the "death" of mumblecore

Russ turned me on to an article in the latest issue of Film Comment called The Death of Mumblecore. Take a gander here if you're so inclined. With such a provocative title, I was very interested in reading this article which I immediately could not help but take issue with. How can a "movement" that's not really a "movement" already be dead?

I did find some of the information rather interesting, agreed with some of the comments, and whole-heartedly took issue with others. Basically, the author explains that the mumblecore "movement" is a creation of marketing, a ploy of film festival programming, an attempt to brand these films as the hot new thing so that they would do better as part of a group than they could on their own.

Well, okay. I always got the impression anyway that filmmakers branded with the label were always kind of puzzled by it, even put off by it, as well. It reminds me of another much-maligned, commercially-coined genre of which I have been an unapologetic follower: emocore music, more colloquially known as 'emo.' A label which is unwanted at best and derisive at worst, which no one can accurately define and almost no one is willing to use to define themselves. Most musicians slapped with the emo label would probably tell you that they don't know what it means either, and they they just make the music they want to make, man. Let the market, which needs everything to be easily classified and defined, make those distinctions. Such is the same with filmmakers of the mumblecore movement.

The emo genre and mumblecore have much in common. Products of both get an inordinate amount of shit for being self-indulgent works of self-absorbed people. And in some cases I'm sure that's a valid criticism. That said, I take issue with the following point of the article:

The mumbler with the loudest mouth and the director of three defining mumblecore features--Kissing on the Mouth (05), LOL (06), and the aforementioned Hannah--is Swanberg, who commented on GreenCine last year that his work "is not about seclusion, it's just a reflection of the white, hipster neighborhood I live in." Deep-throating his own foot even further, he told Filmmaker magazine (in the Spring '07 issue) that he didn't feel he had "anything to say right now about the Iraq war. The story of my life and my friends' lives are the ones I can tell most completely." That Swanberg believes that his life and those of his friends are separate from the war or the global meltdown that is upon us seems to me reason enough to bring back the draft. I wouldn't take these pronouncements seriously, were they not borne out by movies that are just as smug and blatantly lazy.
Emphasis is mine. I don't think every film, or every work of art, for that matter, needs to be a treatise on the current geo-political state of the world, or contribute to any kind of political debate. Or, for that matter, be relevant to anything at all. I take the author's point that young people feel separate from the war and uninterested in current events, but you can't fault the guy for making films about what he wants to make films about. I find this criticism just unfair and mean-spirited.

The author makes no secret of her dislike for Joe Swanberg or his films, but seems to really like both Andrew Bujalski and Adam Katz, calling them the "break-out talents" of mumblecore. I can't say anything about Katz, since his two films, Dance Party USA and Quiet City haven't come out on DVD yet and I missed them at IFC in August. But I can see how the latter two perhaps have more emphasis on "craft" than Swanberg. Perhaps.

I don't like placing value-judgments on films. They are what they are. And I couldn't help but have a gut-reaction to the article based off of the provocative title alone. I wanted to take issue with it before I even read it. Hannah Takes the Stairs elicited genuine emotion when I saw it, and inspired me to do my own work. And I'm not the only one. What else can you ask from a film? Call it whatever you want, but it's definitely not dead.

Oh, I also wanted to say congratulations to the Duplass Brothers (who I'm sure will never read this) for their new film, Baghead, getting accepted into Sundance.

 Josh, 12/08/2007 | Comments (0)


Josh's Demo Reel

Josh, 10/30/2007 | Comments (1)


time to put this one to bed...

I've just finished a just-about-final cut of the first episode of the new Nate Kemper Project, titled "Resurrection Story." I'm fairly happy with it. It suffers in all the areas I knew it would--mainly, sound issues. That's the area where our productions suffer the most, and frankly, is the thing that keeps them from being considered 'professional.'

Anyway, I feel like I could tinker with this thing endlessly, and I have, but it's finally time to put this thing to bed. I've got two more rough cuts to finalize, three more to shoot, one more to write...and I can't afford the time to wallow in what-ifs and should-haves.

I might put the episode up on the site before it airs on BTV.

 Josh, 09/25/2006 | Comments (0)


The Weeklys

As stupid as the name may be, this is a project created to keep me creative while I edit our documentary. Every Saturday I will write a script for one hour, no more, no less. As soon as it's done, I then have 23 hours to have whatever was written shot and edited. Whatever is done in the 24-hour period is the final product.

The idea is to get used to using whatever I have at my disposal. I feel too many good ideas go to waste because they're not put into action. And the more I depend on other people to help get things done, the more things don't get done.

So ANYONE interested in acting or being apart of a crew for a film short, make sure to be out side my door by 12 noon on any Saturday. Don't worry if you don't think you can't act, it's all part of the exercise. The first to come will be the first to be used. If you don't show up it's not a problem, it's just your loss. Apart from being a part of a fun shoot, it's an easy thing to put in your portfolio or on a resume. I'll post if there's a Saturday I won't be shooting.

ALSO, if your interested in writing a short, write it. If I like it more than mine, I'll film yours instead. But don't keep bring me the same script. If I don't film it once, then I probably won't again.

