Magazine Assignment (Revision)

BELOW THE LINE

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS ABOUT 10

THE FABELMANS

SXSW 2023 FILM FESTIVAL

9 DAYS OF SCREENINGS

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

A SECOND PLUNGE INTO PANDORA

Below the line (BTL) refers to any production costs not included in the above-theline portion of the budget. It also refers to technical crew roles: workers who do not provide input, guidance, creative development, or leadership on the project.

‘The Fabelmans’ Writer Tony Kushner on Dramatizing

Steven Spielberg’s Life

TONY KUSHNER

has worked with Steven Spielberg a whopping four times on four completely different movies: 2005’s thorny political thriller “Munich;” 2012’s historical biography “Lincoln;” 2021’s epic musical “West Side Story;” and most recently, 2022’s autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” the story of how Steven Spielberg became Steven Spielberg. Only one other screenwriter, David Koepp, has collaborated with the filmmaker as often (and they had a fifth project in pre-production that fell apart at the eleventh hour). Kushner and Spielberg’s ongoing collaboration is perhaps the most important of either artist’s career.

So sitting down with Kushner to talk about “The Fabelmans” and his journey with Spielberg, it was easy to feel intimidated. (One rarely gets to talk to a Pulitzer Prize winner.) But Kushner was warm and open about their collaboration and its difficulties – including where they might be headed next.

WHEN YOU DID “MUNICH”, DID YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH MR. SPIELBERG?

No, not at all. I really loved working with him on “Munich.” It was so much unlike what became our way of working because I wrote the screenplay fairly quickly and then I took a little bit longer than he liked for rewriting it. But nothing compared to the years that went by getting ready to write “Lincoln” and then revising “Lincoln.” And it was a huge production. But we finished filming “Munich” in October and released it in December, which still seems kind of impossible to me.

REALLY?

Well, he edits as he goes along and he’s really edited a lot of it in his head while he is filming it. Every film that I’ve done with him — I think in every film he’s made — he has a rough cut, or close to a rough cut, by the last day of filming. But with “Munich” that

happened and then two months later we were out in the world. And that was shocking.

When I met Kathy Kennedy, who I met before I met Steven, she asked me out to breakfast. And as one does, you say, “Well, what are you working on? What are you working on?” And I said, “What are you doing right now?” And she says, “I’m working on two films with Stephen. One is about the Munich Olympic murders and the other is about Abraham Lincoln based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, ‘Team of Rivals.’” And I thought, “Well, those both sound great. Good luck.”

And I had just published an anthology of essays that I edited with a friend of mine Alisa Solomon, about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And it literally had come out days before I met with Kathy and I said, “I’ve just published 58 progressive Jewish-American responses to the conflict. Would you like a copy of it?” And she said, “Sure.” I sent her two, one for her and Steven. And then Steven called and said, “I read the book, I’d like to talk to you about this movie I’m

StevenSpielberg(left)andTonyKushner(right)

The Pulitzer Prize-winner walks us through his ongoing collaboration with the filmmaker

making.” But I didn’t think... I had no idea it would start this thing.

And then when we were working on “Lincoln”, we started talking about the next project that we were going to do. And while I was working on that, we started talking about “West Side Story.” And the whole time from “Munich” on, I kept pushing him, “I think you should make a movie about this thing that happened,” which he told me about on the first day of filming “Munich” — this thing that happened when he was a teenager with a camera and his parents. I don’t want to say exactly what it is, because it is a big [reveal]. But I thought this is an amazing story and it’s amazing that this is part of his story. In a way, we’ve been talking about it for 20 years.

WELL, WHAT IS IT LIKE WORKING WITH HIM AS A WRITER? BECAUSE HE SO INFREQUENTLY WRITES.

I think he’s a wonderful writer. I love “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” I think it’s still probably my favorite of his films. And because when I work with him and I’m this screenwriter myself, we go over the script over and over and over and over again. We read parts of it out loud to each other and he makes suggestions. I also know from his direction that he loves language. He has a really good ear for it. He really loves the sound of it. He’ll often say like, “Man for All Seasons,” because it is a movie that he adores because he loves Robert Bolt’s screenplay. He loves the speech-

working sequence. And then I sent him sections of that as I did it. And from that document, we began to then refine it to something that felt like a filmable outline. I knew the day was coming. And at one point he said, “Let’s start writing now.” I don’t think that’s true. I think that he said, “Let’s set up a Zoom call.” Everybody was in lockdown. “Let’s set up a Zoom call and let’s start.” One day we did. I have friends who are in the writer’s room and they talk about everybody’s throwing out lines – “What if he says this and what if said that?” And I thought I could never ever do that. It’s such a private experience for me. But that’s what we did it. And it was a blast. It was great.

YOU WEREN’T WRITING “LINCOLN” WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE ROOM WITH YOU. WERE YOU PUSHING FOR IT TO BE MORE DRAMATIC AND WAS HE PUSHING IT TO BE MORE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL?

No, I mean, we both had decided that making this work dramatically as a story apart from its rootedness in his life, that making it work as a story that could mean something to people who didn’t know that it was directed by Steven Spielberg or didn’t know who he was, but that it would have meaning on its own and not meaning to him or his sisters or the people who knew his parents. It had to earn its place in the script as part of a story.

