Archive for the ‘LOST ART OF FILMMAKING’ Category
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.
Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…
CHILDREN OF MEN
Imagine if all your movies started like this:
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CHILDREN OF MEN is a criminally underseen film about a dystopian future in which the abiity for humans to procreate has vanished. No more children are being born. In 2027… all that we are now is all that we have left.
Until one day… a young girl becomes pregnant. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.
Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…
Orson Welles is a legendary Hollywood figure, and is most famous for his work as Unicron in TRANSFORMERS: THE ANIMATED MOVIE.
He also directed a few films. Might have heard of some of them. (”Citizen Kane! Citizen Kane!” — Kids in the Hall).
TOUCH OF EVIL
There are two stories to how Welles got involved:
A:) Charlton Heston learned that Welles was in the cast, he expressed greater interest in starring if Welles would also direct.
B.) Interested in working with Albert Zugsmith (aka “King of the B’s), Welles asked him for the worst script he had in order to prove that he could make gold even out of a bad script.
Here are some shots that prove that point:
First… the opening sequence to the movie. One that many critics believe to be the best of all time. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.
Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…
Waaay back, I wrote a little blog called The Perfect Channelsurfing Cocktail. Give it a looksee.
Because of that tendency I have to channelsurf… I’ve recently been re-introduced to BASIC INSTINCT, and cannot stop watching it. Purely for research purposes.
BASIC INSTINCT
Ok, so I’ve now watched it maybe fifteen times in the last month (same as SHOWGIRLS – the cable programmer’s got a hard-on for Verhoeven lately – but SHOWGIRLS is an entirely other beast of a blog for another time). What should I watch instead? FOOL’S GOLD? Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.
Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…
This is what I’m talking about. This is what the LAOF series is all about.
OK Go is a band that became famous for its’ viral video “Here We Go Again.” That video was genius in its’ simplicity. Choreography on treadmills. If you need a reminder… take a look.
Here It Goes Again – OK Go Treadmill Video
Simple, right? I would’ve embedded it, but couldn’t find a clean version for y’all.
Now, they’ve come up with another one. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers. Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus.
This episode of LAOF is kinda-sorta dedicated to a friend I’ve known going on sixteen years now.
We’ve talked about fluid masters and blocking in the past, and he brought up one of his favorite fluid master shots. I was surprised he said SNEAKERS, because it’s a movie I was very familiar with and didn’t know what he was talking about.
So he popped in the movie. Very odd that I’d missed it, but there it was, right in front of me. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers. Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus.
Here’s my second dip into Spielberg’s portfolio (there’s so many to choose from). It’s another example of how a little bit of innovation can turn a simple throwaway scene into one with more visual merit.
THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is Spielberg’s first theatrical release (unless you count DUEL). It stars William Atherton and Goldie Hawn as two escaped convicts on the lam in an effort to retrieve their ‘baby Langston’ from a foster-care home that plans on adopting him legally. Through Murphy’s Law, they end up kidnapping a young police officer and become the subject of one of the largest police car chases in Texas history – as well as becoming local folk heroes. Personally, it’s one of my favorites of his films. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers. Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus.
Explosions are fun.
So are guns with limitless ammo, acrobatic action heroes, and excessive amounts of carnage.
Carnage may appear to be chaotic, but that which seems to occur naturally and of the moment often belies the amount of preparation and timing and rehearsal involved to fulfill the illusion. Carnage is not chaotic – at least on film.
Carnage is careful. Carnage is coordinated.
Take John Woo’s HARD-BOILED. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers. Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus.
I did ten shots of whiskey back-to-back before starting this piece. I mean, what would YOU do if you were going to write about a Walter Hill film?
48 HRS could not exist in todays world. It’s a film loaded with racist cops and jive-talkin’ black convicts and lady characters who are only sexy if they’re a hooker, slut, or con artist. It’s a film that screams “MEN WITH BALLS” in every scene, and would openly take a shit on THE NOTEBOOK or TWILIGHT as a matter of principle. Looking back now, maybe ten shots wasn’t enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers. Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus.
How delusional am I?
Here I am, thinking I can start up a column that might illuminate a few people about aspects of filmmaking they might not initially have noticed. Me. Educating the world about film. Ha.
I had to actually look up ‘pretentious’ and ‘hubristic’ to see which fit me better. I chose hubristic because if people read really fast, they might confuse it with ‘futuristic,’ and I think it’d be cool to be a ‘future dude.’
So I’m hubristic and delusional. Need any more proof? I chose JAWS as the inaugural clip for this column.
How the F%*@& can I possibly think that I could say anything new about this movie that millions of people don’t already know? Read the rest of this entry »
Filmmaking is fading…..
All you dutiful film students know what I’m talking about. All you online reviewers and movie geeks and talk-backers… you’re with me on this. I can feel it.
Filmmaking is fading…..
Can you imagine someone telling a Michael Bay story around the campfire? Picture a campfire story told as a run-on sentence while the narrator runs circles around the firepit. Makes for an exhausted listener – who cares if the story makes sense? Read the rest of this entry »