“Film-making is the only thing a man can do that could possibly be similar to a woman giving birth. It's such an emotionally complex experience, we men could never understand what a woman goes through, which is why women are so much more sophisticated and interesting, and in my opinion should rule the world.”
—Nicolas Winding Refn
Source.
Poetry in Cinema
I’m currently working on a film with the cinematographer Maria Cabra. It’s a small piece of poetry, shot primarily on Super 8 film, with special consideration of how the light is manipulated before it hits the celluloid (read: filters).
The film focuses on spring, spring showers, and the re-animated flow of life after winter. The image will be imbued with freedom through obscuration - images will be selectively fractured, distorted, and out-of-focus.
Formlessness is the source of possibility.
In most discussions of cinema, poetry is neglected. But poetry is what gives a film texture and mystery. I don’t create these small films for the money - I create them to practice the most important parts of the creative process.
A Georges Bataille quote that I discussed here comes to mind:
Poetry reveals a power of the unknown. But the unknown is only an insignificant void if it is not the object of a desire. Poetry is a middle term, it conceals the known within the unknown: it is the unknown painted in blinding colors, in the image of a sun.
~ü
“Pixar is seen by a lot of folks as an overnight success, but if you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
—Steve Jobs
Pixar was founded in 1979, made its first film-related CGI sequence in 1982 (The Wrath of Khan), and didn’t release its first feature, Toy Story, until 1995, sixteen years after its founding. Previous to 1995, Pixar consistently lost money, and it was Steve Jobs’ belief in the company and its creative / technological philosophy that compelled him to continuously pump his own money into it and keep it afloat. Since then, the company - which has been absorbed into Disney and most recently collaborated to make the absolutely gorgeous short film ‘Paperman’ (see below) - has released 13 feature films, tallied $7.8 billion in box office revenue against a spend of $1.78 billion, and has won a staggering 11 Academy Awards, 6 Golden Globes and 11 Grammys. Patience pays off, but the key is to never lose sight of your goals and values, and always, always believe in yourself and your ability to persevere.
Have a great weekend!
A Worldview
A film worth watching only has to satisfy one criteria: does it encapsulate a worldview?
A worldview can take me somewhere, it can teach me something, it inherently feels complete. Conveying a potent and fresh take on this world is more important than a famous cast, the story, cinematography, score, and budget - although it may need to excel in one or all of those categories in order to succeed.
Is there a criteria that you feel is more important?
