A must see.
You can watch the next episodes on YouTube .
Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed is a documentary about the impact the original 1977 Star Wars film has had upon society and filmmaking, with a focus on the place of the series in the continuum of cultural mythology. The two-hour program debuted on The History Channel on May 28, 2007, coinciding roughly with the 30-year anniversary of Star Wars. It featured interviews with journalists, filmmakers, critics, academic experts, and politicians, including Newt Gingrich, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jackson, Joss Whedon, Dan Rather, and Nancy Pelosi.
It was the #1 highest rated History Channel program among viewers aged 18-49, and #2 among viewers aged 25-54, and has been nominated for three Emmy awards.
Showing posts with label filmmaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filmmaking. Show all posts
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
In the future, everybody is going to be a director.
In the future, everybody is going to be a director. Somebody's got to live a real life so we have something to make a movie about.
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Saturday, October 23, 2010
You can’t make great movies if the world doesn’t amaze you.
I have to recommend you a great film reviews blog and a fantastic writer.
I've discover it two years ago while I was surfing on web about THE FALL. Moviewaffle was at the beginning at that time but now after two years it looks like a everybody loves it ...It was longlisted for Wales Blog Awards 2010 (Best Writing) .
Here is one of the best reviews of The Fall directed by Tarsem Singh written with passion and truth by moviewaffle.com ...
The Fall – A Review
The greatest special effect is the close-up. Every vista pales in comparison with the human face. Because without that face – what do you connect with? What moves you? The desert might be a character in Lawrence of Arabia, but its performance is opaque. What makes Lawrence is Peter O’Toole. The same way – in Apocalypse Now – Marlon Brandon shows you what the jungle is thinking. In director Tarsem Singh’s breathtaking movie, The Fall, there are sights that equal anything David Lean or Francis Ford Coppola accomplished. And there is also a little girl (Catinca Untaru), whose face knocks every other wonder into a cocked hat.
The story is about a stuntman in Hollywood in the 1920s. He has fallen, both literally and metaphorically (the movie – while breathtaking – isn’t subtle). He’s in hospital. A famous actor has seduced the stuntman’s girl. Of all his injuries, this cuckolding is the worst. The stuntman becomes addicted to morphine. Bedridden, it’s hard for him to maintain a constant supply. He befriends a little girl (hospitalized after – you guessed it – a fall) as a ruse so she’ll steal morphine for him. In return for her help, the little girl keeps bugging the stuntman to tell her a story. He does – and it’s breathtaking – but as the story unfolds, the morphine takes over…
Tarsem Singh spent four years making The Fall. In eighteen countries. With his own money. And Catinca Untaru still steals the show. In interview, the director speaks of how he couldn’t have made the movie till he found the right girl. And he was right. When a movie is this dazzling, it needs reality. Untaru has never acted before. With luck, she will never act again. Not for Sophia Coppola-type reasons, but because: she’ll never be this good. Non-actors get one shot at a perfect performance. Then they become actors. There are reaction shots The Fall catches from Untaru that one actor in a million could replicate. Tarsem Singh’s best decision was to let this little girl dictate how every other actor behaves. When Lee Pace (the stuntman) is with her, you’re watching an actor unlearn acting. And be better for it. Because acting is play time. Would that every movie had the luxury of children playing children instead of “child actors”.
The greatest special effect is the close-up. Every vista pales in comparison with the human face. Because without that face – what do you connect with? What moves you? The desert might be a character in Lawrence of Arabia, but its performance is opaque. What makes Lawrence is Peter O’Toole. The same way – in Apocalypse Now – Marlon Brandon shows you what the jungle is thinking. In director Tarsem Singh’s breathtaking movie, The Fall, there are sights that equal anything David Lean or Francis Ford Coppola accomplished. And there is also a little girl (Catinca Untaru), whose face knocks every other wonder into a cocked hat.
