Why are there so many movie ads during the Superbowl?

Supposedly the trend started in 1996, when Independence Day successfully used the Superbowl as a springboard.

Cinematical has a rundown of which movies played this year, and which ones played last year. Some had more springboard success than others:

It's interesting to look at last year's spots, because some of the films advertised, specifically Year One and Land of the Lost were big disappointments at the box office. Then, of course, there was the marketing travesty involving a 3D commercial for DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens. Besides misrepresenting the film in an antiquated type of 3D that doesn't do the movie or new technology justice, there were too many Super Bowl viewers who lacked 3D glasses, whether due to a shortage or complete unawareness of the necessary specs.

A Superbowl ad is like a shot across the bow. It is where a studio declares they are willing to spend spend spend to make a movie a tentpole. Only the biggest, most mass-appeal movies get this treatment, because a Superbowl ad is just the kickoff to a much larger marketing campaign.

That's why it's interesting that Cinematical notes the absence of an A-Team trailer from 20th Century Fox. Was it not ready in time, or are they not planning on making this film a tentpole?

MORE: Obsessedwithfilm has a couple of the ads as embedded videos.

Sound for DSLRs

I know a couple of people who are going to start shooting web series with the
Canon 7D and the Canon 5Dmk II and I've been talking to them about sound. One of the big questions when shooting with these cameras is what to do about sound, since neither of them are really built to do great sound like they are built to do great video.

Of course, DSLR champion Philip Bloom has already considered several options:

I have a Sennheiser MK400 mic to go on top of the camera for better sound but it needs to be powered, so if you forget to check that battery you have mute sound. Also the auto gain control on the camera is hideous, if something loud is suddenly heard the AGC crashes the audio down to practically zero then brings it back up again and of course it’s just an on camera mic, so best for b-roll really. I have heard the Rode mono mic is very good.

--philipbloom.co.uk

I've also heard the Rode VideoMic Directional Shotgun Mic w/Mount ($149) is a great and economical option for a camera-mounted mic. Bloom also mentions the Beachtek DXA-5D Dual XLR Adapter for DSLR Video which seems to be sold out all around the internet as of writing, but normally retails for $379. Of course other, cheaper Beachtek adaptersthat don't advertise themselves as specific to the 5D could probably be made to work just as well.

For indie filmmakers, though, the real thought should be how to do double-system, post-sync sound. Bloom also an option here:

The Zoom H4n is a remarkable little device. It records everything from .mp3 48khz to 24bit 96khz. It has built in stereo condenser microphones and two XLR inputs which means you can record 4 channels of audio at the same time. It records onto SD cards and runs on 2AA batteries for about ten hours. It costs about $349.

The Zoom H4n Portable Digital Recorder is actually $299 on Amazon. This is a good device -- I've seen professional sound men use it. (For a very thorough rundown of the H4n workflow, see kenstone.net.)

All of the above solutions are really what a cameraman trying to do sound at the same time can get away with. But if you're making a movie, you should have a dedicated sound recordist, and hopefully a whole team on sound. I recommend a portable kit like the one I used on Natural Victims (with a boom mic added).

And, although I didn't have great luck with it, you could try using PluralEyes to sync all the takes, or FCP auxTC reader if your sound system has TC (and you're using Final Cut Pro). Or just do what nearly every movie has done since the advent of sound... use a clapper ($26).

Remember, with the 5DmkII, you'll want to slow the audio down just a tad, 99.9% speed, or you'll start slipping out of sync at the end.

NOTA BENE: If you're shooting with the 5D and posting in Final Cut, note also that Apple just updated their 5DtoFCP import tool.

Best Movie Posters of 2009

The Limits of Control, Objectified, Where the Wild Things Are... Some good choices from The Auteurs.

[via @TedHope]

Stull on DVD: Buy it Now!

Great news! The nearly three-year process of making the short film "Stull" is finally coming to a big finish. The e-store to purchase a DVD just went live. Check it out!

I realize the current price is a bit steep for just a short film so 1) I've done my best to lard up the disc with 30+ minutes of bonus features and, 2) I'm limited in how much I can discount it under Amazon CreateSpace's pricing structure but 3) I've set up a code for readers of this website to save 10%. Just enter CWBD6LSZ in the discount code box.

PS. If you worked on the film, you'll be getting a complementary copy. If you think I don't have your latest address, email it to me now.

