FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

About ten years ago I read Michael Schumacher's biography, "Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life". I so enjoyed the book that I read it a second time right after I finished it.

For me, Coppola is the greatest American artist working in film. While I have great admiration for the likes of Kubrick and contemporary artists like Paul Thomas Anderson, there's something special and unique about Coppola. Some friends sent a link to this short video clip and it sums up some of what makes him so amazing.

Eleanor Coppola came to San Francisco State University (Francis' brother August Coppola was the Dean of the School of the Arts) and spoke to the cinema department back when I was a student there in 1990 and she showed parts of her documentary "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse". This is still the single greatest documentary on the art of filmmaking. It rivals the actual film.

I set out to make a documentary myself following an artist who was working in cinematic forms, using Eleanor Coppola's film as a model and ispiration. But the artist I was following never showed the passion, sensitivity, humanity or vunerability you see in Coppola which is what makes him so relateable as a subject. When analyzing these differences, I realized that I could never make an honest film without alienating the subject and the project was shelved.  

About once a year I go back and watch "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" as a way to connect back to my passion for filmmaking. This little clip is a great synopsis of the film and its overarching message.

VFX SHOW #153 - TOTAL RECALL (2012)

Mike Seymour, Jason Diamond and Matt Wallin discuss the visual effects in the 2012 version of Total Recall.

Listen to Mike Seymour’s in-depth fxpodcast with Dneg’s Head of Lighting & Rendering Philippe Leprince about the studio’s adoption of a new physically plausible lighting setup for Total Recall.

You can also read Ian Failes article on fxguide, Keeping it real: Total Recall.

Click on the image below to listen to the latest podcast online or subscribe for free in iTunes.

PIONEER 11

Pioneer 11 (also known as Pioneer G) is a 259-kilogram (569 lb) roboticspace probe launched by NASA on April 6, 1973 to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar wind, cosmic rays, and eventually the far reaches of the solar system and heliosphere.It was the first probe to encounter Saturn and the second to fly through the asteroid belt and by Jupiter. Due to power constraints and the vast distance of the probe, communication has been lost since November 30, 1995.

Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 carry a gold-anodized aluminum plaque in the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life-forms from other planetary systems. The plaques feature the nude figures of a human male and female along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft.

QUINTEK GROUP RE-IMAGINES CLASSIC STAR TREK OPENING TITLES

This animation is an homage to one of the most groundbreaking sci-fi television shows ever to beam down to Earth. Our goal was to try and capture the essence of what we found most enjoyable from the series for building this faux opening to this classic show.

Narration: William Shatner

Audio: Star Trek (original series opening)

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy

Created by: Gene Roddenberry

PT Anderson's "THE MASTER" teaser

Paul Thomas Anderson edited the trailer himself, which follows suit with trailers for his previous releases. The background music appears to be part of Radiohead member Jonny Greenwood’s score. Greenwood also composed the music for There Will Be Blood.

Watch the teaser trailer above for the first look at The Master, which is scheduled for release October 12, 2012.

© Matt Wallin. All rights reserved.