Devan Scott 4/18/22 Devan Scott 4/18/22

Miniseries Episode 6 - STILL PROCESSING with Sophy Romvari

FILM FORMALLY is back! This month, friend of the podcast Sophy Romvari’s films are premiering on the CRITERION CHANNEL and to mark the occasion we’ve recorded a set of commentaries for six of these films - NINE BEHIND, IT’S HIM, PUMPKIN MOVIE, NORMAN NORMAN, IN DOG YEARS, and STILL PROCESSING. We’ll be releasing one per week for the next six weeks.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

STILL PROCESSING (2020)

A box of stunning family photos unseen for decades awakens lost memories as they are viewed for the first time on camera.

FILM FORMALLY is back! This month, friend of the podcast Sophy Romvari’s films are premiering on the CRITERION CHANNEL and to mark the occasion we’ve recorded a set of commentaries for six of these films - NINE BEHIND, IT’S HIM, PUMPKIN MOVIE, NORMAN NORMAN, IN DOG YEARS, and STILL PROCESSING.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

Please note that, due to sync necessities, there are a few gaps in the episode’s discussion: we’ve filled with with snippets of Will’s original score for the film.

STILL PROCESSING (2020)

A box of stunning family photos unseen for decades awakens lost memories as they are viewed for the first time on camera.

In this episode, we discuss:

Hybrid documentary and fictional elements.
Still Processing’s long production and post-production schedule.
Photographic storyboards.
Audience expectations and documentaries about grief.
Composing the score.
What did we learn?

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Additional Resources:

In this hybrid-documentary, two long-time friends call each other over Skype to continue their annual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins together, they swap stories of negative encounters with men. FESTIVALS: True/False Film Festival, Missouri, USA, World Premiere Sheffield Documentary Film Festival, England, UK Hot Docs Canadian Int Film Festival, Toronto, Canada Maryland Film Festival, Baltimore, USA Olympia Film Society, Washington, USA Side Walk Film Festival, Alabama, USA Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada First Look Film Festival, Museum of Moving Images, New York, USA Crew: Directed By: Sophy Romvari Starring: Leah Collins Lipsett + Sophy Romvari Production + Colour: Devan Scott Cinematography: Devan Scott + Paige Smith Editing + Sound Design: Will Ross Location Sound: James Penco Onset Stills: Anna Citak

Behind the Scenes

Two-camera setup.

#shittyrigs

Overhead setup.

Shooting the train station at -20°c

F/0.95 ISO 6400 360° Shutter: Darkroom.

Paper lantern + Kino Diva

Final pickup: opening shot.

Photographic Storyboards | Final Film

Sophy Romvari is a Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her critically-acclaimed short films have travelled the international festival circuit and have earned her a reputation as a leading young talent.

In 2017, her short Pumpkin Movie premiered at True/False, later playing Hot Docs and Sheffield. It has been praised by critics as "a lovely, subtle work of feminist protest." In 2018 her short Norman Norman premiered at TIFF and went on to serve as the centerpiece of a retrospective of Sophy’s work at the MoMI in NYC in 2019. She has also directed films for CBC Short Docs (In Dog Years, 2019) and Kino Lorber (Remembrance of József Romvári, 2020).

In 2020, Sophy completed her Master’s at York University. Her thesis film Still Processing premiered at TIFF in September 2020 before touring festivals across the world and winning multiple awards. Still Processing is now streaming online through MUBI and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. A collection of 8 of her short films are available on the Criterion Channel as of March 2022.

