murder, lies and wikipedia
How I got found out ☛ I hope, dear reader, you won’t object to me taking a moment to recount an interesting development in one of my own projects, a feature film called Nitrate? We’ll return to the third part of my interview with leading film editors very soon, I promise. What’s that? You’ll give … Read more
Return of the Scissor People
Making the cut ☛ Last time I asked my panel of expert film editors how they prepared to approach their material. Now we’re on to the main event – cutting the scene. I wanted to talk about the most basic but central element of the craft: the cut. When do you cut? Indeed, when don’t … Read more
Secrets of the Scissor People
Conversations with Leading Film Editors, pt.1 ☛ Compared with other elements of filmmaking, editing is a solitary art. We might have an assistant to help with cutting room admin, and will certainly be sitting with a director at some point, but most of the actual work is done alone. Given that an increasing number of … Read more
Anyone for revolution?
Whatever happened to the DSLR Spring? ☛ 1960: a film called Breathless was released that revolutionised cinema. It was shot on 16mm film, a technology previously only used for newsreels. The French New Wave that followed inspired the counter-culture movies of the next decade, and left a mark still visible in the films we make … Read more
High Frames Drifter
Is the truth any truer at 48 frames per second? ☛ Like virtually everyone else in the film blogosphere, I’ve been to see The Hobbit recently in its High Frame Rate (HFR) presentation and, like everyone else, I feel drawn to offer my assessment of the new technology, especially since it raises some important questions … Read more
The Art of Screen Dialogue
Working in layers ☛ A month or two back I wrote a piece about the nature of screen dialogue, focusing on naturalism and style; back then I suggested that there was more to say about the business of making your character talk. There is. Part of the challenge of writing really good dialogue lies in … Read more
Who shot film?
A day in the death of 35mm ☛ Last month Fujifilm, one of the last two manufacturers of 35mm negative for motion pictures, announced that it would cease production of its film stocks. The move was widely heralded as one of the final nails in the coffin for movies being shot on film. Purists greeted … Read more
Cast Away!
Some thoughts on audition technique ☛ Casting can make or kill your film. Get the wrong actors for the roles and your audience will be watching the lighting. Even if you get the right actors for each part, but they don’t gel with each other: the audience will start planning their weekend shop. It’s vital … Read more
Is Post-Production Going Out of Sync?
A conversation with editor, Mick Audsley ☛ Mick Audsley has edited everything from My Beautiful Laundrette and Dangerous Liaisons to 12 Monkeys and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but he’s concerned about the direction in which post-production is going. With the help of Hyperactive and Pivotal Post, he’s started an event called Sprocket … Read more
Saving Your Breath
The Nature of Movie Dialogue ☛ For many years I’ve been puzzling over the nature of movie dialogue and how it works. Anyone who’s ever tried to write a screenplay will tell you that dialogue is deceptively difficult to get right. If they think it’s easy, they probably haven’t yet heard actors struggling through their … Read more
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