Check out an interview with The History of Independent Cinema's author Phil Hall at Alternative Film Guide.
From the interview:
"When did independent cinema as we generally define it today — small-budgeted, character-driven, thematically off-beat — take off?
It was always there. One could argue the so-called “race films” – all-black films produced exclusively for racially segregated audiences in the Jim Crow period – were setting that example beginning in the early 1920s, when Oscar Micheaux [right] was producing and directing films such as Within Our Gates."
Saw Predator again after like 50,000 years. Flick is still excellent - except for a few goofy moments, it's kind of like a sped up Terrence Malick movie - but with an alien hunter (emphasis on "kind of like" i guess, also what if Terrence Malick were to re-make Predator?, that might be awesome). For those who are new to this achievement in cinema, here is a review of the movie at PopMatters. From the review:
"Written by brothers Jim and John Thomas (who claim influences by Greek myths and Apocalypse Now) and directed by newbie John McTiernan (he had only made Nomads, in 1986, and Die Hard came a year later), Predator is surprisingly fine. Taut and relentless, it pares down, stage by stage. Beginning as if it might be a war movie (the team is sent on a dangerous mission), transforms first into horror (skinned bodies and splatted heads), then into science fiction (the discover of the alien, with electric gimmicks and awesome weapons), and finally, becomes an existential conflict between man and not-man."
Check out the trailer for The Boy With The Sun In His Eyes here.
A description of the film:
"After his best friend Kevin commits suicide, John decides his life needs a change and he spontaneously heads off to Europe to follow Kevin's muse Solange, a minor pop music diva and eccentric B-movie actress. As the odd pair become embroiled in a world of sex, drugs, and murder the boundaries of trust start to wear thin and John begins to wonder whether Solange is the victim of a bizarre lifestyle or its mastermind. Shot on location in Europe and featuring a killer soundtrack, Todd Verow's most recent film is an homage to 80's cinema and a fun installment in the prolific director's portfolio."
More about Verow's movies (16 features it looks like so far, most are low budget & digital) at Bangor Films.
Like that old quote about it being impossible to organize a revolution with anarchists (or something like that :), most indie filmmakers (myself included) do not listen to advice (or they hear it, but believe that they are the exception to the rule & thus it does not apply to them), but here are some observations that may be of use if you are trying to make & distribute low budget movies outside of any kind of structure remotely resembling the film industry:
1 - It's the best of times for real indie/way off-Hollywood filmmakers & it's possibly the worst of times for filmmakers who dream of getting selected to a top festival & selling their movies to a distribution company & jump starting their Holly/indiewood career. Let's take a look at what's good about the current moment for real indie/D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) filmmakers:
- relatively inexpensive, high quality image & sound capture technologies
- relatively inexpensive access to a marketing & sales space through the web
2 - A LOT is beyond your control as a filmmaker who wants to distribute your own work or collaborate with distributors but want to retain ownership of your own work. Such as building & maintaining a filmmaking community (takes a lot of time, and a lot of people have to be enthusiastic about it), state of film journalism, film festival programming decisions & also the future of the film festival industry. However, SOME VERY IMPORTANT THINGS are within your control: such as creating awesomely creative, unique, can't buy from Hollywood type movies (or the room for the existence of such movies is here, even though I have not seen very many of those movies come into being yet) - in order to create those you will need to come up with a new way to talk about/show/tell stories about old subjects, or will have to start focusing on new/relatively under-explored subjects. Not a difficult thing for artists to do in other mediums (literature, painting, music, etc.), so probably not too difficult for us to do with film.
3 - Best to not depend on your movies being able to pay ALL or even ANY of your bills anytime soon. Operate with that in mind, and when & if that situation does change & you make a very decent amount of money from your movies, it will be a pleasant surprise. So, find a day job or several that you can stand, that will give you free time to make & distribute your movies. Also, since each film is a unique product, there probably aren't any sales/money makings solutions that will work for all or even most films. A real indie film that will end up making a lot of money will probably get to that point after its maker/distributor has experimented with different ways of promoting & selling the movie & discovered the unique combination applicable to that movie only.
4 - Internet communities for filmmakers are probably overrated. Sure, we can learn about other filmmakers & various screening & other development opportunities through the web, but, ultimately, movies are made in the real/outside of the web world (generally) & screened in that same real world. Even though it is possible to watch movies over the web, that's a whole other & new industry that probably will not replace the joy & excitement of watching movies with other people in the real world. So, at some point you will have to make some filmmaking friends in the real world & if not many such people live in your town, you might have to move.
5 - There are multiple dangers in being or trying to be both a film critic/reviewer & a filmmaker. At some point, if you want to go the the "next level" (whatever that next level may be for you at your current point of career development) on either profession, it will probably be easier to choose whichever one you like best (either criticism/reviewing or filmmaking) & work on that goal. Filmmakers work for a broader audience (generally), critics/reviewers work for a very narrow audience (mostly other critics/reviewers & also for film historians & educators) and ultimately film criticism is not necessary for film production & distribution. Criticism is a completely separate line of work, related only in a very minor way to filmmaking. Also, critics (professional film watchers) are looking for different things from movies than regular, paying (with money or time) audience members. As a filmmaker you are probably better off being outside of the critical mind & community & more in touch with filmmaker & audience needs.
6 - All of the following things now can be done by one person, one item at a time:
- writing a screenplay
- fundraising (in this case it's using $s from day job, & donations, & small loans/"investments" from friends)
- casting
- directing rehearsals
- shooting the film & sound recording (may be better if there was help for these items, but not impossible to do well by oneself -with a lot of practice)
- lighting
- directing actors
- editing
- setting up screenings
- creating DVDs
- setting up websites & blogs to promote the film
- managing a screening
- selling DVDs over the web
- shipping DVDs out to customers
That's pretty much, in broad strokes, all the steps required for creating, showing & selling for home use an indie film. On top of those you can look at other web distribution options such as Internet VOD (video on demand). And beyond that all the usual distribution avenues - television, working with theatrical distributors, etc.
7 - So, we are at the point in time when filmmaking can be practiced by one artist with some assistance from just a few others. Just like writing, music making, painting, etc. That kind of production & being is not Hollywood, nor is it Indiewood, it is its own new thing. And, in the near future, it may have its own star & superstar practitioners. So, all in all, this is a very good moment for people who are interested in making movies (even if it is a bad moment for people who want to break into Hollywood through indie filmmaking).
What about the new indie film scene? Well, that's always happening. There is always a bunch of people making real indie movies & keeping in touch/helping each other out & writing about it, checking out each others movies, etc. If you look over the past two months worth of posts on this or most other blogs & sites that cover real indie film, you'll probably see over a dozen links, per site, to various real indie film scenes - small & large. That overall scene will expand as more & more people make real indie movies & let others know about it & connect with other filmmakers & audience members. Scenes/communities happen when filmmakers stay in touch with other filmmakers. Filmmakers happen when people make movies. So, at the core of filmmaking communities is the decision to make movies & keep in touch with others who do the same kind of work - both are items that most people can now do if they decide to organize their lives in such a way as to make those activities possible - thanks to new filmmaking technology & the web.
And you could also go check out what's playing at venues such as Anthology - they've been showing new & old real indie films for a long, long time. Also at a lot of the smaller indie film festivals. Also check out postings re: D.I.Y. screenings - at the sites of filmmakers or at blogs like this where such events are mentioned from time to time. All those spaces & events are places where real indie communities & meetings happen.
So, the bottom line on the state of indie film: it's the best time to make real indie films, it is probably as challenging as ever to break into Hollywood by making indie films, there are both web & outside-of-web/real world spaces for watching real indie films & also being a part of the indie film scene.
So, ultimately, for an indie filmmaker, this sounds like a pretty good place in time/good point in history of indie film.
Thanks to my landlord (actually, landlady) & various arrangements, found a small but 2 bdrm apt in a very nice neighborhood in Brooklyn, so, tons of things need to be done to get my stuff in MD organized & moved & also same with my stuff in Bed Stuy - so - I don't think there will be many new posts here for the next 30 days or so.
As on-going film projects (Date Number One, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, Brooklyn Fantastic) come to completion of various stages (start of distro in a given format, post-production, production, etc.), will post updates here. Other than that, no blogging 'till the epic moving project is done.
Have a great rest of May, see ya (back on a regular/daily basis) in mid-June.
The audience I saw Terminator Salvation with in a theater in Silver Spring, Maryland tonight was laughing AT certain scenes & lines spoken by characters in the movie.
So, one of the scariest movies/stories of my younger days has been turned into a confusing & mostly nonsensical accidental comedy in its 4th incarnation.
We need to send McG back in time, to maybe 3 or 4 years ago (whatever point before they started shooting TS).
Here are some of the elements McG & a great/skilled screenwriter & an editor need to work on, as they re-make TS:
- the threat to humanity needs to be less sci-fi/time travel/alternate reality/theoretical whatever. What worked in the original terminator was that AN UNSTOPPABLE ROBOT WAS COMING TO KILL HUMANS.
-- possible ways to achieve this: take the story forward in time - Skynet has given up on trying to use time travel to keep John Conner from being born. Now it is using other methods, unexpected & more sinister methods, to deal with John Conner & the Resistance: how about creating a John Conner look-alike Terminator to mislead the Resistance. Maybe the real John Conner/the human one has to battle crazy odds to put a stop to this.
- if you must use the current send-the-teenage-version-of-your-dad-back-in-time story, MAKE IT SIMPLER - maybe have Skynet reveal to that android who thinks he is human character exactly how the time travel/time manipulation thing is a real threat to humans, a definite threat.
- the humans need to behave in ways that make some realistic sense - like why would a resistance fighter risk her life to save a terminator type person? We need more background on that yo.
- also, what's up with characters who have never met before completing each others ideas/sentences - being aware of each others needs & storylines though such information has never been revealed to them? Is there some sort of a hidden time travel/whatever reality at work in the world of the movie? If so, let us know, sell us on it.
- also, the world of the movie does not make much sense. Why are there massive Resistance air bases with jets & helicopters? Wouldn't Skynet be able to detect planes taking off & landing?
- also, how is destroying one shiny & tall & very visible building going to kill a computer based/electronic intelligence that could live all over the world - in underground computers, in satellites, as invisible signals, whatever. We need to see how & why Skynet is limited (if it is actually limited) to that one big building Conner & friends are trying to take out.
I thought Bale's John Conner did a good job, trying to figure out the various timelines & what things mean. Bale's character seems both sufficiently lost & moving forward determinedly at the same time - as he must, since he knows that what he knows (his mother's tapes, the past) is real. The thing that needs to change is the world that he operates in - a less confusing time travel threat, a less confusing world (for the audience), and a bigger threat from the Terminators/Skynet. So good job on directing Bale well in the present version of TS McG, & good job to Bale for whatever choices he made to keep the Conner character behaving "realistically" in a half-formed world - keep those things in when you re-make TS.
Anyway, good luck with going back in time & fixing TS. If all goes well in the next time line this blog entry will not exist, and I will instead be coming home from the theater going f* yeah!, T4 rocked!
In this episode of Very Independent Producers, Ted Hope, Christine Vachon & John Sloss discuss directors having or not having final cut on their projects:
:: Check it out here (while I figure out how to embed a player that'll fit right into this space).
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In this episode we visit Chuck Tryon (The Chutry Experiment) in North Carolina, then take a food break at a roadside restaurant, and continue on to Atlanta. Atlanta Part 1 features a walk in a park with Noralil Ryan Fores (ShortEnd Magazine, we'll see more of Fores in Episode 3), and an interview with Gabe Wardell (Gabe's Declaration of Principles) & Paula Martinez (Paula's After Thoughts) who are directors of the Atlanta Film Festival. Topics discussed include: roles blogs play in keeping in touch with film culture in larger cities, positive and negative sides of the film blogging revolution.
I like these words spoken by the Sri Lankan President on Tuesday in Sri Lanka, in a speech to the nation (from this article):
"President pointed out that the end of the war against the 'terrorist' was not a defeat for the Tamil community and henceforth, he did not want to identify them as a minority community in the country.
According to President Rajapaksa, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, and Malays are no longer minorities, all are Sri Lankans.
There are now only two national identities, patriots and non-patriots, the latter is now the minority, President stressed.
He said that following the liberation of the North the entire nation comes under the rule of the parliament from now onwards.
"Earlier the government administration did not function in a part of the country," he said. The President said the biggest challenge was nation building and the resettlement of the displaced persons. He called upon all political parties to be partners in that national task.
Finally President Rajapaksa urged the Tamil Diaspora to return to Sri Lanka and help rebuild the nation that has been destroyed by terrorism. He said a bigger challenge is to convince the Tamil Diaspora not to help the terrorism further."
Read the rest of the article about the speech here.
It will not be an easy task to get Sri Lankans (not just in Sri Lanka, but also world wide) to shed their fears (some justified, some not) and suspicions about "the other", but then again, many believed that defeating the LTTE militarily was impossible until it happened a couple of days ago, so, perhaps this new diificult objective is also attainable.
And here's a BBC article about the mood of much of the country at the moment. From the article "Peace hopes grip Sri Lankans" (and this is the first time in my life that I am reading a BBC article like this about Sri Lanka):
"The army says its operations are ended, that rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead and troops now hold all of the island's territory for the first time since 1983.
Such news will have been greeted almost with disbelief by Sri Lankans, many of whom were born into war or barely remember the time before it.
"We're part of history!" says another posting. "Today is the first day of my life I'm living in a Sri Lanka where there is no war." "
Looks like Year Zero of The New Sri Lanka may finally have arrived (a few months later than I predicted here, but I am extremely glad it's here). Lots of work ahead.
