Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL / U.S.A. (Director: Terry Zwigof; Screenwriter: Daniel Clowes) — Believing that art school will bring him success and the girl of his dreams, an untalented young man becomes embroiled in a murder that makes him a celebrity. World Premiere starring enormous cast; including John Malkovich, Anjelica Huston, and Max Minghella

CARGO / Spain/UK (Director: Clive Gordon; Screenwriter: Paul Laverty) — After becoming mixed up in some trouble while traveling through Africa, a young backpacker stows away on a Europe-bound cargo ship filled with mysteries. World Premiere featuring Nikki Amuka-Bird and Carlos Blanco.

THE DARWIN AWARDS / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Finn Taylor) — A forensic detective and an insurance claims officer investigate a potential winner of a Darwin Award which honors “those who accidentally kill themselves in really stupid ways.” World Premiere starring Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette, Chris Pen, Juliette Lewis, Julianna Margulies and Lukas Haas.

DON’T COME KNOCKING / Germany/U.S.A (Director: Wim Wenders; Screenwriter: Sam Shephard) — A washed-up and disillusioned Western movie star returns home, where he reluctantly encounters elements of his past and an entire life that he had missed. North American Premiere with Jessica Lange, Tim Roth, Eva Marie Saint, Fairuza Balk and Sarah Polley.

FRIENDS WITH MONEY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener) — A drama about three married women, their husbands, and their lone single friend. World Premiere starring Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Cass Asher. Opening Night Movie!

KINKY BOOTS / U.K. (Director: Julian Jarrold; Screenwriter: Geoff Dean/Tim Firth) — In an effort to save his father’s small town shoe factory, a man finds an unlikely ally in Lola, a brassy cabaret singer. North American Premiere featuring Joel Edgerton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / U.S.A. (Directors: Johnathan Dayton, Valerie Faris; Screenwriter: Michael Arndt) — A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus. World Premiere starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Paul Dano.

LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN / U.S.A. (Director: Paul McGuigan; Screenwriter: Jason Smilovic) — A case of mistaken identity lands a man in the middle of a murder being plotted by one of New York City’s biggest crime bosses. World Premiere with Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci and Bruce Willis.

NEIL YOUNG HEART OF GOLD / U.S.A. (Director: Johnathan Demme) — An emotionally rich musical portrait of icon Neil Young, shot over a two-night performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. World Premiere.

THE ILLUSIONIST / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Neil Burger) — In turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing. World Premiere starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell.

THE NIGHT LISTENER / U.S.A. (Director: Patrick Stettner; Screenwriter: Armistead Maupin/ Terry Anderson/Patrick Stettner) — In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy’s identity arise, the host’s life is thrown into chaos. Another World Premiere featuring Toni Collette along with Robin Williams, Bobby Cannavale, Sandra Oh and John Cullum.

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP / France/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Michel Gondry) — A man held captive by the people in his dreams tries to wake himself up and take control of his own imaginings. World Premiere starring the always amazing Gael Garcia Bernal, Miou-Miou, Jean-Michel Bernard and Alain Chabat.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Isabel Coixet) — A nurse forgoes her first holiday in years, opting to travel to a remote oil rig, where she cares for a man suffering from severe burns. North American Premiere featuring Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Julie Christie and Javier Camara.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jason Reitman) — Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco’s chief spokesman, who manages “spin” on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son. U.S. Premiere with powerhouse cast including Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe and J.K. Simmons.

THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED / U.S.A. (Director: Kirby Dick) — A breakthrough investigation into Hollywood’s best-kept secret: the MPAA film ratings system and it’s profound impact on American culture. World Premiere from the filmmaker who made SICK: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BOB FLANAGAN, SUPERMASOCHIST; DERRIDA; TWIST OF FAITH and CHAIN CAMERA.

