i’ve just handed in my latest article for the IFP. in essence it’s a piece that questions how easy it is to assess the quality of a film (or any work of art) in an age where hype is everything. the article starts out with a proposed set of rules and then attempts to qualify them. these rules are as follows -

rule 1. (to kill expectation)

go into the film without having read or watched anything. trailers are acceptable, as they are sometimes created by film directors themselves, though even that sometimes is questionable.

rule 2. (to kill projection)

assess what the film is trying to say or achieve within the realm of what kind of movie it is trying to be. do not project your own expectations. let the film dictate the level of expectation, be that tonally, narratively or conceptually.

then, assess how well you think the film reaches whatever goals it set out to achieve.

rule 3. (to kill hype)

don’t talk about the film with anyone who has not seen it, except if you’re encouraging them to go see it. only discuss the film with those that have seen it, and discuss it hard. that’s what it’s there for.

you can read the rest of the article here.

we’d like to thank gus mantel for allowing us to use his incredible animated gifs to illustrate the piece. you can view more of his work here.

ioncinema.com, a webzine / blog website dedicated to american independent film, world cinema, documentary film and the world film festival scene, has just posted this article in praise of the HERE website. this is the site we built in collaboration with filmmaker braden king, to promote and provide information on his forthcoming feature film of the same name.

it’s also worth mentioning that the site was built using the ever more relevant ‘website-in-a-can’ setup offered for FREE over at wordpress.org. more than just a powerful piece of blogging software, it’s an extremely affordable, plug-in based solution for almost all your basic website needs these days. provided you’re happy to undertake the task of a little coding and skinning, you can build a very easy to update and maintain online platform to serve a variety of immediate needs.

worth a look.

feed the walrus went live today. a bold new gesture in the world new media production companies. the walrus himself and his strange little world were created by us. turn up your speakers, open your mouth, look at your friend in the next cubicle and then roll over one of his flippers … nice one.

our teaser site for the feature film debut of director michael grodner, just went live. the film is to be called beyond apollo and is based on the acclaimed science fiction novel of the same name by barry n. malzberg. the film is currently in pre-production, so everything you see is merely a conceptual taster of what’s in store. for up-to-date information about the film check out the beyond apollo blog. otherwise, as ever, we hope you enjoy the experience we’ve created.

it’s a beautiful A1 (33.11 x 23.39 inches) screen print and currently only available from the band’s merch booth on tour. so check out their show dates and find yourself a copy.

the initial web presence for the beautiful and thought provoking film that will be HERE, is now live. braden king, the director, has been working closely with us as we hammer out & develop an informative online source for everything about his new film. stay tuned for more developments at this location as we close in on the film’s production schedule and begin to unravel more parts of the production.