I seem to be one of the people I know who doesn't sit on one side or
the other when it comes to the film CRASH (2005). The film, nominated
for several Oscars (this piece was written before the Oscar ceremony),
was one of the most buzzed about films of the past year. People were
stunned by it, talked about it afterwards, implored their friends to
see it; others, sometimes the aforementioned implored friends, found
themselves disappointed, even aggravated by it. Me? I was all of the
above.
Working Films is an activist oriented organization out of
Wilmington, NC, that has, in many clever ways, cornered the market on
action minded film use. In 1999, Robert West and documentarian
Judith Helfand (Blue Vinyl, Healthy Baby Girl) began the Working Films
project and since then have developed a cadre of documentaries and
partnerships for social action that offer filmmakers, activists and
educators new opportunities for film use and film access.
Robert West, Working Films' executive and co-founder, spoke with me on
January 5th about social action, his upcoming panel appearance at
Sundance 2006 and a film's life after the credits roll.
So frequently, journals of film craft emphasize the process of
production. That is what they are there for, after all. However, in
their emphasis of the comedy and tragedy they can sometimes ignore the
seemingly less glamorous life of the film after the production ends.
The romance of struggle and the melodrama on the set, the tricks you
did that shouldn't have worked but ended up saving the picture: these
trials and tribulations are not only the stuff that makes films but
it's the stuff that films are made of.
On December 13, the Mayhem Film Festival will be holding it's 6th
annual screening. Curator Valerie Soe had a chat with me on the 9th at
the Liberty Café in Bernal Heights, where we discussed the modern
efficiency of self-distribution, the substance of exhibition and the
importance of film festivals.
Production designers are responsible for the visual design of movies
and television shows. Supervising an art department that includes the
art director, scenic artists, set decorators, a dressing crew, and
more, they translate the director's ideas into a physical environment.
This may involve constructing sets and/or finding and modifying
existing locations.
The Craft
