While Okie Shorts provided some great works this year (such as the comedy sketch My Own Prometheus about morning coffee and multiple morning identities, or the much talked about faux-documentary Faith Healer, who’s documented protagonists leaving a project reveals less about the film than the metaphor for audience and film-subject relationship), my interest was in two shorts that made analyses of Oklahoma a primary part of their structure. Read on…

A series of great shorts that redefine the manner in which “kids work’ is compared with “professional,” one in which “kid/student” is simply an age level rather than a definition of cinematic ability of expression or articulation.

Amy Bench’s work In this Place at first glance suggest a rudimentary application of graphic compositing, as a young woman shifts through background layouts of bright and exotic locations. We come to learn that Jane, a young explorer, is simply finding the means of escape from the low contrast, and more realistically photographed, 35mm footage with her mind’s eye of exploration in bright HD imagery. While this juxtaposition in itself holds a fascinating approach towards these two mediums and their relationship with young filmmakers, it also provides a justification for these compositing techniques that imply this artifice is of the love and excitement of imagination. Jane’s boring conversations with her condescending older brothers further perpetuates her desires for escapism, but when she attempts to develop her imaginary travels through video distribution, the distributor tells her the material is unrealistic and overly amateurish. Jane focuses her skills as a dreamer and video-maker to delight and reconnect her family through a love video made specifically for them, as she brings them into the emotionally bright HD footage away from the oppressive and dreary 35mm realism, bridging the gap between the optimistic visions of youth and falsely-imposed definitions of cinematic quality. Read on…

While these shorts provide for some great laughs, it’s the smart choices from intelligent directors that make these funny moments meaningful and memorable beyond their short duration.

Starting off the comedy block is commercial director Jeremy Berger’s The Van, which is able to provide some laughter due to it’s confident style and juxtaposition of Herman Melville’s poetics with a more crass modern humor. Although the image of a blow-up sex toy is paired with Moby Dick’s narrator description of his unhindered history of exploits plays on the social comedy of manners, the film unfortunately hit’s it’s peak. The chase between a biker messenger and the “white van” that assaults bikers is reliant upon technical proficiency rather than motivated by the psychological or emotional complexity of Melville. Perhaps what is lacking is the reason behind the pairing of the text of Moby Dick within the world of the bike-messenger that would really take the work into more complicated jokes, and perhaps become a more biting satire of contemporary eco-business warfare. Read on…

Lagueria Davis’ 1 in 3 is not so much a depiction of Lifetime–melodrama nor the exploitive horrors that are common in domestic abuse thrillers, but a more realistic drafting of the possibilities of subtle daily domestic violence. As a first feature, 1 in 3 is prone to raw craft, but it is the passion and careful intention of the film’s depiction of fear in domestic violence that allows the film to convey its message of strength and validate social advocacy.

An initial courtroom scene between Sydell, social service advocate, and her domestic violence client Angie defines several key concepts behind the film. As the judge hears another case, Sydell and Angie share a private dialogue through the passing of paper and pen. What Angie reveals is a fear of her abusive husband despite the safety of legal decisions. Though she may recognize the authority of the legal procedures, the fact remains that Angie’s voice is denied and the ramifications of this moment extend beyond the courtroom of rules. Angie’s husband not only proves the limits of legal restrictions when he pulls out a gun in a later scene, but also ignites the recognition of the realities behind Sydell’s job: a legal resolution does not stop the possibilities of violence, and perhaps forces an unintended silence of victims. While this sequence of events results in dramatic violence at the hands of a male aggressor and gunplay, the film reveals the forms of violence only begin with the physical and extend into one’s own complicity when fears become the driving force of daily decisions. Read on…

Although the dominance of ESPN over the concept of this documentary is so powerful, Jackass director Jeff Tremaine and editor Seth Casriel found ways to both defy and utilize the network’s clean format and structure while also presenting some incredible historical footage that places Matt Hoffman’s BMX footage into new light, and perhaps brings us the closest to the mortality of Hoffman’s unique biking style.

