DSLR film: Like Crazy getting great reviews

nah man, the OP is right on time. Nine months ago it was just a bunch of camera geeks and wannabe camera geeks (like myself) at the party. This movie has a real chance of blowing the doors right off this thing in a way Tiny Furniture didn't quite manage to do. Sure, in certain contexts the dslr is over-hyped and boring, but there are millions, tens of millions of people out there that, in the next few days, might come to accept cinema from these machines like dvxuser did 3 years ago. that's an enormous expansion in potential audience. it's like going from pitchfork famous to really, truly famous.

Or not. haha, i'm no market analyst. all i know is that i watched the trailer expecting to chin-stroke about the image quality and instead just ended up buying into it hook line and sinker.
 
ThisHideousReplica said:
nah man, the OP is right on time. Nine months ago it was just a bunch of camera geeks and wannabe camera geeks (like myself) at the party. This movie has a real chance of blowing the doors right off this thing in a way Tiny Furniture didn't quite manage to do.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I meant that there's a thread here from 9 months ago discussing this particular film already, and how Paramount bought it up for $4 Million after it swept through Sundance. That's the link I posted.

The OP's congratulatory message is well deserved, but this is already a vintage topic here.
Additionally, there have been plenty of "It's official: No one cares what cam you shoot on" comments, but it hasn't stopped anyone from caring yet and likely never will. Haters are gonna hate.
 
Absolutely. I did read the original thread when it first surfaced with great interest, and there is no doubt that "it's not the camera but the person behind it" is by far the #1 cliche on this board. And also, sorry if my post sounded confrontational.

But still, I do think "Like Crazy"'s opening is a significant event. To me, it's about the conversation shifting from the means of production to the larger culture where people have no special interest in the making and dissemination of films (ie. 90-95% of people). If "Like Crazy" performs well that's got to be a pivotal moment. "Tiny Furniture" was the 7D movie, but judging from early reviews, "Like Crazy" is not being read in that context at all. From Philip Bloom at Skywalker Ranch to this--it's like a promise fulfilled--a hollywood-distributed film with a wide theatrical release shot with prosumer gear and (this is the interesting part) NO ONE EVEN CARES. It's a film like any other. Moreso even, than others in this lineage, from mumblecore, to Gummo, dogme, reaching all the way back to Cassavetes and the French New Wave. In all these previous examples, the camera used was central to any discussion about the film's look, but with "Like Crazy" the choice of camera is not seen as aesthetically significant. That's a huge sea change in my opinion.

Obviously not everybody can make a feature film. In fact, I doubt the dslr has made it even 1% more likely for someone who just doesn't have what it takes. But it does seem like a significant advance in cinema's journey from spectacular commodity to expressive medium.

Especially relevant now as there seems to be a revisioning of the dslr as a transitional phase that has already been surprassed by the F3 and AF100 and whatever comes on Nov. 3. And yeah, it's probably true but there still is something heartening about the prospect of "Like Crazy" opening big and something poetic about a $1000 plastic box refashioning the ordinary world into a cinematic image. There's this artsy-fartsy term--"termite art" and the dslr is it in excelsis don't you think?
 
ThisHideousReplica said:
Absolutely. I did read the original thread when it first surfaced with great interest, and there is no doubt that "it's not the camera but the person behind it" is by far the #1 cliche on this board. And also, sorry if my post sounded confrontational.

But still, I do think "Like Crazy"'s opening is a significant event. To me, it's about the conversation shifting from the means of production to the larger culture where people have no special interest in the making and dissemination of films (ie. 90-95% of people). If "Like Crazy" performs well that's got to be a pivotal moment. "Tiny Furniture" was the 7D movie, but judging from early reviews, "Like Crazy" is not being read in that context at all. From Philip Bloom at Skywalker Ranch to this--it's like a promise fulfilled--a hollywood-distributed film with a wide theatrical release shot with prosumer gear and (this is the interesting part) NO ONE EVEN CARES. It's a film like any other. Moreso even, than others in this lineage, from mumblecore, to Gummo, dogme, reaching all the way back to Cassavetes and the French New Wave. In all these previous examples, the camera used was central to any discussion about the film's look, but with "Like Crazy" the choice of camera is not seen as aesthetically significant. That's a huge sea change in my opinion.

Obviously not everybody can make a feature film. In fact, I doubt the dslr has made it even 1% more likely for someone who just doesn't have what it takes. But it does seem like a significant advance in cinema's journey from spectacular commodity to expressive medium.

Especially relevant now as there seems to be a revisioning of the dslr as a transitional phase that has already been surprassed by the F3 and AF100 and whatever comes on Nov. 3. And yeah, it's probably true but there still is something heartening about the prospect of "Like Crazy" opening big and something poetic about a $1000 plastic box refashioning the ordinary world into a cinematic image. There's this artsy-fartsy term--"termite art" and the dslr is it in excelsis don't you think?
Click to expand...

Thank you! Indeed, you heard me loud and clear. I live in Utah, and one of my friends attended a viewing of Like Crazy (at Sundance). She LOVED the film and hardly even mentioned the "look" of the film. (She only mentioned it when I told her that I own the same camera that it was shot on, lol) ...and then she said she liked the look of the film.

All that said, I AM SPECIFICALLY referring to the fact that this film is generating GENUINE BUZZ. NOT from peeps like us, but from the public at large. It is a TOTALLY different story that I'm referring to here. I completely agree that there are several stories going on here:

1. Feature film made on DSLR. (old news)
2. Feature film made on DSLR makes it to Sundance. (old news)
3. Feature film made on DSLR wins award at Sundance. (old news)
4. Feature film made on DSLR sold for 6 million dollars. (old news)
5. Feature film made on DSLR to be realeased in theaters nation wide. (old news)
6. (This is my story, lol) Feature film made on DSLR receiving RAVE reviews from film critics and movie goers alike - "Like Crazy" is the REAL DEAL.

DANG!!!!! That part...is WAAAAY ahead of its time....and totally freaking cool!!!! This is like "Beauty and The Beast" being nominated for Best Picture. This is on another level and my point here is: What are we waiting for? (lol, grin) We don't need a better camera to shoot the film of a lifetime. We just need to improve our craft and tell a compelling story!!!!

Mad love to DVXUsers everywhere!!! (That's what I'm going to say right after I thank the Academy. lol. (I'd better get to work, because my last film LITERALLY BLEW CHUNKS!!!! :)
 
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