Academy Award Nominations 2010

They're here! Some news outlets are going with the narrative that Avatar didn't get as many nominations as Titanic. (The Hurt Locker tied Avatar with 9 noms.) Others are noting the surprise of District 9 getting nominated for Best Picture.

I, for one, hoped that Inglourious Basterds and Up would get nominated, but doubted they would. The Academy has proved me wrong. Of course, there's still no room for comedies or musicals even on the longer list-- unless you count A Serious Man as a comedy.

Best Picture

- Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
- Up In The Air
- Up
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- A Serious Man

Adapted screenplay

"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby

"In the Loop" (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino

"The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

"A Serious Man" (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

"Up" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)

George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (The Weinstein Company)

Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)

Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Matt Damon in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)

Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones" (DreamWorks in association with Film4,

Distributed by Paramount)

Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)

Helen Mirren in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Carey Mulligan in "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Penélope Cruz in "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)

Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)

Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year

"Coraline" (Focus Features), Henry Selick

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson

"The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements

"The Secret of Kells" (GKIDS), Tomm Moore

"Up" (Walt Disney), Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

"Nine" (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

"Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

"The Young Victoria" (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson

"The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

"Bright Star" (Apparition), Janet Patterson

"Coco before Chanel" (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme

"Nine" (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood

"The Young Victoria" (Apparition), Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), James Cameron

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Kathryn Bigelow

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Quentin Tarantino

"Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire" (Lionsgate), Lee Daniels

"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature

Burma VJ (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production

The Cove (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined

Food, Inc. (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

Which Way Home, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan, Province", A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner", A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant", A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

"Music by Prudence", An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

"Rabbit à la Berlin" (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Julian Clarke

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

"Ajami" (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel

"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina

"The Milk of Sorrow", A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogré /Vela Production, Peru

"Un Prophête" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France

"The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany

Achievement in makeup

"Il Divo" (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

"The Young Victoria" (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), James Horner

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox), Alexandre Desplat

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

"Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer

"Up" (Walt Disney), Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36" (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas

"Take It All" from "Nine" (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

"The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined

"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Block/Hanson Production, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), A Voltage Pictures Production, Nominees to be determined

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production, Lawrence Bender, Producer

"Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire" (Lionsgate), A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production, Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

"A Serious Man" (Focus Features), A Working Title Films Production, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

"Up" (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Jonas Rivera, Producer

"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), A Montecito Picture Company Production, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best animated short film

"French Roast" , A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert

"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell

"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)", A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia

"Logorama" (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin

"A Matter of Loaf and Death" (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park

Best live action short film

"The Door" (Network Ireland Television), An Octagon Films Production, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

"Instead of Abracadabra", (The Swedish Film Institute), A Directårn & Fabrikårn Production, Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstrøm

"Kavi", A Gregg Helvey Production, Gregg Helvey

"Miracle Fish", (Premium Films), A Druid Films Production, Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

"The New Tenants", A Park Pictures and M & M Production, Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman

"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

"Up" (Walt Disney), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

"Avatar" (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing) , Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Movie Reviews: A Single Man & Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Guest reviews from sometime contributor Lillian Parker (aka Ukelilli)... Enjoy. -JO

* * *

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

In my unrealistic mad dash to get every 2009 movie seen before the Oscars (a dated ritual for me, but at this point, it’s as good a deadline as any), I went to see two movies this weekend, which was quite refreshing as it’s been a while since I’ve been to the cinema! Saturday I took in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Sunday it was Tom Ford’s A Single Man. I liked Imaginarium less than I expected and A Single Man more than I expected, so that was some wacky outcome right there.

I’m a huge Terry Gilliam fan and have followed his career, even through the thick and very thin of Tideland (although I cannot say I was a fan of that…). I dare say I’ve liked, nay LOVED every other Gilliam film! His visual creativity is incredibly stimulating, his stories are strange and sweet, the acting he is able to pull from actors is unique, and his dialogue is catchy. For this reason, I was slightly disappointed in Imaginarium because it all felt, frankly, like TG recycling himself, and that’s never good. In all of his movies, although they definitely have a Gilliam feel, they are clearly different movies. This one though, each scene I seemed to say to myself, “Wow, this is right out of Baron Munchausen” or “Wow, this was completely stolen from the Fisher King.”