The story is about a stuntman in Hollywood in the 1920s. He has fallen, both literally and metaphorically (the movie – while breathtaking – isn’t subtle). He’s in hospital. A famous actor has seduced the stuntman’s girl. Of all his injuries, this cuckolding is the worst. The stuntman becomes addicted to morphine. Bedridden, it’s hard for him to maintain a constant supply. He befriends a little girl (hospitalized after – you guessed it – a fall) as a ruse so she’ll steal morphine for him. In return for her help, the little girl keeps bugging the stuntman to tell her a story. He does – and it’s breathtaking – but as the story unfolds, the morphine takes over…
Tarsem Singh spent four years making The Fall. In eighteen countries. With his own money. And Catinca Untaru still steals the show. In interview, the director speaks of how he couldn’t have made the movie till he found the right girl. And he was right. When a movie is this dazzling, it needs reality. Untaru has never acted before. With luck, she will never act again. Not for Sophia Coppola-type reasons, but because: she’ll never be this good. Non-actors get one shot at a perfect performance. Then they become actors. There are reaction shots The Fall catches from Untaru that one actor in a million could replicate. Tarsem Singh’s best decision was to let this little girl dictate how every other actor behaves. When Lee Pace (the stuntman) is with her, you’re watching an actor unlearn acting. And be better for it. Because acting is play time. Would that every movie had the luxury of children playing children instead of “child actors”.
So what do we see? Some examples: the desert; a wall of sand that looks a thousand feet high; a lone rider like an ink smear on the dunes. Or how about an island in the shape of a butterfly; blissfully white; set it in a billowing blue ocean. Or a dead tree sprouting into flames. Or an aqueduct designed by M.C. Escher. Or a wedding couple ringed by whirling Dervishes. Or tiny birds flying out of a man’s mouth. Or – Beauty. In essence. The Fall is “the full meal” (as a wise teacher of mine once phrased it). It is absurd, sensual and (my favourite) unabashed. It puts me in mind of movies like The Fountain, where the audience has to have the right appetite. You either gorge on such movies or you’re bored by them. Cynics will only gag.
While spirituality might seem ham-fisted in Singh’s handling of it (“Are you trying to save my soul?” the stuntman asks, repeatedly), like Darren Aronofsky, the soul of his movie isn’t there in words, it’s grasped holistically, through the movie. To put it another way, The Fall would be about the soul if the stuntman and the little girl talked about cornflakes. Like a great song which leaps the boundaries of its form; the message isn’t the words, it’s the music.
It’s easy to wear-out a word like “breathtaking”. How good can it be? we long to sneer. But great movies come from a director’s childish awe at the world. You can’t make great movies if the world doesn’t amaze you. How else to explain the power of the close-up? To look at something so intently that – for a few seconds, a lifetime – it engulfs you. Human faces are the best kept secrets told by close-ups. Most of us still retain the capacity to be awed by a desert or an ocean. And the deserts and oceans of The Fall are awe-inspiring as any in movies. But that one little girl. We’d miss her. She and everyone else who’s ever given a great performance on-screen. Because great acting is only half of it. For the other half: you have to look close.
While spirituality might seem ham-fisted in Singh’s handling of it (“Are you trying to save my soul?” the stuntman asks, repeatedly), like Darren Aronofsky, the soul of his movie isn’t there in words, it’s grasped holistically, through the movie. To put it another way, The Fall would be about the soul if the stuntman and the little girl talked about cornflakes. Like a great song which leaps the boundaries of its form; the message isn’t the words, it’s the music.
It’s easy to wear-out a word like “breathtaking”. How good can it be? we long to sneer. But great movies come from a director’s childish awe at the world. You can’t make great movies if the world doesn’t amaze you. How else to explain the power of the close-up? To look at something so intently that – for a few seconds, a lifetime – it engulfs you. Human faces are the best kept secrets told by close-ups. Most of us still retain the capacity to be awed by a desert or an ocean. And the deserts and oceans of The Fall are awe-inspiring as any in movies. But that one little girl. We’d miss her. She and everyone else who’s ever given a great performance on-screen. Because great acting is only half of it. For the other half: you have to look close.
