Arduino Light (IN) / ServoMotor (OUT)

I prototyped a simple circuit with Arduino One: when light intensity is above 500, every second the engine steps 5` clockwise: it steps anticlockwise the other way round. The temperature is measured too but it is not used at the moment.

Arduino Light (IN) / ServoMotor (OUT)

(The video refers to a 15` step instead of 5` but it is the same concept of course)

servomotor circuit

Kubrick on abstraction

Kubrick talks on how hard is to learn from history.

People do not react to abstractions, you know, they only react to direct experience. Very few people are even interested in abstractions and even fewer people can be emotionally involved or react to an abstract thing.

(transcribed by me from an old interview about Dr. Strangelove).

Anti reel

While actors and cinematographers can have a showreel, a director can’t because the main duty of a director is, semiotically speaking, keeping straight to the meaning and so just watching some beautiful shots of mine taken here and there you can’t get any meaning at all, and therefore you can’t get an idea of my skills – or of the lack of them – either; nevertheless, after having directed a few shorts, a common pattern emerged from my works… it’s the image of a woman looking out of a window: beside or inside her, so let me show you some of these shots, even though it’s not a real reel. Pun intentional. :)

Alice Lussiana Parente - Hospes

(Alice Lussiana Parente in a still taken from Hospes)

Filminute 2013 critics


Filminute is the International One-Minute Film Festival and for its 2013 edition (like for the two previous), I’ve got a deal with them: writing twentyfive “short but tweet” sized reviews, one for each candidate.

My rules to find my candidate are:

  1. Don’t mess with the seven pillars: story, acting, directing, editing, cinematography, sound and music.
  2. Be humble: don’t try to do things your budget can’t afford.
  3. Be original: don’t use third-party works; plot/sound/music/dialogues/whatever must be yours.
  4. Be impressive: writing, directing and editing are the core of Filminute.
  5. (optional) Show me a bit of love: violence is not surprising anymore.

These are the reviews:

  • BAD DOGGIE, CHUCKLES Comedy and thriller are fine but shooting a weird and morbid short requires a sharp director too. :)
  • BYE FOR NOW: Let me call it “a raw gem” ’cause it has, even with a rusty editing, many touchy ellipsises in a few sundown shots.
  • DAMN VOLVOXES: I was looking at the sky since the beginning. :) It has a a quite interesting sound design, narratively speaking.
  • DEAD BIRD. Sorry, I didn’t get it… and I’m _really_ sorry about that.
  • DIRE Already watched somewhere: shoot with a mobile, if I’m not wrong and that says all about their good editing and acting.
  • END OF LINE: A script is not a road but a crossroad between desires and this respectful truly indie (pun) might be a feature.
  • FISH SUPPER Interesting urban character. I remember an old award winning short about a similar guy here in Turin.
  • IDIOSYNCRATIC: He can’t tolerate smoke. It turns him mad but for some reason he can’t touch her already and she knows that.
  • LAIKA Good, general idea (it could be an island, an elevator, whatever where the hope is over) but the production is a bit naif.
  • LATE: A double turning point, regrets, conflict, love and squalor. All in 60″, with a lovely color and alternate reality. Top.
  • M-22 Everybody knows a film is made of just 2 things: sights and sounds :) This bright doc links them between the 4th wall. Wow!
  • MAYBE ANOTHER TIME or “Maybe another life”? :) “Shoot than black” is becoming a sub-genre. It reminds to me a Chinese tale.
  • MIGRATION My first thought was “Why didn’t I think of shooting that?” :) A rare experimental short, counting out its title.
  • NUCLEAR MYSTICISM: Maybe they don’t want to lead the audience, they are more interested in shifting a bit their daily thoughts.
  • SAFE PASSAGE One of the highest results/budget ratio of this year. Listen to the audio track while thinking about its editing.
  • THE CHEST That’s back and forth: ending and backstory. TCSM? A chainsaw is definitely NOT enough (the weaker shot, BTW).
  • THE DEATH & LIFE OF DESMOND WOLFE You can read the title in two ways: death of him or death as part of his life?
  • THE EVENING CIGARETTE Don’t be so emotionless or you gonna die (being emotionless either way). To be short, don’t smoke at all!
  • THE EXPLORER: Most of the time, it doesn’t look so indie like many other candidates, counting out the mirrors, of course. :)
  • THE KISSING BOOTH: I hope Sagnik Sanyal was right: the old lady was not the girl the boy once kissed. More conflict, please! :)
  • THE LAST PERFORMANCE Touchy idea, we all think about its backstory even though it’s hard to imagine a violinist cheated as such.
  • THE PRESENT: that’s more difficult that it seems. It has an unusual shot reverse shot with a mirror and two locations. Strong. :)
  • THE VEIL Some fellows said “it’s Egypt 2013″. Maybe but the change of the character is so clear that it could be SF or whatever.
  • TORSDAG: DOP & Editor intensified the performance of both actors. What a solid work! I’m still wondering about the title. :)
  • TRAFFIC JAM: Being close to loose your job and still being clever enough to notice something beautiful close to you.

It has been very hard to choose my winner and I’d be very happy to be able to complete a one minute short of their level. I have been shocked by the language, cinematographically speaking, of M-22… it shifted my own definition of documentary: it’s a bleeding edge short and it is my winner. I want to give a mention to LATE too.

My top 10 films (on BFI)

After having watched almost each BFI Top 50 film, I can say that I get the highest impact – both as a short director and as a human being – from these films.

  1. Tэkyэ Monogatari
  2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  3. 8m
  4. Apocalypse Now
  5. Persona
  6. Zerkalo
  7. In the Mood for Love
  8. Ladri di biciclette
  9. Metropolis
  10. Psycho

And I still have to mention, of course, La Jet™e.