A Filmmaker's Life: January 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

In L.A.? Free Event on Technology and the Movies, February 19th

Scott Kirsner of the cool blog CinemaTech (http://cinematech.blogspot.com) will be partnering with USC to put together an evening event on Thursday, February 19th. It's being jointly organized by the Stevens Institute for Innovation, the Annenberg School for Communication, and the Entertainment Technology Center.

It's being called "Innovation in Hollywood: Past Present & Future," and it happens 3 days before the 2009 Oscars, on the USC campus. Scott will be giving a quick overview of Hollywood's tech history, and then moderating a panel of modern-day innovators. It's free -- but you do have to RSVP. Come on by and/or spread the word to folks in LA who might want to join us.

See ya there!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Two more suggested blogs not on the list....

These additional blogs came highly recommended from a mysterious source,....but they look pretty damn good.

http://prepshootpost.blogspot.com/

http://prolost.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

100 Best Blogs For Film....and Theater

The blog you are reading at this very moment was just listed in 100 Best Blogs For Film and Theater Students. I don't mention it to toot my own horn. I mention it because I checked out that list and it's a really good list! You guys should check it out, too:

http://www.bestuniversity.com/blog/2009/100-best-blogs-for-film-and-theater-students/

FA Table at Sundance Filmmaker's Lodge

Me and Executive Director Amanda Sweikow will be at the Filmmakers Alliance table inside the Sundance Filmmaker's Lodge (550 Main St.) from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm Tuesday, the 20th. Come by and say "hi", if you're up, in Park City....

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Sundance, again...and more....

Leaving at 5 a.m. for Park City.

Things have been,...well,...busy.

I know I've been remiss with this blog, but I've stored up lots to share. And about to add more memories, anecdotes and observations courtesy of the Sundance "indie" film convention.

Stay tuned.

CineThoughts

The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn't. - Jean-Luc Godard

To have a life as a filmmaker, you must continue to make films. Like filmmaking, being a filmmaker is a process. It demands education, experience and exposure.

The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things, but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all. - John Cassavetes

Good is the enemy of great. Look beyond praise to the truth of what you're creating.

Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema. - Andrei Tarkovsky

Be a true filmmaker, a true creative being. Not a merchant. Make films from and for your soul.

Some rainy winter Sunday when there's a little boredom, you should carry a gun. Not to shoot yourself, but to know exactly that you're always making a choice. - Lina Wertmuller

To tell you the truth, in my work, love is always in opposition to the elements. It creates dilemmas. It brings in suffering. We can't live with it, and we can't live without it. You'll rarely find a happy ending in my work. - Krzysztof Kieslowski

"I mean simply to say that I want my characters to suggest the background in themselves, even when it is not visible. I want them to be so powerfully realized that we cannot imagine them apart from their physical and social context even when we see them in empty space." - Michelangelo Antonioni

I formulated my own directing style in my own head, proceeding without any unnecessary imitation of others…for me there was no such thing as a teacher. I have relied entirely on my own strength. - Yasujiro Ozu