I’m not sure what to even try to tell you about this movie without giving stuff away, but basically Christopher Plummer plays Doctor Parnassus, an anciently old man who has a circus troup sort of traveling show which travels across London. His troupe is comprised of his daughter, Valentina (the freakishly beautiful Lily Cole), a player, Anton (Andrew Garfield, a British young man, who I will discuss more later), and a midget (Verne Troyer – can’t really play Gilliam very well, but we all know TG needs his midgets!). They are vaguely being chased by the Devil (Tom Waits) who enjoys a constant betting game with Parnassus, and, I suppose if it revolves around anything, this story revolves around Parnassus winning the bet to keep his daughter.

This movie had its touching scenes (father/daughter, unrequited love) and dazzling scenes (Terry Gilliam is basically giving us permission to go inside different facets of HIS imagination – sounds awesome!).

It was interesting to see Terry Gilliam with computer effects. One of the fun things about his films is how many of the effects are practical. But it’s the 21st century now, so such silliness cannot be abided. There was a lot of obvious digital stuff in here (the black river/most of the imaginarium stuff), and also a lot of well-hidden effects (some of the imaginarium stuff – the ladders for example), and sometimes he did stick with the real (their traveling stagecoach, for example). This movie could not have been made as it was without the aid of computer technology, and I think all in all Gilliam coped well with it. All of these visuals, after all, still came out of that mind. And, as he started off animating for the Monty Python boys, I get the sense that he knows how to make images look as real or fake as he wants.

I was frankly surprised how little of Heath Ledger there was, but he was awesome and I was very impressed by how Gilliam did the necessary cut and pasting to make it all seamless. Ledger’s unexpected absence surely may have taken its toll on the film as well. Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell did decent work handling the takeover of his part, and Gilliam did a great job making it unquestionable that these different people would be portraying him in different scenes.

The best surprise for me was Andrew Garfield, who played Anton, the player, who is in love with Valentina and yet is always rejected. He played Gilliam’s lines with the fabulous wackiness that they sometimes require and incredibly natural ease at other times. I had seen him twice before this (in a two-part Doctor Who ep in season 3 of the latest series, and then in a pre-screening of a new Carey Mulligan film called Never Let Me Go) and was never really taken by him before. I’d hasten to say, in fact, I particularly disliked him. Andrew Garfield, if you are reading this, I take it back and feel horrible for ever thinking such things, because I adored you in Imaginarium and really look forward to what you bring me next!

So, in general, I liked it. It was just such a shame to see a work by a man with SUCH creativity feel a little second hand (even if it’s from his own previous works). But, as I say all the time about a handful of truly great filmmakers, a mediocre Terry Gilliam film is still leaps and bounds above most movies that come out of Hollywood. And I did enjoy this movie. I would highly recommend it to Gilliam fans and really everyone should see it, but no need to rush out for it, add it to the queue.

A Single Man

That was my Saturday matinee, and Sunday I enjoyed a delicious-as-always lamb gyro at El Greco followed by A Single Man at the Los Feliz 3. I went into this movie knowing very little about it (in fact, with a few mistaken bits of information), and that’s how I think I’d like to leave it for you. I think the discovery was a part of what made this movie so great for me.

So, without talking about plot, or really characters, I’ll just give a few basic notes on this one. I went in worried that a fashion tycoon’s movie might be…well…like a really long Ralph Lauren ad. And, while there were many scenes in this movie that could be mistaken for such a thing upon cursory glance (and several of the actors in the smaller roles were clearly models), those scenes were still moving and the imagery added to them, without question.

Colin Firth deserves an Oscar for his performance. By 15 minutes into the movie I was feeling everything he was, pressed by the difficult decisions that he was, haunted by the memories that he was. I always love Matthew Goode (Match Point) and he was great. I like Nicholas Hoult a lot (About a Boy, Skins) and he was – well perfect for what he was cast as (despite his at times shaky American accent). I can take or leave Julianne Moore, and she was quite good as well.

There was one little visual effect (or big and overused visual effect, depending upon your perspective) that I really loved. The scenes would literally gain color and contrast as they progressed, which is just an awesome use of the film medium, and it’s always nice to see that. It was cool for a couple of reasons. When the scenes start the color is kind of spot on like an early ‘60s filmstrip, which is great in terms of the setting of the film. Then as George, Firth’s character, starts to open his senses a bit more to whatever it is we’re seeing, the colors become brighter and it’s like the clouds part. We can feel the changes that are going on in his head. A really fabulous technique.