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Devan Scott 4/12/22 Devan Scott 4/12/22

Miniseries Episode 5 - IN DOG YEARS with Sophy Romvari

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

IN DOG YEARS (2019)

Old dogs are celebrated in ten short stories about love, loss, and letting go.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

IN DOG YEARS (2019)

Old dogs are celebrated in ten short stories about love, loss, and letting go.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why the CBC hired Sophy to make a dog documentary.
Cinemascope as a canine-friendly aspect ratio.
A talking head documentary without talking heads.
Documentary structure.
Will and Sophy’s correspondence editing style.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Additional Resources:

Devan’s Panoramas

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Devan Scott 4/5/22 Devan Scott 4/5/22

Miniseries Episode 4 - NORMAN NORMAN with Sophy Romvari

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

NORMAN NORMAN (2018)

A young woman grapples with the declining health of her beloved dog in this film about mortality, cloning, and Barbra Streisand.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

NORMAN NORMAN (2018)

A young woman grapples with the declining health of her beloved dog in this film about mortality, cloning, and Barbra Streisand.

In this episode, we discuss:

Creative “Labour” and filmmaking.
Cross-country collaboration.
Norman’s TIFF pass.
Conceptual cinema.
The opportunities afforded by non-traditional modes of production.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Additional Resources:

Two-camera setup.

Final shot - pillow tripod.

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Devan Scott 3/29/22 Devan Scott 3/29/22

Miniseries Episode 3 - PUMPKIN MOVIE with Sophy Romvari

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

PUMPKIN MOVIE (2017)

Two women trade stories of misogyny while carving pumpkins over Skype as part of a Halloween tradition.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

PUMPKIN MOVIE (2017)

Two women trade stories of misogyny while carving pumpkins over Skype as part of a Halloween tradition.

In this episode, we discuss:

The film’s extremely truncated pre-production and production timelines.
Ultra low-budget filmmaking and unconventional production methods.
Structuring 45-minute conversations with editing.
Documentary, fiction, and the way that PUMPKIN MOVIE inadvertently became a hybrid of the two.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Additional Resources:

Prepping Skype.

Reviewing dailies.

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Devan Scott 3/22/22 Devan Scott 3/22/22

Miniseries Episode 2 - IT'S HIM with Sophy Romvari

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

IT’S HIM (2016)

An unexpected encounter during an afternoon at the cinema catapults a young woman into a confrontation with her own grief.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

IT’S HIM (2016)

An unexpected encounter during an afternoon at the cinema catapults a young woman into a confrontation with her own grief.

In this episode, we discuss:

Creative geography.
The learning process of collaboration.
Working with actors on an indie budget.
Remastering NINE BEHIND and IT’S HIM.
Restructuring IT’S HIM in post-production.
The transition from the relatively large production of IT’S HIM to the stripped-down minimalism of PUMPKIN MOVIE.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Additional Resources:

Directing the kitchen scene.

Unused kitchen scene angle.

Reviewing dailies.

Rio theatre interior.

Poorly gelled Ikea lantern.

Vlad (sound) resting between takes.

Sunrise gimbal rehearsals.

Shooting the 'escaping home' scene.

Sunset - no bounce!

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Devan Scott 3/15/22 Devan Scott 3/15/22

Miniseries Episode 1 - NINE BEHIND with Sophy Romvari

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

NINE BEHIND (2016)

Calling her grandfather in Budapest to learn about the Hungarian film industry, a woman instead finds the conversation shifting to her family’s history.

In this episode, we discuss:

Sophy’s early works leading up to NINE BEHIND.
The influences and production of NINE BEHIND.
The lessons learned on this set and how they informed Sophy’s next film, IT’S HIM.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

To listen along, have the film ready to go and hit “play” when prompted within the episode after the introductions.

NINE BEHIND (2016)

Calling her grandfather in Budapest to learn about the Hungarian film industry, a woman instead finds the conversation shifting to her family’s history.

In this episode, we discuss:

Sophy’s early works leading up to NINE BEHIND.
The influences and production of NINE BEHIND.
The lessons learned on this set and how they informed Sophy’s next film, IT’S HIM.

Sophy’s films can be seen on the CRITERION CHANNEL - feel free to sign up for a free trial if you aren’t a member.

Covered wagon light - 12 60w Bulbs

James (scripty) standing in.

Lunch w/ closeup lighting.

