Capture Scratch

Bordwell's In Depth and Incisive Take on The Good German

2006-11-14T13:04:00.000-06:00

If you don't read David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's blog you should. In this post by Bordwell, he discusses the same article about Soderbergh's The Good German that I do in the post below. Only he does it 1000x betters and with frame grabs. Check it out.

You Can Make It Like They Use To--NY Times

2006-11-12T15:59:00.000-06:00

The NY Times Sunday has a fascinating article about the making of Steven Soderbergh's new film, The Good German, with George Clooney and Cate Blanchett (requires log-in with free account). The article discusses the classical approach to filmmaking that Soderbergh used and is so rarely found in today's big budget studio filmmaking.

I do think the article overstates the loss of the classical style. The mode of filmmaking, based on the studio approach to working, hiring, etc. has largely been lost. But the classical style of continuity editing and narrative clarity has not, despite many people trying to claim the opposite. For example, the author states that the film used wide angle lenses to create multiple character compositions that are no longer in fashion today, thanks largely to the use of 2-shots and CUs influenced by composition for television. While this may be generally true, the situation is more complicated. The use of multiple character compositions may have been due more the widescreen innovations in the 50s, and many films from the 30s-50's used two shots and CUs. Furthermore, many films today still use a wide range of compositional strategies. And with the emergence of widescreen TVs, a denser compositional approach may be returning (who knows). And while camera movement may be easier, it is still in the classical tradition. Besides all this, the "classical style" embraces more than just compositional strategies. In also refers to editing and narrative. While editing might be faster paced with short shots, the shot reverse conversation has remained common for decades and narrative clarity is still the top priority in the majority of films released in Hollywood.

Despite my comments, I think the article does an excellent job of discussing changes in style generally and in modes of production from the studio era to today.

Top Ten List--One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

2006-11-05T17:40:00.000-06:00

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975, Written by Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben; Based on the book by Ken Kesey; Directed by Milos Forman

The over-arching metaphor of the movie may be obvious, but it doesn't make it any less brilliant. The mental hospital that Jack Nicholson's Randle McMurphy finds himself in is a perfect microcosm of society. Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) is the authority figure trying to bring conformity and rule-bound behavior at any cost, and McMurphy is the one trying to inspire those around him to question authority and revel in their individuality and ability to care for each other. At first, both viewpoint have their validity, but extending the metaphor, Ratched's position of power and authority slowly corrupts her and she bends the rules and then breaks them in order to remain in control. The down, yet hopeful ending, is the best part of the movie, as it gives the movie-level metaphor the ring of truth, as McMurphy and the inmates fail overall to overthrow authority, yet the struggle inspires The Chief to break free and make a go at living life. The story is filled with sadness, humor, anger, rebellion, little victories, and big defeats. In the end, there are very few movie metaphors that are so complete, so successful, so insightful, and so completely simple.

Next Top Ten or So

2006-11-05T17:12:00.000-06:00

Okay, this is starting to get a bit drawn out. I will try to get these complete, so we can all move on to more interesting things.

L’Avventura, 1960, Written by Michelangelo Antonioni, Elio Bartolini and Tonino Guerra; Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.

In my mind, L'Avventura is the kind of film that everyone dreams of making when they're young and want to go to film school (of course, Pulp Fiction is probably a little more popular choice). What I mean, is that when you're young and dreaming of making the best movie ever made, you imagine a film in which every single thing is meaningful--the angles, compositions, mise-en-scene, etc. But you com to realize, that most films just aren't made that carefully. But L'Avventura was made that carefully. Every camera move, every frameline, every position or movement of an actor, every placement of a background element, everything visual has meaning, has a reason to be the way it is. Now, I'm not going to pretend I know what the meaning of every choice in L'Avventura is, but the meaning is nevertheless there. Even more impressively, the meaning is not cheap symbolism (I read recently on David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's blog that Scorsese and Michael Balhaus tried to put crosses in any form into every shot where a character is in danger into in The Departed--that's cheap symbolism to me). In fact, the meaning of the shots isn't really symbolic at all, as is excellently explained by Gene Youngblood on the Criterion Collection DVD.

In short, the film is about the mysterious disappearance of Anna, and the resulting love affair between her boyfriend Sandro and her best friend Claudia. These are all characters who seem to have lost meaning in their lives, and the varying abilities of the characters to realize this and do something about it. Of all the films on my list, this one suffers the most from an attempt to describe it, given the amazing quality of the visuals, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Report from Hot Springs Doc Festival

2006-10-29T15:22:00.000-06:00

On Friday, I spent the day at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, one of the world's premiere showcases for documentary films. The festival runs for 10 days, and I only spent one, but I still saw a number of good films as well as one of the best docs I have ever seen.

The first film I saw was a short doc called The ACLU Freedom Files: Dissent. The film showcased a number of shocking betrayals of the right to free speech. In particular, the film highlights instances of protesters at Bush/Cheney events being arrested for not protesting in the proper "zone" or even protesting at all. It's disappointing these things are happening more frequently and not getting wide press coverage. Unfortunately, the film looked terrible, suffering from some technical issues.

