Category Archives: Film

Sustainable solutions: by bike, on a plane or by hand

Pop quiz:

What do the following design concepts have in common: a streamlined re-design of in-flight meal preparation and service that reduces air-travel waste; a bicycle for tourists that collects environmental data as cyclists explore the city; and a human-powered washing machine and spin dryer for families living on $4 to $10 per day?

a. They were all designed by Art Center students.
b. They reflect the growing awareness of sustainability within art and design.
c. They are the winning concepts of the 2012 Denhart Family Sustainability Scholarship Prize.
d. All of the above

Too easy? The answer (d) shouldn’t surprise anyone who is familiar with the cutting-edge role Art Center students are playing in environmentally and socially responsible art and design. This year’s Denhart Prize winners, chosen from a highly competitive pool of undergraduates from Fine Art, Film, Photography, Illustration, and Industrial and Environmental Design, represent some of the year’s top design ideas in sustainability at Art Center.

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Art Center to host student-only film festival

On March 16, Art Center will host the first annual Dot Independent Film Festival, which will screen and award student projects from around the world.

“There’s no other film festival that only caters to students,” says Kevin Wansa, a film student who coordinated the event along with fellow film student Mike Reyes and faculty member Andrew Harlow.

DIFF will award films in several different categories including narrative short, documentary, music video, and commercial and PSA. The festival is also about forming collaborative relationships across schools and communities.

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Oscars 2013: Film Department Chair Ross LaManna picks best in show

It’s official: The Oscar nominees are in. Film Department Chair Ross LaManna weighs on who was best in show among the 85th Annual Academy Awards top 10 categories. (Hint: It’s not “Lincoln.”)

1. Best Picture: “Argo.” Choosing strictly on broad entertainment value, it’s a close call between “Argo” and “Django Unchained,” with “Argo” squeaking out a win. It’s a solid, suspenseful thriller and good old-fashioned moviemaking.

2. Best Actor: Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables.” Hugh Jackman’s performance reminds me of what someone said of Ginger Rogers – she did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in heels. Jackman gave a terrific leading man performance, portraying a profound character arc over a long period of time… and he sang the whole damn thing.

3. Best Actress: Naomi Watts, “The Impossible.” An amazing, no-holds performance in an excellent movie, on what was clearly a grueling shoot.

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Film student’s photography nominated for Lucie Award

Eric Chang's "Time-Trap" was nominated for a Lucie Award.

Art Center College of Design Student Eric Chang has been nominated for a Lucie Award for “Time-Trap,” a photo series that could soon adorn Elton John’s walls.

The 22-year-old is among the eight nominees in the Discovery of the Year category — which recognizes emerging image-makers in editorial, advertising, fine art and other photo-centric industries — and carries a $5,000 prize.

Winners will be announced Oct. 8 at the 10th annual Lucie Awards, presented by the Lucie Foundation, which works to cultivate the craft of photography worldwide.

The gala dinner and awards presentation at the Beverly Hilton hotel will feature stars from both sides of the lens, including Jessica Lange, Aisha Tyler, Ryan Murphy and Joel Meyerowitz, who will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement award.

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‘Little Miss Sunshine’ directors talk filmmaking from script to screen

From left: Instructor Lee Rosenbaum, Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton. Photo: Chuck Spangler

“Little Miss Sunshine” directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris spent Wednesday afternoon with Art Center College of Design students recounting their 30-year career, which spans directing the first round of music videos in the early 1980s to the 2012 feature film “Ruby Sparks.”

The husband-and-wife directing duo kicked off the conversation on the Hillside campus with advice for students getting their foot in the door.

“Right now you guys are really cheap to hire and that’s a great entry into the business,” said Dayton, wearing jeans, jacket and his signature fedora.

“Lie, cheat, steal, do whatever you can to get your movies made,” Faris added, quoting her former UCLA professor, renowned filmmaker Shirley Clarke.

The pair made their directorial debut with the R.E.M. music video “Wolves Lower” in 1982 when MTV was first launching.

“There was this new form of filmmaking, and there were no experts and no money,” said Faris, donning a blue button up paired with yellow sneakers.

The couple went on to direct videos for ’90s grunge darlings Jane’s Addiction, Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins.

Dayton and Faris shared cinematic secrets behind the 1996 Smashing Pumpkins video for “1979,” including putting cameras in unusual places: inside a Ziploc bag and tossed into a pool and strapped inside a rolling tractor tire.

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Art Center featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Top 25 Film Schools ranking

Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 Film Schools

The Hollywood Reporter has included Art Center’s stellar film program in its new list of the top 25 film schools in the world.

The second annual list of outstanding film educational institutions was decided on by the editors at the entertainment trade publication and an unidentified list of industry insiders.

The Art Center entry mentions alumni Michael Bay, Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (Mirror, Mirror) and visionary director Zack Snyder who’s highly anticipated Superman reboot Man of Steel is set for a June release.  In the story, alumnus Snyder recalls how his mentor, Mike Ahnemann, influenced his career.

Visionary Director Zack Snyder stops by Art Center

Watch the Man of Steel trailer here.

Emmy Fever: Alum Talents Featured on Top Nominee “Mad Men”

Congratulations to all the talented professionals who worked on Emmy-nominated shows including Alumna Ellen Freund for her work on “Mad Men”

Art Center Alumna Ellen Freund FILM 79 is prop master on the hit AMC show “Mad Men.”  The show tied with “American Horror Story” for the most Emmy nominations with 17 each.  Among the many accolades, the steamy period drama series about Madison Avenue was honored for outstanding art direction.

Freund’s credits include “Twilight,” “Night at the Museum” and “Vanilla Sky.” To learn more about her career, check out this profile that recently ran on Huffington Post.

In the story, she says “Mad Men” is definitely the biggest challenge of her career. “It is my first time on a television series and the combination of a compressed time frame, limited budget and relentless schedules are very demanding. ‘Mad Men’ requires massive amounts of research to attain the level of accuracy that creator Matthew Weiner seeks and the entire crew strives for every day. The period is fascinating and visually stimulating, making it a real pleasure to work on.”

Visionary director Zack Snyder stops by Art Center

Zack Snyder at Art Center. Photo by Chuck Spangler.

"Man of Steel" director, Zack Snyder.

Director and Art Center alumnus Zack Snyder FILM ’89 visited an overflowing Los Angeles Times Auditorium yesterday afternoon for a discussion and Q&A with Film instructor Dan Perri. Snyder, who came directly from an editing suite where he and a crew are preparing a trailer of his next film, the Superman reboot Man of Steel, for this weekend’s Comic-Con, shared with Art Center students his experiences both as a student and as a director of Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Watchmen, among others.

Here are a few highlights from the event:

Snyder on his initial “path:” When I first got to Art Center, I was pretty sure I’d make a short film and Steven Spielberg would see it and hire me to direct a feature film. That was the path I envisioned for myself. About half way through my Art Center career, I became super scared that I wasn’t going to get a job, so I put my head down and started making commercials.

On being loyal to his key collaborators: When I went in to commercials, a lot of the guys I worked with were my friends from Art Center. There’s a very pervasive culture in Hollywood of Okay, get rid of that guy and get another guy. Because maybe it’ll change, or if you don’t know what you’re doing, that’s a good thing to do. But I felt that the guys that I came up with were all super talented and I didn’t see any reason [to do that.]

On camaraderie at Art Center and beyond: When I was here in school, everyone banded together to make each other’s movies. That just seemed like the best way to do it. And that has certainly stayed with me into my career. In a more personal way, I just like having people that are close to me being involved in production. The partnership when you make a movie is so intense and Hollywood is full of people that you don’t know exactly what their agenda is. So the closer people can be to you, the more trust you have in them. Continue reading →

Student Cinematographer Nominated for Prestigious Industry Award [Update: He Wins!]

[UPDATE: And the winner is… Art Center filmmaker Ryan McDonald who won the top prize at the ASC award ceremony over the weekend. Congratulations! He’s currently shooting a project with Art Center alum Domenic Moen documenting the work of Inclusion Films, an organization that teaches filming to young adults with developmental disabilities.]

Art Center filmmaker Ryan McDonald was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Andrew Laszlo Student Heritage Award.

A still from Aexis

Recognized by the organization as an emerging talent with the vision and skillset to use lighting and composition to convey moods, McDonald is nominated in the fiction category for his cinematography on fellow film student Eric Chang’s directing project Aexis.

“My work is typically in the context of rushed schedules, limited crew, and a Subaru’s worth of equipment – so I guess you could say my specialty at the moment is doing a lot with a little; this film was no exception, said McDonald, an undergraduate.

“I enjoyed shooting Aexis because Eric gave me near total freedom in crafting the look for the film and finding the shots that worked best for the scenes. There are so many hard working DP’s out there who do great work, so I’m honored to be recognized by the ASC; even if it means I have to go out of my way to buy some business attire for the ceremony.”

Watch a trailer for Aexis.

Check out McDonald’s demo reel.

Visit his website.

Read the official announcement from the ASC website:

ASC Names 2012 Student Heritage Awards Nominees

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has chosen seven student filmmakers from six U.S. film schools as nominees in the 2012 ASC Andrew Laszlo Student Heritage Awards. A ceremony announcing the winners in each category will be held June 16. The awards are designed to showcase the artistic abilities of the next generation of filmmakers, with a focus on their cinematography skills.

The nominees are (listed alphabetically by film title in each category):

Graduate

  • Josephine and the Roach by Damian Horan, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
  • Narcocorrido by Benjamin Kitchens, American Film Institute
  • The Bullet Catcher by John Walstad MacDonald, Chapman University

Undergraduate

  • Aexis by H.R. McDonald, Art Center College of Design
  • The Drop by Nicholas Wiesnet, Chapman University
  • Reclamation by Adam Lee, Loyola Marymount University
  • Language of the Unheard by Travis LaBella, Northwestern University*

(*one nominee chosen; also winner for the category)

Each year, the ASC Heritage Award is rededicated in memory of an individual who advanced the art and craft of cinematography. A Hungarian native, Andrew Laszlo, ASC was a talented cinematographer whose film and television career spanned 50-plus years, amassing such credits as You¹re a Big Boy Now, The Night They Raided Minsky¹s, The Out of Towners, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Warriors, Southern Comfort, First Blood, Streets of Fire, Innerspace, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. He earned Emmy nominations for his work on Shogun and The Man Without a Country. Laszlo dedicated many years to teaching future directors of photography at workshops, seminars and schools around the world, and authored several books, including It’s A Wrap, a compilation of his experiences on movie sets around the world.

To reach this stage, professors at film schools recommended one student for each category from their school, who then submitted their film for judging. A Blue Ribbon panel of ASC members judged the 40-plus entries and narrowed it to this field. That same panel will select the winners.

The ASC Heritage Award was inaugurated for the purpose of encouraging filmmakers to pursue careers in cinematography.

“It’s a competitive industry but these emerging talents have shown they have the vision and skillset to use lighting and composition to convey moods,” says Isidore Mankofsky, ASC, chairman of the ASC Education Committee. “We hope this recognition encourages them to follow their dreams.”

Past ASC Heritage Award winners have gone on to prolific careers, such as Lisa Marie Wiegand (Necessary Roughness, Dollhouse, Adventures of Power), Lukas Ettlin (The Lincoln Lawyer, Battle Los Angeles), Masanobu Takayanagi (Warrior, The Grey), and Nelson Cragg (Homeland, CSI), among many others.

Screening of “Somewhere to Disappear” this Friday Night. FREE!

Art Center’s Photography Department will be hosting a free film screening of Somewhere to Disappear, a documentary film with Alec Soth, on Friday, March 23 at 7:30 pm at the Ahmanson Auditorium on Hillside Campus. Light refreshments will be available before the screening. Students, faculty, staff and the public are all invited.

Somewhere to Disappear is a 57 minute documentary that features photographer Alec Soth. Alec’s project Broken Manual undertakes to write a guide that will provide the basic tips on how to disappear in America. Filmmakers Laure Flammarion & Arnaud Uyttenhove follow Alec Soth on his search for men who live on the margins of society; people who ran away from their natural environment, to find their own world. As modern day hermits, they find peace in unaffected places of the country, whether it be a cabin in the mountains, a dark cave or in the expansive desert. Each of these people chose to live in a different way. The filmmakers wanted to find out why they live like this: did they deliberately make this choice? Do they regret it? What are they really looking for? Did they find it?  Check out the trailer at http://www.somewheretodisappearthefilm.com/trailers.

Alec Soth (b. 1969) is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo Biennials. In 2008, a large survey exhibition of Soth’s work was exhibited at Jeu de Paume in Paris and Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. In 2010, the Walker Art produced a large survey exhibition of Soth’s work entitled From Here To There. Alec Soth’s first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, was published by Steidl in 2004 to critical acclaim.  Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007) Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) The Last Days of W (2008), Broken Manual (2010). In 2008, Soth started his own publishing company, Little Brown Mushroom. Soth is represented by Sean Kelly in New York, Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis, and is a member of Magnum Photos.