thefilmbook - edited by Benjamin B » documentaries

9 Frames from Apollo 11 documentary

BenjaminB — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 11:00:56 +0000

9 frames from the Apollo 11 documentary. Click on image to start slide show

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LINK
http://bit.ly/Apollo11Teaser

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D A Pennebaker 1925-2019

BenjaminB — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 11:41:43 +0000

D A Pennebaker has left us, my condolences to his family and friends. Click on an image to start slide show.

Editorial use only. No book cover usage.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Sonia Moskowitz/Pennebaker Hegedus/Kobal/Shutterstock (5872226b)
D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
The War Room – 1993
Director: Chris Hegedus / Da Pennebaker
Pennebaker Hegedus Films
USA
On/Off Set
Documentary

" data-medium-file="https://thefilmbook.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/502-D-A-Pennebaker-and-Chris-Hegedus-500x346.jpg" data-large-file="https://thefilmbook.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/502-D-A-Pennebaker-and-Chris-Hegedus-1024x709.jpg" /> Documentry filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker is flanked by 35-year-old images of Bob Dylan as Pennebaker sits in his New York editing suite, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000. “Don’t Look Back,” Pennebaker’s critically-acclaimed chronicle of Dylan’s three-week 1965 British tour, returns this month in an enhanced DVD version released by New Video. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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D A Pennebaker was a pioneer of cinema vérité, along with Richard Leacock and producer Robert Drew, notably shooting and editing PRIMARY, the landmark documentary about the 1960 presidential campaign.

For me, Pennebaker’s masterpiece is DONT LOOK BACK, a documentary of Bob Dylan’s tour of England in 1965, a brilliant portrait of the young poet shot in pure cinema vérité style handheld and without voice-over explanations.

Pennebaker went on to direct MONTEREY POP, with memorable performances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding.

Pennebaker made his later films with his wife Chris Hegedus, including THE WAR ROOM, a view of the Clinton presidential run through the eyes of his campaign managers.

D A Pennebaker was a wonderful handheld cameraman with a distinctive zoom style, and a brilliant, incisive editor.

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Pennebaker’s credits include:
“Daybreak Express” (1958)
Primary (1960) — camera and editor
Jane (1962)
Don’t Look Back (1967)
Monterey Pop (1968)
Company: Original Cast Album (1970)
Town Bloody Hall (1979)
The War Room (1993)
Startup.com (2001)
Kings of Pastry (2010)

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document: Berlin July 1945

BenjaminB — Wed, 06 May 2015 12:05:54 +0000

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An amazing historical video document in HD color: Berlin filmed at the end of the war, 70 years ago, that ends with an astounding fly over.

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Ukrainian Plane Crash Reportage (Graphic)

BenjaminB — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 20:59:05 +0000

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This 6-minute video reportage of the Ukrainian plane crash by VICE is simple, effective and graphic (some brief images of dead people).

It shows the horrible reality of the wreckage but the reporter does not accuse anyone, and does not disrespect the victims.

An example of good journalism.

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Watch on YouTube

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HBO VICE DPs Show Their Camera Systems

BenjaminB — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 14:13:54 +0000

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VICE Media’s Director of Photography Jake Burghart and Segment DP Jerry Ricciotti show us how they configure their Canon C300s for their rugged and sometimes dangerous documentary shoots.

The video is on vimeo

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Martin Luther King: “I have a dream” August 28 1963

BenjaminB — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 08:12:07 +0000

Below are 3 stills from James Blue’s documentary The March, documenting the 1963 March on Washington 50 years ago by 200 000 peaceful protesters, which culminated in Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I have a dream” speech. The non-violent revolutionary envisioned that the next generation of Americans would be judged by “the content of their character” and not “the color of their skin”.

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WATCH

This is a low-quality version of the entire 16-minute “I have a dream” speech, with the option to see sub-titles in English or French.

These other films of the speech have been taken off YouTube:

The entire 33-minute film The March on YouTube
— Unfortunately this material has been taken off the web because of copyright issues, as explained in the comment below by Barry Strongin

Or The March‘s 6-minute edit of King’s “I have a dream” speech, which begins 23 minutes in.
— Unfortunately this material has been taken off the web because of copyright issues, as explained in the comment below by Barry Strongin

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THE MARCH

The March by James Blue has just been restored by National Archives. The film was shot in 35mm black and white — given the beautiful low-contrast image, I suspect that they used Kodak’s Double-X stock.

Unfortunately, Blue’s film lacks a few tight shots in the middle of the speech — Barry Strongin explains in his comment below that is this is because Blue’s camera malfunctioned. Nevertheless, The March remains a unique document of one of the shining moments in the history of the United States.

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LINKS:

James Blue facebook page
via Barry Strongin

THE BUS by Haskell Wexler 1963

BenjaminB — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 08:01:37 +0000

Noted cinematographer and filmmaker Haskell Wexler shot a documentary (with Mike Butler and Nel Cox) of people traveling across the US in a bus to join the March on Washington in 1963.

The 12-minute excerpt below shows a succession of brief interchanges by the protesters about non-violence, group decisions and other political talk. In Washington, Wexler films some engaging protest chants.

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watch on YouTube

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The film is a great companion to James Blue’s The March.

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Documentary of Kubrick’s THE SHINING

BenjaminB — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:54:40 +0000

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 very reclusive director.
Not bad for a 17-year old filmmaker.

The Shining, if not Kubrick’s best film, is his most perfect one.

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Watch on DailyMotion