Coffee and Celluloid

That’s a Double Wrap

Posted December 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pm by C47

So UnderCover has wrapped and I graduated from Film School. Don’t worry, I’ll still be at school editing UnderCover and You 2.0.

In between wrapping the film and graduating, I had so much stuff to catch up on I ended up sleeping at the film school one last night. Then the family arrived for graduation and the screening of our thesis films (Jenny Hicks Must Go Down). The ceremony is great - it’s just for our graduating class, 25 of us, so it’s small, personal, and most importantly, short.

BFA Class of 08 and 09

The screening was a ton of fun. There were a handful of films I wasn’t involved in and knew nothing about, so it was great to see something new and be entertained.

Following the screening and reception was an after-party. It still hasn’t sunk in that this was the last time I would see a lot of these people for a while, and definitely the last time we would all be together in the same place. It was a long goodbye - I ended up leaving at 7:30 AM, early enough to see the sunrise.

While I loved graduation, it didn’t feel like a closing since technically I haven’t graduated just yet and will still be living in the film school, in my cold, dark editing room.

I will try to write again, but Wednesday I’m heading to Israel for 10 days. So if there’s a hiatus of posts, you know why.

And to my classmates (alumni-mates?) who are heading off to LA and NY, I know you’ll rock it and I love you all!

Digg, Stumble, and Share this Post

More »

Posted in Film School | No Comments

TIFF and JCVD

Posted September 5th, 2008 at 4:01 am by C47

Despite having my name called over the speakers on the airplane before take off and my passport taken by security, we managed to make it to Toronto (the passport was returned and I never found out what that was about). We even made it in time to pick up our industry credentials.

Of course with a festival this large everything is sponsored, such as the Cadillac Audience Award, but you gotta dig the Starbucks neckbands. I just wish someone would figure out how to make a neckband so the ID doesn’t always land facing the wrong way.

After a delicious Indian dinner at The Host, and meeting some execs from HBO and Showtime (who were eating together, which just seemed funny to me because I always imagine them as fierce competitors), we went over to catch the Midnight Madness screening of JCVD, a film about Jean-Claude Van Damme starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Jean-Claude Van Damme

I’m sure I’ll get some eye rolling here, or “how are you a film student?” but whoever I thought Jean-Claude was, this was not him. I think my image was some sort of French version of Luke Perry. No idea why, and I was definitely wrong.

So suffice it to say I am not at all familiar with JCVD. I should also preface this with the fact that it was midnight, we had been traveling all day, and I’m a morning person, so my thoughts will be brief.

The opening shot was stunning - a one take, over the top action sequence. The film itself was very stylized and beautiful.

I wasn’t able to get a ticket for Unwanted Witness the first time around, so I’m going to try again when tickets reopen at 7, though it’s almost 4 now so we’ll see how that goes. The rest of the day is filled with meetings, networking, and being Hollywood.

Digg, Stumble, and Share this Post

More »

Posted in Film Festival | 1 Comment

State of the Fest - Do festivals matter?

Posted August 29th, 2008 at 1:08 am by C47

State of the Fest | Part one: Do festivals matter? - The Circuit

In the pantheon of viable choices for getting your film seen, film festivals continue to thrive (seems thereâ€™s a new one born every minute, right?), and thatâ€™s because, putting aside economic factors for the moment, film festivals still provide the perfect environment for the cultural, communal celebration of cinema, where films can be presented in context, with optimal picture and sound, and where audiences can yield, uninterrupted, to the original experience created by the artist.

Interesting article on film festivals. The opening graph mentions event-style films, which is the way I think more films should go.

Instead of keeping a film in a theater for a week were it does mediocre business, make it a Friday night event with cast and crew, charge more for the tickets, and in one evening you’ll have made more than an entire week and have a more satisfied audience.

Digg, Stumble, and Share this Post

More »

Posted in Exhibition, Film Business | No Comments

American Teen and How it Was Made [Documentary]

Posted August 27th, 2008 at 12:55 am by C47

I loved this movie. It was by far my favorite film at Full Frame. I’ve noted before how I’m on the fence about going into narratives or docs. This proved you can accomplish both.

Following four high school seniors, American Teen was like watching all the best high school classics - Sixteen Candles, Fast Times, Risky Business, Mean Girls - but it’s all true.

The film feels so much like one of the above movies that I forgot these were real people, my age, that had a history before the film and a life after.

This main shock came when I looked at their Facebook fan pages and they had the usual ‘my life in an album’ pictures. This is just a testament to how well the film was made.

Hopefully this will be one of those few docs that will break its way into the mainstream and hold its own against the Hollywood blockbusters.

I really wondered how Nanette Burstein, the director, got such candid shots and access to these teen’s lives, so the Q&A was quite enlightening.

There were lots of pre-interviews and location scouting to find high schools that would cooperate. In the end 10 high schools agreed. They did a casting call to pick who they would follow.

They started following quite a few students, but once the school year and stories unfolded, Nanette was able to focus on who she would feature.

In the beginning the students were still getting used to having a camera follow them, so none of the footage was usable.

Eventually they got used to the camera, and a second camera crew was around all the time, allowing for some nice cutting. Nanette had a small camera on her just in case.

Some of the most intimate moments caught (like filming the girlfriend of one of the main characters cheating on him during a late night swim) were a matter of coincidence and being at the right place. There were a lot of times when the students didn’t want her filming, but what they thought was private didn’t really interest Nanette.

I did stumble across this photo, which looks like they had some serious toys for B-roll (and a serious budget).

I strongly encourage you to watch this any way possible. It’s on a limited theater run, and if it’s not playing near you, since A&E produced it they’ll be screening it.

And of course there’s Netflix. The only thing there isn’t is an excuse, so check it out.

[This post is part of a series about the documentaries I saw at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival]

Digg, Stumble, and Share this Post