Christopher Doyle on Cinematography

He reminds me a little of Keith Richards. He’s made some of the most beautiful films you may ever see with director Wong Kar Wai in Hong Kong. He seems to like wandering the colorful streets. Always talking about the light and color. Last night I took my new camera out along Ventura Boulevard very late. I was making a film by moving very slowly from window to window, shooting in an odd off-kilter way with closeups through glass and lights moving in and out of focus. It took me several hours to move three blocks up the boulevard. I haven’t seen the footage yet but the night was loaded with possibilities. Do you have any idea how many things you can come up with when you look inside a store’s display window? You can break it down almost infinitely and create images that have very little to do with the store. I find it a natural and obvious way to make a film. The sets are all there waiting for me to show up with my camera. It doesn’t matter that I don’t know what the film will be. It exists already and will make itself apparent when I start staring at my footage.

Los Angeles in the 1920s

This is an old silent film produced by Ford that shows Los Angeles in the twenties. You’d be amazed by how much of old LA you can still find. I’m working on a new film that’s going to be in large part about LA and the way a person perceives the city and self through images that are borrowed and may in fact have very little to do with the actual firm existing place. Finding this little film is part of my digging through material about the real and the fanciful Los Angeles.

Animation by Evan Mather: The Patron Saint of Television

Filmmaker Evan Mather made this beautiful animation about the life and visions of St. Clare of Assisi.  I had no idea that television was divinely protected.

Makes me miss that old cathode ray.

Evan Mather produces films for his Hand Crafted Films company.

This is a very sly and clever filmmaker who seems to enjoy thinking about what makes certain film genres tick.  He works with language as easily as he works with images.  There’s lots more to post from him but you can go and explore his work on his Vimeo page.