American Cinematheque event!

Anyone interested in the event below, please email me as I have 10 free tickets! 

WORLDS BUILT TO ORDER: ART DIRECTORS GUILD FILM SOCIETY SERIES 2014

Panel Discussion On Production Design!

MONSIEUR VERDOUX

Presented by the American Cinematheque and the Art Directors Guild Film Society and sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter

Join us as we celebrate the film legacy of John Gabriel Beckman! An illustrated presentation will precede the screening, examining some of Beckman's finest murals created for movie palaces such as Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Avalon Ballroom in Catalina.

The film will be followed by a clip reel of John Gabriel Beckman's film design - including 1935's LES MIS, LOST HORIZON, CASABLANCA, GYPSY, and more! - and a discussion with panelists including Roger Lee Kenven, author of 'Art Deco Man,' a biography of John Gabriel Beckman.

MONSIEUR VERDOUX

1947, The Film Desk, 124 min, USA, Dir: Charles Chaplin

This black comedy from writer-director-star Charles Chaplin (based on a premise from Orson Welles) is inspired by the true-life story of bigamist wife-killer Henri Desire Landru, who married wealthy women for their money and then methodically bumped them off. Martha Raye is unforgettable as the woman Verdoux just can’t seem to kill. It was the first time that Chaplin worked with John Gabriel Beckman, who is noted for his extensive career as a set designer, art director, production designer and muralist as well as a World War I fighter pilot.

Program moderated by production designer Thomas A. Walsh. | Screening format: 35mm

Aero Theatre • Sun, May 18, 2014 • 5:30pm

 

video contest for a great cause!

Sustain - A - Video Contest

CREATE A VIDEO

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

BE A WINNER

Make a 10 second to 5 minute video

in any form - drama, comedy, animated, documentary,

advocacy, informational, personal, selfie, serious, funny, or scary

Click link below for more info and to submit: 

http://green.usc.edu/sustainavideo

Submit your YOUTUBE or VIMEO video here

A  panel of judges will select winners to share $2500.

Winners will also meet with leaders in media and ecology and videos will be broadcast.

The most popular video by your vote will receive an iPad.

To vote: Watch submitted videos in their entirety vote for your favorite.

The contest will run through the summer. Awards will be announced on October 19th at the Bioneers Conference.

Graduating students are still eligible for submission.

Check these websites for more inspiration and information:

http://grist.org/

http://www.worldwatch.org

http://www.cmml-usc.org/

This is a program of the USC Change Making Media Lab

Sustain - A - Video Contest

CREATE A VIDEO

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

BE A WINNER

Choose from any of these subjects about sustainability:

• Water
• Energy
• Transportation
• Food
• Climate Change
• Pollution
• Health
• Peak oil
• Consumerism
• Waste
• Corporate Greed
• Plastic
• Social Justice
• Species Extinction
• Globalization
• Green Architecture
• Human Rights

http://green.usc.edu/sustainavideo

great poster

One of my favorite films, and this poster is amazing. Simple, yet oh so effective. 

The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)

The Great Beauty

Viewed this film over the weekend and really enjoyed it. The cinemaphotograhpy is grand, and the lead actor - Toni Servillo is amazing. 

The main character's search for the elusive beauty in life and art, and how he comes to terms with this, is fantastic. I recommend this film not just because of the subject matter and the lovely photography, but it's construction is exquisite - cutting from thought to thought, from the middle of a scene to the middle of another - a great weave through a few days of this man's life. 

Here's a trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyt430YkQn0

The Great Beauty (Italian: La grande bellezza) is a 2013 Italian film co-written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Filming took place in Rome starting on 9 August 2012. It premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it was screened in competition for the Palme d'Or.^[3]It was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival^[4] and at the 2013 Reykjavik European Film Festival.

The film won Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,^[5] as well as the Golden Globe and the BAFTA award in the same category. It is a co-production between the Italian Medusa Film and Indigo Film and the French Babe Films, with support from Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Pathé and France 2 Cinéma.^[6][7] With a production budget of €9.2 million, the film has so far grossed over $23 million worldwide.

amazing short film!

BIG BANG BIG BOOM

Such an incredible short film, using wall-painted animation. 

Blu is the pseudonym of an Italian artist who conceals his real identity. He was born in Senigallia. He lives in Bologna and has been active in street art since 1999.

Blu's fame began in 1999, thanks to a series of illicit graffiti painted in the historical center and suburbs of Bologna, the capital of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. In the early years of his career his technique was limited to the use of spray paint, the typical medium of graffiti culture. His characteristic style appeared in 2001, however, when Blu started painting with house paint, using rollers mounted on top of telescopic sticks. This new solution allowed him to increase the painted surface area and convey a stronger intensity to his visual vocabulary. Huge human figures, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes dramatic, who looked as if they were borrowed from comics or arcade games, began appearing along the streets of Bologna around this time.

Another aspect that influenced his early career was the practice of a shared artistic action. Artists such as Dem, Sweza, Run and, above allEricailcane,^[1] were his companions during nocturnal raids where an anonymous creative participation overcame the need of signing their pieces. Also, during those years, Blu started experimenting with digital animation and he created short interactive video clips that were used as a visual contribution to the live musical performances of the collective OK NO.^[2]

The collaboration with Ericailcane had its best results from 2003 to 2006. The two personalities complemented each other; while Blu was painting his characteristic human figures Ericailcane made his typical animals. The two artists, friends in real life, continue to work together although less often.

Starting in 2004, some art galleries noticed Blu's artistic value and invited him to take part to one-man or collective shows. Yet Blu, throughout his entire youthful career, attempted to limit his presence within the official art world, preferring other kinds of territories.

Since his major pieces, outside of his videos, have been immovable murals, the survey below of Blu's work is geographical rather than chronological.

To view film, click below:

http://vimeo.com/13085676

new avenues for young filmmakers

FIRST KISS

A positive aspect of the digital revolution is that there are new ways for filmmakers to distribute their films, but also new avenues to actually make films. For example, in the fashion world, clothing companies are hiring filmmakers to make short films to promote their line. Other companies are doing the same.

Below is a link to a short film one clothing company has produced, and it has over 70 million views!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbDHxCV29A

A SPECIAL DAY

Many years ago I saw this film and was really taken with it. Watched it this weekend and wow, it really stands up. Amazing, subtle film. For all you indie filmmakers out there, and wanna be first time feature filmmakers, watch this film. It has all the ingredients needed for an indie production - one major location, two main characters. 

A Special Day (Una giornata Particolare) 

Is a 1977 Italian film directed by Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and John Vernon.^[1] Set in Rome in 1938, its narrative follows a woman and her neighbor who stay home the day Adolf Hitlervisits Benito Mussolini.

The film is an Italian-Canadian co-production. It has received several nominations and awards, including a César Award for Best Foreign Film in 1978 and two Oscar nominations in 1977, and it figures on the list of the 100 Italian films to be saved.