The 2nd film, 1o Questions for the Dalai Lama, traces filmmaker Rick Ray's journey through India to come up with 10 questions to ask the Dalia Lama during a one hour interview. The film is a little long, but very effective in telling the 20th century history of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. His questions are varied, though not especially philosophical. The Dalai Lama's answers tend to be broad and at times almost cliche, yet he seems to realize this and often laughs at his own answers. Any fan of Buddhism, Tibet, or the Dalai Lama should check this out.

The next film, Kind, True, and Necessary was an overly long look at a Quaker couple living in Oregon. The entire film is VO of the couple discussing their life (interesting at times) over shots of them doing their thing at home over a couple of days period.

The fourth film I watched, So Goes the Nation, is highly polished film that examines the 2004 presidential election through the lens of Ohio. The film features a wide range of interviews with grass roots workers, top level campaign officials from each side, and political commentators such Paul Begala discussing the election. The film is sympathetic to the Democrats in my view, but it does a nice job rationally and objectively examining the strategy that the Republicans used to propel Bush over John Kerry.

The fifth documentary was one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Titled Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore, the film traces political newcomer Jeff Smith's campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in St. Louis. Smith ran against political insider Russ Carnahan, whose father Mel was a Missouri governor, and mother Jean was a US Senator (Taking Mel Carnahan's seat when he died before taking office). He also ran against 8 other candidates in the Democratic primary. All were after Dick Gephardt's vacant seat. Jeff gathers a staff of mostly political novices with one or two more experienced staffers. Mostly he runs on pure energy, excitement, straight talk, and intelligence. In the end Smith lost to Carnahan by about 1500 votes, which was truly extraordinary. Despite Smith's loss, he reinvigorates your faith in the ideals of Democracy and the belief that if you want to make a difference you can run for office. When the movie ended, the audience gave an ovation that lasted nearly as long as the credits. When the lights came up, Jeff Smith was introduced, along with director, Frank Popper, and he received a standing ovation nearly as long as the movie got. If you get the chance to see this film, do it. It's inspiring and extraordinary.

The last film of the night was American Stag, directed by my friend Ben Meade, a filmmaker and professor at Avila College in Overland Park, Kansas. Ben's film takes both a serious and humorous look at American stag films from the 20s to the 60s. It features interviews with minor celebrities like Adam Corolla and Tommy Chong, as well as film historians. The film is well constructed, but of course, the highlight is the stag films themselves, and perhaps a dozen or more are featured and we see a good chunk of many of them. Some are sad, some funny, some disturbing. But you get sucked in, and of course, with any movie of this sort, you end up in the same position as the men who used to gather at parties and lodges to watch these films. Of course, if you know Ben, you know he likes to manipulate and play with his audience, and though American Stag may be the most straightforward of all his films, he continues to play with viewers in this film as well. It's funny and entertaining and very well made. Look for it and check it out.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Movies - Review - New York Times

2006-10-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Movies - Review - New York Times

For a while now I've been hearing about this new version of Caligari in which the original backgrounds were scanned and new actors, with dialgoue, told the story anew. Well, rumors no more. It is opening in Manhattan.

David Poland's Response to The New Yorker Article

2006-10-22T23:13:00.000-05:00

The Hot Button: October 18, 2006

I was going to post more on why I wasn't too impressed with the guys featured in Gladwell's article on predicting hit movies. But David Poland, The Hot Button blog, covers all the bases pretty well, so I direct you to his site. He pretty much calls BS on the whole thing...

What if you built a machine to predict hit movies?

2006-10-22T22:16:00.000-05:00

The Formula: What if you built a machine to predict hit movies?

Very, very interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell about guys predicting hit movies. My initial reaction, on reading the quotes from the guys, is that there's no way their program can predict hits the way the article claims it does.

Also, they start sounding really ridiculous when offering how to make movies better. Of course, their program has never been tested (and can never be tested) in recommending how a released movie could be improved to make more money.

Having said all that, I'm really curious to learn more about these guys.

The article is long, but well worth the read.

Some thoughts on Youtube and Google - Blog Maverick

2006-10-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on Youtube and Google - Blog Maverick

There has been a lot of discussion about Google's acquistion of YouTube. Anyway interested in filmmaking and the web should be following the ins and outs of this discussion. Mark Cuban, as always, has an opinionated and incisive take on the issue. This is the link to the first article he wrote on the subject, but he has about 3 or 4 more recent entries. It's worth looking at.

ZoomLicense: Finally a way for indies to license pop music? - DV Guru

2006-10-09T17:10:00.000-05:00

ZoomLicense: Finally a way for indies to license pop music? - DV Guru

Interesting possibilities with this Zoom site. There's no mention of festival rights, and I'm guessing internet rights, like broadcast rights aren't covered. Still, this site might be worth checking out when it comes online.

Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion - New York Times

2006-10-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion - New York Times

Google takes a risk by acquiring YouTube. It will be interesting to see how YouTube changes as a result of Google's influence and whether Google can help solve the sticky copyright issues that YouTube faces when users upload copyrighted material.

