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September 6, 2003
This is Kind of Cool
I mentioned This is Not a Love Song briefly on my course blog yesterday, and now I want to treat what is being billed as "the world's first simultaneous online and cinema e-premiere." Love Song was written by The Full Monty screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and claims to use digital video (DV) "not as a cheap substitute to film" but as a unique art form. I haven't had a chance to see the film yet, and my modem is rather slow (and I'm also not based in the UK), so I'm not sure when I'll get that opportunity, but I'm certainly intrigued by the experiment.
The description of the filmmaking process suggests that their use of DV is consistent with many experimental filmmakers who see the medium as more spontaneous and better suited to presenting immediate, real-time experiences, such as Mike Figgis' Time Code, which featured a split-screen showing images captured by four cameras filming simultaneously for ninety minutes without cutting (thus dispensing with typical film editing structures as shot-reverse shot, etc).
In part, the filmmakers have pitched their premier as a way of showing independent filmmakers a new means of distributing their work:
We just wanted to show it could be done to give opportunity to independent film producers, and maybe food for though for the film industry at large.I do think there is some potential here for alternative means of distribution that dodge the major studios, especially for young filmmakers who are trying to call attention to their work, and their privileging of cheap production and distribution techniques reminds me of past artistic movements such as Dogma 95 (but without the pretensions of manifestoes and vows of chastity). I'm not quite persuaded that the project is as revolutionary as its advertisers claim, especially given the expense of maintaining a site capable of storing a DV film and handling so many download requests. The flashy website, with its use of Barbara Kruger-style lettering also hints that they see their project as subverting the Hollywood system.
But, in general, I'll be very curious to see the film, in part to see how it uses DV, if it allows DV to become a "new art form" as the filmmakers advertise. Is there anyone reading my blog who had a chance to see the film?
Posted by chuck at September 6, 2003 6:07 PM
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