About MovieWaffle in 2008
I am an English teacher by day, and I’m often fairly busy, but a friend kept bugging me to write and so write I did (let that be a lesson to anyone who ever had a dream for someone else).
As far as intentions for the site go, I intend to write about movies I have seen. Some of them will be new releases, some of them will be old favourites and some of them I’ll review because my friend asks me to (I’ll bet he has plans). These reviews will not be fact-checked and will often, doubtless, contain inaccuracies and things I’ve remembered wrong. But they will also, hopefully, contain some thoughts you may agree with, and they will be written carefully, with care for the movies as much as where the commas should go.
If this site were a cinema it would be a small one, with only sort-of comfortable seating. It’s a pre-multiplex site: you come for the movies.
About MovieWaffle in 2010
The closest I ever came to getting shot was in Florida.
It was summer, and I had an AK47 pointed at my feet. The gun wasn’t mine, but it was my finger on the trigger. I had been handed a machine gun by a friend – partly for fun, partly to test my masculinity – and now, with a paper target taunting me like a raised middle finger, I was aiming low, in order not to lose control of the gun and kill everybody.
AK47s are lighter than you expect. They’re nearer the weight of an empty body bag, rather than a full one. However, far from being emboldened by the unexpected lightness of my gun, I was convinced that, when I pulled the trigger, the bastard thing would leap for my chin like a dog with iron teeth. So I pointed it down, as if ordering: “Sit”.
I was already nervous, after being told that I could burn my hand if I touched the barrel after firing. But the image of me, post-massacre, breaking my chin with the murder weapon…was too much.
I paused. There was something at stake beyond hitting the target. If I handed the gun back, I’d be coward. Not in the he-left-his-buddies-in-a-firefight sense; not even because I feared killing everybody, but because I’d have avoided risk.
Pulling that trigger was necessary to my life.
I gripped the gun, asserting control. My arms were rigid. The paper target was twenty feet away, but I wasn’t aiming for it. My aim was to fire. I willed my toes safe. I willed my friends safe. I willed the witless, molten AK not to catapult into my chin.
I fired…
(This is pretty much how I’d describe reviewing)
I am an English teacher by day, and I’m often fairly busy, but a friend kept bugging me to write and so write I did (let that be a lesson to anyone who ever had a dream for someone else).
As far as intentions for the site go, I intend to write about movies I have seen. Some of them will be new releases, some of them will be old favourites and some of them I’ll review because my friend asks me to (I’ll bet he has plans). These reviews will not be fact-checked and will often, doubtless, contain inaccuracies and things I’ve remembered wrong. But they will also, hopefully, contain some thoughts you may agree with, and they will be written carefully, with care for the movies as much as where the commas should go.
If this site were a cinema it would be a small one, with only sort-of comfortable seating. It’s a pre-multiplex site: you come for the movies.
About MovieWaffle in 2010
The closest I ever came to getting shot was in Florida.
It was summer, and I had an AK47 pointed at my feet. The gun wasn’t mine, but it was my finger on the trigger. I had been handed a machine gun by a friend – partly for fun, partly to test my masculinity – and now, with a paper target taunting me like a raised middle finger, I was aiming low, in order not to lose control of the gun and kill everybody.
AK47s are lighter than you expect. They’re nearer the weight of an empty body bag, rather than a full one. However, far from being emboldened by the unexpected lightness of my gun, I was convinced that, when I pulled the trigger, the bastard thing would leap for my chin like a dog with iron teeth. So I pointed it down, as if ordering: “Sit”.
I was already nervous, after being told that I could burn my hand if I touched the barrel after firing. But the image of me, post-massacre, breaking my chin with the murder weapon…was too much.
I paused. There was something at stake beyond hitting the target. If I handed the gun back, I’d be coward. Not in the he-left-his-buddies-in-a-firefight sense; not even because I feared killing everybody, but because I’d have avoided risk.
