Film School News | "WATCH: Miss Representation a must-see for men and women"

By: Alison Gillmor
Source: http://www.cbc.ca
Category:Film School Online

Deerfield Beach, FL, March 07, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Festival of Films, which specializes in streaming full-length features as well as documentaries and free indie films, just released its latest viewing schedule for the week of Mar. 4, 2012. Located at http://www.FestivalofFilms.com, Festival of Films updates its selection every day, bolstering its diverse offering of shorts and clips, classic Hollywood movies, new documentaries and more. The site additionally recently relaunched, with a sleek and efficient new design.

This week’s schedule of free new movies online takes inspiration from the recent Academy Awards ceremony, featuring Oscar-winning actors, clips from award-winning films, and more. For those audience members who want to watch free full movies online, the week’s schedule kicks off with Doubt, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep, the newest Academy award-winning Best Leading Actress. Filmed in 2008, the movie takes place in a Bronx Catholic high school in 1964. The stern and austere settings are disrupted when the high school principle, played by Streep, accuses Hoffman’s popular priest of having inappropriate dealings with a black student. Doubt was nominated for several Academy Awards after its release and remains a penetrating and captivating film.

On Mar. 5, the streaming schedule turns to free documentaries online, highlighted by Gashole, a must-see film that, through a combination of historical detail and muckraking, exposes the greed and insidious nature of the oil industry’s inner-workings. Festival of Films’ audience can also watch documentaries online along a similar environmentally-aware theme, including The Battle for Oil – China vs. the US; Energy Shock: How Peak Oil Will Change Your Life; and a CBS report, Could oil speculation be the culprit?

Wednesday’s selection of free new movies online shifts to shorter content, presenting a handful of pieces covering extreme sports, or other pursuits that highlight the body and its abilities. Bodies in Motion and Break Ton Neck, two of the short films online, feature footage of impressive dance feats, while Universal Alchemy captures exhilarating breakdancing scenes. Experience Zero Gravity, meanwhile, provides viewers with a glimpse of Norway, Switzerland, and France as seen through the eyes of daredevil cliff jumpers.

For more Oscar-themed material, Festival of Film’s schedule of new free movies online on Mar. 8 incorporates clips from current and older films. This week, The Artist – the new Academy Award winner for Best Picture, as well as Best Director and Best Actor in A Leading Role – is set alongside Wings, a story of two pilots in WWI that was the winner of the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture.

In addition to other regular features which include the free movie sites online Current and Classic Movie Clips recurring series, Festival of Films is ending the week’s schedule with a nature documentary on Saturday, Mar. 10. Lobo: The Wolf That Changed America, which carries on the theme of wilderness and environmental preservation, is a riveting tale of man versus nature, the battle conveyed through the story of a man who came to the American frontier to pursue a wolf but instead wound up fighting for the preservation of the area’s pristine natural environment.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/other/2012/03/07/miss-representation-a-must-see-for-men-and-women/

The Los Angeles Film School Supports and Honors Vets, Donates Money to Injured Marines

By: Press Relese
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

HOLLYWOOD, Nov 16, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Student and Alumni Veterans as well as supporters of The Los Angeles Film School (LAFS) were honored this Veterans Day at the second Annual Salute, hosted by LAFS at The Avalon in Hollywood last Friday. An incredibly talented panel as well as several exceptional speeches comprised the event. Special guests included award-winning producer/writer Gale Anne Hurd; president of Summit Talent and Literary Agency, Sandy Weinberg; multi-platinum recording engineer Dave Pensado; Sleepy Giant's Dave Anderson; visual effects supervisor Van Ling; CEO and creative director at The Third Floor, Chris Edwards; director of digital entertainment at RGH Entertainment, John Zuur Platten and keynote speaker, actor Patrick Kilpatrick. Nick Light, Special Advisor to the Recording Industry for The Los Angeles Film School and Senior VP of Artist Development and Touring at Sony, was the moderator for the event and kept a lively pace as students and alums rapid-fired questions at the panelists through dinner.

