities of video – but to accept a medium, you don’t have to negate another, or former. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Just because you paint with acrylics, it doesn’t mean that watercolors have no value …
As people have been saying, there is a heightened pressure when shooting on film, especially with small small budgets. The stakes are raised. Your actors feel it, your crew feels it. The pressure to perform. It creates a atmosphere where rehearsal is crucial – for camera and performance. Fear. Fear that you only have so many takes. Fear from the actors to not screw it up. The pressure to get it right. That, you do not have in digital. It can create a lax environment wherein you opt to shoot the rehearsals. Cuz, why not? Because you can. You roll and roll, but it’s different. You have to come up with other ways to raise to performance level of cast and crew …
I do think that 30 min. is a better mark. Will you eventually make it possible to download or subscribe to podcasts so that we can listen via ipod/iphone?
I am a recent fan. Her films are absolutely incredible. Her point-of-view is so refreshing and unique. The soundscape and use of off-screen space in La Cienega. The silence in La mujer sin cabeza. The tension in La nina santa. So so good.
So does anyone on Garage have connections with a lab? What do we think about creating avenues for film processing and transfer discounts for Garage members??
I have a Bolex collecting dust and I really want to shoot something on it this summer. Perhaps my TEN trailer?
I already have the filmstock – all I need is access to a lab …
Or perhaps, we could start talking about processing at home … I’d like to learn that. I met the filmmaker Bill Brown a few years back and he mentioned doing all his processing in a bucket in his living room. Does anyone here have experience with that?
I didn’t know where else to ask this question on the forum:
Will it be possible to subscribe to the Production Notebook eventually?
The Auteurs Notebook feeds into my google reader and I long for the day when the Garage Production Notebook can do the same. Or perhaps it already can and I am foolishly revealing publicly my ignorance …
Or, perhaps it is purposeful that subscribing to the feed is unavailable? Is there an attempt to maintain activity on the site and to not have non-site experiences such as via google reader?
I agree with FMF. Filmmaking IS technology – the art and craft of molding, shaping, manipulating moving images. Our form, our medium is the moving film frame. Dramaturgy is a flourish, a dressing, to even the narrative film. Frame first – then, consider what goes into that frame. IMHO
A lot of great things being said. I love the passion.
Fraser-Orr: That’s exactly where I stopped watching too. “It’s fucking broken” : revealing his naive douche-hackery
K.J. Farrington: I very much agree with your sentiment and loathing of the term “indie.” Its now quirk-ridden trajectory has saturated and tainted the film, music, and comic scene.
I don’t know about festivals being cons … mammoth [some] institutions that require an amount of capital to function, yes, i.e. businesses. More of a subjective crap shoot than a con. They definitely do not represent the magical way to make it as a filmmaker – the prospect of “making it” via film festivals is a fanciful fairytale that sustains many a young filmmaker.
I have many students who say that if they could just have a better camera, access to better digital technology, that they would make better films. Misguided naivety. Cameras don’t make good films, people do – individuals with unique perspectives, ideas, theories, passions and methods for representing and exploring the world through cinema.
Yes, interesting and engaged story/content/ideas, however, equally important (perhaps a bit more) is how that story is told. What can cinema do for that story? Why does it merit the visual medium of moving images? And also, what is your cinema, i.e., the individual filmmaker’s cinematic vision?
What’s sad is that it is some of my best students that say that. They get dizzy by the sparkle and shine from the Canon 7D and they think the camera is their ticket to stardom. Yes, sad.
Good call on Zhangke and Costa. I’m definitely going to be talking more about great cinema with limited (even seemingly rudimentary) tools and technologies.
Rodriquez makes good points – more inspiring though are Cassavettes (like you [he] mention[s]), Agnes Varda (in her later years), and Glauber Rocha (idea in mind and camera in hand).
‘Primer’ is a good example of making cinema under a spread of limitations – and that’s even super 16.
Oh yes, ‘Primer’ as a film, blah, as a story of getting a film made and seen (within the festival establishment), something to at least be aware of. But also, very last decade .
This is how all docs should be made. Quiet, observational, no narration, no talking heads. The filmmakers show and juxtapose. We create our own connections, conclusions, and messages. Perfect.
This film is about what it means to be human. What it means to live on this planet.