I think this is why it’s good that he was working with another writer because I think I did provide a degree of objectivity. It wasn’t my life, so I didn’t cherish these things. I mean, I cherished them because they were great dramatic material, but not because it had some sort of beautiful deep feeling because I had lived through them.

es, he loves talk, and he has a real ear for subtlety and nuance. There are many things that can go on when something is being said more than what is intended or what’s the obvious meaning of the words. But I’d never written anything with anybody before. And he really hadn’t either. And where we literally sat down and said, “Okay, interior.” And I was dreading that. I mean, I had written an 81-page novella based on all of my interviews with him, just to see if I tried to pull them all together into some kind of

And one of the reasons that I think that I glommed onto this idea of making a movie centered around the central event of “The Fabelmans,” of the camping trip and the footage and everything, is I was really moved … I’m a writer and I think a lot about art and I come from a family of artists, and I think a lot about the ways in which when you’re young, you use art, either the creating of it or the consuming of it, to make the world comprehensible to yourself, hence safer or apparently safer to yourself. And that if you’re an artist and that’s where you’re originally being led by that artist saying to you, you can make the world a more habitable, less menacing place. If you’re serious about the art, it’s also then going to lead you right off the edge of the cliff. It’s going to lead you into very scary, unpredictable, dangerous places. And one thing that I was impressed with in my

first movie with Steven is probably in some ways his most controversial and it was a scary movie for him to make. And “Lincoln” was scary for me, for Daniel [Day Lewis], for Steven, for one week when everybody was sort of saying, “Okay, we’re going to actually do this.” And Daniel said, “I can’t really be on screen as Abraham Lincoln. Everybody will laugh.”

I suddenly had this moment of thinking, “Oh my God, it’s going to be like a used car commercial. He is going to have that hat and it’s going to be a joke.” And Steven was doing his own spinning around. And then we all said, “Okay, our job is to find these places that are just terrifying.” With remaking a new version of “West Side Story” from this immensely beloved, award-winning, great musical film. And you get to that place and you think, “Am I nuts?” And then you know, “Okay, now I’m actually doing my job,” is to start where things get scary and go into the dark and see what you can find. And I think that was what drew him and me to this.

It’s the central story of this movie; I think it beautifully illuminates, explores and examines that universal experience of the menacing world that we’re all born into, and the ways that we survive by making it less menacing to the extent that we can. And then the way that adulthood will at some point reveal to you that it’s all been an illusion and that the menace is real, and yet you’ve survived and you can go forward with the knowledge that you can come up with new illusions to get you down the next phase. But that seemed to me like it would give the film a real purpose, a real meaning and a real depth. And the more we talked about it, the more excited we got about that. And it gives you an organizing spine for the story.

EVERY ONE OF THESE MOVIES IS SO DIFFERENT. AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT [SPIELBERG AND KUSHNER’S ABANDONED] “THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTANA” WAS GOING TO BE, BUT I’M ASSUMING IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT AS WELL. WITH EACH NEW COLLABORATION, DO YOU REFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND THE NATURE OF YOUR COLLABORATION?

Well, to some extent, yeah. Because each one has its own thing. And there were things about “Lincoln” that were problematic and hard. In a way with “Munich,” it was sort of very much him and me, and we had this great cast. But Daniel came in very much as a creative partner. And that was an interesting experience for me and for him. Everybody’s in awe of Daniel. I mean, the first thing on the set was he did that giant

monologue word perfect. David Strathairn was sitting next to him and came off the set looking ashen. And I said, “Are you okay?” And he said, “I’ve been staring up at Olympus.” He said, “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Daniel is awe-inspiring. And Steven was like, “Oh my God, oh my God.” And Sally Field. But it had its own complexities and political complexities and historical complexities.

“West Side Story” was a musical. And I knew something about musicals because I had done one, and I brought in my friend Janine Tesori, who does a lot of musicals. But I knew that musicals are not anything else, and Steven had never directed one, so there was a huge learning curve for him for that. Just the idea that we’re going to have a two-month rehearsal period before we started, because the dancers had to learn the dance and the singers had to learn and everything. And so that was its whole own thing.

In a funny way, I know that we wouldn’t have made “The Fabelmans” until we had made all three of those movies together. And I really feel Kristie Macosko Krieger, his genius producer, when we were filming “The Fabelmans” last year, and he came up with some amazing thing on the spot and we were all going “oooh.” And she said, “He wouldn’t have been able to do that if he hadn’t done ‘West Side Story.’”

But “West Side Story,” he’d always wanted to make a musical. It is the most astonishing musical score ever. And he loved it. He loved doing it so much, and it pulled something out of him. And I think he would agree with this, he started a new phase of his career while making “West Side Story.” And he was there last summer with this new set of chops that he learned. In a way, the only thing that was a little bit maybe about “The Fabelmans” is I had to say to myself over

and over again, “This is his story.” The big act of courage here is this guy, who’s a fairly private person, who’sused a lot of his family, his experiences as a young person in all of his films. I mean “E.T.,” when you watch “The Fabelmans,” you see, oh, that’s where that came. But I would tell him about Eugene O’Neil or Tennessee Williams doing autobiographical work and being terrified at the prospect of doing it. The real gamble in a certain sense, much more than mine was his.