Variety.com - Lucas tilts at studio tentpoles

2006-10-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

Variety.com - Lucas tilts at studio tentpoles

When the man who made his fortune on big budget blockbusters, says that the tentpole movie is no longer worth making, he might be worth listening to.

Lucas donated $175 million to the USC film school, but says his main choice these days is a larger quantity of smaller scale projects.

Next in Top Ten

2006-10-04T07:28:00.000-05:00

Okay, we've reached the letter "H." H is for:

Heaven, 2002, Written by Krzysztof Kieslowkski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz ; Directed by Tom Tykwer.

First of all, I have to say that the plot synopsis I link to at The All Movie Guide is not particularly descriptive of the movie in my opinion, and the review is negative and pretty wrong-headed. I will certainly agree that reviews of Heaven were generally mixed when it came out and that the movie is perhaps flawed in some ways. Having said that, Heaven is the most beautiful film I have ever seen from a sensory point of view. The score (and at times silence) is simple but gorgeous and the cinematography and lighting are immense in every way.

Criticism generally comes in discussing the story, but I think the story is more complex than many give it credit for. Basically, Philippa (Cate Blanchett) bombs a building hoping to kill the drug dealer that she believe is responsible for her husband's death; instead she kills four innocent people. The first half of the film centers around her interrogation by the Italian police. During the interrogation, her translator Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) falls in love with her. He helps her escape, and the 2nd half of the movie follows their flight.

A couple of things stand out. Some of the reviews I've read assume Philippa loves Filippo (she tells his father this). But in a superbly acted scene, it seems clear to me that Philippa's feelings are not so straight-forward. Does she love Filippo in a certain way? Yes, but not in the way he loves her. The merging of the characters (Philippa/Filippo) into one is fascinating--they shave their heads, dress the same, and become sort of androgynous twins. When they finally make love in silhoutte it's almost impossible to tell them apart. Finally, the ending, to me, is mind-blowing. Many attempts at symbol or metaphor are either too obscure to be worthwhile or too obvious to be meaningful. But Heaven's ending is simple in execution and the metaphor is clear, yet the actual facts of the ending are far from clear.

Top Ten #4

2006-09-28T10:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, the list continues:

Fly Away Home, 1996, Written by Robert Rodat and Vince McKewin; Based on the book by Bill Lishman; Directed by Carroll Ballard.

Of all my favorites, Fly Away Home is probably the one most people will consider the lowest quality from a "critical" or "artistic" point of view. However, we all have our personal favorites that are meaningful on more personal levels. Fly Away Home is one of those movies for me. It's the 2nd film on my list by director Carroll Ballard, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I love movies that explore the relationship between people and nature/animals. There are very few high quality movies in this category, and most of them are directed by Carroll Ballard (though not in my top ten, Never Cry Wolf is also an excellent film). Based on a true story, Fly Away Home is about a 13 year old girl named Amy, who moves in with her father in Canada, after her mother dies in a car accident in New Zealand. She has troubling adjusting to her new home and her long-estranged father until she finds a nest of geese eggs abandoned by their mother. She raises the geese and with the help of father decides to lead the geese to their winter nesting grounds by having them follow her in an ultralight aircraft. Their are some cheesy moments aimed at the kids and a stock bad guy in the form of a land developed, but overall the movie is intelligent and complex. The highlight is the absolutely beautiful montage ending, filled with amazing aerial shots photogrpahed by Caleb Deschanel, in which Amy leads the geese, over an almost abstract Carolina shoreline, to the the haunting song 10,000 miles, composed by Mark Isham and sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Even if you don't relate to the film's plot, it's hard not to be moved by the film's ending

Top Ten #3

2006-09-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been a bit. I was out of town over the weekend (wedding in Michigan--not mine). So here's the next film:

Fearless, 1993, Written by Rafael Yglesias (based on his book); Directed by Peter Weir

In his 80's and 90's films, Peter Weir always seemed to have the ability to portray real-life events in extraordinary ways, without losing much in the way of realism. The experiences are heightened but remain real (see Witness, The Mosquito Coast, and Dead Poet's Society for examples). Fearless is probably the most heightened and in the movie, the dramatic becomes sublime. The story revolves around Max Klein (Jeff Bridges in one his finest performances), the survivor and hero of a terrible plane crash that killed his best friend. While the other survivors struggle with the understandable problems of survivor's guilt, nightmares, etc., Max becomes distanced from his family, and convinced that since he should have died in the crash, he can not be killed now (thus the title). He eats strawberries (to which he has a fatal allergy), walks on building ledges, and generally believes he is invincible. As he drifts farther and farther from his wife (Isabella Rossellini), a psychologist (John Turturro) links him with Carla (Rosie Perez), a woman whose infant son died in the crash. Their "affair of the soul" destabilizes his marriage even more. The movie is filled with amazing scenes including one in which Max straps Carla, clutching a toolbox, into his Volvo and drives straight into a wall, proving to her that she could never have held her baby tight enough to save him (The instrumental opening of U2's The Streets Have No Name provides an unforgettable score to the scene). Just as powerful is Max's decision to help his wife understand his near death experience by eating strawberries (and seemingly choosing ) to go into anaphylactic shock so that she is forced to attempt to save him. Though Max's fearlessness seems be a mental illness of some sort it is also a state of grace. And you're never really sure, despite his disconnection from his family, whether or not he should return to the land of the living.