Pulling that trigger was necessary to my life.
I gripped the gun, asserting control. My arms were rigid. The paper target was twenty feet away, but I wasn’t aiming for it. My aim was to fire. I willed my toes safe. I willed my friends safe. I willed the witless, molten AK not to catapult into my chin.
I fired…
(This is pretty much how I’d describe reviewing)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Rabindranath Tagore and a new business model of film
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
From the English Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore (1912), the main work for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.
Apparently you will not find any link between this wonderful piece of poetry written by Rabindranath Tagore , the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a new business model of film.
But if you will read about "The Shyama model - A commercially viable film business model based on Free and Creative Commons licensing" you will understand how Obhi Chatterjeen was inspired by the spirit of Tagore in creating a new way of financing movies.
Plus The Hollywood Reporter's note : 'Shyama' gets fresh distribution spin / Dance musical available at users' preferred price
And also don't forget to watch another indian free story :)
Sita Sings the Blues
"Sita" had its premiere at Berlin in February 2008, where it won a Silver Bear, and had its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009.
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
From the English Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore (1912), the main work for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.
Apparently you will not find any link between this wonderful piece of poetry written by Rabindranath Tagore , the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a new business model of film.
But if you will read about "The Shyama model - A commercially viable film business model based on Free and Creative Commons licensing" you will understand how Obhi Chatterjeen was inspired by the spirit of Tagore in creating a new way of financing movies.
Plus The Hollywood Reporter's note : 'Shyama' gets fresh distribution spin / Dance musical available at users' preferred price
And also don't forget to watch another indian free story :)
Sita Sings the Blues
"Sita" had its premiere at Berlin in February 2008, where it won a Silver Bear, and had its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009.
Monday, October 18, 2010
A digital filmmaker’s map to the web
Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmaker Program, is writing weekly guest posts for the YouTube blog on filmmaking in the digital age. This is her third post, shared on Twitter by Pinewood Studios
20+ sites every digital filmmaker should know
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-filmmakers-map-to-web.html
Sites to help you....
be in the know
distribute
connect
learn new tricks
make some money
compete
20+ sites every digital filmmaker should know
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-filmmakers-map-to-web.html
Sites to help you....
be in the know
distribute
connect
learn new tricks
make some money
compete
A portuguese sense and sensibility: MOMENTOS
Here is a beautiful 6 min film directed by the portuguese director Nuno Rocha commisioned by LG. Kudos also to the first time cinematographer Pedro Negrão.
As a personal note, the casting is perfect.
"It actually reminded me a lot of a beautiful short animation called "Father and Daughter," by Michael Dudock de Witt, which won an Oscar about a decade ago and deals with a similar theme" Paxson Woelber
STORYLINE
An homeless man sleeps in front of an empty store when suddenly a vehicle stops and two men start to carry cases inside. Meanwhile the man tries to understand what is going on.
ALWAYS WATCH FULL SCREEN !
MAKING OF
As a personal note, the casting is perfect.
"It actually reminded me a lot of a beautiful short animation called "Father and Daughter," by Michael Dudock de Witt, which won an Oscar about a decade ago and deals with a similar theme" Paxson Woelber
STORYLINE
An homeless man sleeps in front of an empty store when suddenly a vehicle stops and two men start to carry cases inside. Meanwhile the man tries to understand what is going on.
ALWAYS WATCH FULL SCREEN !
MAKING OF
Saturday, October 16, 2010
I love EVERYNONE
Made by Everynone (in Collaboration with WNYC's Radiolab & NPR)
Directed by Daniel Mercadante & Will Hoffman
Supervising Producer: Robert Krulwich
Original Score: Keith Kenniff (unseen-music.com)
everynone.com
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Scott Free Europe
"At a time of uncertainty in many areas of the business, and in particular in the specialty film sector in the US, we believe it is an opportune time to step up our commitment to European film-making" Ridley Scott.
