Just saw Anniversary Party

[stanley k]

If anyone is interseted, IFC is showing "Name is Dogme 95," which is an hour long piece on the Dogme rules, its directors and films. Then they're playing "The Celebration," afterwards.

[stanley k]

That's tonight, by the way.

[Svideo925]

i am a little late in posting this reply to dogme style is lazy. if anybody has tried it it is so hard. no props, real action, has to take place on real location and in present time. that stuff is hard stuff. i mean all the lighting has to be natural except for a little camera light. no cleaned audio. i just think the directors and actors who can pull this off are amazing. it may not be the most acstitically(sp?) pleasing but who cares.
i just had to vent,
stephen

[MovieStuff]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's hard. So's drawing with your toes. The end result is what matters. Effort means squat. The final result has to be enjoyable. Funny, they left THAT requirement out of the "Vows of Chastity".

Roger

[Svideo925]

true true, but if you have seen "the idiots" you would see a wonderfull end result. it is funny and looks good.

[MovieStuff]

Yes, but is it good because they followed the "Vows of Chastity" or despite them?

Roger

[James Stewart]

There have been great films shot with natural light and handheld cameras. There have been great films that have redefined or ignored the accepted rules of film. But why replace the rules of film with yet more rules? Where is the freedom or innovation in that?

[xclark]

in the interest of discussion:

to make a Dogma film is a challenge. the whole point of it is to make a film that is human. a film that is real. anyone who slams the Dogma movement without having seen the dogma films or at the very least 'Festen/The Celebration' doesn't have a very persuasive argument.

the time at which i originally learned about the Dogma Vows of Chastity was when i'd sworn off big, stupid hollywood movies like 'Wild Wild West' and 'Godzilla.' to me, films that relate more to the internal goings-on of real people proved infinitely more interesting than anything Will Smith has ever done (or probably ever seen).

it's interesting how the Dogma movement has always pissed people off. i've found a couple of the films, 'The Celebration' and 'The Idiots' to be extremely entertaining completely without regard to their means of production. the thing about 'The Celebration' is that it proves that you don't have to spend tons of money, use special effects, etc etc, to make a film that can really MOVE people. that, to me, is what Dogma is all about and i'm somewhat inspired by it all.

just another thing, i read how Lars Von Trier (one of the 'bullshitters' {see above}) had met Steven Spielberg at Cannes one year and they began talking about Dogma. Steven was expressing his interest in the movement and his burgeoning interest in making a Dogma film. just then, one of his handlers saw him speaking to Von Trier and whisked him away immediately.
--i think this speaks volumes.

clark

[MovieStuff]

Again, I'm sure an entertaining film can be made using the methods described. I find it interesting that people describing these films usually say,"Heck, and they didn't even follow the rules!" That speaks volumes to me as well.

It is interesting, also, that the purpose of Dogme was to break away from the rules and molds of Hollywood....and then the first thing they did was institute their own set of rules and molds!

My daddy used to look around at all us "hippies" and say, "Look at all you damned hippies. So alike in your desire to be different."

Turns out my daddy was a wise man.

Roger

[MrObvious]

I think the Dogme (?) rules really are only helpful for experienced filmmakers, for whom special effects, production managers, post-production sound, and everything else are a normal way of life; the ruls force them to shed the artificialities they are accustomed to and focus on the story, the acting, and the raw cinematography.

On the other hand, for beginners, the rules are a death sentence; they say "don't learn anything about filmmaking, just pick up and shoot just like you always have."

Marc S.