Say "Brian De Palma." Let the Fighting Start. - New York Times

2006-09-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

Say "Brian De Palma." Let the Fighting Start. - New York Times

A.O. Scott has an interesting article about the constant critical battles over the films of Brian DePalma. These critical battles are largely over style versus story, as DePalma is generally accused of elevating style so high he loses track of story. Defenders of DePalma, according to Scott, argue that this attention to stunning visual style is rare these days, and so should be valued. I'm not sure I agree, or at least, I would argue that a focus on sharp story telling is even rarer than a focus on visual style. And if you agree that DePalma does sacrifice story on the altar of style, than it's hard not to conclude that his films may have contributed to the lack of high quality stories in theaters these days.

Baseball Gone Batty - Los Angeles Times

2006-09-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

Baseball Gone Batty - Los Angeles Times

This link might slightly stretch the intentions of this blog, but as a baseball fan, I got a kick out of this LA Times article about the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League (an independent minor league) who are involved in a web based reality series, in which fans vote for each night's starting line-up on the internet...

Freeman's film is in the express line to the Net - Los Angeles Times

2006-09-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

Freeman's film is in the express line to the Net - Los Angeles Times

Morgan Freeman is not only a great actor--he's a really smart, tech-savvy guy. His film 10 Items or Less, directed by Brad Siberling, will be available for download two weeks after it's theaters this December. Of course, Steven Soderbergh did this with Bubble, but BUbbel didn't start Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega. The film is still a cheap indie ($10) but is produced by Clickstar, a joint company of Freeman and chip-maker Intel. It's great to see traditional players in the movie business emracing new approaches.

Arizona State University - When Film School Isn't Enough: Welcome to the EnterTech Age - New York Times

2006-09-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

Arizona State University - When Film School Isn't Enough: Welcome to the EnterTech Age - New York Times

This NY Times article discusses Arozina State's Entertainment/Technology program (well, right now it's a class which will become a program). This is the future and students, professionals, and teachers interested in creating and teaching visual content for entertainment needs to be thinking along these lines. I would really like to teach a class or two like this at UCA (in fact, the micro-cinema course I taught last summer devled into this quite a bit).

More Top Ten

2006-09-07T22:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, this is already getting tough. I'm afraid this top ten might turn into a top 15 or so.

Breathless (A bout de souffle), 1960, Written by Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard; Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

Of course, there's plenty to say about this film in terms of cinema history and it's influence on the New American Cinema. But for me, there's no movie that feels more alive than Breathless. The energy of the actors, the camera work, the editing, and the city itself seems unmatched even in today's world of fast cut frenetic films. Breathless is simply more vital. No other movie makes me wish I was in Paris (or any other city) more than Breathless. You can feel the pulse of the city in every frame, especially in the exteriors. The ambiguity of Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Patricia (Jean Seberg) adds a wonderful layer of complexity. Patricia's ambivalence towards Michel and her motives for being with him create the portrait of a character simultaneously deep and quite shallow. And when Patricia finally betrays him, Michel's refusal to run seems incredibly moving and adult, and at the same time childishly petulant.

CinemaTech: ExpertVillage.com: Paying videographers to produce videos

2006-09-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

CinemaTech: ExpertVillage.com: Paying videographers to produce videos

Scott Kirsner has a brief entry on his Cinematech blog on a site called Expertvillage.com which pays $300 per video for "how to" videos. While I link to this because it's a great way for students, etc. to make money, I think the more important aspect is what Kirsner mentions as other possibilties: reviews, locals events, etc. There's a huge market, I think, waiting to be born here...

More Top Ten

2006-09-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

I am continuing my top ten list (give or take) as requested by some of my students. One note--I am limiting this list to narrative features only, though my favorite film of all time is generally considered a documentary (and I will write about it). Also, from here on out, the list is in alphabetical order.

The Black Stallion, 1979, Written by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William Wittliff; Based on the book by Walter Farley; Directed by Carroll Ballard.

As a child, I read all the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley (my mom had been a horse lover and we had a horse). I saw the movie in the theater at age 8. Yet, I had very little memory of the movie when I saw it again as an adult and it became one of my favorites. In some ways, the movie is a typical fantastical children's movie (a ten year old boy riding a stallion in a professional horse race is unbelievable even for Hollywood). Yet, in other ways the movie transcends the children's genre and is much more complex. After the opening shipwreck, the movie spends an entire act on a deserted island--the scenes are gorgeous, there's almost no dialogue, and the relationship between boy and horse is transcendental. After the boy and the stallion are rescued, there is always a tension about the domestification of the horse and a feeling that the stallion is sacrificing his wildness out of love for the boy (the boy has no father). The result of this tension is one of most subtle, bittersweet endings in cinema. In the big race, the boy and the stallion, of course, win the race (I'm not giving anything away--this is a children's movie) and as they pull away, the boy releases his hands from the horse and holds them above his head, paralleling a shot from the island. In fact, the movie cuts to the shot, and the happiness of the victory gives way to sadness over the loss of innocence and a realization that the simple perfection of the boy, the horse, and the island is gone and will never be regained...

Re-thinking portable/downloadable video

2006-09-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about how hot everyone seems to think downloadable short films for iPods, cell phones, etc. will be. I do think there is a market for it, but I've been wondering how popular such a thing will be in the long run. This summer I taught a course called Microcinema about making these films and really felt there was a big future here. Now I'm less sure.

First, of all, I wonder where and whenexactly people will watch video on these devices. I always hear and read that people riding the bus, waiting in line, etc. will be able to watch a short film or clip or whatever. But how many people actually ride the bus or train, and wouldn't they be more likely to watch longer form video (if they choose to watch video at all)? And how often do we really stand in line? While there may be a market for selling media to people for every moment in their lives, its seems video will still succeed most in situations where people devote themselves specifically to watching the video (though TV is often a background activity, any video on an iPod or cellphone has to be a dedicated, primary activity).

Second, until a convenient method for subscribing and transferring video to a portable device comes about, downloading video seems more trouble than its worth for most people. Obviously, podcasting is pretty convenient, but to podcast short form video, you need a serialized story (which I think does hold potential) or a service or channel selecting videos for you. And transferring to the portable device is something you really have to choose to do, versus it just happening (DVRs for example).

Finally, who will be the viewers of this type of video? Obviously, this is aimed at younger demographics with the hope that it will become mainstream for them. But even younger users, who will take the time to find the content, subscribe and transfer it, and watch it in their free time? It kind of seems that the typical person in this demographic may not devote their time to this. Rather, it seems the more techno-savvy, media-savvy people will be the primary users (and I don't think all or even most young people are truly techno/media savvy).

I'm curious whether Microsoft's Zune will chance anything as you should be able to download content directly to the player...

Top Ten Movies (give or take)

2006-08-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

Today, a couple of my students asked to post my top ten movie list. While I imagine they wanted the list all at once for a quick peruse, I've decided to post a separate entry for each (not too long, don't worry). And just to make matters worse, I'm even going to throw in a couple that aren't even in the top ten (but certainly near the top). I keep a list, with ratings from 0 to 5 stars, of all the movies I've seen (a couple thousand) , and less than a 100 have received 5 stars. While I'm not going to write about all of these (you're welcome), I am going to start with the most recent film I've seen that I gave 5 stars to:

Scenes from a Marriage, 1974, written and directed by Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman, hands down, is the greatest observer and communicator of human emotion that cinema has ever seen. And Scenes is certainly one of his best and most painful to watch. The theatrical release was an edited version of a six part series made for television. The film traces the marriage, divorce, post-divorce relationship, and eventual affair of Johan and Marianne. The opening scene, of Johan and Marianne being interviewed by a journalist, sets the table beautifully, as a shy Marianne keeps subtly elbowing Johan every time he says something that she finds embarrassing. I think the most amazing thing is that it's never clear whether the film is a condemnation or a tribute to marriage. The marriage fails and ends in divorce, yet on another level the marriage succeeds, surviving everything, including divorce.

The Long Tail

2006-08-18T14:33:00.000-05:00

The Long Tail

I've justed finished reading Chris Anderson's book The Long Tail. The concept of The Long Tail has become pretty popular lately. If you aren't familiar with it, the basic idea is that the internet age has reduced the popularity of the hit and increased the popularity of all the niche products that appeal to a smaller group who know can access that niche more easily. One of the interesting things that Anderson discusses in his book is the increase of producers and creators who are making products primarily for the niche end of the distribution curve. These niche products may vary in quality, so creating filter and recommendation systems for people to sort through the vast choices becomes of utmost importance. While providers like Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes may have created good filter/recommendation services, they have the advantage of offering professionally produced content for the most part. In the world of visual media, sites like iFilm and YouTube seem not to have developed such systems, perhaps because they don't seem to have recommendation systems that make recommendations on the ratings you provide (or if they do, they're not immediately obvious based on my browsing of these sites).

Anderson's book is also especially interesting in terms of what the decline of the hit and the rise of the niche means to our shared culture (or lack there of). He posits a world where we inhabit many small groups based on interest, some of which overlap and some of which do not. In essence, though everyone no longer has the same set of basic cultural touchstones, we most likely share niche interest with almost everyone...

This isn't meant to be a full review, but rather an enthusiastic plug. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in technology, culture, and the economy in general and anyone who considers themselves part of the visual content industry in particular. Check out the blog at the above address as well.

Bruce Baillie

2006-08-16T21:46:00.000-05:00

Bruce Baillie

If you are a fan of the experimental filmmaker Bruce Baillie, you might be interested in this update on his website. He is looking for funding to transfer his films to DVD. His film "To Parsifal" is one of my all-time favorites. I hope to find out more information on the current status of the project. I'll post an update when I know more.

CinemaTech: More from Building Blocks: Short-form vs Long-form, Video Advertising, Google, Yahoo, and YouTube

2006-08-16T21:40:00.000-05:00

CinemaTech: More from Building Blocks: Short-form vs Long-form, Video Advertising, Google, Yahoo, and YouTube

More from Scott Kirsner on the Digital Hollywood conference.

Controlling Video Content--Cinematech

2006-08-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

Controlling video content

Scott Kirsner reports from the "Building Blocks" conference put on by Digital Hollywood about the challenges of controlling on-line content and about Atom's attempts to find more high quality short films.

UFVA Conference

2006-08-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

I just returned from the University Film and Video Association Conference in Orange, CA (hosted at the brand new film studio facilities at Chapman University). Though the conference is not the big sort of conference reported on by the press, there were a lot of interesting events during the 5-day event.

Wednesday morning there was a keynote panel featuring Carl Franklin, Penelope Spheeris, Donald Petrie, David Ward, and Jonathon King. They discussed the state of the industry and film education. They had some pretty interesting things to say--here are a couple of quotes:

"It's like trying to get on a sinking ship" --Penelope Spheeris on film students trying to get into the industry.

Similarly, David Ward stated, "There barely is an industry."

There really was a feeling that the industry as we know it, even among insiders, was falling apart, which strengthens my belief that new visual content providers will find themselves working on their own in a variety of media and on a variety of different types of projects.

The panel also noted the need for a broader education saying among other things that students don't come into the industry or film school with enough life experience, that a narrow focus breeds technicians rather than creators, and that history and an appreciation of the past is valuable.

That evening the American Society of Cinematographers sponsored a panel including Laszlo Kovacs, Daryn Okada, Donald M. Morgan, and Stephen Lighthill.

I attended a number of panels and workshops, and found myself drawn to cinematography oriented workshops, despite not being a cinematographer myself. Stephen Burum presented a lighting workshop and discussed some challenges in film education. As expected he defended the use of film and expects it to be around for a while. I also attended a demonstration of Kodak's Look Management system, which is a great visualization tool for shooters of film.

I presented on scene structure in one panel, discussed Filmmaking MFAs on another, and screened my short film along with my friend, colleague, and DP on the film, Mike Gunter.

On a last personal note, Mike and I went to the Getty Center while we were there. It's an amazing museum and I recommend that anyone planning on going to the L.A. area check it out.

Camera System Creates Sophisticated 3-D Effects - New York Times

2006-07-31T17:48:00.000-05:00

Camera System Creates Sophisticated 3-D Effects - New York Times

The Contour system discussed in this article is a motion capture system that is much more realistic than existing systems, because it has a much higher number of sample points, since it coats the actor's skin in a phosphorescent powder. The interesting component of this is that it is one step closer to the "holy grail" of animators--perceptually realistic human faces and figures.

The quest for total perceptual realism in visual media is a fascinating quest, and harks back to Andre Bazin's famous essay, The Myth of Total Cinema, in which Bazin theorizes that this quest for complete realism has been the dream since the very start of the development of visual media.

This issue of realism is one I am really interested in and plan to write more about, both here and in my academic writing. Please let me know of any interesting articles, etc. you might read concerning realism in visual media.

Spectatorhsip and Narration in Moving Images Conference

2006-07-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

I just returned from the Spectatorship and Narration in Moving Images Conference sponsored by the Konrad Wolf Film School in Babelsberg and the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI). The conference took place at the Konrad Wolf film school, a really technical/modern facility in Babelsberg, outside of Berlin.

While the conference itself was relatively small (50-100 attendees per day), the quality of the attendees and participants was incredible. There were people form Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, England, Scotland, Canada, and the U.S. David Bordwell was the most famous scholar present, but other high quality attendees included Torben Grodal, Murray Smith, Carl Plantinga, Peter Wuss, Richard Allen, and Joseph Anderson.

The focus of the conference was on trying to understand how viewers interact with moving images (movies, television, video games, etc.) broadly using approaches from the cognitive sciences and related fields. While this may sound overly academic, it should be of interest to anyone with more than a passing interest in visual media and how they work. Film studies and other academic approaches to visual media have been extremely disappointing in their ability to understand how viewers perceive, comprehend, and engage movies and other visual media. Over the past 20 years or so cognitive approaches have begun gaining ground, and the conference in Babelsburg was the most positive sign yet that this approach is growing strong.

One of the biggest issues right now in the cognitive study of film viewing is the role of emotion in the film going experiences (for example, why do some people like sad movies) and the role of empathy (do we feel what characters feel, identify with them, just understand them...).

Of the more established scholars the following I found pretty interesting: David Bordwell (UW Madison) talked about the challenges that cinematographers and directors faced with the coming of Cinemascope; Torben Grodal (U Copenhagen) discussed the evolutionary roots of how we respond to different film genres (he concentrated on children's movies like Bambi); Carl Plantinga (Calvin College) and Murray Smith (U of Kent), in separate presentations, discussed the role of emotion and empathy in film viewing; and Monika Suckfull presented a really interesting paper on tracking patterns in films (in this case thematic elements) using a piece of software called THEME.

