Article Review 1/14/20

The article I picked to review was One Big Score: Capturing the Frenetic Pace of The Safdie Bros.’ “Uncut Gems” on Creative Planet Network. The article first goes into the plot of the movie and the kind of reviews it has been getting. It then goes into the history of the directors, the Safdie brothers, as filmmakers and how the original idea for the plot came from stories their father used to tell. The article mostly goes into telling the directors mindsets into making the film. This includes having to change the plot due to casting, creating a gritty, ‘80s aesthetic for the film, and the metaphor behind the title Uncut Gems. The article also goes into filming the movie with an Arricam LT camera with Panavision C Series lenses, and using non-actors to fully portray authentic personal experiences. I found the part of the article about creating a gritty aesthetic for the movie very interesting, particularly because it’s done so well. I didn’t know that, for some of the scenes, the directors would not get extras and have real New York citizens walking in the background of shots. I also found the meaning of the title very interesting, given that it’s a metaphor for the main character. This article have many implications for me as a filmmaker. It shows how that, for my future films, having the same atmosphere when the camera is filming as when it’s not filming could help the actors and directors make a more authentic experience. For the film industry as a whole, the article’s subject and the film itself could have a huge impact on future indie filmmakers. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that it’s not like mainstream movies. It’s very loud and abrasive, with a plot that some general audiences might confuse as boring, when, in actuality, it’s a character study on a broken and addicted man. The fact that this movie has been playing in the same theaters along Star Wars and Jumanji 2 is huge for potential indie filmmakers wanting to be the next, big thing.