Book Review on the Filmmaker Magazine Blog
In 1976 Werner Herzog hypnotized his cast of actors and directed one of the strangest narrative films in the history of cinema, Heart of Glass. Alan Greenberg, then a young writer, aspiring filmmaker, and Herzog disciple, was on the set, … Continued
Jill Tarter Retires, Sort Of.
Yesterday the SETI Institute grabbed some headlines with the announcement that Jill Tarter is retiring as the Director of the Center for SETI Research. Naturally, I thought, time to break out the camera and head to Mountainview. Production of A … Continued
Is It Live or Is It … Something Else?
A while back I was talking to an editor about A Life’s Work. As we delved into the specifics, I told him about various ideas I had for the film. At one point he said, “These are good ideas, but … Continued
Unlikely and Sneaky Inspiration
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!* *[The clip I originally … Continued
Regrets? Maybe.
I remembered this exchange between Soleri and me the other day and thought, why not post it again, you know, as a super special encore presentation! Hope you like it. I.G. took advantage of this blog’s stellar feature, Ask the … Continued
Cowboy Koan
While I was at Playa Summer Lake artist residency, I came across a book, Bill Kitt: From Trail Driver to Cowboy Hall of Fame by D. L. “Jack” Nicol and Amy Thompson, and in that book I came across this … Continued
Why Gospel Music?
When I was looking for subjects for A Life’s Work, I always considered a collector in search of a holy grail object. In the early days I thought I’d like to include someone like a film historian searching for, say, … Continued
On the Nose. Too on the Nose?
A couple of years ago I met with an editor about editing the sample for A Life’s Work. The conversation eventually turned to music for the film. One idea I told her I had idea was of staging a choir … Continued
An Email On My Corkboard?
We all need some kind of reassurance from time to time. One of the things I need it for is my skill as a cinematographer. So on my corkboard is a print out of an email from Andy Bowley, a … Continued
Stephen Hawking, R.I.P.
Thanks to Peter Kim for reaching out and alerting me to his great graphic. Simple, elegant design. I love it. How about you?