The 7/23/83 to 5/17/09 (just a day ago) time period covers open fighting between the LTTE - Tamil separatists and the Sri Lankan Government. For an outline of events, go to this Wikipedia page. I am sure a lot of the missing & if any, inaccurate, information will be discovered & corrected in the years to come.
Had to take a break from my blogging break to pass this link along.
From the page:
"The root of modern conflict goes back to British colonial rule when the country was known as Ceylon. A nationalist political movement from Sinhalese communities arose in the country in the early 20th century with the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the British after peaceful negotiations in 1948. Disagreements between the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic communities flared up when drawing up the country's first post-independence constitution.
Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's declaration of the "Sinhala Only Act" language policy was the spark that led to conflict. The civil war is a direct result of the escalation of the confrontational politics that followed. Communal uprisings in the 1950s, 1977, and the formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) with its Vaddukkodei (Vattukottai)) resolution of 1976 were key events. These led to a hardening of attitudes on both sides.
The TULF supported the armed actions of young militants who were dubbed "our boys." These "boys" were the product of the post-war population explosion. Many partially educated, unemployed Sinhala and Tamil youth fell for simplistic racist and violent revolutionary solutions to their problems."
Of course how the majority will now treat the minority will determine if the entire cycle of brutal violence will repeat itself in a few years or in a generation or two. For the moment, looks like a very good day for Sri Lanka after 25+ years of war. Check out the AP article Sri Lankan rebels concede defeat in civil war at Yahoo news. From the article:
"The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate state for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority after years of marginalization at the hands of the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that after defeating the rebels, his government will begin talks toward power sharing and political reconciliation between the two communities. But many Tamils are skeptical that the victorious government will be willing to make real concessions. At their height, the rebels controlled 5,400 square miles (14,000 square kilometers), nearly one-fifth of this Indian Ocean island nation.
They had a conventional army complete with artillery batteries, a large navy and even a nascent air force, funded by an estimated $200 million to $300 million a year they made from smuggling, fraud and appeals to Tamil expatriates. They also carried out hundreds of suicide attacks — including the 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi — and were listed as a terror group by the U.S., European Union and India.
A 2002 cease-fire briefly halted the fighting, but it broke down more than three years ago, and Rajapaksa vowed to destroy the rebels. With victory all but assured, Rajapaksa raced home from a trip abroad and was blessed at the airport Sunday morning by Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu and Muslim clerics. He scheduled a nationally televised news conference for Tuesday morning at Parliament.
Sri Lankans poured into the streets of the capital, Colombo, lighting firecrackers, dancing to the beat of traditional drums, waving the flag and hugging soldiers."
Congradulations & thank you to everyone who sacrificed to bring a war that most likely they themselves did not start (the seeds of this war was present when Ceylon/Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, and ripened with anti-Tamil activity in the 50's, 60's, 70's & ultimately the Black July massacre in 1983) to an end.
Hopefully Sri Lanka will now have peace for a long time to come.
* * * pictured above: an image from "Here. My Explosion...", Director Reid Gershbein
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" “Here. My Explosion…” was made as soon as I decided that I am never going to pursue film financing ever again. All my films will either be self-financed or I’ll use money if people offer, but I’m never going to ask someone for a single penny to make a film." - Reid Gershbein Director, "Here. My Explosion..."
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Indie Filmmaking Without Indiewood Illusions
"Here.My Explosion...", a feature length film by Reid Gershbein, became available to view on the internet this week. Here is a conversation with Gershbein about, among other matters, his approach to filmmaking & distribution, the film itself, The Two Week Film Collective, & coming up with a distinct look for the film using a consumer grade HD camera: * Sujewa: What's with the title - "Here. My Explosion..." - it is an unusual one for a movie. How did it come about, what does it mean, what can you tell us?
Reid: Actually, the full title is “Here. My Explosion happened when I totally stopped doing some things that I completely hated and was free to do what made me be. A story. A magic trick. And a burn. I thought it would be fun to have the second half be a long Western, and it would have been, but it totally didn't fit in, so I ended with a longer hope. Yes, Hope of what you want to do. Hope, Dreams. In It. Life.”. This whole film was about not self-censoring, completely following my own creative muse without constraint, and writing about whatever felt right at the time rather than creating a structure and making the pieces exactly fit together. The first part “My Explosion happened…” really described the writing flow and output that just came out of me when I threw away previous film and script constraints. The first part of the title just describes how I felt at the time. Then I kept on adding things to the title as I continued to write which described things that I was thinking either personally, thematically, or just ideas. The title is a snapshot of the ideas and emotions that I had when I wrote it. A self-reflective title, I guess. Unfortunately, once you start production and talking about a film then it really slows down discussions (and emails, tweets, etc.) when you have a super long title. So, it eventually just because “Here. My Explosion…” in discussions. So now I actually don’t know which one is the real name of the film.
Sujewa: What's the movie about (characters, plots, themes, etc.)?
Reid: The best way to describe what the film is about is to describe the initial ideas that I wanted to discuss and drive the creation of the film, this way people can watch the film to see how these ideas manifested and morphed. The initial ideas are about the social and economic temptations and expectations placed on artists and entrepreneurs who live in a capitalistic society that is slightly altered by magical realism.
Sujewa: Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
Reid: I’m just one of the masses whose passion has always been to write stories and make films. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do since I was eleven or twelve. I’ve been thinking about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week since then. When I was that age I saw “War Games” and saw how it empowered someone my age and then saw that computers were going to be a tool that would allow feature films to be made by a single person. So, I pursued Computer Science and Computer Graphics to get the technology to that point or at least understand it to make my own films. I was hoping it was going to happen earlier but I’m glad it didn’t because it gave me a lot more time to write and throw away my worst writing (not that I’m claiming that what’s left shouldn't be thrown out too).
Sujewa: Why did you decide to make "Here. My Explosion..." now?
Reid: “Here. My Explosion…” was made as soon as I decided that I am never going to pursue film financing ever again. All my films will either be self-financed or I’ll use money if people offer, but I’m never going to ask someone for a single penny to make a film. I raised about $2M for an animation company that I started back in 2000, raised money for my last feature “Broken Arrows”, and then I was raising money for a new live-action studio until I finally figured out that I was spending too much time raising money and not enough time making films. So, “Here. My Explosion…” was made now because I’m making films now and not raising money for films anymore.
Sujewa: How do you feel about, and what are some of your thoughts & possible solutions regarding, the current state of independent (real independent, not indiewood) filmmaking & distribution in the US?
Reid: The dividing line between the true independent filmmakers and all other filmmakers is money. Either your primary motivation is to make films to express yourself and make art, or it’s to make money and a career through the film industry. This is the best time in history for the true independent film community because you can make and distribute, digitally, films for essentially nothing with the potential of millions of people seeing and being affected by your films.
Sujewa: What are your current distribution plans for the film?
