Links

Links

Eli Sasich’s ambitious short HENRI, about a derelict spaceship that becomes self-aware, employs an impressive mix of quarter-scale miniatures, in-camera effects, and computer animation. Eli joins us to discuss finding the perseverance to continue when it feels like your shoot is failing and using his split second reaction skills to create a fireball.

It honestly felt like we were making something that may never actually coalesce into a finished film.

HENRI Materials
Concept Art & Poster

Showlinks
HENRI
Distrify

HENRI (2013)
Hundreds of years in the future, a derelict spacecraft, controlled and powered by a human brain, floats aimlessly in the outer reaches of space. HENRI, the name of the ship’s power system, is an acronym which stands for Hybrid Electronic / Neuron Responsive Intelligence, and was the first of Earth’s Neuro-Tech space exploration research vessels. Trapped in the cold, mechanical prison of the vessel, the “brain,” which has no recollection or concept of self, gradually begins to experience disjointed images of its former life—images it cannot understand. Carrying the remains of a crew long dead, and becoming increasingly self-aware, HENRI experiences the instinctual desire to be free. Yearning for freedom and yet unable to move, the brain devises a plan to build itself a mechanical body from parts of the ship. Maybe then it will understand the images it is seeing—maybe then it will feel alive.

The full version of HENRI is available for rental or purchase, along with the 30min making of at henrithefilm.com

Not one to select projects due to their ease of execution, director Joseph Ernst hit the streets of London with a 100 year old hand cranked 35mm camera for documentary Londoners and even considered drilling a hole in his jaw to get the shot in experimental film Feeder. Joseph joins us to discuss finding projects that contain something of the unusual and the unseen.

I really wanted it to be about a community’s relationship with the camera.

Showlinks
Joseph Ernst Projects
@joseph_ernst
Joseph Ernst
Londoners
Feeder
Photographic Hire

Feeder (2009)
A short film that will make you feel sick.

Londoners (2012)
Shot entirely on a 100 year old wooden hand-cranked 35mm camera, LONDONERS documents modern day London as you have never seen before. It shows the city as a community: a snapshot of contemporary history about what it is like to live in London today.

And here’s the Londoners’ trailer in all its Bat for Lashes scored glory:

Hand drawn frame by frame in a cross hatch style with sharpies, Cabbit from Soogie is a delightful animated passion project, which attracted a global team of contributors over its four year production period. Soogie joins us to discuss the cathartic nature of creative work and how the act of collaboration can shift the tone and form of a piece of work.

Sometimes when you’re so involved you just don’t think about the mistakes or how much time is wasted. You just sort of let it happen.

Showlinks
Cabbit
The Soogie Soundcloud

Cabbit (2012)
Cabbit is a charming little animal spirit whom spends its days tea-dancing with kindred spirits and exploring the wonders of the natural world. Cabbit and kin live in oblivion to the human world until one day it quite literally crosses paths with some humans and their reckless, rambling automobiles. Fortunately for Cabbit, it possesses the power to control the heavens. The tale does not, however, play our so well for the humans.

One of the few directors we’d trust to guide us through the web of lies at the centre of The Great Hip Hop Hoax documentary is our dearest of filmmaking friends Jeanie Finlay. Jeanie joined us for a pre-SXSW World Premiere chat about making her bromance gone wrong feature and how she went about documenting the truth when her lead protagonists were self-confessed liars of epic proportions.

There was a moment at the beginning of the film where I just thought, “Well am I being lied to & what am I being lied to about?”

Showlinks
The Great Hip Hop Hoax
Jeanie Finlay
Sound it Out Interview
Sony PMW-EX3
Canon EOS 7D

The Great Hip Hop Hoax (2013)
Californian hip-hop duo Silibil n’ Brains were going to be massive. What no-one knew was the pair were really students from Scotland, with fake American accents and made up identities. A film about truth, lies and the legacy of faking everything in the desperate pursuit of fame. The American dream, told by people who’d never even been to America.

For his latest feature documentary Grasp the Nettle, director Dean Puckett gave up his normal life to live with activists in the Kew Bridge echo village and democracy village on parliament square, documenting not only the lives of the residents but also the wider societal issues their various movements attempted to address. Dean joins us to discuss the practical challenges of shooting the film and getting beneath the surface veneer by committing to a ‘method documentary’ filmmaking approach.

Often the intention is not the reality & I think that’s what I became fascinated with[…] I just felt there was this really interesting friction between idealism & reality.

Showlinks
Grasp the Nettle
The Crisis of Civilisation
Canon A1 XHD

Grasp the Nettle (2012)
Grasp the Nettle follows the exploits of a ragtag band of land rights activists in London as they struggle against corporations, government, police – and themselves – in their efforts to create alternative communities outside the framework of consumer society.

Amanda Boyle’s temporally shifted love story Skirt was amongst our favourite work of the 2012. She joins us today to discuss new film Care, a short about a middle aged district nurse who having fallen out of her own life, becomes increasing involved in the lives of two very different women.

