Visual effects artists prepare for the day when virtual reality is a filmmaking reality; a low-budget horror film rakes in the bucks; touring tips from Belle & Sebastian's singer.
Oscar interest focuses on new crop of Hollywood 'have-beens'
Oscar season is approaching — not when they give out the awards, but when the high profile Oscar-bait movies trickle into theaters. This year, quite of few of those movies have something strange in common: a famous actor or actress is playing a has-been version of him or herself:
- Al Pacino plays an over-the-hill ham in "The Humbling," based on the novel by Philip Roth.
- Juliette Binoche is a former ingénue who now has to play the role of the older woman in "Clouds of Sils Maria."
- Julianne Moore feels threatened by up-and-comers in David Cronenberg’s "Maps to the Stars."
- "The Congress" becomes surreal after Robin Wright — playing “Robin Wright” — sells a virtual version of herself to a movie studio.
- Then there’s "Birdman," in which Michael Keaton plays an actor whose career floundered after he quit playing a superhero.
Of all these films, "Birdman" is generating the most buzz, perhaps because it cuts closest to home. Keaton’s career did flounder after "Batman Returns," and "Birdman" satirizes Hollywood’s cash cow of superhero movies.
All the movies recall "Sunset Boulevard," the original Hollywood meta-narrative in which Gloria Swanson, an aging star, played an aging star wallowing in nostalgia. "Hollywood wasn’t really accustomed to lifting its veil back then,” says Rafer Guzman, host of WNYC’s Movie Date podcast and film critic for The Takeaway. “Personas were very tightly controlled. It was unusual I think to see someone break the fourth wall in such a self-referential, unflattering way.”
What’s striking about today’s films is how willing the stars are to lampoon themselves. Pacino, apparently, fought to make "The Humbling."
This trend seems to have flown in under the radar, perhaps because these films are largely independent, and four of the five of the directors are foreign. But Guzman says these art house films make commercial sense, because they’re aimed an aging marketplace. “Let’s call it the greying audience,” he says. “They’re out there and they are still seeing movies pretty faithfully" — unlike their kids.
Eric Molinsky is a producer for Studio 360 and host of the podcast Imaginary Worlds.
Hands-on with the Oculus Rift, the newest medium for radical storytelling
It sort of feels like the Oculus Rift has been in development forever, but it's only been two years since its insanely successful Kickstarter campaign brought it widespread attention. Oh, and Oculus being bought by Facebook for $2 billion didn't hurt its visibility, either. Despite all of the money and excitement, Oculus Rift headsets are still not for sale.
However, that hasn't stopped visual effects artists and filmmakers from getting in on the action. The Oculus Rift was originally designed by Palmer Luckey to be the platform for the most immersive video games ever, but the technology's been embraced by storytellers in Hollywood that don't just want to show you a story; they want you to be right there in that world.
As the Oculus Rift nears release — there's no official release date yet, but rumors suggest it will go on sale within the next two years — the technology's capability for Virtual Reality storytelling will only become more and more realized. But right now the Oculus Rift is just on the threshold, which leaves multiple questions floating around. It's more than, "What stories should we tell? Instead it's, How do we even use this technology to tell a story?"
Writer Carina Chocano dove firsthand into the blossoming world of VR storytelling for the inaugural issue of California Sunday Magazine, and somehow she survived descents into the afterlife, being attacked atop The Great Wall of "Game of Thrones," and a studio session with a trained pianist. Chocano adapted her piece for us here at The Frame, and we've pulled together some clips from the VR stories she watched to help augment your listening experience.
Senza Peso
One of the most impressive and ambitious VR pieces yet, "Senza Peso" takes you from life to death in a journey through the afterlife. The video, put together by Kite & Lightning, is clearly designed for the Oculus Rift, but even on a flat computer screen it's really something to watch.
Ascend The Wall
One of the most iconic elements of "Game of Thrones," The Wall is a towering fortress designed to protect the people of the north from tribes of wildlings, White Walkers, and all the scary things that can only be found north of The Wall (trust me, I feel like a huge nerd after writing that sentence).
Framestore is a visual-effects studio that won an Academy Award for its work on "Gravity," and they worked with the "Game of Thrones" to create a four-dimensional piece at South by Southwest in which a viewer is taken up The Wall only to witness an attack by a horde of wildlings.
Bonus: if you go to Framestore's page on the project you can find an Instagram video of "Game of Thrones" star Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) losing her mind while being taken up The Wall.
Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch has secrets for surviving while on tour
Belle & Sebastian are not new to the touring scene. The Scottish indie-rock band has been together since 1996 and playing shows around the world for just as long. Stuart Murdoch, the singer and songwriter of the group, gives some insight on how he's managed to keep his sanity while on the road.
Interview Highlights
The suitcase essentials:
One of them is gaffer tape. You call it duct tape here and I use it for all sorts of crazy things. 'Cause I hate air conditioning, the first thing I do when I get to a hotel is tape all the ducts. Also I take a sleeping bag everywhere with me because you never where you're gonna get stranded, like in an airport or you're gonna get stuck on the bus. And the best thing to do is get inside your little sleeping bag and just try to disappear.
How Murdoch relaxes on the road:
I put on my noise-canceling headphones, I put on my laptop and that'll get me [relaxed]. I have a "Seinfeld" obsession. It feels like they're my other family. And so when times are tough, I gotta watch "Seinfeld" just to snap me out. The episodes are short so if you've got an hour between sound check and the gig, or if it's been a stressful day, I'll spend 30 minutes with the gang... and everything will seem a little bit better.
Who is the enemy?:
When we're on tour, the enemy is never the band, the enemy is never the crew. The enemy is just the tour itself... it's inconveniences. It's just being uncomfortable. It's being in a place you don't wanna be. Some people can play the show, drink until 4 [in the morning], sort of stumble into a stupor and then wake up in time for the next soundcheck at 3 o'clock again. I can't do that. I wake up every morning at 8 o'clock and I want someone to talk to and I want a healthy breakfast. And these things are difficult to get on tour.
How various crowds react to Belle & Sebastian's live shows:
Audiences are different all around the world. Japan, we get a super polite audience. Everybody knows the songs. They wait 'til the end to clap. You could go to Brazil or Argentina and they'll rip your trousers right off you. I mean seriously, that actually happened in Mexico. They ripped my trousers right down the back. I just held on to them.
Belle & Sebastian play The Theatre at The Ace Hotel on Oct 6 and 7. The band's new album "Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance," comes out next January.
'Annabelle' producer: Return on investment for horror films is huge
Peter Safran is no stranger to the business of genre movies in Hollywood: he's produced such hits as "The Conjuring" and "Buried," and his most recent producer credit is on "Annabelle," the prequel to last year's "The Conjuring."
Leading up to the weekend, the film world was buzzing with the speculation that "Annabelle" could out-perform David Fincher's "Gone Girl." And while "Gone Girl" finished with $38 million, "Annabelle" came in a close second with $37.2 million. We talked to Safran about what it means to have gone neck-and-neck with "Gone Girl" and the economic reasons why Hollywood loves a genre movie.
There's no sure thing in Hollywood, but some horror and genre titles right now seem to have the potential for an incredible return on investment. What's happening there?
Well, actually, this year has been a very weak year for horror in general. I think there has not been a breakout hit. So, for us, the audience was certainly primed for something that they can get behind. Horror in general is a pretty good bet in the sense that it's a relatively low-cost investment and it still has an unlimited upside.
It's low-cost because you're not spending a lot of money on digital effects or actors? Why do you save so much money?
There are a couple of factors that play into it that allow us to make it for a modest budget. First of all, you certainly don't need to spend money on stars — they're not star-driven vehicles. And in fact, if anything, having a big star in a genre movie can [have a negative effect] because it feels less real. Secondly, you don't spend a lot of money on visual effects; anything you can do in-camera tends to be better and scarier because it feels more real. And then, finally, [horror films] tend not to be filmmaker-driven — with very few exceptions, like a James Wan movie, the audiences just don't care. All they care about is, Is it scary? And if they're scared, it works, and that's it.
You talked about genre films not doing particularly well this year. Does that kind of set that stage for "Annabelle," that people are hungry for a movie that's going to work?
I think there's no doubt. I think people are always hungry for a good genre movie, a good supernatural thriller, and I think the fact that there hadn't been one to satisfy that craving for this entire year certainly teed us up to take advantage of it.
What does it mean to actually be neck-and-neck with "Gone Girl"?
I think it's extraordinary for us. When you look at these two movies on paper, you have a $5 million genre movie with no stars and you have a $70 million movie directed by one of the greatest filmmakers working today, starring Ben Affleck and based on a best-selling novel. It's an extraordinary feat to even be in the conversation.