Reid: “Here. My Explosion…” is released under a Creative Commons license so that anyone can freely copy and distribute it for non-commercial purposes. We have it up on our site and other sites to be viewed and downloaded for free. We’ll also have super cheap DVDs and Blu-Ray disks that people can buy on our site without copy protection so that everyone can copy and distribute the film. All we ask is that if you like the film, what we are doing, or just like us then it would be fantastic if you could support us by buying some Imaginary Invisible Air (aka a donation) on our site. I have faith in the generosity of people since people have been proving it to me all my life.
Sujewa: What's the 2 Week Film project & how did that come about? And what's your role in that project?
Reid: The Two Week Film Collective is an open call to make a film, from first day of shooting to final cut, in Two Weeks. I’ve been thinking about making a feature over a long weekend, but I found an amazing amount of inspiration in talking to other filmmakers on Twitter. So, I thought that the best way to pursue something would be to have a more public and community based collective doing it together. I threw out the two week film idea to another filmmaker, he agreed, and then it took on a life of its own. I find that constraints like those found in Dogme 95 or “The Five Obstructions” movie really help inspire me by limiting tangential directions and devices when making films. It is also a great way to not get too attached to your films. If you only make one film every five years you might not be able to get the perspective on when to move on, if you are constantly making films then you might be able to have a broader sense of what the individual films mean to you. If nothing else, I see the Two Week Film Collective as a great exercise to see what you can and can’t do within these constraints and it will influence and inform future productions.
Sujewa: I feel that a lot of film bloggers who review movies, also a lot of professional film critics to some degree, are just frustrated filmmakers & or are just attempting to impose their will on the art form/shape the art form through words & not by actually making movies & or are just attacking their peers for no good reason - which I see as a caustic, unproductive & borderline evil/self-destructive, scene/industry-destructive activity. How do you feel about the current state of both professional film writing & DIY film writing?
Reid: Ironically, I’m a frustrated film critic who became a filmmaker. ☺ Personally, professional critics and reviewers aren’t interested in the films that interest me so thank god for DIY film writing! A lot of my favorite films are small, independent films & are ones that I only hear about because a single DIY film writer has written something about it. If these people didn’t exist I never would have found out about these films. DIY film writing has greatly enriched my life because it helps me find the jewels in the rough. Honestly, even negative reviews get me interested in watching a film if the reviewer hates it for the same reasons I might love it. So, even though a review might be “bad” it might be a “good” review for me and make me want to watch the film.
Sujewa: On the bright side, I think this is the best time in the entire known history of the planet to be an independent filmmaker (because we can make good movies for $0 to $1000 or less, if we have to) & with the web we can let at least some people know about the existence of the movies & how to buy them - what do you think? Is now a good time to be an indie filmmaker?
Reid: This is the best time in history to be an independent filmmaker because of everything you said. Now with absolutely zero money you can make and distribute a film that is actually seen by millions of people if people really react to it. That has never been possible before.
Sujewa: Indiewood is dead & or dying & professional film criticism is also dying - in a way both of those areas of activity were never very interested in real indie filmmakers so they do not really matter to me - but at the same time real indie filmmaking & distribution is being done in ever greater numbers. But, unfortunately a lot of these real indie filmmakers are not community minded or are not about building & helping others build viable businesses or non-profits around their filmmaking but are looking for Hollywood/Indiewood legitimacy & approval or for some "legitimate" blogger/critic/whatever to say that their depressing low budget sci-fi knock off movie is a great work of art, etc :) (actually, that's not a bad thing come to think of it, wanting someone to say your movie is a great work of art - but, my point is that it is not necessary to seek that kind of approval, once you make it you should know what you have...) So, even though we are now free to make movies & distribute & collaborate as we wish a lot of people still behave like we are living in 1984 or 1994 (where the right festival & the right review leads to a distribution deal & a career for like 1 in 500 indie filmmakers or something, where the open & supportive & collaborative spirit is sorely lacking). Which is kind of frustrating. Have you experienced anything like this/encountered this mentality & if so, how do you deal with it?
Reid: Absolutely. 99% of “independent” filmmakers are still talking about the independent film festival and critic buzz explosion path that died a decade and a half ago. Luckily, there are people out there who really are interested in building communities and helping each other, and the new social media networks make it a lot easier for these people to find each other. It’s also easy to ignore people who don’t share your same views and move on if you can extract your ego from the scene of the crime.
Sujewa: Any thoughts on independent film festivals? Are they mostly the real indie filmmaker's friend or are they mostly a distraction from the business of making & distributing movies? As far as you can tell now?
Reid: Honestly, I have little experience with the independent film festivals so I can’t say. All of the “top” film festivals are Hollywood and star driven, so they aren’t independent at all. I’m a huge fan of every film festival that doesn’t charge submission fees, but all of the other film festivals that charge filmmakers to submit films are not interesting to me anymore.
Sujewa: Were you a one person crew? If so, how did you capture excellent sound (dialogue, etc.)? Also, how did you do that select focus effect on the "Here. My Explosion..." trailer?
Reid: On a few days of the shoot I was a one-person crew, but in general there was usually at least one other person helping with carrying things around and helping out doing a little bit of everything. In order to get good sound without another person, I used two wireless lavs on the actors and everything worked out really well. The selective focus was all done in post using a tilt-shift technique that I tried out on some visual tests that I experimented with and liked. Essentially, I just made sure that I got good exposure when shooting, then I saturated the image, put a matte (with blended edged) on the area in focus, and then blurred out the image behind. I also tended to saturate the blurred out image more than the in-focus areas. I wanted to come up with a fairly unique look using a consumer HD video camera.
Sujewa: Who are some of your favorite filmmakers? What are some of your favorite films (that may have been sources of inspiration for "Here. My Explosion...")? What other art or just stuff in the world & life do you like & love?
Reid: The filmmakers that inspire me are all independent filmmakers who make no-budget films (including the Mumblecore filmmakers) and all of the independent filmmakers who are interested in dialogues and building communities online. I really liked “Quiet City”, “Dogville”, “Mutual Appreciation”, and other non-traditional films that helped validate following the unique muse I followed for this film. The most inspiring television show to me is “Slings & Arrows”, and I also love the writings of the theater (and film) director Peter Brook. Lots of philosophers ranging from Seneca to Foucault, and writers of my favorite plays such as Edward Albee and Samuel Beckett also filled my mind during this production.
Sujewa: Where can my readers (buy & or donate some $s & or for free) see some or all of "Here. My Explosion..." right now?
"Sarah Rodgers is an Austin performer known by most as Miss Conduct of the TXRD – Lonestar Rollergirls. As Miss Conduct, Sarah Rodgers has graced the pages of The RollingStone, and was featured in a 2006 A&E television series “Rollergirls.” Most recently Sarah Rodgers can be found on the big screen sharing her experience on the track in the fast paced documentary, Hell on Wheels, produced by Austin filmmakers Bob Ray and Werner Campbell. “Sarah was the first actor we cast for The Spider Babies,” said director Christopher Sharpe. “I knew she had a great look, but once I met with her in person, she was so in sync with the character and the project that there was never really a “plan B” for Greta. Sarah was it.”"
