Thousand Words

Ominous plaza

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:51:51 -0400

Ominous plaza

zablotny: cinematographer eigil bryld on designing a uniform...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:29:30 -0400

cinematographer eigil bryld on designing a uniform look for ‘house of cards’ with director david fincher:

fincher’s ground rules included “no steadicam, no handheld and no zoom lenses.” […] “to a great extent, moves are on the dolly or the boom. we wanted to use the space more so people would grow larger in the frame or move away and get smaller. we went for a more composed look; even though we had very shallow focus, we tried to create deep compositions all the time to add a sense of drama and power, and the 2:1 aspect ratio really helped with that.”

the entire show was shot on arri/zeiss master primes, mostly the 27mm and 35mm. ”we used longer lenses at times for close-ups, but we never wanted the sense of space to disappear,” says bryld.”

zoe barnes gets three sizes of coverage in the scene above, each inching higher and closer to the eyeline.

also, the A and B cameras are usually kept very close, often stacked one on top of the other. ”we typically had one camera doing a low-angle wide over and the other doing a tight over,” says bryld. continuity is key. ”if you have perfect continuity, i think it almost creates a hypnotic universe, like you’re almost experiencing something in real time. in fincher’s world, you have to respect space and time, and two cameras help with that.”

Fascinating

"There has always been violence in art. There is violence in the Bible, violence in Homer, violence..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:20:25 -0400

“

There has always been violence in art. There is violence in the Bible, violence in Homer, violence in Shakespeare, and many psychiatrists believe that it serves as a catharsis rather than a model. I think the question of whether there has been an increase in screen violence and, if so, what effect this has had, is to a very great extent a media-defined issue. I know there are well-intentioned people who sincerely believe that films and TV contribute to violence, but almost all of the official studies of this question have concluded that there is no evidence to support this view. At the same time, I think the media tend to exploit the issue because it allows them to display and discuss the so-called harmful things from a lofty position of moral superiority.

But the people who commit violent crime are not ordinary people who are transformed into vicious thugs by the wrong diet of films or TV. Rather, it is a fact that violent crime is invariably committed by people with a long record of anti-social behaviour, or by the unexpected blossoming of a psychopath who is described afterward as having been ‘…such a nice, quiet boy,’ but whose entire life, it is later realized, has been leading him inexorably to the terrible moment, and who would have found the final ostensible reason for his action if not in one thing then in another. In both instances immensely complicated social, economic and psychological forces are involved in the individual’s criminal behaviour.

The simplistic notion that films and TV can transform an otherwise innocent and good person into a criminal has strong overtones of the Salem witch trials. This notion is further encouraged by the criminals and their lawyers who hope for mitigation through this excuse. I am also surprised at the extremely illogical distinction that is so often drawn between harmful violence and the so-called harmless violence of, say, “Tom and Jerry” cartoons or James Bond movies, where often sadistic violence is presented as unadulterated fun. I hasten to say, I don’t think that they contribute to violence either. Films and TV are also convenient whipping boys for politicians because they allow them to look away from the social and economic causes of crime, about which they are either unwilling or unable to do anything.

”

- Stanley Kubrick speaks on violence in films in an interview with Michel Ciment. (via howtocatchamonster)

..(clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas…. (at...

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:31:28 -0400

..(clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas…. (at Dickinson, Texas)

quintonpeeples: eradicatedelicacy: Amazing Fantastic

Wed, 08 May 2013 05:43:45 -0400

quintonpeeples:

eradicatedelicacy:

Amazing

Fantastic

"Cinema is a specificity of vision, it’s an approach in which everything matters. It’s the polar..."

Wed, 08 May 2013 05:27:56 -0400

“Cinema is a specificity of vision, it’s an approach in which everything matters. It’s the polar opposite of generic or arbitrary and the result is as unique as a signature or a fingerprint. It isn’t made by a committee, and it isn’t made by a company, and it isn’t made by the audience. It means that if this filmmaker didn’t do it, it either wouldn’t exist at all, or it wouldn’t exist in anything like this form.”

- Steven Soderbegh (via moleary)

"You get work however you get work, but people keep working in a freelance world (and more and more..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:22:37 -0400

“You get work however you get work, but people keep working in a freelance world (and more and more of todays world is freelance), because their work is good, because they are easy to get along with and because they deliver the work on time. And you don’t even need all three! Two out of three is fine. People will tolerate how unpleasant you are if your work is good and you deliver it on time. People will forgive the lateness of your work if it is good and they like you. And you don’t have to be as good as everyone else if you’re on time and it’s always a pleasure to hear from you”

- Neil Gaiman (via geduldsspiel)

"You have to fight every day to stop censoring yourself, and you never have anyone else to blame when..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:19:37 -0400

“You have to fight every day to stop censoring yourself, and you never have anyone else to blame when you do. What happens to artists is that it’s not that somebody’s standing in their way. The compromise really isn’t how or what you do, the techniques you use, or even the content, but really the compromise is beginning to feel a lack of confidence in your innermost thoughts. And if you don’t put your innermost thoughts on the screen, then you are looking down on not only your audience but the people you work with, and that’s what makes so many people working out there unhappy. These innermost thoughts become less and less a part of you and once you lose them then you don’t have anything else. So many people have so much to say and there are so many really worthwhile things to say that it seems impossible that we cut ourselves off from this whole avenue of enormous excitement.”

