We’ve reported frequently this year about interesting film festivals and screenings happening around town. In the next year, the AU Library could hold a free film series of our own! But we need your help. In the last week or two, American University launched UFUND, a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding site that solicits donations for specific campus […]
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Deep breaths! 8 videos to fight finals stress
So it has come to this: AU’s final exam period officially begins tomorrow. For those who don’t take summer classes, it’s been a good seven months since you’ve had to think about finals, but there’s no avoiding or delaying it anymore. We’ve seen plenty of signs of the finals crunch in the library, and although […]
Continue readingYikes: 75 percent of all silent films are lost
We love lost and orphaned films, like an early Orson Welles picture that was recently uncovered, but this isn’t something we should have to get excited about. Films are important cultural objects, and it’s a shame if they go missing or are destroyed. Unfortunately, the prospects for early film preservation appear grimmer than expected. A […]
Continue readingToday in “Is this the future of film?”: Is Making a Scene the future of film?
If we need more evidence that digital distribution is changing the way we make and consume films, look no further than Making a Scene. It’s unusual short film series released by, of all publications, The New York Times. Each film in the series, directed by Oscar-winner Janusz Kamiński, lasts less than a minute and features […]
Continue readingThe Maltese Falcon sells at auction; dreams made of $4 million
Dorothy’s red slippers. Rosebud. The One Ring. Wilson. Certain film props have become so iconic that they are beyond any sensible or estimable value. These objects have become part of our cultural history. How much worth can you assign to something as storied as the wood chipper from Fargo or Butch’s gold watch in Pulp […]
Continue readingThis Thanksgiving, avoid these insane television recipes
With Thanksgiving only a week away, we’re quickly approaching perhaps the single most gluttonous month of the year. We’ll take any opportunity to fill ourselves up with delicious food, but the stretch from now until to the end of the calendar year will be particularly hazardous for our health. We’re not explicitly going to recommend […]
Continue readingNew software quickly pieces together (ridiculous) movies
Given the immense volume of quickly-created content on the Internet – automatically generated music, 3D printed combs, etc. – it’s surprising that it took so long for someone to come up with a fast movie creator. Plotagon, currently in beta, is a new free service that allows users to assemble clips in a traditional screenplay […]
Continue readingThe last DVD checked out from a Blockbuster is appropriate, sad
Last week, home video mainstay Blockbuster announced the closure of its last remaining stores, effectively ending what was only a decade earlier a vertiable empire of film distribution. This is no surprise, especially for those in the DC area (the closest Blockbuster is nearly 30 miles away). Decades later, no one will likely lament the […]
Continue readingIs it time to leave “cinematic” behind?
Film culture has created an aura around the term “cinematic.” A piece of media described as “cinematic” carries with it certain qualities – pace, staging, cinematography, and weight – that are typically seen as ideal or enviable. But as digital distribution democratizes film and television, should directors still chase the same feeling as the cinema? […]
Continue readingFilm Studies for Free explores fan culture, and so can you!
We love Film Studies for Free, a blog that curates links to openly accessible scholarly film resources. You might notice them in the blogroll on the right-hand side of this page (they’re a little below the Music Library… keep looking!) We wanted to highlight a particularly good recent posting from FSFF about researching fan culture. […]
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