The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Movies with a 270-degree view to hit South Korean cinemas Posted: 15 Oct 2013 01:27 AM PDT A new format that gives movie-goers a panoramic 270 degree view will be rolled out by South Korea's biggest cinema chain this month, using the walls of theatres as additional screens. Screen X, developed by cinema chain CJ CGV, was on show at the Busan International Film Festival last week in the premiere of a 30-minute spy thriller The X, directed by Kim Jee-Woon, a film commissioned to showcase the expanded three-screen format. Kim, who directed this year's Arnold Schwarzenegger action adventure The Last Stand, said the technology brought a more immersive experience to the cinema. He likened it to a horizontal version of IMAX, a format that offers greater size and resolution than conventional film. Screen X requires filmmakers to use three cameras to shoot the same scene simultaneously from different angles to create the wider surround effect. "The space in front of you is filled up completely," said Kim. "It provides a new depth for viewers." The X showed off the capabilities of the format in a chase sequence and a dream sequence that seemed to envelop the cinema. Audiences at Busan watching The X seemed at first confused whether to look left, right or straight ahead before settling in to the experience. "It was really fun. I personally don't like 3D or 4D films but this made me feel like I was inside the film," 19-year-old student Jung Gwang-Soo said. CJ CGV, which also has interests in China, Hong Kong and the United States, has been testing the technology on advertisements, but has remained tight-lipped on installation costs – reportedly between US$139,300 and US$185,800 per screening room, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Installation will not be without logistical challenges, given that the effect is lessened in seats positioned to the sides of the cinema. By the end of October the system will be available in 31 cinemas around South Korea in readiness for a series of planned feature-length productions to be rolled out over the next 12 months. Others focus on intimacy While Kim said he was excited to be able to explore the possibilities of the new technology – and freely admitted he was more concerned with effects than plot in his first production with it – other directors showcased technology they believe allows the audience to focus more on the stories they are telling. The Israeli-French production Ana Arabia, which looks at life in a Jewish-Arabic community, was one of a number of new films screening in Busan that used advanced steady-cameras to enable directors to shoot in one single take. In Ana Arabia's case, that was for 74 constant minutes while the Iranian film Fish & Cat managed to a single take of 134 minutes. Ana Arabia's veteran director Amos Gitai said the technology helped filmmakers engage with their audiences through providing a sense of intimacy not available when using multiple cameras and edits. "This method is a way of concentrating the audience's focus," he said. "Filmmakers are always looking for new ways to tell our stories and I am trying to find ways to encourage dialogue through my films." – AFP, October 15, 2013. |
| US films dominate Rome festival line-up Posted: 15 Oct 2013 12:54 AM PDT Marco Mueller, formerly the head of the Venice film festival, yesterday unveiled a line-up for November featuring Brazilian, Chilean, Iranian, Japanese, Mexican and Portuguese films. Of the 18 films in competition, 17 are world or international premieres, with a strong American and Italian presence in particular. US director James Gray, best known for his 2007 crime drama We Own the Night, will head up the jury for the festival, which runs November 8 to 17. Mueller said there was no overriding theme linking the films selected: "We chose the ones that moved us, that spoke to our hearts, our guts," he said. Jonze's Her, already a favourite with critics granted a first look at New York's film festival this month, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a Los Angeles-based man who gets a new operating system on his mobile phone that answers his daily questions. As the voice – played by Johansson – becomes less machine-like and more human he develops an infatuation for it in a wryly comic tale which questions our increasingly intimate relationships with technology. Scott Cooper's US thriller Out of the Furnace – produced by Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio – will also have its international premier. Starring Bale – of Batman fame – Casey Affleck and Willem Dafoe, it tells the tale of two brothers dreaming of a better life in the poverty-hit Rust Belt, who end up drawn into a spiral of violence with a ruthless gang. The competition's ambitious line-up includes Japan Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Seventh Code and Chinese Jian Cui's Blue Sky Bones. Mueller said the first seven days of the festival in the Eternal City will feature a nightly screening of a US film with "an important star" on the red carpet – though he would not be drawn on names. Critics and audiences are looking forward to American producer Mark Turtletaub's first film as director, Gods Behaving Badly. Starring Christopher Walken as Zeus, Sharon Stone as Aphrodite, Oliver Platt as Apollo and John Turturro as Hades, it sees a mortal couple run across the down-on-their-luck Greek gods living it up in New York city. Mueller also promised a "return to real Italian comedy" with the opening screening, Giovanni Veronesi's The Fifth Wheel, about an unlikely everyman hero. The new Hunger Games installment, Catching Fire directed by Francis Lawrence, will open out of competition with Josh Hutcherson in the lead role. The festival will also host a masterclass with Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme. – AFP. October 15, 2013. |
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