Panelist Van Ling stated, "I had the opportunity to speak with over a dozen student Veterans and found them to be smart, enthusiastic and passionate about their goals and futures; I was both honored and proud to reciprocate that positive inspiration."

There was a strong military presence inside the legendary Hollywood club; Marine Vet Jon Barton, owner of Tactical Media Group, along with fellow military Vet partners, Matt Anderson, stunt coordinator and Tim Abell, actor/host of Grateful Nation and member of the Gallant Few, a non-profit military transitional group, offered insights to Veterans after dinner. The three of them received the 2011 Veteran Pathfinder Award from The Los Angeles Film School for their continued work with, and for, Veterans in the media.

Veteran Spirit Awards were handed out to Valedictorians and Salutatorians of LAFS graduating classes. Recipients of the awards, Andrew Coles, J.R. Griffin, Dustin Widget, Richard Chatman, Ronell Ellis, Ryan Hicks, Robert Holley, Arthur Velling, Derek Hultquist, and David Estes, make up 18% of all valedictorians and salutatorians at the school. Prizes and awards were given courtesy of sponsors: Gamefly, Hurley, Native Instruments, SetWear, Ranger Up and WWE.

The Los Angeles Film School also honored Vets by a making a donation to the Semper Fi Fund. LAFS donated $1 for every new fan received on their Facebook page on Veterans Day, amounting to a total of $1,300. The Semper Fi Fund is a 501(c) (3) non-profit, set up to provide immediate financial aid for injured and critically ill service members and their families.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-los-angeles-film-school-supports-and-honors-vets-donates-money-to-injured-marines-2011-11-16

FREE FILM SCHOOL #23: Animation, The Twelve Step Program

By: William Bibbiani
Source: http://www.craveonline.com


Thanks to the Gods of Saturday Morning, several generations of kids have been raised on an exciting round of animated TV programs. No child alive is not intimately familiar with cartoons. I was, myself, largely drawn to the old Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies put out by Warner Bros. in the 1940s, and rerun on TV in the 1980s. I think the old shorts are still being run here and there on entire cable networks devoted to animation. And when I wasn't giggling at Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, I was grooving to crappy animated programs like Transformers and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe which were both sponsored by toy companies, and features only the most rudimentary of action thrills for my sugar-saturated mind.
One of the first feature films I remember seeing in a theater was Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940). I don't recall much of the story, but I remember Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards), and I remember being utterly terrified when the island of naughty boys began to magically transform into donkeys. Are we not men?
As I grew, I refused to give up on my cartoons, and continued to watch Saturday Morning fare into high school (no, I was not a cool kid). But my interest in the form did, thankfully, become more sophisticated as the years passed. And I can now offer you, my dear and loyal readers, a scholarly look at the form, and offer what knowledge I have on the making of animated feature films. Welcome back, then, to CraveOnline's weekly Free Film School, wherein I, Witney Seibold, your humble professor-like being, will impart piece-by-piece all of my film knowledge to you, hoping to get you to grow from a casually interested film fan into a legitimate film snot who dominates conversations at parties.
Animation, as we have likely all come to realize, has actually become something of a dominant art in recent years. Computer-generated imagery, or CGI, has not only been used to create entire feature films, but is leaned upon heavily to create all manner of special effects. These days, it's likely that most of the explosions, crumbling buildings, slimy monsters, and even certain stuntpeople have been created using CGI. Indeed, the reliance on CGI to create images in live-action films has reached the point where old school genre fans begin to reminisce when practical special effects were ubiquitous and more convincing. This is a subject I already covered in the Free Film School before.
But, for much of the filmmaking process, films animated using CGI and films animated in the traditional frame-by-frame style actually cleave kind of similar. Let me take you through the steps now.

