Editor Gordon Rempel on the Music of Editing
Gordon Rempel sees parallels between the approach he takes editing film and television and his love of making music. With more than two decades of experience in both fields, he would know.
“I actually have a musical background. I’ve been playing in bands continuously since I was a teenager. Music takes a lot of the same parts of your brain as editing does: it’s all rhythm, tempo, and pacing. And finding that accent point.
De-Aging the Iconic Actors of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman
In 2015, visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman was working with Martin Scorsese on Silence, a stirring film about the Christian faith during 17th century Japan. The two ended up having a conversation that ignited a technological advancement within the visual effects industry—one that will likely become a new standard in how images can be captured and processed during filmmaking.
“We were talking about a project and I mentioned making one of the characters younger.
Unraveling Marriage Story with Editor Jennifer Lame
It was well past 9 pm on a Sunday night when the word “hello” drifted through the speaker of my phone. On the line was editor Jennifer Lame who pulled herself away from Christopher Nolan’s action-thriller Tenet.
“It’s nice speaking with you again,” she said in an even-tempered tone. A tone very unlike the characters in Marriage Story from writer/director Noah Baumbach that dissects the inevitable split between spouses Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver).
Heading Abroad With Charlie’s Angels Location Manager
After a sixteen-year hiatus, the sorority, camaraderie, and crime-fighting of Charlie’s Angels is back, newly helmed by Elizabeth Banks, who also wrote the script and plays one of the movie’s chief supporting roles. No longer reporting to a Los Angeles-based Charlie, the Angels are taking on lawlessness around the globe for the Townsend Agency, supported by a gaggle of Bosleys (played by Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, and Banks). At the heart of the caper is Elena (Naomi Scott),
Composer Christophe Beck on Returning for a Second Round of Ice & Earworms in Frozen II
In Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck’s Frozen II, sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are back, older and wiser and reunited for good. Unfortunately, Elsa, now Queen of Arendelle, is still having trouble with her ice-making powers, a disturbance that arrives this time around via a mysterious siren call she can’t make anything of without following it to the Enchanted Forest, where it turns out an indigenous people,
Watchmen’s Costume Designer Meghan Kasperlik on This Extraordinary Series
Now that Watchmen has made its glorious debut on HBO and confounded just about every expectation, we can say with confidence that Damon Lindelof’s adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons iconic graphic novel is a remarkable testament to the original and a bold, powerful piece of original storytelling itself. The reason is Lindelof and his incredible team of writers, directors, actors, and crew hasn’t adapted the graphic novel itself,
Writer/Director Noah Baumbach on his Devastating Marriage Story
Writer/director Noah Baumbach’s substantial body of work has often explored families in all their painful, darkly funny dysfunction, evolving from the perspective of an adolescent witness to the break-up of his parents in his 2005 second feature, the Oscar-nominated The Squid and the Whale, to the poignant, middle-aged observations of a son coming to terms with his estranged family and self-absorbed father in 2017’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected).
Frozen II Head of Special Effects Marlon West on the Sequel’s Epic Ambitions
Frozen II co-director and screenwriter Jennifer Lee says that if the Disney Oscar-winning blockbuster Frozen was about a happily ever after, then Frozen II is about the day after happily ever after. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf are back, and fans get to see this found family take on new challenges and learn more about themselves and each other. As part of this chapter in their story,
Waves Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults & Stars Kelvin Harrison & Taylor Russell on Their Powerful Drama
From the moment the new film Waves had its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August, it started getting awards mentions. Touted were the emotional intensity and authenticity of the script by writer/director Trey Edward Shults, and the powerhouse performances served up by an ensemble cast that included stars Kelvin Harrison, Taylor Russell, Lucas Hedges, and Sterling K. Brown. The story centers on the members of one South Floridian family, and how their personal challenges lead variously to trauma,
Production Designer Hannah Beachler Dives into Dark Waters
There are a number of reasons why Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler wanted to be involved with Dark Waters, the latest film from director Todd Haynes. The first was the subject matter.
Based on a true story, Dark Waters follows lawyer Rob Bilott’s (Mark Ruffalo) 17-year quest for justice after he discovers that DuPont may be poisoning the small West Virginia town of Parkersburg by dumping toxic chemicals into its soil.
