I love how sound (effects, echo, connection) add to the experience of film. This nicely done video shows how sounds add to sights.
Wonderful interview between Edgar Wright and Spielberg about his still amazing film “ Duel”.
The tension, the pacing, the almost silent film like presence...
just two entertaining artists shooting the breeze and loving it
One the very, very best video essays i have ever seen, it primarily touches upon how Steven Spielberg constructs a set piece, how he uses the mechanics and aesthetics of horror(his entire career), and then springboards to how horror in general leads to visceral moments and experiences, and that is what film is all about.
The scary stuff sticks with us.
Just a wonderful, thought expanding video.
Religion is always a fascinating subject for films (how did you visualize a feeling of grandiose?) especially when doing so in a pop art way. This essay showcases how "Close Encounters " lifted and split spirits and words.
A total slam dunk on why cinema is a language, how the tools you use will definitely affect the mood of the film, what earnest straightforward language is in film, and how Spielberg is a master. Oh yeah, and a nice tribute to the film of the decade, Mad Max Fury Road.
Amazing look (via PBS) at one of our most treasured films, showing how each scene is a different note to play in a nostalgia symphony.
A beautiful fly on the wall shot of Steven Spielberg working on his visuals for Jurassic Park, along with the fabulous Dean Cundey. It's so fun and satisfying to watch him at work, creating a film that pleased so much imagination and his casual man of exploring his child strong imagination.
Yes, but still do not despair. Spielberg is a great storyteller -- do not forget that, do not overlook that. He deserves the position he is in, because he has understood something more than many others who are just into the fireworks of big special effects. He is the one who weaves them in very coherent, very good stories. He's a storyteller more than anyone else, and we have a deficit of storytelling in cinema nowadays. It's not only in the United States; it's a worldwide sort of event, because audiences look more for stardom, they look more for special effects. And we don't have stories like, let's say, "Casablanca" or "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" -- the great storytelling that doesn't need big effects, that stays in our hearts forever. Spielberg is one of those who understands it.
Werner Herzog (via INTERVIEW: Strong Man on a Mission)
Is there a more perfect coming together of ideas and talents? To have two visual and odd fellows on the same wavelength? It's too bad the interviewer didn't follow up on this question, or somehow the two didn't meet. It may have been mind expanding possibilities.
I also love how passionately curious and non-pretentious Herzog is. He mentions Jurassic Park, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, David Lynch, and Harmony Korine (in the interview) within the same breath, and can juggle them all beautifully. People are too preoccupied with defining and labeling films, when really all that matters is, is it good or not, does it work or not, what in it moves you. Both Herzog and Speilberg have may that do, that trump logic, and have images that resonate far beyond the time I saw their films. It is wonderful for me to see my adult passiosn and child joy coming together in this way.
Tremendously interesting LA times snippet articles (that links to a further video of Spielberg discussing his dyslexia) that talks about his life and being creative with the way of his mind.
Although he merely attributes it to making him relate to The Goonies, I say it goes way beyond that. Since Spielberg had trouble reading, it explains why he is so relentlessly visual, and indeed one of the greats visualsists in film. You may disagree with the emotions these images bring up (I have, at times) but I never find his work at creating them less then thrilling, with many sticking in your head afterword.
And how fitting it is that, for someone who takes so long to read, that he is a great storyteller and always thinking of new ideas, and that someone who was diagnosed with a (learning) disorder could have created so many hours of film pleasure for me and many other viewers, including some that I will treasure from my youth forever. Films really are the great escape, the great art form.