STEP ONE: Writing. Like any film, an animated film starts with a screenplay. Thanks to the animated form, just about any visuals can be realized. There is no need to worry about what's possible with a camera. If you can draw it, it can be in an animated film. The “camera” in an animated film can dip and swerve and go anywhere the director wants. In traditional cel animation, changing perspective on an entire scene can be hard; it's easier to render something like that in CGI. I'll get to “cels” in a minute.

STEP TWO: Character design. This can be done before or after the voice-recording step (see below), but a team of artists will, using traditional paints, pens inks, and paper, design the look of the character. Some characters will go through several iterations before a final look is selected by the film's director. Characters are never designed using CGI. They are always sketches first. The character designers will also come up with a character sheet for each and every character, detailing the various extreme expressions each one has. They'll have a “happy” drawing, an “angry” drawing, etc. Since hundreds of animators will end up working on the film (sometimes even being shipped to other animation studios overseas for some of the manual labor), it's important that they each know exactly how each character looks. If there are standardized character sheets, one can be assured continuity in the look of your talking rabbit, even when that look is in the hands of hundreds. Occasionally, you'll come across a cartoon that wants to rattle this standardized system, and do more original, free-hand animation (see: The Ren and Stimpy Show). When a character deviates from their model sheet, it's called “going off-model.”
Characters can only move so far in most animated films, provided the director wants them to look like they have real weight; characters should only be able to squash and stretch their faces so far, right? The term for this form of squash-and-stretch design is actually “squash-and-stretch.”
In a CGI film, often a 3-D clay model will be sculpted to give the computer animators an idea of how it will look in the 3-D space within the computer. CGI allows for the quick change of perspective on an image, so how it looks from all angles is important.

STEP THREE: Voice recording. Actors are selected for their voice talents. The entire script is then typically recorded in its entirety. For most animated feature films, actors are recorded at different times, and their lines are edited together. Some animation directors prefer the naturalness that comes with organic acting techniques, and may record all the actors in the room together, going over entire scenes. Actors stand in front of individual microphones, and usually read directly from their scripts. There is little in the way of improvising, although Robin Williams was a big exception when he played the genie in Aladdin.

Read more.....
Source: http://www.craveonline.com/film/articles/178563-free-film-school-23-animation-the-twelve-step-program

The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius Talks Silent Movies and Old School Hollywood

By: Ethan Alter 

Source: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com

The silent film era lives again in The Artist, a loving (and entirely silent) homage to the grand Hollywood productions of the '20s. Written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the film follows the changing fortunes of two white-hot movie stars, silent screen legend George Valentin (Jean Dujardin, who deservedly won the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival) and rising starlet Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). While Peppy's career takes off with the arrival of sound, George finds his prospects drying up. The movie blends dozens of silent film genres -- Chaplinesque comedy, grand melodrama and even a Rin Tin Tin rescue sequence -- into a totally enjoyable whole. No wonder The Artist has emerged as a leading Oscar contender: It's an unabashed, but entirely genuine celebration of old-school movie magic. Writer/director Michel Hazanavicius talked to us about the process of making his passion project and why he chose to shoot a black-and-white movie on color film.

TWoP: Your movie really does bring the silent era back to life in a very vivid way. How did you accomplish that?
Michel Hazanavicius: "I was conscious of two things -- first, the silent film format, and then the fact that it's a period movie. So the format fits the period and I tried to recreate the period with the locations and costumes we used, as well as the way we shot the movie. The idea was to find a balance between what could be modern, but also keep what I respected from that era. For example, the movie has no nudity and no violence and the general mood gives you a flavor of the '20s. I tried to recreate that older style of black and white images, too. I tried to make sense in every image. Everything about the film is very old-fashioned and that contributes to capturing the flavor of those classic silent movies."