How The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’s Production Designer Helped Expand Thra
When director and executive producer Louis Leterrier got to work on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, he knew he needed serious artists to help pull off his ambitious vision for this return trip to the mythical Thra. Leterrier’s update builds on the world first created by Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s classic 1982 film The Dark Crystal. Henson, a wizard of the practical effect and the brains behind The Muppets,
Costume Designer Mark Bridges Deconstructs Joker’s Bespoke, Lunatic Elegance
Joker last month became the highest-grossing R-rated motion picture in history, which means Joaquin Phoenix’s candy-colored three-piece suit created by costume designer Mark Bridges has imprinted itself on millions of eyeballs worldwide. Elegant, vivid and draped just so across the anti-hero’s frail frame, Joker’s outfit merits a permanent place in the movie villain hall of fame. A two-time Oscar winner for The Artist and Phantom Thread, Bridges teamed on Joker with director Todd Phillips after becoming the go-to costume designer for high-end auteurs like Paul Thomas Anderson,
Marriage Story’s Production Designer on Creating an Environment of Heartbreak
Production designer Jade Healy doesn’t seem to repeat herself much—particularly with the kinds of films she designs, and even the directors she works with. Though as the work remains eclectic, it grows steadily more renowned, and the latter, at least, is changing.
She’s the designer for Marriage Story, director Noah Baumbach’s story of a marriage’s implosion that is heartbreaking for its specificity and its refusal to take sides.
Annette Bening, Adam Driver, & Writer/Director Scott Z. Burns on Digging Into The Report
For Annette Bening, playing California Senator Dianne Feinstein in The Report is personal.
“I had moved to San Francisco [to attend San Francisco State University] in 1978, the year that Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated and she [as head of the board of supervisors] then became mayor automatically,” says Annette Bening. “So I’ve been familiar with her for a long time. I wanted to do the role well enough so that you accept that it’s her but no more.
Ford v Ferrari Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael on the Need for Real Speed
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael grew up seeing the value of a great artistic collaboration. His father, also Phedon Papamichael, was an art director and production designer who worked on several landmark films by indie pioneer John Cassavetes including Faces (1968) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).
The younger Papamichael, who was born in Athens, Greece and studied filmmaking in Germany, is best known for his work with directors Alexander Payne—Papamichael earned an Oscar nomination for Nebraska (2011)—and with James Mangold.
The Report’s Production Designer On Recreating a World of Conspiracy
Find the mental capacity for another deep dive into the darkest corners of U.S. government and policy, but put away the newspaper. We’re winding back the clock to the beginning of the Aughts, when the CIA first implemented its “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or what most regular folks would call torture, at black sites around the world. The average American citizen didn’t learn about what the CIA was up to until after the program was shut down,
How Ford v Ferrari Stunt Coordinator Kept Christian Bale Safe at 140 Miles an Hour
“Christian Bale is hands down the best actor I’ve ever trained,” says stunt coordinator Dan Nagle, and for a guy who’s worked on Baby Driver, The Fate of the Furious and John Wick: Chapter 2, that’s saying a lot. A former racer himself, Nagle prepped Bale to portray Ken Miles, the hot-tempered driver who in 1966 competed in the 24 Hours Le Mans against the previously indomitable Italian racing team masterminded by Enzo Ferrari.
Composer Joseph Trapanese on Scoring a Live-Action Lady and the Tramp for Disney +
Video snippets from Disney’s history, showing the studio’s early animators gathered around a live deer, drawing its actions for Bambi, make for both great contemporary Instagram bait and charming Disney lore. They also demonstrate the extent to which Walt Disney encouraged his animators to learn and experiment. That level of commitment to creative exploration is something that can be heard today in the score to the live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp,
How Ford v Ferrari’s Production Designer Rebuilt the World’s Greatest Race Track Piece-by-Piece
James Mangold‘s Ford v Ferrari revisits one of the greatest car races in history. It began back in 1959 when Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) wins the most difficult race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in France. The problem for Shelby is his crowning achievement is also his last race—doctors tell him a heart condition makes it impossible for him to race again. The ever-resource Shelby decides to become a car designer (he can’t bear to leave the sport he loves) and sets up shop in Venice Beach,
Producer Daniela Taplin Lundberg on Pushing Boundaries With Harriet and Honey Boy
She has produced more than 25 feature films that have moved audiences and in many cases also earned industry accolades. Indeed, Daniela Taplin Lundberg has demonstrated a knack for bringing to the screen soulful stories that deftly explore the human condition — all while keeping budgets in check and quality high.
Armed with filmmaking insights gleaned early on from her parents, producer Jonathan Taplin (Mean Streets) and actress Rosanna DeSoto (Stand and Deliver),