Sean Azze

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER I think there's a real challenge in fleshing out characters that are part of an ensemble piece such as Babel. Because this film is trying to tell a 3 act story to the third power (and of course the 3 act structure is debatable in reference to this film), it is a tall order to encompass so much within a 2 hour frame of time. But in defense of the film, I will say that with our deaf mute girl we see a character who has trouble relating to boys, relating to her father, coping with the death of a mother who according to the film was the first to find her dead, feeling like a pariah in a society of sound that she cannot be a part of in all aspects, etc. How can she be one dimensional when we see her angry, sexually daring, jealous, vulnerable, and compassionate? Isn't that a wide enough range of emotions to make her more than just a stereotype? Yeah, I thought it sucked that she was deaf and I thought what an awful plight to have to endure day in and day out. But I also found the more common problem of wanting to be loved, wanting to be desired very relatable. And in that, I found her to be very human. Without getting all mushy and sensitive, it was a huge relief to me when that cop embraced her, and didn't just run out petrified or push her away. It was comforting to find a character that finally wanted to understand why she was doing the outrageous things that she was doing, and to try to help her in some small way, even if it only involved merely holding her, and letting her have a good cathartic cry in someone's arms.

Stereotypes - can't say I've ever heard of the "deaf mute girl whose sexually frustrated and unloved" stereotype or the "10 year old who can hit a rock 3 kilometers out with a rifle" stereotype. I think Inarritu keeps making the same movie over and over with the interweaving storylines technique, but he did a nice job with this one. Captivating story, interesting characters, happy endings, sad endings, and unresolved endings. I liked it a lot better than Crash, another multicharacter story that I'm still ticked off won the Oscar. Oh, and Pitt wasn't that much of a tough guy. Cried like a baby on the payphone. Woosie :D

I don't know if it was necessarily my favorite cinematography of the year, but I caught El Aura the other day and I was really captivated by its cold, desaturated look. There is a particular scene set in a casino that was shot in a way that grabbed my attention. Usually, you expect to see a lot of flickering lights and bright neon that is associated with the bells and whistles of a casino, but this particular DP lit it in a way where it was so dark and bland, that you really could only see the tables because they fell underneath pools of light. I'm not describing very well but it had almost an eerie quality to it; it was quite remakable. Vamos Argentina! :lol:

Yeah, Rodriguez gives a lot of insight on his commentaries. Two of the more colorful commentaries I've heard are by Paul Thomas Anderson on "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights". It really bummed me out that he didn't do one for Magnolia. Whats goes through a man's mind when he sits down and writes a three hour epic about people whining nonstop? Anyway, I digress - his commentaries have a great mix of techie info with interesting stories about actors and their little quirks. Makes for a fun couple of hours.

Hey I'm interested in using blacklight for a sequence in a music video and I want to know whats the farthest the lights can be until the effect no longer works? I have a scenario where a pair of guys drive up in a car (we shoot the car completely profile) and I want to capture this in a wide shot where we see the entire length of the car, the rapper sitting on the hood doing his thing, and his partner popping open the trunk and selling cds from the back. We will be shooting this is in a soundstage so we will have a grid above us, but this is low budget so we don't exactly have the dough to shell out for personnel to help us rig all this stuff up. Also, in case this has any effect on the situation, the background will probably be lit with some spots ( we want to mix an orange background with the purple from the blacklights to make it appear as if it is dusk or dawn.) Thanks for your time everybody.

Hey Gals and Gents, I've got a music vid coming up and because this is an independent production we are strapped for cash (if we're lucky, the budget will reach $10,000) We'd like to shoot in HD and I'd like to set aside the majority of the money for renting equipment, but insurance takes such a large chunk out of our funds. I got lucky with a video I worked on back in February because the rental house cut us a deal (after days of haggling back and forth) and ended up requiring only a security deposit and nothing more. This time around I'm not sure I can deal with the same rental house because I don't believe they carry all the equipment we need. So - any way around this? Anyone know of a company that sells insurance cheap, or would be sympathetic towards a group of rag tag filmmakers who are all working for free in the hopes of building up our reels and reaching our goals? Thanks

Damn - too bad you have a hubby. I'd have to say you're probably the most attractive member on this forum (I say probably because you're just a close second to Phil Rhodes :lol: ). Anyway, I don't know you but glad to hear you've overcome the ailment in your life and welcome back to the forum!

Your lead looks like a young Malcolm Mcdowell. Looks interesting, Good luck!

Cool - Thanks a lot!

You know what I would fork over some serious bank to see??? A copy of "Fear and Desire". I'd love to see what kind of work the man did around my age. Also, does anyone know if his documentaries are available anywhere? Thats something else that would get a hefty bid on ebay.

Just wanted to resurrect this topic briefly and say what a cool person Linda Blair is. A couple of years ago I got to help her out while she was in Miami filming a segment for a doc she was making on animal rights. I drove her around town for two days and operated the little mini dv camera she had when she was interviewing people. It was such a comfortable experience because it was such a no frills, casual thing, and it was just me and Miss Blair the whole time. I was actually a little freaked out at first, because I had seen The Exorcist for the first time when they re-released it back in 2000, and I remembered how much it disturbed me! Needless to say, Miss Blair was a total class act. Very sweet, very considerate (we shot something on Miami Beach and she was careful not to get sand in my Mom's car which I was borrowing since I was too ashamed to drive her around in my beat-up Corolla), very funny and actually really foul-mouthed which tripped me out! I even got to have dinner with her and over our meal she relayed some stories about the Exorcist shoot, and the aftermath (turns out she still keeps in contact with William Friedkin and she couldn't stop praising Owen Roizman's cinematography and the intricacies behind the way he lit it). Truly a memorable experience.

