4th Annual New Directors Showcase
On May 25, SHOOT unveiled its fourth annual New Directors Showcase reel. The 25 helmers–including three two-person teams–selected for the Showcase come from diverse backgrounds. However, the bond they share is great style, vision and commitment–whether it be reflected in comedy, visuals or storytelling. Helping fashion the Showcase lineup were entries from SHOOT‘s ongoing “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery, assorted submissions, and feedback from agency creatives and producers. Here’s a look at this year’s field:
Brian Lazzaro
HSI
Lexus’ “Romeo” (spec)
How did you get into directing?
I went to NYU for Film and Television and got into location scouting while attending school there. After graduating, I worked a couple commercial jobs with Samuel Bayer (Nirvana, Greenday). Eventually, Sam asked me to move to L.A. to be his assistant. Sam saw my reel from film school and encouraged me to shoot some music videos and build my reel while working with him.
Sam DP’s his own stuff, so working for him was a dual education for me. His sets, from numerous commercials to Greenday’s concert film Bullet in A Bible were the ideal place to build on my knowledge about camera operating, lenses, lighting, everything. The great thing about Sam is he does it all and he’s aggressive–always pushing the envelope further for a better composition or performance. I’ve learned it’s those details that make the work stand out.
Why do you want to direct commercials?
I like the short form, telling stories quickly, making people laugh. I didn’t have cable TV, or non-commercial HBO stuff growing up, but there were certain commercials on network television that still stand out in my mind as much as some of my favorite films.
What is your most recent spot project?
I just did Pink’s “Who Knew” video, working as part of the directing team “Dragon.” We put on a huge carnival and I learned how hard it is to hold onto a camera in a spinning gravitron. I also just finished a video for Coheed and Cambria’s “Ten Speed.”
Do you have plans to work in other areas–e.g., shorts, films, features orTV? Have you ever done any of that in the past?
I think TV or features would be fun, but no definite plans right now. The last two videos I did had a narrative and cinematic quality, so maybe. I have a big interest and background in documentary so I am producing a film that a good friend of mine is directing, about a rainmaker and family owned farms in Montana — it’s looking great.
What do you think is the best part about being a director?
I just love shooting. My father taught me photography at an early age, so just being behind a camera and creating beautiful images is a lot of fun. Also, for me, a lot of inspiration comes through collaborating with crew, band, labels, and everything else– We’re all on the same team and I think admiring talented people and their ideas is crucial. It’s great when the energy and enthusiasm on set can translate on screen.
What’s the worst part?
Realizing an idea that you’ve got just isn’t possible to pull off in the physical world– and the fact that you always want more time, but limitations can be good too.
Review: Writer-Director Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”
"Is it too real for ya?" blares in the background of Andrea Arnold's latest film, "Bird," a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent.
The song's question — courtesy of the Irish post-punk band Fontains D.C. — is an acute one for "Bird." Arnold's films ( "American Honey," "Fish Tank") are rigorous in their gritty naturalism. Her fiction films — this is her first in eight years — tend toward bleak, hand-held verité in rough-and-tumble real-world locations. Her last film, "Cow," documented a mother cow separated from her calf on a dairy farm.
Arnold specializes in capturing souls, human and otherwise, in soulless environments. A dream of something more is tantalizing just out of reach. In "American Honey," peace comes to Star (Sasha Lane) only when she submerges underwater.
In "Bird," though, this sense of otherworldly possibility is made flesh, or at least feathery. After a confusing night, Bailey awakens in a field where she encounters a strange figure in a skirt ( Franz Rogowski ) who arrives, like Mary Poppins, with a gust a wind. His name, he says, is Bird. He has a soft sweetness that doesn't otherwise exist in Bailey's hardscrabble and chaotic life.
She's skeptical of him at first, but he keeps lurking about, hovering gull-like on rooftops. He cranes his neck now and again like he's watching out for Bailey. And he does watch out for her, helping Bailey through a hard coming of age: the abusive boyfriend (James Nelson-Joyce) of her mother (Jasmine Jobson); her half brother (Jason Buda) slipping into vigilante violence; her father marrying a new girlfriend.
The introduction of surrealism has... Read More