Interstellar

I finally got around to watching Interstellar and I have to say I was blown away.

The storyline was phenomenal and very original. While I found the story somewhat hard to follow after a little bit of hard thinking I was able to wrap my head around the concepts the movie was built around and i was blown away.

The ideas presented in the film around blackholes was fairly accurate in contrast to ideas I learned from my astronomy class. Blackholes are created after a very large star goes supernova and implodes. After an object reaches a certain level of mass then the gravity from that object gets to the point where its mass increases and size decreases because of the force of gravity is so strong.

This causes a blackhole and it is thought to cause a flex in out dimensional plane which then opens many more doors to different theories of how space time works, making the plot of interstellar somewhat believable which, in my opinion, is why it was such a great film.

Cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema

Hoyte Van Hoytema is a cinematographer from Sweden, who went to the National film school in Lodz. Now working in the United States, his work is seen in big hollywood movies such as Her, Interstellar, and The Fighter. In some of his work he discusses using a real earthy color palette such as in Interstellar, he plays off of the natural green of the crops when in the farmland setting. His approach is also clearly seen the opposite when he creates the futuristic world of Her, utilizing LED lights to make the look and color of the film - a soft and intimate, near-future setting. His work is stands from Digital on the alexa in Her, to film in the Imax camera with custom made lenses for Interstellar. In each, there is significant camerawork and several handheld sequences.

This is an interesting video which is worth checking out, selling a little of Imax, but it is important to see some of the huge Imax reels, and the handheld work of Hoytema with the Imax camera.

Whiplash and Writing What You Know

This weekend down at Cinemapolis is the release of the highly anticipated film Whiplash. The film starring the upcoming star Miles Teller is about a young drummer who with the help/pressure of his instructor hopes to be a legend. The star of the film crazy enough is only two years younger than the writer/director, Damien Chazelle is only 29 and Whiplash is his first feature length film. A year ago Chazelle created a short under the same name in hopes to pitch the feature length film. Little did he know is that the short would make it into Sundance and the feature adaption would be there a year later.

When creating the film and the characters Chazelle started from what he knew best, his own life and his own experiences. Chazelle grew up playing the drums and over time he found out that he was quite good, he knew he could never make it all the way but he did the next best thing, he wrote about it. In an interview he talks about being stuck on another script and decided to start on something else that would help clear his block. He became so invested that he left the original script behind and started his journey with Whiplash. Chazelle says that the main instructor, played by J.K Simmons was inspired by many different instructors he's had over the years but morphed into one. What I really take from this is that writing from what you know is a great start and will help you tell a story that no one else can.

This can be seen in other films as well. My hero Kevin Smith started by making a film in a convenience store about convenience store clerks in the same convenience store he worked in. Now what I'm saying is to not make a film about your life story cause honestly who can relate to that but to play off of that. Take experiences, feelings and lessons you have learned and mold that into any film, and that film can be about anything! If you look at Smith's last film Tusk, about a man being turned into a walrus but whats under the blubbery flesh of the film is way deeper. The film through the sharp writing is about storytelling and what it means to be a storyteller and if there's really a unique story out there. Or even Christopher Nolan's new film Interstellar is about a family man on a mission to save Earth by exploring other galaxies. But under the spectacular visuals is a film about leaving a legacy behind and how as a parent you can't help but look at the world through the eyes of your children.

No it lies in your heart!

So go out there guys! Write about what you know and love. We all have an interesting story to tell.

Scientific accuracy of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar"

Christopher Nolan's film, "Interstellar" to premier today 11/7/14, has been highly anticipated. After Matthew McConaughey's performances in True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club, many are waiting to see where he goes next. Interstellar is a science fiction adventure film, where space travelers travel through a wormhole. To ensure the depictions of wormholes and relativity were as accurate as possible, the production hired the theoretical physicist Kip Thorne. It was stated that because the film will be the first time significant finances will be available for the rendering of the black hole, it is one of the most realistic and accurate renderings of a black hole we ever had. The VXF department took Kip's mathematical data and formatted it into a visual representation of what a black hole would look like. Dr. Thorne worked with about 30 computer effects artists in order to simulate many of the sourced theoretical equations. "Some individual frames took up to 100 hours to render, and ultimately resulted in 800 terabytes of data."(wikipedia). Through this filmmaking process has gathered an opportunity for the physics community and the special effects community to learn new things about the nature of black holes. 

Interstellar and the Fear of Non-Digital Projection

As of right now, we are just three weeks away from getting the chance to see Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated space adventure, Interstellar. Already drawing 2001 comparisons from the few that have seen the film, it appears to possibly be marrying the technical wizardry and ambition of Kubrick with the sentimentality of Spielberg (who was originally attached to the project). A series of cryptic, but visually stunning trailers have stirred the hype and major Oscar buzz is flying.  

However, what I want to talk about here has nothing to do with story specifics or awards prognostication. Not too long ago, it was announced that Interstellar would open two days early with 35mm and 70mm screenings in select theaters. It's an exciting proposal and a rare one for a big studio like Warner Bros. to make. Nolan is known to be a strong advocate for film preservation and with the kind of clout he has in Hollywood these days, the fact that he is using the podium to draw attention to film quality should not be surprising. The special screenings are sure to be popular with fans, but it is proving to be a point of concern for some theater owners.

In a recent article by Kevin Jagernauth of The Playlist, it was found that a sizable number of theater owners view the early release as "devaluing the digital push," with one CEO making the claim that "It makes no sense to step back in time."

The reactions are a sad indication of the film business we live with today. While the artistic community celebrates and treasures film showcases such as this one, the suits and moneymen look askance. Now, to be fair, much of the derision is coming from those who did away with old projectors and recently went full digital at the not-so-subtle suggestion of the studios, so the prospect of missing out on a major pre-release must be frustrating. However, to say that this move "devalues" the digital push seems a bit hyperbolic and misguided. No matter how big the early numbers for Interstellar are, there's no way it's going to turn the tide back to traditional projection. It's about the expression of the artist and I feel like some of these folks need to see past the dollar signs and recognize that.

Digital is here to stay, period. Of course, that is until the unfortunate day when theater viewing becomes obsolete and everything (including physical media) instantly goes to streaming and VOD, but for now, digital is firmly set in place and as film lovers, we need to champion the few directors (Tarantino, PT Anderson and Scorsese to an extent) that still flash the extra cash for the privilege of working with film. It may just be ladling water out of a rapidly sinking ocean liner, but I'm glad that some big names are standing up for the format.