She is currently in development for her first feature film.

Will Ross 4/29/21 Will Ross 4/29/21

1-Year Anniversary Q&A [Featuring Wong Kar-wai and Snyder Cut Hot Takes]

It’s our one-year, 43rd-episode spectacular, and we’re once again answering your questions! We go deep on the new WONG KAR-WAI restorations, our thoughts on Zach Snyder’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, the merits of handheld camera operation, film scores, our own short films, and more!

But first, some NEWS.

We’re going to be taking a bit of a hiatus, and we’re adjusting our Patreon to reflect this. In the interests of keeping the quality of this podcast high and sustainable, we’re going to take our time with the next season. It’ll be ready whenever it’s ready, but it will happen! As such, our Patreon will now be structured on a per-creation basis. Our previous tiers will be retired in lieu of $1 and $2 per-creation tiers.

In this episode, we discuss:

(04:24) Criterion’s THE WORLD OF WONG KAR-WAI box set, and our mixed feelings on the changes made to the films contained within.
(29:11) Handheld vs Tripod: the final showdown.
(33:58) Will opines on this year’s film scores.
(40:43) Zach Snyder’s JUSTICE LEAGUE: it’s out! What do we think?

If you’d like to support the show, here’s a link to our Patreon. We’ve also released a bonus mini-episode wherein we discuss PREFACE TO A HISTORY and THE MARTYR.

Additional Resources:

Trailers for THE MARTYR and PREFACE TO A HISTORY

Discussed in our Patreon-only bonus episode!

Feel free to email filmformally@gmail.com for a private link to either of these films.

Will Ross 3/30/21 Will Ross 3/30/21

S3E10 - Rescuing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Benji Heran & Jordan Krug

How an acclaimed director’s versions of a famous film be unavailable for decades — when there’s nothing stopping their release? How can a small group of fans gather the evidence and means to reconstruct those versions? How can they finally have a hand in its official release? Endless passion — and a lot of luck. It’s a subject and film as near and dear to our hearts as any, and we’ve brought on superfans Benji Heran and Jordan Krug to talk about the film prints, continuity scripts, and years of tireless, unpaid passion that they’ve put into preserving Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

In this episode, we discuss:

Our personal discoveries and attachments to this film
The myriad of ways its home video representations have slowly changed over the years.
Why an iconic film with two definitive cuts by its revered director has gone for decades without of his approved cuts appearing on home video.
The means of gathering and interpreting evidence of the film’s original state as fans with no official affiliation or access to the film.
How a small online community became invaluable in the preservation of Sergio Leone’s vision, and eventually got themselves heard by the home video label releasing his film.

If you’d like to support the show, here’s a link to our Patreon.

Additional Resources:

Jordan’s blog is full of fascinating details, evidence, and curios surrounding Sergio Leone’s work. His three-part series of posts on The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, based largely on his and Benji’s research, is a pivotal piece of fan-driven preservation advocacy. PART 1 PART 2 PART 3

Why the International Theatrical Cut Is Better Than the Extended Cut - Will’s extensive personal breakdown of his cut preference. Part of a (slowly) ongoing series of blog posts.

The National Post article that brought us all together. Some details of what we believed have since been proven or disproven — the first sentence describes me fixing something that I later learned didn’t actually need fixing.

Glenn Erickson’s 2003 DVD Savant post detailing the Extended Cut restoration - From a time when the Extended Cut was an exciting new viewing option that could offer a new perspective on the film, and not the harbinger of the International Cut’s disappearance.

Works discussed during this episode:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

SAD HILL WITH SAD HILL, Daniel Jeffery’s short documentary about our trip to Sad Hill Cemetery

Devan Scott 3/23/21 Devan Scott 3/23/21

S3E09 - Adapting Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Tim Brayton

Adapting literary works to the screen involves a certain amount of translation. There are certain things that are easily conveyed in writing that cannot be conveyed in a straightforward way onscreen; likewise, there are elements of cinematic language that open up new routes to expression. John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a useful case study in this regard: it has been the subject of two acclaimed adaptations that could not be more distinct in the toolkit each uses to translate book to screen. We’ve invited Tim Brayton, film critic at Alternate Ending, to discuss both the 1979 John Irving adaptation as well as Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 take.