I felt like I have to be willing at some points to say, even though I wish he would not do this, and he would do that, with all the other movies, I would’ve kicked and screamed until he really finally said, “Be quiet and leave me alone.” Which he’s done, not often, but he’s done. With “The Fabelmans,” there was a place where I felt like, “Oh, I have to let go a little bit because there’s something about this that means something to him on a personal level,” as long as I felt like it wasn’t making this story closed off to everybody but Steven and his sisters. And if I felt like we were heading into that territory, then I would kick and scream and yell. There was was a lot that I can contribute to this, but I wasn’t there. I’m not his brother. I am not his sister. I had to let that happen.

Otherwise, he was immediately generous with me and immensely trusting. He told me all these stories. He let me play around with these things in building the early beginnings of the structure. He let me challenge him on further structural elements, even if it was about something dear to him that had happened. We had to collapse things and compress things. It all turned out really well, I think.

But each one is a different experience.

HAVE YOU STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE NEXT ONE?

Yep.

OKAY.

Just a couple of weeks ago. When we finished “The Fabelmans,” we realized it was the first time — well, certainly since the day that he asked me if I would look at “Lincoln” — that we hadn’t been working on a project. We always had the next thing lined up. We finished “The Fabelmans” and said, “Okay, what are we doing next?” And so for a while now, we’ve been having meetings and throwing ideas back and forth. And for one reason or another nothing has really felt right. And then about two weeks ago, I was doing a speech in Toledo, Ohio, and he called me and said, “I’ve got an idea. I’ve just listened to something that I want you to listen to.” And I listened and I called him back and I said, “Oh my God.”

WELL, WHILE WATCHING THE MOVIE, I THOUGHT, IT’S SO WEIRD THAT HE HASN’T MADE A WESTERN YET.

I know. And we talked about that. And he’s, over the years, looked at different possibilities. Westerns have become really hard to do and I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s … certainly the movie Western as a mythological thing, relied on maybe blurring out certain ugly historical truths that you can’t blur out anymore and you don’t want to blur out anymore.

And so much has been done with them. As you look around the room of John Ford posters, Ford really opened and closed the genre almost. After “Liberty Valance,” what do you do? You can make great westerns. There are some recent ones that have been really wonderful but you’re up against real Hollywood mythology like that. I wish he would do it. Maybe I’ll skip that one because of the desert — I had a really hard time with the scorpions — get on the next plane and fly back to New York.

But there are one or two genres that he hasn’t tackled that I think … but we never really want [to]. David Lean said his advice to filmmakers, don’t pop out of the same foxhole twice. But you don’t want to make that a guiding principle either. You really want to tell the stories that mean something to you. This thing that we’re talking about now is not necessarily absolutely wildly afield from anything he’s ever tried before, not in the way that “West Side Story” was or this is. But the way we’re approaching it. And I should shut up. I’m excited about it.

“The Fabelmans” is on PVOD and in theaters now.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

New York Film Academy Launches New BFA in Entertainment Media Degree

by Globe Newswire

This Fall, New York Film Academy (NYFA) launches its unique and innovative, WSCUC-accredited Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Entertainment Media degree program at its New York City campus.

Eligible students can apply for enrollment to the degree program and begin their classes as early as January 9, 2023.

The exciting program is designed for students who wish to explore different visual and performing arts before choosing a concentration. In their first six semesters, students engage in a curated liberal arts curriculum complemented by practical application courses that provide experience and training in various selected areas of visual and performing arts, which include Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, Cinematography, Documentary Filmmaking, Producing, Broadcast Journalism, Musical Theatre, 3D Animation, and Photography. This approach allows students to gain exposure to various arts before making a determination regarding the best application of their specific skills and talents.

For their final year, students select a concentration in one of the offered disciplines mentioned above, and will engage in an intensive study of that discipline centered on hands-on work, which culminates in a capstone project.

“Our staff and faculty are dedicated to continuing to provide our students with the hands-on education and practical experience for which NYFA is known. This degree program is no exception, and allows students to explore multiple interests before de-

ciding what area fits best with their creative and professional goals,” says Elli Ventouras, Dean of NYFA’s New York City campus.

The BFA in Entertainment Media follows a three-year accelerated degree track, with eight or nine semesters required to complete a concentration (dependent upon the discipline). Students may choose to complete the program in a traditional four-year time frame.

Eligible students are encouraged to apply to the BFA in Entertainment Media degree program by November 10th, 2022 for the January 2023 enrollment period. Students can learn more about the new BFA in Entertainment Media by visiting the New York Film Academy’s degree program page or by submitting a request for information.

The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is a leading film, media, and performing arts college that offers hands-on intensive undergraduate and graduate degree programs, certificates, and workshops across a multitude of areas of study in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach/Miami, Gold Coast (Australia), Florence (Italy), Beijing and Shanghai (China), and more. NYFA also offers online education allowing students the opportunity to advance their creative and technical skills in “Hands-Online Workshops,” available across NYFA’s film, media, and performing arts disciplines. NYFA is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). This accreditation extends to all NYFA campuses in the United States and overseas.

