for the editors in the house
Disgruntled editors (or those who wish to understand the minds of disgruntled editors) should read this.
Update 3 probably coming tomorrow night (the crowds, after all, are clearly desperately awaiting this news). I saw Charles Burnett speak with his film KILLER OF SHEEP tonight. It was made in 1977 as a student film and was one of the first 50 films added to the National Film Registry when the Library of Congress began preserving films, and I've been wanting to see it for a decade. After the screening, I asked the soft-spoken Burnett if there was anything he knew now that he wished he knew when he made that film, which in retrospect sounds like a criticism but I didn't mean it that way.
He responded by saying he couldn't think of much, and admitted that he didn't know much when he made KILLER OF SHEEP and that that was probably a good thing, because you need a bit of naievete to make a feature film. If you think of all the things you have to do to make a film, he went on, it's overwhelming. But if you actually just pick up a camera and go out, then you're making a film, without thinking of everything that gets in the way.
Of course, music clearances meant that this film was unreleasable for 30 years, and the company that released it finally spent 7 years getting the clearances, so there's that. But the larger point is well taken.
Update 3 probably coming tomorrow night (the crowds, after all, are clearly desperately awaiting this news). I saw Charles Burnett speak with his film KILLER OF SHEEP tonight. It was made in 1977 as a student film and was one of the first 50 films added to the National Film Registry when the Library of Congress began preserving films, and I've been wanting to see it for a decade. After the screening, I asked the soft-spoken Burnett if there was anything he knew now that he wished he knew when he made that film, which in retrospect sounds like a criticism but I didn't mean it that way.
He responded by saying he couldn't think of much, and admitted that he didn't know much when he made KILLER OF SHEEP and that that was probably a good thing, because you need a bit of naievete to make a feature film. If you think of all the things you have to do to make a film, he went on, it's overwhelming. But if you actually just pick up a camera and go out, then you're making a film, without thinking of everything that gets in the way.
Of course, music clearances meant that this film was unreleasable for 30 years, and the company that released it finally spent 7 years getting the clearances, so there's that. But the larger point is well taken.
posted by dd | 9:26 PM
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