Cinema vs. Home Theater

There's an interesting discussion going on at the Onion's AV Club these days about the relative merits of watching movies in the theater or at home. Noel Murray and Scott Tobias began the discussion in a "Crosstalk" article, and that ingnited a nice little debate in the discussion area. Josh Oakhurst has weighed in on the issue, too (via FresHDV). My partner, Ashley, manages a one-screen historic art house cinema. With the exception of 19th century costume dramas, I'll see pretty much anything they screen. On the other hand, we also have very modest home theater setup. Just so you have the context, here's the setup:

    - a low-end video projector - a movie screen bought for $10 from junk merchants that had set up shop on the side of the road near Joelton, Tennessee - a dvd player - an old home theater audio system handed down from my dad - home-made window blinds that completely blackout our living room when we want to screen in the daytime (unnecessary at night)

It's not fancy, but we love it.

As for which is better, I think there are certainly pros and cons to either experience. I'm certainly not going to argue that people should give up going to the theater, nor that they should stop renting movies. De gustibus non est disputandum, as the saying goes.

These articles did get me (re)thinking the cinema vs. home theater debate. Here are a few personal observations inspired by Murray, Tobias, Oakhurst, et al.

***

Screen size matters. Attention matters more. The biggest advantage that cinemas have over the home viewing experience is not the size of the screen. What matters is that I enter into a kind of social contract wherein I am committing my time and attention to a story. Many people can't, don't, or won't do that at home. They turn on a movie as one of many competing distractions.

If I am serious about watching a movie at home I will turn off the phone, use the restroom, get any food/beverage I might want, and then I'll turn out all the lights and screen the movie using a video projector.

Sure, a big screen helps, but it needn't be as enormous as what I see in a theater. It simply needs to be large enough so that the image and sound command my undivided attention. Arguably any type of projection (film or video) is better than television. Why? Because projection requires darkness for a visible image; television does not. And that darkness directs my attention to the light, the story.

Seeing a film in a movie theater is not a communal experience. I heard someone talking on NPR a few days ago about how we need the theatrical experience because it is "our campfire." I yield to no one in my belief that storytelling plays a civic and communal function, but going to see movies is NOT the same as telling stories around a campfire. For those that can't tell the difference, telling stories around a campfire is an interactive experience wherein the teller's tale is actually shaped by her responding to her audience's reaction as the tale unfolds. Movies are the same every time. Aside from The Purple Rose of Cairo, I've never seen one that talked back to its audience.

Even beyond these obvious facts I simply don't think the theatrical experience of moviegoing is as communal as people make it out to be. When I go to the movies, I go alone or with friends. We watch the movie and we do not talk during it. Then, after it's over, as we exit the theater, we might begin to discuss it. That last part is the communal part, but this discussion could just as easily happen at home, after we've watched the thing on video.

With regards to the "communal experience" I would need to interact with strangers for the theatrical experience to really distinguish itself from what I get from home video. By and large, this simply doesn't happen. In fact, I can't remember the last time I spoke with a stranger at the movies.

The most communal thing that happens during a movie is that strangers laugh at the same joke or scream at the same shock effect. This isn't a terribly deep experience, as experiences go. It doesn't remotely compare with the experience of, say, singing along with strangers at a rock concert or giving some dude a high-five or even a man-hug -- yes, hugging a stranger -- at a football game when the home team scores. Furthermore, if you don't share the rest of the crowd's taste (say, you don't find Little Miss Sunshine as funny as everyone else) then watching a comedy with an audience can be a depressing, even anti-social, experience.

Seeing movies can lead to communal experiences. Movies can serve as today's "campfire story", but since they're the same wherever they're screened (excepting scratches, splices, etc) the communal experience can take place well after the fact of the event. I can talk about Children of Men with my sister on the phone, or with a co-worker in the office lounge, or right here on the Internet. This is the campfire, right here. (Just ask all those people on the Onion AV discussion board.) With regards to my ability to take part in the communal discussion, it doesn't matter how I've seen the movie, just that I have.

