What Hitchcock Teaches Us About Filmmaking.

Recently, I have begun to study the intricacies of how to make a film. Every tiny, (seemingly) insignificant detail takes an extraordinary amount of time and energy on the part of the entire crew to make a seamless final product.

From becoming fluent in screen language, to accurately describe and discuss the process; to production management, and all of its paper work; to deciding exactly how to cover a scene be it with mid shots, closeups, long shots etc; to pre, during and post-production sound mixing; not to mention the incredible importance of, and unbelievable nightmare that is lighting each and every scene. But one of the most intricate aspects, that can have the greatest effect, is that of the shot framing and composition that makes up the mise-en-scene – that being everything that appears before the camera, or everything that one sees within a particular shot/scene as a viewer.

Termite Art in the 21st Century.

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Manny Farber is not easy to read. Knowing what I do of Farber, I feel that he would be disappointed in me for this. Farber favourers have highlighted the fact that Farber’s writing, penned long before the disciplinary rise of film studies, is aimed at general readerships, and far less academic than a lot of the contemporary readings any typical film student might be exposed to today. While this makes me momentarily question my intelligence, I simultaneously comfort myself with the knowledge that, while Farber’s writing is considered to be somewhat anti-academic, the sheer density and attention to seemingly insignificant cinematic details that makes up Farber’s voice is yet to be matched by any that follow in his footsteps. Therefore, surely I am not the only one who struggles.

What's Not to Love About 'Wild Things'?

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My strongest memory of John McNaughton's erotic thriller Wild Things (1998) goes back to the first real house party I ever went to, at fourteen years old. I was with a group of fourteen year old friends and we thought we were impossibly cool. Despite this being the strongest memory I have of the film, I do know that this was not the time of my first viewing. It was I who, expertly, suggested that we rent this naughty film, but the memory of experiencing it before this instance escapes me. We all settled down to watch in the circular lounge room, blankets covering our cold, bare legs, popcorn at the ready. Everyone was excited that we were watching such an adult film, with such adult themes. We pressed play with bated breath. I was the only one who made it through more than half of the film, and even then I didn't make it to the end before nodding off with the rest of the group. The film finished and looped through its menu for some time. Every now and then someone would wake for just enough time to demand someone else turn off the DVD before falling back asleep. Eventually the film started again. It played all one hundred and eight minutes again before anyone had the energy to hit the off button. Over greasy food the next day, as we were debriefing about the craziness of the previous night, I asked everyone what they thought (from what they were awake for, at least). The consensus was overwhelmingly negative. This is an opinion that I will never understand.