Harmony Korine has been a favorite of mine for quite some time now, but I really was surprised to see him work with Die Antwoord for this short. Korine’s style is so unique that I knew the collaboration of these two would stick with me for quite some time. I can say I have watched this creepy, yet great story several times now and each time I watch it, the video gets better.
Korine is also known for many “different” movies such as, Kids, Gummo, Trash Humpers, Mister Lonely, Julien Donkey-Boy, and his most recent and popular film Spring Breakers.
Die Antwoord is a South-African rap-rave group that frankly has revolves around some of the creeper things I have seen. This music video alone describes the group:
Larry Fong is a cinematographer that has worked on many popular films, such as 300, Watchmen, Super 8, and Sucker Punch. Fong was a childhood friend of J.J. Abrams and they have worked together with many of their works.
Watchmen
When setting up each shot for Watchmen, Fong purposely planned out how the subject was composed in the frame. A major goal for the film was to honor the graphic novel and stylistic choices in comparison from one to the other. Symmetry is a major key element that Fong focused on in each shot.
Fong also used only one camera throughout the filming of Watchmen in order to make every single shot important and beautifully composed. Fong felt that when you are using two cameras the second is normally of lesser quality and less concern.
Super 8
Fong collaborated with J.J. Abrams in order to create one of my favorite films of all time. Super 8 was filmed with many different types of cameras, even super 8 to mimic the look. This camera was the Beaulieu 4008 ZM4 IV. They also mostly used 60mm and 25mm speed lens.
So I am sure most people can say they have heard of Spike Jonze, but not everyone knows the wide variety of creative works Jonze has taken part in. He has created anywhere from commercials to skate videos, but he is also the co-founder of Dirt Magazine. Jonze’s work in skate videos is well known, and he has worked with professional skateboarding companies such as Girl,Blind, and many others. Skating videography normally isn’t anything that can be examined too closely, because they are just supposed to document the tricks, but Jonze finds a way to artistically make each skate video his own.
Jonze not only shoots skate videos, but he is also an avid skate photographer. His photography skills have definitely played a major role in his video work, which allows it to stand out even more.
Music videos are yet another avenue that Jonze traveled down. He has done many music videos for various artists, but my favorite is the popular music video for the Beastie Boys song “Sabotage”.
As for his feature film career, Jonze has many movies under his belt. He is most noted for his work in Being John Malkovich, but his work that stands out the most with a sense of style and artistic freedom is Where the Wild Things Are. Creating a movie based off a children’s book is quite the challenge, but Jonze took his own approach with the film and successfully left his mark in this story. While this story may appeal to the younger audience, any age can truly be amazed by the stylistic camera use and composition throughout the film.
I would consider Danny Boyle one of the fathers behind digital filmmaking. Boyle is known for his embrace of digital format over film when making his movies. Boyle has experimented in several of his films with multiple types of cameras, from digital to film. He is most known for his experimentations in 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours.
28 Days Later
Choosing MiniDV digital camcorders was a daring move by Boyle in 28 Days Later. Many looked down on his choice to use the Canon XL1, but the look of 28 Days Later is incomparable of the time. Boyle felt that using cheaper cameras, like the XL1, gave him the opportunity to supply more cameras to benefit the cinematography. Boyle has artistically portrayed an amazing story with low budget equipment. Lately there has been a hype of zombie movies that seems to be growing more and more popular, but I can honestly say that this film has been and always will be my favorite in the genre.
Slumdog Millionaire
When filming Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle decided to venture out and use a new camera that could show all of the Indian streets in a different perspective. The camera used was the Silicon Imaging SI-2K. This digital format camera was exactly what Boyle ordered, because the time consuming 35mm film cameras would disrupt the natural and fast paced feel of the Indian alleys. In order to get the cameras completely mobile, the crew held Macbook Pros in their back packs while freely running throughout the narrow pathways. These cameras were establishing the advantages of free moving smaller equipment.
127 Hours
Boyle used several cameras in the filming of 127 Hours. Just like Slumdog Millionaire, the main footage was shot with the Silicon Imaging SI-2K. He also switched between digital and film cameras in the movie. He shot with a 35mm film camera, a mini-DV camcorder (Canon Elura), S-VHS, and a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV DSLR. Using all these different cameras allows Boyle to truly achieve a unique style.
Growing up in Versailles has a major influence on Michel Gondry’s work. Gondry’s family was very into art and pop music when he was in Versailles, and he decided he wanted to go into art. So in the 80’s Gondry went to art school in Paris. While in school he started a band called Oui-Oui. Gondry directed their first music video in 1992. This is where he first became interested in filmmaking.
Gondry worked with Charlie Kaufman with many films and his most popular film with him was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Another hit by Gondry which won several awards for best soundtrack and music is
The Science of Sleep
He has also created one of my personal favorites,
Be Kind Rewind.
Throughout all of his movies, especially the three above, that indie feel is portrayed and all the plots play an important role. While they have important plots the film style is unique enough to give each of these films his own style. I highly recommend giving these three particular movies a watching if you want to see a movie that sticks with you.
This week I am taking this post in a little bit different direction. I’m introducing two identical-twins, Stephen and Timothy Quay, that make experimental stop-motion films. I have always studied their work in a fine art context, but I feel that all story telling needs to be examined through cinematography. These American brothers work and reside in London. In 1969 they went to school at the Royal College of Art in London.
Before the Quay Brothers set their focus on film and video, they were originally illustrators. Their illustration skills have not gone wasted though. Almost all films by them have there illustrations incorporated into the videos.