There were lots of themes that resonated with me. It’s much darker material than I’d approached before & that was interesting.

Showlinks
Amanda Boyle
@Amanda_Boyle
Kursk
Playhouse Presents
Edges – Dolores Marat

Care (2012)
Middle class and middle aged, district nurse Natalie has become trapped in an existence of meaningless routine until she’s drawn into the lives of two very different women – Elsie, an elderly lady nearing the end of her life and Sammy, the young girl next door, who seemingly has everything to live for.
 
As Natalie’s own ordered world slowly begins to unravel, the white noise in her head starts to seep into the worlds of the other women with Natalie’s dreams and fears colliding with their realities.

Links

This is Vanity (2012)
This Is Vanity tells the story of a tiring mother who struggles to protect both herself and her teenage disabled daughter from the continual attacks of local adolescents. Repeatedly rebuffed and frustrated by the authorities, she ultimately turns to a far greater power than can be found on her failing human plane.

Online Now from Pocket Jakes, the creative partnership of directors Jake Dolgy and Jake Ross, depicts a journey into the world of social interaction. Jake Ross joins us to discuss how the pair coalesced the technological now into a filmic time capsule.

I found that what I was really attracted to was that I could not only tell a great story, but I could also make some kind of commentary on something in our society as well.

Showlinks
Pocket Jakes
Red One
Red Epic
iPhone 4S
After Effects
Miami Nights

Online Now (2012)
Journey into the world of contemporary online social interaction.

There have been numerous films which look in to the porn industry and the lives of the performers who make their living there, but very few have stuck around to see what becomes of those who move onto pastures new. Bryce Wagoner’s feature documentary After Porn Ends answers the question of what next for porn stars who leave the industry behind. Bryce joins us to discuss how the offer of an acting job led to his directorial debut and why shot lists may be for pussies, but can save your life during the edit.

I always like to start my questions as a conversation. I think that’s important for all documentary filmmakers.

Showlinks
@bryceless
After Porn Ends
Shield Pirate
Panasonic AG-HVX200
Panasonic AG-HPX500

After Porn Ends (2010)
After Porn Ends, is a documentary that not only examines the lives and careers of some of the biggest names in the history of the adult entertainment industry; but what happens to them after they leave the business and try to live the average lives that millions of others enjoy.

Writer/director Nick Peterson and producer Jon Heder join us this week with their experimental, pixilation based short Drained, which allegorically depicts how a man’s outside vice destroys the woman who loves him. We discuss shooting blind under rapid fire strobe lighting and why white makeup is the bane of speedy filmmaking.

I wanted Drained to have the feel of something very experimental maybe avant-garde but I wanted people to definitely get the point.

Showlinks
Drained
Nick Peterson
@hederjon
Canon EOS 7D
Final Cut Pro
Nicoda

Drained (2012)
Told with animation and live-action, Drained tells the story of how a man’s addictions can destroy the woman he loves.

While UK kids were entertained on Saturday afternoons by aged overweight wrestlers, in the US wrestling was a much more glamorous affair thanks to GLOW and the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Director Brett Whitcomb and writer Bradford Thomason join us to discuss the role of the writer in documentary filmmaking and how tapping into the show’s existing fan base proved to be an archival and funding boon.

You can’t just take a camera & point it at a situation for a year & then cut it together linearly & expect to have a film.

Showlinks
GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
Window Pictures Vimeo

GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (2012)
GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling chronicles the rise and fall of the first ever all- female wrestling show through the stories of those who lived it. From the initial open-call auditions, to the grueling training with wrestling legend Mando Guerrero, to over-night success and global recognition, to the show’s sudden and unexpected cancellation in 1990, the GLOW girls recall their time on the show with a mixture of heartfelt nostalgia and tearful regret over injuries and the loss of friends. For some, the show was a brief foray into acting and a short-lived adventure on the way to a normal life. For others, that time in GLOW would impact and influence their lives for years to follow. For all of the women, working on GLOW was a unique and exciting experience that will bond them forever.

Israeli director Adam Bizanski’s live action puppet short Paul, tells the story of an alienated character searching for his stolen fish through the underbelly of Tel Aviv. Adam joins us for our first interview of 2013 to discuss how he and Paul went from lip-sync performances in his room, to a string of well regarded music videos and a 27 minute neo-noir short funded by Newcastle Brown Ale.

Having a puppet walk around in the real world & trying to maintain that ‘realness’ is a challenge.

Showlinks
Adam Bizansk
Singalong Paul
Canon 60D

Get comfortable and watch the full version of Paul right here, right now:

Paul (2011)
Still in the aftermath of a tough break up, Paul’s life is slowly deteriorating. A mindless burglary of his rented apartment forces him to push through the underworld of Tel Aviv to investigate.

