Things, Movies, and Updates

Well, my apologies for my absence. I have been dooooing things I swear.

1) My Sony F3 came in to Abel Cine early so I was buying that (and dealing with convincing the bank to let me have access to MY money. Ugh.)  With many thanks to Mark Schwartzbard for tips and DBA/ EIN details. It is a fantastic camera and I am really really happy with it so far! I'm eager to keep playing with it so if you have any projects you wanna do LET ME KNOW!

2) The first part of July was spent navigating the 7 day short film I shot "TIED UP" with Jose Venutolo Directing, a project of Brady Kirchberg origins. We had a lot of, ahem, things thrown at us...an eastern European building super who started carting our equipment off premises and eventually cut the power to the apartment we were shooting in - a nice, reasonable man ha...lost actors and lost locations. Some of the wrenches thrown were par for the course, some seemed to require superhuman patience and ingenuity. Nonetheless there are always lessons learned, we persevered,  and we wrapped at about 430am on a Friday morn with some really great stuff!

Brady and Jose are working on the editing already and the plan is to head to NICE DISSOLVE for post. The producer set up a demo session with them last week and their facilities are pretty great! They're tucked away in a rather booming side street of Bushwick. While the studio itself is small, the package is extensive. We'll be using their DaVinci Resolve suite with real-time playback. I'm looking forward to it. Here are some quick stills from the TIED UP footage:

3) Other updates include Beach going! My fantastic friends and I headed to Jacob Riis for a much needed cool off! Beach, snacks, beers and vodka slushies are good for the soul.

4) This is probably obvious, but I love Netflix. More specifically Netflix Instant Play. I watched "Carnal Knowledge" (1971) a few nights back and it is a gem I knew nothing about. The cast alone is reason enough for you to watch it. If you love relationship analysis and gender studies then you've got yourself a golden ticket here. Jack Nicholson, Arthur Garfunkel, Candice Bergen (Yes, she was a full blown sex symbol in her day.  For those of us that only grew up watching her in Murphy Brown this is fun to see), Ann-Margaret (wowza), and Rita Moreno power pack this film. The style of Mike Nichols' direction (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - so he has some experience with this genre :) adds an element of flash without taking away from a strong cast that can carry a heavy film and still come out as a bit of a comedy. Here's the original NY Times review from '71 (I also love the internet):

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=ee05e7df1731b52ca2484cc7b6799d8c6896

There are many great scenes, but this is definitely one of the best:

Another film I saw during my absence on the ol' blog was "Bad Timing" (1980) on a recommendation of a friend. Another astute, but slightly more abstract, relationship study starring Art (he lost the -hur by this point) Garfunkel (Some say this film might have helped end his acting career as his character is pretty dark here. I mean it's not like HE'S ACTING  or anything here people. Guffaw.) and Theresa Russell. Harvey Keitel also plays a key role as a suspicious detective. This Nicolas Roeg flick needs 2 watches at least.

It's definitely not my favorite of Roeg's, but it's engrossing and fun to decipher. If you like Roeg's structure in general, it seems one would like this films as well. Theresa Russell gives a really great performance, but I grow tired of female characters (which is of course not her doing) that long to be free while having a connection with someone sans being controlled by them. Yet, they keep succumbing to the "need" to please said person and so do what they know they cannot sustain. They stay. I suppose this is one aspect that makes the film engaging, though many times it just seems a byproduct of the desires of the writer.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

 

The Fabulous Stains

This gem came up on set yesterday, well technically at lunch in the park by Highline Stages. I was able to tell a few people who'd never heard of it before! It's always exciting to get to give someone a treat like this one. I can't tell you how much this movie rocks! It's Diane Lane's  near debut (there was some awful comedy "Six Pack" with Kenny Rogers. Well, maybe it's not awful if you're a kid watching it instead of in your mid20s). She is quite captivating and engages you in her badassery pretty fully. And I mean, the makeup and skunk hair DO help. It's such a perfect teen angst movie that I found myself wanting to steal someone else's songs and become a huge touring band. I DO already have the pink eyeshadow.

Laura Dern is also in it, but Lane really does make the whole film. Or maybe I'm just biased. There is something about her onscreen presence that makes it unsurprising she is still a working actress. Not long after The Stains, due in large part to her role in that movie actually, came:

The Outsiders

and 

Rumble Fish

These 2 Coppola movies are visceral and make you feel alive. In fact, whoever's reading this...hell all 6 of you, should make a teen badassery & angst/Diane Lane marathon of Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains, The Outsiders, and Rumble Fish. It'll make your whole world.

Mary Marie

 

Mary Marie

I went to see a wonderful indie film co-written and co-starred by these 2 ladies. One of which is the Director, Alexandra Roxo, and a friend of mine.  It was the first time either had made a film, although both went to school for acting. It was a pleasure to watch and the characters occupy a place in one anothers' world that isn't easily described, which I like.

There are really good moments throughout the film and the locations chosen (luckily in the family of one of the writers) are well-used and full of rich layers. The color palette and wardrobe are key elements of any film as well and they too are expertly chosen. The Director of Photography, Migela Crosignani, was the one of the most experienced people on the team and she does not disappoint. It's beautifully shot, beautifully framed...a perfect complement to the storyline. She uses everything from spoons to truck side windows to frame her shots and utilizes every inch of the lovely rural location to present the story at its best.

The Dish and the Spoon

The Dish and the Spoon

My good and talented friend Mark Schwartzbard shot this Indie darling in Delaware and has recently been making the FF circuit. It's been well received and I'm so happy for him. He shot it on the 7D and did a wonderful job conveying the dreamlike, cold, transitional world the 2 main characters create for themselves. If you watch it, pay attention to the operating, which goes unnoticed in films a lot. Good operating should, I suppose, but pay attention to its fluidity and its pace. I think it probably has a lot to do with his Aaton HH handle he swears by for all his HH work. Oh, and that he's got good instincts too.

Because my friends are cool AND nerdy!

http://markschwartzbard.com/tests/7D_runtime_tests.htm

To buy or not to buy

I am debating buying a Sony F3 and subsequently  thinking of whether I would get the 35mm, 50mm, 85mm set of lenses that Sony has put together for the camera. I'm always hesitant to steer away from dependable, reputable companies for glass, ie: Zeiss, Cooke, Angenieux. Also, where's the 18mm or at least the 25mm?? There have luckily been some tests comparing such lenses to Sony's.


http://cinescopophilia.com/?p=3311



Painter- Sony F3 from Nigel Akam on Vimeo.

I have trusted friends who have used Sony's lenses and are not impressed with their build or their image so that usually is the affirmation of my hesitancy.

And as always Philip Bloom, for what he's worth, is there to compare these 3 cameras:

http://filmmakeriq.com/2011/05/panasonic-af100-vs-sony-f3-vs-sony-fs100/ 


Why, Why does the F3 only offer 60fps at 720p? Man, that really is a bummer. You can see the quality difference in the video PB does of course. The F3 is by far the better quality long term camera...it's just such a large difference in money when it comes down to it. And once you get into buying a KiPro or a Nanoflash to utilize the camera's full range. It's always so exciting and nerve wracking!

Remember...

to never read the comments section after reading something you find pleasant...Skin2 below.

http://rileydog.posterous.com/659-am

Igor Amelkovich