Their was nothing to be found in this world… Just cold… And the dog…

Patrick Boivin – White from Pascal Blais Animation Studio on Vimeo.

Alex and Her Arse Truck from Dan Cheetham on Vimeo.

Matt Jay’s short Any Day Now explores the life of a young woman as she attempts to navigate a new city and her role as ‘the other woman’. Matt joins us to discuss moving beyond a scandal to reveal the motivations of those involved and using the long take to convey a character’s state of mind.

I was very interested in trying to humanise what often gets reduced down to just lines on a page.

Any Day Now (2011)
Twenty-three year old small town beauty Sam has just arrived in New York. Pulling her there, are hardly fleshed out hopes of a modeling career. Following her there, is a long standing relationship with a married politician, that may or may not have a place in the next phase of her life. And awaiting her there, is all of the disorientation and isolation of foreign environment.

Brad In A Bottle from Truce Films on Vimeo.>

Directed by Drake Doremus who co-wrote the script along with Ben York Jones, Like Crazy was shot in 22 days on a Canon 7D. The pair based the script on their collective long distance relationship experiences; resulting in the final script being an extremely loose affair with much of the dialogue improvised by Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. Perhaps that’s my inherent problem with this film?

Initially Like Crazy charts the beginning of Jacob and Anna’s relationship when they’re still loved up and floating on the euphoria of new found love. Yet I felt nothing. They made all the right moves; holding hands, nuzzling and spending a lot of their time in bed but they just didn’t make a believable couple. There was no sense of a click of connection or a spark of passion between the two there for me. At the time of watching I was unaware that the dialogue was improvised, but I did noticed how the stunted conversations were. When you’re in the first flush of love, conversations trip over themselves because you have so much to tell each other about your past, present and maybe, what you hope for the future. This wasn’t the case here, instead there were lots of long pauses which were eventually filled with girlish giggling that just seemed absurd. However, we’re led to believe that their love for each other is so all encompassing that Anna overstays her Summer student visa.

John Guleserian provides some great cinematography within the film, a stand out scene charting their Summer in bed together. Inevitably, Anna’s overstaying means that when she later tries to re-enter the country she’s sent back without getting to see Jacob. It’s then left to him to come to her whilst she sorts out her visa. Which takes time…a lot of time.

Once they’re separated we watch them lead separate lives in different countries. This would probably be a good time for me to come clean. I lived abroad for a year and tried to maintain a relationship. There was a lot of details here I could empathise with; the missed calls that can’t be returned due to time differences, communication slowly deteriorating into text messages because one or both are out and can’t talk properly and the new friends that are made that neither have met so when anecdotes encompass these new people you, frankly, become bored.

What I couldn’t empathise with was the ease with which both Anna and Jacob let each other go. Prior to Anna’s US overstay she’s warned of the ramifications of that action, but she does it anyway. You’d therefore think that when they’re separated it would take a lot for their eyes to be turned by other people? This is far from the case though, they quickly descend in to affairs with others. The ease with which each lies to their friends about their relative relationship status is also confusing. In one scene Anna is chatting up a guy in a bar, she then goes out to ring Jacob, goes back in and carries on from where she left off. To me, it’s completely random. I sat wondering for the last 45 minutes why they just didn’t pack it in? It’s easy. You’re in different countries. It’s not like they would bump in to each to other in the local pub.

By the time Anna had her visa sorted I really didn’t care what they did. I didn’t ever truly believe in their relationship when it was good and the fact each had cheated on the other with relative ease merely confirmed my opinion that the relationship was built on sand in the first place. Moreover, the metaphors played a lot like being hit over the head repeatedly. On the day Anna leaves they take a boat trip. They take up seats on either side of the aisle and look sadface out to sea. When the relationship is pretty much dead, a gift Anna received from Jacob is replaced by the new man she has started to seeing behind his back. There are more examples, many, many more.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t an awful film. It’s just not very good either. I do wonder if two more experienced actors would have made a better a job at setting the scene of a great love affair from the beginning? If you want to see genuine love then watch Drive, it contains more emotional passion in a single kiss than the entirity of Like Crazy’s Summer between the sheets. And those two characters don’t even have sex!

