Akira Kurosawa - Composing Movement

Wow. Another great video from Tony Zhou, this guy should start his own film school. I wish I had films like this when I was studying film. Boils everything down so simply and with perfect examples to illustrate his point. 

Really makes me want to watch some Kurosawa all over again. Vividly remember some big movement in Kagemusha, all that rage expressed in a sudden violent move. 

Can movement tell a story? Sure, if you’re as gifted as Akira Kurosawa. More than any other filmmaker, he had an innate understanding of movement and how to capture it onscreen. Join me today in studying the master, possibly the greatest composer of motion in film history. For educational purposes only. You can donate to support the channel at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/everyframeapainting And follow me here: Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyszhou Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everyframeapainting Interview Clips: Sidney Lumet on RAN: http://bit.ly/1B7mfTD Robert Altman on RASHOMON: http://bit.ly/1BDuvL7 Paul Verhoeven on Kurosawa: http://bit.ly/197vwnS Music: Yoko Kanno & Seatbelts - N.Y. Rush J Dilla - Untitled Track 03 (from King of Beats) J Dilla - Untitled Track 14 (from King of Beats) Nujabes - Sea of Clouds Nujabes - Transcendence DJ Shadow - Why Hip Hop Sucks in ‘96

First and Final Frames

What a great idea, to compare the first and final frames of films. I love observations like this, really shows the beauty of these films and also highlights how much detail great directors go into with their work. 

What can we learn by examining only the first and final shot of a film? This video plays the opening and closing shots of 55 films side-by-side. Some of the opening shots are strikingly similar to the final shots, while others are vastly different--both serving a purpose in communicating various themes. Some show progress, some show decline, and some are simply impactful images used to begin and end a film. MUSIC: "Any Other Name" by Thomas Newman Films used (in order of appearance): The Tree of Life 00:00 The Master 00:09 Brokeback Mountain 00:15 No Country for Old Men 00:23 Her 00:27 Blue Valentine 00:30 Birdman 00:34 Black Swan 00:41 Gone Girl 00:47 Kill Bill Vol. 2 00:53 Punch-Drunk Love 00:59 Silver Linings Playbook 01:06 Taxi Driver 01:11 Shutter Island 01:20 Children of Men 01:27 We Need to Talk About Kevin 01:33 Funny Games (2007) 01:41 Fight Club 01:47 12 Years a Slave 01:54 There Will be Blood 01:59 The Godfather Part II 02:05 Shame 02:10 Never Let Me Go 02:17 The Road 02:21 Hunger 02:27 Raging Bull 02:31 Cabaret 02:36 Before Sunrise 02:42 Nebraska 02:47 Frank 02:54 Cast Away 03:01 Somewhere 03:06 Melancholia 03:11 Morvern Callar 03:18 Take this Waltz 03:21 Buried 03:25 Lord of War 03:32 Cape Fear 03:38 12 Monkeys 03:45 The World According to Garp 03:50 Saving Private Ryan 03:57 Poetry 04:02 Solaris (1972) 04:05 Dr. Strangelove 04:11 The Astronaut Farmer 04:16 The Piano 04:21 Inception 04:26 Boyhood 04:31 Whiplash 04:37 Cloud Atlas 04:43 Under the Skin 04:47 2001: A Space Odyssey 04:51 Gravity 04:57 The Searchers 05:03 The Usual Suspects 05:23 Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. For original content, please visit www.dcviz.com

This is so well put together and with some fantastic film choices by Jacob T. Swinney, who I linked to before with his film Evolution of Batman in Cinema, and is reflectingly scored with Thomas Newman's "Any Other Name" from American Beauty.

I picked out some of my favourite stills from the edit below.

Do something Millennial

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Thought this pretty much summed up the whole conversation around using YouTube creators in branded content, whilst also summing up marketeers seeming obsession with speaking to millennials (who don't really buy much yet!).

Via Marketing Week (Paywall)

Podcasting

I've had the idea of starting a podcast for a while now, and love that I've been able to make a start with some friends at work. Speaking to the design team at Across the Pond, we often discuss things quite deeply, even just about one film we'd just seen. So it felt like a no brainer to start with a design focused podcast. We kicked off in February with our first podcast which covered Art of the Title's Top 10 Title sequences of 2014. Was a buzz to have Art of the Title and their editor tweet it and say some nice things about it.

Across the Pond Design Podcast #1

This week we recorded our second one, this time about a personal film from Mike Brookes, our Head of Design at Across the Pond. It was really fun to hear why he made the film and what inspired him during in the process. 

Across the Pond Design Podcast #2

I'm doing all the editing and the accompanying blog post, and it is weird to hear yourself at the best of times, but when you're fumbling over your words or trying to remember that interesting anecdote you heard/read/saw on a podcast/Twitter/YouTube, you can't help but kick yourself. I have made the error of doing the podcast with a Jackhammer, which is a delicious beer, but with a 7.2% alcohol volume it hits you like a proverbial Jackhammer in about 10 minutes, so it's no wonder I'm losing my thread. (Note to self, water during, beer after).

Anyway, looking forward to doing more and branching out to some other subjects in the future.

Birdman

Finally got round to seeing Birdman tonight. Really really enjoyed it, a great story with brilliant characters you cared about (or were interested in getting to know more) and all told in such a seamless style, with hidden cuts and steadicam making it flow like theatre. (Which I think was the intention). It carries you through at a constant steady pace and does bring this documentary feel to it. Sounds like it was fun to make with this style of long takes and free flowing steadicam weaving its way around the theatre and other locations:

Andrea Riseborough, meanwhile, described the process as "wonderful", mentioning how it was possible to hear the filming of a sequence from far away before the camera arrived and then "the magic happens with you, and then everything leaves you, and everything's silent."
Via Wikipedia

The music was brilliant too, I've seen Whiplash already, and it did remind me of that - which I guess is a shame in some small way as it paints it with that brush. But the effect was brilliant, really kept you on edge and kept this constant pace going on and on, driving you through each scene and never really knowing what the hell was going to happen next.

BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) -- famous for portraying an iconic superhero -- as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.

When I left the cinema at night (Odeon Covent Garden), it was like walking out in a scene from the film, so I put the soundtrack on my phone and wandered through a bustling Soho with drizzle in the night sky. Walking past the various theatre's, with those drums pounding was cool - it's the big kid in me, but it was quite a buzz. Ha!

Ultimately there was a really interesting point I took away from the film, that feeling of wanting to leave an impression, or dare I say a legacy or doing something that feels important in this short time we have. His need to create something meaningful to make amends for how he lived his life was mirrored with his daughter showing him how humans have spent so little time on earth with tissue paper (which he went on to wipe his nose with!). This quote sums up the absurdity of it all though:

Riggan: The last time I flew here from LA, George Clooney was sitting two seats in front of me. With those cuff links, and that... ridiculous chin. We ended up flying through this really bad storm. The plane started to rattle and shake, and everyone on board was crying, and praying. And I just sat there. Sat there thinking that when Sam opened that paper it was going to be Clooney's face on the front page. Not mine. Did you know that Farrah Fawcett died on the same day as Michael Jackson?
Via IMDB

It also had some really striking posters created for the marketing of the film.