TWoP: You even found a way to recreate a classic Rin Tin Tin scene by filming a tracking shot following the main character's dog as he runs along the sidewalk.
Hazanavicius: "Those dogs run very fast and you have to be following them exactly at their speed. I don't know how they did it back then. I guess they'd film it in a studio lot with perfect ground to be able to roll smoothly on. But it still wouldn't have been perfect. When you do a movie, there are things that happen that you can't control, but if it fits the film, you'll take it. That scene was one of those moments."

TWoP: Did you use any '20s era film cameras or other period technology to make the movie?
Hazanavicius: "The guys at Panavision wanted to help and so they recreated some '20s lenses to capture the distortion in the frame that was present at that time. I used those a few times in the movie. But mostly we used new technologies because it's faster and easier. I had to shoot the movie in 35 days, so I didn't have time to learn how to use an old camera. And we don't have any more of the nitrate film they used to shoot on then as well. But we do have great tools now; it's easier to make films today than it was back then. So I would have been foolish, I think, to try to use the old cameras. I did use a noisy camera -- the camera made a whirring sound during shooting. To be perfectly honest, those kinds of cameras are cheaper to rent. But I also played a lot of music on set so we barely heard the sound of the camera. And we shot on color film, rather than black-and-white, and converted the images to black-and-white later. We did a lot of tests with black-and-white film, but color proved to be the better option in terms of recreating the kinds of images I wanted."

TWoP: Jean Dujardin does an excellent job distilling an amalgam of silent film stars -- Chaplin, Fairbanks, Valentino -- into this one character. How did he prepare for the role?
Hazanavicius: "When you speak of silent movies, everyone thinks of Charlie Chaplin first. And Chaplin was a genius, but he played a clown onscreen. I took the opposite tack -- I wrote the script with a powerful man at the very beginning, but then the arc of the character has him becoming a kind of tramp at the end of the movie, like Chaplin. I showed Jean silent films like Sunrise and The Crowd and he understood quickly that he could act very naturally. I tried to tell the story with images and that way I didn't have to ask the actors to pantomime. I wanted them to act as naturally as possible."

TWoP: Did Bérénice Bejo watch the same movies to prepare for her role?
Hazanavicius: Bernice is my wife, so she immersed herself in the period and silent movies at the same time I did. She read all the books I read and saw all the movies I saw; she was particularly enthralled by Joan Crawford, Clara Bow and Marlene Dietrich. At one point, I told her to stop watching other movies and forget everything and just focus on this film. I said 'The character has been written for you and it's best to be you. Take her make her yours.' And that's what she did."

TWoP: Do you hope the film revives an interest in silent movies amongst contemporary audiences?
Hazanavicius: "I wouldn't say that I don't care about that, but I'm not a teacher and that's not my goal. I want to entertain people -- it's a privilege to bring some joy and entertainment to audiences. I'm not here to teach things to them. But what I do know is that if they go back to the masterpieces of the silent era, they'll find great pleasure for sure. There are so many great movies, and so many great American movies from that time particularly."

Think you're a TV or movie expert? Prove it! Play Trivia Without Pity, our new online trivia game with over 2,000 questions about the shows and films you love -- and love to hate.

Source:  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1275518325381725299#editor/target=post;postID=1316142365870040409

Lights, camera, action for film school graduates

By: Voxy
Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz

New Zealand's next wave of talented filmmakers graduated from the New Zealand Film and Television School with an exclusive ceremony at Paramount Cinema in Wellington last night.
The 20 graduating students from Crew 22 were among the 350 guests who attended the ceremony, among which were friends, family, cast, crew and industry members who supported the students through the demanding 12 month course.
"The Film School is very proud of Crew 22. Each student has come a long way over the past year, and they're all very talented individuals with a bright future ahead," says Sashi Meanger, the Film School's Director. For their final assignment, Film School students are required to make two short films showcasing the range of skills and expertise acquired from the likes of Head Tutor John Reid and visiting tutors such as Geoff Murphy (Goodbye Pork Pie).
The two student films created by Crew 22 premiered at the graduation to a highly-anticipating audience, many of whom were involved in making the Magnus Opus of Crew 22's Film School portfolio. The Importance of Having Breakfast, directed by Jen Metcalfe and written by Kate Hooker, told the tale of two quirky neighbours bonding over breakfast while Squash, directed by Sky Adams and written by Priscilla Rasmussen, was set at a roadside stall where some passers-by never quite knew who they might run into.
"The calibre of The Importance of Having Breakfast and Squash clearly illustrate the level at which Crew 22 can perform, and the New Zealand film industry should feel privileged to have these graduates starting out in what is a fast-growing and exciting industry," added Mr Meanger.

 Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/lifestyle/lights-camera-action-film-school-graduates/5/108663

Faughart school win film award

By MARGARET RODDY
Source: http://www.argus.ie


PUPILS from Scoil Bhríde Faughart got to walk on the red carpet when the attended the National FÍS Film Festival in the Helix, DCU, on Wednesday last.

The school was awarded with Outstanding Achievmenet in Film Making for Acting for their film 'A Day Missed.'

In all 24 film awards were presented at the event which celebrated the five-minute films produced by children from 24 schools across the country. The festival was attended by the recently elected President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.

Principal Mr Aidan Brady explained that the film was made by 5th and 6th class pupils. ' They wrote the story and scripted the film, shot it, edited it and acted in it and there was a lot of behind the scenes work as well.'

The story 'A Day Missed' was based on an idea of pupil Clara Lynch. It tells the story of a pupil and a teacher who both don't feel well when they get up for school in the morning.

As the day progresses, they feel better and head into town for the day. The camera follows them as they make their way around down, moving close to each other but never actually meeting. They both purchase a wrist band for charity and it's when they notice the bands in school the next morning that they realise that they did actually see each other in town.


Source: http://www.argus.ie/news/faughart-school-win-film-award-2943129.html

The Los Angeles Film School Supports and Honors Vets, Donates Money to Injured Marines

By: Press Release
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com


HOLLYWOOD, Nov 16, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Student and Alumni Veterans as well as supporters of The Los Angeles Film School (LAFS) were honored this Veterans Day at the second Annual Salute, hosted by LAFS at The Avalon in Hollywood last Friday. An incredibly talented panel as well as several exceptional speeches comprised the event. Special guests included award-winning producer/writer Gale Anne Hurd; president of Summit Talent and Literary Agency, Sandy Weinberg; multi-platinum recording engineer Dave Pensado; Sleepy Giant's Dave Anderson; visual effects supervisor Van Ling; CEO and creative director at The Third Floor, Chris Edwards; director of digital entertainment at RGH Entertainment, John Zuur Platten and keynote speaker, actor Patrick Kilpatrick. Nick Light, Special Advisor to the Recording Industry for The Los Angeles Film School and Senior VP of Artist Development and Touring at Sony, was the moderator for the event and kept a lively pace as students and alums rapid-fired questions at the panelists through dinner.

Panelist Van Ling stated, "I had the opportunity to speak with over a dozen student Veterans and found them to be smart, enthusiastic and passionate about their goals and futures; I was both honored and proud to reciprocate that positive inspiration."

There was a strong military presence inside the legendary Hollywood club; Marine Vet Jon Barton, owner of Tactical Media Group, along with fellow military Vet partners, Matt Anderson, stunt coordinator and Tim Abell, actor/host of Grateful Nation and member of the Gallant Few, a non-profit military transitional group, offered insights to Veterans after dinner. The three of them received the 2011 Veteran Pathfinder Award from The Los Angeles Film School for their continued work with, and for, Veterans in the media.

Veteran Spirit Awards were handed out to Valedictorians and Salutatorians of LAFS graduating classes. Recipients of the awards, Andrew Coles, J.R. Griffin, Dustin Widget, Richard Chatman, Ronell Ellis, Ryan Hicks, Robert Holley, Arthur Velling, Derek Hultquist, and David Estes, make up 18% of all valedictorians and salutatorians at the school. Prizes and awards were given courtesy of sponsors: Gamefly, Hurley, Native Instruments, SetWear, Ranger Up and WWE.

