Stanley Kubrick was a self-shooter

Stanley Kubrick self operating on set

Self shooting is the term given to a director who has to operate his own sound and camera on location. This is happening more and more often in the media. The ability to use broadcast equipment and create quality images without the aid of a professional cameraman or soundman is becoming more and more commonplace in factual and news television production.

I’ve always resisted this trend, preferring to guide someone else more skilled than myself to getting the images I want.
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Billy 2.0 – If Apple made cochlear implants…

Watch the video above. Its an old film reel from 1928 of the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s film The Circus. When an eagle eyed historian watched the film’s DVD extras, he spotted a woman walking along, talking into a handheld object near her mouth. There was only one possible explanation – she was a time traveller from the future, talking to someone on her mobile phone.

I don’t know what mobile phone coverage was like in 1928 – I suspect it might have been somewhat patchy – but in the end, it was revealed to be a woman in her 50s, using a handheld hearing aid manufactured in 1925.
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Billy 2.0 – What does a Cochlear Implant sound like?

I’d like to ask you a favour, if you’re reading this. Can you watch the video below, and tell me what speech and music sounds like to you in the comments section below?

There are several clips of speech and music – I’m assuming that the implant I am getting will be closest to the 20 channel samples you hear on the video.

This is an approximation of the sound of a cochlear implant using sound editing software.

Read the comments on the video here. A couple of CI users there who have said that they can hear a marked difference between ‘normal speech’ and that video!

What you may find is that if you listen to the video more than once, the speech and music becomes clearer each time. This is the brain ‘learning’ the sounds for you. This article explains how that works in more detail.

This link may also be interesting. PBS Video

I look forward to your thoughts.

Billy 2.0 – Starting a journey of known unknowns

Donald Rumsfeld

This is Donald Rumsfeld. He once said:

There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.

He may have been derided at the time, but watching his speech I know exactly what he meant. 28 days from today I’m embarking on a journey of known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

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AFTER THE WEDDING

Jacob and Helen (Mads Mikkelsen and Sidse Babbett Knudsen) share a moment in Suzanne Bier's After the Wedding
Jacob and Helen (Mads Mikkelsen and Sidse Babbett Knudsen) share a moment in Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding

This was a film I saw advertised in a lot of London Underground stations in 2006, the release timed to coincide with Mads Mikkelsen’s turn as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale. As such, I dismissed it out of hand.

However, After The Wedding (Efter Brylluppet) is a beautiful piece of work and well worth seeking out.
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JCVD

Mabrouk El Mechri's JCVD
Mabrouk El Mechri’s JCVD

I love martial arts movies. You’re going to hear me say that on more than one occasion on this blog.

I love martial arts movies, and one of the first ones I ever saw was Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He plays Frank Dux, an American man with a Belgian accent, wearing a low-cut tank top, accompanied by a hairy bear muscle mary called Ray. They take part in a kumite tournament which resembles Streetfighter II on mushrooms.

It took a lot of work to even get to see Bloodsport in the first place. First, I bought it at a car boot sale and hid it from my parents until I was able to create a fake ‘PG’ sticker for the video sleeve so they’d let me watch it. Basically, Bloodsport is frickin’ awesome.

Since then, it’s fair to say that Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career has had its ups and downs.
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IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life
Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life

This one was on my list of films I should have seen by now but haven’t for one reason or another. Along with Citizen Kane, which I’ve never managed to watch through to the end.

I felt like I’d seen the film a million times before even watching it, as it crops up regularly in best 100 lists, so there was no real incentive to watch. Then on a hungover New Year’s Day film marathon, I put It’s A Wonderful Life in the DVD player, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.
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SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire

Before we start on the film itself, let’s take a moment to consider the career of Danny Boyle.

He came to everyone’s attention with a film called Shallow Grave. This film was essentially a TV movie, with a 1950s Film Noir plot, that launched the careers of Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor. Nothing special, unless you count that shot of Keith Allen’s shrivelled todger.

But then, there was Trainspotting. This film had energy, imagination and daring in spades. It launched a thousand copycat posters. No other film before or since ever trod the fine line between drugs=bad and drugs=good with such aplomb.

Then what next? A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine. All of those films definitely had their moments, but at the same time shared one thing in common – big ideas, not quite successfully or satisfactorily executed. All solid three star films, in other words. Although Vacuuming Completely Naked in Paradise was a masterpiece in its groundbreaking use of emerging DV technology.

But now, Slumdog Millionaire.
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