For the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, 3,148 features were submitted for consideration including 1,764 U.S. feature films and 1,384 international feature films. These numbers represent an increase from 2005 when 1,385 U.S. feature films and 1,228 international films were considered. This year’s Festival includes films from 29 countries including Mexico, France, Denmark, South Korea, New Zealand, China, Bosnia, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

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Our friend at IndieWire, Eugene Hernandez has a good summary by Sundance’s Geoff Gilmore and John Cooper about the changes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. As the Festival Director and Senior Programmer, they talk about their goals and decisions programming the 2006 festival.

According to Eugene’s story (follow the link for the full write-up), “Among the biggest changes this year is the Sundance decision to change the American Spectrum section into simply, ‘Spectrum’ and a move to cut the number of films screening in the Premieres section. Gilmore explained that they wanted to find a place for promising films that might not necessarily work as a premiere in a larger festival theater venue. Further, the Sundance competition seems to have an even higher profile among organizers and they were clear to focus on those four sections as the heart of the event. The competition really goes back to what the core of Sundance’s values are: originality, risk-taking, looking for discovery, really trying to push that aesthetic edge, to have the whole spectrum of work that we are really talking about in the independent world.”

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Sundance 2006 Line-Up Declares Independents. Straight Outta Gowanus, Brooklyn: Shareeka Epps and Ryan Gosling in Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (Photo: Adam Bell) As promised, the sexy folks at indieWIRE made a late-night booty call to their readers this morning with the Sundance 2006 competition line-ups…. By The Reeler. [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]

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Spirited away. Film News: ‘Squid,’ ‘Capote,’ ‘Brokeback’ up for top honors — Samuel Goldwyn Films’ “The Squid and the Whale” leads the contenders for the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards, with the offbeat family drama picking up six nominations in all of the major categories. Pic joins Focus Features’ “Brokeback Mountain,” Sony Pictures Classics’ “Capote,” Warner Independent Pictures’ “Good Night, And Good Luck.” and SPC’s “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” in the best feature race. [Variety.com]

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Mathematics of surprise. David Pescovitz:
Scientists have modeled surprise in the form of a mathematical theory. The computational model is capable of predicting what stimuli an individual will pay attention to amidst the flood of sensory of data. In their experiments, the researchers from the University of Southern California and UC Irvine’s Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics used their theory to identify the most “surprising” features in a video. Then, they observed the eye movements of humans watching the same video. Apparently, the subjects’ responses matched the predictions of the computational model. According to the scientists, “efficient and rapid attentional allocation is key to predation, escape, and mating — in short, to survival.” Link [Boing Boing]

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Today, the non-competition categories were announced and you can find the complete PDF with full descriptions at this link. Pretty much all that remains is the Short Film list which will be announced on December 5. The complete screening schedule will appear on December 12 — happy birthday to me — which will detail the remaining of my festival favorites: the Panel Discussions, Digital Center events and Filmmaker Lodge presentations!)

A reminder that the list and summary of my Sundance Podcasts and vCasts can help you get ready for the fest! The vCasts include Q&As with Naomi Watts (ELLIE PARKER, currently in release), Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), Alice Wu (SAVING FACE), Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW), Blackhorse Lowe (5TH WORLD) and Jody Eldred (Sony HVR-Z1U). The podcasts include the always popular SUNDANCE FROM THE TEEN POV, Sundance Juror, UCLA professor and Film Critic EMANUEL LEVY and SUNDANCE FOR BEGINNERS.

Spectrum Films to Screen at Sundance 2006:

The Spectrum program presents 24 out-of-competition dramatic and documentary works by some of the most new independent filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad. Spectrum films are eligible for the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Some Spectrum films presented at the Sundance Film Festival in the past include: GODS AND MONSTERS, MEAN CREEK, OPEN WATER, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER and RIZE.