The Los Angeles Film School also honored Vets by a making a donation to the Semper Fi Fund. LAFS donated $1 for every new fan received on their Facebook page on Veterans Day, amounting to a total of $1,300. The Semper Fi Fund is a 501(c) (3) non-profit, set up to provide immediate financial aid for injured and critically ill service members and their families.


Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-los-angeles-film-school-supports-and-honors-vets-donates-money-to-injured-marines-2011-11-16

Kasargod school’s film best in State

By: Kozhikode
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com

Students and staff of C. Krishnam Nair Smaraka Government Higher Secondary School, Pilikkode, Kasargod, are a jubilant lot after Daivasoothram, a short film produced by the NSS unit of the school, was adjudged the best film at the recently concluded Kerala State Children’s Educational Film Festival. There were 138 other nominations at the festival held under the auspices of State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET); Daivasoothram bagged eight awards including best film, best actor (K.V. Dinkarlal), best script (Nayana P.V.), best camera (Upesh Cheemeni) and best director and Chief Minister’s award of `1 lakh (Nibisha T.K.)

Made on a budget of ` 50000, the film is about a village where hills and springs have been destroyed in the name of development. “The theme is revealed largely through conversations between Thambachi (Oracle) and Theyyam (God),” said K. Manojkumar, programme coordinator of the NSS unit. In the movie, when Thambachi reveals that a temple would be built on a hill, Theyyam asks, “Where would our people go for drinking water if the hills are demolished?” The reply comes from the panchayat president, “Thanks to development, there will be bottled water even if all the water bodies go dry.”

“The story is of our own village where hills and streams are vanishing. The film is part of our effort to create awareness among people about eco-conservation,” said Mr Manojkumar. K.V. Dinkarlal, who played the oracle, said that they will continue to work for the cause of environment. “The award will inspire us to go beyond the film,” said Nibisha T.K., the director of the film.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kozhikode/kasargod-school%E2%80%99s-film-best-state-764

Film school wins award

By: Motherwell Times
Source: http://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk

LANARKSHIRE’S leading film school has won top honours for one of its latest movies.

The LensHead film school won a gong at the Discovery Youth Film Awards in Dundee recently for their film The Other Guy.

Discovery is Scotland’s leading award for young filmmakers and is just the latest honour for this film, having already been recognised in The Birdies, Shout and Deep Fried film festivals.

Shot in Wishaw and Bellshill, The Other Guy used a script created by Bellshill Academy pupil Emma Gilchrist.

A LensHead film Backfire cleaned several award ceremonies two years ago and the group’s latest offering shows every sign of repeating this success.

For full story, see this week’s Times & Speaker, dated Thursday, November 24.


Source: http://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/lifestyle/lifestyle-leisure/film_school_wins_award_1_1980714

Hugo star goes to film school with Scorsese

By MICHAEL ORDOÑA
Source: http://www.chron.com


Asa Butterfield is only 14, and already the Islington, London, native has worked with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson and starred in the affecting Holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Now he plays the title role in Hugo, Martin Scorsese's first foray into family-friendly film making - in 3-D, no less.

Q: Were you aware of Martin Scorsese before this?

A: I hadn't heard his name. I just knew of his films. It was really from the reactions of people that I realized how big this was.

Q: Which of his films have you seen?

A: I've seen Aviator, Shutter Island and The Departed Most of his are 18s (rated R), so it's probably best I haven't been able to see them. I love Marty's films because he's so different from every other director. He's such a perfectionist. You can really see how that affects the film when it's finished. I see things that he's done in Hugo that he's also done in his other films.

Q: Did you view them before you started shooting, sort of like homework?

A: He did give me homework - old films (that are instrumental in the backstory) of Hugo, Georges Méliès films.

