Miles Ahead (Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
As part of our SXSW 2016 coverage, we’ve partnered with the folks at Canon U.S.A, Inc., who are on the ground this year supporting independent filmmakers.
It’s a partnership that was on my mind the other day during the Q&A for Preacher, the AMC show from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg that debuted its pilot at the festival. During the Q&A, Seth Rogen was presented with one of the most familiar questions you’ll hear at a festival: “I want to become a filmmaker. How do I get my name out there?”
To his credit, Rogen didn’t scoff at the question. Instead, he provided an earnest answer. “I always give the same answer to this question,” he explained. “Make your own stuff. You can go out and buy the camera that we shot this on. The best thing you can do is to go out and make your own shit.” He went on to explain that plenty of filmmakers and screenwriters write spec scripts for $500 million dollar tentpole films, then wonder why no one wants to hire them. That’s because you have to be willing to make something of your own first.
We see this all the time. Consider 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg, who spent much of the late 90s and early 00s as a grip on various projects, all the while making his own short films. He worked his way up to making the very popular short Portal: No Escape, after which he was plucked up by J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot to direct his first feature. This is one of many examples of filmmakers “making their own stuff” and finding a road into the industry. In a world in which technology and distribution exist at your fingertips (Thanks, Internet!), there’s no reason why aspiring filmmakers can’t pave their own way.
Which brings us back to our partners at Canon. You can guess their role in this whole enterprise of supporting the next generation of filmmakers. They are an imaging company that makes the kind of equipment you need — and most importantly, would be able to go and buy — in order to begin making your own stuff. For example, the Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera and Cinema EOS C300.
With that in mind, we’d like to highlight some of the films playing SXSW 2016 that were shot on Canon cameras (and the cameras and lenses that were used), as an example of what is possible.
Gleason
Canon Cameras Used: Cinema EOS C300
“At the age of 34, Steve Gleason, former NFL defensive back and New Orleans hero, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Doctors gave him two to five years to live. So that is what Steve chose to do: live. This film incorporates incredibly personal video journals from Gleason for his then-unborn son to footage of his globe-trotting adventures undertaken as part of his mission to live his life to the fullest. The film not only is about Gleason’s strength as an activist, but importantly as a husband and father. The film ultimately centers around the universal story of family relationships, especially between a father and son.”
Richard Linklater – dream is destiny
Canon Cameras Used: EOS 5D Mark III
Canon Lenses Used: Unknown Cinema Primes
“Dream is Destiny is a feature-length documentary film on the life and work of Richard Linklater. Produced/Directed by Louis Black and Karen Bernstein, Dream is Destiny is an unusual look at a fiercely independent film style that emerged from Austin, Texas in the 1990s, and the impact on a generation of do it yourself filmmakers who craved a career off the Hollywood/NYC grid. The film charts the course of his career on and off the studio grid, from his groundbreaking film, Slacker in 1991, to the award-winning Boyhood (2014) and includes behind the scenes footage from his soon-to-be-released college comedy, Everybody Wants Some.”
Trapped
Canon Cameras Used: Cinema EOS C300
“From 2011 to 2015, hundreds of regulations were passed restricting access to abortion in the US. Reproductive rights advocates refer to these as “TRAP” laws – Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. Southern clinics, in particular, have been hit hardest and are now in a fight for survival. Trapped interweaves the personal stories behind these regulatory battles: from the physician, to the clinic owners, to the lawyers, to the women they are determined to help. In this feature length character driven film, our main characters fight alongside dedicated attorneys to preserve abortion rights in a country living with the mistaken belief that Roe v Wade still protects a woman’s right to choose.”
Canon Cameras Used: EOS 5D Mark III
“In this short mixed-media doc, a 90 year old Jewish woman reflects on her life’s experiences as she prepares to try bacon for the first time.”
Canon Cameras Used: Unknown Cinema EOS
“Edmond’s impulse to love and be close to others is strong… maybe too strong. As he stands alone by a lake contemplating his options, he goes on a journey backwards through his life, and revisits all his defining moments in search for the origin of his desires.”
Canon Cameras Used: EOS 50D
“A distant father is forced to confront a heroic yet troubled past life as the 1980’s TV show character Pombo.”
Canon Cameras Used: EOS 5D Mark II
Canon Lenses Used: 24–70mm
“A damsel in in distress gets undressed when a man from the mid-west puts to rest a world that’s obsessed with the priceless, also known as, “The Shiny”.”
Canon Cameras Used: Cinema EOS C100
“Emboldened by a giant block party on the evening of their high school prom, a group of students enters the night with the hope of transcending their rural town and the industrial landscape that surrounds them.”
Canon Cameras Used: Cinema EOS C500
Canon Lenses Used: 14mm, 35mm, 50mm, 15.5–47mm, 30–300mm
“In Minneapolis’ large Somali refugee community, Adan has nowhere to go. His mom kicked him out, and his friends are tired of his headstrong ways. As a last resort, he moves into the mosque, praying for a little help. Surprisingly, God seems to answer. Adan quickly lands a good job, devout friends, and a newfound faith. When Adan nearly hits a stray dog on the job, he’s forced to take it in for a night. But one of his new mosque friends considers the dog impure, and he throws Adan out. With Adan back on the streets, surrounded by his old crew, ex-girlfriends, prying FBI agents, and his estranged family, the dog may be his only friend as he tries to keep his faith and get through the night.”
Canon Cameras Used: Cinema EOS C500
“Miles Ahead inspired by events in his life, is a wildly entertaining, impressionistic, no-holds barred portrait of one of 20th century music’s creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career defining performance by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle makes his bravura directorial debut.”
“X Japan was formed by childhood friends, Yoshiki and Toshi who ignited a musical revolution in Japan during the late 80’s with their melodic metal and flamboyant fashion. In the fall of ‘97, at the height of their success, X broke up – devastating millions of fans. Twenty years after the tragedy-fueled split, Director Stephen Kijak’s traces the arc of X – from phenomenal origins through tumultuous super-stardom and premature dissolution up to present day, as the band prepares to reunite for a show at the legendary Madison Square Garden while struggling to reconcile a past haunted by suicide, injury and cultish extremism with the insatiable thirst for perfection.”
“1967, the height of the cold war: the global race to put a man on the moon is afoot. Suspicions are brewing within the CIA that a Russian spy has infiltrated the inner-circle of NASA in an attempt to sabotage the Apollo Program. Two young agents from the CIA’s A/V department present a plan to expose the mole, and their supervisors reluctantly agree. They go undercover as filmmakers tasked with documenting the nation’s journey from the earth to the moon. To the chagrin of the powers that be, these crack agents uncover a conspiracy far more shocking than Soviet spies. The government is hiding a dark secret about Apollo, and the White House will stop at nothing to silence those who discover it.”
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