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James Cameron on TEDTalks

Dennis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:24:01 +0000

James Cameron’s big-budget (and even bigger-grossing) films create an unreal world all their own. In this personal talk, he reveals his childhood fascination with the fantastic — from reading science fiction to deep-sea diving — and how it ultimately drove the success of his blockbuster hits “Aliens,” “The Terminator,” “Titanic” and “Avatar.”

Recommended by IQ Member Margo VIA: TEDtalksDirector

Visual Language of Schindler’s List

Filmmaker IQ — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:34:47 +0000

Cineobscure is one of my favorite sites. Among other things they offer insightful visual breakdowns of landmark films such as Jaws, War of the Worlds, Christine, Aliens, Braveheart, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tombstone and of course Schindler’s List.

…Spielberg, along with long time collaborator Janusz Kaminski shot the film with a sobering mis-en-scène combined with stark black-and-white imagery. The film’s subject matter is king and what leaps out at me is how powerful less is more can be.

From one point perspective to simple head and shoulder turns of an actors body, we will look at the basics of staging and blocking and the visual mastery that ensues when one grasps these essential techniques. You can’t run before you learn to walk, and too many filmmakers, from amateurs to Michael Bay himself just don’t seem to grasp this importance.

Let us look at parallel editing. A cinematic convention in which two or more concurrent scenes are interwoven with each other. Parallel editing illuminates the stark difference between the hardships of the Jews and the comfort and optimism of Schindler and the Nazis in Poland.

— Cineobscure | Read The Full Article

Interviewing Syd Mead

Filmmaker IQ — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:44:43 +0000

Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson meets with his hero, futurist and artist Syd Mead, to discuss the evolution of conceptual design.

Mead is a former designer for Ford Motor Company and US Steel. His designs have appeared in many movies, including Aliens, Tron, and Blade Runner.