A MATTER OF DEGREES / U.S.A. (Director: Davis Guggenheim)
ADAM’S APPLES / Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen)
ALL ABOARD! ROSIE’S FAMILY CRUISE / U.S.A. (Director: Shari Cookson)
BATTLE IN HEAVEN / Mexico/France/Germany/Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Carlos Reygadas)
BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES: A HIP-HOP HEAD WEIGHS IN ON MANHOOD IN HIPHOP CULTURE / U.S.A. (Director: Byron Hurt )
CLEAR CUT: THE STORY OF PHILOMATH, OREGON / U.S.A. (Director: Peter Richardson)
DREAMLAND / U.S.A. (Director: Jason Matzner; Screenwriter: Tom Willett )
EVERYONE STARES: THE POLICE INSIDE OUT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Stewart Copeland)
FACTOTUM / U.S.A. (Director: Bent Hamer; Screenwriter: Jim Stark)
FORGIVING THE FRANKLINS / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jay Floyd)
JEWBOY / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Tony Krawitz)
JOURNEY FROM THE FALL / Thailand/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ham Tran)
LA TRAGEDIA DE MACARIO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Pablo Veliz)
LEONARD COHEN I’M YOUR MAN / U.S.A. (Director: Lian Lunson)
MAN PUSH CART / Iran/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ramin Bahrani)
OFF THE BLACK / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: James Ponsoldt)
OPEN WINDOW / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Mia Goldman)
THE PROPOSITION / Australia (Director: John Hillcoat; Screenwriter: Nick Cave)
PUNCHING AT THE SUN / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Tanuj Chopra)
SPECIAL / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Jeremy Passmore, Hal Haberman)
WHAT REMAINS / U.S.A. (Director: Steven Cantor)
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Chris Paine)
WHO NEEDS SLEEP? / U.S.A. (Director: Haskell Wexler)?
WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER / U.S.A. (Director: Freida Lee Mock)

Frontier Films to Screen at Sundance 2006:

The Frontier section presents films that represent new directions in filmmaking. Utilizing experimental and innovative aesthetic approaches, work in the Frontier category challenges and provokes. Some Frontier films at Sundance Film Festival presented in the past include: TARNATION and THE JOY OF LIFE.

A DARKNESS SWALLOWED / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Betzy Bromberg)
CINNAMON / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Kevin Everson)
OLD JOY / U.S.A. (Director: Kelly Reichardt; Screenwriters: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt)
PINE FLAT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Sharon Lockhart)
WILD TIGERS I HAVE KNOWN U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Cam Archer)

Frontier Live:

OUR SECOND DATE U.S.A. (artists: Jennifer and Kevin McCoy)

Park City at Midnight Films to Screen at Sundance 2006:

Park City at Midnight offers out-of-competition films after-hours that are likely to amuse, surprise, or shock the bleary-eyed viewer and offer a lively last stop in the nightly film-going circuit. Some Midnight films presented at Sundance Film Festival in the past include: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, SAW, OVERNIGHT, and STRANGERS WITH CANDY.

AMERICAN HARDCORE / U.S.A (Director: Paul Rauchman; Screenwriter: Steven Blush)
AWESOME, I FUCKIN’ SHOT THAT! / U.S.A. (Director: Nathanial Hornblower)
THE DESCENT / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Neil Marshall)
DESTRICTED / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Mathew Barney, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noe, Marco Brambilla, Sam Taylor Wood)
THE FOOT FIST WAY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jody Hill)
MOONSHINE / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ingraham; Screenwriters: Roger Ingraham, Lori Isbell Salvage)
SALVAGE / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Josh Crook and Jeff Crook)
SUBJECT TWO / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Philip Chidel)

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Here’s the detail on the WORLD Documentary Competition films and WORLD Dramatic Competition films (complete PDF). I love the World Cinema films because they tell stories from places that are often unfamiliar to the American distribution chains. The narrative thread and story rhythms are often more intriguing because of the cultural influences. These films are often some of the BEST in the festival. (Remember: The Short Films will be announced December 5. The complete screening schedule will appear on December 12 — happy birthday to me!)

A reminder list and summary of the Sundance Podcasts and vCasts can help you get ready for the fest! The vCasts include Q&As with Naomi Watts (ELLIE PARKER, currently in release), Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE), Alice Wu (SAVING FACE), Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW), Blackhorse Lowe (5TH WORLD) and Jody Eldred (Sony HVR-Z1U). The podcasts include the always popular SUNDANCE FROM THE TEEN POV, Sundance Juror, UCLA professor and Film Critic EMANUEL LEVY and SUNDANCE FOR BEGINNERS.