Aesop: Kingdom of Frogs from Jesse Ewles on Vimeo.

Most directors know that if they can concentrate on pulling great performances from their actors the battle’s half won, but it’s not quite that simple when your leads are a pair of hands. Director Tom Willems joins us this week to discuss how his short Left Right demanded he craft a new approach to filming and why faces were the last thing he needed in frame.

What’s overacting, what’s under acting, what’s good acting for a hand?

Left Right Materials
Storyboard

Showlinks
Caviar
Phantom Gold
Tilt-shift Lens

Wastelander Panda Prologue from Epic Films on Vimeo.

Left Right (2011)
What if your left arm gets jealous of your right arm? The left arm of Boris is jealous of the right one. After 35 years of neglect, it decides to take matters into his own hand(s).

Like a super stylish version of the Littlest Hobo Christopher Guinness’ Pothound gives us a dog’s eye view of our four legged hero as she keeps the city safe for you and me. To capture Pothound’s unique perspective, Guinness employed a pair of Canon 7Ds fitted with 16-35mm and 50mm lenses (the ‘dog cam’ attached to a makeshift monopod that allowed the team to run behind their star whilst directing her action) and a GoPro for the underwater shots. There’s also an animated fight section (also created by Guinness) which would make Samurai Jack proud.

POTHOUND (2011) – A Short Film from christopher guinness on Vimeo.

Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.

McQueen isn’t your typical director and his films aren’t typical films, his background in art seemingly providing a springboard to take a fresh and inventive approach towards filmmaking. With an ICA Futures Award in ’96 and a coveted Turner Prize win in ’99, the talented artist’s (recently appointed CBE) reputation for innovative art seems to have made his switch into the world of cinema a seamless one. Although not as openly experimental as his previous film Hunger (there are no 17 minute long takes here), Shame still shows signs of the director’s’persistence to experiment with his now preferred medium.

The [medium of] film is only 115 years old. If you think about art, painting is 1000s of years old. As long as something works, it works. The form of film is up for grabs as long as it makes sense to the audience. So, it’s a gold mine out there, for film – The Hollywood Interview

There are moments of real flair and beauty in Shame, which contrast beautifully to the film’s general, yet striking, feeling of emptiness. Shame’s only real moment of tenderness comes when Brandon begrudgingly visits a glitzy New York club to see sibling Sissy sing. Her earnest, yet seductive performance of New York, New York (actually performed by Mulligan) is beautifully shot in full frame close up (only disturbed once by an equally moving close-up of Fassbender) adding a real moment of warmth to an otherwise cold and clinical film. Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography is immense throughout, his icy blue palette occasionally punctuated by the sharp, cutting lights of NY city. His camera endlessly roaming the streets, rooms and clubs in which Brandon operates, like a lost soul not quite knowing where to settle. Combined with an ethereal soundtrack, the cinematography only magnifies the bare existence of our protagonist, as he struggles to survive in a life dominated by addiction.

Fresh from his critically acclaimed work with director McQueen on their previous outing Hunger, Michael Fassbender has been quick to increase his impressive portfolio in recent years, working with some of Hollywood’s biggest directors, including Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott. He also found time to fill the mighty shoes of Ian McKellen, as a young Magneto in X-Men First Class and star in Andrea Arnold’s festival favourite Fish Tank. Yet here, back in the hands of the director who first introduced us to the stoic, powerful performances of Fassbender, we once again get to see the actor at his encapsulating best, as he bares all in leading man mode.

As expected, McQueen doesn’t hold back or pull any punches; Shame is a full frontal, exposé of an addiction oft overlooked and underestimated. The director extracts powerful performances from his key players and although often difficult to watch, this gifted artist has created something truly original, something you definitely don’t want to miss.