In this episode, we discuss:

Literary accuracy versus formal expressiveness in adaptation.
Focal lengths, zoom lenses, and the observational mode.
1970s BBC television house style: is it any good?
Narrative obscurity.
John Le Carre’s stylistic toolit as a writer and the challenges it poses for adaptations.
The construction of performances through lighting and framing.
Mark Strong: MVP?

If you’d like to support the show, here’s a link to our Patreon.

The “Wolfman” Trailer:

Bill Haydon’s monologue (1979)

Works discussed during this episode:

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

Smiley’s People (1982)

The Little Drummer Girl (1984)

The Tailor Of Panama (2001)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Tim Brayton has been reviewing movies at Alternate Ending and its predecessor, Antagony & Ecstasy, since 2005. He's also a PhD candidate in the film studies program at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studies the historical development of animation aesthetics.

Devan Scott 3/15/21 Devan Scott 3/15/21

S3E08 - Colour Grading with Andrea Chlebak

Colour grading, the art of manipulating the colour of a film digitally in post-production, is as omnipresent as it is misunderstood. To help demystify the process, we’ve invited supervising colourist Andrea Chlebak (Mandy, An American Pickle, HBO’s The Watchmen) to discuss the art of colour grading with us.

In this episode, we discuss:

Where does the colour grading process begin? Pre-production? Production?
Development of multiple palettes within individual films.
Digital and celluloid image capture and the implications on the colour grading process of each.
The future of colour grading and digital imaging.
The limits of colour correction: what can we change in post? What can’t we change?
Exposure ideologies for fun and profit.

If you’d like to support the show, here’s a link to our Patreon.

Andrea’s work:

Other:

Works discussed during this episode:

Andrea’s Work:

An American PIckle

Mandy

Watchmen

Hello Destroyer

Elysium

Other Work:

Hekademia

Traffic

Game of Thrones S8e03: “The Long Night”

Blade Runner 2049

Andrea Chlebak has spent the past 16 years honing her skills as a colorist for major studios and indies alike.

Canadian-born, Chlebak’s recent work has included supervising color for Seth Rogen’s “An American Pickle” for HBOMax, as well as collaborating for a third time with award-winning cinematographer Gregory Middleton ASC to supervise color for Netflix’s feature “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monsterhunting”.

Starting out as a graphic artist and photographer, then editor and compositor, the opportunity to become a colorist in 2006 was a turning point for Chlebak. Her multi-disciplinary background has spanned features, docu-series and commercials. Major credits include Hollywood studio films such as Neill Blomkamp’s “Elysium” and “Chappie”, as well as award-winning indies “Mandy” and “Prospect”. Her career has taken her to some of the industry’s leading post-production houses including Deluxe, EFILM, Encore, Company3, and Digital Film Central.

Adept at collaborating with directors, cinematographers, visual effects supervisors and editors to develop and refine the final look and feel for a film, her approach, “Adds clarity and dimension to the creative experience and unearths beautifully polished images” says Chlebak, “I like to bring an artistic sensibility and technical rigor to all of my projects.”

Based out of HARBOR’s LA post-production facility, Andrea Chlebak is available to filmmakers worldwide,

Film Formally gets granular about how movies work by choosing a technique or trait and studying it through its best examples. Every Tuesday, Independent filmmakers Devan Scott and Willa Ross leverage years of watching and making movies to bring you spirited and approachable conversations, offering brick-by-brick analysis and discussions about how movies work.

Associate Producer: Paige Smith

Current season edited by Amanda Avery

Got an idea? A guest you’d like to hear from? Give us a shout at filmformally@gmail.com.