A few weeks ago I gave a profile of the camera company Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, which has recently been making an impact on the world of digital cinema. Today I would like to give another profile of an even younger camera company, Blackmagic Design.

At first glance, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, their newest model, looks similar to the common DSLR camera, however slicker and more modern. The large display that is conveniently located on the back of the camera can be used to view the image you are currently recording, or the footage that you have previously recorded to the SSD port, as well as use the touchscreen display to adjust your camera settings. Other cameras, such as the Red and other digital production cameras, require an external display in order to view playback. As for quality, the Blackmagic can record the image at 13 stops, giving the final product a professional grade quality. This means that no matter the lighting of the environment in which you are recording, the Blackmagic will capture a dynamic range of colors and shades. This gives the filmmaker some freedom in his shooting, allowing him to maneuver around his environment without having to worry about checking his lighting quality or exposure. To add even more versatility to the camera operator, the camera weighs only 3.75 lbs, minimizing the usual bulky nature of a production camera.

A large component of why this camera has impressed digital filmmakers is the software that accompanies the camera. Included with the Blackmagic is the full version of DaVinci Resolve, a high-end color grading system popular with many professional studio colorists. Although you will need to do some research in order to produce a high quality colored image, this inclusion certainly gives the filmmaker an advantage. Furthermore, the camera supplies its operator with the ability to store the images on the camera's SSD in a variety of different formats (CinemaDNG RAW, ProRes, DNxHD). These expansive features to the camera are offers that most digital cameras on the market lack and could possibly lead to more all-inclusive machines in the future within digital filmmaking.

There have been some weaknesses to the camera, however. The most pressing issues are the necessity of file storage capabilities and the rolling shutter. Shooting in uncompressed RAW can cause the SSD card to fill up relatively quickly, which makes storage of the files significantly more important. If shooting with this camera, make sure that you have access to large amounts of storage. You can however shoot in ProRes or DNxHD, which are both compressed and can give you a greater amount of file space for your footage on each SSD card. The rolling shutter is also a negative feature. This is  most often seen in DSLR's, and can effect the quality of a moving image, particularly when something is moving up or down. This can cause the image to become distorted, as seen in the fan below. While these weaknesses in the camera can cause problems, the low price of the camera makes up for these somewhat avoidable irritants.

As mentioned before, the price of the camera is low, costing only about $2,000, which is cheap for a production level camera such as this. You can also buy the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K, which, as the name suggests, let's you shoot 4K feature films, rather than the 2.5K of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. This camera comes at $4,000.

The Blackmagic aims to provide filmmakers with an affordable camera with a professional level of quality to the image. While this digital camera derives much of its functionality from DSLR's and other less professional cameras, the software as well as the image quality maximizes its capabilities, making it one of the most competitive machines on the market. Because these camera's were only released in July 2013, there are no current scheduled films using Blackmagic, but keep your eyes open for news on the cameras, particularly from Indie filmmakers. Hopefully this can inspire other digital camera developers to continue to improve on their competitors already impressive products.

To check out some Blackmagic Cinema Camera footage, see the video below.

American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013), scrutinizes the life of a crumbling conman trying to “survive”, and epitomizes the perfection of storytelling within film by focusing specifically on the character’s strife
and brilliantly stylizing the world in which the character exists. American Hustle is also stacked with stout actors, handling characters that require such actors to do them justice. While some people will compliment Amy Adam’s
convincing transformation from a strong conwoman to a seductive English business woman or will commend Jennifer Lawrence’s ability to tickle the nerves of her audience and convey an unpredictable bundle of fun, the true master of character in this intense drama lies in Christian Bale’s deteriorating and brilliant conman named Irving Rosenfeld, who is continuously and unfairly attacked by those he loves. Rosenfeld's own emotional pain causes him to wrestle with his deceitful occupation, producing a crumbling character bombarded with internal stress. 
 