World Documentary Competition Films for Sundance 2006:

5 DAYS / Israel (Director: Yoav Shamir) — evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza
ANGRY MONK - REFLECTIONS ON TIBET / Switzerland (Director: Luc Schaedler) — rebellious Tibetan monk Gendun Choephel
BLACK GOLD / U.K. (Director: Marc Francis, Nick Francis ) — coffee from Ethiopian bean to your cup
BY THE WAYS, A JOURNEY WITH WILLIAM EGGLESTON / France (Director: Cédric Laty, Vincent Gérard) — father of color photography, William Eggleston
DEAR PYONGYANG / Japan (Director: Yang Yonghi) — Korean-Japanese daughter explore’s father’s fierce loyalty to North Korea
THE GIANT BUDDHAS / Switzerland (Director: Christian Frei) — story of destruction of Buddha’s of Bamiyan in Afghanistan
GLASTONBURY / U.K. (Director: Julian Temple) — England’s annual Glastonbury Festival
I IS FOR INDIA / England/Germany/Italy (Director: Sandhya Suri) — Super8 films and letters tell tale of migration and belonging
IN THE PIT / Mexico (Director: Juan Carlos Rulfo) — bridge builders of Mexico City’s Periferico freeway
INTO GREAT SILENCE / Germany (Director: Philip Groening) — life inside the Grande Chartreuse monastery
KZ / U.K. (Director: Rex Bloomstein) — tale of the town of Mauthausen, site of a former German concentration camp
NO ONE / Mexico (Director: Tin Dirdamal) — Central American immigrant Maria encounters a nightmare in Mexico while enroute to U.S.
THE SHORT LIFE OF JOSÉ ANTONIO GUTIERREZ / Germany (Director: Heidi Specogna) — story of first soldier to die in Iraq
SONGBIRDS / U.K. (Director: Brian Hill) musical about 250 women in Downview Prison in England
UNFOLDING FLORENCE: THE MANY LIVES OF FLORENCE BROADHURST / Australia (Director: Gillian Armstrong) — life of flamboyant designer Florence Broadhurst
VIVA ZAPATERO / Italy (Director: Sabina Guzzanti) — censorship in Italy under Berlusconi

World Dramatic Competition Films for Sundance 2006:

13 TZAMETI / France (Director and Screenwriter: Géla Babluani) — Sebastien follows instructions intended for someone else and finds himself in clandestine, chaotic world
ALLEGRO / Denmark (Director: Christoffer Boe; Screenwriters: Christoffer Boe, Mikael Wulff) — amnesiac pianist returns to native Copenhagen and is led back to forgotten past
THE AURA / Argentina (Director and Screenwriter: Fabián Bielinsky) — introverted taxidermist dreams of executing the perfect robbery
THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS / Philippines (Director: Auraeus Solito; Screenwriter: Michiko Yamamoto) — young man is befriended by principled policeman and finds it difficult to sustain devotion to family of criminals
EVE & THE FIRE HORSE / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Julia Kwan) — Chinese girl grapples with Catholicism, Confucianism and catastrophe
GRBAVICA / Bosnia-Herzegovina (Director and Screenwriter: Jasmila Zbanic) — woman and daughter struggle to survive aftermath of Balkan war
THE HOUSE OF SAND / Brazil (Director: Andrucha Waddington; Screenwriter: Elena Soarez) — story of a woman living in remote dunes of Brazil
KISS ME NOT ON THE EYES / Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Jocelyne Saab) — Egyptian dancer fights for artistic integrity and social independence
LITTLE RED FLOWERS / China (Director: Zhang Yuan; Screenwriters: Ning Dai, Zhang Yuan) — life in post-revolutionary Chinese orphanage
MADEINUSA / Peru (Director and Screenwriter: Claudia Llosa) — Peruvian girl’s world changes when geologist arrives from Lima
NO. 2 / New Zealand (Director and Screenwriter: Toa Fraser) — Nanna Maria tries to bring passion back into the lives of her family
ONE LAST DANCE / Singapore (Director and Screenwriter: Max Makowski) — assassin is hired to kill men responsible for kidnapping an important man’s son and is surprised by whose name he finds on the list
THE PETER PAN FORMULA / South Korea (Director and Screenwriter: Cho Chang-Ho) — adolescent confront mother’s death and sexual desire
PRINCESAS / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Fernando Leon de Aranoa) — two women form unbreakable friendship despite differences
SÓLO DIOS SABE / Brazil/Mexico (Director: Carlos Bolado; Screenwriters: Carlos Bolado, Diane Weipert) — Brazilian art student crosses paths with roguish Mexican journalist in Tijuana
SON OF MAN / South Africa (Director: Mark Dornford-May; Screenwriters: Mark Dornford-May, Andiswa Kedama, Pauline Malefane) — Jesus’ life is translated into modern-day South Africa where the politics of compassion confront military dictatorship

