The Duchess

It's been a while since I've written a review of a movie. Been a while since I've seen a movie in theaters too.


I am a sucker for films like these. Any time that a filmmaker can transport me to a time before Cell-Phones and the Internet and even film itself, I'm there. I can't help but be immersed in them and search for every bit of socio-political information that they have to offer. Though it is sadly light on politics, and its run-time is shorter than I hoped considering how much could have been covered, this films study of gender politics and freedom is quite engaging.

This film also genuinely surprised me story wise. I thought I knew where it was going to go, but Keira Nightly and Ralph Fiennes honestly kept pulling the rug out from under me. She was successful at making me forget Pirates of the Caribbean, Ralph put in one of his best performances to date. I really recommend people who would not normally see a period film go and see this because it just might surprise you too.

I give it four feathers in a hat out of five.

P.S. I am pro-digital now. I can't wait for The Red One to be a household item. I am done with film as of my discovery that this camera has better resolution than film itself. Film=2K, Red One=4K

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit March 20, 2009:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pro-Digital phase did not last long. Buying full Super8 setup with projector, and splicer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit May 19, 2010:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Film is cumbersome and wasteful. Back to digital.

Gilgamesh

I have spent the last sixteen hours putting together an outline for the project I'm about to do on the Avid machines at school tomorrow.

I pulled my resources from Archive.org, did a basic search for science fiction and grabbed a bunch of images of atomic bombs, cars, industry and some religious images, put it all to a man reading a piece of Gilgamesh and viola, poetic beauty. I can't wait to see it when it's fully realized.

I've never written down all my edits before I made them and it's an interesting process. I like it a lot and can definitely see me using it on my own personal projects, a designio of sorts.

I really do love editing, and I don't do nearly as many projects for my own enjoyment as I would like to. There's something pure and lusty about editing. The way that you get to put things that don't go together right up next to each other and have people attempt to decipher meaning. And trying to piece through hours and hours of footage for that image that comes to mind that will complete the story you want to tell, only to realize that the images have other ideas in mind.

It's really weird when you get that pull. That slight tug from something beyond you. All those lives and experiences calling out to you from so long ago. They ask to be placed within the sculpture you are trying to create; to be re-embedded in peoples minds; make them remember those images all over again. It's hard at archive.org because there are so many bizarre clips it's hard not to keep going back to 50s Americana and footage of atomic bombs. The Hydrogen bomb clip is horrific and yet truly beautiful. There's something about all that death and fear that's really hard to break yourself from.

Well, I'm heading to bed before I have to go to school tomorrow.

Pre-Production Has Begun!

S0IL Studios has started work on a new project entitled Seeds of Doubt.

We're in the process of writing the script and scouting locations.

I don't want to say much because I want to build up anticipation, but let me just give you a couple of images to wet your appetite.

Dark Knight Returns January '09!

I don't know if this is really necessary and certainly sets an interesting precedent, but it's nice to see Warner trying their damnedest to get Heath Ledger his Oscar.

I saw the film for the forth time last week after reading The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke (with the original coloring, the new stuff looks like a bad Schindler's List parody) and I'm now disappointed they spent so much time on action and North by Northwest/Stray Dog style pacing that they didn't develop Harvey Dent/Two Face as much as possible. The even sadder thing is that I'm sure they did do more. There are still a lot of weird loose ends in the film for me that I need tied up. I'm really hoping we'll see a nice fat director's cut when it finally gets released on Blu-Ray.

This is an interesting new era for comic book movies. Now that this film has combined classic gritty WB noir with artful indie characterization/acting and tried its hardest to scrub Adam West from the minds of America (the second best Batman of all time) we're finally seeing comic book films not just comic book movies. Also intriguing that this film was full of gimmicky ploys (scenes shot in 70mm, released nationwide in IMAX, "Heath Ledger's untimely death" (in quotes because it's not Ledger's or the studio's fault, but it does give the film that certain Brandon Lee quality)), and yet still captured the hearts and minds of the critics, comic book fans and John & Jane Q. Public.

I hope we start seeing more comic book adaptations as smart as this one and not something like Iron Man which preached an end to weapons manufacturing by giving one billionaire alcoholic tactical human nukes to violently kill a bunch of people... riiiiight....

