SOTW Article on Film Festivals

There is a world of difference between experiencing a film in a theater and experiencing a film online. Editor Andrew S. Allen, for Short of the Week, examines the audience experience to explain why your film may sell out in festivals yet gets negative reviews online. I would recommend to check this out for what to do and what not to do when assembling your thesis!

SOTW Article - Know Your Medium

How To Get Attention As a Filmmaker

One of the most difficult obstacles as an aspiring filmmaker is getting noticed. Bringing attention to yourself out of a sea of other aspiring filmmakers can be daunting, but there's a few simple things you can do that might help you out.

Here's a great article with some tips on just that. This is a must-read!
http://podcast.filmschoolrejects.com/day/2013/01/29/

To Text or Not To Text?

We've all been in this situation: you're sitting in a dark theater, excitedly watching a film you've eagerly been waiting a long time to see, when all of sudden an bright flood of light in your peripheral vision distracts you from the action onscreen - someone in the theater is texting. OMG!

How do we define movie theater etiquette? Sure, we all silence our phones before a movie, but what about texting? How much of this does it actually take away from the movie-going experience? Texting in theaters has been the subject of a debate amongst movie theater owners - some argue that restricting use of text messaging during a film is excessive. IMAX Filmed Entertainment chief Greg Foster is in favor of allowing text messaging, saying "We want [youths] to pay $12 to $14 to come into an auditorium and watch a movie. But they’ve become accustomed to controlling their existence." As he sees it, banning text messaging might make them “feel a little handcuffed.” Read more about it here.

Conversely, a movie theater chain is imposing a strict ban on texting and talking: the Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse theater chain warns the audience that anyone in violation of their no-texting/talking ban will promptly be ejected from the theater. "Founder, Tim League, set out to make a theater for and by movie lovers, a place where the concept of "film as art" could exist without any of the usual snobbery. The movie houses have tables where guests can eat fine food and drink beers from local breweries while enjoying the film in front of them." Read more here.

What do you think? Is the banning of text messaging taking it too far? What other distractions take away from your movie-going experience?

Discussion : 2D, 3D or 4D?

Just when you thought 2D wasn't enough. . .

Hollywood began experimenting with the 3D format in the mid 1950's with the famous red and blue glasses. The gimmick was used exactly how it is used today, a tactic by theaters to continuously bring an audience out to the movies. This was in response to the dawn of television. Theaters were afraid that audience participation would dwindle since people no longer had to go out to see movies. Other gimmicks during this time are as follows - CinemaScope, Smell O Vision, Tingler, Illusion O - Theses processes would site the movie going experience be far superior if experienced in a theater.  

Now, South Korea is pushing the next gimmick to bring audiences back to movie theaters. 4D! 4D is simply a combination of Smell O Vision, Tingler, and 3D. This is not a new phenomenon considering the technology is fifty years old and Universal Studios, Disney Parks have had theaters like this since the 1980s. The only significant difference is that where this technology was exclusive to theme parks, it may now be available in a theater near you. 


Critics for this process are divided into two camps - movie lovers and casual viewers. Blog critics and self proclaimed cinephiles flock to theaters, not with gimmicks, but with strict cinema rules - no texting, talking, or general disruption. Generally, all other casual viewers look at the theater experience as an expense not worth their money, considering they can get the same experience with cable television. When a gimmick is introduced, casual viewers are interested in experiencing the next best thing. Multi million dollar budget films rely on this population to make their production budget back.  


I'm curious to see what you guys think. Below is an article from the LA Times that reviews the efforts made in South Korea. Is it worth the price of admission? Leave a comment. 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-4d-cinema-20120707,0,642655.story

Oscars: Does the Academy represent the best?

So, this year I neglected to cover the Oscars in my typical fashion for several reasons. Most of which being that I am unusually overwhelmed (as you can tell with my door being closed, often:) And because most of the films and performances that I have been following for 2011 were not recognized with nominations. Being a spoiled sport does not fit within my personality, but I will admit that I felt curious as to why some of the best work out there was being ignored by the Academy.

The critical community keeps tabs on accolades by tracking awards given at film festivals; most importantly Cannes, Venice, and Sundance. Awards given at these festivals did not reflect in the nominations nor the winners on Sunday night's event. Even industry sub committee (VES for Visual Effects; SAG for Actors) awards did not accurately reflect the films that won. This got me thinking, "Who makes these decisions? Why were these people given the authority to decide the absolute best in filmmaking?"

The LA Times answered this for me. They have a great series of articles and videos exploring Academy voting statistics. Please click on the links below to learn more about the Academy and the voting process -
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/academy/
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/academy/la-et-unmasking-oscar-academy-project-html,0,7473284.htmlstory

In my opinion, I think the process to be an academy voter is antiquated at best. The pillars of our industry are not even voting members, as revealed in this report. So why do we give the Academy Awards such notoriety when their membership does not accurately reflect excellence in the industry or the critical community? I'm asking this as a person who regards the Oscars ceremony as the "Super Bowl of Film Nerds." My video attendance for the yearly spectacle has been consistent since 1990. I love the race, speculation, anticipation, and yes, the outfits. But, this year, I felt that the nominations did not reflect perfection in filmmaking, overall.

I'll end this post with a video from JoBlo that highlights the films that should have been nominated this year. Let me know what you think. Cheers, Eve.

Before reality TV . . . there were documentaries.

And this editorial has led us to believe they are once again, cool.
We have several active documentarians on our staff: Susi Graf with Lost in the Crowd, Ian Fischer with Rude Dude, and Francisco Vargas with Ulla. Whether a narrative or non-fiction, every film has a story as its backbone. I encourage you all to read this article to broaden your spectrum of film knowledge. - Eve

Why-documentaries-can-and-should-be-considered-cool - From First Showing

Welcome Back and a word about Character . . .

Welcome Back!
This week, as you are picking up your schedules and gathering your books, please take a moment to read the article I have posted below.
http://www.ifc.com/news/2011/01/the-worldbuilding-is-not-enoug.php

The critic, Matt Singer, elaborates on a simple point, that is emphasized over and over again in our classes. "Character and Story are paramount.Without a compelling story and memorable characters, the film isn't worth making." These two areas that are judged by every film critic, instructor, audience member, and film lover. These two things are what defines any narrative story be it novel, play, film, etc. Singer emphasizes on a certain point that has been trend setting in modern American filmmaking: Worldbuilding. To become familiar with that term, read the article and let us know if agree, disagree, or have questions.