By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
An image is "captured." A flash "fires." A camera "shoots."
Weaponry is baked into the language of filmmaking, as Theo Anthony's illuminating documentary "All Light, Everywhere," details. An exploratory essay about surveillance, policing and the nature of video technology, the film probably deserves the oft-used phrase "eye-opening" more than most movies for the way it probes and meditates on perspective, bias and the lenses through which so much of life is increasingly framed.
"All Light, Everywhere," which opens in theaters Friday, is ostensibly about a hot-button issue: body cameras worn by police officers. The spine of Anthony's investigation is a lengthy visit at the headquarters of Axon Enterprise, manufacturer of the Taser and the dominant supplier of body cams to police departments. That the same company could be making both piqued Anthony's curiosity. Interspersing a guided tour of Axon with historical and contemporary digressions, "All Light, Everywhere" examines how cameras have, from their 19th century beginnings, always been a tool of data mining, an instrument of measurement, a framer of a separate, pixelated world.
It's an exploration that touches not just on policing and justice, but astronomy, politics, phrenology and race. Anthony's previous feature "Rat Film" delved into the history and politics of Baltimore's rodent infestation. His "30 for 30" short "Subject to Review" analyzed video review in tennis. He specializes in the gulf between images and reality. He resides in blind spots.
Body cams make a particularly compelling case because they aren't designed at Axon to capture an objective perspective, but an officer's viewpoint. Their cameras aren't infrared since people can't see in the dark, for example. The thinking goes that officers shouldn't be accountable for anything beyond what they can see. Several recent fatal police shootings of Black men have highlighted how body cams can often fall short of full transparency.
In the film, this is a jumping off point to survey how cameras and photography have always played a role in classifying criminality and in conveying political power. One lengthy, probing scene captures a community meeting of Black Baltimoreans skeptically debating the use of "God's eye view" surveillance from the sky to help police their neighborhoods.
"All Light, Everywhere" was, of course, made with similar technology but toward much different ends. Anthony treats his documentary like a collage, using a variety of narrators and occasional footage of himself — along with a late explanation about why one part of the film (months spent with Baltimore teens learning moviemaking) was largely left out — to suggest that any truth can ultimately only come from multiple perspectives.
"All Light Everywhere," a Super LTD release, isn't rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Running time: 109 minutes. Three stars out of four.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More