Some Notes on Film

"A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it." - Roger Ebert

[somenotesonfilm]

I just published a new video essay: “Dance, Movement, Freedom, & Intimacy in the Films of Yorgos Lanthimos.”

The video details Lanthimos’ early involvement with choreography and dance theater and how this experience has shaped his work. It shows how in his first four films, the director has repeatedly used dance, gesture, and bodily movement as key stylistic and thematic tools, and analyzes how his characters tell stories and embody ideas through movement.

[somenotesonfilm]

Trailer for my latest short film - MELANCHOLIA IMAGINATIVA - an "alchemical comedy" Look for it this Spring!

[studiumpunctumshop]

UTOPIAN CINEMA zine now available!

This zine grew out of the Utopia School project – a nomadic free school which took place in Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark in August 2016, and which brought together activists, artists, academics, and others to explore a wide range of utopian thought, and to look at both successful and failed intentional communities to see what could be learned from them. During my residency there I ran a weekly film screening and discussion series, and this zine documents that class, while also standing on its own as an introduction to and exploration of utopian cinema as a genre. It begins with an introduction that tries to give a definition of “utopian cinema,” followed by sections on each of the 13 films we watched. These include:

Lost Horizon (1937, Frank Capra)

Born in Flames (1983, Lizzie Borden)

L'an 01 (1973, Jacques Doillon, with Alain Resnais & Jean Rouch)

Ah, Liberty! (2008, Ben Rivers)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012, Benh Zeitlin)

Hook (1991, Steven Spielberg)

Mister Lonely (2007, Harmony Korine)

and many others!

Each film has a short blurb examining why it can be considered “utopian,” as well as handwritten notes documenting the post-screening discussion. At the end is are extensive Further Viewing and Further Reading lists, as well as a list of “Potential Topics for Discussion” (for anyone interested in organizing their own screening and discussion on the topic). The zine is also illustrated with copious film stills throughout and has a beautiful full color cover. Half-sized 40 pages Black and white Full color glossy cardstock cover Saddle-stitched (stapled)

(You can also find the zine on Etsy)

Please re-blog far and wide!

[somenotesonfilm]

New zine of my film writing available now! If you enjoyed Some Notes on Film, Vol. 1 I think you’ll enjoy this.

[utopiancinema]

Schedule for the Utopian Cinema in Copenhagen

[utopiancinema]

August 2016, Freetown Christiania, Copenhagen

Utopian Cinema comes to Copenhagen!

The next session of the Utopian Cinema class will take place as part of Utopia School in Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark in August 2016. See the link above for the full class description and schedule, and check back here for updates about the class and the films.

[somenotesonfilm]

I’m facilitating this screening series in Copenhagen this coming month. It’s a long shot, I know, but if you’re in Denmark - stop by and say hello!

[somenotesonfilm]

Since 1968 youth has come to recognize that there are only two things worth considering: hara-kiri and science fiction.

Jacques Sternberg

[somenotesonfilm]

If you're doing a horror film, it's good not to have seen 'Psycho,' so that maybe you could do a shower scene too.

Ken Burns

[heidisaman]

When a good idea occurs, it has been prepared by a long time of reflection. But you have to be patient. We all have what I call the invisible worker inside ourselves; we don’t have to feed him or pay him, and he works even when we are sleeping. We must be aware of his presence, and from time to time stop thinking about what we are trying to do, stop being obsessed about answers, and just give him the room, the possibility, to do his work. He is tenacious, you see. He never loses hope.

Jean-Claude Carrière on the creative process (via heidisaman)

[heidisaman]

“For me, the camera is like another character, so I cannot put it in the place of somebody who’s already in the film. For that reason, I place my character in a position where realistically a person could be. For example, if I’m shooting a car, I would never place it on the front part of the car, because that’s not where a person could be. I always put it inside the car. In this specific film, sometimes I have to put it outside of the car because it just doesn’t fit… but the feeling you have is that it’s inside the car. I believe my way of placing the camera shapes the film a lot. Whether you like it or not, you always have the feeling as a spectator that you are part of the action. And that’s the same reason that I don’t use establishing shots or transition shots. I find that they are very anonymous devices. I like to think that the camera is actually somebody who is physically there, like a creature, and it’s somebody who is very curious, with no moral judgment. Somebody who is not scandalized by what they see.”

– Lucrecia Martel on how she approaches camera placement

Stills from The Headless Woman (2008, dir. Lucrecia Martel)

[heidisaman]

The first prerogative of an artist in any medium is to make a fool of himself.

Pauline Kael (via heidisaman)

[somenotesonfilm]

Hi Tim. I bought your zine recently in Boston, and I appreciate your essay "Against the 'Experience Trigger' Conception of Art-making." I'll be keeping it in mind as I direct my first feature film this winter.

Thanks so much! That means a lot. Best of luck with the film.

[somenotesonfilm]

Yasujiro Ozu + Russ Meyer = Seijun Suzuki?

[somenotesonfilm]

Everything is everywhere. Don't bother to go looking for what you can find on the spot right in front of you. [...] There are always places looking for a movie to be made with them. All you need is to see them.

Marguerite Duras

[studiumpunctumshop]

Reminder that to celebrate the opening of our Storenvy shop, we’re offering 20% OFF all of our zines, now through Tuesday.

We’ve got zines about film, food, books and more. Snatch ‘em up!

[studiumpunctumshop]

Annie & Tim. Purveyors of zines and assorted sundries.

We now have a Storenvy shop!

And to celebrate, EVERYTHING IS 20% OFF all this week!!

[somenotesonfilm]

If you’ve yet to pick up the Some Notes on Film zine, now’s the time to get it!

[somenotesonfilm]

I consider establishing shots an abdication of style; an abdication of stylistic responsibility. I want every shot to do at least two things, and establishing shots, by their very nature, do one thing.

Hal Hartley

[somenotesonfilm]

I guess this particular ambivalence [...] this not feeling entirely at home with telling a story without some reflection on the telling of the story... and certainly what I consider a healthy disregard for the conventions of naturalistic storytelling - I don't really want you to lose yourself in the movie, in the story. But I have a very high regard for storytelling and for fiction, and realize that part of this 'fictive dream' is essential. [...] And I guess it is a kind of psychosis - you want to do two radically different things. And the way that you happen to rope and tape them together somehow constitutes your style. I mean, if I have a style, it can't be anything but the result of how I deal with what I feel are my failures.

Hal Hartley