Film Strategy

Lone Survivor | Peter Berg | 2013 | USA | Format: RED Code Raw (negative) 35mm (printed) | 121 min   US poster for Lone Survivor The action drama based on true events and the biography by Marcus Luttrell is gearing up to be a sleeper hit of critical acclaim and box-office strength.  Director Peter Berg secured the financing to make the film by agreeing to direct the big flop, Battleship . It was such a passion project of his that he went low-budget on the shoot, directing it for the DGA minimum, shooting with the RED camera in New Mexico (great production incentives there btw) and convincing his cast to lower their salaries too.  Despite the criticisms of jingoism and being crude propaganda or snuff porn akin to The Passion of the Christ , the movie is generally described by critics as expertly made and engaging. If Lone Survivor makes the $34 million it is projected to make during opening weekend plus gets nominated for and wins some Oscars then the Battleship flop will h

Don't Look Now | Nicolas Roeg | 1973 | UK, Italy | Format: 35mm | 110 min  Released in the US 40 years ago today on December 9, 1973.   When British director Nicolas Roeg’s perverse thriller Don’t Look Now hit American theaters, not everyone was happy. In the New York Times review, Vincent Canby claimed that when this “fragile soap bubble of a horror film” ends, “you may feel, as I did, that you've been had.” Adapted from a Daphne Du Maurier short story, Don’t Look Now previewed many of the director’s upcoming themes—chaotic, realistic sex; disjunctive narrative montages; storylines that collapse the psychological and the supernatural. Here a young couple (Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland), traumatized by the recent drowning of their young daughter, comes to Venice for a working holiday and possible relief from their grief. What they find instead is a mystery lost in the maze of Venice’s back streets and canals and shrouded in the city’s famous fog

A Clockwork Orange |  Stanley Kubrick  | 1971 | UK, USA | Format: 35mm | 136 min   A great insight into Stanley Kubrick's work process via the making of A Clockwork Orange. Hat tip to mentorless and bonusfilm for the video. Orange Mécanique (Stanley Kubrick) - Making Of by Bonus-de-Film

World War Z | Marc Forster | 2013 | USA, Malta | Format: 35mm | 116 min     Within the overall filmmaking strategy that takes a project from development to distribution, producers need mini-strategies (like Matryoshka dolls ) to complete certain complex parts of the film.  One of those mini-strategies involves how best to create effective and convincing special visual effects (VFX).  Digital Arts Staff and Wired had behind-the-scenes access to the making of World War Z which gives us an idea of how the producers and director planned and prioritized their effects (granted their budget was ridiculous but still, resourceful and inventive filmmakers can still take notes and learn how to make amazing VFX even if they don't have the money... like this guy ). For the honors, MPC was tapped to provide the VFX using their in-house crowd simulation software, ALICE.    Led by MPC's VFX supervisor Jessica Norman, the house completed more than 450 shots for World War Z.

The Last Legion | Doug Lefler | 2007 | USA | Format: 35mm | 102 min  

Some people don't like to know how a magician pulls off his tricks on stage to avoid spoiling their suspension of disbelief.  I'm not one of those people; I want to know and I appreciate any opportunity to see how it's done.  Besides, the technical trick itself is just one of the many elements to enjoy in a good show, there's also the banter, the misdirection, sleight of hand, etc. So knowing how it's done doesn't detract from the overall experience for me. Creating illusions as well, the filmmaker is also like a magician and for those of us making a living making films and videos we have to constantly pierce the veil on how things are done.  With this knowledge, we learn how great videos are made and then use that knowledge to replicate or, even better, improve upon what's been done.  Then if we're good enough, the next filmmaker will take what we've done and build upon that. And so on, until cinema is no more. Being a big fan of music video

Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | 1981 | USA | Format: 35mm | 111 min  Need to see this by Jamie Benning on the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark. So much filmmaking and storytelling insight, it's ridiculous. And well worth the popcorn. Watch it in installments.

"You see, it is very, very essential that you know ahead of time something of the orchestration: in other words, image size. What I mean by orchestration is, take the close-up, well, that's like in music: the brass sounding brassy, loud sound before you need it. Sometimes you see films cut such that the close-up comes in early, and by the time you really need it, it has lost its effect because you've used it already. Now, I'll give you an example where a juxtaposition of the image size is also very important. For example, one of the biggest effects in PSYCHO was where the detective went up the stairs. THE PICTURE WAS DESIGNED TO CREATE FEAR IN AN AUDIENCE AND THEN GRADUALLY TRANSFER FROM THE SCREEN INTO THEIR MINDS. HENCE, THE VERY VIOLENT MURDER TO START WITH, ANOTHER ONE LESS VIOLENT -- AND MORE FRIGHTENING -- AND THEY'VE GOT THE THING IN THEIR MIND. Then, as the film goes on there is no more violence. But in the mind of the audience

Duel | Steven Spielberg | 1971 | USA | Format: 35mm | 90 min / 74 min (original) "For Duel, the entire movie was storyboarded.  I had the art director sketch the picture on a mural that arced around the motel room.  It was an aerial view that showed all the scenes and the dead ends and the chases and all the exciting moments.  I think when you make an action film, especially a road picture, it's the best way to work,  because it's very hard to pick up a script and sift through five hundred words of prose and then commit them to memory.  The movie was more of a concept than a page-by-page description of what had to be shot, so I felt that breaking the picture up and mapping it out would be easier for me." ~~ Steven Spielberg In the video below, a young Spielberg, goes further on to explain why he sketches even if he can't draw, how much time he invests in storyboarding and how he still goes beyond the storyboards during a shoot. Spielberg discus

In this video, Terry Gilliam discusses how storyboarding helps him visualize, refine and even change the script for his movies.  Lots of good insight into his thought process and filmmaking workflow. Regarding this video and it's usefulness to filmmakers, David Kendricken at Nofilmschool wrote: "Gilliam says something interesting immediately, and that is his use of drawing sometimes during the writing phase. Storyboards in a strict sense are traditionally done once a script has reached a certain plateau of finality — meaning it may not be locked outright, but only relatively minor alterations will be made in subsequent drafts. Gilliam here describes his storyboarding process sometimes affecting the script as new visual ideas come out, which is an interesting inversion of convention as I see it. He highlights the benefit of using storyboards as the skeletal basis of a scene’s structure, allowing out-of-sequence shooting to work just as well as shooting in-

Fast and Furious 6 | Justin Lin | 2013 | USA | Format: 35mm | 130 min Fast and Furious 6 had a monster weekend in terms of box-office but more importantly fans and critics lauded the film for its high-octane humor and its well-directed  action sequences. Director Justin Lin's efforts paid off in a big way and his storyboard artist, Anthony Liberatore , played a crucial role in helping Lin visualize the crucial action sequences and sight gags.  Recently, Storyboards Inc. interviewed Liberatore on his work with Lin and included storyboards from the infamous tank scene. In the interview, Anthony talks about what it takes to be a storyboard artist, his work methods and process, the importance of developing a shorthand rapport between the storyboard artist and the director. Below are excerpts of the interview discussing the visualization of the movie, some of Lin's storyboards and the related video of the chase sequence to compare and contrast.  I have added

Star Trek: The First Contact | Jonathan Frakes | 1996 | USA | Format: 35mm | 111 min

Taxi Driver | Martin Scorcese | 1976 | USA | Format: 35mm | 113 min