Also, and not surprisingly again considering the director, the costumes and production were near perfect. They were timely, but also interesting and cool! So please by no means take my under-play of a review as reason not to see A Single Man! As I said, just want to keep you nice and sheltered, so you can unpeel this film like the delicious orange that I did. If you are going to see only one of the movies I’ve just reviewed, see A Single Man. It might have to fight its way onto my top 10 of 2009. (But, I’d of course vouch for seeing both – I’d vouch for seeing everything you can.)

Netflix Adds More Indies

TechCrunch and others are reporting that Netflix has announced deals with multiple independent distributors for more streaming content.

For the record, companies include some marquee names:

Criterion Collection, Gravitas Ventures, Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Regent Releasing.

And some marquee titles:

The announcement names Departures, Wendy and Lucy, A Nos Amours, Au Revoir Les Enfents, Good Dick, As It Is in Heaven and Seraphine as key examples of the kind of content now available. Others include François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows and several films by Ingmar Bergman, including The Seventh Seal — that classic, angst-ridden film about literally playing chess with Death.

--Mashable

IMAGE CREDIT: Brymo on Flickr, Creative Commons

Sundance Winners

Filmmaker Magazine has an efficient rundown of the winners at this year's Sundance:

The dramatic Grand Jury prize went to Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (pictured), which was picked up by Roadside Attractions earlier in the day. Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's look at a platoon stationed in Afghanistan, Restrepo, won the Grand Jury doc prize.

Josh Radnor's relationship dramedy happythankyoumoreplease took the dramatic audience award, and Davis Guggenheim's Waiting For Superman, which was the first big acquisition of the fest, won the documentary audience award.

And winning the first ever best of the NEXT films was Todd Barnes & Brad Barnes's Homewrecker.

Full list of winners at the link. The consensus seems to be that this was a good year for festgoers and for filmmakers. Probably because of the commercial strength of last year's Precious and Paranormal Activity, there were several 7-figure sales. Hollywood Reporter counts 10 total sales, same as last year, expects more deals will be made into next week.

SEE ALSO:
Metacritic's in depth Sundance 2010 recap

DVD Review: Moscow, Belgium

While I was watching Moscow, Belgium, I couldn't help thinking that this was the movie Last Chance Harvey wishes it was. It's a romantic comedy for the middle aged, and it comes with all the baggage that two divorced people can bring to a relationship. Matty (Barbara Serafian) is a mother of three whose art teacher husband has run off with a 22-year-old student. Johnny (Jurgen Delnaet) is a truck driver with a dark past, whose wife left him for a sleazy divorce lawyer who took him for everything but his truck.

It's a slow build at first, but the movie creates a very believable relationship between the pair, who are drawn together as much by the recognition of each others' pain it seems, as physical chemistry.

The performances in the film are all very good, especially Barbara Serafian, who is able to embody several contradictions at once (she loves Johnny, she hates Johnny, she knows what she wants, she's completely baffled by life) and Anemone Valcke as Matty's teen daughter, who must at times be the adult in the room. This movie is Valcke's first screen performance (at least to make the IMDb), and she's a natural. Definitely an actor to watch.

I at first thought that Moscow, Belgium wasn't for me, but for the middle-aged audience that no one makes movies for any more. But, like the zany romantic Johnny, it eventually won me over. It's a well-observed love story, and the obstacles between the characters are all very real and very believable. The filmmakers wisely limit their locations and let the talented actors slug it out in long and satisfying dramatic scenes. I recommend it.

The DVD features a nice transfer of the film, the American and Belgian trailer (surprisingly similar), audio commentary from the director and the producer, and a Cannes Featurette, which is a fun recap of all the madness the filmmakers endured at Cannes in 2008, where Moscow, Belgium was a big hit. If you were going to Cannes with a movie, this piece would be worth watching ahead of time to see what to expect. It's also nice to see the cast and crew of this little Belgian film getting big love from the jaded audiences of Cannes.

One last note, the North American distribution company, NeoClassics Films, Ltd. looks like they've done a great job with the key art and other marketing materials. They are a relatively new company (founded 2007) and I like their bent, which is a mixture of slick commercial and indie. Another one to watch.

Geekweek Picks Cinema's Greatest Long Takes

Mike Le has chosen the 20 Greatest Extended Takes in Movie History.

There are several amazing extended takes that I would have included in this list but was unable to because they are not available online to view, like the ones in ATONEMENT and JCVD. I felt it would be unfair to make reference to something visually when I could not offer it up for review. But I do recommend checking those films out on DVD if you haven't done so.

