Art Machine
Just another former infatuation junkie

What is surely to be one of the most heavily-hit Flickr sets of all times has just gone up – a side-by-side comparison of landmarks from New York City and its digital cousin, Liberty City. It shows an incredible eye for detail and an astounding amount of work done on world building.

Too bad they didn’t spend that much effort on walking down the street.

For the record, with neither a PS3 or an XBox, I’m out of the loop on the GTA IV goodness. I’m sure if I had the controller in hand, I’d be loving it. That doesn’t mean the physics that let you knock over streetlights while Sonny Bono-ing yourself on saplings aren’t fundamentally broken, however.

John Oliver’s “Terrifying Times” made the point that something about the hair ballad makes any slow-motion sports footage positively heart wrenching. One middle-aged man bowling alone at the alleys may not be that touching of a sight, but slow it down and set it to Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” and it suddenly becomes great drama.

Alternatively, the right music can make any sport seem badass. For instance: I’ve been exposed to a lot of cricket lately. As interesting as it can be (there’s a line you never thought an American would write), it always seems just slightly goofy. Is it the shinguards? Yeah. It’s probably the shinguards.

But throw a little bit of Eminem into the mix, and you get this.

Lord Raglan Cricket Club from Will Peverett on Vimeo.

I’m getting set to shoot a new short film soon, and as I gather things together I keep running into a simple truth.

Film equipment – even entry level film equipment – is expensive. Incredibly expensive.

And a lot of its function can be done by much cheaper objects.

Much cheaper.

Case in point: Indy Mogul tells you how you can make your own cheap boom pole for your microphone.

Amazing. Just… amazing.

I am also disturbed that my recent investment in an el-cheapo $180 camera has now resulted in my being able to shoot better video than with my old equipment.

Finally, one thing to bear in mind is your soundtrack. Obviously, you want to keep it legal. But there’s something to be learned from Quentin Tarantino on this – go for the songs that nobody’s heard in any context for the past decade or more. After all – “Stuck in the Middle With You” might have been a hit for Steeler’s Wheel, but at the time Tarantino synced it to a violent, twisted moment of Reservoir Dogs, it was getting minimal play even on oldies stations. There are plenty of even newer songs just waiting for that treatment.

For example – just imagine this the next time you try to imagine the song that will be playing when your badass gangsters walk away from an exploding car.