I agree with you in the sense that yes, it does seem to be trying to say something deeper. But I think its a story more in the vain of a postmodern work that is very aware of itself and its creator's track record. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER For one, the film is about storytelling. About the different characters found in stories and how they are used as devices to allow a story to progress and unravel (the purpose served by the one who interprets symbols, the group, etc etc). The film critic identifies certain cliches often found in films, and then makes the film weird in that he just about addresses the audience directly when being eaten by the wolf (which I felt totally didn't fit with the rest of the film since it was a direct nudge to the audience which wasnt found anywhere else). Then by casting himself in the role of this underappreciated but potentially influential writer, Shymalan addresses the critics that have declared in the past that his films are expendable and inconsequential (and of course digs in directly by killing off a film critic) He does paint himself as a victim and praises himself in a way which I found couldn't be any less dignified (Night, what were you thinking, dude?) All in all, a missed opportunity to redeem himself after "The Village" (which I personally thought was an underappreciated film) I'm glad he finally let go of the twist and he did try to stretch his proverbial wings, but this thing was sloppy, with the redemption of Cleveland Heep's character at the end coming in fleetingly and half assed, and the same complaint about how unrealistic it was. Incidentally, heres a link to the American Cinematographer article that came out about the flick this month - http://www.ascmag.com/magazine_dynamic/August2006/index.php Enjoy!

All I can say is Disney owes Nina Jacobson a major thank you for passing on "Lady in the Water". What a waste of 2 hours. I'm sorely dissapointed in Night - I hope the guy rethinks his next one. Anyway, I'll finish my rant in "On the Big Screen"

I'm fortunate enough to have recently acquired a 50 inch plasma with surround sound ( courtesy of my father - believe me, I'm no baller!) and I can tell you this...no grand advancement in technology can ever replace hanging out with your friends or taking a date out on a Saturday night to the movies. Yeah, sometimes it can suck if some jacka$$ is making noise the whole movie or somebody's toddler won't stop crying. But the theater going experience is something that can't be replicated in the house. I hold this opinion because I'm one of those people that love to go to the movies - even alone if one my favorite directors has a new flick coming out. It seems like no matter what, the people who like to stay home will stay home and the people who love to get out and see a movie will keep going to the movies. I don't think revitalizing or creating a new spectacle will help sell tickets. I know for sure that 3D technology won't get a hermit like my father out of the house.

I don't know enough about Jeff Stanzler to determine if he's got any pull in the industry, but Lonesome Jim was directed by Steve Buscemi. That dude's got enough name recognition and credibility to get some well known people in his films. At the very least Liv Tyler knows him from their work on Armageddon.

Panasonic's HVX200 can also be ramped up to 60fps. Pretty convincing considering it's video. I don't know about hip hop, but there are a few rock and techno videos that have gotten away with being shot on standard mini-dv. Examples include Sum 41's Hell Song and Fatboy Slim's Praise You. Only thing is, these format's lent themselves to the low end concepts of the videos. If you're trying to pull off video for a music video that's meant to look slick and high end, people will know what you're trying to do and they will point at the screen and mock you (I'm assuming :P ).

"Glengarry Glen Ross" Limited locations. Originally a play by David Mamet. Unbelievable performances. If you're a Pacino head like I am, you have to see this one. I think it has some of the most quotable lines of his career, even more so than "Scarface". "Oh, what a big man you are! Hey, let me buy you a pack of gum. I'll show you how to chew it."

This show sounds extreme in terms of how many things you have to do on the fly, but would you say in general that on most shoots the majority of your set ups involve some sort of compromise? Does time usually rear its ugly head on your best intentions, and if so, is that because of a low budget? Are the guys with the 60 million dollar budgets able to work more calmly? Man, I hope Akeelah gets you on some bigger sets, Mr Mullen. Considering how good your work is on the smaller stuff, I bet you'd have a field day with more time and money. Then again, I'm assuming all this since you haven't answered this post yet. :D

Somebody get this guy a trophy. Thanks for dropping some gems, Mr. Douglas. I think I might be learning more about acting from this topic than even Mr. Boddington. :lol:

Yeah, with all due respect I have to say thats a pretty inaccurate comment. First example that pops in my head is Doug Liman doing a directing/dp job on Swingers. Shot on 35, the thing was made for around 200 g's. Looks great, and they did half the movie guerilla style. I read some trivia where a dialouge scene shot on the side of a highway was done with no permit and with cops hassling the producers for one. This guy Liman managed to pull the thing off technically while still being able to direct the actors. You got that thing, man. On dealing with actors, I'd say the best thing to do is feel all your actors out. Accomodate them as best you can. Rehearse with the ones who like to rehearse. Others have their own quirky methods that work for them. Some like to provide their characters backstory themselves. Even if you wrote the script, you shouldn't feel threatened by this. Its their way of contributing something creatively. After all, this is a collaborative art, and it is a way for the actor to provide some input if your anal about them ad libbing lines!

I'll respond by saying "YEAH, 100 POSTS BABY!"

I saw that film about a year ago on DVD, and yet found myself watching it the other night again on DirectTV over the weekend, listening to the same stories I heard before and being equally intrigued. The guy really is quite a presence. In reference to his films, I think he's pretty underappreciated. I mean he is sort of hit and miss, but I think Jersey Girl warranted much more praise then it got (not every touchy feely romantic comedy has a kid who wants to perform a murder scene from Sweeney Todd!), Chasing Amy's got a great heart despite its overt vulgarity, and Dogma had a really creative way of communicating a message that we don't hear often enough about Catholicism. Can we give this guy his due?

damn player, you got way too much time on your hands...

Not if the studio's planning a sequel!

I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, CAPITAN VIDEO! And I expect $100,000 at my doorstep by Monday morning if you want to keep your identity a secret WOO HA HA HA