ANATOMY OF A SCRIPT with Shonda Rhimes

Robby Müller Cinematography Masterclass

Power of Story: Visions of Independence at 2015 Sundance Film Festival

SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED | Christopher Plummer on the Different Versions of King Lear

53-Minute interview w/ cinematographer James Wong Howe (1974) [audio]

In Focus: Producing

The Bad Sleep Well (1960) - The Geometry of a Scene

MAMORU OSHII | In Conversation With... | TIFF 2014

Power of Story: Serious Ladies at 2015 Sundance Film Festival

'THR Talks' Sundance Panel: Jumpstarting Your Career In Film

'THR Talks' Sundance Panel: Financing Through the Power of Fans

First Crawfish Of the Year

Michael Keaton on Shakespeare and Much Ado About Nothing

From HitFix:

Actually, you're right, it would fit the character. I think there's an improv thing where I hump something in "Much Ado."

[Laughs.]
They may have cut that out. But that was a character, you know, I was with a buddy of mine that I knew. He's truly, 100% an intellectual, this guy. He's a really interesting guy. He's written this really wonderful book called "Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks," which I really recommend. And he's a really cool dude. But he's a dude from Pittsburgh, he talks that way, he's got all these expressions. We were talking about that last night and he's a crazy Shakespeare fan. He loves Shakespeare so much. I took one little Shakespeare thing in one of my acting classes. I didn't understand Shakespeare. I'd never done any of it or anything. And at first I said to Kenneth [Branagh], "You don't want me doing this." He kept insisting and he said, "No, this is going to work." He really wanted to use American actors and he was using stars, Denzel and everybody. He said, "No, everybody, don't do it with British accents. Don't do that." And I said, "Well, OK, I'm out."
But he kept coming at me. I said, "Give me a minute." And I had this kind of half of a character I used to do, but I used to do it with Valri Bromfield, who was a partner for a while with Danny Aykroyd. She was one of the funniest women I've ever met in my life. And she and I used to goof around and do these guides. She'd do this one guide and we had a way of speaking and I took that and I added, like, this kind of crisp, Celtic vibe, like half of a Celtic accent. And interestingly, when I went to a Shakespeare coach to work on the character and talked to him about it and said, "Here's what we're going to try to do" — and he thought I was nuts — but he said, you know, interestingly there are scholars who think that some of that language was really from the Celts, from Ireland and parts of Scotland and not England. I said, "Well, whatever. I know nothing about it." It's just something — I had to find a way in because for me to speak like this, I said, "I don't know how to do that." And also, you say what you want about the comedy. I guess back then people thought some of that shit was funny. They'd go, "Oh, he's one of the wonderful comic characters." And I'd go, "Not for me, man."

[Laughs.] You had to put a spin on it for yourself. You had to put some English on it, so to speak.
No shit. And so I said, "OK, this is what I'm going to do," and I'm sure scholars will hate me but I found no other way to do it. Then there was a guy where I grew up who was a local constable. And that's actually what Dogberry is, is a constable. But I never knew what a constable was and I remember this guy — I always found this guy really slippery. We all did. He would come in and he'd always want things from my dad and my dad would never do it. He'd want a favor here or a favor there, you know? He's never straight-up about anything. And I based a lot of the character on him and just thinking about that guy and how to kind of watch him.
Then I wanted to add to him, like, kind of a little bit of badass. There's stuff that's cut out of that movie where Dogberry actually really confronts a guy and threatens him. It's funny but you go, "This guy might be crazy," you know? And that was really fun. But that was one of the most fun things I ever did. And I had a horrible fever. I got really sick and I was sick almost the whole time. And the weather was so hot; it was like 95 degrees every day in Tuscany, where we shot it. In all that hot clothing and I was constantly dripping in sweat, sick through almost the entire shoot. But I really loved doing that movie. In fact that's something, of all the things I want to do — there are now a bunch of things I want to do but I would really like to grab a Shakespeare piece again somewhere.