Let's get all David Hudson-y here & link to a couple of reviews of the new feature "Here. My Explosion... " (released on the web yesterday, go here to watch it).
"Being a true indie production puts it into some context but that doesn't mean I'll cut it any slack. There are things to dislike about the movie (mainly technical) but the performances shot in a cinema verite style are very natural and, I found, quite absorbing (despite many shots looking at the backs of people's heads). I forget who said it, but "movies are about people" and in that respect HME holds its own. Just the fact that people talk over each other freely is a small revelation when you're conditioned to standard Hollywood blockbusters where crashing each other's lines is just not the done thing (or if it is done, it is done in post dialogue editing). Visually the tilt-shift and grading give the whole production an almost surreal feel - which, considering the story is about coffee drinking producing matter-shifting events is just as well."
"It’s about Sera (Eleese Longino), an artist who has a weird relationship with coffee. Or more accurately, coffee cups from which she’d drunk from. The empty coffee cups make magical things happen to objects around them, when she’s not watching. Yes, I think the basic concept is new and fresh too. And I like new and fresh..."
Go to this page to see Here. My Explosion... in its entirety (& if you wish, donate some $s to the project).
My weekend movie watching plans include relaxing with the lap top & a glass of lemonade in Brooklyn & watching Here. My Explosion..., the latest in real indie (& hopefully excellent).
"If you are reading this message, it means that I, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, was murdered by the President's Private Secretary Gustavo Alejos and his associate Gregorio Valdez, with the approval of mister Alvaro Colom and Sandra de Colom.
The reason for which Gustavo Alejos and Gregorio Valdez have ordered my death, and for which the President of the Republic Alvaro Colom has approved it, is because until the day I was killed, I was the lawyer for two incredible Guatemalans, Mister Khalil Musa and his daughter Marjorie Musa, and knew exactly how Alvaro Colom, Sandra de Colom, Gustavo Alejos and Gregorio Valdez were responsible for this cowardly assassination, which I made known to them and to anyone who could and would hear me.
I was a 47 year old Guatemalan, with 4 beautiful children, with the best brother one could ask in life, with wonderful friends, and with an overwhelming desire to live in my country, but I could not have lived with myself without rebelling, arming myself with valor and denouncing before all Guatemalans who have principles and values the real reasons for the deaths of Mister Khalil Musa and his daughter Marjorie Musa, without regarding the consequences, and understanding that my life was in danger, I wanted to leave behind this testimony, should something come to happen to me, as it unfortunately did.
It was Alvaro Colom who, through Gustavo Alejos and Gregorio Valdez, asked for the collaboration of Mister Khalil Musa to form part, Ad honorem, of the board for Banrural, without Mister Khalil Musa being aware of the illegal, million-dollar business transactions taking place daily in Banrural, which range from money laundering to the deviation of public funds to non-existent programs belonging to the President’s wife, Sandra de Colom, as well as the funding of paper firms employed for drug-dealing.
Mister Khalil Musa let Gustavo Alejos and Alvaro Colom know that he’s decided not to take part in the board of Banrural to avoid troubles, but they asked that he give them time, as all was getting resolved, without Mister Khalil Musa having the slightest idea that once the thieves and murderers had everything settled, they would kill him along with his daughter, Marjorie Musa (whose only crime was to be an exemplary daughter who always accompanied her father), as he’d served his purpose, without caring for anything or anyone and with the utter leisure of knowing that good Guatemalans would once more do absolutely nothing, justifying their inactivity in the impotence which always pervades us, or simply saying “Most likely, they were involved in something…”
Boasting lack of moral principles or values and of the vaguest sense of shame, Gustavo Alejos, after trying to invent other theories who nobody accepted on the grounds of the moral virtue of the victims, personally told Mister Khalil Musa’s family that he’d regrettably been assassinated for the horrible problems which exist in Banrural, reaching the point that the very President Alvaro Colom invites one of Mister Khalil Musa’s political relatives to his office to confirm what’s been said by his Private Secretary.
Now you can understand why neither Alvaro Colom and much less Gustavo Alejos publicly declared what they told to the family of Mister Khalil Musa and his daughter Marjorie Musa, and ordered the corrupt and incompetent Secretary of the Interior and the nonexistent Attorney General to let this assassination slide, as always occurs with the murders, thefts and violations which have thrust Guatemala into its darkest depths.
Day by day this horrible story repeats itself and fills with grief one more of our Guatemalan families, while good Guatemalans decide to look the other way and pray it’s not our turn. It’s enough! Let’s rescue our country from thieves, murderers and drugdealers, and once united, let us reclaim our Guatemala, our values and our faith in justice, and let us kick out the current puppet we have for president, and let us imprison the thieves and murderers, starting with Gustavo Alejos, Gregorio Valdez, Fernando Peña and Gerardo de León, among others, and once and for all, let us demand the resignation of all the current members of Congress, all of who, with very few exceptions, are a bunch of thieves, and let us start all over again, for the love of God and our country.
Surely the cowards will try to defend themselves by staining the memory of Mister Khalil Musa or his daughter Marjorie Musa, and will try to convince Guatemalans that this is all a new ploy, but in the end, the one and only truth that matters is that if you are reading this message, it’s because I, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, was murdered by Gustavo Alejos and Gregorio Valdez, with the approval of Mister Alvaro colom and Sandra de Colom, for refusing to allow the vile and cowardly assassination of two incredible people like Mister Khalil Musa and his daughter Marjorie Musa to become another statistic, thus continuing to hand over my country to the killers, cowards, thieves and drugdealers who currently govern it.
Rodrigo Rosenber Marzano
PS I remind Mister Vicepresident of the Republic, Doctor Rafael Espada, that he who’s silent, yields, and that you are neither a thief nor a murderer, and should be the first one to head the movement to recover our Guatemala, and make the law be carried out with the help of all the good Guatemalans who support it without reserve."
Get the insane but sadly true story (according to NPR) about a political assassination accusation & the fate of a person who Twittered (is that the word?) about it - at BoingBoing.
I am typing this blog entry on a less than $400 lap top that I bought from Best Buy - I've had it for a few months now (came in very handy when I was apartment hunting in Brooklyn in late '08 & shooting the first half of Brooklyn Fantastic in March), works great (less than $400! brand new laptop). So, since they made it possible for me to have a cheap lap top solution, am glad to help Best Buy out a little by spreading the word re: a filmmaking contest that they are running.
Here's the intro:
"Best Buy is asking consumers to create branded videos through MOFILM U12 – a user generated movie contest hosted by Spike Lee. They are looking for short, creative films showcasing how technology holds great promise, is entertaining, connecting and fuels life passions.
Spike Lee himself will be viewing the top videos so channel your inner-creative genius and get to work. Up for grabs is a $10,000 Best Buy shopping spree, a trip to the Cannes Lions 2009 Advertising Festival and a day on the set of Spike Lee's next production. A $5,000 and $3,500 Best Buy shopping spree will go to the second and third place winners respectively."
More here. Go get involved & try to get yer hands on some Best Buy goodies & the other awesome prizes!
- Peter Broderick, considered the leading authority on alternative distribution strategy, will give an empowering presentation on maximizing distribution with new, innovative techniques. Broderick has been one of low-budget filmmaking's leading experts since the early 90's. He wrote a series of articles for Filmmaker back then that helped drive the micro-budget filmmaking movement. In 1997 he founded Next Wave Films, which helped launch the careers of filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Joe Carnahan and many others. Now, as the President of Paradigm Consulting, he is a sought-after consultant, speaker, and producers rep. He will be coming straight from Cannes, where is on the panel "New Platforms for Filmmakers: Are They Working Yet?" with other indie film notables like John Sloss.
- Director Alex Holdridge will discuss the making of his award-winning feature "In Search Of A Midnight Kiss". Shot for $15,000 with a two-man crew all over LA, "Kiss" played several prestigious festivals and was released theatrically by IFC Films, and has been a hit overseas in places like the UK and Greece. It was also the winner of the coveted Cassavetes Award at the 2009 Spirit Awards, given to the best film made for under $500k.
- Jay Duplass, one half of the filmmaking duo The Duplass Brothers, will discuss the making of his two no-budget features and compare that experience to his most recent project, a $10 million Fox Searchlight film starring John C. Reilly, Marissa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. The $15k "Puffy Chair" was a cult hit, premiering at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and getting distribution from Roadside Attractions. The no-budget "Baghead" premiered at the 2008 Sundance and was sold to Sony Classics, which released the film in July 2008. Duplass is currently adapting another Fox Searchlight feature, "Sleep Toward Heaven," with Sandra Bullock attached to star.
- Matt Radecki, co-director of "TV Junkie" (Sundance 2006) and producer of numerous award-winning features, will discuss Post Production for no-budget features. Radecki is the co-founder of Different By Design, a production company and post-production house catering to the independent filmmaker.
- FSI: Film Scene Investigation - One of the most popular parts of the day and an example of the numerous problem solving components of the class. We analyze a scene from an award-winning no-budget movie, from script to screen. Students hear the scene read, get the opportunity to identify and solve production problems, learn how those problems were solved in the movie, see behind-the-scenes footage of the scene's set-up, and then see the filmed scene in it's finished form."
IMAX should hire Aziz Ansari as a spokesperson when they decide to re-brand their "IMAX for the small movie theater screens" products & services 'cause Ansari's comic rage at having to pay $5 extra for "fake IMAX" aka LIEMAX at an AMC theater is getting the company all kinds of attention (at present mostly the negative kind, but hey, couple of biz plan changes & some new hiring & maybe some firing later, it can all work in IMAX's favor). The latest on the ordinary people (assisted by a TV actor/comic) vs. IMAX struggle:
I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but I did see a couple of scenes that may have to do with a physics mystery, and, I hear Reid shot & recorded sound for this film (using lavs) himself - which is a great way to go for DIY filmmakers who do not want to or can't (due to budgetary limitations, nature of scene, etc.) use another person for boom mic, etc. - so I was curious about the dialogue sound quality (excellent, from what I saw). Also I like the way the video looks (HD?) - kind of pastelly/soft/nice colors, & Reid did a selective focus thing in the trailer (see it here) for this film (in post?). Looking forward to seeing the whole 35 mins. after work. So, here it is (& go here for more info. on Here. My Explosion...):
While some people never bothered to figure out what the extra cost at IMAX branded theaters that don't have massive 70+ feet IMAX screens were getting them, Ansari has & he wants his money back. Catch all the oversized drama & plentiful comments here.
You heard it here first indie film people - the new Wordpress powered service Blogs.mu can be an awesome tool for creating & promoting low budget movies & in creating that highly prized community feel that we want to attach to our products (communities = long term revenue streams, & plus, more fun). Basically, for free (if you are OK with their ads) or for a very small fee ($1 a blog per month I believe is the low end) you could create/host/edit a network of blogs that deal with either one project, several projects, a community, or whatever (for our use, I can see indie filmmakers or companies creating a Blogs.mu community for each of their films or even getting a blog for each of the key creatives, or, why not, all the people involved in the project). Here are some links to explore:
Here's a community called Indie Films that I just started (probably for mostly promoting my own movies, but, I'll probably end up promoting friends' projects too): http://indiefilms.blogs.mu/ It's less than bare bones now, but I can envision how that indie films blog network could be developed into a very useful marketing tool.
Another thing that my (or anyone else's for that matter) Blogs.mu sites can be used for is doing blogging-for-hire work for indie filmmakers & projects who do not want to blog themselves (don't like blogging, don't have the time, not good at it, whatever) but would not mind having daily or weekly posts getting published about their projects. Something to look into.
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I don't know if blogging & for that matter indie filmmaking & distribution are ways to get rich, but participating in those activities definitely makes life more interesting, & certain film projects could turn into small revenue streams, & blogging & other DIY publicity will definitely help with that.
Get all the fascinating info. on how one filmmaker is working on making a feature length movie using video captured through a still camera - at Filmmaker Slog.
"Directing is no piece of cake, but in many ways the Hollywood director is less responsible for the existence of a film than his indie cousin. The Hollywood director is a replaceable cog in a big machine.
Instead of praising these directors, new criticism should praise filmmakers, the people who can make a film happen out of nothing, the indie filmmaker who, against all laws of respectability and economics – especially economics – with steady work and fast talk, with devotion and determination, with rugged individualism and creative collaboration, is able to distill a story into cinema and place it before the eyes and minds of a receptive audience."
Several filmmakers are trying to make a feature each - from script to screen - in two weeks. Get all the info here. Sounds like a lot of work, but then again 48 Hour Film Projects are fun (although there you are trying to make a short), and I did once shoot a feature in two days (way back in the 16MM days, it did not turn out well), so, definitely doable. I am sure we'll hear more about those crazy 2 Week filmmakers very soon (the films are supposed to be completed this month). More here.
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The title for this post was inspired by a scene in There's Something About Mary - a fine movie, even though it's Hollywood. Here's the scene:
Yes, the sci-fi sounding (even more exciting & wild than most sci-fi, 'cause it's real!) news that Nitya Venkataraman has been able to re-awaken a 7 million year old dormant gene that may be capable of fighting HIV is awesome, and here's the link & an excerpt:
"Nitya Venkataraman from the University of Central Florida has managed to reawaken a guardian gene that has been lying dormant in our genomes for 7 million years. These genes, known as retrocyclins, protect monkeys from HIV-like viruses. The hope is that by rousing them from their slumber, they could do the same for us. The technique is several safety tests and clinical trials away from actual use, but it's promising nonetheless."
But beyond the excitement of that news I am wondering about that 7 million year number: we've got genes in us that are 7 million years old!!!???? Freak-y. What exactly were we 7 million years ago? I don't think we were even humans - so we weren't even "we" - back then. What kind of an animal were we 7 million years ago?
