#NOFF2014 Q&A: Sean Hanley

Every year, the New Orleans Film Festival features workshops to help educate and inspire local filmmakers and novices in specific areas of the medium. Sean Hanley of MONO NO AWARE, in partnership with Cinema Reset, put on experimental technique workshops during the opening weekend of the fest. I chatted with Sean about this project:

#NOFF2014 Spotlight: "61 Bullets" and "Big Charity"

Two great local documentaries. One great local festival:

61 Bullets

Beneath the top headline of a newspaper, ink faded from time, lies a small subtitle: “Baton Rougean evidently was possessed of hallucination.” It’s an article about the funeral proceedings for one Dr. Carl Weiss, whom readers may recognize as the man who assassinated Senator Huey Long. A sentence like the one quoted above, I imagine, could not have been written with a straight face or an in check code of proper journalism. Was it a Hearst outlet? Long Family controlled?

At the start of 61 Bullets, a class of young students are guided through the halls of the Louisiana State Capitol Building, where the supposed assassination took place. “Has everyone gotten a chance to touch the bullet holes?” a guide asks aloud. How demented. While the kids are investigating the walls, our guide whispers to the camera that it’s all for show, but it helps them learn. How truly demented.

A Creature Birthed From Smoke: "Tusk" Review

One of the things I liked about Clerks 2 (and I liked many things) was how it both capped off and started a new era of filmmaking for Kevin Smith. Once the color faded in over the Quick Stop window, a process began of Smith showing off skills he had developed since the first Clerks, but hadn’t utilized fully in a single movie; a roaming camera, the planning out of where actors ought to be placed for said camera, edits and transitions that kept scenes — individually and collectively — at a good pace, etc. This was a more polished Kevin Smith, from writer who directs to director who orchestrates. 

Fast forward a few years and a few movies, and we have Tusk. Hmm.