Ballast

[Marc Levy]

Just saw Ballast at LA Film Festival. Pretty amazing cinematography by Lol Crawley. As naturalistic/minimalistic as a film can be. Stayed very close to the line between bad and brilliant, but always on the brilliant side. Visually, it never played a false note. It looked unlit - in a good way - and from what I read in AC mag, it was unlit for the most part.

 

Kudos to bravery behind the lens.

[Ayz Waraich]

Just saw Ballast at LA Film Festival. Pretty amazing cinematography by Lol Crawley. As naturalistic/minimalistic as a film can be. Stayed very close to the line between bad and brilliant, but always on the brilliant side. Visually, it never played a false note. It looked unlit - in a good way - and from what I read in AC mag, it was unlit for the most part.

 

Kudos to bravery behind the lens.

 

Is there a trailer for this anywhere online? Haven't been able to locate it, but been curious about the film for a while.

[Lol Crawley]

Is there a trailer for this anywhere online? Haven't been able to locate it, but been curious about the film for a while.

 

Thanks for your support. I'm very pleased that you appreciated my work.

 

There is a trailer at www.ballastfilm.com

 

Best wishes,

 

Lol Crawley

[Erik Sohlstrom]

There is a trailer at www.ballastfilm.com

 

Best wishes,

 

Lol Crawley

 

 

Lol,

haven't seen the movie, just the trailer and it really looks beautiful. Read somewhere that it was shoot with zeiss "superspeeds".. was it the MKI, MKII or MKIII. And am I correct that the "superspeeds" are the same as the "highspeeds"?

 

thanks

Erik

[Toby L Edwards]

Lol,

Thanks for the Link to the Trailer and additional Video clips.

This looks really good. I really like the look of this. What Stocks did you shoot with?

It doesn't appear that it will be shown in AZ. Any idea when this might by available on DVD.

Thanks

 

Toby

[Jean Dodge]

Neo-naturalism? Naked cinema? Less is more-ism? Some wag is about to make a bundle on t-shirts and bumper stickers when they coin the right phrase to describe what's coming around the bend to a theater near you soon.

 

Love the trailer, enthralled by the critics and looking forward to seeing BALLAST. It's getting comparisons to recent standout indie films like CHOP SHOP, GOODBYE SOLO, WENDY AND LUCY and FROZEN RIVER for the timely subject matter, ie poverty in the USA but of course all these films are different from one another. And yet, we might be seeing a school of art being birthed anew. I wonder what they will call it? Neo-neo realism has already been floated... but in relation to "mumblecore," which in my opinion - and the opinion of many of its makers - was a phase of film making that has already passed out of relevance.

 

I'm curious to know what films were screened (if any) in preparation for deciding the visual look of this feature.

 

To me cinematography at its finest is lot more than lenses and lighting - it's artistic intention and storytelling and life itself, reduced to silver halide crystals and soul-searching FEELING, too. It's philosophy and lifestyle, too - in other words, it's personal. Not to wax too poetic here but this stuff is just as important!

 

Shooting an "unlit" movie is a lofty goal in an artistic sense and brings the cinema into a new territory. Some of the work being done with the new Canon D5 Mk2 is, by design, leading towards this naturalistic style that still looks presentable. I can't wait for the 4K camera I can hold in my hand and not intimidate subjects with... the realization of the cinema verite manifesto writ large, and somewhere in the heavens Dziga Vertov is dancing pirouettes of joy.

 

I heard a recent interview with the DP of television's 24 who longs for the freedom these DSLR/DSMC cameramen are enjoying.... less is more, indeed.