The mind, as they say, is boggled.
Anyway, possibilities for sci-fi movie plot ideas in this re-awakening dormant genes line of thinking are numerous.
1. play the embedded video, it'll provide music while you read 2. read the blog post
the video:
the blog post:
figured out the rest of the story (selected the stories i wanted to use out of several, & the structure of the entire movie) for Brooklyn Fantastic while traveling from New York City to Maryland early this morning on a bus (left NYC around 11 PM & got to DC at 3 AM). being in transit has helped me write (figured out the plot for Wild Diner while on a ride on bus in Rockville, MD, wrote Fresh Coffee while on an amtrak train from MD to Chicago), also, writing late at night, when everyone else is sleeping & making dreams helps me finish scripts - probably because writing stories for movies is kind of like a waking dream activity, also because a lot of dreams are "in the air" at night. so here's what i can say now about the stories & structure of Brooklyn Fantastic:
Story 1 - About a couple who lives in Brooklyn Story 2 - About a woman who is attempting to move to Brooklyn (already filmed, featuring Susan Buice & Amir Motlagh) Story 3 - About a fantastic birthday experienced by the guy from the couple in Story 1. An element of Story 2 has a major impact in Story 3. This story also has an ancient mythology/The Matrix/Joseph Campbell stuff going on - maybe you could say some sci-fi type stuff.
The lead male character in Story 1 & 3 will be played by an African-American actor. I'll look for the actor in June, most likely. The character will be a very rarely seen type in American & world cinema.
Pretty close to paying off all the bills from the March shoot of what is now considered Story 2 of BF. So, at some point in May, after the Story 1 & 3 scripts are done, I'll be on my way to shooting the rest of BF.
I am hoping I can do a sneak preview of BF this Fall or Winter in NYC.
so, i'll be busy rest of spring & also summer finishing up BF. blogging will be kept to a minimum (mostly only when i have to promote some news regarding Date Number One, Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, or BF).
" "FAME WHORE cuts between three interwoven stories examining our culture's lust for that elusive state when everybody knows your name. The triptych includes an All-American tennis star hounded by rumors that he's gay, a trust fund brat on a demonic quest for celebrity and an idealized innocent so isolated he's created a six-foot Saint Bernard as an imaginary friend." - FILMMAKER"
Here's the official description of the movie from the YouTube page:
"Winner of "Best Feature" Award at both the New York and the Chicago Underground Film Festivals, Scumrock is director Jon Moritsugu's (Mod F*** Explosion, Fame Whore) sixth feature. A sprawling epic shot on analog Hi8 video, Scumrock has screened around the world to critical and popular acclaim."
Shadow And Act blog points to an interesting article on an old subject - job hunting challenges faced by female and minority talent in Hollywood, read the post & follow links here.
For those of us who are into this subject, a new addition to the conversation at Chuck Tryon's blog. Here's a paragraph that I like (for obvious reasons):
"First, it’s worth noting that these debates have been evolving for several years, and in fact two recent documentaries, Sujewa Ekanayake’s Indie Film Bloggers Road Trip (full disclosure: I appear in Sujewa’s film) and Gerald Peary’s For the Love of Movies have sought, to varying degrees, to engage with these changes. In print, this ongoing debate surfaces every few months, reminding us that the traditional definitions of film criticism, addressed in this post by David Bordwell (note: in my response, I attempt a brief taxonomy of some of the possible modes of blog-based criticism), are in the process of revision, especially when many film bloggers are themselves filmmakers and when the production of information is increasing exponentially. Here, Clive Davies-Frayne, as part of Alejandro’s roundtable, offers one solution that may work for the filmmaking set: “promote the whole of your scene with integrity and passion.” In other words: acknowledge your biases but also make abundantly clear what you like about the film cultures in which you participate, whether as a filmmaker, critic, or both."
At Museum of the Moving Image's site. Jarmusch talks about his previous movies, the currently in release Limits of Control, and other things interesting & amusing.
For my earlier post on Limits of Control, go here.
Here's another quick thought about the movie:
The entire movie takes place inside either the Lone Man character or some other character's head. The mission is to kill the violent, closed, maybe money & power obsessed aspect of the self. The mission is to be accomplished by the use of art, science, philosophy, discipline, sex or appreciation of the beauty of the body, etc. Ultimately the Closed Side of the self is heavily guarded, inside a bunker. The Open Side of the self gets in & accomplishes its mission by using the imagination (when the Lone Man is questioned by his target as to how he penetrated the bunker, Lone Man says he used his imagination). Or, by using our imagination - making art, exploring science, etc., we may be able to get the more destructive & selfish aspects of ourselves under control.
Of course, check out the film for yourself (if you haven't yet) & see if this take on it makes sense.
I had coffee with Ry earlier today & she told me that she has a website for all her projects (You Won't Miss Me [trailer above], Orphans, Marion & more), with upcoming screenings (YWMM at MD Film Fest on 5/9 & 5/10, also at BAMcinemaFest 6/19 & 23) & other info. Check out the site here & get all the info. on the cinematic adventures of Russo-Young.
In The Limits of Control Jim Jarmusch has created a movie that contains elements of a hit man thriller film that, for those audience members who want to take the time & connect the dots, contains enough material that can be interpreted to create a normal hit man story. Simultaneously, LoC is also a parable - a symbolic story that attempts to impart wisdom or knowledge of some use to the community. LoC's greater value is beyond the escapism that can be provided by reflecting on the mission of the Lone Man & how he accomplishes it - the greater value of the film (and it is definitely possible that there are many valuable messages in the film, this is just one that I picked up on) is providing a fresh way to remind people that there are two kinds of power in this world - the kind that uses guns & kidnapping of people & murder, and the kind that uses science, art, meditation, focus, discipline. In a struggle both sides may use elements of both powers in order to try to accomplish their missions - as the Lone Man does (gathering clues from art, and also strangling his target). There is a third thing that LoC does (& a lot of Jarmusch movies do or attempt to do, LoC does it very well) - which is using music, length of shots, repeated events, light (intensity of light, flickers, etc.), and slow motion shots to induce a trance state/alternate consciousness in the viewer (temporarily - it wears off, this is not full on mind control, don't worry). LoC does, in a very small way, what peyote is supposed to do (a character talks about using peyote towards the end of the movie, also another talks about hallucinations at the beginning of the movie).
LoC does present an unusual challenge to reviewers - most movies are extroverted affairs - they go out of their way to present whatever it is that they are supposed to present quickly to the viewer, but LoC is introverted, & its story - outward elements of it - the hit man/Lone Man story - is the superficial layer that Jarmusch uses to guide his audience into an experience that could be described as trance like & maybe even related to something like ancient/tribal shamanistic healing (where rituals, dances, sounds, exhaustion are used to alter the brain chemicals of the patient). So, to attack LoC on the grounds that its main story is confusing is a little like saying that the narrative of the hero/leader that most religions use to impart values & ideas are not great from a storytelling perspective/not well developed fiction. In LoC Jarmusch is doing something that no other current filmmaker that I know of does or even attempts to do. Some critics who have said that LoC is similar to Dead Man in what it attempts to do are on point, I believe.