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The excitement is building! At midnight, the announcement of the 2006 Competition and World Cinema Films was made. The remaining Feature Films will be announced at midnight tonight and the Short Films will be announced December 5. The complete screening schedule will appear on December 12.

A reminder list and summary of the most recent Sundance Podcasts can help you get ready for the fest!

Documentary Competition Films for Sundance 2006:

A LION IN THE HOUSE (Directors: Steven Bogner, Julia Reichert) — children fighting cancer

AMERICAN BLACKOUT (Director: Ian Inaba) — suppression of black vote

AN UNREASONABLE MAN (Directors: Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan) — Ralph Nader

CROSSING ARIZONA (Director: Joseph Mathew) — illegal immigration

GOD GREW TIRED OF US (Director: Christopher Quinn and Tom Walker) — boys from Sudan

GROUND TRUTH: AFTER THE KILLING ENDS (Director: Patricia Foulkrod) — military training and effect of war

IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS (Director: James Longley) — contemporary Iraq

SMALL TOWN GAY BAR (Director: Malcolm Ingram) — oppression in the deep South

SO MUCH SO FAST (Directors: Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan) — man with ALS and effects on those around him

THIN (Director: Lauren Greenfield) — anorexia and bulimia

‘TIS AUTUMN - THE SEARCH FOR JACKIE PARIS (Director: Raymond De Felitta) — jazz vocalist Jackie Paris

THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT (Directors: Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg) — racially-biased criminal justice system

TV JUNKIE (Director: Michael Cain) — 46 years, 5000 hours of video

WIDE AWAKE (Director: Alan Berliner) — Alan Berliner’s struggle with sleeplessness

WORDPLAY (Director: Patrick Creadon) — NYTimes Will Shortz and crossword puzzles

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET (Directors: Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan) — adapting Sesame Street around the world

Dramatic Competition Films for Sundance 2006:

A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS (Director and Screenwriter: Dito Montiel) — 1980’s Astoria, New York coming of age tale

COME EARLY MORNING (Director and Screenwriter: Joey Lauren Adams) — Southern woman trying to escape addiction and self-destruction

FLANNEL PAJAMAS (Director and Screenwriter: Jeff Lipsky) — intense courtship and mercurial marriage of two New Yorkers

FORGIVEN (Director and Screenwriter: Paul Fitzgerald) — campaigning U.S. Senator deals with Governor pardoning death row inmate he had prosecuted

HALF NELSON (Director: Ryan Fleck; Screenwriters: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck) — unlikely friendship between junior high teacher and student (perhaps a wrestler?)

