Another enlightening and entertaining episode of BEHIND THE LENS this week thanks to our special guests, director ROSS CLARK, and co-directors BRENT KINETZ and TERENCE MICKEY. Plus, excerpts of our exclusive interview with writer/director JOE PENNA.
One of the hottest films on the big screen right now is ARCTIC. Starring Mads Mikkelson, ARCTIC is written and director by YouTube sensation JOE PENNA. A perfect meld of cinematography by Tomas Om Tomasson (shooting on location in the Arctic tundra of Iceland), sound design and editing by the team at Formosa Group led by Mark Mangini, Tom Hoogenaker and Odin Benitez, and a tour de force performance by Mikkelson that is dependent upon his deliberateness and calculated efficiency of movement which is then elevated even higher by lighting, lensing and sound, and the result is spellbinding, haunting, visually arresting; a fully sensory experience. Take a listen to an excerpt of my exclusive interview with Joe as he talks about the origin of the story, designing the visual palette, lens selection (Cooke anamorphics), and more.
Then meet co-directors BRENT KINETZ and TERENCE MICKEY who are live from Stockholm talking about their new documentary, 1 BILLION ORGASMS. Following engineer Aaron Headley on his journey to develop the “Squirt Watch”, you’ll be amazed by the revelations of Brent and Terence in bringing this documentary to life. Showing “two sides of the coin” of Aaron’s persona, they take us into Aaron’s home life with his two college-aged daughters, we meet his parents, and then we head to Las Vegas for the 2015 AVN Entertainment Expo where Aaron tries to market his watch. Listen as we discuss finding a balance, remaining objective for the audience, the challenges of shooting, and particularly sound design, in a convention setting, not to mention the lengthy editing process. Some great filmmaking lessons to be learned from the experiences of Brent and Terence.
And then things take on a more serious tone with ROSS CLARK who is live talking about the making of THE BIRD CATCHER. A powerful film shining a light on another one of the little known stories of WWII; this time on the Norwegian Jews. Set in 1942 Norway, THE BIRD CATCHER is told through the eyes of 16-year old Esther as her family and friends are rounded up and either imprisoned or executed. Ross fills us in on some of the historical facts on which this film is based, including true accounts of survivors, and the importance of the village of Trondheim to Hitler. Shot on location, we go in-depth into the importance of shooting on location in Trondheim, the striking visual design and lighting and lensing by one of my favorite cinematographers, John Christian Rosenlund ( “The Wave” and “The Quake”), the use of color, casting, and a notable score by Jim Copperthwaite. An important film for our times.
