This Savage Art

So much will be written. So many will wax poetic but in the end he had the last word. Living in obscurity, eating his frozen peas and keeping a death lock on his privacy he gave no one the right to interpret his world. Producers tried and tried and tried yet failed. It’s good to know that a man who gave us so much kept his talents from being possibly tarnished. It’s also comforting to know that in the world we live in not everyone is for sale.

A quick note about influence. The story A Perfect Day For Bananafish was an indirect influence for my short film The Face of the Earth. It may seem far removed from its inspiration but it really isn’t. It’s still about a tortured soul whose suppressed inner life to the world and to the people closest to him took him to a point of no return. In light of the event, one really wonders what Salinger was keeping from us. Maybe he was just tired of our frivolous ways.

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I guess it’s always been my thinking that following trends in the industry is like pushing a rock uphill. Unless you can literally crank out a polished flavor-of-the-month screenplay in two months and ride the current wave it seems really difficult to gauge. Don’t get me wrong, I will probably die a miserable failure at this (my usual sunny outlook) but when I see someone do something that blows my mind it makes me feel like I should always follow my gut and write what turns me on.

If what turns you on is what is selling and will sell for the next ten years then I guess you really don’t have anything to bitch about but until we all get to that point I think creating what you want to not what you need to is always the way to go. I’m dying to write something fast and furious that flows out of me. Not be so precious. Who cares if it sells. Just to free me up. I have folders full of orphaned concepts. Maybe the time is now?

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From Gothamist:

The Whitney has just opened Eggleston’s first New York museum solo show since his MoMA debut. Called “William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008,” the expansive retrospective covers the beginnings of his career some fifty years ago to the present day, and includes more than 150 photographs, some never-before-exhibited, as well as the rarely screened video diary of Eggleston’s “legendary nocturnal wanderings,” Stranded in Canton.

Eggleston’s work has informed such filmmaker’s as David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola and many others. Make a note to attend.

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No one can break your heart like he can.

A special thanks to PeraShsh for creating the tribute 100 Faces of John Cassavetes. [Hat tip: BSLS]

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Born 7.26.28

Gorge yourself on everything Kubrick.

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The above video is a gleaming example of what can be done with very little. It is an impressive looking short film called White Red Panic from Ayz Waraich and it shows us we don’t need all the bells and whistles equipment-wise to make something that visually stimulates. This is desktop filmmaking shot with a Canon HV20. A tiny kick around HD camera that goes for under a grand [the new replacement model is the HV30.] Yes, you heard me right. 1080p24 for under $1,000. The film itself is a simple sequence but you can see how far color correction can take you if you do your homework. I own the HV20 myself and I’ve shot a few things around the apartment but I can’t wait to beat this thing into submission and get some serious images. I’m planning on the next short film to be shot with this camera.

I first found out about this film and the camera through Stu Manschwitz’s ProLost site. He’s kind of a digital DIY guru of sorts that has an excellent book that informs and educates and I highly recommend it. He’s also one of the founders of The Orphanage and chief creator of Magic Bullet Looks. The film, the site and the book might be the boost you need to get you to sharpen your skills and get you excited about creating again. Remember what I said, a $1,000 camera.

We are moving into a new phase of independent filmmaking, beyond the crappy looking mini-dv cameras of just five years ago. Don’t get me wrong, use what you have. It’s not about the tools. It’s about the vision and ultimately, the story. HD isn’t everything and not everything needs to be HD but the options are there and at an extremely affordable price and with some ingenuity all things are possible.

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2001: A Space Odyssey entered the cinematic landscape 40 years ago today.

Tomorrow….a new being enters the world.

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Go see Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland this weekend at the IFC Center. It is probably the best representation of the freedom of what was and what is truly missing in the independent film scene now. Relentless and unapologetically pained, its characters and audience are in sync with the same level of discomfort. Frownland has all the makings of a midnight movie – an institution that no longer exists. It’s the antithesis of what typically and theoretically makes a commercial film “work.”

If you believe the film community has lost it’s individual voice for the offbeat, the dangerous or the button-pushing type of filmmaking that some may be hesitant to get behind go to this screening even if just to see what the buzz is all about and while you’re at it, support a true independent vision. It might make you angry, it might give you hope that films this weird and fucked up can still get made with a little persistence. At the least you will take away one simple fact; Juno it ain’t.

Related:

The New Yorker review.

An endorsement from Filmmaker Magazine.

The Village Voice review.

[This Savage Art] review of Frownland.

Jeremiah Kipp [ aka my AD on The Face of the Earth ] interviews Frownland writer/director Ronald Bronstein.

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