Latest news with #filmmaking
Digital Trends
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
20 iPhones elevate Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later scene
We already know that the iPhone is a versatile piece of kit with a powerful camera capable of capturing highly impressive video. That quality, coupled with the phone's small size compared to conventional movie cameras, has been inspiring a growing number of filmmakers to use Apple's handset for at least some of the shots in their grand productions. Recommended Videos Take Danny Boyle, the British director behind the 28 horror trilogy about a deadly virus outbreak and its aftermath. For the most recent installment, 28 Years Later, Boyle used a range of cameras, including three special rigs kitted out with iPhones. One had eight iPhones and could be easily carried by one person, another had 10 iPhones attached, and the largest had 20. 'There's an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the [20-camera rig], and you'll know it when you see it,' Boyle told IGN in a recent interview. 'It's quite graphic but it's a wonderful shot that uses that technique, and in a startling way that kind of kicks you into a new world rather than thinking you've seen it before.' The acclaimed director likens the 20-camera rig to 'basically a poor man's bullet time,' a reference to the classic bullet-dodging scene in The Matrix where time appears to slow down. 'It gives you 180 degrees of vision of an action, and in the editing you can select any choice from it, either a conventional one-camera perspective or make your way instantly around reality, time-slicing the subject, jumping forward or backward for emphasis,' Boyle said, adding that as 28 Years Later is a horror movie, 'we use it for the violent scenes to emphasize their impact.' The director said he also likes the rig because 'for a moment, the audience is inside the scene, the action, rather than classically observing a picture.' 28 Years Later hits screens on June 20, allowing fans to dive back into the chaos, while also discovering Boyle's skill at deploying the iPhone as a moviemaking tool.
CNN
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Renowned director Wes Anderson talks about his unique aesthetic
Christiane Amanpour speaks with director Wes Anderson about his latest film, 'The Phoenician Scheme,' and his highly recognizable style of filmmaking.
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Could Four Trails success bring hope to Hong Kong documentaries in the long run?
Hong Kong filmmaker Robin Lee was advised to keep his expectations 'very low' before the cinematic release of his documentary Four Trails last December. After all, he was told, it was just a sports documentary that had no A-list celebrities to attract audiences. In making the film, Lee could not even secure any sponsorships or funding. Still, the 36-year-old believed deeply in the story's power to resonate with audiences as it captured the physical and emotional journeys of runners taking on a gruelling 298km challenge, while showcasing the natural beauty of Hong Kong's landscapes. 'You can't blame them [distributors] because there is no script ... I couldn't tell them [where] the money that you're investing is going to go because no one really knew what would happen,' said Lee, who was the film's cameraman, director and editor. Against the odds, Four Trails became a surprise box office hit, earning over HK$10 million and becoming the second highest-grossing documentary in Hong Kong history. The film also earned Lee the title of Best New Director at the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards. The 101-minute documentary film follows a group of ultrarunners in February 2021 as they braved the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, one of the world's toughest ultra-marathons. Runners must complete Hong Kong's four major hiking trails within 72 hours. The success of Four Trails has boosted the confidence of Hong Kong's small documentary filmmaking scene – though this outlook stands in contrast with the wider movie industry that is still reeling from cinema closures and competition from streaming platforms. The documentary has sparked a renewed appreciation for Hong Kong's trails – even superstar and avid hiker Chow Yun-fat helped promote the film. It also inspired a group of primary school pupils to hike sections of the Lantau Trail with one of the runners featured in the movie. 'In our film, I made loads of conscious decisions to try and get as many different personalities as possible. As a viewer, hopefully, there was one person in the film which you could relate to on a personal level,' Lee said. His next goal is to take the documentary to cinemas around the world and, eventually, to streaming platforms. He is currently in talks with global distributors. 