DISCO from Luke Snellin on Vimeo.

Waiting also means that we get to see the making of:

DISCO – MAKING OF from Luke Snellin on Vimeo.

And the outtakes:

DISCO – OUTTAKES from Luke Snellin on Vimeo.

Director David Easteal’s short The Father explores redemption and sacrifice after an unnamed dereliction of duty. David joins us to discuss capturing reality and how it’s possible for an audience to discover themes in a film its director was unaware of.

I like something to seem real […] If I can capture that moment, that’s what I’m going for, that’s what I like.

Showlinks
David Easteal
The Father

I don’t know if the characters in the Scumbags filmmaking group’s Nuevo Mexico are playing out a test of loyalty, an act of retribution or some kind of fantasy to order scenario orchestrated by the guy sitting in the armchair in the middle of the desert, but I do know that Christian Cavazos directs these interconnected scenes with a pleasing visual flair. It remains to be seen if the Scumbags will give us a piece with more substance over style in the future, but for now I’m happy to be taken along for the ride.

NUEVO MEXICO / Short Film from Scumbags on Vimeo.

The Father (2011)
Haunted by his past, a man searches for forgiveness. Getting it however, may come at a cost.

Darius Clark Monroe and his crew took to a 2am Brooklyn bound F train with a Panasonic HVX to capture Train, an understated study of culpability.

TRAIN from Darius Clark Monroe on Vimeo.

GRAVITY // UN RÊVE DE DEMAIN from Filip Piskorzynski on Vimeo.

Nikias Chryssos’ short Tower Block is the exception to the rule of keeping shorts under the 20 minute mark. Running at nearly 40 minutes it’s an enthralling blend of social realism and flights of fancy, which tell the story of a young boy’s quest for a father figure in an environment severely lacking in suitable candidates. Nikias and I discuss the hazzards of having fish on set and allowing a film to dictate its own running length.

For me it’s really nice to be on a set & you don’t really know what will happen.

Showlinks
Nikias Chryssos

If you enjoyed our chat with Nikias and the full version of Tower Block, then I urge you to support the Kickstarter campaign for Nikias debut feature Der Bunker.

Tower Block (2006)
Daniel and his older brother Patrick live together in a tower block in Germany. Patrick forces Daniel to go around collecting money and plays sadistic games with him. Daniel escapes into fantasy worlds. As he suffers more and more from his brother’s tyranny, he believes to have found a friend in Bernd, a heroin junkie from the area.

Watch the full version of Tower Block after the jump.

WEG – Short film shot on RED Scarlet-X from Sebastian Woeber on Vimeo.

acid from Douglas Burgdorff on Vimeo.

megashamp from Douglas Burgdorff on Vimeo.

Dutch artist and filmmaker Rosto is well know for creating intriguing, dark themed work which spans multiple forms of media. His latest, The Monster of Nix, is an existential animated musical fairytale, suitable for kids from 10 to 100. Rosto joins us to discuss not pinning yourself down to a single creative area and how to go about creating a musical that doesn’t suck after surviving five years of development hell.

I don’t consider myself necessarily to be an animator or a filmmaker or whatever. I call myself an artist because there’s no other word.

Showlinks
The Monster of Nix
The Monster of Nix Facebook
Mind My Gap
Thee Wreckers

The Monster of Nix (2011)
Life is good in the idyllic fairy tale village of Nix… Until an all-devouring monster appears. Young Willy has to fight it. Alone…

Michael Sugrue gives us love, betrayal and catfish in his moody short Tupelo Shuffle.

Tupelo Shuffle from Michael Sugrue on Vimeo.

One Fine Day, Love Came to Visit from Rus Nerwich on Vimeo.

We’ve seen a fair amount of indie features this year, but a couple of our favourites came as a double bill comprising director Zach Weintraub’s Bummer Summer and The International Sign for Choking. Zach joins us this week to discuss the merits of getting back to your indie roots and why roller discos and selling lemonade may not be the best forms of film funding.