Some of the most exciting papers came from young scholars doing exciting work with new technologies. Tim Smith (Edinburgh University) uses eye tracking and attention research to more fully understand continuity editing; Aleksander Valjamae (Chalmers University) in Goteberg Sweden does research on how sound can increase the illusion of movement in virtual reality displays; and Jonathon Frome (University of Wisconsin)and Andreas Gregersen from (University of Copenhagen) gave presentations on video games (Jonathon's on the challenges of making video game players sad and Andreas's on how we learn to move video game characters through perception and action).

Though I've touched on just a few, there were a lot of other really interesting presentations and ideas at the conference. Just to plug myself, I discussed how viewers try to understand character action and motivation using social psychology research and discussed how this parallels how we do this in the real world.

If any of this sounds interesting, you can check out the conference program and abstracts at:

http://www.hff-potsdam.de/narration

Anyone interested in visual media and how viewers interact with it should check out this relatively new field of study.

The Movie Business Challenge - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com _

2006-07-26T08:23:00.000-05:00

The Movie Business Challenge - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com _

Okay, here's your chance--come up with the best idea to attract people into movie theaters and Mark Cuban will give you a job!

DV Guru

2006-07-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

DV Guru

DV Guru is another great blog for anyone interested in digital visual media. While some of its entries focus on more technical issues of digital video cameras etc., others discuss more general aspects of how digital video is changing the landscape of filmmaking etc. Definitely worth checking out.

CinemaTech Links on YouTube Etc.

2006-07-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

CinemaTech: Cutbacks at Disney, and Why Dick Cook Should Create a New Division

Cinematech, written by Scott Kirsner, is a must read blog by for anyone interested in the business and technology of filmmaking.

At the bottom of this Disney entry are some interesting links, including one about YouTube already being on the decline.

Film and Video Game Convergence Part II

2006-07-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

There are obvious times when Hollywood and video game makers benefit by working together on a property. It's likely that the Peter Jackson produced Halo film will be successful. Likewise, the Chronicles of Riddick made a nice transition from big screen to video game. But as much as some sort of great convergence is discussed, how much overlap can there really be between the two industries? How many video games actually translate to movies? Very few I think--Madden '06, The Movie; Civilization IV; The Sims? How many movies translate to video games? Lost in Translation, The Video Game; The Passion of the Christ; The 40-Year Old Virgin (well maybe, but I'm not sure I'd want to play that one).

Obviously, there is an overlapping area where video games and movies can converge, mainly in the genre of action-adventure and perhaps mystery-suspense. But even within this area of shared interest, I see some serious problems. First of all, many of these convergences haven't been successful (too many examples to mention). At their best, these convergences can create an immersive enviroment, but in most cases one simply can't recreate what made the other successful. Perhaps strengthening the partnership on these properties will make a difference--I have my doubts. Second, and this is a problem mostly for the movie industry, does Hollywood really want to become a huge lead-in for video game sales? Do they (or we) really want movies whose sole purpose is to promote video games properties? I think not, but perhaps if that happens, story and character driven movies will be made elsewhere (television, internet, etc.) and Hollywood will truly merge with the video game industry.

Film and Game Industry Convergence Part I

2006-06-29T08:13:00.000-05:00

US film and gaming industries creatively converging - Yahoo! News

Hollywood and the video gaming industry seem to think that the best way for their industries to converge is to work together on the games made into movies or movies made into games at the start of the process rather than at the end. Is that really going to make a huge difference? If the gaming industry has input into movie scripts in the pre-production phase this won't make their games better, it will make the movies worse. Likewise the movie industry getting in on the ground floor of video games seems unlikely to make the movies any better. "Pre-awareness" is just an excuse for not making something original.

This isn't a bad deal for the gaming industry which can just generate more buzz for a video game. But Hollywood has spent the past five years making CGI-based summer tentpoles that already seemed like non-interactive video games and losing audience because of it. Moving more in this direction isn't going to help them much.

There are some great possibilities in blending the lines between the movie and video game industries. But I'm not sure that simply cross-platforming properties in pre-production is the most visionary approach.

More soon.

Comedy: The Latest Savior of the Studios

2006-06-25T12:58:00.000-05:00

With the success of Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year Old Virgin, Hollywood is returning to comedies as a summer staple. Vince Vaughn in The Break-Up, Luke Wilson in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Owen Wilson in You, Me, and Dupree, Will Ferell in Talladega Nights. Steve Carell's Evan Almighty is due out next summer.

So the studios figured out that comedies sold last year. But did any of them bother to figure out why? They seem to think that comedies (particuarly R-rated) are just the latest thing grabbing hold of the fickle minds of movie-goers. But besides being funny, these comedies also had something else in common: they didn't rely on CGI and tons of visual effects to keep the audience interested. Instead, Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year Old Virgin relied on some other devices that Hollywood seems to have largely forgotten: compelling characters, well told, original stories, a few new ideas, and a little humor.

So will all these new comedies also rely on compelling characters, well told, original stories, new ideas, etc? Or will they trot out the same exact actors in formulaic retreads or sequels of the same movies from last year? And will they bother to realize that audiences will also flock to a summer action film if it too relies on compelling characters, well told stories, a few new ideas, and even a little humor?

Let's hope so...