HAWK IS DYING (Director: Julian Goldberger; Screenwriters: Harry Crews (novel) and Julian Goldberger) — auto upholsterer trains a wild hawk

IN BETWEEN DAYS (Director: So Yong Kim; Screenwriters: So Yong Kim and Bradley Rust Gray) — Korean immigrant falls for best and only friend

PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS (Director and Screenwriter: Maria Maggenti) — rebounding New York writer finds herself in two complicated love affairs

QUINCEANERA (Directors and Screenwriters: Richard Glatzer and Wash
Westmoreland) — disaffected Latino teens come of age in Echo Park

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR (Director and Screenwriter: Chris Gorak) — multiple dirty bombs detonate and create mass panic in LA

SHERRYBABY (Director and Screenwriter: Laurie Collyer) — after serving 3-year prison sentence, woman finds it hard to return to world she left

SOMEBODIES (Director and Screenwriter: Hadjii) — Black college student stumbles along path to responsible adulthood

STAY (Director and Screenwriter: Bob Goldthwait) — dark comedy about honesty after an impulsive, youthful sexual encounter

STEEL CITY (Director and Screenwriter: Brian Jun) — two irresponsible brothers deal with life after their father is incarcerated for killing a woman

STEPHANIE DALEY (Director and Screenwriter: Hilary Brougher) — pregnant forensic psychologist investigates teen accused of infanticide

WRISTCUTTERS - A LOVE STORY (Director: Goran Dukic; Screenwriters: Goran Dukic and Etgar Kerett) — Offbeat comedy, love story, road movie

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If you have stuffed your face for Thanksgiving and need to lose that Turkey tire, then I suggest you spend the weekend making a dolly. Here are the links you will need:

• Camera Jib Arm – This site has several good links at the bottom of the page.
• GreatDV Download – Download a copy of step by step instructions for building a dolly for $5.
• Maybe you would like to use a bike as a dolly.
• Skate Wheel Dolly – Excellent link.
• Make Magazine’s $14 Dolly – You cannot read the article unless you are a subscriber or buy the single volume. But the page does list all what you need.  Ars Technica followed the instructions in the article, there also have a quicktime file of the result.
• Home Built Stabilizer - No instructions. But there is video and pictures that should be helpful.
• DVXuser dolly – Buy them cheap if you hate doing it yourself.
• DV camera rigs – A book with all info you need. An excerpt from the book.
• Create Your own boom – You finished making the dolly, make a boom then!

  From Ajit Anthony at DV Guru. Terrific blog for all things related to independent film!

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BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA (CINEMA MINIMA) — I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about the Nick’s latest discovery. I’m probably the last one to hear about this and it’s just amazing!! The site that made a believer out of me was Guerilla35.Com. They’ve got several digital films that were shot by focusing a miniDV camcorder on the viewfinder image through a 35mm still camera. It’s amazingly filmic!

The guys at Guerilla35 are producing the apparatus for sale on the web. It doesn’t look like the final is ready yet although beta testing is occurring. Their latest demo film is a mini-documentary shot with one (1) crew member and available light. There were no enhancements, corrections or alterations in post production other than flipping the image horizontally. It was shot with a DVX-100A camcorder set at 1/48th second shutter speed, fitted with a 28-70mm Augenieux lens set at f2.6. The Guerilla35 guys do NOT say anything about how they’re building their device. Go look at the footage right now and then come back and read the end of this! After you see the footage, you’ll be more intent on figuring out how to do this if you want to shoot an independent dramatic narrative film!

Two sites do have complete plans for building your own mini35 setup!

The first was built for only $18 and it’s called the Depth of Field Machine from Mediachance.Com. After four hours and a few parts from Home Depot, the DOF machine is quite compact. According to the folks at MediaChance, the biggest trouble with this setup is that the image projected on the ground glass is upside down. Of course, every photo or video lens project the image upside down, just the electronics in the camera will make it flip. But now we have 2 lenses — the 35 mm and the digital camera lens — so the image is also recorded upside down. And because we are capturing the projection from back, it is also horizontally reversed. Well, we can’t have everything these days. You can either turn the camera upside down and the image will be just horizontally flipped or turn everything the right way in post-production.

The second site to offer information on building your own mini35 rig is at MarlaTheMovie.Com. Based on the character of Marla from David Fincher’s FIGHT CLUB
, Marla is a short film focusing on the Helena Bonham Carter character. Their rig leaves the 35mm still camera intact and mounts the camcorder on a board. They offer several shooting tips including:

• Use a higher-end 3CCD camera Consumer DV camcorders are not made to shoot movies, they are made to produce some nice colorful sharp videos of your wedding or holidays.

