What boldly separates “First Man” from all other space movies was Damien Chazelle’s decision to make Nasa’s mission to the moon the personal story of a grieving Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling).
Part documentary, part domestic drama — shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren (“La La Land”) on Kodak 16mm and 35mm and IMAX– the adventure thrusts Armstrong out of this world to say goodbye to his departed young daughter.
And Chazelle tasked his go-to editor Tom Cross (Oscar winner for “Whiplash” and a nominee for “La La Land”) with balancing both the meta and micro elements of the movie (scripted by “Spotlight Oscar winner Josh Singer).
“Damien and Ryan Gosling always talked about how this movie was about the moon and the kitchen,” Cross said. “It’s not only how painful and risky these missions were for the astronauts, but how painful they were for the families. It was...
Part documentary, part domestic drama — shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren (“La La Land”) on Kodak 16mm and 35mm and IMAX– the adventure thrusts Armstrong out of this world to say goodbye to his departed young daughter.
And Chazelle tasked his go-to editor Tom Cross (Oscar winner for “Whiplash” and a nominee for “La La Land”) with balancing both the meta and micro elements of the movie (scripted by “Spotlight Oscar winner Josh Singer).
“Damien and Ryan Gosling always talked about how this movie was about the moon and the kitchen,” Cross said. “It’s not only how painful and risky these missions were for the astronauts, but how painful they were for the families. It was...
- 1/4/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
While 2018 has been a stunning year for character animation and world building, powered by “Ready Player One,” “Black Panther,” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the Oscar race for Best Visual Effects shapes up as a showdown between “First Man” and “Avengers: Infinity War” — reshaping in-camera VFX for Nasa’s trip to the moon versus Marvel’s brilliant CG Thanos.
On “Avengers: Infinity War,” Digital Domain created Thanos in parallel with Weta Digital. The success of both Thanos characters was a result of conveying every nuance of Brolin’s onset performance via Dd’s new high-res facial capture system, which captured Brolin’s facial data and then added the actor’s low-res onset performance. Through analysis and fine-tuning, the animators accurately joined Brolin with Thanos, which could yield Marvel its first VFX Oscar. The level of photo-real performance capture definitely raises the bar for a humanoid.
Damien Chazelle set out to...
On “Avengers: Infinity War,” Digital Domain created Thanos in parallel with Weta Digital. The success of both Thanos characters was a result of conveying every nuance of Brolin’s onset performance via Dd’s new high-res facial capture system, which captured Brolin’s facial data and then added the actor’s low-res onset performance. Through analysis and fine-tuning, the animators accurately joined Brolin with Thanos, which could yield Marvel its first VFX Oscar. The level of photo-real performance capture definitely raises the bar for a humanoid.
Damien Chazelle set out to...
- 11/30/2018
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
With inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” Damien Chazelle set out to redefine shooting in camera for “First Man,” dramatizing Nasa’s mission to the moon, with Ryan Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong. “We had to create a gentle balance using a diverse mixture of visual effects, special effects, archival footage, and scaled models to help create the 1960’s documentary style film that was Damien’s vision,” said production VFX supervisor Paul Lambert of Dneg (this year’s Oscar winner for “Blade Runner 2049”).
The biggest challenge was how to shoot the space and in-flight elements with Dneg’s CG content to fit within the boundaries of a movie being shot 16mm and 35mm (the climactic lunar sequence was shot with IMAX cameras by cinematographer Linus Sandgren for a surreal “Wizard of Oz” effect).
“The effects had to be subtle and shot in a particular way to make it feel like footage from the day,...
The biggest challenge was how to shoot the space and in-flight elements with Dneg’s CG content to fit within the boundaries of a movie being shot 16mm and 35mm (the climactic lunar sequence was shot with IMAX cameras by cinematographer Linus Sandgren for a surreal “Wizard of Oz” effect).
“The effects had to be subtle and shot in a particular way to make it feel like footage from the day,...
- 10/15/2018
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Millions of children say they want to be an astronaut when they grow up — but at what cost?
“First Man” shows just what fulfilling that dream entails, as it opens by recounting the first of many instances in which Neil Armstrong cheated death en route to set foot on the moon.
The film starts with a jolt, as we join Armstrong in the cockpit of an X-15 rocket plane, soaring to the highest layers of the Earth’s stratosphere as the plane’s metal rattles and the rushing air roars around him. The camera shakes violently, and the seats in the movie theater shake with it as the noise rumbles through the room. But then, suddenly, a moment of peace, as Armstrong reaches the point where he can see the vastness of space and the curvature of the Earth.
Also Read: 'First Man' Fact Check: Did Neil Armstrong...
“First Man” shows just what fulfilling that dream entails, as it opens by recounting the first of many instances in which Neil Armstrong cheated death en route to set foot on the moon.
The film starts with a jolt, as we join Armstrong in the cockpit of an X-15 rocket plane, soaring to the highest layers of the Earth’s stratosphere as the plane’s metal rattles and the rushing air roars around him. The camera shakes violently, and the seats in the movie theater shake with it as the noise rumbles through the room. But then, suddenly, a moment of peace, as Armstrong reaches the point where he can see the vastness of space and the curvature of the Earth.