Wired News: Ultimate Guide to Online Video

2006-05-01T07:58:00.000-05:00

Wired devotes a section to online video. Good info on some of the "networks" as well as making your own podcast. Doesn't address some of the potential problems if this is going to somehow replace TV as the new place to watch visual media.

Wired News: Ultimate Guide to Online Video

Shirky: Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free Content

2006-03-13T17:11:00.000-06:00

Clay Shirkey has an interesting take on the context and exhibition of content. He feels that micropayments for content will not work because of "mental transaction cost" and because enough creative types will be willing to post content for free on the web because they can reach a wider audience than if they charge. This poses an interesting challenge for visual media, which perhaps takes more time, energy, and money to produce. Should creators of visual content be willing to forgo dollars for attention?

Shirky: Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free Content

TV catches the Net video bug | CNET News.com

2006-02-24T09:13:00.000-06:00

One solution to the distribution, exhibition, context problem is discussed in this CNET News article. I don't think it'll go too far, but there's some interesting stuff here...

TV catches the Net video bug | CNET News.com

Production. Distribution. Exhibtion. And Context.

2006-02-22T16:20:00.000-06:00

Production, Distribution, Exhibition. The basic entertainment business model. By the 1920s, the movie industry had figured this out and moved to become vertically integrated. One company doing it all. The Paramount Decision of 1948 sidetracked this notion for awhile. But these days the movie studios (distributors) are owned by large media conglomerates (exhibitors). There is still some illusion that production is in the hands of the creators (directors, actors, indie filmmakers) who can create product independently, but few fall for that illusion any more. If you are a creator you are at the mercy of the distributors and exhibitors.

The age of broadband and the internet have added a wrinkle. Now, anyone has the means of production, distribution, and exhibition at their fingertips. Anyone in the world can declare themselves vertically integrated. Mini-DV camera, Final Cut Pro, broadband connection, website, and away we go. You control it all. You are the movie studio. Word Processor, Dial-Up Connection, Blogspot or Typepad, and you're set. You control it all. You are the publishing house.

Sort of.

Production. Check.
Exhibition. Check.
Distribution. Maybe.

Distribution is still a problem. You can register your website or blog with every search engine, every blog listing, send out e-mails, tell your friends, whatever. But if no on visits your website, then no sees your movie or reads your blog. Sure there are plenty of tools for promoting your stuff. But that's why distributors are so important. They get your material in places people go. But who are the distributors in the web wilderness? You can post your short film on ifilm.com or some other similar website. But you won't make money. And most people going to ifilm are looking to download the Super Bowl commercials they missed, not your latest 10 minute opus. If you're lucky enough to become a brand name, have the hit viral video, or have your work selected out of thousands of entries to be an Amazon short film, then you've made it . But the odds are about the same as making it into Sundance. And you're back to square one. What's missing?

Context. Three stages to vertical integration aren't enough. We need four. The fourth stage is context. You can make that short film, distribute on websites, exhibit it digitally on someone's computer screen. But you need context. By context, I mean the conditions under which someone on the internet will choose to watch your film. After all the paradox of choice shows us that when we have too many choices we have difficulty choosing at all. A lot of people may browse the net, but how many people go to ifilm looking to check out some cool short films, and of those how many will be drawn to yours (regardless of its quality)? They need a reason to watch your film. They need context.

Context isn't an issue at the movie theater because even in NYC I only have 30 choices or so. There are more choices on TV and through Netflix, but that's what brands are for. ESPN. MTV. HBO. Will Ferrell. Ang Lee. Horror. Action. I have ways to narrow down my choices. But on the internet, if you're an unknown I'm not going to go find your film. Your film needs to come find me. This is true on cell phones and handheld devices as well as on computer based browsing.

I'm not sure what the solution is here, but two possibilities come to my mind. One is an AdSense model to entertainment (and this would obviously expand beyond movies). I go from website to website, do searches, read blogs, etc. and EntSense (or whatever) bombards me with entertainment choices based on my interestes. Entertainment as advertising. Of course, when I'm shopping I may not want to stop to watch a short fim or listen to a new song. But then again I might. The second choice is entertainment destinations--brand name locations where I know I'll find what I'm looking for. Like TV Channels. I remember Channels a few years back on Nestscape--didn't seem to work. Brightcove posits a channel based model, but when they mention thousands of possible channels I see the paradox of choice again and not enough viewers to make money. It depends, in part, on how the channels are set-up. Perhaps a community based model can build up around shared tastes in entertainment of all types and media. A MySpace for entertainment? A Flickr for all media? Who knows? If anyone knows of other possibilities already out there or has ideas for possibilties, please post them. But no matter what the solution, if you're looking to for a business model for entertainment, production, distribution, and exhibition aren't enough. You need context.

Introduction

2006-02-22T15:00:00.000-06:00

The summary at the top of this blog says it all a lot more succinctly than I can say it. But the purpose of this blog is to explore these concepts, sometimes on their own, but most often as they intersect each other in various ways. We are clearly in an exciting time for these topics and a time that is seeing rapid changes. Just when you think you've got it figured out, something new comes along. My goal is to explore these issues, try to make sense of them, and see what happens.