'It's just me and my brother, Ben, who's the producer. The two of us are trying to get the film out globally ... with almost next to no experience before. So it's still taking a lot of time,' he said. While commercial success and accolades were never Lee's motivation, these achievements have been crucial to his goal of reaching audiences overseas. 'Around the world, people don't look at Hong Kong as a trail running destination, so I was really excited to show people this is what Hong Kong has to offer,' said the director, who was born and raised in the city. 'We've got one of the hardest challenges in the world, and it's here in a city which most people think is just skyscrapers.' How Twilight of the Warriors director spotlighted City of Darkness' spirit Challenges of making Four Trails Before filming began, Lee hiked most of Hong Kong's four main trails – MacLehose, Wilson, Hong Kong and Lantau – to familiarise himself with the terrain, identify key filming spots and connect with the runners before the race. With no script to follow and less than 72 hours to record most of the footage, building rapport was crucial in shaping a human-centred narrative. 'It's like a big jigsaw puzzle, [but] there's no picture that you have to follow. You're creating the picture, so it's really difficult to try to figure that out,' he said. Lee recruited his brother and a few freelancers to help film during the race. Once the ultra-marathon started, one of the biggest challenges, Lee said, was figuring out how to build a coherent storyline that captured the journeys of 18 athletes moving at very different paces. 'Everything is changing,' he recalled. 'The runners gave us a time sheet of when they thought they would be in places, but some of them are going faster [and] some are going slower than what they anticipated. Therefore, you have to be really flexible.' Fly Me to the Moon director discusses universal theme of belonging in her film By the third day of the event, exhaustion set in. 'I only slept two or three hours; my brother had just one,' Lee said, adding that the filming process felt chaotic. 'We had this detailed plan before the race, but by day three, it looked wrong. And your head is playing all these games with you that you don't really know which is the right decision to make.' The film showed how the runners started to buckle under the mental and physical strain, but behind the camera, the filmmakers were struggling, too. 'You see them hallucinating and going crazy as the cameraman and the director were also going through a similar situation, so fatigue is really difficult,' Lee said. Even after the race ended, Lee had to edit the footage while juggling his freelance work. Since Four Trails was entirely self-financed, he would take on short projects – some lasting a day and others a week – before returning to edit the documentary. 'I needed to pay for things like graphics. And at one point, I had to hire a composer to write original pieces for specific scenes,' the director noted. 'It's a bit of a risk, but if I don't do it, it's not going to be as good, and I want to make something which I'm really proud of because this may be my only chance to make a film.' 'Four Trails' videographers run to catch up with a competitor who is on the way to the next trail. Photo: Edko Films Ltd Blazing a trail for the industry The commercial success of Four Trails is rare in Hong Kong – Lee's experience of balancing his passion with freelance work is not. Ryan Lai, who has been a documentary filmmaker for about six years, said funding was the major challenge for him and others in this field. 'It's extremely difficult to make a living from documentaries in Hong Kong,' Lai explained. 'Unlike narrative films, documentaries typically lack commercial appeal and therefore attract little to no investment. Aside from some occasional art-related funding, there's almost no financial support available.' As a result, Lai said most documentary filmmakers would treat their work as a side project, not a viable career. 'That's a major obstacle for anyone who wants to pursue this seriously in the long run,' he said. Thus, Lee hopes the unexpected triumph of Four Trails can spur greater support for documentary filmmaking in Hong Kong. 'If you're investing in film, you don't have to shy away from a documentary as long as the story is good,' he said. 'All the stories in Four Trails are real. They're not made up. That, in many ways, makes it even more exciting than some [fictional] feature films.' Lee believes the way forward for the film industry is to prioritise originality. 'If you can keep making original ... and new content, that's going to get people talking. Then that's the best thing for the industry,' he said. Stop and think: Why was the box office success of Four Trails so unexpected in Hong Kong? Why this story matters: Documentary filmmaking is a key art form that shows real stories. It is hard for many of these creators to make a living in Hong Kong, so the success of Robin Lee's film could bring hope to others in the industry.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Amber Heard Dealing With ‘Tricky Situation' Amid Hollywood Comeback: ‘Clock Is Ticking'
