Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Purpose of Filmmaking

A couple of days ago, someone challenged me to figure out why I make movies. She said there are two types of filmmakers. One makes movies in order to entertain. Their movies can be highly artistic, but attracting and satisfying audience is at the central core. Another type of filmmakers make movies in order to express and educate. They have a strong need to communicate their ideas as a way to change intellectual discourses. Filmmaking, perceived primarily as a form of entertainment, might not support the latter type's goals and aspirations. They may be better off utilizing other means to publicize their ideas.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Director-Editor Chemistry

Yahoo! Movies has a good article on the relationships between directors and editors. It focuses specifically on three noteworthy movies in 2007--Michael Clayton, The Kite Runner, and The Eastern Promises.

I've never worked with an editor on any of my projects. For my feature, an editor will provide me the critical distance and fresh perspective needed for the long post-production process, but being that the first cut sets the direction for the rest of the process, I don't know if I am able to let another person do that.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

R.I.P. The Great Japanes Director, Kon Ichikawa

He doesn't receive nearly as much attention in the U.S. as Kurosawa or Ozu, but I had the great fortune to discover him when I watched his Tokyo Olympiad. No ordinary documentary, it combines experimental techniques with human portrayals of the athletes.

Please check out the following article, in honor of the man.
http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20080213/120292644000.html

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Planning the First Ever Movie Night

I'm very excited about the Monthly Movie Nights. I hope it will give ordinary film-lovers a chance to share their cinematic passion. Feel free to leave comments!