When is a film your own?
Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:33 am
When judging all I normally care about is what I see on screen and hear from
the loudspeakers.
But recently I was faced with a movie paying tribute to Scots-Canadian animator
Norman McLaren. My fellow judges loved it. I did too, but pointed out that
most of what I loved was the McLaren work shown in extract through the movie.
On another occasion I saw a video which was a tribute to the maker's brother,
a successful climber who shot a lot of super-8 on the mountains. The climbing
material was great, despite the transfer quality. The linking material was
pedestrian.
So how should such works be judged?
If I only care about what I see and hear then both rate good marks. If I
deduct what elements of quality came from elsewhere then it is another story
...
But if I start down that slope, what about the many movies where music lifts
and enhances the film. Do I discount that because the film maker did not
create the music?
It is probably not practical these days to make a movie which does not have
some input from an outside source - if only in the soundtrack.
Ideas, please?
Dave
the loudspeakers.
But recently I was faced with a movie paying tribute to Scots-Canadian animator
Norman McLaren. My fellow judges loved it. I did too, but pointed out that
most of what I loved was the McLaren work shown in extract through the movie.
On another occasion I saw a video which was a tribute to the maker's brother,
a successful climber who shot a lot of super-8 on the mountains. The climbing
material was great, despite the transfer quality. The linking material was
pedestrian.
So how should such works be judged?
If I only care about what I see and hear then both rate good marks. If I
deduct what elements of quality came from elsewhere then it is another story
...
But if I start down that slope, what about the many movies where music lifts
and enhances the film. Do I discount that because the film maker did not
create the music?
It is probably not practical these days to make a movie which does not have
some input from an outside source - if only in the soundtrack.
Ideas, please?
Dave