There were many particulars that are admirable about Christian Bale’s performance, but the single characteristic that has been recurring in most of his past films, and is existent in American Hustle as well, is Bale’s constant weight gains and losses between his character portrayals. Famously, Bale lost 63 pounds in the film The Mechanist (Brad Anderson, 2004), and then gained back the weight, plus more, to become the iconic and powerful Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005). What was interesting about the character of Irving Rosenfeld that differed from Bale’s usual weight changes, was his lack of the typical muscle gain, and instead, gain of fat. Bale shows us in American Hustle that he is willing to literally become the character that a screenwriter wrote, even if that character is an overweight and unattractive slob. Christian Bale takes method acting to the full extreme, and that is what makes him one of the most versatile, intelligent and unique actors on the market.

While Bale's character produces a strong subject to maintain the audience's interest, the quality of the actual story creation provides a separate platform to push the Irving's journey. As filmmaking has progressed, screenwriters have felt the need to complicate their stories, drawing the audience’s attention to their characters using flashbacks, narrations, montages, etc. These tactics can be seen in many of Christopher Nolan's films such as Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000), and Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), taking layers of style and story and overlapping them to create a functioning and completed plot. American Hustle replicates this style. Eric Warren Singer, screenwriter, begins the story with a pivotal scene in Irving Rosenfeld’s internal deterioration, capturing our curiosities, forcing us to ponder the full story of why Christian Bale’s character is so dedicated to persuading a politician to accept a bribe. We are then launched into a flashback of a party where Irving first met Amy Adams’ character Sydney Prosser, allowing us to follow Rosenfeld's journey to the bribe we previously saw. This style of storytelling within a film is consistently successful as it sparks the audiences’ interests and provides a beginning look at the characters we will be viewing.

The brilliancy of the screenwriting and the powerful performances by esteemed actors brought the story to life, but David O. Russell used his mastery as the director to add depth and relevance to the film and its presence in the current context. Opening with the traditional titles from the seventies of both Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures, the director immediately establishes a popular style of contemporary films, highlighted by the burgundy undertones and 1970's rock'n'roll. This style was seen particularly in last year's Oscar Best Picture winner Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012), where the time period was heavily developed in the setting to create Affleck's mise en scene. David O. Russell, understanding the success of Affleck's style in Argo, found another great story during a similar historical time, and focused on the same design.

Recent filmmaking was not the only influence that was evident in American Hustle; it was easy to see that David O. Russell did his homework. The most obvious influence that can be seen throughout the entire story, was Martin Scorsese's renowned classic Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) which used various character's points of view and stories through narration to create a completed, and deeply developed plot. Russell mimicked this in American Hustle and was able to successfully use this storytelling technique to his advantage. Another classic film, The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973), one that surprised audiences for it's unexpected ending, set the stage for modern and contemporary twist ending plots. David Russell finished his film in a similar fashion. Although, looking back, I guess I should have expected the unexpected when viewing a film entitled American Hustle, who's main characters specialize in trickery.

David O. Russell should be commended for executing a film that utilizes the medium of filmmaking to its full potential and draws upon current cinematic trends and past classic styles. American Hustle is overall a complete film with depth, requiring a great deal of thought and analysis. This is one that I will be seeing multiple times, and I advise you to do the same.

If you follow this blog, chances are you know what "the 4th wall" is and how someone can break it. But for anyone who didn't take Intro to Film in college: originally a device of theater, the 4th wall is an understanding between performers and audiences that the front of a stage or the lens of a camera acts as the wall which closes off a room or other space, thereby enclosing the fictional world in which the story takes place. An actor "breaks the fourth wall" when they acknowledge the audience (or the wall itself) in some way. We call this metafiction -- that is, a story that acknowledges its fictional nature. Sometimes it's just called "meta" (Community, anyone?) 

My most memorable actor-audience moment was probably Kevin McAllister in Home Alone (a somewhat unexplainable omission in the following video); or when Ferris Bueller, including us in his wacky hijinks via camera, detailed the particulars of faking illness. Genius. 

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES by Derek Cianfrance
Release date: March 29, 2013

I can’t decide whether I love this trailer, or if my interest in it is based more on the strangeness of it all. Ryan Gosling with facial tattoos and bleached hair… Eva Mendes as the tough, protective mother (compared to the last thing I saw her in – a fantastical, seductive vignette from Holy Motors)… Bradley Cooper as a cop in a terrible, terrible windbreaker. The single glimpse of that last one interests me more than the whole of Silver Linings Playbook. The title of the film is the literal English meaning for “Schenectady,” as in Schenectady, NY. As in the town just north of Albany and west of the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border, where nothing much really happens. The official premise is that Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider, wants to be a part of his infant son’s life; in desperation to contribute, he begins robbing banks, which pits him against a rookie cop (Cooper) with lots to prove. I have a feeling that “an exhilarating epic of fathers, sons and consequences” is a more apt description though, getting at both the scale and emotional core briefly displayed here. Derek Cianfrance has reportedly directed one hell of a film, better than Blue Valentine, and one cinephiles will definitely love. Regardless of pedigree, this trailer does it for me. Bring on the face tattoos.

Header photo [COLLIDER]

MOOD INDIGO by Michel Gondry
Release date: April 10, 2013

Just watch. This makes me happy in all possible ways. Also, Omar Sy! 

You don't even need to understand the language to know exactly what is going on. Feel it in your heart. However... for those of you who insist... a rough translation, using my French 102 skills:

0:09 “Thank you”
April 24
0:15 “Hello.” “Hello.”
0:28 I feel like my whole life depends on this moment
0:35 And that was it?
The most poignant
Stories of love
Based on the masterpiece by Boris Vian
Director Michel Gondry
Invites you to live an unforgettable adventure.

42 by Brian Helgeland
Release date: April 12, 2013

Don't judge this trailer based on the inclusion of a song by Jay-Z (he may be everywhere because of Mr. Timberlake right now, but this trailer was cut months ago...). Besides, have you listened to the lyrics? "I father, I Brooklyn Dodger them; I jack, I rob, I sin; Aww man, I'm Jackie Robinson; 'Cept when I run base, I dodge the pen." Actually, go ahead and judge it on the song. You could write a grad school thesis on those lyrics. Harrison Ford, all gruff and dapper (he suited up, 40's style!) came out of "retirement" to play Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, the man who is credited with breaking the so-called color barrier in baseball by signing Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman). And make no mistake -- this is Jackie Robinson's story. I'm curious to see whether the film handles the narrative as an ensemble or a biopic, though, because while it would be easy to tell only Robinson's story, the truth is that it took a small army to put him on that field (and keep him there). I expect Ford's character to steal the spotlight more than once. The trailer seems to uphold Robinson as the "face of change" in '42 baseball --  not just a man playing the game he loved but, as all pioneers do, an ideal who represented genuine cultural progress. This trailer is solid; writer/director Brian Helgeland need only avoid telling too many stories or allowing the film to buckle under the weight of its own (rightfully) important subject matter. 

You need to know about Nicolas Winding Refn.  

A Danish director who comes from a cinema family (his parents are a cinematographer and director/editor, respectively), he has a distinctly unique perspective on the inner workings of Hollywood.  He doesn't do things traditionally on his sets: he prefers to shoot in "emotional chronological order," hugs his actors when they're trying too hard to be original, and likes driving around L.A. at night for inspiration.  He can be credited with giving Tom Hardy his start as Charles Bronson in Bronson and was awarded Best Director at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for Drive.  He and Ryan Gosling have the sort of working relationship that can most aptly be described as a marriage -- and they're pairing up again for next year's Only God Forgives. 

Winding Refn credits The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) as the thing that first inspired him to make films. "My parents were brought up on the French New Wave. That was god to them, but to me it was the antichrist, and how better to rebel against your parents than by watching something your mother is going to hate, which were American horror movies" (Director's Guild of America). All of his films bear a gritty realism that reflects his blunt speaking style; there is something purely European about his phrasing, that he doesn't shy away from potential offense to make a point. And yet, he is never crass -- simply truthful. The Danish film Pusher (1996, about a drug dealer who grows increasingly desperate to repay his boss when a deal goes south) was Winding Refn's debut; it began as a short film made after dropping out of film school but a producer approached him about turning it into a feature. It holds strong on Rotten Tomatoes with a respectable 81%, and its sequels were rated even higher. Pusher established Winding Refn's style as gritty, unvarnished, and heavily influenced by his dual upbringing in Copenhagen and New York. 

Bronson came to him through his U.K. distributor. It is a pseudo-biographical film about Michael Peterson, better known as Charles Bronson, England's most notorious prisoner. Winding Refn had honed his directing skills after Pusher with two sequels, Fear X and Bleeder, all especially adequate preparation for the character study given their violent and psychological themes. Together with Tom Hardy he created a theatrical, manic picture of a man who is both notorious and non-existent. "I wanted to make the film very operatic and very feminine, because it’s also very much about the concept of art and art is a feminine medium... The painting of the face is more like he’s a circus entertainer, like an old-fashioned personality that doesn’t exist anymore. And yet there is no face – he’s an invisible person, because Charlie Bronson is a made up person, he doesn’t exist" (Filmmaker).

Bronson is the identity Peterson assumed after years in prison, wanting to give himself over to the spectacle of it all -- wanting to be famous. Winding Refn has spoken about similar tendencies he struggled with as a child and young filmmaker: impatience, and wanting to have the finished product before earning it. It was partially because of this that he began shooting films in chronological order, preferring to let the film surprise and develop organically. "When you make a movie you make two movies. You make a physical movie, which is a physical journey, and you make the physical movie with the script.... But shooting it in chronological order, you add a metaphysical part, where the movie takes on a life of its own." 

Shooting in this manner gives his films a palpably authentic feeling that is so often missing in Hollywood. Drive benefitted not only from being shot 80% chronologically (since the more expensive set pieces had to be done in one go) but also from his need to "make films for himself." Gosling requested that Winding Refn direct it so the director pulled it from Universal's shelf to retool the story.  Drive as it was originally drafted starred Hugh Jackman and lacked the driver-as-stuntman component, a book-inspired addition that would prove virtually impossible to remove from Winding Refn's interpretation without degrading the story. In the way that Bronson explored femininity, Drive explored masculinity in all of its bloody, muscle car-bound stereotypes. Though based on the book by James Sallis which has a sequel, Driven, Winding Refn has no plans to direct the next chapter of The Driver's story.

Gosling and Winding Refn continue their productive partnership with Only God Forgives, now in post-production and slated for an April 2013 release in Denmark (U.S. dates are so far unavailable). The pair have also begun scripting a remake to Logan's Run that won't surface until 2014 at the earliest. If these projects reflect the sensibilities of his earlier work, Nicolas Winding Refn will soon become a household name and one of the more influential filmmakers of the 21st century. 

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Pusher III, Bronson, Valhalla Rising & Drive are all available to view on Netflix Streaming.

Check out the interview with Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling from the 2011 Cannes Film Festival below, courtesy of The Film Stage (founded by Messiah College alum Jordan Raup). Heads up for some profanity. 

A good trailer is a piece of art. It should inform, excite, and entice without giving away too much of the story, while demonstrating unique ideas so the film it represents stands apart from dozens of others in a given week. You know it when you see it.

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ZERO DARK THIRTY
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Release date: December 19th

This second trailer for Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow's much-buzzed-about follow up to 2008's Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker) grabs me. I was underwhelmed by the first trailer which had a lot of cliche elements (resounding bass notes a la Inception that everyone has been using to excess dramatic effect,  generic-looking explosions, overusing the "blacked out words" gimmick, and tension based in a concept a lot of America has moved on from), but this trailer succeeds by addressing the audience directly and never letting go ("Can I be honest with you? I have bad news...") The stakes become high for the viewer personally. When the voiceover asks, "Any questions?" my response is, "Yes. Lots." For example, what in the world does "zero dark thirty" mean?

And then it gives some answers. Kyle Chandler is looking good in a suit and scowl. Jessica Chastain is a long way from Jackson, Mississippi in her office analyzing what looks to be endless, frustrating footage. And look, Andy from "Parks and Recreation" is playing horseshoes and talking about Osama bin Laden like a kid swapping ghost stories around the campfire. Remember the days when the world first heard his name -- "Osama bin Laden" -- and suddenly he was everywhere? And yet, he was nowhere. Even knowing the ending to this story doesn't make me less excited to see the outcome because we know so little about how it happend. Will this be an historical account of events? Perhaps more than most. It was scripted before bin Laden was killed and the ending reworked when the mission was successful. The name of the film itself (zero one thirty meaning 1:30AM; therefore zero dark thirty meaning a dark hour in the early morning) speaks to the fact that this mission was and still is shrouded in secrecy. How much will be filled in with artistic liberties? How much can be based on fact, since it deals with top-secret information? One of my concerns for the film is that it will be heavy handed with patriotism, painting America to be all-the-world's hero. The film will also be released just after the presidential election, leaving us to speculate about whether its advertising might handily remind the populace of President Obama's not-long-ago victory. However, Obama's name reportedly makes no appearance in the film.

Regardless of political ramifications, the film itself looks tightly crafted with more relatable characters than The Hurt Locker, and if I know anything about film, it's that the Academy loves to celebrate fictionalized American heroism. Look for this (and Jessica Chastain) to dominate during awards season. Meanwhile, I'll be seeing it theaters based on the strength of this trailer alone.

NEXT WEEK: Iron Man 3

88 MPH is a feature where we'll go back in time to explore films made before the year 2000. It's an arbitrary year, but hey, I like round numbers. If you have any suggestions for a classic, important, and/or forgotten film, leave it in the comments!

 - - -

12 Monkeys is one of the best movies about time travel ever made, so it is appropriate that we should start this column by highlighting it. Inspired by the framework of French science fiction film La Jetée, Terry Gilliam (Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Brazil) brings his signature brand of fantasy and dry humor that serve as a potent commentary on society's often arbitrary nature. It features Bruce Willis in one of his most nuanced roles: a survivor named James Cole, haunted and vulnerable to the point that the actor is completely absorbed by the character throughout. Madeleine Stowe plays psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly who first (understandably) diagnoses him as a paranoid schizophrenic in the year 1990, but gradually sees the sincerity behind his actions when she can't rationalize things Cole shouldn't know after he returns in the year 1996. Her descent into his reality is the audience's descent -- and we are all finding either clarity or "divergence," as it is described so brilliantly in one scene. Cole is sent back in time from 2035 to find clues to incriminate revolutionary group The Army of the 12 Monkeys regarding an act of biological warfare that kills 5 billion people at the end of 1996 and drives the remainder of the human race underground.

Gilliam keeps the audience in suspense through his use of heightened reality -- things that are slightly "off" and could conceivably be explained away with Cole's delusion. Why are the scientists in 2035 so cartoonish, for example? They act almost as one being, finishing one another's sentences and speaking as if to soothe an animal's frayed nerves. Contrasted with the more understanding panel of psychiatrists in "present day," they seem more and more like a phantom designed to tell Cole what his psyche wants to hear. But then, this is deliberate. Gilliam makes excellent use of a world driven underground where everyone is caged, numbered, and prodded, suitable for use in experiments they neither want nor understand. There are deliberate allusions to Cole and the rest of the survivors being like caged monkeys, bound physically by force or to convention by choice. The audience likewise feels caged and as unsure as Cole. 

Enter Brad Pitt as the charismatic Jeffrey Goines. Cole meets Goines when he is first committed to the mental institution in 1990 (a time he was never meant to inhabit in the first place). Goines is crazy with a capital C yet makes sense in the substance of his rants about humanity being enslaved to materialism. "We're all consumers!" he crows at one point (echoing the famous line later spoken by Tyler Durden in Fight Club); "If you play the game you're voluntarily taking a tranquilizer." In the scene, he's referring to literal board games, but Gilliam means it as motivation for Goines' actions -- the world is falling to pieces yet people are tranquilized by convention. "'Let's go shopping' is the cry of the true lunatic." 

The film asks questions of inevitability. Can Cole go back and change the past to better the future, or will his going back be the thing that creates the chaos? Does Goines' effort to break convention actually bring about the things he warns of? In this sense, both characters suffer from the "Cassandra Complex:" the agony of foreknowledge combined with the impotence to do anything about it; in this case, however, Cole is less convinced he can succeed, whereas Goines is brazenly confident. And both men end up caught in a loop that never ends. 

Perhaps the most telling scene of the film is where Cole comments on a viewing of Hitchcock's masterful Vertigo (where a local art house theater is running a "24-hour Hitchcock Fest"). He watches and notices it parallels his and Dr. Railly's situation, then muses aloud, "The movie never changes -- it can't change -- but every time you see it, it seems different because you're different." The viewer is left to wonder whether a man can change his fate, or whether he can only change himself within it; and if these two things are, in fact, one in the same.

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Below: Watch La Jetée (The Jetty or The Pier in English), the 26 minute short film by Chris Marker that inspired 12 Monkeys. 

A good trailer is a piece of art. It should inform, excite, and entice without giving away too much of the story, while demonstrating unique ideas so the film it represents stands apart from dozens of others in a given week. You know it when you see it.

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ARGO
Directed by Ben Affleck
Release date: In theaters

What is it about Ben Affleck as a director that I like so much? Maybe it's his answer in a recent Details interview: "I need my work to mean something to me in order for me to not be home with [my family.]" When a director approaches projects with that mindset, I'm more likely to trust that what is on the screen isn't going to waste my time, because he didn't want to waste his in making it to begin with. And it shows in the trailer for Argo, Affleck's third film (after Gone Baby Gone and The Town). 

There is only one trailer for Argo, and it was the only trailer needed because this one is excellent. The story is loosely based on the events surrounding 6 American diplomats who escaped the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. While most of the diplomats were taken hostage, the CIA worked to extricate the 6 from their hiding place in the Canadian ambassador's home. Before even getting into the meat of the story, I am already in love with the visual style of the film: classic 70's facial hair, earth tones, big glasses; the use of shredded photos interspersed throughout, which in this digital age feels like an homage as well as a stylistic choice. Every face I see is recognizable but transformed -- Judy Greer! Bryan Cranston! Kyle Chandler! Most of all, Victor Garber looking slim and years younger as the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, who had an extremely important role in how events played out. (Affleck, who after hearing about Taylor's inclusion, was concerned about trumping up America's involvement at other players' expense and invited the former ambassador to his home to view the film; changes were later made to the script.) 

Then, just when you think it's a straight political thriller, a twist of tone: "If I'm gonna make a fake movie, it's gonna be a fake hit," insists Alan Arkin, confirming that so desperate was the situation, the government would say "yes" to this plan. The bulk of the film, then, follows the crazy events that transpired to bring a fake production team to Iran to make "Argo," a fake science fiction film taking place on Mars, and then attempt to evacuate the 6 hidden ambassadors as the undercover stars of the film. Does it work? You can spoil it with a quick Wikipedia search if you like, but I have a feeling it wouldn't make a difference. Ben Affleck looks to have combined a compelling story with original characters, a fast-paced plot, all set in Iran during a slightly romanticized, very politically-charged time in our history. Best Director nods are a lock, and if you're a fan of the filmmaking process, this movie might hold an extra dimension of interest because of the "film within a film" aspect. See it in theaters now. 

NEXT WEEK: Zero Dark Thirty

As you may have noticed, we added a new section to the site! This is Italy is made up of a series of four videos highlighting the awesome journey we had in Italy these past few weeks. Each video focuses on a specific theme from the Italian culture. Four groups were chosen and each went off on their own to capture the heart of Italian foods, arts, landscapes and lifestyles. So join us as we recap our wonderful trip into the Tuscan countryside and as we start off the series with the Food video:

Group members in the food group were:

• James Baden ('12)
• Catherine Joseph ('13)
• Elizabeth Phillips ('13)  

Hope you look forward to the rest of the videos!

-Rolando Vega

In the film industry it is hard to break out as a young filmmaker. As a 25-year-old writer, producer, director, Lena Dunham has overcome those odds.  After the success of her feature film, Tiny Furniture, Dunham has become the it-girl for young and women filmmakers. At her young age, she has already done two feature films, several online videos, and is the new star, creator, writer, and director of the show Girls on HBO. 

In this video from PressPausePlay, Lena Dunham talks about how difficult it is as a young filmmaker to be in the film industry today. The rise of digital video is nothing new, but it is coming to a point where it is overpowering the film industry. Dunham explains that while it's great that everyone with $1500 can buy a nice video camera and shoot their own film, there is also a down side to letting just anyone be a filmmaker. As young filmmakers ourselves, we understand where Dunham is coming from. The video captured a great conversation with Dunham and is something all young filmmakers should check out.