Amber Heard has totally reinvented herself in Spain following her court loss to ex-husband Johnny Depp, but she's still keen for an eventual Hollywood comeback – and source exclusively tells In Touch it's slowly coming together as she's attracting the interest of powerful backers. "Amber is dealing with a tricky situation right now because there's real demand for her to get back into the acting game somehow, but it's not going to happen if it's not entirely on her terms,' the insider tells In Touch. 'She has special conditions for coming back and is only entertaining that idea when it's a project where she will have a lot of say on the big decisions about the production, the marketing and the release.' 'Now, for the first time since she was in her 20s, Amber is being assertive about her filmmaking future and demanding some real power,' the insider dishes. 'You can't help but figure that even though she wants nothing to do with Johnny, she's pulling from his playbook a little bit here, because Johnny is so famous for refusing to make any movie unless he's the one calling the shots.' In Touch's source says that Amber 'aspires' to gain the same power as the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 61, 'but she needs to build up a new track record of hits, and quickly. She's putting herself under pressure to find her comeback film, and the clock is ticking!" Amber entered a brand-new chapter in life after her nasty legal battle with Johnny ended. The Edward Scissorhands actor sued Amber in 2019 for $50 million in a defamation lawsuit following their divorce. Amber countersued for double the amount. The former couple battled it out in court in May 2022, leading the jury to award Johnny $15 million, while Amber was awarded $2 million. Following the highly publicized battle, Amber went far away from the drama and moved to Spain with her now-3-year-old daughter Oonagh Paige. 'She has been living in Spain, where she gets more privacy,' a source told People in April 2023. 'The trial was beyond stressful for her, and she just wanted to start fresh out of the country.' Four months later, Amber announced she was pregnant with baby No. 2. 'It is still quite early in the pregnancy, so you will appreciate that we do not want to go into much detail at this stage,' a rep for the London Fields starlet confirmed to People at the time. 'Suffice to say that Amber is delighted both for herself and Oonagh Paige.' On Mother's Day 2025, Amber announced she welcomed not just baby No. 2, but twins, son Ocean and daughter Agnes. "I am eternally grateful that I was able to choose this responsibly and thoughtfully,' Amber wrote via Instagram in the May 11 Instagram post. 'To all the moms, wherever you are today and however you got here, my dream family and I are celebrating with you. Love always, A x."
Khaleej Times
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Clint Eastwood at 95 on film-making: do something new, or stay home
Hollywood star Clint Eastwood urged fellow filmmakers to come up with new ideas, observing in a newspaper interview that the movie business is now full of remakes and franchises. Oscar-winning director Eastwood told Austrian newspaper Kurier he planned to keep working, saying that he was still in good physical shape and hopeful that no one would have to worry about him in that regard "for a long time yet". Eastwood's most recent film, legal drama Juror#2, came out in the United States last year and the newspaper said he was currently in the pre-production phase for another movie. When asked for his view on the current state of the film industry, the star of movies such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Dirty Harry, and director of dozens of films including Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, said: "I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like Casablanca in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea," according to the German text of the interview. "We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I've shot sequels three times, but I haven't been interested in that for a long while. My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home," added Eastwood, who will turn 95 on Saturday. Asked where he got his energy from, Eastwood said: "There's no reason why a man can't get better with age. And I have much more experience today. Sure, there are directors who lose their touch at a certain age, but I'm not one of them." Eastwood, who made World War II thriller Where Eagles Dare in Austria with Welsh actor Richard Burton in the late 1960s, told the paper the secret to his success was that he had always tried something new as a director and an actor. "As an actor, I was still under contract with a studio, was in the old system, and thus forced to learn something new every year," he said. "And that's why I'll work as long as I can still learn something, or until I'm truly senile."
