Tears Don’t Always Hurt

We believe that tears have many uses. (You can use them to lubricate a door hinge if you collect enough. And they also make a great salad dressing, if you mix them with whiskey and remorse.)

We challenge you to watch this clip to the end, and if you don’t experience tears, we’ll send you an AED to get your heart started again.

We won’t ask you if your tears were from hysteria or from the sadness of genius lost.

One cool thing though, his playmate is still running around loose. So keep your eyes peeled because we need this kind of laughter badly these days. (And meanwhile, we’re watching the last minute of that again, and now the tears are sadness.)

How Much Help is Too Much?

We’ve recently found ourselves enchanted by the British series Black Mirror. When science fiction first began to appear in film and on television, we hoped this is what would happen.

After the monster features, and after the space opera and superheroes, we knew there would eventually be a place for thoughtful, insightful explorations of how technology affects and  changes us.

This short film looks like something that would have appeared on the anthology series, except that it’s French. (and isn’t the British television forbidden by law to present such?)

This beautifully crafted SF film explores the possibility that there might be such a thing as too much help.

We are always enchanted by the minds of modern short filmmakers; the ones who understand that 100 minutes is no longer the gold standard for movie length.

 

Sound of the Age

The coalescence of events from events from early November of 2016 will stand in history as a pivotal moment. We’re reminded of the depiction of 1968 in the mini-series “From Earth to the Moon”

One outcome is that the number of otherwise civil and courteous people who regularly invoke the F-bomb will turn out to have reached an unprecedented peak. It’s also likely that the Angry Face emoticon on Facebook will turn out to have spiked at a level many times higher than ever since its introduction.

Leonard Cohen and Rufus Wainwright will probably occupy a place in this era similar to that of Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie. This performance will probably be the “Alice’s Restaurant” of our time.

Or… maybe it’s just a beautiful moment. Either way, we commend it to your attention now.

Independent artists from all over the world turn to PanReality Media to help them get their work in front of an audience. Through live shows, in-person and online, through news platforms like this one, and on the social media platforms that make sense, PanReality spreads the word about their work.

To find out more, send a note to info@panreality.com and see if there’s some good news in there for you.

48HFP Awards Nominations 2016

The 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) is the oldest and largest time-based filmmaking competition in the world. It is now conducted in over 120 cities worldwide. San Francisco held its 14 annual competition earlier this summer and the Awards will be presented on Oct 22nd.

Here are the nominees for the 14th annual San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project.

Audience Choice Finalists

Group A

  • Repertoire – Inspect the Uninspected
  • Demogorgon – A Better Place –
  • Michael Bolton Scream Machine Team – The Host
  • Barewitness Films – The Big Kick

Group B

  • International High School – Morbid Artistry
  • The Letter 6 – Dave’s Delivery
  • Hardly Even Films – Christmas in August

Group C

  • Heem Team – Hip Road to Ster Town
  • El Molino High School Digital Media – Over the Fence
  • Feintly – Enclave

Group D

  • Fish Eye Films – Browler Bros
  • Team Bugbear – Volition
  • Sixty Sixers – Dirty Work

Best Trailer

  • Curly Haired People – Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time
  • Hardly Even Films – Christmas in August
  • Madras Mantle – Oliver’s Tryst

 Funniest Moment

  • International High School – Morbid Artistry 
  • Curly Haired People –  Wrong Guy Wrong Place Wrong Time
  • TBP – The Hanging Chads

Best of the Late Films

  • Fabulist Films – On The Case
  • Fluck The Dimshut Production – The Road To One
  • Wineglass Productions – Dead Roses

Best Costumes

  • Heem Team –  Hip Road to Ster Town
  • TBP – The Hanging Chads
  • Naptime – Loyalty

Best Choreography

  • Barewitness Films  – The Big Kick
  • Team Bugbear – Volition
  • Bay Area Natives – Foursquare Forever

Best Original Music Score

  • Team Bugbear – Volition
  • Repertoire – Inspect the Unexpected
  • Sixtysixers – Dirty Work

Best Use of Line

  • Repertoire –Inspect the Uninspected
  • Naptime – Loyalty
  • Sixtysixers – Dirty Work

