Alex Chilton video shot by Eggelston
From William Eggelston‘s Stranded in Canton video. (Via L.A. Times Pop & Hiss blog: via Bob Mehr.)
Category: film/video
My Gold Mask video: Violet Eyes
Violet Eyes, a brand spanking new video by the fabulous duo My Gold Mask, has just been posted. I shot and directed the video, which was shot both in HD (with the trusty Canon 5DMII) as well as with a low-res toy video camera (circuit-bent Fisher Price PXL-2000, aka “Pixelvision.”) Working with Jack and Greta and their Pug Roadie was a treat.
Stan Wood: Reality is not something he does
Thriller Zombies video
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I recently posted a still photo I shot from the Thriller Zombie Walk held in Wicker Park last weekend. Here’s a short film (work in progress) on the event. Thanks to The Goblins for the soundtrack music, and thanks to Martin and Lindsay (the Zombie Walk organizers) and all of the spectacular, gorgeous zombies.
Update on NASA moonwalk video
Probably just a coincidence, but I just noticed that this New York Times blog post from last Friday—on the topic of lost moon landing video—opens with the exact same sentence as my blog post from a couple weeks ago on the same subject (“conspiracy theorists, start your engines”). Anyhow, my delusions of grandeur notwithstanding, it turns out the original Apollo 11 tapes were erased, and the “new” footage from NASA is just a freshly restored version. Monday is the 40th anniversary of the moon landing–here’s a Wired article on NASA’s festivities.
NASA finds lost video of 1969 moon landing
Conspiracy theorists, start your engines. From the Daily Express (for me, via the JREF forums):
The television images the world has been used to seeing of the historic moment when Neil Armstrong descended down a ladder onto the moon’s surface in 1969 is grainy, blurry and dark.
The following scenes, in which the astronauts move around the lunar lander, are so murky it is difficult to make out exactly what is going on, causing conspiracy theorists to claim the entire Apollo 11 mission was an elaborate fraud.
However, viewers have only ever seen such poor quality footage because the original analogue tapes containing the pictures beamed direct from the lunar surface were lost almost as soon as they were recorded.
Instead, a poor quality copy made from a 16mm camera pointing at a heavily compressed image on a black and white TV screen has been the only record of the event.
The Sunday Express can now reveal that the missing tapes containing the original high quality images have been found.
Apparently the Daily Express may be stealing NASA’s thunder—they’re counting down to a July 16th launch at this handsome NASA site celebrating the 4oth anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
UPDATE: According to the Bad Science Blog, the above story is bogus.
The maestro at work
Great title sequences
Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler, in Saturday’s New York Times, sing the praises of great title sequences (as they point out, there’s no Oscar given for these). They give their picks for best 2008 title sequences, as well as a few from classics including The Palm Beach Story, Psycho, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Also mentioned in the article is the title sequence from probably my favorite movie ever, Dr. Strangelove. The title sequence is as gorgeously photographed, funny, and terrifying as the rest of the film.
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For more great title sequences, check out The Art of the Title Sequence site—there are many stellar examples to be found there, including the one for Kubrick’s Lolita, (which was the film he made prior to Strangelove), and this winner from Delicatessen.
“There’s a place for murder in the Exquisite City”
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After being coaxed from his shell, the inimitable impresario Tim Tuten gives a highly energetic and tongue-in-cheek tour of the fantastic cardboard metropolis called The Exquisite City. I shot this video at the original opening of the exhibit at the Viaduct Theater last November. A few weeks ago the show moved to the Chicago Tourism Center, where it remains until March 15th. The show was curated by Kathleen Judge and features work by a bunch of talented artists. Check out the Exquisite City site for more info.
What’s the Matter with Kansas? Documentary
Joe Winston and Laura Cohen. Photograph: Jim Newberry
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Picturedujour.com exclusive! Filmmakers Joe Winston and Laura Cohen recently completed work on a documentary film called “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” a sequel of sorts to Thomas Frank’s bestselling book of the same name. I photographed the couple (they’re married) at my studio, and planned to interview both of them here as well. Due to logistics involving their one-year-old son Milo, I ended up interviewing Joe in person, and Laura via email.
Jim Newberry: Tell me a little about your backgrounds in filmmaking.
Laura Cohen: I have been working in film and television for over ten years. Recently, I wrapped up production on the TV series “American Greed” for CNBC and “9/11’s Deadly Dust” on A&E for Kurtis Productions. In 2005, I finished research for the PBS documentary “The Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman.”
Joe Winston: Sure, let’s see…I didn’t go to film school or anything like that but when I got out of college my first interesting project was a public access show called “This Week In Joe’s Basement” which lasted four years and sixty episodes on Chicago Public Access…it was a great forum to do all sorts of things…But the strongest material that came out of it was usually the documentary material…We did a show called Sledgehammer Diplomacy where we asked black people, what do you think of white people, and white people, what do you think of black people, and got answers that hold up 18 years later, they could have been shot yesterday. Which is kind of a sad commentary on the state of the world…But we got really interesting very truthful answers from total strangers. Every now and then there was gold to be mined that way. After I got done with the cable access series I wanted to do longer more substantial projects…I did a could of movies in the mid-90s on the Burning Man Festival…
JN: How did this project come about? Continue reading