“Our staff and faculty are dedicated to continuing to provide our students with the hands-on education and practical experience for which NYFA is known”

SXSW 2023: Everything to know about Austin’s iconic festival

by Brittany Anas - Special to MySA

The website for the Grammys once described the SXSW Music Festival as the Olympics of the music world. But drawing a comparison between this iconic Austin festival and anything else may be selling it short because the multi-day gathering goes far beyond a lineup of epic concerts, and marks a true convergence of the sectors of music, tech, film and education.

Really, SXSW, or South by Southwest if you’re not into the whole brevity thing, is a mega celebration of all things creative—backed by a stellar soundtrack and full of special moments like hearing Grammy-winning rapper Killer Mike do his thing on stage, but also popping into his speaker session to hear him talk about the Atlanta barbershop he co-owns with his wife that provides free haircuts, braids and school supplies for children.

So how much does SXSW cost to attend, can you still get tickets, and are any events free? Keep reading for all you need to know about SXSW 2023. SXSW 2023 will be held March 10-19 in Austin. The SXSW Music Festival will take place March 13-18, with hundreds of performers — the vast majority of whom are indie delights — descending on the capital city and taking to the stages of venues that range from legend-

ary to offbeat. High-energy performances are expected this year by psychedelic pop legends The Zombies, New Orleans songstress Ambré and alternative K-pop group Balming Tiger. Def Jam’s Armani White is also set to perform this year, hot off his viral song, “Billie Eilish.” — which has likely been stuck in your head for months if you spend any time on fashion TikTok.

SXSW is a big deal for Austin: In 2022, the festival had a reported financial impact of $280.7 million on the city, which was actually a little less than previous annual totals. In addition to the myriad concerts, SXSW also has a lineup of film premieres, keynote sessions, stand-up comedy sets and more. Some highlights on tap for SXSW 2023 include the opening-night film premiere of Paramount’s “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” on March 10, ahead of its March 31 nationwide debut.

SXSW movie premieres include “Flamin’ Hot,” a film directed by Eva Longoria that’s centered on the true story of a Mexican-American Frito-Lay janitor who came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Another one making its debut is “Joy Ride,” a comedy from the producers of “Neighbors” and the co-writer of “Crazy Rich Asians.”

CHEKHOV’S GUN

10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Fabelmans

By Steven Barker

Between being on the back burner for decades and David Lynch’s Cheeto obsession, there’s even more history to The Fabelmans than audiences know. The Fabelmans is the newest movie from celebrated director Steven Spielberg, and it has gotten some of the best reviewers of Spielberg’s storied career. There have been so many period movies that are love letters to cinema over the years, but The Fabelmans is different, as it’s semi-autobiographical; the characters are all based on Spielberg’s family and, of course, himself.

With it being such a passion project of the filmmaker’s, how the film came to be is almost as interesting as the film itself. Between the screenplay coming together shockingly quickly, being on the back burner for decades, and David Lynch’s Cheeto obsession, there’s even more history to The Fabelmans than audiences know.

Spielberg first had the idea in 1999

Though the development time of The Fabelmans was relatively short and had a shockingly quick turnaround from when Spielberg and Kushner put pen to paper, ggthe idea had been ruminating in Spielberg’s head for much longer. According to The New York Times, Spielberg had the idea all the way back in 1999. In the interview from 23 years ago, Spielberg worried, “My big fear is that my mom and dad won’t like it and will think it’s an insult and won’t share my loving yet critical point of view about what it was like to grow up with them.” It was probably for the best that Spielberg waited to make the film, as that 23-year gap includes some of the director’s best movies, and his legacy has only grown exponentially. So a movie celebrating his life and upbringing is way more impactful now than it would have been in 1999.

It was originally titled “I’ll Be Home”

It turns out that The Fabelmans was way more than just an idea in 1999 too, and there had actually been some major development made on the project. However, it was much different from the final result that just hit theatres. According to the same NY Times article, Instead of The Fabelmans, the movie was titled I’ll Be Home. It also seems as if a draft of the screenplay had been completed, as Spielberg explained that the movie was written by his sister, Anne Spielberg.

Spielberg cast Michelle Williams after seeing her in Blue Valentine

Michelle Williams is one of the greatest actresses working today. She has starred in tons of beloved movies and has had four Academy Award nominations. But the reason why Spielberg decided to cast her as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman, the character that’s based on the director’s mother, was based on her role in the emotionally exhausting 2010 movie Blue Valentine (via The New York Times). Blue Valentine cuts between two stories, as it’s about a couple that’s head-overheels in love, and it follows that same couple years later with kids and utterly unhappy. There are some parallels between the 2010 film and Blue Valentine, as they’re both about divorce and the effect that’ll have on their children, and it spans decades too. But above all else, Williams’ performance is so raw and realistic, and she totally deserved the Oscar win for it.

