What Stories Teach Us About Ourselves & Life
ProductionWriting February 1, 2020
“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Philip Pullman Stories are as old as humankind itself and aren’t just something external to us that we discovered in prehistory. Stories are hardwired into the genetic code of the human-animal. Humans are beings... Read more
Approaches to Craft: You Are Only As Good As Your Research (so they say….)
CraftMusicProductionSound February 1, 2020
Finally, we should look at how a black idiom and the sensibilities it has come to imply are appropriated for the associative value they lend to modernism - hip, sophisticated, ultra-urbane. Toni Morrison - ‘Playing In The Dark’ The oracle spoke. I wanted to play with the words above,... Read more
INTERVIEW: In The Editor’s Room
CraftEditingInterviewsProductionWomen January 31, 2020
Shannon Baker Davis discusses her journey as a film editor Writing, directing and producing are the media darlings of the filmmaking industry. But only through the process of editing is the real story crafted. With the upcoming release of the film, The Photograph, starring Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield,... Read more
Melanin Cinematography | Lighting
CinematographyCraftProduction January 31, 2020
Introduction It propels the food chain, giving us life; it creates atmosphere, shaping our mood and affecting how we feel. We harness it to create experiences that allow us to curate time and space. We also harness it to influence how we curate character to an audience. That is... Read more
Our Skype Interview with Mandala Dube on his Netflix Release, Kalushi
Film ShowcaseInterviewsShowcaseSouth Africa December 30, 2019
BFMMAG.COM Interviews Mandla Dube about his new Netflix release Kalushi MANDLA DUBE SHORT BIOGRAPHY Internationally acclaimed and award winning Director, and Producer, MANDLA WALTER DUBE was born in Mabopane, North West of Tshwane. Mandla lectured cinematography at Wits Television and at Tshwane University of Technology. While lecturing, he consulted in both Cinematography... Read more
INTERVIEW: San Antonio Black International Film Festival
Festival CalendarFestivalsInterviews October 8, 2019
The first San Antonio Black International Film Festival (SABIFF) takes place October 10 – 13, 2019. SABIFF is the brainchild of Ada M. Babineaux (Middle Passage –N- Roots, Sassard & Blowed: Shirley Horn, I Don’ Been Through The Snake’s Skin) working with DeAnna Brown, founder of Forward Progress, Inc.,... Read more
INTERVIEW: The Craft of Cinematography
CinematographyInterviews October 4, 2019
Tommy Maddox-Upshaw is a cinematographer who is on the brink of becoming a key figure in the discussion about African people in film. He had to travel across the world to Africa to shoot Kalushi (2016) for him to be anointed as a world-class cinematographer back home in the... Read more
Melanin and Cinematography
Cinematography October 4, 2019
Looking at the Challenges of Lighting Darker Skin Tones There can be no strong opposition to the fact that the use of cave walls serves as our first encounter with the art of self-expression using color to paint and communicate our environmental heritage. The first Shamans of indigenous cultures... Read more
INTERVIEW: Monty Ross – A Film Producer’s Journey
FeaturesInterviews October 3, 2019
Monty Ross is part of a vanguard that took the independent filmmaking industry and world by storm, helping to make Spike Lee a household name and his production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, legendary. Ross and Spike Lee began their relationship as teenagers when they met at... Read more
INTERVIEW: Label Signs Gamer Musicians
InterviewsWomen October 2, 2019
Columbia’s Lost Rings Label Discovers New Talent with Three Women of Color Gamers Nerd culture is often associated with comic book fans, anime junkies and video game enthusiasts. When one thinks of a "nerd," very smart males or females who live on the fringe of cool culture come to... Read more
