Editor’s Note: Projecting features a selection of great film and television focused writing from around the internet.
Angela Watercutter explores how the iPhone 6 could bring real changes to filmmaking, for Wired:
iPhones have been used to make shorts and other types of films before—there are even multiple iPhone film festivals—but what the iPhone 6 offers is what Apple’s Phil Schiller called “technology used by high-end DSLRs” during yesterday’s product announcement. Coupled with the ability to grab 1080p high-definition clips at 60 frames per second, take 240-fps slow-motion shots, provide cinematic video stabilization, and offer up to 128 gigabytes of storage, there’s more than enough oomph in the iPhone 6 for a few takes. It’s the kind of power that could, like other developments in filmmaking technology, give rise to a whole new style of moviemaking.
Phil de Semlyen covers the advancement of visual effects in film, looking to a future where we cross the uncanny valley, for Empire:
The creation of entirely life-like digital characters and advances in de-ageing technology are only one part of this marriage of artistry and tech. That old cliché about the technology catching up with the vision? Well, in many cases it has. Movies like Life Of Pi and Gravity, all but impossible a handful of years ago, show the possibilities. “What was so seductive about a film like Gravity is that you didn’t know what was real and what was fake,” says Framestore’s Max Solomon (Gravity, The Dark Knight). The animation supervisor highlights the rise and rise of truly invisible CGI. “Viewers are growing tired of looking at things they know are fake,” he points out.
Christopher Campbell expresses his confusion with the accent choices in The Maze Runner, for Film School Rejects:
The only members of the Maze Runner cast I knew to be English beforehand are Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter — who does a pretty great job with his speech, I’ll point out. I wasn’t familiar with Scodelario, yet as soon as I heard her mess up, I could tell she wasn’t from the U.S. either. And that immediately took me out of the movie, at least for a brief period. Following the screening, I couldn’t help but look up the rest of the players. One of the other major characters, Alby, is also played by a Brit — Aml Ameen. I believe that’s it (not all the young actors have birthplaces listed on IMDb or elsewhere). Four of the leads, three of them who had to mask their true voices. But why? And should I care?
Meghan O’Keefe digs into just what makes The League’s Rafi so lovable, for Decider:
The first thing that you have to understand about Rafi is that he’s not just horrible. Jason Mantzoukas also imbues him with a bizarre kind of innocence. He honestly believes that the guys on The League are his best friends. His earnest desire to be one of the guys is one of the reasons he so winsome. He’s just trying to fit in guys! But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and it’s crystal clear that Rafi already has one foot in the fiery Inferno.
