DVD Talk review of 'The Boss of It All'
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DVD Talk review of 'The Boss of It All'
I read Svet Atanasov's DVD review of The Boss of It All at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=30521 and regarding this part of the review:
The reason behind the bizarre framing is because nobody actually shot the movie, the cinematography was handled by a computer.
http://www.filmdailies.com/archives/...oss-of-it-all/
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/072...,76715,20.html
Thus the title of the film can also be read as a reference to the computer that was "the boss of it all" in terms of what the shots they got ultimately looked like.
On the technical side of things The Boss of it All is just as wild. The camera is mostly static with the actual framing of the film likely to produce plenty of head-scratching. Why? Because on a number of occasions Von Trier cuts off or simply drops some of the main protagonists as they speak, move, or gesture. The effect is unusual to say the least given how the story generally lacks fluidity.
http://www.filmdailies.com/archives/...oss-of-it-all/
In fact, this movie “patented” a new mathematical formula and a process he called Automavision. Here’s what he means by that:
This entails choosing the best possible fixed camera position and then allowing a computer to choose when to tilt, pan or zoom. “For a long time, my films have been handheld,” he explains. “That has to do with the fact that I am a control freak. With Automavision, the technique was that I would frame the picture first and then push a button on the computer. I was not in control - the computer was in control.”
This entails choosing the best possible fixed camera position and then allowing a computer to choose when to tilt, pan or zoom. “For a long time, my films have been handheld,” he explains. “That has to do with the fact that I am a control freak. With Automavision, the technique was that I would frame the picture first and then push a button on the computer. I was not in control - the computer was in control.”
Called Automavision and described in the press notes as "a principle for shooting film developed with the intention of limiting human influence by inviting chance in from the cold," the process hands over control of a film's images and sound mixing from trained technicians to a computer program designed to randomly change settings at the touch of a button. (To wit, Automavision is credited as the film's cinematographer.)