There is something special about seeing a motion picture on film, but seeing a work on film does not guarantee or preclude its making an impact on you.

Here's a random list of some of the best movie-watching experiences I've ever had. Some of these are my favorite films; some aren't. There's a huge gap from '99 to '06, which I could fill out if I sat down and thought about this for more than a minute.

    - Star Wars - movie theater - Knoxville, TN (1977) - Hannah and Her Sisters - movie theater - Knoxville, TN (1987) - Sex Lies and Videotape - movie theater - Knoxville, TN (1989) - Through a Glass Darkly - vhs - 12" television (1991) - Jules et Jim - restored 35mm print at AFI cinema in early 90s in Washington DC (1991?) - Jackal of Nahueltoro - 16mm classroom projection (1993) - The Awful Truth - vhs - 12" television - VHS (1993) - Jacquot - movie theater - Durham, NC (1994) - Time Indefinite - movie theater - Chapel Hill, NC (1994) - My Night at Maud's - 16mm print - Philadelphia Senior Citizen's Center - Philadelphia (1995?) - Through the Olive Trees - 35mm print International House - Philadelphia (1995?) - The Garden - 35mm print film festival screening- Philadelphia, PA (1996) - Diary of a Country Priest - crappy VHS edition on 15" television (1996) - L'Argent - 35mm print - Florence Gould Hall - NYC (1997) - Apu Trilogy - 35mm re-release @ Ritz Theaters - Philadelphia, PA (1997?) - Contempt - 35mm re-release @ Ritz Theaters - Philadelphia, PA (1997) - Red - 16mm print - Philadelphia Senior Citizen's Center - Philadelphia (1998) - Window Water Baby Moving - 16mm projected onto a white wall in a 10x10 room at University of Tennessee - projected and watched by myself (1999) - What Farocki Taught - vhs pre-screener - 15" television (1999) - Mulholland Drive - movie theater - Knoxville (2001) - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - movie theater - Knoxville (2004) - Yi Yi - dvd - living room video projection (2006)

Most of these were screened on film. Still, some were screened on video, and under lousy conditions at that. What's more interesting to me is that many of these films were rare or difficult to see. The fact remains, though: Film is not a necessary condition for a powerful movie-watching experience. Attentiveness is. (See above.)

The arguments for watching films at home are rarely arguments for the home viewing experience. They're arguments against the theatrical experience. Here are some of those arguments:

    - Some chains think of the movie as that thing that runs after their 2wenty minute in-house commercial. - The cost of seeing a movie in a cinema is at least double what it would cost to rent a video. - Some theaters have lousy projection, sticky floors, etc. - People don't know how to behave in public, and especially not at the movies. (Any serious moviegoer has his/her audience war stories. Here's one: Once, during some lousy Sean Connery movie, a lady seated in the row behind me changed her baby's diaper on the spot. I've seen some movies that stunk, but none more literally than this one. But I digress.)

The point is, those that argue for the glories of home cinema are not saying that it's better, but that it's less bad. On one level, obviously, this reflects what a sorry state we're in as moviegoers. But it also means that if movie theaters, especially the cinema chains, would reevaluate the way they do business they might win back some audiences.

***

I'm lucky. Most of the movies I see in the cinema these days are screened at nicely maintained, independently-owned movie theaters in Blacksburg and Roanoke. Their projection is good and the sound is always adequate, at the very least. My main gripe with these theaters -- and cinemas in general -- is that their programming is not as adventurous as I'd like it to be. And while that might be an argument for watching videos at home, that's a separate issue.

Loss of deck connectivity in Final Cut? Try reinstalling QuickTime

Normally I try to write less prosaic (or at least shorter) post titles, but hopefully this will help some Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express users that are googling for a solution to deck connectivity problems. A few weeks ago a student came to my office nearly in tears because Final Cut Express, which she had on her iBook, wouldn't recognize her camcorder when she was trying to capture footage. In fact, most times, FCE would crash when she tried to capture footage.