One of the most unique kinds of video work is hardcore bike and skate videos, one of my favorite genre of filmmaking. Such works impart a true love of a craft (in this case, biking) and often become overlooked by those who don’t share the same interest, nor know exactly at what it is they’re looking when such footage is presented to them without context. Yet, there is little that rivals such work in its ability to capture the harsh truths and intense passion of any particular, and fleeting, “moment”. While Tremaine and Casriel are able to incorporate such amazing footage, it is the way in which they are able to craft the reasons for such footage’s appeal that makes this documentary shine beyond a possibly rigid talking-head format. Read on…

Hold onto your hats folks, it’s time for the first ever candler giveaway. Readers, you have been very good to me this month, so it’s time to give something back. After last month’s Starting Out In Film post gained some traction thanks to some linkage from the excellent blog Self Reliant Film, you came back for more in June. Many of you were intrigued by my Google Wave for Filmmakers post, but there is no question that above all else you showed up for my coverage of the deadCENTER Film Festival. In fact, Oklahoma can now lay claim to the candler blog’s second highest readership in the U.S. Thanks!

Now to the contest. While I was in Oklahoma City, I popped into the Full Circle Book Store, an incredible local find, for a signing of a new collection of essays, Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies. I’ve only just started to read it and it is fascinating. The authors of this book take an interesting look at the cinematic history of the Sooner State. Trust me, this is the only book of its kind. If you are fascinated by local cinema, American history, or just a new take on American filmmaking, this will be a nice book for your collection.

I have one copy to give away and it is autographed by five of the authors. The rules are simple, leave a comment on this post with a legitimate e-mail address. That’s it! I don’t care if you use an alias and I will not be making a mailing list out of this data, I simply need your e-mail to contact you if you win. Please leave only one comment on any topic. Feel free to share your favorite film or director, suggestion for the candler, whatever you want to write. Keep it clean, dirty comments won’t get posted and are ineligible. You may enter up until 12:00am Thursday July 9^th, as in midnight on Wednesday July 8^th, two weeks from today. Best of luck to all!

Now that the dust has settled, here’s the complete compendium of candler blog coverage from Oklahoma City’s deadCENTER Film Festival. Read on…

The internet has been touch and go the past two days, and I’m on a friend’s computer instead of my own, so I can’t add the usual flair you have come to know and love to this post. Even with the fest completed, this continues to be an intensely film-related vacation. After a buffet breakfast at a place called Ingrid’s Kitchen, I headed over to the best bookstore in Oklahoma City, Full Circle. Designed with all kinds of nooks and crannies and rolling ladders, it is a store whose selection is not only Okie specific, but wide ranging. It’s design encourages discovery and their staff are super friendly. No one paid me to say that, seriously.

I went to Full Circle because my friend, Sunrise Tippeconnie, was signing a book in which an essay of his is featured. The book is Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies and I’m in the process of reading it. Quite interesting. This state has a long history of making movies and being portrayed in them. Which brings me to my next point.

The talk of the town right now is Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, which is shooting here right now. The film has brought stars Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, and Ned Beatty. During the final day of deadCENTER they had blocked off streets downtown and filled them with 1950s cars. Last night I headed to Cookie’s, a tiny bar with a lot of heart, for the Cast and Crew more-than-halfway-through-production party. It was a nice time with some wonderful karaōke singers. The only celeb to show up was Mr. Beatty, and he was a gentleman.

I love hanging out with film crews. They are so much more tolerable than filmmakers because they rarely want to talk about movies. After the bar I went straight to a Sonic for the second time today. For those of you who don’t know about Sonic, well, you just have to drive until you find one. I got an Ocean Water Slushie and some onion rings. They tasted delicious after drinking a Pacifico cerveza.

We are off to the Wichita Mountains now, probably no more film to deal with today. I still owe you all some reiews and you’ll get them, but probably not until I’m back in New York. Poke around the site in the meantime, there’s a lot going on here.