At the time of posting, we have about 12 hours to go before the official kick-off of Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald’s YouTube Life in a Day project. The idea is simple: get thousands of people around the world to submit their Life in a Day via YouTube. The “compelling and distinctive” footage (shot in a mere 24 hours) will be put together, all montage-like, to form Life in a Day; set to premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
Crowd-sourcing is nothing new. But crowd-sourcing for the big screen? That’s bound to set some conversations alight in media-land, where the nerds are always itching to be a part of something massive, new and exciting. My good self included. Will I be participating in this 24-hour madness? Hells yeah!
A full-length trailer has finally been released for The Social Network, otherwise known as that Facebook movie. How pleased was I to notice that they sneakily used a haunting version of Radiohead’s Creep as the background music for the trailer. Ha! The trailer is sending me some A Beautiful Mind vibes; particularly the scenes in the bar and of course, that one part where he’s writing on a window in white pencil (1:06).
So I finally managed to catch this much hyped-about film at ACMI a few days ago. I was cautious at first, when I heard that Banksy had a documentary coming about about street art. So many documentaries have been made about street art and the ‘alternative’ culture in general and it was difficult for me to see how one might actually succeed in coming up with a different angle. But I guess if anyone can do it, Banksy can.
I also love how the film was pretty unorthodox as a documentary. It was about street art, but then again, it wasn’t. It was about Banksy, but then again, it wasn’t. The frenchman Thierry Guetta was certainly a fine example of an eccentric subject that most definitely brought life to the film. Banksy told his story about street art through him, and in a way, Guetta
I don’t follow Banksy’s work or street art in general too closely, though I am reasonably familiar with his work and some of the artists that were featured in the film like Shepard Fairey and Invader. It was definitely refreshing to have that little glimpse into his studio and his thought process. I guess the short-term nature of street art in general makes it a little difficult for me to believe that there are solid concepts and ideas behind it, and the pieces aren’t just randomly sprayed or pasted on without a second thought. The film certainly changed that for me.
In short: entertaining film with some really interesting concepts and theories about popular culture and modern art. Definitely a must-catch! Now, to wait for the DVD release…
Belgian brewer Stella Artois has recently embarked on a project to revive the age-old art of hand painted advertising. Conceptualised by Mother New York, the project consists of a visual diary of painters’ work as they do up a big billboard-sized piece for Stella Artois.
From the official website:
“Shot high above the streets of New York City, Up There reveals the dying craft of large-scale hand painted advertising and the untold story of the painters struggling to keep it alive.
Calturing a trade that is equal parts artistic precision and grueling labor, the fil presents a painting tradition pre-dating modern advertising. A craft that today finds itself dangling precariously on the brink of extinction.
Up There is directed by Malcolm Murray, based on an original concept by Mother. It is produced by Mekanism with music by The Album Leaf.”
Vidal Sassoon The Movie: taken from the official website
Vidal Sassoon The Movie has just premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Dazed Digital has an excellent write-up about the film, as well as an interview with the great Vidal Sassoon himself.
From the official website:
“This first-time, deeply intimate look into the life of Vidal Sassoon, from his early days in an orphanage, to his time as s soldier, his beginnings on Bond Street, and ulimately, the revolution he caused, which continues to this day. Vidal Sassoon The Movie was filmed over the course of 3 years and features unprecedented access to Vidal, candid interviews with former staff, family members, reporters and historians. Together they explore the life and legacy of the most influentiala hairdresser in the world, whose influence far outreaches the industry he changed forever.
Millions revere the legend, yet so few know the man.”
I’m officially intrigued. Not sure how much this has to do with the fact that my mother used to own a pretty extensive Vidal Sassoon brush set some years ago (why someone would need that many brushes for one head of hair, I have no idea), but I’m excited!