We tried to isolate the problem:

Was it a connection problem? No, we tried firewire cables (including some known to work). The problem continued.

Was it a camera problem? No. We captured footage on my laptop without any issues.

Was it a computer problem? Probably not. She was able to capture footage on her computer using iMovie.

At this point we began the googling. After a while, we happened on the problem (QuickTime) and its solution (reinstalling QuickTime).

Here's Apple's article on the subject: Restoring a DV device connection in QuickTime 7.

It's worth noting that this tip also works for Final Cut Pro. And its a good reminder that a smart first place to search when encountering problems with Apple-manufactured software is Apple's own support site.

Software Update: Final Cut 5.1.3

Apple has just released an update to Final Cut Pro (5.1.3). Apple describes it as a maintenance release that "resolves performance and other issues." Specifically: Render File Capability - apparently, render files created on a PowerPCs and Intel-based Macs weren't playing nice

Keyboard Layout Issues - "adds several commands to the default keyboard that were missing"

Issues with Cross Dissolves in Nested Sequences - "resolves cases in which cross dissolves did not work as expected in nested sequences containing still images with adjusted motion parameters"

You can read more here.

Of course, as with any upgrade, you might wait and see how others are faring with the update before you upgrade yourself. The VersionTracker message board is one good place to look for this kind of feedback.

Also, if you move between different computers using the same project files make sure all the machines will be upgraded at the same time so that your files aren't rendered incompatible, as sometimes happens.

Finally, use extreme caution when upgrading software while in the midst of working on a project. I have seen nasty stuff happen to FCP projects when someone upgraded their system from, say, 4.5 to 5.0. I've even seen it happen with a "dot something" upgrade. Such a small incremental update like this (5.1.3) is probably okay. But I'm not going to guarantee it. Safety first: If things are working just dandy for you with 5.1.2, don't chance it. Finish that project, output it, archive it, and then do the upgrade.

On television: How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (and Enjoy It)

Joe Angio's How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (and Enjoy It) premieres tonight on IFC at 9 pm Eastern. The film covers the life and work of Melvin Van Peebles, a pioneer of African-American cinema whose works include Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Story of a Three Day Pass.

The film's been getting great reviews in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and so on. I've not seen it yet, so that's about all I know, but I look forward to seeing it.

Cool Tool: Gage-It

While at Home Depot the other day I ran across a nifty little all-in-one measurement tool called Gage-It. It allows you to measure screws and bolts; nuts; steel, brass & PVC pipe; wire size; and nails. It also has a couple of rulers (metric and standard) and a conversions table for weights and measurements. I feel like I'm always going to the hardware store trying to find a screw that's the right size for this or that thing around my house, plus it seemed like a useful thing to have with you on a film set, so I picked one up. The thing cost something like $1.99.

Gage-It

I can't even seem to find the manufacturer ("Armour Technologies, Inc.") online, much less the item itself. The only other mention I could find was at Toolmonger, from whom I grabbed the pic above. But if you're looking for one, try Home Depot. I ran across mine in the screws/nails aisle.

Finally, as an aside, writing this post made me realize that I've become so conditioned to finding products on the internet (and the internet has become so synonymous with shopping) that, when I run across something that can't be found for sale anywhere online, it seems... well, it seems weird. And by "weird" I mean conspiratorially weird, even creepy. It's like the thing doesn't exist, even though I have one right in my hands. Am I alone on this one?

Life (and Filmmaking) During Wartime

Let this article serve to remind us that, whatever production troubles we might be enduring producing one of our films, it could be a lot rougher. From an LA Times article about Mohamed Daradji's Ahlaam, a fiction film shot in Iraq that is now screening at festivals:

The last straw: a chaotic 24-hour period in December 2004 when Daradji and several crew members achieved a sort of modern Iraq trifecta — kidnapped and bullied by Sunni Muslim gunmen, then kidnapped again and bullied by Shiite Muslim gunmen, and finally jailed and interrogated by American soldiers.

