Frame Rate

Everyone involved in the production industry here in Alabama is keeping his fingers crossed for this bit of legislation to pass. Here’s a brief report from NBC13 News.

Even if you couldn’t make it out to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival, you can still get a taste by heading over to iTunes and downloading a few of the featured short films. Yep, that’s right. I got this little tidbit from John August’s blog. The films are free to download until January 25 and ten are available.

I just got back home from viewing the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which was one of the more intense movies I have ever seen. I need time to really wrap my brain around this film before posting a full review. So for now, enjoy the music video of the Solace theme song, which is one of my favorite Bond songs of all time.

At one point or another you have found in your email inbox a letter from some Nigerian national who is interested in doing business with you, or has informed you that you have won some kind of lottery. The business proposal usually involves help in transferring a large amount of money and that you will be compensated for your help. Obviously these proposals are scams; an attempt to persuade you to hand over all your savings. 419 The Nigerian Scam is a film that sheds light onto this cyber-con and tells the stories of those who fell victim to it. You can read all about the film and view a trailer on the official website.

First it was Beta, then VHS, then Laserdisc, then DVD, then HD-DVD. Now it’s Blu-Ray. But are discs doomed? Will the format soon give way to on-demand streaming movies and TV shows from the internet? At least one blogger thinks so. In the wake of a Netflix debacle that has frustrated customers, this article discusses the antiquity of physical media and the need for the internet to provide high-res streaming movie content. It prompts an interesting discussion. I can definitely see the advantages of purchasing or renting movies over the internet, especially if one has access to every movie ever made. That would be quite a perk. But will physical disc media go away? Your thoughts?

George Lucas is telling MTV that discussions are under way for Indy 5, and that if produced, it would center on Indy and not Mutt Williams (thank god). Lucas also indicated that they are working on an object for Indy to go after. Should there be a fifth Indiana Jones movie? If so, what should be the focus of Indy’s search? Read the full article here.

Thousands of films are made every year, but only a small fraction enjoy a wide release in theatres nationwide. Some enjoy limited release in major markets, meaning that people in Small Town, USA will probably never see them. Others go straight to DVD. Some find success on the film festival circuit, but go no further. Sometimes it’s difficult to find great, original films with summer blockbusters and Hollywood remakes taking up precious cinema space. However, Web 2.0 has made it possible for filmmakers to get their work out to audiences. The latest online service that I’ve come across is SnagFilms.

I first read about SnagFilms in The Birmingham News. In the Tech Report section I saw an article by Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal giving readers the low-down on this website. Essentially, SnagFilms exposes the viewer to all kinds of documentary film that otherwise might never be seen. And it’s free to use. Viewers can even place these full-length docs onto their favorite social networking site, like Facebook. You can view the films full screen if you like and some provide links to external sites where you can purchase DVDs.

I found the following article at The Guardian. After 80 years, missing scenes to Fritz Lang’s silent film Metropolis have been uncovered in a museum in Argentina. The missing scenes will shed light on many questions film buffs have had since the film was released in the States in the latter part of the 1920s. Definitely an interesing read.

The cinematic world was today celebrating the rediscovery of missing scenes from German director Fritz Lang’s legendary silent film Metropolis - thought lost for 80 years, until they were found in the archive of a museum in Argentina.

Key scenes cut from the science fiction picture - either because they were considered to be too brutal or too long - will now be available for the first time since May 1927, when the original version was last shown in Berlin, where it flopped badly.

The head of the Berlin film museum Deutsche Kinematik, Dr Rainer Rother, called the find a “sensational discovery”, adding that one of the most famous films of all time “can now be seen through new eyes”.

Metropolis, which is set in a futuristic city state and explores the clash between workers and their capitalist exploiters, was at the time one of the most expensive films ever made. Produced in the Babelsberg studios on the outskirts of Berlin, it cost around 7m Reichsmarks, but was hated by critics and the public alike. It was shortened by the American company Paramount Pictures, who considered it impenetrable for the US market, leading to an oversimplification of the plot, the disappearance of key scenes and the sidelining of significant characters.

But the restored version, which has so far been seen by only a handful of film experts and critics in Berlin, is said to throw light on key questions that have puzzled and tantalised generations of film buffs.

The uncut version is said to solve the mystery as to why Maria, the workers’ insurrectionist leader, is mistaken by a baying mob for her doppelganger, a female robot.

Schmale, a spy who is sent by the autocratic leader of the futuristic city, Joh Frederson, to pursue his son, Freder, plays a minor role in the cut version, but a significant supporting role in the original. “The role … can finally be understood,”

Rother said. A scene in which children are saved from the workers’ underworld is also said to be “much more dramatic” - and more violent - than in the cut version.

The rediscovery, revealed by the newspaper Die Zeit, came to light after Paula Felix-Didier, curator of Buenos Aires’ Museo del Cine, acted on a tip-off from a former film club director that the full-length version had been gathering dust in the museum’s archive since the early 90s. Fearing that the discovery would not be taken seriously in Argentina, she flew with the footage to Germany this week to present the film to experts who have deemed it to be authentic.

Die Zeit has reconstructed the story of how the film found its way to Argentina. A copy of the longer version of the film was first sent to Buenos Aires in 1928 at the request of the Terra film distribution company. A film critic called Manuel Pena Rodriquez obtained the reels shortly afterwards, selling them in the 60s to Argentina’s National Art Fund. A copy of them was passed onto the Museo del Cine in 1992, but their value was not fully realised until now.

Helmut Possman, director of the Friedrich-Wilhelm Murnau Foundation which holds the rights to Metropolis, said the film, which is badly scratched, would be made available to the public after it has been restored. “This material, which we had long considered to be lost forever, will help us to a new understanding of Fritz Lang’s masterpiece,” he said.

Martin Köerber, who restored a previous version of Metropolis, expressed his delight at the new footage. He told Die Zeit: “It doesn’t matter how bad the condition of the material is, the original intention of the film, including all of its minor characters and subplots, is now once again tangible for viewers. The rhythm of the film has been restored.”

In various posts on this blog, I have discussed how the traditional 30-second TV spot is giving way to a new brand of advertising — product placement programming. This shift can be traced to our video-on-demand world where commercials can be bypassed at will. It seems that the newly labeled “micro-series” is gaining favor among advertisers, particularly Revlon and Match.com. Promo Magazine reports that tonight TBS will premiere “Commuter Confidential” during “Sex and the City.” Each episode of “Commuter Confidential” runs for two minutes and features a format similar to “Sex and the City” — four women carpool together and discuss life, looks, and relationships. Factoring into their discussions are Revlon products and their experiences on Match.com. TBS is also gearing up for another micro show to coincide with replays of “Law & Order.” For now these mini TV shows will air during the commercial break of another show, but I feel that this is definitely the start of a trend that will eventually lead to all product-placement programming.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe is definitely on my list of “Most Anticipated Films of the Summer,” and yet news is hard to come by. For years there were rumors that a sequel was in the works, and then only a few months ago I heard that not only will there be a sequel, but its release date is July ‘08. Talk about surprised. Details for this film have been guarded more carefully than the facts surrounding Roswell, but finally we have some information. SlashFilm has posted three new pics as well as a brief plot synopsis. Enjoy.