— The great cinematographer is tied to actress Sandy Dennis on the set of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf; this rope “leash” is a good way to keep a constant distance between an actor and the camera. Of course this is also an amazing image of the bond between the actor & cinematographer: dance & [...]
This photo gives a feeling of the ambition & scale of this huge 1927 production directed by Fritz Lang, who is holding the megaphone on the left. Note the 4 small cameras at work. Metropolis was shot in what is now Babelsburg Studios near Berlin. +++ In this interview, Lang states that he didn’t use [...]
Vivian Kubrick’s extraordinary 35-minute documentary about the making of her father’s film, The Shining, has many wonderful moments: – her dad setting up a low-angle shot on Nicholson – or his correcting Duvall’s performance, – or the great Garrett Brown doing a Steadicam shot. A rare document by someone with almost total access to a [...]
Blake Edwards throws a pie at Natalie Wood. The great comedic director targets his actress on the set of The Great Race in 1964, as a cream-faced Jack Lemmon looks on. Edwards and Wood reportedly did not get on well during the shoot, so this may have been a cathartic moment for both. Photo by [...]
Nicholas Winding Refn explains film violence to his leading man Ryan Gosling, in this brief behind the scenes clip from “Only God Forgives”; the Danish director is also seen wearing his trademark midriff blanket on set. Refn will premiere “Only God Forgives” at the Cannes Festival this month. +++
How to write a slate from our friends at Black & Blue, using 12 examples of what to do (and not to do). http://bit.ly/YYoI6K
Bert Mayer & Mike Farino’s site showcases improvised rigs from very low budget sets. The photos are by turn funny, ingenious, scary … and all too familiar for any one who has ever worked on a short or ultra-low budget film. — THE SHITTY RIGS BLOG +++
This ambitious new site aims to become the technical imdb by creating a crowd-sourced database of cameras, lenses, codecs, etc. used on films & TV. http://bit.ly/13nXAj3 Great idea. It would be great to also add the lighting and grip lists.