Long takes always get lots of attention. Ever since Bazin singled out Orson Welles' strategies in Citizen Kane, they've been an auteurist signature. I happen to think the long take in Atonement, while impressive logistically, is a bit dramatically turgid. It's not blocked well; it contains many dead spaces and doesn't retain the idea that the main character is looking for water while all this madness goes on around him.

Our eyes and brains actually rarely perceive the world in extended gulps. Instead, our eyes dart around in a way called a saccade. If quickly, this is perceived by the brain much like a cut in film. Either way, we tend to focus on something for a few seconds and move on.

Making Blanc de Blanc in Two Weeks

Filmmaker Lucas McNelly is up to part 3 in his chronicle of the production of his feature-length Two Week Film Blanc de Blanc. As with any no-budget production done in two weeks, certain sacrifices had to be made...

4. Equipment. If you've ever edited video before, you know that logging and uploading tapes takes a lot of time. Hours and hours of time. We, of course, do not have this luxury, so it becomes a priority to try and find a tapeless workflow. No one in the crew has this sort of set-up, but my day job (at the time) is with a company that's affiliated with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I have an ex who works over there, but I haven't spoken to her in years. But this is no budget filmmaking. We do what we must. She's able to get me in touch with the head of the film and video department, who is kind enough to lend us a Panasonic HVX camera for the first weekend — free of charge. We're pretty sure my five-year-old Mac can handle the editing, so with a few firewire drives, we are more or less in business.

SEE ALSO:
Part 1: Two Weeks?
Part 2: The first thing you need is a story

BONUS:
You can see the trailer for Blanc de Blanc as part of Natural Victims

Making the Movie Makes the MovieMaker 50

Just a quick horn toot to announce that this site has made MovieMaker magazine's top 50 blogs for moviemakers.

That makes you a discerning reader, I suppose, so congratulations. The list looks pretty good, so check out some of the other sites and check out MovieMaker's subscription deal where you can get one year of magazines for just $6.

What the Apple iPad Will Mean for Movies

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, here's my bottom line: this is not a game-changer for movies. Perhaps for print media, but not for home video.

1. The iPad is not a revolution, at best a gradual advancement.

Really game-changing stuff like a camera embedded in the display or a streaming video system may well be in the works for the iPad 2, but nothing announced today is conceptually different than what can already be done with the iPhone.

Yes, the name is terrible, but iPod seemed almost as stupid at first and now we take it for granted. Making a touch interface slightly larger means now it's slightly easier to watch movies on it than on a laptop and a lot easier than a smartphone.

2. This will definitely change the way some people consume movies -- who and how many, it's too early to say.

Sitting with the pad perched in your lap will definitely be a new way to watch movies. It may even be comfortable. I can see this device replacing portable DVD players easily, because it is light and useful for other tasks too.

The 3G connection is too slow for HD streaming and the hard drive sizes are too small for substantial HD movie collections, so I don't think the iPad is going to be for video what the iPod was for music.

In some ways, they have to keep it crippled in these terms to keep Big Media happy. Despite the status quo with audio, Apple is not yet content to have consumers have substantial collections of high-quality video content without DRM. They, like the music industry, will have to eventually, pardon the wordplay, face the music. Today is not that day... media will continue to be consumed in narrow ways.

Who is going to buy this? At first, it will be the early adopters. I think it has a potential as a crossover product. There seems to be no need for netbooks any more with this in the same price zone. But media professionals will still opt for laptops over the iPad because of their higher power and flexibility. We're a long way from touchscreen Photoshop, sadly.

3. The dimensions are awkward for feature films.

The screen aspect ratio is 1.33:1 or 4x3, like old SD television. This is great for anything but modern cinema, which favors wider aspects like 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. The dimensions get even more awkward if you tilt the screen longways up.

Not that this is a dealbreaker. After all, we've gratefully become accustomed to letterboxing and are starting to become accustomed to pillarboxing. A film should always be shown in its intended aspect. The only question is when there are multiple intended aspects, as with Kubrick's later films or the new Star Trek or Avatar, which were shot with an alternate IMAX 4:3 aspect ratio in mind. (My vote is have the reference version of the movie be the one that shows the largest image, since a cropped version can always be created from that version.)

Probably the better ratio for Apple, assuming no engineering or cost restrictions, would've been the Golden Ratio 1.618...:1, acknowledged to be the most pleasing ratio, as it appears in the human face as well as elsewhere in nature. Sure, it would've been a Procrustian pick, sitting between the 1.33 and 1.85 standards, but as it is, going with the 1.33:1 ratio is a backwards-looking decision. Pretty much all content is getting made in widescreen ratios now.