What about theater?
Yeah. And, I mean, that would really be ballsy because I'm sure they'd line up to stone me. But if I could find a smaller role that I could manage… It's so fun to try to pull it off because it's like learning another language. It's like doing a role in a foreign language, you know? The discussion about, "What does this mean?" And you know what was really the coolest? I showed up to the set, I was so nervous thinking, "I've got to be around all these Shakespearean actors and they're going to look right down their nose at me." But they were the coolest guys. You'd be doing a scene and these guys working on Shakespeare several times would stop and say to Kenneth Branagh, "What does that mean? When he says…" And I'd go, "Oh! I am so relieved!" And then he'd say, "Well, he's really saying this but, you know, remember," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'd go, "Oh, man." That really took a lot of the pressure off. They were so cool about it. They would read the London Times and I'd get up, do the scene, no big deal.

That's fun.
Yeah it was cool.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/michael-keaton-remembers-harold-ramis-tackling-shakespeare-and-ron-howards-gung-ho#226WqQddRLvBWTJq.99

20-minute interview w/ legendary DP Jack Cardiff on cinematography (1996)

Rare 75-minute interview w/ Billy Wilder on filmmaking (1975)

Great Directors Documentary

Found at Cinephilia & Beyond:

GREAT DIRECTORS from ANISMA FILMS on Vimeo.

24 Lessons From Werner Herzog

1. Always take the initiative.
2. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need.
3. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey.
4. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief.
5. Learn to live with your mistakes.
6. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern.
7. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it.
8. There is never an excuse not to finish a film.
9. Carry bolt cutters everywhere.
10. Thwart institutional cowardice.
11. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
12. Take your fate into your own hands.
13. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape.
14. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory.
15. Walk straight ahead, never detour.
16. Manoeuvre and mislead, but always deliver.
17. Don’t be fearful of rejection.
18. Develop your own voice.
19. Day one is the point of no return.
20. A badge of honor is to fail a film theory class.
21. Chance is the lifeblood of cinema.
22. Guerrilla tactics are best.
23. Take revenge if need be.
24. Get used to the bear behind you.

Ray Winstone: A Life in Pictures Highlights

Movies in 2015

1. Romeo & Juliet (2013)
2. Tai Chi Zero
3. Tai Chi Hero

James Mangold on Filmmaking

Writing Character For Film and Television - A Film Courage Screenwriting Series

Fight for Space - Documentary Film Trailer 2.0

What Makes a Video Essay Great?

Jackie Chan - How to Do Action Comedy

Creative Spark: Marci Liroff

Reading about Twelfth Night

Graffiti - Head

This graffiti always grabs my attention on Sundays when I am driving around getting groceries:

USS Kidd

My son and I spent the night on the USS Kidd this past weekend up in Baton Rouge:

Documentaries on Jorge Louis Borges

Variety Artisans: The Seamless Look of 'Birdman'

Julian Fellowes on Romeo & Juliet

Herbie Hancock- the Norton Lectures at Harvard

Variety Artisans: Editing "The Imitation Game"

Douglas Trumbull Interview: thefilmbook

Jorge Luis Borges’ 1967-8 Norton Lectures On Poetry (And Everything Else Literary)

From Open Culture:

Nearing both 70 years of age and total blindness, Borges nonetheless gives a virtuosically wide-ranging series of talks, freely reaching across forms, countries, eras, and languages without the aid of notes. Entitled “This Craft of Verse,” these lectures ostensibly deal with poetry. Alas, like many literary geeks, I know too little of poetry, but if Borges can’t motivate you to learn more, who can? And if you’ve read any of his fictions, you’ll know that he treats all subjects as nexuses of subjects. To hear Borges speak on poetry is, in this case, to hear him speak on storytelling, cliché, the epic, human communication, the shortcomings of the novel, translation, and the falseness of happy endings — and, because nobody could digest it all the first time, to want to hear it again.

(1924) Alfred Hitchcock & Graham Cutts - 'The White Shadow' - the 'lost' Hitchcock film

From Open Culture:

Sundance Institute: The Art of Storytelling

National Theatre: Greek Theatre

Movies in 2015

1. Romeo & Juliet (2013)

Shakespeare's Sherlock

The 10 Hidden Cuts in Rope

From Open Culture:

How Alfred Hitchcock hid 10 Edits in ROPE from Vashi Nedomansky on Vimeo.

Chaos Cinema

Found at Open Culture:

Chaos Cinema Part 1 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.

Chaos Cinema Part 2 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.

Chaos Cinema Part 3 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.