Best Use of Prop

  • Demogorgon – A Better Place
  • Bay Area Natives – Foursquare Forever
  • Naptime – Loyalty

Best Use of Character

  • Square Marden – Rough Answers
  • Sixtysixers – Dirty Work
  • Repertoire – Inspect the Unexpected

Best Sound Design

  • Savage Six – The Escape
  • Feintly – Enclave
  • Repertoire – Inspect the Unexpected

Best Child Actors

  • Lily Gibbons as Young Lilly – A Better Place
  • Jack Gibbons as Young Jack – A Better Place
  • Jane Gibbons as Jane – A Better Place

Best Actor

  • Robert Watt AS Mr Lentwell – Dave’s Delivery
  • Mark Rachel AS Oliver Lentwell – The Big Kick
  • Ryan Wiley AS Reginald – Hanging Chads

Sometimes a Small Voice

In a world of big production values, loud vitriolic debates, and self-indulgent superstars – can something like this make a difference?

We’re still drying our eyes over here. (And then the song loops and our Kleenex supply dwindles further.)

Maati Baani’s channel has more. We recommend it and encourage you to subscribe and give a big thumbs up to the videos you like.

Don’t forget to save the dates for the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project screenings on the weekend of Sept 10 and 11. Over three dozen filmmakers put together short films to entertain premiere audiences and you can be there to see it. Details are on their website.

How Big is It? (Really?)

By now, most of us who are paying attention know that the traditional mercator projection is quite inaccurate when used for the world map. But did you know how inaccurate it is?

Take a look at this enlightening (and delightful) journey around the world. You may have a moment of deja-vu when the narrator lapses into an homage to Yakko Warner’s iconic “Nations of the World” rap.

We think a student of the world could spend several hours just following the clues and links stuffed into that fast-moving piece.

Although we hope cartographers and historians will do their best to tell the truth, storytellers and narrative filmmakers are not expected to observe that restriction. That’s why we’re glad to know that San Francisco independent filmmakers are setting out today to create a new crop of short films as part of the 48 Hour Film Project.

You can learn more at their Facebook page, or just subscribe to this blog and we’ll be sure to remind you when the premiere screenings and awards show are announced.

No, It’s Not My Eyes

We came across this short film recently through a friend. It’s perfect! Simple set, simple story, moving performance.

Not to oversell it or anything, but go ahead and see if you can keep your eyes dry.

Many of our fans and friends tell us that they think this story is about them. The one take-away they all report in common is, “keep creating, keep performing, keep sharing your art, because someday that magic moment will come together and you want to be there!”

Maybe that magic moment for you is to have your next short movie shown in front of a full-house audience. It’s why they have the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project.

Learn more about it and sign up now if you have your own story to tell. You’ll never forget it, we promise!

No, It’s Not Your Eyes

This optical illusion designed by Kokichi Sugihara was selected as a finalist in the Best Illusion of the Year competition. We are reminded that our perception is fragile, its connection to reality tenuous.

More details about the competition, and about Kokichi Sugihara can be found in this article at The Verge.

Filmmakers make their livings from illusion. If you’re one, or if you just have a hankering to make a movie, the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project is a great place to both make your movie and get it shown in front of a packed audience. Registration is still in Early Bird pricing now.

Cool Music

Two things that should be guaranteed to cross political and cultural boundaries, music and nature, come together in this moving piece.

We’re inspired by both the raw beauty of the setting, and the calm mastery of the performance. Hope you’ll like it too.

Everyone has a story to tell, and we all go about telling it in different ways.

If your way of telling your stories is through film and video, you may want to take advantage of the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project coming up soon. Registration is still in the Early Bird phase, so if you want to get started with team building right away, you can save a few bucks.

We’ll have more to say about it as it draws closer.

Grilling Deep Dive

We all know that cooking is both a science and an art. In fact, maybe most art is a science and an art.

This clip brings the both into focus as we see how to sear the surface of a good steak.

Okay, Now we’re hungry!

Hey just a reminder YouTubers and filmmakers. There’s still a chance to get the Early Bird rate for registration in the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project.  It’s a great way for you to get to tell your own stories.