The Last Waltz

Recently, I have become enamored with films centered on music. Some of these films, such as A Hard Day’s Night and Tommy, attempt to accentuate the narrative of particular songs and albums. Other, such as The Song Remains the Same and Woodstock, document some of the most famous concerts in music history. Regardless of the approach, these films help to bring out the human elements of the musicians. Although there are many great music films, none of them achieve the quality of the 1976 film The Last Waltz.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, The Last Waltz documents The Band’s farewell concert. Throughout their concert, The Band is joined by is joined by some of the greatest musicians of all time, such as Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, and Neil Young. In addition to the live performances, The Last Waltz contains interviews with members of the band reflecting on their career. In particular, the film focuses on The Band’s singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson and his decision to stop touring.

Overall, Martin Scorsese did a perfect job capturing the mood of the concert. In order to accomplish this, Scorsese implemented a variety of lighting techniques. From Joni Mitchell’s silhouette as she sings backstage to the blue light that shines down on Levon Helm during his performance of “Ophelia,” the lighting reflect the atmosphere of the performances. Not only did this film capture the escence of The Band, but it helped capture the feel of an entire generation of music. In the end, Martin Scorsese was able to create a masterpiece whose influence can be seen in every concert documentary that has been produced since.  

Steadicam Work in Hugo

A few weeks ago I had my first experience with a steadicam. I was first AC for my friends ACP fiction shoot, and the DP happened to own and operate a steadicam. He let me try it on for a few minutes and it was awesome. The variety of shots that can be accomplished with a steadicam is unreal. After that weekend of working so closely with this rig really peaked my interest. I've been researching various set-ups and examples of shots used with a steadicam. One of my favorite examples i've found was from the final scenes of Hugo.

Here is a shot from the point of view of a go-pro mounted on top of the steadicam.

The way the operator moves around the set with flawless precision is un-real. He is able to achieve perfect shots and angles while the whole time avoiding actors and props.

Seeing the way that they move the set makes me wonder if that happens more often in movies and I just don't notice it. I think its amazing how they built the wall to be able to retract to make room for the steadicam, while still being impossible to tell that the wall can move.

Here is the actual clip from the movie:

Robert Richardson was the DP for Hugo, and if you have seen the movie you know that there are many shots as impressive as this one. Richardson has 3 oscars along with another 16 wins and 46 nominations. 

The Inspiration Behind Hugo

     Recently, I sat down to watch Martin Scorsese’s Hugo. Set in Paris during the 1930’s, Hugo follows the story of Hugo Cabret, an orphan boy who fixes clocks in a train station. In his spare time, Hugo works to build an automaton using plans from his deceased father’s notebook. In an attempt to acquire the parts necessary to complete his automaton, Hugo begins to steal from Papa Georges, who runs a local toy store. Eventually, Hugo discovers that Georges’ daughter, Isabelle, wears a necklace that contains the last part needed to complete his robot. After befriending Isabelle and convincing her to give him the necklace, Hugo is finally able to complete his machine. Eventually, after being tipped off by the drawing that his automaton produced, Hugo and Isabelle discover that Papa Georges is actually film pioneer Georges Melies. After World War I, Georges’ films became so unpopular that he was forced change professions. In the end, Georges adopts Hugo and regains prominence in the film industry.

     Although I enjoyed the plot of Hugo, what I appreciated most about this film was its nods to early films that laid the foundation for the industry we know and love today. Among the films alluded to in Hugo are Safety Last, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory, The Great Train Robbery, and The Music Lover, amongst others. However, the most important film referred to in Hugo is A Trip to the Moon, a groundbreaking film that helps to shape the plot of the movie. In addition to recreating the feel and scenes of several of the most important films in early cinematic history, I was very intrigued by the automaton used in Hugo. After doing more research into the subject, I was blown away at how complex most of these machines were, especially given the limited technology during the time that most of them were created.  One automaton in particular that impressed me, and likely inspired the one in Hugo, is “The Writer,” created by the Jaquet-Droz family during the 18^th century. Like the robot in the film, “The Writer” was able to produce a custom letter up to 40 letters long.

Goodfellas, cocaine, and my one-shot-film location

A couple days ago my roommates and I settled down to watch one of my favorite movies, Goodfellas. The 1990 adaptation of Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi is directed by Martin Scorsese and depicts the lifestyle of italian mobsters throughout the mid fifties to early eighties. It's a great story but more importantly reminds me of a personal theory of one of my friends regarding Scorsese's cocaine use and his directing style. My friend believes that throughout Scorsese's career you can see a fluctuation in his directing style dependent on his drug use, specifically the "speed" of the film. He believes movies like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets have a much slower feel to them then New York,  New York and The Last Waltz Personally, I've never agreed with him but it's a interesting theory that still pops into my head every time I watch a Scorsese film - at least it was memorable.


Lastly, I want to share my one-shot-film location with you guys:

It's exactly what I had in mind when I wrote the script so I'm really excited to film the project this Monday.