As inspiring as it is to read about Daradji's attempts to make art in the face of war, sadly, the bleaker news is this, says the article's author:

Daradji's film may end up being the last movie to come out of Iraq for a while. The country's artistic life experienced a brief resurgence in the year after the U.S.-led invasion, with musicians, painters and actors all striving to restore Baghdad's legacy as one of the Arab world's cultural capitals. That trend has died as Iraq descends into civil war, with much of the educated, artistic class fleeing the country.

When you read something like this it certainly makes even the most astounding filmmaker "war stories" (e.g., comments like Coppola's "This movie isn't about Vietnam. It is Vietnam") look pretty silly.

[via GreenCine]

DVGuru's Demise: On AOL and the owning of blogs

DVGuru, the valuable group blog about most things video and film, is no more as of Wednesday. I read it daily, which I can't say of many websites. I'm disappointed, as are a lot of other readers. What made it an especially useful site was the fact that it served as a kind of aggregator for more specialized and esoteric film/video content-related websites around the web. But beyond aggregation, the writers had a talent for quickly summing up an issue and then leading you to the original source. As a reader -- and as someone whose own writing was at times cited by DVGuru's editors -- I really appreciated that. Alas, I'll now have to find some of my news from other sources.

The announcement caught a few people off guard. What's the story?

I've heard and read that DVGuru, along with some other blogs, were given the axe by AOL, the company that owns Weblogs, Inc. There was nothing controversial about these sites that led to their shutdown -- in these cases it's always about money. Ads weren't selling or getting clicked through or, in all likelihood, it was just too much trouble for AOL to do the research to figure out who should be advertising.

I understand why AOL wanted to acquire Weblogs, Inc. It's a way to own content, and doing so would be a throwback to AOL's dial-up heyday, those halcyon days when it housed a good percentage of the polished content on the internet. The difference is that, in the mid-late 90s, AOL's content was general information, the "frontpage" kind of face that Yahoo and others provide these days. Blogs are different though; almost all of them focus on niche markets. Some companies get this; others mail out millions of CD-roms pleading with you to use dial-up.

(As a point of comparison, consider Google's approach to weblogs. Google didn't try to acquire various popular blogs. It acquired Blogger. The same thinking, no doubt, went into their acquisition of YouTube. Google doesn't want the content. It wants the delivery system for the content.)

Anyway, I'm not going to wring my hands about this -- there are, after all, another billion or so websites out there to read, and there is no such thing as death on the internet. Still, it only re-confirms my skepticism about the long-term viability of corporate-owned weblogs.

So long, DVGuru. It was good to know ya.

This Conference is Being Recorded: Discussions on Workbook Project

Late last year Lance Weiler (Head Trauma, The Last Broadcast) started the Workbook Project, a web resource for, by, and about filmmakers. Weiler calls it a "social open source experiment" because anyone can contribute to it. Among the more interesting things Lance has been doing for the Project is a series of conference podcasts. Lance recently asked me to participate in one of these conferences with him and Mark Stolaroff, LA-based producer and founder of the No-Budget Film School. That conversation has just been posted.

You can listen to it here.

I hope you take something away from it. I certainly enjoyed discussing do-it-yourself issues with Mark and Lance, both of whom have a lot to offer on the subject.

And while you're visiting the Workbook Project, check out the other great conversations that Lance has offered up:

Eric Bassett, concerning the DIY release of David Lynch's Inland Empire

Susan Buice and Arin Crumley of Four Eyed Monsters

Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films (Outfoxed, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price)

Tommy Palotta (animator of Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly)

Scott Kirsner, author of "The Future of Web Video"

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netlfix

Matt Hanson, creator of the web film project A Swarm of Angels

Sonnet Tempo E4P Firmware Update

I realize this will have limited use for most readers, but I recently acquired a Sonnet Tempo E4P SATA card for a Mac Pro, and was having problems with it. Big problems. The computer wouldn't recognize the card, much less run the two Sonnet Fusion 500p drive enclosures I had connected). Searched around online, both on the Sonnet site and elsewhere (newsgroups, etc) for a solution. Couldn't find one. Finally, I called tech support. After 20 minutes on hold I spoke with someone. It went something like this:

TECH SUPPORT: You need to update the firmware of the card.