The only unfortunate part of all this is that I have to depend on Josh to post this stuff to our site. So the shorts will get posted as soon as Josh finds the time to do it. I'll post them on Youtube.com as soon as it's finished, so if you have a hankering to see the newest one on Sunday afternoon, you can go there.

Hope to see you.

 Bracey, 09/08/2006 | Comments (0)


resistance

I picked up this book not too long ago called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I don't actually know what he does but I get the impression that he's a screenwriter. He gives a face and a name to the enemy of the artist/writer: resistance. Resistance is that nebulous force you succumb to when you "have things to take care of," when you'll "do it tomorrow," or you "just don't feel like it today." I find it's actually helpful to keep in mind that 'resistance' is the force keeping you from your work, because it gives you something to fight against. I didn't buy everything Pressfield was schilling for in the book, but I seem to have latched on to this concept and found it useful.

On a related note, a bunch of us gathered 'round and watched Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence last night, which I had never seen the whole way through. I find if I'm in need of inspiration, taking in one of his films is a sure-fire bet to get some.

 Josh, 07/24/2006 | Comments (127)


a walk in the park

For anyone who hasn't noticed, Jon's latest experimental short, Park Life, is up in the media section. I really dig this piece, so give it a look-see in all of its glorious Quicktime-encoded glory, then read what he has to say about where it came from.

 Josh, 07/14/2006 | Comments (0)


the system is not designed for us

Perhaps you've noticed the suspicious lack of activity on the site the last few months. (Or, perhaps not.) Well, we're still alive and taking care of business, but, as with all things, we're having to overcome certain obstacles in our way.

I (Josh) am still working on my serials (I can't really call them "TV shows" because, well, so far there is no actual TV-showing going on), and plan to tackle some spec scripts for the upcoming TV season. I've realized in the past few months that the thing I want to do more than anything else in the world is be a TV writer. Or, more generally, just to make a god damned TV show. I've added the blogs of several working TV writers to my daily reading and have aquired to rather large amount of "So You Want to Write TV?" books. The thing that is almost universally agreed upon is that in order to become a Writer (big 'W'), you must first become a whore (little 'w').

While that might be an overstatement, what I've learned is this: your chances of success are increased exponentially if you move to LA. You then must write what's called a spec script, or script on spec, which is an episode of a currently-running series. This is to demonstrate how well you can mimic a particular show's 'voice.' The more varied your examples are, the better. You then must call around for WGA-listed agents until you find someone to represent you and your work. They shop around your spec scripts to different shows. Sometimes, your script will get purchased outright. If this happens, you're likely to get more work. Eventually, a head writer might like you enough to give you a job on the writing staff.

Easier said than done. The process of creating an original series is even more difficult, and only former show runners or story editors really have a shot at getting to the pilot stage.

I'm coming up at a fork in the road. Do I keep doing what I'm doing until someone notices, or do I pick up and make the move to LA?

 Josh, 07/13/2006 | Comments (3)


perspectives promotion

Lots going on this week. Tomorrow is the opening of the art show at the BU Gallery to promote the Amazon Promise Belen Expedition and the documentary film that we're working on following them. Ann Campbell, our partner and founder of Perspectives International and Bracey were on News 12 this afternoon to promote the event.

Missed it? Darn. But you're in luck: it's been recorded, captured, encoded and uploaded for your viewing pleasure! Click one of the following links to view in your browser or right click "Save As..." to save to your hard drive:

LARGE (16.7 MB)
MEDIUM (9.0 MB)
SMALL (4.5 MB)

And, in case you're wondering: yes, Bracey always looks that ridiculous.

Josh, 03/06/2006 | Comments (6)


an observation

I just stopped writing the teleplay for the next episode of The Nate Kemper Project. For the past few days, my bursts of inspiration and creative energy have fizzled out after a short time of actual writing.

I realized, however, that when I stop thinking about it in literary "story" terms, and instead concentrate on seeing the shots and the edits, the minutiae of scriptwriting becomes unimportant. A script is a blueprint, and it doesn't have to be perfect. The idea you have in your head needs to survive being translated from one medium to another more than one time. Idea -> Script. Script -> Images. Images -> Fluid Sequences. Sometimes, you have to be willing to do some violence to your "vision" for it to survive the translation.

This is something I have to keep in mind.

 Josh, 02/27/2006 | Comments (3)


Quote 7

"The Conversation" is the answer to last weeks quote. That was the first week no one got it. I hope this weeks is just as hard.

"A: If nothing matters, how can I matter?

B: I don't know if nothingness matters or if somethingness matters. I'm trying to figure that out and I want you to help me."

 Bracey, 02/09/2006 | Comments (95)


Quote 6

From now on, if I don't congratulate who got the previous quote, then you know it's Russ.

THIS WEEK'S:
"You never used to ask so many questions."

This should be nice and hard.

 Bracey, 01/30/2006 | Comments (8)


Casting

We are now casting for 2 new Red Barn Computer commercials. If anyone is interested just post a comment with your email info.

 Bracey, 01/26/2006 | Comments (88)