Tag Archive for 'Filmequipment'

First art house 3D documentary premieres in Toronto

Here it is, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”, the first documentary film in stereoscopic 3D that is targeted at – let’s put it – more sophisticated art house audiences, and hopefully it paves the way for many more films to come, including our little project here. Directed by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog (whose wonderful documentary “Encounters at the End of the World” already is one of the inspirational sources for THE AMERICAN BACKROOM) “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” leads us into the caves of Chauvent-Pont-d’Arc in France, famous for its extensive cave paintings. Since said cave is not open to the public, I guess you could call it utterly fantastic that Herzog chose stereoscopic 3D to capture images from inside.

The bad news is, so far there are no known theatrical release dates. And considering the numbers of smaller art house movie theaters in Germany that are actually able to screen a digital 3D documentary, I don’t see much hope for it being released in the near future. I’m afraid major theater chains won’t even consider it. It’s a pity. I can only speak for Germany right now, but there is an ongoing (and neverending) discussion about adding and financing digital projection systems to smaller theaters – and right now it seems that the digital revolution on art house screens over here has failed.

Back to “Cave” that premiered last night at the Toronto International Film Festival, and IndieWire got one of the first reviews:

Herzog naturally plays up the enigma at hand with epic grandeur, occasionally overdoing it but usually hitting the mark. Introducing the setting with a majestic crane shot (particularly immersive in 3-D), his camera soars above the cave and surveys the desolate landscape. Unleashing cosmic observations about “the abyss of time” and the like, Herzog ventures into the darkness with his small team, carefully illuminating the 35,000-year-old artwork within. The profoundly magical aura of the footage ranges from charcoal etchings of animals in motion (“almost like a form of proto-cinema”) to hints of attempts at self-portraiture (“as if the human soul was awakened within them”).

Head on over to IndieWire for the full review.


Writing for 3-D

The L.A. Times’ Steve Zeitchik asks the question, if the current 3-D hype is affecting the way screenplays are written. The future of filmmaking that he is describing seems a bit overstated, though. For instance, he’s writing:

While [many directors and writers] express a general enthusiasm for the form, they say executives don’t always grasp all the complexities of adding that extra dimension. As the 3-D storm continues to gather, they point out that 3-D will affect much more than whether a filmgoer picks up a pair of glasses: It will change what films get made, and even the very nature of cinematic storytelling.

While it is true that the big studios are greenlighting more and more films that are a safe bet in 3-D, I don’t think, that the very nature of cinematic storytelling is at stake. It’s more a question of movie genres, and as long as Hollywood’s idea of 3-D filmmaking is limited to 3-D spectacle like action or horror, than yes, writers are forced to write mainly for the spectacle. But sooner or later the time will come, when 3-D is no longer a matter of poking things out of the screen. Even for smaller and more intimate films 3-D can be a stylistic device utilized by the director, cinematographer and editor. Thus, 3-D does not necessarily have any impact on the written word. After all, characters and plot won’t get any better, simply because they are written for 3-D.

I just like to emphasize screenwriter John August’s comment on that:

I’m currently writing a film which is designed to be black-and-white and 3-D. Reading the script, you’d never know it.

For me, I’m very excited about the first 3-D films that are not for the sake of mere spectacle. AMERICAN BACKROOM is one of those alternative 3-D projects, and I am sure, until it gets released, there will be many other films utilizing 3-D in an unexpected way. Just be open-minded, when they come along. You can read about our thoughts on the possibilities of 3-D and documentary filmmaking right here. Steve Zeitchik’s L.A. Times article still seems to be taking sides with 3-D sceptics, and – not surprisingly – is closing with the following quote:

I don’t want to watch “Precious” in 3-D.

I don’t know if that was his intention or not, but it’s funny how it stands in perfect contrast to what Martin Scorsese had to say about 3-D: “Why couldn’t a film like “Precious” be in 3-D? It should be.”

What do you think?


Audio Recording and the Canon 5D MarkII

We’ve been looking for a feasible audio solution for the Canon 5D Mark II for couple weeks now. The camera itself features a built-in microphone that is serviceable at best offering only a short pickup distance and mediocre sound quality. There is also the possibility to plug-in an add-on mic, but the camera offers no way of audio gain control or even monitoring recording levels (only with a third-party firmware update, but we wouldn’t want to install that one on a rented camera). Plus there is no headphone jack on the camera. So after reading through several bulletin boards and blogs on the topic we decided to give the ZOOM H4n portable digital audio recorder a try. The recorder is kindly provided by Sound Service GmbH, the European distributor of ZOOM products.

The audio recorder features a high-class onboard stereo mic, but more important for us, it also offers two XLR connectors for professional-level microphones. It accepts SD-cards of up to 32GB to capture digital audio in WAV or MP3 file format.

The recorder arrived at our offices today. Over the course of the next weeks we will see if it lives up to its promise. We can already say for sure that it is handy, lightweight and operating it seems kinda self-explanatory.

Getting a picture of it:

One of the reasons that led us to the ZOOM H4n was the audio testing conducted by P3Pictures. They tested several different audio gadgets with the 5D MkII. Here’s a short video with their final statement – for those of you who like to know the whole story, scroll down to find links to each and every testing video:


(vimeolink)

P3Pictures’ “Canon 5D Mark II Audio Exposed” on vimeo.com:
Part 1: Boom mics
Part 2: Add-on mics
Part 3: Wireless lavalier mics
Part 4: Foley
Part 5: Noise


A little package for our trip

Today at the MovieBrats office: delivery service dropped a little package we have eagerly been waiting for. You must know, we are already planning to produce some “content” during our upcoming research trip. Not yet for the final feature documentary, rather to be made available online, so you all can take part in it. We just like to capture footage of encounters, chats, interviews, moods and atmosphere, faces and stories. Hit the jump to see what the little package has to do with our plan.

Continue reading ‘A little package for our trip’