I feel like I’ve found my tone I guess or I’m closer to finding it.

Showlinks
Newhard Entertainment Blog
Canon EOS 5D

NEWMEDIA from MOLI on Vimeo.

Bummer Summer (2010)
Seventeen year-old Isaac tags along on an impromptu road trip with his older brother Ben and Ben’s ex-girlfriend Lila. The trip staggers along uncertainly as the trio’s delicate and ambiguous dynamic is made increasingly weaker by the brothers’ mutual feelings for Lila.

The International Sign for Choking (2011)
Ben is twenty-four years old and listless since graduation. Frustrated, he seeks out a job teaching English in the last place his life felt exciting: Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the adjacent bedroom lives Anna, a fellow North American. She’s bubbly and outgoing, and through Anna Ben finally begins to experience the city in the way that he’d initially hoped to, until romantic tension mounts between the two.

Diastole (2011) from Autobotika.Niko on Vimeo.

Rightly, Paths of Hate is in the running for an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short at this year’s Academy Awards. Nenow also won the SIGGRAPH Jury Award where he presented a nice lengthy making of session for the project.

Damian Nenow’s SIGGRAPH presentation at Autodesk booth from Platige Image on Vimeo.

And if you’re still hungry for more info on the production process, Motionographer have an in depth interview with Nenow.

I’m pretty sure the full version of Paths of Hate currently on YouTube isn’t official and will get pulled down before too long so here’s the trailer just in case.

PATHS OF HATE long trailer from Platige Image on Vimeo.

After the death of his twin brother via freak paint accident, Niko vows to destroy all art.

Curtis lives a simple life; he works hard and takes good care of his family, loving wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. However, his modest life is soon turned upside down when he’s plagued by crippling, foreboding dreams predicting an impending apocalyptic event. Curtis is then faced with a dilemma; does he listen to these dark premonitions and prepare his family for possible armageddon, facing financial ruin along the way, or are these visions nothing more than the symptoms of mental illness; a family affliction shared by his mother who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in her early thirties.

Like Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, a similarly subtle film featuring commanding performances, Nichols’ Take Shelter is not an easy film to label. Where Another Earth is a character/relationship piece wrapped in a science fiction shell, Take Shelter could easily slip into either a family drama or an apocalyptic tale category. Like Cahill’s movie, where the discovery of “Earth 2” is almost seen as the supporting narrative to its main character-driven story, the possible end of the world scenario facing the characters of Take Shelter is only ever viewed from within the tightknit LaForche family. Nichols’ story of the potential ‘end of days’ isn’t concerned with how or if the world would survive if Curtis’ visions come true, but instead if his family and his mind will survive his possible descent into mental illness.

Where films like 2012, Armageddon and The Day after Tomorrow relied on the believability of their catastrophic scenarios (Mayan predictions coming to pass, meteors destroying Earth or abrupt climate change), Take Shelter relies solely on the credibility of Curtis’ off kilter convictions. Nichols’ film will only succeed if there are some doubts over his premonitions; do you instantly write them off as the ramblings of a mad man or believe he may have been gifted a glimpse into a doomed future? For me it just took one look into the askew stare of Shannon for doubt to set in, could this be the gaze of a man losing his grip on reality, or a man with a devastating insight into things to come.

Shannon’s overwhelming performance is well supported by some equally robust turns by Jessica Chastain (Tree of Life) and Shea Whigham (Shannon’s co-star in Boardwalk Empire), their wavering support and trust in their loved-one only magnifying Curtis’ volatile situation. However, there’s no mistaking that this is Shannon’s time to shine, his performance taking you on a chaotic downward spiral with dizzying effects, the apex being a scene in which he aggressively confronts his doubters at a charity dinner, a scene that sent shivers down my spine and goosebumps up my arms.