Los Angeles: The City In Cinema

Found at Open Culture:

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: The Driver (Walter Hill, 1978) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: The Limey (Steven Soderbergh, 1999) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Night of the Comet (Thom Eberhardt, 1984) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Model Shop (Jacques Demy, 1969) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, The City in Cinema: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes, 1978) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Los Angeles, the City in Cinema: Timecode (Mike Figgis, 2000) from Colin Marshall on Vimeo.

Clint Eastwood Speaks About His Friend James Garner

What I Want To Do In 2015

First off, I want to direct my version of Twelfth Night that I have been developing. A semi-modern take set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

I want to finish the script for Rougarou and get the stories for Vice and Gangsta Sunday done.

I want to help my wife start her Bulldog store.

I want to find a new way for myself and my friends. I want us to really work hard to create a Film Culture in New Orleans and a sustainable Film Industry here.

I want to help my friends in anyway I can with their own film projects from working on budgets with them to producing and managing the projects and getting them made.

Movies in 2014: Summary

109 total movies watched for the year. Not nearly as many as I wanted to see. I started off strong, but once work kicked in the second half of the year my movie watching (and reading) dropped off considerably. A lot of Shakespeare films as I try and get inspiration for my own version of Twelfth Night I want to direct this year. I introduced the monkey to the full Godzilla, Mummy, and Jurassic Park series. I also started him on Bond.

No bests or rankings. 

As always, there is so much more I want to see. Time is always the biggest constraint.

Movies in 2014

1. The Hot Rock
2. The Valley Of Gwangi
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. To Have And Have Not
5. The Third Man
6. Below
7. It Happened One Night
8. State And Main
9. Furious 6
10. Vengeance
11. Running Scared (1986)
12. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
13. The Thing From Another World
14. Matilda
15. The Shaolin Temple
16. The Avengers
17. The Raid
18. In The Heat Of The Night
19. Dillinger
20. The Mission (Johnnie To Film)
21. Odds Against Tomorrow
22. Outrage
23. My Name Is Nobody
24. The Wolverine
25. Fulltime Killer
26. Muppets From Space
27. The Man With The Iron Fists
28. Mad Detective
29. Batman Returns
30. Riddick
31. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
32. Captain Phillips
33. The Lego Movie
34. Now You See Me
35. Bull Durham
36. Nebraska
37. Big Trouble In Little China
38. Death Rides A Horse
39. Zero Effect
40. The Mercenary
41. A Fistful Of Dollars
42. World War Z
43. Batman
44. Monte Walsh (1970)
45. Ride The High Country
46. The 13th Warrior
47. Nothing Left To Fear
48. Raiders of the Lost Ark
49. Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
50. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
51. Mud
52. Stagecoach
53. Kill Bill Vol. 2
54. Iron Man Three
55. Dallas Buyers Club
56. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
57. Looking for Richard
58. Fort Apache
59. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2
60. 12 Years A Slave
61. Dead Man
62. Macbeth (Welles)
63. Dragonslayer
64. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
65. Pacific Rim
66. American Hustle
67. About Time
68. The Searchers
69. Labor Day
70. Solomon Kane
71. How To Train Your Dragon 2
72. R.I.P.D.
73. Pain And Gain
74. The Wolf Man
75. Frankenstein (1931)
76. All Monsters Attack aka Godzilla's Revenge
77. Joint Security Area
78. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
79. Terror of MechaGodzilla
80. From Russia With Love
81. Goldfinger
82. Thunderball
83. You Only Live Twice
84. The Bride of Frankenstein
85. Son of Frankenstein
86. The Mummy
87. The Ghost of Frankenstein
88. House of Frankenstein
89. Hulk
90. Guardians of the Galaxy
91. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
92. The World's End
93. The Thin Man
94. His Girl Friday
95. Miami Vice
96. The Mummy
97. The Mummy Returns
98. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
99. The Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2
100 As You Like It
101. Big Hero 6
102. Taming of the Shrew (Zeffirelli)
103. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
104. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1996)
105. Hamlet (2000)
106. Jurassic Park: The Lost World
107. Jurassic Park III
108. Coriolanus
109. The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor

'Inherent Vice' | Anatomy of a Scene w/ Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Video Essay: Kazan, Scorsese, and "The Departed"

Kazan, Scorsese, and "The Departed" from Cole Smith on Vimeo.

‘Interstellar’ | Anatomy of a Scene w/ Director Christopher Nolan

TCM Remembers 2014

Actress Jessica Chastain Looks into the Future of Space Exploration