Is this a good thing though? It's always hard for me to critique the politics of Batman because he is the mighty icon he is. Regardless of my pacifism I still can't help but say, "OH MAN! I WANNA FIGHT CRIME! I WANNA PUNCH THE JOKER IN THE FACE! I WANT A batPOD NANO!!" Since box office grosses reflect public sentiment, and to a degree this film does have a right wing "end the chaos that terrorism attempts to create," does that mean we're hungry for more war? Is the final scene a moment of making George W. Bush a pariah? Am I grasping at straws? Probably. But it's still the darkest comic book movie since The Crow and certainly will inspire just as many costumes every Halloween. Either way, the films Joker is certainly one of the darkest villains to date for a mainstream film of PG-13 and I can't help but wonder about escalation and copy-cats. I hope that the Harvey Dents of the world are strong enough that we don't need Batman, but since a lot of people are looking at the Joker as the "hero" of the hour on this one I continue to worry.

I shouldn't say the film was all right bat-wing (sorry), Lucius decent on the subject of wire-tapping was a sly wink to the present state of our "right to privacy" and I commend them for it.

Yeah, so I guess my point is that Dark Knight is coming back to theaters and they'll probably get my money one more time. Yeh know, since I'll have forgotten it by then.

Back to the 8:30am to the 11:30pm.

Classes start tomorrow. Interesting schedule.

Non-Linear Comp. Edit 3: Avid
M 12:00pm-02:50pm
Miller,Crystal (although online it says I have Dave Taylor)

Dunno about this. If it's Dave Taylor I'm happy as hell to have a class with the editor of both Grizzly Man and Pootie Tang. Don't know anythign about Mrs. Miller (potentially Ms.).

20th Century Art
T 12:00pm-02:50pm
Griffeath,Craig H

Mr. Griffeath's stock and trade is as a musician. Hopefully a fun new slant to viewing 20th Century art.

Silver Screen & Ivory Tower
T 08:30am-11:20am
Levie,Matthew B

I'm excited for this class. Mr. Levie studied under Woody Allen's editor and he seems to have a fair number of credits to his own name (nothin' I've heard of though). Always happy to sit at an editors feet and listen to them muse about the world.

Science Fiction and Fantasy
Th 12:00pm-02:50pm
Marcoux,Tom

Mr. Marcoux seems to be the inventor of personal branding (or at least so his bio reads.

Lighting 2 (The Set)
F 03:30pm-06:20pm
Redmond,Lee

Lee doesn't have a bio up yet, but he is hands down my favorite teacher at the academy. He's the reason I'm not an editor 100% of the time, he helped foster my love for Conrad Hall, Roger Deakins, Christopher Doyle, Matthew LeBatique and Greg Toland. I learned more about film and who I am as a filmmaker in one semester with him than I have in the three years I've been here.


I graduate in fall of '09 and of course this has my mind reeling. I'm 23, I'm an art major and I will have a slip of paper which says "please pay me more money!" Now I'm very happy to have that slip of paper since it takes a doctorate to work at a McDonalds these days, but I can't help but feel like the piece of paper is meaningless and my reel is more important.

And besides that, my education isn't ending there. I'm taking a course every semester at CC just to keep learning. Also plan on getting my teaching degree at some point. Maybe flesh out that Philosophy major I started at GVSU two years ago. There's just too much out there and to many interesting people to learn from. And heck, if CC's only $25 a credit hour, why the heck would I pass that up?

I keep looking at my job that I have right now and wondering if it will continue to sustain me much longer. It pays okay, but I could use something that at least has a quarterly raise.

One of my issues as an independent filmmaker is that I want to create my art and I don't want to be paid for it. I want to put it out there and just hope it changes people's lives. I'm learning about cinematography and editing because I feel it puts me in touch with the divine. When I'm playing with light or making people tell a story from pieces of their conversation, all of a sudden there is this sense of harmony. I can honestly hear the voice of god and feel the universe wrap me in its love. Why would I ever give that up? And I have a real difficulty asking for money for something that is so spiritually fulfilling. But I suppose that's what I must do to survive as an artist. Make myself a commodity and hope what I can make of myself will last beyond my lifetime.

Who Will Watch the Watchmen?

Looks like no one if Fox has anything to say about it.

Apparently they've owned the rights since 1986 and are suing WB to ensure the film never gets released. This is the strangest case I've ever heard of, and one of the sneakiest things Fox has done since the creation of Fox News!

Welcome to the official S0IL Studios Blog!

S0IL Studios spent some time on MySpace and has since moved on to less niche markets.

Now on Blogger, this will be a compilation of filmic musings from the S0IL Studios crew. Everything from my latest project, the latest Criterion news or philosophical musings on the state of film.

My films will be on YouTube, but think of this as our online community.

We have some exciting projects on the horizon and this will be the exclusive place for news and events from the smallest film studio in San Francisco!