Film Festival

Archive for the ‘Great Attraction’ Category

Julius Caesar was once warned about the Ides of March, and as it turned out, March 15th was not a very good day for him. It was, however, an excellent film starring the late great Marlon Brando. Times have changed for the better, and now March 15th is a day to be eagerly anticipated, especially if you are going to submit a film at the Festival de Cannes. The Cannes Film Festival submission deadline is March 15th, 2009, for all you amateur and professional filmmakers.

The festival itself will be held from May 13th -24th, 2009 and will celebrating sixty one years of films entered into this prestigious competition. In 1939, the French minister for Public Instruction and the Arts, Jean Zay, proposed an International Film Festival, but due to World War II the first festival was not held until 1946. With the exception of years 1948 and 1950, the festival has taken place each and every year starting off as a small film forum and slowly turning into a serious competition.

While the Cannes Film Festival submission deadline is the most important date to remember for the filmmaker, it is  equally important to understand what is required for actually submitting the film.The film must comply with the pre-selection conditions meaning that it cannot have been shown on the Internet, distributed internationally, etc.The online entry form must be completed in its entirety.The film should be sent to the address indicated on the entry form. If it is sent anywhere else, it will not be entered into the competition.

Trying to figure out whether you should invest in a flat detector or a flick detector for your photographic art? You’re in the right place! While they are both useful devices, flatbeds and flick scanners really serve different purposes and shouldn’t be confused with each other. Having a firm grip on the differentiating factors between the digit will help you ingest them each for their intended specialties.

Flatbed scanners ingest a form of technology that works for non-transparent objects. While they are generally cheaper than flick scanners, and construe things quite while, they can’t really construe flick negatives cod to negatives allowing the light to transfer through and thus interfere the scan. For already matured flick or another solid images, a flat detector can be an excellent choice. For scanning film, you’ll have to look elsewhere  that is, unless your particular model of flat detector includes a flick scanning adapter. An adapter will allow a flat to construe film. However, the results will probably not be as good as that from a mid-range or meliorate dedicated flick scanner.

Film scanners, since they’re focused specifically on scanning film, do that and pretty much nothing else. However, they do it extremely well. Some are intended to appendage limited types or sizes of film, while others are capable of handling most flick types in general. While limited in the sense that they can’t construe non-film images, when it comes to film, they have a plethora of tools commonly not acquirable to flat scanners, or acquirable only in fashions that work inferior well with photography scans. They also tend to allow more direct power over the impact of scanning and editing.

It was for such a guitarist that Richard Harvey set out to compose a melody so daunting that even Williams would find it impossible to play yet at the same time challenge him to attempt it.The Concerto Antico is in fact a kaleidoscope of old dances and song forms that mirror different parts of Europe; but surely Mediterranean in essence. Harvey later wrote of Williams: “His imperious response to this challenge, particularly in the fifth movement, makes me thrill with delight each time I hear it.”Neither Harvey nor Williams are strangers to challenge for the Londoner’s gift for creating great music is already familiar even if his name is not immediately recognisable.

Born in 1953 Harvey is as musically talented as any of the great classical composers. After graduating from the Royal College of Music he formed the folk group Gryphon. By this time he was already talented as a player of traditional orchestral instruments.The group was soon haunting three continents, winning hearts and minds as the London-born prodigy displayed his skills through a repertoire of thirty different musical instruments and five albums. He personally owns an impressive collection of nearly six hundred musical instruments, and plays most of them.

Harvey may be remembered by the public for his musical scoring of dozens of iconic movies and television dramas: the Harry Potter films; The Lion King, Kingdom of Heaven. Death of a President, ‘Les Deux Mondes’, The Da Vinci Code and many more.Yet for all of his considerable achievements this gifted composer will perhaps be best remembered for a simple Mediterranean melody so beautifully evocative it stretched the already impressive limitations of master guitarist John Williams. Between them they have captured and held the timelessness and beauty of gentle Mediterranean and Spanish musical culture.

My most spectacular Frustation  was when I was handling a film called ‘Escape from El Diablo’. It’s a few years ago now, but it starred John Wayne’s youngest son Ethan, and Timothy Van Patten. It told the story of a young man’s attempt to escape from a Mexican Jail. We knew that Ethan Wayne and Tim VP were coming to Cannes, and happily these were the days before personal publicists vetoed everything! I decided that it would be spectacular if we could have the two boys fly over the Med in a helicopter, and then lower themselves down a dangling rope into a speedboat which would bring them to a drinks reception on the beach in front of the Carlton. There would be hundreds of photographers of course, and it would be front page news.

The boys were up for it, the distributors agreed to pay for the chopper, and we hired a boat and a driver. We set up the bar, loaded with Margaritas of course, and posted huge alerts in the press room. We were all set. The day finally arrived; the buddies were met at the local airport and taken on board the chopper with my enthusiastic assistant. I was really excited, and raced down the Croisette to the waiting horde of photographers to find - no one! Not one damn photographer other than my own ‘house’ photographer who we had paid to be there!panic. I was getting messages saying the chopper was ready to fly, but I had to stall them. What on earth could have happened? It turned out that a press conference for David Bowie had overrun and all the press and photographers were locked in to the Palais (the Cannes conference centre). In the end, we could hold the helicopter no more, and I had about 5 minutes to find as many photographers as I could. Please remember dear reader, there were NO mobile phones at this stage of the game, so I had to literally run up to everyone who had a camera, and yes, most of them were tourists, and drag them to my temporary Mexican bar! Nightmare. Suddenly, a colleague from the office came dashing down to me saying the driver of the boat refused to go out to pick them up since the weather had changed and the sea was too choppy . I just wanted to drink the bar dry and run away.I had no press, no photographers, and now it was looking like no stunt. I still go cold when I think of this moment, and its more than 20 years ago, my two adventurous actors came down the rope as close to the Carlton as they could, and actually jumped in to the water, and swam in! Bless them, did make the papers the next day but literally by the skin of our teeth. I never, ever used a helicopter again. The whole drama was made worse when someone nicked my idea and pulled off the perfect helicopter . Find some of the photographers before hand and issue flyers etc so that they know its happening - you’ll see them at any of the main events happening so go round and hand them out afterwards - otherwise engage a PR specialist who knows everyone - see tips below!