- John Cassavetes (via gronalund)

"Speaking of meetings, the meetings have gotten pretty weird. There are fewer and fewer executives..."

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:33:44 -0400

“Speaking of meetings, the meetings have gotten pretty weird. There are fewer and fewer executives who are in the business because they love movies. There are fewer and fewer executives that know movies. So it can become a very strange situation. I mean, I know how to drive a car, but I wouldn’t presume to sit in a meeting with an engineer and tell him how to build one, and that’s kind of what you feel like when you’re in these meetings. You’ve got people who don’t know movies and don’t watch movies for pleasure deciding what movie you’re going to be allowed to make.”

- - Steven Soderbergh (via andreaallen)

christ…

(via joshruben)

"Acting is about the pure language of the present tense. To act you must look as if the future is..."

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:24:13 -0400

“Acting is about the pure language of the present tense.
To act you must look as if the future is uncertain.”

- Tom Hoopper. (via joanwaterhouse)

"You know what we call those people who write a sucky paragraph, follow it by 1,200 more, and then..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:46:37 -0400

““You know what we call those people who write a sucky paragraph, follow it by 1,200 more, and then start all over? Novelists. You know what we call people who think of a brilliant idea but never actually write it down? Everyone else. Is that not mean enough? I can do meaner. You know what we call people who think of a brilliant idea, write down thirty pages, and then stop? Everyone else. You only get points for starting, middling, and finishing a novel. There is no second place for almost finished.””

- Maggie Stiefvater, “Seven Steps to Starting a Novel” (via jaimecallahan)

"On his willingness to take suggestions for a scene from anyone: “You have to steal a lot...."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:20:32 -0400

“

On his willingness to take suggestions for a scene from anyone:

“You have to steal a lot. You have to have a criminal mentality to be a film director.”

”

- Clint Eastwood at Tribeca Film Festival

"The entire dilemma of filmmaking has changed. It used to be how you get the money to make the film...."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:17:00 -0400

““The entire dilemma of filmmaking has changed. It used to be how you get the money to make the film. Now it’s how do you get anybody to see it?””

- Paul Schrader - Filmmaker Magazine.

bosstalkn: Legendary Greatest of All Time.

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:43:24 -0400

bosstalkn:

Legendary

Greatest of All Time.

"I found that every single successful person I’ve ever spoken to had a turning point and the turning..."

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:41:15 -0400

““I found that every single successful person I’ve ever spoken to had a turning point and the turning point was where they made a clear, specific, unequivocal decision that they were not going to live like this anymore. Some people make that decision at 15 and some people make it at 50 and most never make it at all.””

- Brian Tracy

(via birthofasupervillain)

"Stop comparing where you’re at with where everyone else is. It doesn’t move you farther ahead,..."

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:06:19 -0400

“Stop comparing where you’re at with where everyone else is. It doesn’t move you farther ahead, improve your situation, or help you find peace. It just feeds your shame, fuels your feelings of inadequacy, and ultimately, it keeps you stuck. The reality is that there is no one correct path in life. Everyone has their own unique journey. A path that’s right for someone else won’t necessarily be a path that’s right for you. And that’s okay. Your journey isn’t right or wrong, or good or bad. It’s just different. Your life isn’t meant to look like anyone else’s because you aren’t like anyone else. You’re a person all your own with a unique set of goals, obstacles, dreams, and needs. So stop comparing, and start living. You may not have ended up where you intended to go. But trust, for once, that you have ended up where you needed to be. Trust that you are in the right place at the right time. Trust that your life is enough. Trust that you are enough.”

- Daniell Koepke (via uxxr)

I think it’s a real privilege to make a living doing this job....

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:59:47 -0400

I think it’s a real privilege to make a living doing this job. It’s a great job - the best I can think of, actually. You walk into a room and say, “I’m imagining this,” and they give you millions of dollars to go out and make it real. That’s a pretty good gig. I have certain standards - sometimes I hit them and sometimes I don’t. I don’t think being precious is really good for any artform. So I believe in being really prepared, working hard, doing everything I can think of to improve it, but staying on budget, staying on schedule, and when it’s over, it’s over and I’m onto the next thing. I’m really dispassionate about it, in that regard. I haven’t seen a great benefit in my own work in agonising over things. I’ve seen more of a benefit in my work, for moving quickly. It’s harder to be pretentious when you’re moving really fast. - Steven Soderbergh

“My idea of professionalism is probably a lot of people’s idea...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:51:12 -0400

“My idea of professionalism is probably a lot of people’s idea of obsessive.” — David Fincher.

Journey

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:51:58 -0400

Journey

pen-monkey: Holy Crap If you only watch one gif this week -...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:42:23 -0400

pen-monkey:

Holy Crap

If you only watch one gif this week - make it this one. HOLY. CRAP.