David Licata | May 16, 2012
The other day, as I ranted to a friend about the state of the economy and my unemployed status, I remembered a commercial that aired in 1971, when I was a wee-little boy. Here it is! At the time I thought it was hilarious. Just as you don’t need to know physics to find Coyote [...]
David Licata | April 3, 2012
The next time someone asks me if my writing and A Life’s Work are connected (this happens a lot), I am going to whip out this quote: Eventually everything connects — people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se. Charles Eames You can watch the documentary Charles & [...]
David Licata | January 6, 2012
In the spring of 2010, a Google Alert mentioned a documentary in production about Paolo Soleri that wasn’t A Life’s Work. I was curious and reached out to the filmmaker, Aimee Madsen. We’ve communicated since about each others’ work and supported each others’ efforts the way filmmakers do, or at least should. I’m thrilled that [...]
David Licata | October 30, 2011
I recently saw Los Straitjackets perform (with special guests the World Famous Pontani Sisters, a burlesque act) here in NYC. I’ve seen them several times before and they always manage to entertain. But somewhere in the middle of one of Eddie Angel’s face-melting guitar solos the brilliance of Los Straitjackets struck me. Los Straitjackets, in [...]
David Licata | October 14, 2011
The other night I went to see Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon at the Brooklyn Public Library. I’ve seen this film quite a few times, and a few years ago, while preparing for the Redwoods shoot, I watched the Woodsman’s trek sequence over and over. You can see it here, 7:20 into the clip. It lasts almost [...]
David Licata | October 4, 2011
“I don’t want a full house at the Winter Garden Theatre. I want 90 people who just came out of the worst rain storm in the city’s history. These are people who are alive, on the planet. Until they dry off. I wish I had a theater that was only open when it rained.” Bill [...]
David Licata | September 2, 2011
The “vacation” continues, so here are some … what did Saturday Night Live call reruns, Encore Presentation? Well, here are some Encore Presentations of some earlier posts. Hope you enjoy them. From Concept to First Day of Shooting Why Do I Love These Shots? A Clip “How Do You Find These People?” The Cinematographers (I’m [...]
David Licata | August 19, 2011
I was asked this question again recently, so I thought why not repost my response from two years ago. It’s not like my answer has changed. People have actually said that to me after I tell them I’m making a documentary. I’m usually rendered speechless and sometimes I can’t even manage to raise an eyebrow. [...]
David Licata | August 16, 2011
One of the things that gives me fits while editing A Life’s Work is the establishing shot. (And this documentary will require a lot of them.) An establishing shot does what its name suggests: it tells the viewer, “You are here.” Let it be known far and wide: I hate establishing shots in film and [...]
David Licata | August 5, 2011
Dear Filmmaker: Recently you reviewed a book called The Film that Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark. If this book’s subtitle were “31 Directors…,” you being the 31st, what one movie would you have talked about? Curious in Burlington. Dear Curious, Oh, this is a tough question. I wrote a [...]