Friday, October 1, 2010
10.10.10 - One day on Earth
On October 10, 2010 (10.10.10), across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period and contribute their voice to one of the largest participatory media event in history.
Get your camera and document the World ...Make it a better one !
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Talent of the day: Simon Christen
Simon Christen grew up in Bern, Switzerland. He is currently an animator at Pixar.
"As humans we have the urge to design everything. Once something becomes forgotten and nature starts claiming it back, a very interesting mix of human design and decay happens. I am fascinated by this mix of intricate shapes, unique patterns and colors."
Visit his wonderland @ http://www.simonchristen.com/index.php
My favourite Simon's vison : UNSEEN SEA - A collection of time lapses that he took around the San Francisco Bay Area roughly shot over the period of one year.
"As humans we have the urge to design everything. Once something becomes forgotten and nature starts claiming it back, a very interesting mix of human design and decay happens. I am fascinated by this mix of intricate shapes, unique patterns and colors."
Visit his wonderland @ http://www.simonchristen.com/index.php
My favourite Simon's vison : UNSEEN SEA - A collection of time lapses that he took around the San Francisco Bay Area roughly shot over the period of one year.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Epstein: Studios Can't Exist Without Film Libraries
Edward Jay Epstein, author of The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies, talks with Bloombergs Betty Liu about the role of film libraries in the financial health of movie studios and the outlook for independent filmmakers.
Epstein: Studios Can't Exist Without Film Libraries from McGuffin on Vimeo.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Agent Nick Reed Talks About Film Producing
If you wanna be a film producer, than you should definitely watch Nick Reed talk about making movies. Straight to the point, clear, realistic and inspirational .
Who is Nick Reed ?
In my opinion, one of the most visionary Hollywood people. Meeting Nick Reed can be a turning point in your career. This is not a presumption, it is something that I've experienced four years ago when I met Nick in Bucharest.
"Nicholas Reed, Advisor is the Head of the Motion picture Literary Department at International Creative Management, Inc., a talent and literary agency, specializing in creators of intellectual properties. After leaving school he pursued a career in Aviation when he joined the British Royal Navy as a pilot. He then joined a marketing company, Belou Communications- which after its first twelve months in operation was voted the runner-up Best New Business of the Year by The Independent newspaper. During his time there he worked in strategic marketing for clients such as Kodak, Fed-Ex, and several government organizations. After moving to the United States in 1992, he was cast by Steven Spielberg to play Robin Williams’ father in the film HOOK and then later cast by Francis Ford Coppola to play a small role in DRACULA. Intrigued by Hollywood, he joined ICM in an effort to understand the making of movies. Working with writers, directors, and actors, he has been involved with such movies as AUSTIN POWERS I, II and ELIZABETH, HILARY AND JACKIE, TRAINING DAY, BRIDGET JONES DIARY. MOULIN ROUGE, BOURNE IDENTITY, AGENT CODY BANKS, MONSTER’S BALL, MEET THE PARENTS, UNDERWORLD, WHITE NOISE. And MEET THE FOCKERS. He presently serves on the Los Angeles British Film Board advising the government on film policies and is often a guest speaker for UCLA’s graduate film program. "
2006
Nick Reed's interview by Ruth Vitale for www.factory-publishing.com/
" What’s he done?
British Navy pilot, aerobatic airplane builder, strategic marketing executive, sports management and, then, discovered by Spielberg to play Robin Williams’ father in Hook! After this foray into acting, the business side of Hollywood beckoned, appealing to his marketing expertise, and the rest is history: Reed is now ICM agent extraordinaire to top film directors
What’s next?
“I want to find the next Hello Kitty. The dream project is to find something like Hello Kitty or Star Wars, where the idea encompasses almost every aspect of our lives. An idea that is so universally embraced that a brand can be created from the ground up.”
Dream project?
“Being able to realise clients’ dream projects completely,packaging and financing projects with no obstacles.”
Unrealistic dream project?
“To be a pilot just before World War I"
Why does he love Hollywood?