ME: Oh...ok. That's funny, the documentation doesn't say anything about that.

TECH SUPPORT: It should.

ME: Um.. nope.

TECH SUPPORT: Hang on.

(puts me on hold ... two minutes of elevator music later...)

TECH SUPPORT: Wow. You're right, it's not in the documentation. Uh oh.

By the embarrassment (and dread, knowing he'd be encountering a lot of calls like this) I sensed on the phone yesterday, I suspect that future versions of the documentation will have this detail added soon. Hopefully this post will help a few users until the nice folks at Sonnet can get that documentation fixed.

Users can find the Tempo E4P firmware update here.

2006 Edendale Shortlist

The initial results of AJ Schnack's annual Edendale Shortlist poll have been released. Over fifty writers, musicians, actors, filmmakers (including yours truly), and other cultural types submitted ballots. The Edendale Shortlist Nominees...

Film: Borat Children of Men The Departed Little Miss Sunshine Pan's Labyrinth

Music: Band of Horses - Everything All the Time Cat Power - The Greatest Joanna Newsom - Ys TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain Tom Waits - Orphans

As for my ballot, it consisted of five films that didn't end up making the cut. Eh, what can I say? I went with my heart voting for some relatively obscure titles (at least compared with the films on the list above). No regrets.

I did contribute to the balloting for The Greatest. It's not Cat Power's greatest (that would be, for me, You Are Free), but it's definitely a keeper.

ADDENDUM 2/3/07: I just got home from (finally) seeing Pan's Labyrinth. This would have made it onto my ballot, easily, had I seen it in time.

Spilled guts: DIY gore

Generally, I'm of the opinion that most movies could use less gore. I'm not a snob that dislikes horror movies; I simply think the power of suggestion is stronger than the power of spectacle. Still, there are times that filmmakers have just gotta "go gross" to do a story justice. (Exhibits A through C: David Cronenberg, Paul Verhoeven, and George A. Romero.)

So, without further ado, here are the latest installments in my continuing effort to present crafty DIY resources.

Blood!

Lacerations!

Entire bodies!

Review: The GoodTimesKid

Billed as "a story about stolen love and stolen identities, shot on stolen film", Azazel Jacobs' refreshing DIY feature The GoodTimesKid opens today at Anthology Film Archives in New York. Minimalist in plot, comic in tone, and anarchic in spirit, the film has less heritage with the experimental cinema of Jacobs' father (avant-garde pioneer Ken Jacobs) and more connection to the love triangles of French luminaries like Godard, Truffaut and Vigo. (One of the film's highlights is a scene where Jacobs pays tribute to Pere Jules' show-and-tell in L'Atalante.)

The GoodTimesKid, though, is more than the sum of its influences. Jacobs gets memorable performances out of his two leads, and acquits himself nicely in a supporting role. The cinematography (shot with 35mm film, the production notes tell me, taken from a "Hollywood blockbuster") has a warm, intentionally unfocused languor that suits its characters.

Its ending prevents the film from being an out-and-out "feel good" movie, but there is some truth in advertising here. The GoodTimesKid is a good time.

Azazel Jacobs' The GoodTimesKid screens alongside Two Wrenching Departures, the new feature by his father, Ken Jacobs, from Wednesday, January 17 - Tuesday, January 23. Check Anthology Film Archives for screening times.

Jonas Mekas: 365 Films (and then some)

Legendary filmmaker/exhibitor Jonas Mekas has put dozens (if not hundreds) of his films for sale online. All the files are mp4 -- suitable for your video iPod, computer, etc. Currently Mekas is undertaking a project in which he will make a short film a day, every day this year. Each day you can download the movie for free; after that, you have to pay for it. A fantastic idea.

