Tumbling toward ecstasy

6 Filmmaking Tips From The Coen Brothers

There are some great tips here. And, of course, given that this puts “Take care of your filmmaking family” and “Hold editing in high regard” back to back, it was a sure bet I’d love it. I also appreciate the special shout out to the importance of color grading in “O Brother Where Art Thou”.

“ GQ: Nowadays nobody would struggle with feeling inferior for working in television instead of movies, the way someone like The Sopranos’ David Chase once did, right?

Matthew Weiner: Oh, there’s still a hierarchy. Forgetting about remuneration and public adulation, there’s still a hierarchy in terms of the writer’s Olympic Dream. I have to warn you, journalism won’t be on this list.

GQ: Thank you for that.

Matthew Weiner: It would start with poetry, then go theater, novel, then film, and then TV, then maybe radio.

GQ: Why is that still true, when it’s obvious that some of the best work is being done on TV?

Vince Gilligan: It takes time. It started out when movies were the movies and TV was this bastard stepchild.

David Milch: The symbol retains its hold long after the substance which the symbol is supposed to represent has lost its real basis. Look. [pulls a stack of scratch-off lottery tickets from his pocket] I just stopped and got gas, so, like an idiot, I bought a bunch of scratch-offs.

[He distributes the tickets. Feverish scratching ensues and continues throughout lunch.]

Matthew Weiner: If we win, what happens?

David Milch: You keep the money. Please do. What I’m trying to illustrate is that none of us, thank goodness, needs $10. And yet we willingly submit to the hold the symbol has on us, associated with luck. In the same way, the mystique of the film writer holds long after the substance—in which films were a more powerful medium. That’s not true anymore, but the symbol still has its own autonomous reality.

Matthew Weiner: Part of it is just about scarcity. You can see Jon Hamm thirteen times a year, and you can see Brad Pitt twice. That in itself creates a magic and a hierarchy.

—

The Men Behind the Curtain: A GQ TV Roundtable with Matthew Weiner, David Milch, and Vince Gilligan.

Your lunchtime reading for the day, teevee fans.

(via hangingfire)

As someone who works in film and television, and who recently became obsessed with “Mad Men”, I find this awesome and hysterical on many levels. :)

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Being a database administrator in a previous life before being an editor and filmmaker now means I’m TOTALLY paranoid about backups. Here’s a really good story about why this is a good thing. :)

hangingfire:

Toy Story 2, rm *, and a mother working from home. Also the importance of making sure your backups are actually running.

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Take A New “Hands-On” Approach With FCPX

I will primarily be using this Tumblr account to post filmmaking/videography tips, tricks, observations, and experiences, plus the occasional production diary kind of post when I’m on set.

And I’ll start with this, something I am very excited to find, and eager to implement into my own workflow. :)

thetrainingfarm:

We’re not quite yet in “Avatar” territory yet (This article already referenced “Minority Report,” I was trying to think of another example), but it looks as though we’re getting there!

Many editors have been wondering what hands-free editing might look like and when technology will develop to the point where that will actually be an option. We may have found what will become the “missing link” between keyboard+mouse editing and the hands-free editing they’re looking for.

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Tags: editing fcpx workflow magic trackpad macosx
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Tricksy…

I don’t even remember creating a Tumblr account. But when I came here to see someone else’s account, here I was. Weird.

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