On Film-making and other things

After the Games: Photographs of Decaying Olympic Sites Really...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:29 +0100

After the Games: Photographs of Decaying Olympic Sites

Really like this assembly of photos of decayed Olympic sites.

http://io9.com/after-the-games-photographs-of-decaying-olympic-sites-503372635

PATIENT 39 - UPDATE

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:51:39 +0100

PATIENT 39 is entering a new phase as we come towards the final furlong of the offline edit. I’ve been working with film editor Richard Wilkinson (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1270577/) on the cut and it’s been a fascinating process of seeing it evolve and take shape, all informed by Richard’s fiendishly clever eye and judgement. The edit is a time when your choices are laid bare, and mistakes have to be addressed – but it is also a time when your choices can be reaffirmed, tightened and strengthen. So it is the part of the process when things become coherent, coalesce and the film itself is born. The trick to some extent is to keep your mind open to the possibilities, to the flexibility that still remains, while at the same time being true to the direction you’ve been following.

We shot the film in March (it was snowing on one day!) and I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the help of Justin Cornish at Atomic Arts (http://www.atomicarts.net/) to help magically transform the weather to the blue sky that is so important to the story.

We’ve also been joined on the journey by the brilliant composer Andy Hopkins (http://www.andyhopkins.co.uk/). Andy immediately tuned into the psychological tone of the story and to its moods and turns I am looking forward to sharing the results of his fantastic work with you when the film is completed.

http://www.patient39.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/Patient39

THE MEANING OF LIFE (!) The late David Foster Wallace hands down...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:12 +0100

THE MEANING OF LIFE (!)

The late David Foster Wallace hands down some useful pointers, in this university speech day that’s been visualised into a neat little short film. I very much like the sentiment of this.

PADDY CHAYESKY’S NOTES FOR HIS OSCAR-WINNING SCREENPLAY...

Mon, 13 May 2013 07:54:13 +0100

PADDY CHAYESKY’S NOTES FOR HIS OSCAR-WINNING SCREENPLAY ‘NETWORK’

cinephilearchive:

Network screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky for your reading pleasure [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only)

Network (1976) was written by Paddy Chayefsky (1923-1981) and directed by Sidney Lumet (1924-2011). Paddy Chayefsky said he didn’t write the film as an attack on the television industry (‘it’s not a brutal attack, maybe a murderous attack, but not brutal,’ he laughs in the interview), he just described the world as he saw it around him. He wants to get a message across but if it happens it’ll be a bonus. First and foremost the story has to be entertaining.

“How do you preserve yourself in a world in which life doesn’t really mean much anymore. That’s what I was trying to say, but the trick of course is to say it so that it’s a good movie.”

Chayefsky wrote a lot of fictional TV, and said he enjoyed watching TV but didn’t believe a word that was said on it because of the way everything is condensed, manipulated, and influenced by the ratings game. The audience becomes brutalised because they see violence every day and it makes them indifferent to it. And the country (like most developed countries these days) are television-saturated, most of the population gets their information from television.

“This is what the picture is essentially about — when do we say ‘Hold it! A human life is a hell of a lot more important than your lousy dollar’.”

Chayefsky channelled his frustrations with television into this satire that deals with news operation through the character of Howard Beale. Beale is a news anchor whose rating have been declining and the broadcast network fires him; Beale reacts by announcing that he will commit suicide on air, resulting with him getting his own show and becoming a huge audience success (with good ratings), and Beale uses his power to make revelations about the Communications Corporation.

Paddy Chayefsky won the Oscar for Best Writing for Network.

Chayefsky discusses Network and the way television manipulates truth.

Chayefsky’s notes for Network (New York Public Library):

Paddy Chayefsky created programming for the fictional UBS (New York Public Library):

Howard Beale’s moving speech is timeless: the problems are as relevant today as they were when the film was made.

“The shooting script for Network. Howard Beale’s “Mad as Hell” speech was filmed on Day 1.” — via Dave Itzkoff

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CAST READ THROUGH FOR SPIKE LEE’S ‘DO THE RIGHT...

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:30:28 +0100

CAST READ THROUGH FOR SPIKE LEE’S ‘DO THE RIGHT THING’ (Video)

STEPHEN SODERBERGH’S ‘STATE OF CINEMA’ ADDRESS...

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:39:59 +0100

STEPHEN SODERBERGH’S ‘STATE OF CINEMA’ ADDRESS TO THE SAN FRANCISCO FILM FESTIVAL

From Producer Ted Hope:

“Cinema is under assault,” Steven Soderbergh told an audience in San Francisco over the weekend. He said that the Hollywood studios are to blame and that moviegoers are their accomplices. “Fewer and fewer executives in the industry love movies,”

cinephilearchive: Ridley Scott on...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:38:09 +0100

cinephilearchive:

Ridley Scott on filmmaking.

filmschoolthrucommentaries:

Here it is, the first of a series of Ridley commentaries. Ridley’s discussions are always filled with good information on technical side of things as well as the industry. Devour it.

On apprenticeships — try to get one in this cutthroat business.

MICHEL GONDRY ON ADAPTING BORIS VIAN’S 1947 NOVEL...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:26:00 +0100

MICHEL GONDRY ON ADAPTING BORIS VIAN’S 1947 NOVEL ‘L’ECUME DES JOURS’ FOR THE SCREEN

(In French!)

THE END OF FUJI MOTION PICTURE FILM

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:18:15 +0100

http://www.fujifilm.com/news/n130402.html

SWALLOWED BY A BLACK HOLE Shooting with Cliff Diver Todor Spasov...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:16:08 +0100

SWALLOWED BY A BLACK HOLE

Shooting with Cliff Diver Todor Spasov on Gozo for opening sequence of forthcoming BBC2 black hole documentary. DoP: Rob Goldie.

KODAK FILM ON FILM With the decision to close...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:10:49 +0000

KODAK FILM ON FILM

With the decision to close Technicolor’s film processing labs here in the UK, perhaps it might be worth pausing for a moment to consider what we might be losing - and what it might mean for film production here in the UK.

APOLLO PROGRAMME SATURN V F1 ENGINES RECOVERED FROM OCEAN FLOOR

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:46:16 +0000

APOLLO PROGRAMME SATURN V F1 ENGINES RECOVERED FROM OCEAN FLOOR

EXECUTIVE NOTES Notes from Executives to Ridley Scott on...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:48:04 +0000

EXECUTIVE NOTES

Notes from Executives to Ridley Scott on ‘Blade Runner’. I particularly liked ‘Ridley and crew have had three cuts and still have not done what was agreed.’

DIRECTOR PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON AND THE USE OF STEADICAM

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:04:00 +0000

Neat article and video clip on how Anderson uses Steadicam - and how it has changed as his career has moved forwards.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/video-steadicam-progress-career-paul-thomas-anderson-five

Buzludzha Monument, Abandoned Saucer-Shaped Communist Party Headquarters on a Bulgarian Mountaintop

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:13:00 +0000

Buzludzha Monument, Abandoned Saucer-Shaped Communist Party Headquarters on a Bulgarian Mountaintop:

Location in waiting for a Bond film I’d have thought…

APOLLO 15 MISSION PHOTOS (courtesy of NASA)

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:11:06 +0000

APOLLO 15 MISSION PHOTOS

(courtesy of NASA)

Film of the Day: Patient 39

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:33:46 +0000

Film of the Day: Patient 39

TIM BURTON MASTERCLASS Director, producer, writer, animator, and...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:23:00 +0000

TIM BURTON MASTERCLASS

Director, producer, writer, animator, and artist Tim Burton masterclass at the Paris Cinematheque.

Dan Clifton: Directing science on screen : Ri Channel

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:40:06 +0000

Dan Clifton: Directing science on screen : Ri Channel:

Article I’ve written for the Royal Institution blog

SCORSESE ON ARTIFICE Martin Scorsese in a revealing talk about...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:24:00 +0000

SCORSESE ON ARTIFICE

Martin Scorsese in a revealing talk about heightened reality in cinema (with particular reference to NEW YORK, NEW YORK)