Paul Dano felt intimidated playing Spielberg’s father

Along with Williams playing a character based on Spielberg’s mother, Paul Dano plays Burt Fabelman, who is based sson Spielberg’s father, and such an imporsstant role came with a lot of pressure.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dano felt intimidated about playing the semi-real-life character that the celebrated filmmaker looked up to so much. The actor explained, “The stakes felt really high... You’re embodying one of the most important, influential, complicated figures in [Spielberg’s] life. It was incredible to see how much of this was in his work the whole time.” However, Dano seemingly enjoys the nerves, as his filmography is full of daunting roles, such as starring alongside Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood relatively early in his career. And just recently, he played The Riddler in The Batman, which is part of a franchise that has such a huge, fastidious fanbase. But he ended up giving the best portrayal of the Riddler.

It took David Lynch three weeks to agree to feature in the film

David Lynch is a unique filmmaker best known for his surreal thrillers like Mulholland Drive, and he sometimes acts too, as infrequently as it may be. Lynch returns to acting in The Fablemans, as he plays the ico-nic movie director John Ford, but it wasn’t without a ton of convincing. According to The Playlist, not only did it take Spielberg three weeks to convince the elusive filmmaker to sign on, but he had the help of their mutual friend, Laura Dern, who called him countless times to commit to the role. But most interestingly, Lynch only agreed to do it provided Cheetos were available on set at all times, which is a small but strange request.

Spielberg’s parents were “nagging” him to make the film

Though Spielberg worried that his parents might have thought the movie might have been an insult, the actual truth is that they were “nagging” him to make the movie. According to People, the filmmaker’s parents wanted him to make the film before their deaths.

Spielberg explained, “They were actually nagging me, ‘When are you going to tell that story about our family, Steve?’ And so this was something they were very enthusiastic about.” Both of Spielberg’s parents, unfortunately, passed away before the film went into development, and that could have been what encouraged Spielberg to finally make it.

Sammy was the hardest role to cast.

Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy in the new movie, and the character is based on Spielberg when he was a child, so it comes as no surprise that the director thought it was the hardest role to cast. And accord ing to ulture, Spielberg auditioned 2000 different actors

to

play

the character.

The director explained the tightrope he had to walk when looking for the perfect actor, noting, “I wasn’t looking for what I see in the mirror, I was looking for a young actor who could carry a lot of story by being curious and honest and engaging and unpredictable.” LaBelle did exactly that and beat out 2000 other actors, but even he wasn’t successful until he auditioned a second time three months later.

It was emotional on set

Given that it’s such a personal movie for Spielberg and is so semi-autobiographical, it’s hardly surprising that there were so many emotions on set. Seth Rogen, who plays Benny Loewy, Sammy’s surrogate uncle, detailed just how emotional it really was and that he’d regularly find Spielberg crying while shooting (via People).

The actor added, “I’d be like, ‘Did this happen in real life?’ and the answer was ‘yes’ a hundred percent of the time.” The movie will undoubtedly leave audiences crying just as much, but they’ll mostly be tears of joy, but that’s hardly any different from any other Spielberg-directed film.

It was short work for the screenwriter

While Spielberg is credited as a co-writer, the director worked with his longtime collaborator, the screenwriter Tony Kushner. The Fabelmans marks their fourth collaboration following Munich, Lincoln, and last year’s West Side Story. And according to Indie Wire, it was the easiest work of Kushner’s career. The screenwriter spoke about his day-to-day while working on the script, and it was essentially a part-time job. Kushner explained, “We wrote three days a week, four hours a day, and we finished the script in two months: by leagues, the fastest I’ve finished anything. It was a blast. I loved it.”

Spielberg selected most of the music

Most movies will have music supervisors, and there are specific members of the film’s post-production that make most of the music choices. However, for The Fabelmans, outside of John Williams’ score, Spielberg chose a lot of the classical music featured in the film himself (via Indie Wire). While it isn’t unprecedented, and some filmmakers even score their own movies, directors have a huge hand in the soundtrack is a rarity. And when it comes to the movie’s music, The Fabelmans is also notable for being John Williams penultimate movie score before his retirement, with his final movie being Indiana Jones 5. And it marks the end of a long-running working relationship with Spielberg, as they have worked together on 29 movies.

THE FILMMAKING PROCESS FOR BEGINNERS

If you thought filming took time, you were wrong. Post-production is when you edit all your footage to create a rough cut of the film. Once done with the rough cut, you’ll begin adding things like sound effects, music, visual effects, and color correction. This process will require the use of editing software — if you’re not confident, feel free to find/hire an experienced editor.

OUR TIP: Before you polish up your rough cut, show it to people whose opinions you can trust. It’s better that you find out what isn’t working now rather than when your audience is watching the final version.

Step 2: The Scrips

The script is where you’ll put down the story, setting, and dialogue in linear form. This important tool will be used by the rest of the team to know what’s going to happen in the film. You’ll also be using your own script as a reference throughout the process as well since you may need to

refresh yourself on certain actions, dialogue lines, and more.

OUR TIP: Don’t be afraid to make changes to the script even after you think it’s ready. More often than not, better ideas will come to you well after this stage in the filmmaking process.

And don’t be afraid to let your actors improvise, whether it’s in rehearsal or on the set. You may be surprised at what your actors are able to imagine from their character’s point of view. This is especially true for filmmakers who may not be great at writing dialogue.