There’s a storm coming like nothing you’ve ever seen, and not a one of you is prepared for it!

Take Shelter will leave viewers feeling battered and weather-beaten at the end of its two hour duration and what you take from Nichols’ film will depend largely on what you came looking for. Those looking for an Emmerichian end to civilization may be disappointed, but those searching for something else, something less obvious, might be totally blown away.

Even how you read the final scene (warning: this link contains spoilers) can probably reveal a lot about yourself.

Two years ago, Duncan Jones kicked off the current ‘less is more’ approach with his slow burning tale of isolation in Moon. A year later, Mark Romanek introduced us to the futuristic period drama with his adaptation of acclaimed and beloved Kazuo Ishiguro novel Never Let Me Go. Whilst Jones’ film, featuring a more classifiable aesthetic, was easier to label as science fiction, both films tackled similar themes by examining identity and the notion of self. Continuing this topic by posing the question “What would you say if you met another you?” Mike Cahill’s character driven Another Earth is another film from this limitless genre that relies more on its viewers’ powers of imagination, than its ability to dazzle and daze an audience with visual bombardments.

Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), a bright young woman accepted into MIT’s astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother), has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined.

With a plot featuring a parallel universe, it’s hard to believe there could be questions over whether the film belongs in the science fiction genre or not, but when the appearance of a duplicate planet plays second fiddle to the intense situations of our main characters, questions are bound to be asked. Writer and star Brit Marling and director Mike Cahill have managed to do something quite amazing with their film; create a piece in which they tackle expansive universal theories, whilst also developing a narrative of real intimacy through its study of the shattered lives of Rhoda and John. The juxtaposition of the weight and scale of the situations creates an intriguing proposition on screen, the discovery of ‘Earth 2′ has opened up an immeasurable number of possibilities for the characters of Another Earth, yet the introverted sheltered lives of our two main protagonists seems anything but. It’s the grief and daily struggles of Rhoda and John that Marling’s story orbits. The small developments in their lives which should seem insignificant compared to the revelations of this newly discovered planet are made to appear weighty and momentous; the smaller picture for once overshadowing the bigger one.

With William Mapother previously limited to bit part roles in TV (Lost, Prison Break, Law & Order) and film (World Trade Center, Minority Report, Swordfish, Mission Impossible II) and Brit Marling still carving out her career in the movie industry, both actors seize the chance to sink their teeth into the meaty roles. Both characters offer a lot of scope for our two lead actors to display the whole gamut of emotions as the relationship between Rhoda and John begins to break from their daily routine of grief and introspection, to be replaced with hope and fleeting moments of joy. With her piercing eyes and flowing locks, Marling was made for the big screen and her performance doesn’t betray this assumption. Consistently engrossing throughout, she puts in one of those performances you don’t dare (or want) to take your eyes off, it’s easy to see why she’s now being tipped for bigs things in the future.

At times, the filmmaking choices in Another Earth may appear a little wayward and clumsy, which is to be expected from our fledgling filmmakers, but these brief, wavering misjudgements never stand in the way of what is a truly original piece of filmmaking. Cahill’s film may have the budget and feel of an American independent production, but its heart and ambition reaches far beyond what you would usually expect from a production with a $150,000 shooting budget. Another Earth is a challenging and demanding watch, a film for those concerned with the mysteries of the universe, but don’t come expecting answers, in fact this is a film that may open up more questions than it solves.

The Night We Were Kings from Cube Creative on Vimeo.

2011 has already witnessed; Craig Roberts’ duffelcoated, love-struck Oliver in Submarine, Devin Brochu’s grief-stricken T.J. in Hesher, Alex Shaffer’s troubled wrestling star Kyle in Win Win, Kentucker Audley’s dysfunctional comedian in Bad Fever and Dustin Ingram’s porn star obsessed Tobe in Meet Monica Velour. But what it is about the ostracised and the excluded that filmmakers (and their audiences) find so appealing?