• Push the settings down to improve your images Most 3CCD cameras have a settings panel that allow you to modify the sharpness, color phase, sharpness, to reduce the compression artefacts and get a nicer, softer image.
• Shoot progressive not interlaced The Panasonic DVX100 has the best progressive mode but Canon’s Frame Mode is quite good too.
• Shoot manually, never automatic The shutter should be 1/50 (or 1/25 if you don’t have much light but motion blur will be much more apparent). Do not use gain, it always brings too much noise. If you have too much light, use ND filters.
• Always do a manual white balance It’s also a great way to change the colors of the picture, to make it warmer or colder. For example, if you make the white balance on something blue, the picture will become more red. Go buy some coloured sheets of paper and experiment. For the interior shots of Marla, they white balanced on an orange box, making the picture shift to blue-green tones. For the exterior shots, they balanced on a soft purple sheet of paper to make the picture became warmer with some yellow tone in it.

  

  The image to the right shows how the focusing mechanism of a 35mm still camera becomes the source of your digital camcorder. If you’re doing mini-35 filmmaking or know someone who is, let me know about it!

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A few months ago, the New York Times did an article on how a Film degree is getting to be the “new MBA” because so much of business is marketing, communication and visual presentation. Just look at THE APPRENTICE. Most of the tasks that the teams are given relate to marketing and media. The cynics among you will no doubt be thinking that is simply for product placement and better advertising. While that is also true, the media mania of this decade shows no sign of slowing. In fact, with the advent of the iPOD VIDEO and games on your CEL-PHONE, the obsession only looks to be getting started.

I teach digital filmmaking and 3D animation (using Maya, Shake, Final Cut and AfterEffects), so I am certainly an advocate of the democratization of the medium. This week, the New York Times’ Charles Lyons has a sobering article called Make Movies. Go Broke. Read it BEFORE you decide to make your film. The credit rating you save may be your own!

SYRIANA … I Can Hardly Wait

“Syriana” and Torture, American-Style. There’s a scene in Stephen Gaghan’s upcoming geopolitical thriller “Syriana” where a CIA agent (played by George Clooney) is brutally tortured. The enhanced interrogation techniques used on Clooney’s character were developed by the Chinese, according to the torturer, which involve yanking out the man’s fingernails with pliers. It’s a gruesome scene, and one that plays into the current debate about the Bush Administration’s push to legalize torture. While t… (Anthony Kaufman’s blog). [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]

The Art of Butterfly Wings

Butterfly Wings Share Light Tricks with TV I love Scientific American because they have articles that always seem like film ideas (or certainly novel/essay ideas) just waiting to be expounded upon! Here’s another great one![Scientific American]

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Student folds paper 12 times!. Cory Doctorow:
A high-school student has defied the received wisdom that it is impossible to fold a paper more than eight times by folding one twelve times:

For extra credit in a math class Britney was given the challenge to fold anything in half 12 times. After extensive experimentation, she folded a sheet of gold foil 12 times, breaking the record. This was using alternate directions of folding. But, the challenge was then redefined to fold a piece of paper. She studied the problem and was the first person to realize the basic cause for the limits. She then derived the folding limit equation for any given dimension. Limiting equations were derived for the case of folding in alternate directions and for the case of folding in a single direction using a long strip of paper. The merits of both folding approaches are discussed, but for high numbers of folds, single direction folding requires less paper. Link (Thanks, Alex!)

Update: Ari sez, “I really enjoyed the story about the student who figured out how to fold a piece of paper more than eight times — but it’s too bad that the proof is only available by mail order! I’ve posted an independent derivation of her equation here.” [Boing Boing]

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Teacher sacked for screening Elizabeth. An American high school teacher who screened the Oscar-winning film Elizabeth for his students lost his job following complaints from parents. [Film Unlimited]

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Papercraft sculptures from single sheets of A4. Cory Doctorow:

Peter Callesen is a sculptor who makes amazing papercraft fantasies out of single sheets of A4-sized paper.

Link to Japanese site, Link to official site

(via Waxy!) [Boing Boing]

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