Oh Really Now

Jarvis Cocker has a radio show!
"Jarvis Cocker takes listeners on a nocturnal journey around stories of night people."
Link to show here - www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/jcwn

Splendid.

Yes Sir, I Can Boogie

A Skype with Berlin

Just found this screengrab of a skype with my friend Franzi in Berlin. We hadn't seen each other in about 4 years and we basically talked for as many hours. It was awesome. I took her on a tour of my apartment with the computer. She was especially interested in the fridge that dispenses water and ice, which is evidently an American novelty ; )

Arranging the script on my floor

Here is a shot of the customary index card stage of screenwriting-
It's fun to bring a physicality to your writing : )

Camera Tests For The Distant Architect

The Distant Architect Preview from Clara Alcott on Vimeo.

Here are some camera tests that we made for the upcoming project The Distant Architect 

More photos by Mervyn O'Gorman

Photo's of Mervyn O'Gorman's daughter Christina. Autochrome photos taken on the beach, 1913.

Never Let Me Go

This beautiful shot is from the film Never Let Me Go. I love the look of the shot-

I have actually never seen  Never Let Me Go but I love the book by Kazuo Ishiguro. The book in some ways inspired the title for my blog.  Not sure why I never saw the film, maybe it’s because I was apprehensive because the book is so special to me.

But I love that shot, I even modeled a shot from my camera tests after it-

CU from my Camera Tests

Maybe it's time to see the film : )

Incidentally it was the photo on the cover of the book that inspired me to read Never Let Me Go

 

The photo on the cover is by Mervyn O'Gorman taken in 1912. O'Gorman was an aeronautical engineer and Colonel in the British Army. Photography was a hobby of his and he made a beautiful series of photos of his daughter Christina on autochrome.

Portrait of Christina in a Garden, 1912

More O'Goman photos on Autochromie

Breaking The Waves - Digitally Altered Landscape

Digitally altered landscapes by Per Kirkeby for Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves

images from zepfanman.com

Like A Glove

Feelings on Film Noir, Feelings on Writing a Film Noir

Hollywood likes it's myths and stories. The Hollywood Narrative appreciates the self-obsessed and Hollywood's favorite stories are about itself. Once a genre that came out of being a second thought, a thrifty "B Unit", the Film Noir is a reluctant American art form. I love cinema and I especially love Film Noir and I can over do it when I gush. It probably has to do with stylization being an integral facet of Noir. Noir needs style to be. 

In terms of screenwriting the blank page can be daunting, but with Noir there is almost a blueprint. It's not easy though. Shadows, a gun and dark clothing don't a movie make. If you step away for a moment, a well crafted Noir script is quietly modern and beautiful. A sparse framework, where shadows, pathos and mood can creep in and fill the empty spaces. I can take comfort that there is a suggested direction, and almost relax into it. A subtle relinquishing of control. As I keep working, I am writing my own story, the one that is needed for my film. It is like finding a tailored glove. Pulling it on slowly, tugging at something dark and form fitting. Schooled and studied, I've kept writing, pushing through stages of inertia, the grays and the bleakness of unconfirmed schedules and financing. But with time you begin to know. I know myself and I know my story. I know my curves and lines. Fit and dressed, I've let myself be drawn where I needed to go but the mold has become my own.