A dig through the entire site reveals all sorts of interesting stuff -- Kenneth Anger movies, outtakes from Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice... Enjoy!

[via DVGuru]

David Lynch interview @ Wired.com

A good interview with David Lynch at Wired.com. Topics covered include using digital video on Inland Empire and his ideas about meditation.

Wired: Digital video seems to have made the process of filmmaking easier for budding auteurs. Lynch: Digital video is so beautiful. It's lightweight, modern, and it's only getting better. It's put film into the La Brea Tar Pits. Wired: So you are serious about working exclusively in DV from here on out? Lynch: For sure.

[via DVGuru]

Lost in Light Launches

Jennifer Proctor and Aaron Valdez's Lost in Light project website has officially launched. If you missed my post about it in October, the project is "devoted to preserving, archiving, and making available 8mm and Super 8 films that are otherwise being lost to time." Now that the project has begun, Jennifer and Aaron are ready to start accepting Super 8 and 8mm films for free transfer to video and inclusion on their videoblog. They are also accepting creative works made in Super 8 and 8mm for posting to the site.

Click here to find out more about having your Super-8 and "regular" 8mm movies transferred to video for free. The transfers they're offering are flickerless, and they look good. Check out their first post to see a sample.

If you're interested in submitting creative work, click here.

Favorites: 2006

The year's officially over, so I thought I would share my "Top Tens" and "Best Of" lists. Of course, since I live outside of New York and L.A., I've not had a chance to see several movies that were on so many critics' year-end lists. Instead, I've made multiple lists -- some short, some long -- of my favorites from 2006. After all, how can we call something "Best Of" when we haven't surveyed all there is out there?

Ten Favorite Independent Films - Features and Shorts Contest - Sunrise Tippeconnie, Dance Party USA - Aaron Katz, Five More Minutes - Dena DeCola and Karin E. Wandner, I Am A Sex Addict - Caveh Zahedi, Iraq in Fragments - James Longley, LOL - Joe Swanberg, Mutual Appreciation - Andrew Bujalski, The Puffy Chair - The Duplass Brothers, Some Analog Lines - David Lowery, War - Jake Mahaffy

Favorite Studio Film: A Scanner Darkly - Richard Linklater

Favorite Foreign Film: L'Enfant - The Dardenne Brothers, Pan's Labrinth - Guillermo Del Toro

Other Honorable Mentions: An Inconvenient Truth, Half Nelson, Brothers of the Head, A Family Finds Entertainment, Head Trauma

Three Noteworthy Disappointments The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, A Prairie Home Companion

An Incomplete List of 2006 Films I'm Eager To See Borat, Children of Men, Inland Empire, Kurt Cobain: About a Son, Letters from Iwo Jima, Old Joy, Pan's Labyrinth, Three Times

Favorite Non-Contemporary DVD Releases: Jackal of Nahueltoro - Miguel Littin - Terra Entertainment Punishment Park - Peter Watkins - New Yorker Seven Samurai (remaster) - Akira Kurasawa - Criterion Six Moral Tales Box Set - Eric Rohmer - Criterion Star Spangled to Death - Ken Jacobs Wanda - Barbara Loden - Parlour Pictures Yi Yi - Edward Yang - Criterion

Most exciting development in DVD for 2007: Criterion's Eclipse label

Best Moviegoing Experience I Had in 2006: Seeing Yi Yi for the first time.

indieWIRE Year-End Critics Poll

You've probably already seen it, but if not, check out indieWIRE's year-end Critics' Poll. Here's the story and here are the results. I'm glad to see indieWire picking up the slack from the Village Voice, which became a shell of its former self in the Fall. Kudos to Dennis Lim, Michael Atkinson, Anthony Kaufman, and anyone else that kept the poll alive. I, for one, have found it to be an especially useful way of guiding my video viewing during the following year. I imagine that there are at least a few other cinephiles living outside of New York, Chicago, and L.A. who share the sentiment.