"The old formats are dead! Long live the old formats!"

We have been awaiting the death of movies, film, flickers, the studios, for decades now, but looking at the boxoffice figures for 2009 we can see that it was yet another stellar year for the industry. The thing that continues to change is not the appetite of the movie going audience but how they "see" film, how they view movies not only in the theaters but at home as well. The 2009 holiday shopping season saw the rise, not only in the number of advertisments but in sheer tonnage moved out the door, of Blu-ray high definition movie players and large flatscreen tvs, showing once again that if you make quality goods affordable to the middle class, technology, and peoples tastes, will change.

I am happy, once again, for the change. I like to stay a trend or two behind the bulk of humanity. I like to catch up after the parade has passed and reap the benefits of the discard pile. Right now is a grand time to be a film collector. VHS tapes for fifty cents a throw, pawn shop DVD's going for little more than a buck, second hand hi-fi players for under ten dollars and used dvd players for less than the price of a movie ticket.

For the time being I am not too worried about the imminent demise of Hollywood Video or Blockbuster rental stores. I am not struggling with the high cost of retail films or outrageous ticket prices at the door. I have my own "movies on demand" system going on at home 24/7 and have hundreds of movie titles to choose from. Let it rain, let it pour. The Futon Cinema is always ready to screen something new or old, and baby, if I haven't watched it before, it's all new to me.

Action!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

My son, the auteur


"Please come to the ArtsWest Film Festival and enjoy our two PG-13 offerings: ASILO and SCATTERED. May 17th, at 5:30-6:40 pm at the Flicks, in Downtown Boise. It’s free admission, please purchase a few food items from eth FLICKS as they have donated the screen time for our showing. Feel free to take a look at the 3 minute ASILO Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5J1AcA7ug8. Our 3rd and 5th period film classes have worked hard the last semester making these great films. My hope is that you will enjoy them as much as we did making them. ASILO is a psychological drama/horror about love, loss and mental instability. PG-13 for violence and violent special effects.SCATTERED is an action/war/drama about loss, revenge, resistance and dictatorship. PG-13 for violence and violent special effects."
The above info was what I received one afternoon around the end of April. It was an announcement for an upcoming film fest, a real film premier, one guaranteed to have a red carpet at the entrance of the theater, be balloon festooned, to be followed up with a crew and hangers-on party at the home of one of the parents. All very Hollywood, all very much downhome Boise, all so Our Gang.
It was a grand time, not only to see my kid's face and his name up on the big screen, but to have heated follow up discussions about the pros and cons of the film, to see his dedication in following up on those niggling problems and cleaning up the sound issues, the continuity issues, that made the initial presentation so hard to take.
So, I feel good now about all the choices, the small paths, the financial outlay that got him there. All those years of buying movies, cobbling together quality electronics, sitting up late at night and watching film after film with him is finally paying off. His storyboarding techniques, his choice of gaming materials, his general overall sweetness and light shows in his demeanor but more in the way that he is approaching this possible career choice. His heart is set on going forward with film and somehow I see that happening regardless of future financing or peer influence. His friends of late are all art school students, and each and every one of them is poised and ready to make their mark on the world, with or without film as the key tool of choice.
I saw that movie premier as being the public launch of a long term film career, never mind that his stop motion animation piece and his other live action number, Special Delivery, were even better, more exciting, viewing. I look forward to someday sitting in a darkened theater and seeing his name up on the screen as the credits unfold. All big things have to start somewhere. I am happy to have seen the start of it.
Action!
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