For me, LoC worked better than Dead Man - because in LoC Jarmusch makes it obvious from the beginning that he does not want the audience to get stuck on the level of the ordinary story - the story of the main character - he (Jarmusch) gives us the ordinary story/the first layer story/the story of the hit man with large chunks missing, to be filled in by us later, unlike in Dead Man where the full story of the main character was told from the beginning to end. In LoC the unusual form used to tell the story of the Lone Man makes it easy for the mind to grasp the secondary & more important aspects of the message the filmmaker is attempting to convey.
LoC will probably end up being regarded as the greatest of Jarmusch movies thus far. It is not as funny as Mystery Train, but it succeeds in attaining (i think) the new direction Jarmusch started taking his work with Dead Man - that of either incorporating or attempting to reflect mind-altering experiences, or trying to use film in a novel way to significantly alter the audience's perception of the world, time, their relationship to both (at least for a brief period following the end of the movie, and perhaps at random moments much later on).
LoC will probably make some decent money too. I hung out at the Angelika for a few hours today (or made a couple of visits at different times of the day), & all the LoC screenings seemed to have either sold out or come close to doing so. The show I attended was sold to capacity I believe/didn't see any empty seats when the show began.
Given the aims of LoC, to get the most of its non-narrative gifts out, the best way to watch it is probably at the movie theater where you are sitting in the dark - as if you are at a ritual for a secret society - and the image & sound are large & heavy - amplified & overwhelming the senses.
Jarmusch is aften described as a deadpan filmmaker. With LoC he proves that he is also a person concerned with the souls (i mean literally the soul in an old fashioned religious or metaphysical sense - concerned with aspects of existence beyond the ordinary/earthly) of his audience members - so it may not be a stretch to say that he is also a spiritual filmmaker - trying to do with film what priests & shamans do with incantations, rituals & stories. Among other things, LoC is something like medicine.
As the movie was ending, I definitely noticed my brain/mind snapping into a different & rarely encountered gear and I thought my vision (eyes) improved for a moment, got very sharp (similar to what I see when I wear my driving glasses, except it happened w/ out glasses & in a darkened theater - not a function of cinematography that was on the screen by the way). LoC probably suppresses or amplifies activity in certain parts of the brain & that probably induces an experience of simplicity, wholeness & clarity in some audience members (i think all movie watching experiences do some of that, but there is something very different about the level of effect LoC has on the brain) - & in my case probably freed up more of I don't know what in my brain to pay attention to what my eyes were seeing around me (?). Anyway, ultimately that brain/eye thing is not very important in the context of LoC & it could have happened to me because of some other reason besides the movie (maybe I was less tired at that point than earlier in the day due to sitting down & watching a movie for a couple of hours, or something like that), but interesting to note.
Check out LoC in a movie theater & you may get on a kind of an unusual, movie induced high that feels different than the highs created by action movies, comedies, & probably most other types of movies.
* Start Over is story 1 of 4 in the feature length comedy Date Number One (2006, 2008). Start Over was directed, produced, written, videotaped & edited by Sujewa Ekanayake. Boom mic work by Fritz Flad. Film features Steve Lee & Kelly Ryan. Music by Seznec Brothers. See all of Date Number One on DVD starting in late May 2009. More information coming to datenumberone08.blogspot.com. Start Over was filmed in Kensington Row Bookshop in Kensington, Maryland.::Start Over & Date Number One Copyright 2006 Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Films. diyfilmmaker.blogspot.com, wilddiner.com ::
"One night he returns to his room to find a voluptuous naked woman (Paz de la Huerta) lying on his bed, a gun in her right hand. "Do you like my ass?" she asks. Is she a figment of his imagination? Did he dream her up off the museum wall? She tempts him to have sex with her, but he remains chaste -- "Not while I'm working" -- even while she slumbers naked, pressed against his body, throughout the night. Is he testing his self-control? Has she been sent to distract him? What is he doing in Spain?"
"Sigourney Weaver cameo. She's possessed again. What can Bill Murray do about it? He chooses to do nothing. They part. Is that a hint of regret on his face? Could be. Or maybe he is thinking of something else. Is that the devil himself turning her eyes a lurid red? Or is it an allergy? Either interpretation is valid. Slow fade to black."
Funny. Lightly hilarious, how both documents react to Jarmusch's movies.
Read the rest of the Cinematical review of LoC here.
Occupy Wall Street film project links
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There's a collaborative film being made about the Occupy Wall Street
protests nation wide, get links to the project, & info on how you can help,
*here*: *...
Ninja in a bookstore
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A clip from one of the stories from my feature Date Number One (which will
one day soon hopefully will be available on DVD, etc.):
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New Project!
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So, while dealing with surviving day to day in NYC & other jazz, came up
with an idea for a fun movie with the help of a few folks at work/the day
job - an...
PODCAST: The Daily Buzz, Sundance Day 9
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Terence Nance, writer, director and star of *An Oversimplification of Her
Beauty*. Photo by Eugene Hernandez / FSLC.
The future of Sundance, the war on...
Observations on "White America" from all over
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"It's not an accident that the prank caller preys on a fast food joint, the province of minimum wage workers supervised by dues-paying lifers. Not only are e...
The “J. Edgar” Snub
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[image: J-Edgar.jpg]
When the left and the right agree on an issue, it’s often a sign of
trouble—they usually agree on the basis of different principles ...
Closing Bell: Another Flea Weekend
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The Brooklyn Flea returns this weekend to Skylight One Hanson with
clothing, antiques, food, jewelry, and more. (Here’s a list of all our
vendors.) Then...
Download a Feature Film for 5 Bucks!
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*Nick Bahash** produced and directed a feature film and is now making it
available for us for only 5 bucks.*
*Five Dates* was shot in one week on a $3,00...
12th San Diego Asian Film Festival Call For Entries
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Hello Filmmaker Friends, The San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF) is currently in it's call for entries period for the 12th San Diego Asian Film Festival,...
Making the time
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It’s been a long time since I visited my namesake on the world wide web.
Question – how do you make time to update yourself online when the real you
is run...
Shall we Kiss?
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There is a new film drawing comparisons to Woody Allen, so we thought to
draw attention to it. The name of the film is Shall We Kiss?
(HT: Tim S.)
Films in production: The Real Ben Stiller (working title, 2011, feature), Shaolin Slow Jams (2012, feature), Brooklyn Fantastic (2011, feature). Completed films: Indie Film Blogger Road Trip (2009, feature), Date Number One (2006 & 2008, feature), Capital Heartbreak & Sweetness: 17 DC Poets (2002, feature), Wild Diner (1999, feature), Fresh Coffee (1992, short).
Check out an interview with The History of Independent Cinema's author Phil Hall at Alternative Film Guide.
