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film + videoWednesday Aug 20, 2008
Charlie Rose Talks Car DesignNewly posted to Charlie Rose's website is the below video of his recently televised conversation about car design with automotive design gurus Joel Piaskowski of Hyundai, Franz "Zoom Zoom" von Holzhausen of Mazda, Edward T. Welburn, Jr. of General Motors, and Phil Patton of The New York Times. Fewer than 30 seconds elapse before someone mentions Harley Earl. We warn you that you may come away from this video craving a Pontiac Solstice, but you'll also hear about what makes a great car designer, what cars have in common with clipper ships, and why everyone still dreams of having a Ferrari in the garage. "You will note that this [conversation] happened a few months ago," cautions Rose rather cryptically when introducing the segment. "Because I still had the black eye." Behind the Scenes of Architecture School
Archinect, one of our favorite daily reads, has come through once again with the goods by offering up a backstage look at the making of Architecture School, the only reality show we've ever eagerly awaited, which premieres tonight on the Sundance Channel. The program, if you somehow hadn't caught wind of it, is a semi-documentary/competition thing following a group of Tulane architecture students who are trying to build replacement housing in New Orleans. The first half of Archinect's excellent feature gives you the whole rundown on the program itself, but quickly follows with the real meat and potatoes: an interview with the show's creators, Stan Bertheaud and "architect-turned-director" Michael Seiditch. If you're as eager for the show as we, it's the perfect buffer between now and when it finally starts airing tonight, and if you hadn't heard of it, consider it your opportunity to catch up with the rest of us. Friday Aug 15, 2008
You Might Be Design-Obsessed If...While watching the below video, created in one extraordinary, continuous shot by digital media students at Germany's Hochschule Furtwangen University, your first thought is, "Wow, that's a gorgeous building. I wonder who designed it?" And note the presence of a wall-sized "Infograph" and an admirably restrained brown/yellow/green color palette, with pops of orange and red only toward the end. Who needs professionally produced music videos when you have a bunch of emotive, light-drenched German college kids? We've got our fingers crossed that some savvy Case Western Reserve students will pick a German pop song and get to work on a similar project in Frank Gehry's Lewis building. Wronged Designer Robert Kearns' Story to Hit TheatersInteresting piece of half-press release/half-profile from the AP about designer Robert Kearns, the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper and the subject of the upcoming film, Flash of Genius. The profile talks about bringing Kearns' story to the screen, as well as offering up some history on the man who was robbed of his creation by nearly every auto manufacturer on the planet, which ultimately led him to go crazy and left his life in utter shambles. It's an interesting read and the film looks promising, sort of like 2008's Tucker. Though from the trailer we get the sense that a lot of that "he went nuts and was committed to an asylum" was washed over a bit: Thursday Aug 14, 2008
Dane Cook Hates Poster Design, Gets Beaten Up Over It
Rare is the day that we stand up for comedian Dane Cook, but sometimes even we pretentious jerkfaces realize when someone is being unfairly picked on. The story goes is that Cook put up a post on his blog about how much he dislikes the layout of the poster for his new film, My Best Friend's Girl. Through ten individually listed issues he has with it, his critique boils down to his belief that the poster is poorly designed and it doesn't say a thing about the movie's real content, both of which we completely and totally agree with (and even got a laugh out of a few of them, which surprised us, given that we have been taught to hate the man). Following this came a critique of Cook's critique by Ad Age's Ken Wheaton who uses three paragraphs to essentially agree with him, but all the while mocking Cook relentlessly, going as far as to even add sarcastic quotes around "comedian" when referencing the comedian's job. Seems to us there's a time and a place for this sort of thing and this really wasn't it. Otherwise, you come across sounding weirdly bitter, overly uppity, and just plain mean for no good reason. Monday Aug 04, 2008
Is The Wire's Architectural Backdrop Its Most Impressive Feature?Oh how this writer missed you dear readers. But sometimes the jet setting lifestyle calls and you must answer, and so it was last week, with too many flights, too much Xanax to get through said flights without succumbing to panic, and much, much too hot on the East Coast. But that's neither here nor there, as we're back to getting the news to you. First up, and related because we spent the good portion of this weekend next to Baltimore, Steve Rose's piece in the Guardian about the best character in the best ever television show, The Wire is the city's architecture. For we rabid fans of the now dearly departed show, it's a terrific read about the locations used in the program and their real histories. For others only vaguely familiar with a show you should be buying all 75 dvds of, it's an interesting look at the ins and outs of city planning, development, and the often-flawed elements of building design. Tuesday Jul 29, 2008
Helvetica Director at Work on Industrial Design Documentary
As with Helvetica, Hustwit's choice of topic was guided by passionate interest as opposed to expertise. "One reason that I'm delving into the world of objects in this film is that I, admittedly, am obsessed by them," wrote Hustwit yesterday on the film's blog. "I'm interested in industrial designers because their work influences so many aspects of our world yet most of the time it's taken for granted. And I think that, especially today, it's crucial for us to re-examine how we make and use consumer products at every level." Wednesday Jul 23, 2008