A combination of portraiture and vérité, mixed with a poetically impressionistic voice over, Alan Spearman’s As I Am is one of the most powerful documentary shorts we’ve featured here on DN. Alan joins us to discuss straddling the line between journalist and filmmaker and how Werner Herzog advice to ‘meet the glory’ has positively impacted his work.

I’ve always heard ‘if you make something good it just gets out’, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever experienced it directly.

You can watch the full version of As I Am below:

As I Am (2012)
Chris Dean’s heart stopped when he was two. He died but he came back. When Chris was five, his father was murdered, riddled by more than 20 bullets in a gang shootout. At age 18, Chris gained national attention when he introduced President Barack Obama at his high school graduation. Chris is an observer and philosopher who has always had a few things to say about life from his vantage point in South Memphis. He and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker Alan Spearman walked the neighborhood for eight weeks observing and recording what became the script of As I Am. This film floats through this remarkable young man’s landscape, revealing the lives that have shaped his world. Poetic and powerful imagery, captured by Spearman and cinematographer Mark Adams, combines with the young philosopher’s trenchant observations about life.

Adam Wells’ animation Brave New Old breaks free from established narrative conventions by playing out its scenes within the confines of a rotating cube. Adam joins us to discuss his mechanical storytelling approach and how the cube head style of the short enabled a faster production process.

The idea of making a 10 minute film when you’re building it on your own, it’s a mountain to climb. So I’m trying to constantly remove obstacles to get as much done as possible.

Brave New Old Materials
Storyboard

Showlinks
Adam Wells
@escooler
Facebook

Brave New Old (2012)
A character contemplates the nature and honesty of ideas.

Kurtis Hough’s approach to filmmaking may best be described as the ‘patient experimental cinema of nature’. He makes his third appearance on DN today with Warm Earth, Which I’ve Been Told and Cryosphere, a pair of films which both fall into that category whilst expanding the inventive creativity we’ve come to expect from Kurt’s work through the years.

I wasn’t gonna do a film about a glacier without somewhat addressing global warming but I didn’t want to do it in a heavy handed way.

Showlinks
KH Studios
Vimeo
B&H Photo
Adobe After Effects

You can watch Kurt’s latest film Cryosphere right now:

Warm Earth, Which I’ve Been Told (2012)
A planetary eye on a passing day in the universe.

Stuart Willis’ ridiculously ambitious graduation short Payload, sets relatable characters in a believable future to deliver a compelling story about hard choices and sacrifice. It’s a short which has garnered much praise online and an interview we’ve been looking forward to posting on DN. Stuart takes us through his methods of building an onscreen family you care about and the benefits of approaching production design as a branding exercise.

When you’re writing as a student film ‘exterior space elevator crawling up a cable’ eyebrows all go up for everyone & I’m thinking, “I’m insane, I’ve written a completely CG shot to open my film, this is nuts!”

Showlinks
Stuart Willis
Payload
Red Camera
Modo

If you happen to be in the ever decreasing minority of people yet to watch Payload in full, nows as good a time as any to see what’s impressed so many before you:

Payload (2011)
A family of scavengers. A corrupt spaceport. A callous matriarch. A home in the shadow of a space elevator. After a brutal attack on his father, Simon Carter must sacrifice everything to save his family.

Jonathan Minard and James George’s infinite conversation Clouds is a computational documentary which explores the beauty of code through the new technique of volumetric video. Jonathan and James join us to discuss navigating the bleeding edge where filmmaking and technology meet.

What’s been a very exciting thing about this project is actually realising & inventing a new medium in the process.

Clouds Materials
Screenshots

Showlinks
Deepspeed Media
James George
WebGL
Studio for Creative Inquiry
RGDDToolkit
Processing

Kickstart Clouds

As Jonathan and James mentioned in our interview, Clouds: beta was but the first step along the road to creating a truly interactive documentary using technology to create a brand new visual aesthetic and they need your help to fully realise the project.

CLOUDS is created with the RGBDToolkit — an open-source software library we have developed for 3D filmmaking with the Kinect. Using a Microsoft XBOX Kinect depth sensor paired with an HD video camera, our toolkit makes possible the computer-graphic/video hybrid you see above. By supporting CLOUDS, you also support the development of the RGBDToolkit — helping to make it better for everyone. We welcome you to try it out!

Watch the campaign video below and be sure to head over to the Clouds Kickstarter page for more info and to pledge your support.

Clouds: beta (2012)
Clouds is a computational documentary featuring hackers and media artists in dialogue about code, culture and the future of visualization.

Griff’s melancholic short The Gift sees a childless couple’s life disrupted by an unexpected arrival. Griff joins us this week to discuss the aesthetic nature of electricity pylons and how he combined a great cast, improvisation and invisible effects shots to create an unnerving narrative.

It was just purely reimagining the legend of a stork but in very realistic terms.

Showlinks
Stork Nest
Studio AKA
Christina’s World

The Gift (2012)
A tale of a troubled couple, visited by an ominous stork bearing both hope and tragedy.

You can watch the full film below: