December 5, 2007

Zbig's big idea

I was fortunate enough to be part of an impromptu dinner with Academy Award-winning experimental film maker Zbig Rybczynski the other night, following a showing of his short films at the Silent Movie Theater. Zbig, who made music videos for Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono, and The Art of Noise, joined our small group as we munched on pizza at a strange sci-fi restaurant called Nova on Fairfax. He told us about his plans to make a new, almost entirely improvised movie using a selection of handpicked actors and non-actors. It would be largely unscripted he said, and shot on a revolving stage. The real star would be the technology, technology he says that would allow for "the ultimate realism, the ability to live in the now, on film".
He also talked about the technology he has spent years developing, and which he has patented, that eliminates the use of blue screens. "It's the perfect automatic masking system," he said, adding that it is something that could save the movie industry millions of dollars. "But they like to spend money," he shrugged.
Rybczynski, originally from Poland and who now lives in Los Angeles, started making movies in the 1960s. He's known for his mind-boggling manipulation of the image, which has to be seen to be believed. "When I started I realized that all the best movies in the world had already been made, so I decided to start making experiments." This still is from The Fourth Dimension, a beautiful short film of his from 1988 that shows two bodies literally intertwining themselves like two sheets of linen being gently twisted.
What inspired me the most, aside from his pioneering creative spirit, were of course the fashions. His music video for 80s star Cameo literally had audience members gasping in awe and amusement at the extreme shoulder pads.

December 5, 2007 in LOS ANGELES | Permalink