I agree – yet, I would say that i wasn’t arguing for an understanding of the technology or flashy pictures, but for a pragmatic approach and understanding of the frame apparatus and working within that window. To me, pretty picture cinema is vapid and irrelevant. I very much am for a cinema weighted and informed by story or ideas or theory – thought out with soul and gusto – where the frame and each frame has meaning.
That being said, theatrical dramaturgy and cinematic dramaturgy are two separate (and I would say, unrelated) entities. Applying dramatic principles to cinema means understanding the frame and creating meaning and depth within.
Such vitriolic and entitled (read: spoiled) speech over changes on a still very cool and FREE site does not make sense to me. I wonder if the naysayers would be so aggressive, whiny, and hateful to Efe’s face? Nope.
The Man From London and Pontypool about 3 years ago
Does anyone know whether or not the On Demand version of The Man From London is in the original aspect ratio? Or, is it another pan and scan thing?
I want to watch it tonight, but not interested in spending $6.99 for a reformatted version.
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Do You Like Wes Anderson? about 3 years ago
I say no to his quirky series of feature length music videos.
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City of God vs, Slumdog Millionare about 3 years ago
They both sensationalize, aestheticize, stylize reality, i.e. pain, suffering, and poverty – the antithesis to social realism.
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The Man From London and Pontypool about 3 years ago
Good to know. Thanks!
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Having fun about Bolex and Steenbecks over 2 years ago
My latest film, Give Me A Dram, (up on Garage) was shot on a Bolex.
http://www.theauteurs.com/garage/projects/2/films/81
I LOVE the Bolex.
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Having fun about Bolex and Steenbecks over 2 years ago
I am absolutely for the possibilities of video – but to accept a medium, you don’t have to negate another, or former. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Just because you paint with acrylics, it doesn’t mean that watercolors have no value …
As people have been saying, there is a heightened pressure when shooting on film, especially with small small budgets. The stakes are raised. Your actors feel it, your crew feels it. The pressure to perform. It creates a atmosphere where rehearsal is crucial – for camera and performance. Fear. Fear that you only have so many takes. Fear from the actors to not screw it up. The pressure to get it right. That, you do not have in digital. It can create a lax environment wherein you opt to shoot the rehearsals. Cuz, why not? Because you can. You roll and roll, but it’s different. You have to come up with other ways to raise to performance level of cast and crew …
Go to Comment
The TEN Festival Trailer Inspiration about 2 years ago
Yes yes yes to TRASH HUMPERS, EYES WIDE SHUT, and LITTLE CHILDREN trailers.
Here’s a favorite trailer (and film) of mine by Brazilian filmmaker Cao Guimarães.
Andarilho [Drifter] (2007)
Go to Comment
Garage Audio Production Notes about 2 years ago
This is great.
I do think that 30 min. is a better mark. Will you eventually make it possible to download or subscribe to podcasts so that we can listen via ipod/iphone?
Go to Comment
CINÉMA 21: LUCRECIA MARTEL about 2 years ago
Fantastic write-up on Martel!
I am a recent fan. Her films are absolutely incredible. Her point-of-view is so refreshing and unique. The soundscape and use of off-screen space in La Cienega. The silence in La mujer sin cabeza. The tension in La nina santa. So so good.
Go to Comment
Having fun about Bolex and Steenbecks about 2 years ago
So does anyone on Garage have connections with a lab? What do we think about creating avenues for film processing and transfer discounts for Garage members??
I have a Bolex collecting dust and I really want to shoot something on it this summer. Perhaps my TEN trailer?
I already have the filmstock – all I need is access to a lab …
Or perhaps, we could start talking about processing at home … I’d like to learn that. I met the filmmaker Bill Brown a few years back and he mentioned doing all his processing in a bucket in his living room. Does anyone here have experience with that?
Go to Comment
The Garage: Newsletter, March 2010 about 2 years ago
I didn’t know where else to ask this question on the forum:
Will it be possible to subscribe to the Production Notebook eventually?
The Auteurs Notebook feeds into my google reader and I long for the day when the Garage Production Notebook can do the same. Or perhaps it already can and I am foolishly revealing publicly my ignorance …
Or, perhaps it is purposeful that subscribing to the feed is unavailable? Is there an attempt to maintain activity on the site and to not have non-site experiences such as via google reader?
