When I was in Toronto last weekend I went to Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and saw “At Home with Monstersâ ,” an exhibition presenting Guillermo del Toro’s “cabinet of curiosities.” The scale of the exhibition is impressive and feels like a walking tour through a labyrinth of rooms organized thematically, richly appointed with chiaroscuro lighting, providing glimpses […]
Notes on the 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternative Realities Exhibition
A growing number of non-fiction works are being produced at the intersection of documentary storytelling and journalism and Sheffield Doc/Fest has become one of the best events to experience these new works. The festival was founded in 1994 and takes place in June each year in Sheffield, England, a vibrant city with steel industry roots two hours from London by train. […]
The Trouble with Reality
Journalist Brooke Gladstone’s new book, The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time, is a little gem of a book offering an examination of our notion of reality. She wrote the book in response to the ongoing assault of so-called fake news, alternative facts, and blatant lies disguised as truths that […]
Some notes on binaural recordings
What is binaural recording? What we hear is determined by the way that sound is transmitted around the head, the position of the ears, the shape of the ears, and the shape of our ear canals. Binaural recordings achieve realistic three-dimensional audio by using microphones in a configuration that approximates the characteristics of the human […]
The Pearl Button
Chile’s long coastline, the largest archipelago in the world, provides the setting for The Pearl Button (2015), Patricio Guzmán poetic visual essay that brings together the voices of the indigenous pre-Columbian Patagonian people and the water, glaciers, and mountains of their land.
Steadicam Volt: An intriguing smartphone stabilizer
I’ve been investigating 3-axis gimbal stabilizers for smartphones and have held off purchasing one because I just don’t like how sloppy they feel, there’s a lot of lag in the motion, you pan, and then it catches up with you on its own terms. But now Tiffen, and drone-maker Yuneec have teamed up to design […]