Step 3: The Storyboards

A storyboard is a sequence of drawings that represent the shots you plan to film, and can be a critical part of the filmmaking process. We highly recommend this process because it helps you visualize each scene and decide on things like camera angles, shot sizes, etc. You’ll discover your

storyboard’s true value when it helps communicate what you’re trying to go for to other people on the set.

And for those of you who think, “I can’t draw,” photographing your storyboards can be a quick solution. Your camera phone works fine for this. Just take a couple of friends to your location and tell them, “You stand here, you stand there,” and take pictures. Take lots of pictures from lots of different vantage points. Then select the ones you like best, and there’s your storyboard. Doing this has the added advantage of showing you what’s really possible. Because we often draw storyboards, then discover to our disappointment, that we’d have to demolish a wall to get the perspective that we’ve imagined.

Step 4: The Cast and Crew

Assembling your team can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. We recommend you take as much time as needed to find the right people for your film. For crew members, be sure to consider their past work and experience and request showreels or any examples if available. You should also hold auditions to find the best actors and actresses for your roles.

OUR TIP: Don’t feel obligated to include friends and family in your project. This is your film, which means choosing the best people for the job. Hopefully, your acquaintances are professional enough to accept when you don’t think they’re a fit for your project.

Step 5: The Locations

You may need to construct sets for a setting you’d like to have. But for scenes where an actual location will do, you’ll need to do some scouting to find the best spots. Take a camera with you and do as much

traveling as possible, snapping shots of places you think will serve as the perfect setting for particular scenes.

OUR TIP: Always consider the space required by the cast and crew. Don’t choose a cramped, narrow space where only the actors will fit well and not the cameras, lights, etc.

Step 6: The Filming

It all comes down to this. To prepare, be sure to have a shooting script ready along with an organized schedule of what will be filmed and when. Give yourself plenty of time to shoot scenes so that you’re never rushed and can accommodate changes or problems. It’s common for a scene that will last one minute in the final cut to require more than five hours to film.

OUR TIP: If time permits, try filming the same scenes from new angles. This way, you’ll have more footage to work with that can keep your viewers engaged.

Step 7: The Post-Production

If you thought filming took time, you were wrong. Post-production is when you edit all your footage to create a rough cut of the film. Once done with the rough cut, you’ll begin adding things like sound effects, music, visual effects, and color correction. This process will require the use of editing software — if you’re not confident, feel free to find/hire an experienced editor.

OUR TIP: Before you polish up your rough cut, show it to people whose opinions you can trust. It’s better that you find out what isn’t working now rather than when your audience is watching the final version.

EQUIPMENT FOR BEGINNERS

Blackmagic Design Ursa Broadcast G2

$4,195 amazon.com

Update your broadcast studio or internet broadcast camera with a versatile 3-in-1 powerhouse using the Blackmagic Design URSA G2 Broadcast Camera. This updated G2 model features generation 5 color science and not only supports up to UHD 4K as its predecessor for production and studio work but can now be used as a 6K digital film camera that records in Blackmagic RAW format. The lens mount is compatible with 2/3” B4 lenses, but it also includes an active EF mount adapter, allowing you to access a long line of professional cinema lenses. It allows you to apply 3D LUTs for cinema-like looks, has built-in optical ND filters, features 12G-SDI input and output, captures audio via two XLR inputs, and can record using Prores 422 and Blackmagic RAW onto CFast 2.0 or SD UHS-II cards.

Remote-Controlled Studio Panel Lighting Kit

$349 bhphotovideo.com

Looking for lighting that’s both portable and powerful? Look no further than the Lume Cube Studio Panel Lighting Kit. With a remote control and rechargeable lithium battery, you can take this kit anywhere and everywhere, lighting up your scene with ease. And with not one but two massive Edge-Lit bicolor panels, you’ll have all the light you need to make your shots shine. Plus, our custom-engineered barn doors let you shape your light the way you want.

$2,199 adorama.com

If you’re shooting behind the scenes (BTS) in HD and would like to add 4K to your repertoire, the Panasonic HC-X2000 UHD 4K Pro Camcorder can help balance your needs or allow you to jump straight to 4K. Compact and lightweight for a director or on-set BTS, the X2000 shoots and records UHD 4K at broadcast-compatible frame rates, so it fits smoothly into your existing broadcast workflow. The X2000 features a 1/2.5” 8.29M MOS sensor that is always shooting at 4K resolution, the Venus processing engine to scale the 4K image for Full HD delivery, and both 3G-SDI and HDMI outputs. Audio is recorded in up to 24-bit PCM via the built-in microphone.

Panasonic HC-X2000 4K Professional Camcorder

FILMMAKING BEGINNERS

Sunpak 620-840 - Video PRO-M 4 Tripod with Fluid Head

$69 bestbuy.com

The Sunpak Video PRO-M 4 Tripod with Fluid Head is a full-featured video tripod ideal for anyone shooting with a camcorder or HDSLR. It is laced with professional features while keeping weight down for easy travel and packing. In addition, the 4 section legs keep the overall size down to when it is time to pack; no need for oversize cases. This is a light, full size and full featured video tripod that stands a full 65 in. tall. It also offers a geared center column with folding crank for height adjustments. The true fluid pan head with extra-long pan handle will allow you to follow the action effortlessly and seamlessly for the ultimate in video captures. Minimum height is 23.1 in. while the folded length is 24.4 in. Load capacity is 11 lbs. while the weight of the

SIGMA 18-35MM F/1.8 DC HSM LENS FOR CANON

$599 bhphotovideo.com

As part of the Art line within Sigma’s Global Vision series, this lens is designed to achieve truly notable optical performance and is ideally suited for creative and artistic applications. Wide-to-normal zoom is designed for APS-C-format Canon EFmount cameras and provides a 28.8-56mm equivalent focal length range.

4WD RC Camera Car

$3,996 bestbuy.com

This is the New Electric Ready To Run 1/5 Scale Brushless Radio Controlled Camera Car. Designed to hold an optional MoVI M5, M10, or M15 3-axis gimbal stabilizer. By combining the stabilization of the MoVI with a custom vibration isolation system, the King Motor Camera Car makes it possible to capture smooth, dynamic low-angle shots as you chase the action.

What Filming ‘Avatar:

The Way of Water’ Actually Looked Like on Set

In this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” from its upcoming digital release, the film’s cast and crew reveal the multiple innovative methods they deployed to shoot the film, as the production team quite literally learned how to work vis-à-vis the way of water. Going from land to water was a big adjustment for the cast. Stars Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington and Kate Winslet discuss having to learn to regulate their bodies and breathing within this unfamiliar layer of the set so they could properly capture the essence of Cameron’s vision.

“There’s not just the physical challenge of holding your breath,” says Winslet, who plays Ronal in the film. “There’s then the added challenge of acting out a scene underwater where everything is very different. You’re having to imagine coral reefs; you’re having to picture other Na’vi swimming around you. Then you have the challenge of your movements are very, very different underwater — finding that serenity and that calm.”

“There’s not just the physical challenge of holding your breath,” says Winslet, who plays Ronal in the film. “There’s then the added challenge of acting out a scene underwater where everything is very

different. You’re having to imagine coral reefs; you’re having to picture other Na’vi swimming around you. Then you have the challenge of your movements are very, very different underwater — finding that serenity and that calm.”

The actors swam in performance capture wetsuits and goggles around fully submerged sets. The medium made actors’ movements more fluid, allowing their characters’ actions to appear far more realistic than they would have with the use of wire suspension systems.

As for the technical part of filming, the crew created a series of decks using unistrut systems hooked up to gantries and chain motors that could be lifted out of the water. Sets could be built above the water and then lowered down when it came time to film. The creation of such adaptable systems allowed for immense mobility of the set, allowing platforms to be titled to allow for better interaction between actor and animated topography.

Thanks to these intensive efforts from cast and crew, “Avatar: The Way of Water” — which debuts on digital on March 28 — was able to emulate the spirit of the sea. “If we tried to do this any other way instead of being legit, it wouldn’t be a James Cameron film,” said Worthington.

Released in April 200

In the year 2008, moviegoers all across the nation saw what many consider to be the greatest comic book movie of all time. Released to critical acclaim and record-breaking box office numbers, this film took the superhero genre to brand new heights- It was adapted from a phenomenal screenplay and featured breathtaking visual effects, cinematography, action sequences, and direction.

That film in question was… “The Dark Knight”, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. While this film is held in very high regard, and rightly so, it is often overshadowed by another comic book movie that was released that same year. Among a seemingly endless bombardment of mediocre, cookie-cutter superhero sequels that have been pumped out en masse for the past few decades, Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man” remains a breath of fresh air. While not nearly as gritty or mature as “The Dark Knight”, “Iron Man” shines due to its self-awareness, humor, and respect for the source material. It also set the standard for every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that followed it, while launching Robert Downey Jr.’s career into the stratosphere.

The film follows Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist, genius inventor, arms dealer, and hedonistic playboy who’s living his best life in Malibu, California until he is suddenly kidnapped by a terrorist organization and forced to take responsibility for all the damage he has unwittingly caused. From the first few minutes of this two-hour long runtime, “Iron Man” masterfully establishes its tone and its protagonist’s personality in the opening scene. Sure, the sight of a long motorcade of military-grade Humvees driving across a barren desert landscape may give off a more serious tone. Seeing them drive while the diagetic sound of ACDC’s “Back in Black” blares through what appears to be Tony’s own radio, however, might result in some tonal whiplash. As jarring as it may appear, this scene quickly establishes Tony as eccentric, juxtaposing loud rock music with a shot of a wealthy man in a dapper suit, holding an ice-

From a narrative standpoint, “Iron Man” effectively utilizes the “show, don’t tell” rule- a concept in filmmaking that is often ignored by the average summer blockbuster. Case in point, the scene where Tony’s business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) accepts Tony’s apogee award on his behalf. By this point in time, the screenwriters have already given the audience an exposition dump regarding Tony’s backstory, so they could have simply followed this up by having Tony’s best friend, Lt. James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Terrence Howard) chastise him for skipping the presentation to go gambling. Rhodey himself could have further established Tony’s flaws by outright telling him that he’s an irresponsible, womanizing slacker who doesn’t appreciate the people in his life- straight to his, and the audience’s, face. Instead, this film respects the audience’s intelligence by showing that Tony is an irresponsible, womanizing slacker through clever editing and dialogue. Immediately after Obadiah tells the crowd that Tony is always “working”, the scene humorously cuts to a shot of Tony tossing a pair of dice at Caesar’s Palace, surrounded by gawking fans, women, and paparazzi, while exclaiming, “yeah! Work it, work it!”. Scenes like this help move the plot along while cutting out unnecessary details.

