The sound of Gravity is a crucial element of the film and in this Soundworks video director Alfonso Cuaron and Re-recording Mixer Skip Lievsay discuss how they (and the sound teams) created the dramatic soundscape of outer space.
SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Gravity from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.
Gravity opens in the UK on November 8th
The late screenwriter describes the culture that led him to write one of the classic films of the 1970s.
When Paddy Chayevsky wrote Network (1976) even the poster said it was “outrageous”, perhaps anticipating the critics who felt it went too far in its depiction of the TV industry and the wider culture.
Directed by Sidney Lumet, it was to become an astonishingly prescient satire, anticipating the descent of network TV into a ratings obsessed monster.
Here on Dinah Shore‘s daytime show he discusses the film:
> Network at the IMDb
> Interactive NYT feature on Chayefsky’s script
A 1992 documentary about cinematographer Vittorio Storaro provides a fascinating insight into his working life.
Best known for his work with Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola and Warren Beatty, he is one of the greatest of his era.
This 55 minute programme features interviews with the man himself and his collaborators, interspersed with footage of him working on several films.
Amongst other things it features him talking about:
> Official website
> Vittorio Storaro at the IMDb
> More posts on cinematography
The full version of The Elstree Project‘s documentary about The Shining is now available online.
Stanley Kubrick’s famous horror was originally documented in a 17 minute short film, as part of the project designed to document the famous studios of Elstree and Borehamwood.
But now they have released a much longer version lasting 55 minutes with contributions from:
They discuss many aspects of the film including the 2nd Unit footage shot in America, the different stages at Elstree, the use of Steadicam, the fire on set, and what Kubrick was like to work with.
> The Elstree Project
> Buy The Stanley Kubrick Boxset from Amazon UK
> Previous Stanley Kubrick Posts
An old behind-the-scenes featurette for The Dirty Dozen offers a glimpse in how movies were marketed in a bygone era.
Long before DVDs, the internet and viral marketing, there were making of featurettes which were used to plug forthcoming films.
In a sense they were like short films, using B-roll footage and scripted voice-overs to describe the stars and production.
They seem like a long way from how movies are pushed to audiences now, with fans at Comic-Con lapping up news of projects yet to be made.
The Dirty Dozen remains one of the ultimate ‘guys on a mission’ film, a huge hit in 1967 that spawned numerous imitators such as Kelly’s Heroes (1970) and was a big influence on Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009).
Below you can see Lee Marvin filming the opening sequence and also grooving in 1960s London, along with Donald Sutherland, John Cassavetes and Jim Brown.
N.B. Aldbury was the location of the first school I ever went to.
> The Dirty Dozen at Wikipedia
> The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid