Matt Schulte

InSearchOf - Youtube - Marketing - Censorship

Great article on Indie film Capitalism

Zeke Zelker describes how he conjured a plan to show his film InSearchOf on Youtube. That hit a snag when Youtube said they couldn't show it due to the nudity in the film. Zeke came up with a clever solutiuon...Indie film Capitalism

Another great example of how each film needs to have it's own marketing plan/approach...and once ou have that plan you must be ready to evolve, adapt and turn on a day to keep the momentum.

Star Trek and J.J. Abrams

Went to see Star Trek last night. I am not a trekkie and was not a fan of the previous movies, although I did enjoy watching the original TV series. I went because of the incredible reviews it's been getting, and several friends had seen it and were surprised by how much they liked it.

Well...I am rarely blown away by a movie, and with a very few exceptions, by a sci-fi one.

I am going to have to see it again to see if I can decipher why I thought the movie "looked" so very different. There was a kind of "wash" that happened especially in intense action scenes...sort of a new little piece of visual language employed. DP Dan MIndel and JJ Abrams have really taken the look of an action movie and raised the bar.

The imagination employed through-out on the mechanics of scenes...what would it look like and feel like to be shot through space down to a planet? You could feel it, and when there was pain on-screen...someone crashing to the ground after said shot through space...you felt it. The editing team of Mary Joe Markey and Maryann Brandon (as well as Mindel) worked with Abrams on Mission Impossible 3, and the combination was really inspiring and inspired. I thought Mission Impossible 3 was terrible on every level...I barely remember it,  frankly, but I know I found just about everything in it to be barely passable. But Star Trek...wow.

I don't want to give too much away...there is an abundance of little moments where you will find yourself going "ah HA!" even if (like me) you are only passingly familiar with the Star Trek story history.

And the acting...what a well cast movie. Zachary Quinto as Spock and and Karl Urban channel their predecessors so well it is frankly scary. ESPECIALLY Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. You will laugh out loud at him, guaranteed. At the same time, they bring a necessary distance between their characters and what they are to become...ESPECIALLY Zachary Quinto. The thing that will be blowing our minds for awhile now, is how JJ Abrams has given us a new way to watch those old shows and movies. Now, when we rewatch an episode, will we watch Spock differently? Will we watch Uhuru differently? Yes. This movie is the most subtle post-modern film yet made. Abrams has effortlessly reshaped the way we will watch not only Star Treks to come, but all the previous work. Name a prequel that has done it so completely and effortlessly. And don't say "Star Wars prequels" or you'll just make me mad. Or laugh.

JJ Abrams may or may not be the next Speilberg, but this movie really makes you think...maybe...all he has to do is crank out 30 more years of sometimes astonishing, always accomplished movies, and there you go.

I've had several friends say "It's this year's Iron Man". The level of craft that went into Star Trek surpasses Iron Man by....a LOT. I really enjoyed Iron Man...but take Robert Downey out of that movie...it's fairly pedestrian. Really. I mean, somewhat clever, nice balancing act on tone, but really...

Star Trek succeeds as big cinema. Oh, one more thing....if you are into sound design....(there are many credits for the sound design, so not sure who to tip my hat to...) this movie had astonishing sound design. Moments of silence when you expect explosions...beautiful uses of sound cues and music...really masterful.

And the ending....which takes us to the beginning (you'll see what I mean)....just right.

I read somewhere (maybe Robert McKee) that the perfect ending to a movie is one that is both inevitable and a surprise. This has THAT.

And just so you know where I'm coming from in terms of what I like in a movie, the last three I have watched were Repulsion by Polanski (ooh la la) , Barton Fink (for about the 30th time) and Wolverine (hated it.)