Robert Downey Jr. almost embodies the role of Tony Stark, maintaining a sense of self-assured arrogance, along with charming wit all throughout. Charisma and interesting banter come quite naturally for him, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if most of Tony’s dialogue was ad-libbed on the spot, and these are some of Downey’s natural reactions to what is happening in the movie.

Unlike numerous other superhero flicks, “Iron Man” is not, by any means, a power fantasy. Tony has several moments of weakness, and his numerous shortcomings are laid bare. Before he is captured by the Ten Rings, Tony suffers a near-fatal wound, as he is given a chest full of shrapnel by a bomb with a harrowing

cold ’26 Macallan.

“STARK INDUSTRIES” proudly sprayed onto its shell.

Tony and his fellow prisoner Ho Yinsen (Shaun Toub) spend a significant amount of time locked inside of a dingy cell, trying to keep their science project a secret as the terrorists watch their every move. Through his struggles, Tony ultimately “earns” the iconic scene where he puts on his Mark I Iron Man suit for the first time, destroys his stolen weaponry, and escapes from the cave. Going hand-in-hand with the suit itself, the film takes a minimalist approach to this first action sequence. Seeing as how it was built from discarded machine parts and scrap metal, Tony’s first suit of armor is noticeably sluggish and bulky. Whenever the terrorists are shooting at Tony, the audience can clearly see him flinch when bullets ricochet off of the suit, reminding them that it’s not fully impenetrable.

In his final battle with a deranged Obadiah, Tony even enlists the help of his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to deal the finishing blow. Every victory and triumph Tony achieves feels earned, because instead of just shooting lasers out of his eyes whenever he’s in trouble, Tony uses his own ingenuity to find a new angle and save the day.

In stark contrast to its sleek appearance in the source material, the Mark III Iron Man Armor looks much more mechanical, and, in turn, realistic in its live-action form. Every once in a while, a close-up shot will reveal the many intricacies that lie beneath the suit’s flashy red-and-gold exterior, showing off just how much work the visual effects team put into designing every nook and cranny. Watching hundreds of motorized ac-

tuators lock and shift into place is a testosterone-pumping joy to watch, and the action sequences that follow are even cooler.

This film’s only major shortcoming would have to be the events that transpire during the final act, when Jeff Bridges’ big bad villain character makes a number of irrational decisions in his plot to kill Tony and take over Stark Industries. However, the well-choreographed “final battle” between him and Tony effectively makes up for it.

Above all else, “Iron Man” is thoroughly fun to watch, thanks in part to Jon Favreau’s direction. Very few actors can master the art of performing comedic scenes completely alone quite like Robert Downey Jr. can. This is exemplified during the moments where Tony is constructing a second iron man suit. Like engineering in real life, Tony innovates his design of the Iron Man armor through trial and error. Every time his rocket boots malfunction, he makes some adjustments and tests them out again. As previously stated, “Iron Man” strikes a nearly perfect balance of buildup and reward, or in simpler terms, slow-paced contemplative moments and pulse-pounding action. It’s no wonder that Iron Man’s critical and commercial success launched the entertainment powerhouse that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is today. Just like Tony Stark himself, Marvel Studios was able to build it in a cave, with a box of scraps.

It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” an animated adventure based on the classic video game, crushed the competition with its jaw-dropping $204.6 million domestic and $377 million global debut over the long Easter weekend. Those results far exceeded expectations and even surpassed the starts of recent installments in Universal’s biggest franchises, like “Jurassic World Dominion” ($145 million domestically) and “Fast and Furious 9” ($70 million). So, expect a sequel to be announced faster than you can say “Let’s-a go!” “The box office just kept growing and growing,” marvels Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s a tremendous worldwide debut, and the movie has a clear runway.”’

The PG film, which cost Universal, Illumination and Nintendo roughly $100 million to bring to the big screen, thrived as the de facto choice among family crowds, who have been starved of compelling theatrical offerings since last December’s release, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.”

But the kid-friendly film also managed to expand its reach beyond parents with young ones. Thanks to a heaping dose of nostalgia and positive word-of-mouth (reviews… not so much), “Mario” turned into a four-quadrant blockbuster — resonating with males and females, young and old, who grew up with Mario, Luigi and other inhabitants of the fantastical Mushroom Kingdom. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International.

Just because “Mario” is adapted from one of the most popular video games doesn’t mean the film was preordained for blockbuster

‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Box Office: All the Records Smashed on Opening Weekend

status. In fact, 1993’s disastrous live-action “Super Mario Bros,” starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, has become a legendary example of Hollywood’s failure to properly translate video game stories from consoles to cinemas. In fact, 1993’s disastrous live-action “Super Mario Bros,” starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, has become a legendary example of Hollywood’s failure to properly translate video game stories from consoles to cinemas. Even though critics were mixed on the new adaptation, opening weekend audiences were enthusiastic and awarded the film an “A” CinemaScore.