Old-School 16mm Moviemaking Goes Digital

New digital camera out. Been following this for a while, since its Kickstarter days. Looks great.

Yes? Thoughts?

Here's an article about it:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/bolex-digital-16mm-film-camera/

Distribution

Good interview with Neil LaBute on distribution:

http://tribecafilm.com/features/neil-labute-some-velvet-morning-some-girls-digital-distribution-direct-tv

Neil LaBute on Digital Distribution and Why Screen Size Matters

Locations and conflict

One more thought on locations - they can create conflict, or tension. 

Example:

Knife in the Water

As the title suggests, there is tension in this location. Most of the film is shot on a boat which runs through the water. The boat at times becomes a prison. A jail for the three characters. Surrounded by water. Nowhere to go.

As the tension mounts between the two men, the boat and water serve to fuel that tension. There is no where to escape. The boat is a knife in the water. 

Actor friendly locations

So, we're talking about locations for the past week or so. Mainly how they should be viewed as being a 3rd character - meaning, the right location can serve your story and it's character's wants and needs. It can create a world in which the viewer better understands the story and the emotional state of it's characters. It can put us there!

It can also be an actor friendly location. What do I mean by this? Well, I'll use my first film Sleepwalk as an example.

Most of the film is shot in one location - a very, very large loft-like space. It's actor friendly for several reasons; as for lighting, we pre-lit the entire space - had all our practicals set and most of the main keys. So come time to shoot and move the camera, we had very little tinkering to do - so this allowed us more time to shoot, which was less time hanging around waiting for all the set ups. Thus we could working faster, it felt more "organic" and proved to be very fruitful.

Other reason is simply we didn't move around all the time. We dug into one space for most of our time, which allowed us a lot of freedom and extra time to be creative. It was actor friendly in that it was a warm and inviting space. It was not difficult to work in. It served as an excellent creative environment.

Point being, not all locations are "actor friendly," so this is something to keep in mind when location scouting, and even much prior to this, when writing the script. Don't write/create locations which will be difficult to shoot in.

More on locations

To continue with the thought of how important locations are in film, and how they really should be treated as a 3rd character, here are more examples:

TAXI DRIVER

What better film to serve as an example of the importance of location. NYC is indeed a 3rd character in this story. Travis and the city of New York are connected at the hip, and the city in all its loneliness and filth, help explore the inner mind of the character.

THE MISFITS

Another great example. It's either the barren, desert landscape which help defines the characters, or the honky tonk bars and diners. The small cabin, the old cars - every location in this film is perfect.

RAISE THE RED LANTERN

Amazing location. It feels like you can touch it. The director here really puts us there - he creates a world which we are aloud to enter and live in - which helps to explore and understand the characters and story.