Go to Comment
Garage Audio Production Notes about 2 years ago
Awesome. Downloading…
Go to Comment
Problems of an Aspiring Filmmaker about 2 years ago
I agree with FMF. Filmmaking IS technology – the art and craft of molding, shaping, manipulating moving images. Our form, our medium is the moving film frame. Dramaturgy is a flourish, a dressing, to even the narrative film. Frame first – then, consider what goes into that frame. IMHO
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
I like this thread.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
A lot of great things being said. I love the passion.
Fraser-Orr: That’s exactly where I stopped watching too. “It’s fucking broken” : revealing his naive douche-hackery
K.J. Farrington: I very much agree with your sentiment and loathing of the term “indie.” Its now quirk-ridden trajectory has saturated and tainted the film, music, and comic scene.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
I’d prefer to put that faux hand-drawn title font and “indie music” into the shredder along with the filmmakers who use it.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
I don’t know about festivals being cons … mammoth [some] institutions that require an amount of capital to function, yes, i.e. businesses. More of a subjective crap shoot than a con. They definitely do not represent the magical way to make it as a filmmaker – the prospect of “making it” via film festivals is a fanciful fairytale that sustains many a young filmmaker.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
I have many students who say that if they could just have a better camera, access to better digital technology, that they would make better films. Misguided naivety. Cameras don’t make good films, people do – individuals with unique perspectives, ideas, theories, passions and methods for representing and exploring the world through cinema.
So i agree: content is everything.
And money, of course.
And luck.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
Yes, interesting and engaged story/content/ideas, however, equally important (perhaps a bit more) is how that story is told. What can cinema do for that story? Why does it merit the visual medium of moving images? And also, what is your cinema, i.e., the individual filmmaker’s cinematic vision?
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
What’s sad is that it is some of my best students that say that. They get dizzy by the sparkle and shine from the Canon 7D and they think the camera is their ticket to stardom. Yes, sad.
Good call on Zhangke and Costa. I’m definitely going to be talking more about great cinema with limited (even seemingly rudimentary) tools and technologies.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
Rodriquez makes good points – more inspiring though are Cassavettes (like you [he] mention[s]), Agnes Varda (in her later years), and Glauber Rocha (idea in mind and camera in hand).
‘Primer’ is a good example of making cinema under a spread of limitations – and that’s even super 16.
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
Oh yes, ‘Primer’ as a film, blah, as a story of getting a film made and seen (within the festival establishment), something to at least be aware of. But also, very last decade .
Go to Comment
Are You Mad as Hell? about 2 years ago
Way to bring things full circle and back to OpenIndie … :)
Go to Comment
Babies, The movie about 2 years ago
This is how all docs should be made. Quiet, observational, no narration, no talking heads. The filmmakers show and juxtapose. We create our own connections, conclusions, and messages. Perfect.
This film is about what it means to be human. What it means to live on this planet.
Go to Comment
Babies, The movie about 2 years ago
…
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Babies, The movie about 2 years ago
observational cinema is observational cinema.
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Problems of an Aspiring Filmmaker about 2 years ago
I agree – yet, I would say that i wasn’t arguing for an understanding of the technology or flashy pictures, but for a pragmatic approach and understanding of the frame apparatus and working within that window. To me, pretty picture cinema is vapid and irrelevant. I very much am for a cinema weighted and informed by story or ideas or theory – thought out with soul and gusto – where the frame and each frame has meaning.
That being said, theatrical dramaturgy and cinematic dramaturgy are two separate (and I would say, unrelated) entities. Applying dramatic principles to cinema means understanding the frame and creating meaning and depth within.
Go to Comment
Agnes Varda@Mubi about 2 years ago
LOVE! Oh Agnes
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MUBI NEWS about 2 years ago
Amen
Such vitriolic and entitled (read: spoiled) speech over changes on a still very cool and FREE site does not make sense to me. I wonder if the naysayers would be so aggressive, whiny, and hateful to Efe’s face? Nope.
This isn’t our site, we just get to use it.
Go to Comment
MUBI NEWS about 2 years ago
I get the sentiment, but this entire dialogue of “undesirables” and “the masses” comes off as undesirably elitist and bourgeois.
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