Whether it’s the power these characters have to elicit emotion from an audience or the heart-breaking agony/joy of watching them rise/fall (delete as appropriate), there is something magnetising about these types that keeps pulling the writers and directors back to their worlds.

The latest writer/director team to tackle the story of the high-school loner is Patrick Dewitt and Azazel Jacobs (Momma’s Man), with their film Terri; the tale of a downtrodden, overweight, pyjama-wearing teen. Terri (Jacob Wysocki) doesn’t excel in school, he constantly turns up late for class, doesn’t participate in physical education and generally looks disinterested. His home life isn’t much better, with his parents absent physically and his guardian, uncle James (Creed Bratton), absent mentally, Terri is left pretty much to fend for himself whilst also struggling to care for his unstable uncle and their untidy home. With the help of his overzealous principle Mr Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly) and some burgeoning relationships, Terri tries to find his place in life and starts to discover friendship and romance.

Jacobs’ film saunters along at a leisurely pace, providing a balanced snapshot into the life of its eponymous lead, never aiming for the big reveal or the grandstand finale. Instead, sexual advances are spurned, relationships left undefined and friendships undeveloped. Terri’s life simply carries on with an endless road of possibilities unfurling under his unwieldy gait, an uncertain future on his horizon.

In his first feature film role, Jacob Wysocki as the titular Terri puts in a performance that defies his tender years, as his introverted, cautious character skirts the pigeonholes he so easily could have fallen into. Persecuted by classmates and often misunderstood by his seniors, Wysocki’s portrayal could have all so quickly become one-dimensional and flat. Instead, our lead performer allows the odd, fleeting glimpse into the soul of Terri, adding mystery and depth to his character, ultimately leaving us with the desire to know more.

Terri is the story of an outsider, in a world of outsiders. He may be at the heart of Dewitt’s story, but with a host of other dysfunctionals populating this on-screen world, Terri doesn’t seem so odd or awkward. With a principle who sleeps in his car, a friend who gets fingered in class and a classmate who pulls his hair out and pisses on his trousers, our protagonist’s eccentricities suddenly seem muted and unremarkable when viewed in context. This isn’t a film of cheap laughs, or one overly concerned with sympathy. Our cumbersome hero could have so easily been turned into an object of pity, but instead Dewitt and Jacobs handle his story with great care and consideration, avoiding narrative clichés and shallow stereotypes along the way.

Adapted from a short story by Norwegian writer Kjell Askildsen, Håkon Larssen’s The Grasshopper (Gresshoppen) is the story of a couple out of love, in a relationship that may well be out of time, told through glances and the space between what is said. Håkon and spoke about losing producers to film institute advice and the challenges of working with an editor whilst near mute.

I don’t feel that I belong to one genre. I like to explore different areas of filmmaking.

The Grasshopper Materials
Scene Maps, Posters & Film Stills

Showlinks
The Grasshopper Facebook
Sony F35

The Grasshopper (2010)
The summer is on the wane and dark clouds form on the horizon for Jakob and Maria. On the surface, everything seems fine, but behind the facade the reality is different. When Maria’s younger sister Vera comes visiting, she awakens a desire in Jakob.

The Reformed Troglodyte (Dir Cut) from Ben Briand on Vimeo.

Ben seems to have an uncanny knack for successfully traversing the no man’s land of brand sponsorship and creativity. The hugely successful Apricot was created for coffee brand Nespresso, while The Reformed Troglodyte was made for The Art of Shaving. Here’s a more obviously linked, though no less creative film of Ben’s from the campaign, The Gentleman Shaver:

The Gentleman Shaver (Dir Cut) from Ben Briand on Vimeo.

Director Mike Ott joins us this week to discuss his second feature Littlerock, a beautifully balanced fish out of water story, with the added complication of a language barrier.

It’s just a scary thing to hand over your film to someone & trust that they’re gonna take care of it.

Showlinks
Littlerock
Smaal Form Films
Sony PMW-EX3