I’ve always been a fan of the director’s commentary on DVDs (I would really love to hear Iñárritu discuss his films!) In fact, if I have the time, I’ll watch a film three times: once to watch it, a second time with the director’s commentary, and a third time to appreciate what the director discusses.

Sadly, many director’s commentaries are disappointing (I suppose speaking about one’s art is a gift that not all artists possess?) So…when I come across a really good director’s commentary, I like to pass on the intel. In case you were wondering, yes, Tom Hooper’s director’s commentary on The King’s Speech DVD is well worth watching – a real education in film/directing. Hooper discusses his relationship with his art directors and location scouts, how he uses the locations to visually tell his story, how the soundtrack contributes to telling his story, which lenses he chooses to use (when and why), and much more. Hooper’s an excellent director and would be an excellent educator as well, I think. Until he begins teaching, however, check out his director commentaries!

If you’re interested in learning more about Hooper’s directing style right now, check out Wikipedia.

With the release of the Blu-ray edition of Robin Hood, Ridley Scott has made his storyboards available to th world. Blu-ray functionality makes it possible to look at the storyboards while watching the film. This is a great boon for both cineastes as well as film students, providing amazing access to the inner workings of

After a couple of tech-focused posts, I thought it was high time to provide a bit of perspective by mentioning a short film I watched this past week, which was made on a scanner. The short was shown at this year’s Disposable Film Festival whose mission statement is “to celebrate the artistic potential of disposable

In case you haven’t been following recent tech news, both Canon and Sony have responded to Nikon’s announcement of the D3100. It was only inevitable…but within a week? Having recently purchased a T2i, I am glad to see that Canon does not plan to rest on its laurels. For an initial review of the Canon

Having grown up overseas I am always looking for ways to connect with the global film community. As the world shrinks, it’s worth looking to other countries for (among others) educational and economic reasons. Producing films overseas can often be an excellent bargain plus, if handled subtly, the foreign-ness of other countries can add a

Sam Raimi’s response to a question at ComicCon is golden: “My advice to young filmmakers is to make a movie every week…write every night and every weekend shoot for two days…[edit] and get a response…see where it works and where it doesn’t work…where your ideas weren’t being communicated properly and learn from that experience sitting

If you’ve ever dreamed of creating films using your camera phone, Darklight’s “Free Your Film” competition may be for you. What is particularly cool about this competition is that the winners will use their prize money to shoot their short film using Sony Ericsson’s new Vivaz HD Camera Phone. Looking through the Vivaz site, however,

If you’re an independent filmmaker, musician, or artist of some kind and you haven’t heard of Crowd Controls yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Originally created to aid in finding and connecting with fans of Four Eyed Monster, the site’s creator is expanding the service to other artists who want to

Istanbul Express is about to take off. If you’re interested in keeping up to date on this project, take a look at their blog. Having lived all over the world, I’m particularly interested in cross-cultural film opportunities such as this one. As the world shrinks, there are more and more opportunities to do things like