The Brothers Quay have made well-over 25 short films, and have 2 feature length films.
The black and white style of their videos gives the impression as they are classical films. Another significant detail of all their videos is the lack of high quality technology used to record these pieces. This style helps give a more organic looks to their stories. While I can describe this look, I highly recommend you watch the montage video below, which will truly show this unique style that I feel blows Tim Burton out of the water.
Winning countless amounts of independent awards and having two Oscar nominations, Beasts of the Southern Wild, is one of my favorite movies from 2012, if not all time. This film started as an independent flick from a small group of filmmakers that call themselves Court 13. While Zeitlin played such a major part in the filming of this great film, the Director of Photography (Cinematography) is Ben Richardson.
Richardson knew that he needed a unique way to portray this film, so he decided that digital video was not the way to go. He not only decided on 70mm or 35mm film, but he shot in super-16mm film which gives the film such a raw look that no other movie can get away with. This film was shot with the Arriflex 416 which specializes in Super-16mm film.
The Super-16mm film gives the the grainy feel to each scene, with some shots more than others.
According to nofilmschool.com’s interview with Richardson, he also states that he chose this camera because it allows shallow depth of field and exploratory focus. He further explains that the film was shot with only a couple of lenses, a 35mm and a 50mm. What makes this so remarkable is that it allows the viewer to get the sense of Hushpuppy’s world. Hushpuppy is a young girl that focuses on the smallest details of everything in shot, so Richardson’s use of tighter lenses makes the audience truly take in each aspect of this Southern World known as “The Bathtub”.
Shallow Depth of Field Shots acquired with a wide aperture on the Arri 416.
Being that this is Zeitlin’s first feature film, he has been quite successful, but he has created many short films with the Court 13 crew. My favorite short by him was his 2008 film Glory at Sea. This film was definitely an influence behind Beasts of the Southern Wild. This 20 minute short film can be watched directly from the video below.
Why worry about each and every detail when you can have a cult following with a simple and organic filmmaking style? Well, the Duplass Brothers have gone for this look and successfully made their way to the top of the Mumblecore genre. Mumblecore is a sub genre of indie films that have a low-budget, amateur actors, and natural dialog. While these traits are normally looked down upon, I find that these are my favorite films because of the importance in storytelling instead of the quality of equipment.
The Puffy Chair
Being the first feature length film from the Duplass Brothers, the innocence is still in the movie. Throughout the film only one camera was used. This camera is the Panasonic MiniDV AG DVX100A, and it uses a digital format rather than film. In an interview by thefilmlot.com both Mark and Jay Duplass agreed that they used digital because it was substantially cheaper, but they quickly grew to love the digital format because it helps with the long dramatic scenes. There are many similar shots of slight zooms and quick rack focusing, which is the defining style found in all of their films. While the Duplass Brothers pride themselves on their authentic acting, their cinematography is a necessity in order to truly give each film this unique mumblecore look.
Baghead
Breaking from the mumblecore genre momentarily, the Duplass Brothers try out a horror flick with Baghead. While they do change genres, their style is still prevalent in this film. They keep the personable filming style with dramatic close-up pauses to show the importance of each line spoken. Within this film the true acting of each character comes out. The Duplass Brothers told thefilmlot.com they do not rehearse any scenes in order to keep them fresh and spontaneous.
Cyrus
Having a new and popular cast, the Duplass Brothers really got their name out to the public with this film. John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill had an immediate connection with the open-ended directing style. While the storytelling becomes more involved and complete, they seem to stick with their old styles of filming. They still can’t seem to find a tripod, but continue to use the slight zooms to perfection.
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
With another all-star cast of Ed Helms, Jason Segel, Judy Greer, and Susan Sarandon the Duplass Brothers were able to publicize this movie quite well. What makes this film so unique is that they reverted back completely to a mumblecore genre with a dry comedy full of drama and unexpected plot twists. When watching this film, I was glad to see them not only go back to their rudimentary storytelling styles but also that the public will now see the greatness behind this unknown genre of mumblecore.
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon
This is the most recent film directed by the Duplass Brothers. Using a cast from the old-days, they truly created a mumblecore flick to compete with The Puffy Chair. They reverted back to the shaky cam, drawn out dramatic scenes, and rack focus shots. This is the only film by the Duplass Brothers that is accessible through Netflix Instant, and I highly recommend you film buffs out their to give it a watching, along with all the other flicks from these creative directors.
Other works :
Kevin Documentary (Produced) Safety Not Guaranteed (Produced)
From the deadpan plots to the repetition of cast, Wes Anderson has many similarities that ties each of his films together. One of the most crucially studied techniques in Anderson’s films is his style of cinematography. Anderson has artistically created his own method of filmmaking through many of his typical aesthetics.
Wide Angle Lens
The most well known technique of any Anderson film has to be his use of wide angle lenses. Not only does he use a typical lens to shoot large landscapes, but he uses an anamorphic 40mm lens which stretches each wide angle to its limit.
Bird’s Eye
Breaking the norm is a trait Anderson is proud of, and this can be seen in many of his films. With his version of the Bird’s Eye View shot, the viewer will either a) get a feeling of novelty/story time, or b) know they are watching a Wes Anderson movie.
Centered Subject
Rule of Thirds is taught about in all composition classes whether it be photography, videography, or painting. Yet again, Anderson breaks these film rules by centering his subject in most shots with an expressionless face staring back at the audience. These scenes are dramatically compelling because they force the audiences attention to the stoic character.
While Anderson uses these similar cinematography traits, there are many other connections between his movies outside of the cinematography realm.
Cine Update 