“I have met some of the most amazing people. Hollywood is the gateway to some of the most talented artists in the world – a place where talent intersects with money.”
Ruth on Nick
“Nick is the last of the Renaissance men. Who do you know that can go from British navy pilot, to building airplanes, to representing some of the most talented film directors in the world? When you are told as a child that you can do anything, that ‘the sky’s the limit’, well, Nick embodies this saying heart and soul! His intelligence combined with his sense of adventure are a rare mix and commodity.”
Nick on Nick
“Balance. To fight for balance between my competitive desire to be a great agent, to be a fantastic father, and to work on myself personally to make me a better human being.”
As far as I know Nick has become a producer. He will spark the film industry even more from now on and sooner or later he will discover a film where " the idea encompasses almost every aspect of our lives."
Probably he would be a great TED speaker, too.
Who is Nick Reed ?
In my opinion, one of the most visionary Hollywood people. Meeting Nick Reed can be a turning point in your career. This is not a presumption, it is something that I've experienced four years ago when I met Nick in Bucharest.
"Nicholas Reed, Advisor is the Head of the Motion picture Literary Department at International Creative Management, Inc., a talent and literary agency, specializing in creators of intellectual properties. After leaving school he pursued a career in Aviation when he joined the British Royal Navy as a pilot. He then joined a marketing company, Belou Communications- which after its first twelve months in operation was voted the runner-up Best New Business of the Year by The Independent newspaper. During his time there he worked in strategic marketing for clients such as Kodak, Fed-Ex, and several government organizations. After moving to the United States in 1992, he was cast by Steven Spielberg to play Robin Williams’ father in the film HOOK and then later cast by Francis Ford Coppola to play a small role in DRACULA. Intrigued by Hollywood, he joined ICM in an effort to understand the making of movies. Working with writers, directors, and actors, he has been involved with such movies as AUSTIN POWERS I, II and ELIZABETH, HILARY AND JACKIE, TRAINING DAY, BRIDGET JONES DIARY. MOULIN ROUGE, BOURNE IDENTITY, AGENT CODY BANKS, MONSTER’S BALL, MEET THE PARENTS, UNDERWORLD, WHITE NOISE. And MEET THE FOCKERS. He presently serves on the Los Angeles British Film Board advising the government on film policies and is often a guest speaker for UCLA’s graduate film program. "
2006
Nick Reed's interview by Ruth Vitale for www.factory-publishing.com/
" What’s he done?
British Navy pilot, aerobatic airplane builder, strategic marketing executive, sports management and, then, discovered by Spielberg to play Robin Williams’ father in Hook! After this foray into acting, the business side of Hollywood beckoned, appealing to his marketing expertise, and the rest is history: Reed is now ICM agent extraordinaire to top film directors
What’s next?
“I want to find the next Hello Kitty. The dream project is to find something like Hello Kitty or Star Wars, where the idea encompasses almost every aspect of our lives. An idea that is so universally embraced that a brand can be created from the ground up.”
Dream project?
“Being able to realise clients’ dream projects completely,packaging and financing projects with no obstacles.”
Unrealistic dream project?
“To be a pilot just before World War I"
Why does he love Hollywood?
“I have met some of the most amazing people. Hollywood is the gateway to some of the most talented artists in the world – a place where talent intersects with money.”
Ruth on Nick
“Nick is the last of the Renaissance men. Who do you know that can go from British navy pilot, to building airplanes, to representing some of the most talented film directors in the world? When you are told as a child that you can do anything, that ‘the sky’s the limit’, well, Nick embodies this saying heart and soul! His intelligence combined with his sense of adventure are a rare mix and commodity.”
Nick on Nick
“Balance. To fight for balance between my competitive desire to be a great agent, to be a fantastic father, and to work on myself personally to make me a better human being.”
As far as I know Nick has become a producer. He will spark the film industry even more from now on and sooner or later he will discover a film where " the idea encompasses almost every aspect of our lives."
Probably he would be a great TED speaker, too.
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