John Maeda Narrates His Field Trip to the Glass HouseA meeting of the minds in this one, as we combine soon-to-be Mr. RISD John Maeda, Philip Johnson's Glass House, and the always cool Cool Hunting, all in just a single video. Maeda was out there in rural Connecticut visiting the famous architecture spot for a conference and there happened to be a crew following him, tracking his every move as he talked about the house. But we need say no more. Enjoy: Friday Jul 18, 2008
AIA Launches Film Version of 'America's Favorite Architecture'
The American Institute of Architects has been on a roll ever since their "America's Favorite Architecture" campaign last year and, as we reported a little while back, they've become addicted to the popularity. So next in their ploy to keep on top is the announced release of "Shape of America," a series of short films on each of buildings they highlighted in last year's aforementioned top picks. There are only six available right now, from the Empire State Building to Taliesin West, but we're digging the quick, easily digestible mini-documentaries on some of the greatest pieces of building the country has to offer and we're hoping they keep it up. Tuesday Jul 15, 2008
BBC Launches Philippe Starck's Design TV Show Site
PreviouslyWatch Movies with the Maysleses Details on Philippe Starck's Reality TV Design Show Chris Jordan Has His Way with Statistics J.J. Abrams Snaps Up Rights to NY Times Architecture Story Philippe Starck to Have His Own TV Series Smithsonian Featured in Get Smart—and Loving It! IA TV Delivers Information Through Videography Byron Kim, Bruce McClure Win Alpert Awards The Pritzker Winning Gang to Appear on 'Charlie Rose' Today Apple's Jonathan Ive Very Quietly Helps Out on Pixar's New 'Wall-E' Film Eadweard Muybridge, Original Speed Racer Jakob Trollback Shows TED Conference Music Video with Mind of Its Own Machine Molle Gives Justice the '80s Logo Treatment A Preview of 'Koolhaas Houselife' Steve Heller Preys upon Richard McGuire's Fear(s) Gnarls Barkley Video Denied Over MTV's Seizure Concerns Picking the Best Title Design In Film (Because the Academy Doesn't Want To) Adaptive Path's Dan Saffer Tells Lies Sarah Jessica Parker and Co. Planning "Project Runway" for the Art World "California Video" Opens at the Getty on March 15 Are the Home Design Networks Going to Suffer From the Reality TV Boom? Hello? You're, Uh, Talking Into a Hamburger? You've Got One Month to Live. What Are You Ordering From Moss? New Beecroft Documentary Is "A Profile with a Twist" YSL Designer Commissions Video to Show Men's Collection Production Designer Jack Fisk Gets an Oscar Push Costume Designer Colleen Atwood on Being in Camp Burton Jakob Nielsen's 'Computers in the Movies' Faux Pas List Untraceable: Techno-Thriller or Soon To Be Unintentionally Funny Cult Film? The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Worth It for the Credits Alone Hillman Curtis Affixes His Camera's Gaze on Pentagram Dumped: In 'Reality' Green Is Icky A Full Day's Worth of Charlie Rose MediaVest: More Painful Video From the Agency World Tulane's Architectural Students to Become Reality TV Stars The Maddeningly Perfect Production Design of 'Mad Men' Film Credits, No Matter How Ugly, Make a Move to the Back Somebody Hire This Guy Before the RGB Mafia Puts a Cap In His Ass The Failures of Bravo Design Show Winners The 25 Best Typographic Title Sequences You've Ever Read Will the Real 'Helvetica' Please Stand Up? Phoenix Uses Adobe's Goods to Make Adobe Look Good Microsoft Gives Advertising to Advertisers A Go (and does a solid job in the process) The VES Ranks Their Top 50, Light Saber Fans Everywhere Gloat Us Weekly's Thelma Adams Says They Got It Right in Spiderman 3, Apartment-Wise A Video That Does T-Shirt Graphics Justice Tony Millionaire Goes 'Adult Swim'ming Complete This Helvetica Statement Putting Together the Pieces of the Southern-Most 'Park' Madonna & Cadan's Beautifully Stupid Spot Yoko, Don't Stop The Rain! We want John! Speak Up's New Direction Includes Fart Jokes Even More of Suicide = Hilarious Spoiling the Surprises: The Ins and Outs of the Super Bowl Spending Spree 'Top Design' Lands With a Thud Nokia Shows Us the Future. Or Something. Imaginary Forces' Creative Director Returns to the Country After Six-Month Visa Ordeal Helvetica: The Inconvenient Truth of Design? A Funny, Yet Painful Glimpse Into the World of Chel White Alan Cooper and Friends at The Stock Exchange of Visions Vodeo: For Those of You Who Paid Attention in Class Another Case for TiVo: Make Your Own TV Spots Services You Missed 'Em In Philly, Now Catch 'Em At Home 24 Great Music Videos Besides "That OK Go One" More (Funny) Heat for The Decemberists and Their Hated Green Screenery Just Hearing Joel Silver Talk Design Was Enough for Us Chicago Architecture by Way of Poor Acting, Bad Screenplays, and Fairly Okay Plays Stylists of America, This One's For You The Passing of an Animation Legend: Ed Benedict Into the Tank With Matt Hanson And What's Better Than A Wednesday Night With An Ayn Rand Adaptation? Are You Ready For Some Hank Williams Jr.? (Is One Ever Truly Ready?) Films From Which To Learn Important Things What Likely Inspired You To Be a Designer In the First Place Not Very Wise to Insult a 100 Year Old Beloved Institution We Take It All Back, It's Curtains for the "Design Star" What, Uploading to YouTube Doesn't Count as Preserving Video Art? UnBeige Goes to the Movies: Summer Weekend Preview Field Tested, Aesthetically Approved And You Thought YouTube Only Had "Brokeback Mountain" Parodies |
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