Cliches and Lazy Filmmaking

Recently, I was drawn into a conversation with a friend about this idea of “cinematic shortcuts” or “film cliches.” These are some highly visual devices used in storytelling in movies and on TV fairly often. Like all cliches, they were at some point effective in communicating an idea. But now they have been over-used. And savvy audiences roll their eyes and grow tired of seeing these cliches time and again.

Is Your Movie Ticket a Vote for Lousy Cinema?

Summer movie season is upon us again. And, as has been the case off and on in years past, I find myself almost paralyzed with boredom by the offering of films this year. Yeah, sure, there’s a few movies that look interesting, and even a couple that look definitely worthwhile. But the majority of films coming out this summer have little appeal to me, or at least don’t seem worth paying the price of a first run movie theater ticket to see them. Now that’s just my opinion.

The DSLR Revolution

If you happen to be like me, a total camera nerd (or at least an enthusiast), you’ve probably been following some of what’s been going on with new DSLR still cameras that are capable of shooting HD video. These cameras are now being referred to as HDSLRs. Some of you, however, may not be following this quite so closely, or may have heard of the concept but are wondering ... what’s so revolutionizing about DSLR cameras that can shoot video?

On Offending People.

In contemplating what it means to be a filmmaker and a consistent adherent to a Christian worldview, inevitably I have been forced to deal with the delicate issue of offending people. There’s really no easy way to actually categorize the people you might end up offending, which makes this issue all the more complicated.

There’s a couple broad and quite crude generalizations I can make, however. There are those people I might offend because of openly acknowledging my discipleship to Christ. There are also fellow followers of Christ who I might offended by not living up to their expectations of what it means to be an artist and a disciple. This, in a general sense at least, is what it can mean for a guy like me when I use the expression “between a rock and a hard place.”

Christian Cinema ... An Adventure in Missing the Point.

“Are our churches and broadcasts and books and organizations merely creating religious consumers of religious products and programs? ... ”

- Tony Campolo & Brian D. McLaren, Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel

As a film lover and filmmaker, I am ever the student of the craft. As such, I try to invest time in continued education. So, I’ve been reading a particular book: Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics by Michael Rabiger. Let me tell you, it’s a fantastic book loaded with great information about the process of filmmaking and how to go about equipping yourself to best accomplish the work of making a movie. It’s not light reading, but very worthwhile!

Your First Time on a Film Crew

So you’ve got yourself a job on a film set. That’s great news. Even if it is unpaid, that’s still great news. In fact, most first time film gigs are unpaid production assistant work, or intern work. This is to be expected. It’s a means to get your foot in the door. After all, if you have no experience working on a film set, you have little bargaining power, frankly. That is, unless you possess a specific set of skills (like make-up design, or set design, or costumes, or special effects) that you have acquired in other work—such as the theatre—that makes you a bit of a hot commodity to a given production. Most of us, however, don’t start off that way. And that’s to be expected. So embrace that and get in there. There is a very specific flow to working on most film sets, and being able to be introduced to it without the added stress of being a head of specific department is usually a good way to go.

An Exploration of the State of Christian Cinema (part one)

“I made it as a prayer, an act of worship. I wanted to be a priest. My whole life has been movies and religion. That’s it. Nothing else.”
- Martin Scorsese speaking about The Last Temptation of Christ in Martian Scorsese: A Journey.

What do you mean, “the state of Christian cinema?” one might ask me. Allow me to first define the term “Christian cinema.” I want to approach the topic of Christian involvement in filmmaking from two fronts: (1) Films made by Christians with an openly Christian message, and (2) Christians working in the film industry making films with broad appeal. Thus, “Christian cinema” as I refer to it here seems to have two incarnations (I recognize the irony of using that word). Yet, both mesh into a broader issue, Christian engagement of the American culture through cinema. This will by no means be an exhaustive discussion on the topic, as much can be said, and as I will point out in this entry, much is ever changing. These are merely the observations of one filmmaker/film lover who also is a follower of Jesus.

Independent Filmmaking and the Bad Economy

“Fifteen years ago, the Sundance Film Festival got 500 submissions. This year, they received 5,000. Virtually all of these are privately financed. There’s only one problem: most of the films are flat-out awful (trust me, I have had to sit through tons of them over the years). Let me put it another way: the digital revolution is here, and boy does it suck.”

- Mark Gill, executive of Warner Independent and Miramax, speaking at the Los Angeles Film Festival financing conference.

In case you haven’t noticed, the American Economy isn’t so hot. Well, actually, the global economy hasn’t exactly been amazing. It’s freighting enough to have to stop and consider what this means for most of us middle class Americans. Unless you are the guy in the huge, gas-guzzling SUV thumping some indistinguishable bass-line for the current pop radio hit that pulls up next me on the street while I’m on my bicycle (yes, my good old mountain bike) on my way to the bank to cash my all-too-small paycheck from my last freelance video editing gig, you too probably have lost some sleep over the economic slump.

Rebels Without a Clue: The Downside of the Digital Revolution

The new age of cinema is upon us, right? Well, yeah, sort of. It’s new. But is new always a good thing? Much has been made of the new technology available to the low and no-budget filmmakers out there—people like me. With new HD cameras that cost only a few thousand dollars, more and more young people with big cinematic dreams are being presented with the opportunity to take a crack at filmmaking. And that’s a great thing! Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. After all, I’m one of these big dreamers who has gotten to make some rather good looking short films because of the new HD technology that is available for a rather small wad of cash. However, the fact that my short films have been praised by industry professionals as being beautifully shot and surprisingly polished has less to do with the camera we used than with the skills we have developed.