4. The iTunes Extras format is basically a port of DVD menus.

A touch interface for bonus feature menus may open up some new avenues, but I doubt it will set the world on fire. Once again, here was an opportunity to really rethink the movie-viewing experience. Instead, we get something that's like a DVD menu but works in iTunes and on no other platform.

Also, iTunes Extras remain very complicated to create for the average user. I was hoping for an announcement of new iDVD and DVDStudioPro for easily creating iTunes LPs and iTunes Extras. By holding back on this, even for a few months, Apple is throwing a bone to Big Media, who can buy the hotshot programmers to create slick extras while indie filmmakers are still trying to wrap their heads around what an SDK is.

5. The iPad is a harbinger of increasing individualization and personalization of media.

Everyone in the family can be sitting on the couch watching/reading different content. I'm not one of the Cassandras saying this a disaster for society. If anything, everyone sitting peacefully with headphones is probably an improvement on many families' evenings.

From a business standpoint, I'm sure Apple would like each family member to have their own iPad, like many families now have multiple iPods. I think eventually, if only because medical technology will demand it, we'll be able in the near future to flick media (as in the movie Avatar) from a screen to a pad, or from a pad to another pad. So you can sync up your movie viewing with your siblings, even pause so your parents can share a clip of what they are watching. People feel the need to share media, and this is going to put a lot of pressure on DRM restrictions from day one.

6. The iPad's controlled/locked down system means big media can get behind it, which is an initial advantage but a long-term liability.

First of all, the iTunes store's movie section needs to open up more to independent content creators. The podcast section ain't enough! Indie filmmakers should be able to join the gravy train like the independent application developers have been able to do with the App Store.

Amazon has a good system in place with Unbox, but not the hardware to back it up. The Kindle just can't do video.

Bonus thought: Amazon Kindle will add color/video support in the next fiscal quarter or fade into oblivion.

7. Netflix streaming on the iPad would be incredible.

It would also kill sales of movies in the iTunes store, so look for Apple to block it, like they did with Amazon's mp3 Store on the iPhone. The real holy grail is the Infinite Jukebox, a subscription service with literally everything in one database, which can be called with a simple query and click.

A lot of people see this as the way it's heading. Certainly, there's nothing stopping a well-endowed public library from creating something very close to this already. People thought it was public libraries that would kill the print business. Ironically, it was the internet, specifically the search-empowered Google initiatives, that started making big physical piles of books that must be manually searched obsolete.

There will always be collectors, horders, packrats. God bless them, because they save the stuff that we don't know we'll regret losing.

But now there is a whole new category: digital pack rats. People who obsessively preserve ones and zeros on hard drives. As long as their data collections are made public to search engines and safely mirrored, that knowledge is part of humanity's collective knowledge.

It seems too much a public good for a company to have a monopoly over big content collections. That's why Google's Books initiative is considered distasteful, and why the open-content movement gains day by day. The iTunes lock-down perspective is outmoded. Apple had the chance to get together with publishers and create a micro-payment system that could essentially turn media content into a stock market where knowledge is currency.

Instead, I can purchase Star Trek for $19.99 and have it download over AT&T's painfully slow 3G network for $29.99/mo.

Does that sound like a revolution?

MORE:
MacBreak Weekly's extended coverage
Matt Jeppsen at FreshDV has his own 7 Ways the iPad Will Affect Filmmakers
Videoguys' Videographer Wishlist for the iPad
Jonathan Poritsky reviews available iPhone/iPod touch apps for filmmakers and how they might change on the iPad

Sundance Sales

Seems like this year is better than the last.

Variety is reporting a number of sales and possible sales...

Could it be that buyers are getting spooked by all the filmmakers taking distribution into their own hands, or partnering with Cablevision and YouTube?

UPDATE: Hesher sold to Newmarket and the Hugh Hefner doc sold to Phase 4.

Free Sundance Stuff

For the price of an email, you can get some free stuff from Sundance:

Five Sundance short films are also available here on the Sundance site.

Plus, there are the features I talked about earlier that are selling on VOD during the fest.

Bass Ackwards YouTube Rental
One Too Many Mornings YouTube Rental

There are also some movies from previous Sundance's in YouTube's movies section.

UPDATE: Even more free Sundance stuff...