![\"StinkingHeaven_poster\"](\"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/StinkingHeaven_poster-225x300.jpg\")
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Before I post a trio of giallo reviews, here\u2019s a review of the provocatively titled Stinking Heaven<\/a><\/strong> (2015), Nathan Silver\u2019s improvised drama \/ pitch black comedy about a suburban commune\u2019s slow disintegration when a newcomer is admitted into their homestead.<\/p>\n I fully admit what grabbed my attention was the title, followed by the film\u2019s highly unusual look: Silver and cinematographer Adam Ginsberg chose to film their drama using a vintage Ikegami tube video camera.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a big supporter of using vintage gear in film and music where it suits the subject matter, and when the artist(s) are able to extrapolate a distinct aesthetic that goes against the grain of familiar crisp digital images and sounds.<\/p>\n Vinyl fans can\u00a0attest to the warmness of analogue platters, needles, and tube amps, and there\u2019s a similar correlation between the pastel colours of tube cameras (especially Saticon tubes) and a warmth that radiates from the resulting images\u2026 at least when there\u2019s no hot spots that blow out details on reflective surfaces, including human faces.<\/p>\n Stinking Heaven<\/strong> is available to rent \/ buy (via Vimeo<\/a> and iTunes<\/a>) in digital format, and as a limited VHS tape release<\/a>, but it\u2019s worth catching on the big screen as there\u2019s something pleasing in being among several paying voyeurs in a dark room, observing the disintegration of really terrible people on a big screen.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the nomenclature used by Deragh Campbell, the film\u2019s co-star who participated in a post-screening Q&A at MDFF<\/a>\u2019s Monday March 14th screening at the Royal Cinema<\/a>, and many of the production details in the review I\u2019ve referenced from that exchange.<\/p>\n I asked if it was challenging to perform under the extra lights needed to capture strong colours and details with the film\u2019s camera, and apparently much of the lighting was practical \u2013 the bigger issue was a mass of cables to avoid, and the fact cinematographer Ginsberg was so close to the camera filming in the standard 1.33:1 ratio that he wasn\u2019t able to catch peripheral action during the improvised filming.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not a negative, because like a documentary cameraman, you have to be quick to hone in on central action, work the camera with accuracy and react instantly to new information, and have the imagination to get coverage that will work during the final edit. With one camera trained on the actors for lengthy takes, there\u2019s both a documentary element added to the film\u2019s aesthetic, as well as the freedom to let the lens glide across faces and actions, rack focusing in and out.<\/p>\n Certainly within the analogue realm, loosening the focus creates soft, pleasing colour halos and blobs which have their own distinct beauty. These observations are admittedly more typical of what I tend to write about at Big Head Amusements in terms of vintage cameras, analogue\u00a0gear, and my own tube-based documentary, BSV 1172<\/a><\/strong>, but I think they contextualize the film\u2019s aesthetics.<\/p>\n (Those curious of what the aforementioned \u2018hot spots\u2019 in exterior shots look like can see examples in garden footage<\/a> I shot using a smaller JVC ENG tube camera. The soft pastel colours on faces can also be seen in a related camera test<\/a> that\u2019s similarly archived on my Vimeo channel<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Coming very shortly is a trio of giallo reviews.<\/p>\n Cheers,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor Review of Nathan Silver’s Stinking Heaven (2015), recently screened via MDFF at the Royal Cinema, plus some thoughts on the filmmakers’ use of a vintage ENG tube camera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[4296,2562,2563,4303,4295,4304,4301,4302],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/StinkingHeaven_featured.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3sa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13278"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13290,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13278\/revisions\/13290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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