Also Read: 'First Man' Fact Check: Did Neil Armstrong...
- 10/15/2018
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Audiences don’t grade movies on degree of difficulty. Academy voters do, and they will recognize that “First Man” is a cinematic feat. Back in 2014, after he made “Whiplash,” Chazelle collaborated with screenwriter Josh Singer, impressed by his work on Julian Assange film “The Fifth Estate” (his Oscar for “Spotlight” came later). Chazelle wanted to show on film what it took for astronaut Neil Armstrong to land on the moon.
The filmmaker was not a space junkie growing up. The spark for him was how other movies like “Apollo 13” and “The Right Stuff” never quite conveyed “how fragile and precarious and dangerous this was,” he said. “I imagined putting myself on top of a missile waiting for launch. I wanted to try to capture that.”
From the beginning, Chazelle wanted to “marry the big and the small with this movie,” he said. “This is a story of extremes: going to the moon,...
The filmmaker was not a space junkie growing up. The spark for him was how other movies like “Apollo 13” and “The Right Stuff” never quite conveyed “how fragile and precarious and dangerous this was,” he said. “I imagined putting myself on top of a missile waiting for launch. I wanted to try to capture that.”
From the beginning, Chazelle wanted to “marry the big and the small with this movie,” he said. “This is a story of extremes: going to the moon,...
- 10/12/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Audiences don’t grade movies on degree of difficulty. Academy voters do, and they will recognize that “First Man” is a cinematic feat. Back in 2014, after he made “Whiplash,” Chazelle collaborated with screenwriter Josh Singer, impressed by his work on Julian Assange film “The Fifth Estate” (his Oscar for “Spotlight” came later). Chazelle wanted to show on film what it took for astronaut Neil Armstrong to land on the moon.
The filmmaker was not a space junkie growing up. The spark for him was how other movies like “Apollo 13” and “The Right Stuff” never quite conveyed “how fragile and precarious and dangerous this was,” he said. “I imagined putting myself on top of a missile waiting for launch. I wanted to try to capture that.”
From the beginning, Chazelle wanted to “marry the big and the small with this movie,” he said. “This is a story of extremes: going to the moon,...
The filmmaker was not a space junkie growing up. The spark for him was how other movies like “Apollo 13” and “The Right Stuff” never quite conveyed “how fragile and precarious and dangerous this was,” he said. “I imagined putting myself on top of a missile waiting for launch. I wanted to try to capture that.”
From the beginning, Chazelle wanted to “marry the big and the small with this movie,” he said. “This is a story of extremes: going to the moon,...
- 10/12/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
“Houston. Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed…”
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of Nasa’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969.
A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost-on Armstrong and on the nation-of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
The film stars Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Patrick Fugit, Ciaran Hinds, Ethan Embry, Shea Whigham, Corey Stoll, Pablo Schreiber.
2019 will witness the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing.
From October 2018 through December 2022, Nasa will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program that landed a dozen Americans on the moon between July 1969 and December...
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of Nasa’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969.
A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost-on Armstrong and on the nation-of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
The film stars Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Patrick Fugit, Ciaran Hinds, Ethan Embry, Shea Whigham, Corey Stoll, Pablo Schreiber.
2019 will witness the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing.
From October 2018 through December 2022, Nasa will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program that landed a dozen Americans on the moon between July 1969 and December...
- 6/10/2018
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A TV icon for sure, star one of the best sitcoms of all time, but Mary Tyler Moore left a mark with her big screen work including her Oscar-nominated turn in the 1980 Best Picture winner Ordinary People. She co-starred with Charles Bronson in X-15, Elvis in a A Change Of Habit, Julie Andrews in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and played Ben Stiller’s mom in David O. Russel’s Flirting With Disaster. Her Ordinary People performance was wonderful and incredibly surprising at the time but it’s her TV work, from Happy Hotpoint, the Hotpoint Appliance elf in the mid-50’s, to The Dick Van Dyke Show to her winning three Emmys as Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ms Moore live for many years with Type 1 diabetes and passed away this morning at age 80.
From The New York Times:
” Mary Tyler Moore, whose witty and graceful performances on...
From The New York Times:
” Mary Tyler Moore, whose witty and graceful performances on...
- 1/26/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Harriett Tendler was 18, the only child of a widowed Jewish farmer, when she enrolled at the Bessie V. Hicks School of Stage, Screen, and Radio in Philadelphia in 1947. It was there she fell in love with Charles Buchinsky, a fellow student eight years her senior. Charles was part of a large Lithuanian family from an impoverished coal mining town in Pennsylvania. He had served in WWII as a tail gunner and was using the GI bill to study art and acting. Harriett and Charles were married in 1949 and two years later, Charles was cast in his first film. In 1953 he changed his last name to Bronson and found work as a solid character actor with a rugged face, muscular physique and everyman ethnicity that kept him busy in supporting roles as indians, convicts, cowboys, boxers, and gangsters. Life was good for the Bronsons and they had a daughter and then a son.
- 1/19/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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