The New Venue

04.November.2000 Cursing the Gulls On November 3rd, digital filmmakers Jason Wishnow and Evan Mather met at the inaugural Digital Cinema Conference at M.I.T. The next day, this movie was finished. Poem by Evan Mather Jason Wishnow Based on a short story by David Sedaris Music "kaeru no uta ga" by Trancenden Stills from "Cursing the Gulls" Interview with the filmmakers. New Venue: What's the film about? Wishnow: It's a parody of a film school movie. Bad poetry and black turtlenecks. We didn't have time to run Cinelook so we gave it television scan-lines. There's not much else to it. Mather: We filmed at a cemetery, true to the genre, with many gratuitous shots of Jason posing amongst the gravestones. We also have a shot of a clock tower, some guys hauling garbage, and a vintage Buick. We forgot to get a shot of a woman blowing smoke into the camera- Wishnow: -or doing heroin. New Venue: What are the origins of "Cursing the Gulls"? Wishnow: Instant cinema. Evan and I were both invited to speak at the Digital Cinema Conference at M.I.T. and we thought it would be fun to show off something new. You know, as an example of the speed and the quality that all this new technology affords filmmakers coupled with just what happens when the right tools fall into the wrong hands. We didn't have much time, and we really liked the bit in David Sedaris' new book about the pretentious film students... New Venue: What background did you bring to this movie? Mather: I have a long history of parodying student art films. When I was in high school I used to take my Super-8 camera around town and film dead birds, coffee drinking beatniks, and - a guy drinking a sodapop. Actually, I enjoy the freedom of filming whatever comes to mind and then more or less arbitrarily arranging the clips to see what happens. Wishnow: I have some experience with bad poetry. New Venue: How did you make it? Mather: Jason and I basically walked around Cambridge and Mount Auburn Cemetery shooting whatever came to mind. We had his camera and laptop; I brought along the wireless mics and pretention. Wishnow: Evan and I hadn't met before. All our previous collaborations had been done online - we co-directed the Qui-Gon Show and I have a cameo in Buena Vista Fight Club, but that was done entirely over email and the phone. Nothing like this. New Venue: How did the M.I.T. audience respond to your movie? Wishnow: This one academic-type said he liked the symbolic distortion of time and space. Something about resonance. I didn't want to hurt his feelings or sabotage his chances at tenure so I didn't say anything. Mather: I zoned out when someone quoted Eisenstein. New Venue: What technology did you use? Wishnow: We used a Sony DV camcorder and an Apple PowerBook running Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and Illustrator. We were able to edit during the conference without causing much of a stir, but to avoid totally disrupting the event, I ran out of the lecture hall to recite the poem over a wireless mic directly into Sound Edit. View this movie. You can find out about other digital flicks in the New Venue Archives.