Watching films that inspired Marty, that sort of inspired me to want to do something on the other side of the camera. One day, I want to do some directing. A lot of the things he gave me have changed the way I work.

Q: Can you point to any specifically?

A: The films he gave me by Akira Kurosawa, a Japanese director. Like The Seven Samurai, which sort of inspired all the modern, great action-battle films. Marty was also actually in one of the films (Dreams, 1990, in which he played Vincent van Gogh). Because they're so old, they're all in black and white. You see films nowadays, fighting films, and they're all CGI and overplayed. Whereas his films, they're really sort of true, if you know what I mean.

Q: Who on your set particularly surprised you?

A: When I first heard I was working with Sacha (Baron Cohen), I thought he was going to be always cracking jokes. But he was very serious. Everyone had to call him by his character's name, the Station Inspector. When he wasn't filming, he would stay in character.

Q: What do you most remember about making the film?

A: Working with everyone. It was such a long shoot, about eight months. So the cast and the crew, it was one big family. It's not so much the filming that's the memory; it's the process of it. Meeting people and making friends, that stays with you.

Q: If you could pick a famous role to play, or kind of film to be in, what would that be?

A: Probably a young James Bond, my ideal role. Or Star Wars, sci-fi.

Q: You like the Daniel Craig Bond?

A: Yeah, yeah.

Q: So you'd be the hard-edged Bond, rather than the wisecracking one.

A: Yeah, exactly.

Source: http://www.chron.com/life/article/Hugo-star-goes-to-film-school-with-Scorsese-2284211.php

Todd Solondz talks film school...and Charlie's Angels

21 November, 2011 | By Wendy Mitchell

Solondz talked about his career as he was being honoured at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland.

Todd Solondz said didn’t have much advice for any aspiring young filmmakers in the packed audience at a masterclass in Poland this weekend.

Solondz was in Wroclaw as the subject of a retrospective; his latest film Dark Horse opened the second American Film Festival. He was also given the fest’s Indie Star Award.

“There are no rules to this, I can’t give you any advice. I am not a role model,” he told the audience.

“All of my movies, they make less and less money. I’m down at the very bottom. It’s a very consistent trajectory, my career. Happiness made half the money of Welcome To The Dollhouse and then Storytellingmade half the money of Happiness… [For Dark Horse], I thought, ‘What can I make for very little money,’ and I thought of boy meets girl. And it expanded from there.”

“I never know how an audience will receive any film. I’m always grateful I have any audiebce. I always assume every movie is going to be my lastmovie. I’m never sure who will want to lose money on me again.”

He talked about once being called to talk to Drew Barrymore about making Charlie’s Angels. “My idea would make $300,000 — they made $300 million,” he said. “My idea would not be popular but it would be fun to play with Charlie’s Angels.”

Solondz also spoke about film school, both as a former attendee and as a current teacher at NYU. “Film school is a wonderful place for teachers, you need to find a way to earn a living and it provides you with security and benefits. For the students its questionable — For some people it can be very good. I love teaching, I have a good time. I look at the young students with so much ambition and my heart goes out to them. I’m so glad I’m not young anymore.”

Of his own time as an NYU student, he said: “I started making films and I said ‘Maybe I can do this.’ It was very gratifying. It gave me confidence. 90 percent of what I learned was from making my own films, and seeing what my classmates were doing. It wasn’t from any class.”

Solondz was asked if it was easier getting his films financed as his career progresses. “Nothing gets easier. You are never ‘set.’ It’s always a nightmare…Investing in a movie now is a moneypit. When I talk to a financier I say its possible you could make your money back. Lotsof things are possible.”

The entertaining talk wasn’t as much of a downer as these quotes read, and he did encourage would-be artists to just start writing or start making films.

In a positive mood, he added: “It’s good to have hope. To make a movie is a hopeful gesture. It’s a leap of faith.”

source: http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/todd-solondz-talks-film-schooland-charlies-angels/5034871.article