Documentary fans the world over are mourning the passing of the great Richard Leacock, who died yesterday at 89. Leacock, known as “Ricky” to his friends and colleagues, was best known as one of the founding fathers of the “direct cinema” movement. Direct cinema (often conflated with cinéma vérité, though there are subtle differences between the two forms) was the groundbreaking documentary technique that utilized handheld cameras and portable sound recording equipment to create observational, fly-on-the-wall works — films that “directly” captured their subjects, without the interference of the filmmaker.
This might sound like a no-brainer, since the direct cinema style has become our most immediate notion of what a documentary is, from the films of Leacock and his contemporaries right down to the reality shows of today. But before these groundbreakers, most documentaries were just talking-head-and-archival-footage jobs — films that explained the past, rather than capturing the present. The direct cinema directors and cameramen saw the development of lightweight 16mm Arriflex film cameras and Nagra’s mobile audio gear in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a way to shake all of that up. In the process, they created a vital new film form. In honor of Leacock, join us after the jump for a look at a few of the touchstones of the movement. Read More »
It doesn’t matter how many times a certain person or event turns up in pop culture, as long as each new movie, TV show, song, video game, fashion line, etc. has some kind of artistic (or at least entertainment) value. At least, that’s what we thought until we heard the news that there’s a 100th-anniversary Titanic miniseries in the works and something just snapped in us. No, damn it, we don’t care how good it turns out to be. There is no way we’re watching that ship sink again. And while we’re at it, there are a few other historical figures and events we’re pretty sure pop culture has exhausted. Check them out after the jump, and add your own suggestions and complaints in the comments.
A photographer of magical people and mystical places, David Benjamin Sherry makes darkroom images in a digital age.
Raised by hippies in Woodstock, Sherry attended raves and assisted David LaChapelle in his teens, then earned degrees from RISD and Yale, while establishing himself in NYC’s downtown art scene. His psychedelic mix of fashion and fantasy has made him an international favorite in magazines and galleries.
Despite ramshackle organization and torrential rain, the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair is commonly agreed to be the greatest music festival of all time. While Woodstock was released in 1970 to unbelievable acclaim, it’s been pretty quiet on the film front ever since. Out in August, Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee‘s Taking Woodstock offers a long overdue tribute to the men behind the greatest music festival that almost never was.
Not only does the trailer after the jump look gooooood, it begs a big question: Why’d it take 40 years to make a Woodstock movie with actual actors?
