Wow. That is the best place for me to begin talking about this piece. Just wow.
Commissioned by the film-making camera accessory giant Zacuto (and shot simultaneously with Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012), this 20-minute Emmy-winning piece by director Steve Weiss – Light & Shadow delves into the creativity and passion of more than 30 of the most legendary cinematographers of our time.
If you are interested in film, television, online video, or pretty much any kind of visual storytelling – then you need to have this in your life. You really do. It is seriously inspiring.
Most of the material that I share has to do with the visual side of videography and cinematography, and that is mainly because it is where my own personal interest lies. With that being said – I read material and watch clips that branch out beyond those limitations quite frequently too, as there is so much interesting stuff to delve into when it comes to production.
So today I am going to take a bit of a diversion from my usual programming, and share a clip on music in film: specifically a PBS Newshour report that explores the Wizard of Oz classic Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Number one on the “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America – there is no doubt that it has an enduring legacy. But why? Well, the premise offered by composer Rob Kapilow is quite a clever analysis which I am sure you will enjoy.
“Words makes you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song make you feel a thought.” – Yip Harburg (paraphrased).
One of the things that I enjoy about film and television is seeing how different directors and DP’s style their work. Even if we have never consciously considered the styling used – once it has been pointed out, we will generally have an “oh yeah!” moment. This phenomena is precisely why I enjoy the following clip by Spanish editor Jorge Luengo Ruiz.
Inspired by an interview with DP Michael Slovis of AMC’sBreaking Bad fame, Luengo Ruiz highlights a key stylistic shot used throughout the show by montaging them all together into a short 4-minute piece. Care to guess what it is before clicking play?
Alright, I don’t usually post these kinds of videos: but today I’m making an exception because it’s on point for me right now.
So, I have seen the Drake memes that have been hitting the net over the past little while – but I was never interested enough to find out where they originated from. Well, as I was channel surfing last night I finally found out: Channel 4 were playing the video for his song Hotline Bling (yeah I know, colour me slow… only 4-months behind the release!). My reaction? Zuh!? It has to be one of the worst music videos that I have seen in recent times. Honestly. I felt somewhat dumber having watched it.
So I was very happy to have some of my sanity restored this morning when I logged onto YouTube and saw that that the team at SNL had (rightfully!) done a parody of it. It might not bring you mental clarity – but it may bring you some joy on an otherwise thankless and uneventful Monday. Please enjoy responsibly.
Ever wondered what might happen if you attached a really old-school lens onto your mirrorless camera? I have. Fun fact, Mathieu Stern (Mathieustern Production) has wondered about this too.
Releasing the first part of his new web-series on Monday, Stern – a French web video producer and photographer based in Paris – is focusing solely on what kind of “weird” lenses can be mounted on a mirrorless digital camera. The premise is simple and elegant: what visuals can come of such mismatched pairings?
In this first clip, Stern tests a 1910 folding camera lens on a Sony A7II: going through several steps, an Eastman Kodak Kodex / Topaz Boyer Paris f6.3 120mm is finally let loose upon the digital landscape! If you’re familiar with the properties of old lenses, you probably won’t be too surprised by the look of the final footage. Nevertheless, I still find the finished result nostalgically pleasing.
Australian Director George Miller decided that he did not wish to do a remake or retell the Mad Max story – rather, he wanted to update the universe and the wasteland. He even asked his wife Margaret Sixel to edit the film, even though she had never edited action before. his logic was that, “… if a guy did it, it would look like every other action movie.”
Even though 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road is technically an independent movie in the series, it was always a matter of time before someone put in the effort to see whether there were visual echoes between the original Australian New Wave trilogy (1979, 1981, and 1985) and the 2015 release. The good news for fans of the original series is that despite 30-years between drinks, as well as all his intentions to give the world something fresh in Fury Road, a Miller film is a Miller film – and there are echoes in abundance. I hope you enjoy the comparisons as much as I did.
So this last week I enjoyed some time off to visit a couple of friends who happen to be Air B’n’B‘ing in Dieppe in the north of France: and that gave me an idea for my first post back… are there any nicely composed videos out there that show off Dieppe? Thank the heavens for Vimeo, because there is! So please enjoy this scenic journey through my holiday… taken by someone else… from a vantage point I didn’t get to personally check out… a few years ago… 🙂
Joseph Campbell wrote a classic cross-cultural study of the hero’s journey back in 1949, and since then it has inspired millions. Like Star Wars, the film it helped inspire, the book was an exploration of the big-picture moments from the stage that is our world. And this theme has enabled it to remain as relevant through the years as when it was first released (it hit the New York Times best-seller list in 1988 after it had become the subject of a PBS television special, The Power of Myth).
For me, stumbling upon a re-run of the PBS series was the first that I had heard of it. It’s kind of eye-opening stuff, and it has keys to wonderful narrative-developing principles that transcend culture… and yet, whenever I ask people about it, what is apparent is that it is still very much unheard of.
Well for my circle of friends and followers, today that changes. You won’t need to read the whole book just yet (though you should). You won’t even need to watch the PBS special (though it is worth while!). Start here: this fantastic little cliff-notes animation work by Iskander Krayenbosch will break the ice for you. And trust me – it is just the kind of teaser that can get you interested in finding out more.
It seems like celebrities are doing impersonations all the time. Co-actors try to mimic each other, vocalists mimic other singers. Such is its popularity right now, that just last month the top-ten-list juggernaut WatchMojo even gave us a top ten list dedicated to this very phenomenon. [Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it yet].
At the top of that particular list sits the indomitable Kevin Spacey. Now I don’t know if you realise it or not… but Spacey has actually been impersonating other celebrities for a good while now! As such, today I would love to share with you a kind of ‘from the vault’ moment from the television programme, Inside the Actors Studio.
I quite enjoy the show – and I think that the key to its 21-year success (as at 2015) is that it offers viewers a genuine interview: all of the guests (actors, directors, writers, and such) have the opportunity to actually discuss their craft and their particular approach to it. Thus was the case in an episode with Kevin Spacey that aired in July 2000.
In the middle of this particular interview, however, host James Lipton throws in an unexpected twist. With zero lead-time, he calls on Spacey to do some of his impersonations – and what came next was truly amazing. I hope you enjoy.
Since the 1950’s, there hasn’t been a cinematic sound cliché quite like the wilhelm scream. It has made an appearance as a sound-bite in over 300 movies and television programmes. Today, I want to pay a humorous homage to the scream with this fun top ten list by the great team at WatchMojo.
Waiting 2B Scene 