Half the Picture

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is the legendary Walter Murch — Academy Award-winning editor and sound designer behind such cinematic milestones as The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now!

Walter joined us for a wide-ranging conversation that delved deep into his groundbreaking work with directors including Francis Ford Coppola, his pioneering approach to film editing and sound, and his thoughts on the evolving nature of cutting in the modern age. He also spoke candidly about his directorial debut ‘Return to Oz’, his new projects ‘Suddenly Something Clicked’ and ‘Her Name was Moviola’ as well as offered sage advice for aspiring editors. For all this and more, watch on! #WalterMurch #apocalypsenow #thegodfather #HalfthePicture

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Note: This interview was recorded on October 30th 2024.

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Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

01:10 - Mixing The Godfather

05:34 - Editing The Conversation

10:04 - Gene Hackman

17:05 - Apocalypse Now

23:04 - Robert Duvall & Blinking

26:22 - Return to Oz

34:56 - Pitching Return to Oz to Disney

37:24 - The Wizard of Oz & Thomas Edison

41:02 - Male & Female Editors

46:55 - 21st Century Editing

50:42 - Fred Zinnemann & Cutting Julia

56:19 - Suddenly Something Clicked

01:00:13 - Her Name Was Moviola

01:06:03 - Advice to Aspiring Editors

01:11:06 - Editing and AI

01:15:34 - Outro

'WALTER MURCH talks The Godfather, Apocalypse Now & Suddenly Something Clicked' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's guest this episode is director Paul McGuigan, whose brilliant and mercurial talents have been gracing screens, both big and small for over 25 years!

Paul joined us primarily to discuss his cult classic British crime film, 'Gangster No.1' featuring barnstorming turns from Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and a star-making performance by a then unknown Paul Bettany! He also delved into his approach to directing on 'Sherlock', his pioneering use of onscreen text amongst other stylistic flourishes and his films 'The Acid House' and 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.' For all this and more, watch on! #PaulMcGuigan #Gangsterno1 #sherlock #HalfthePicture

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*Note: This interview was recorded on July 27th 2022.

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Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

00:45 - Gangster No.1's inception

05:47 - Casting Gangster No.1

15:11 - Working with Malcolm McDowell

17:08 - Paul Bettany's Performance

22:32 - Homosexual subtext in Gangster No.1

29:15 - Deconstructing gangsterism

31:53 - Francis Bacon's influence on Gangster No.1

33:17 - Cinema's influence on gangster culture

35:28 - Bettany & Marsan's Kitchen Scene

44:10 - Lennie Taylor's POV Murder Scene

51:28 - Working with Peter Sova A.S.C.

52:24 - Visual flair in filmmaking

55:13 - Directing Sherlock & Onscreen Text

58:00 - Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

01:00:32 - Sherlock & Cinematic Transitions

01:02:10 - Critical Response to Gangster No.1

01:05:56 - Working with Steven Spielberg

01:06:47 - Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century

01:10:25 - Fun and games on the Gangster No.1 set

01:12:40 - Outro

'PAUL MCGUIGAN talks Gangster No.1, Sherlock & Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's guests this episode are Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, popstars extraordinaire and writers/composers of the award-winning musical 'Annette' directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard!

Ron and Russell joined us to break down the making of 'Annette' and their close working relationship with Leos Carax as well as their world tour for their latest album 'The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte' which saw them play the biggest venues of their career. They also talked telling stories through music, shared advice for young artists looking to break into film/music and even touched a little on 'X-Crucior', their upcoming movie musical collaboration with John Woo! For all this and more, watch on! #Sparks #Annette #HalfthePicture

This October also saw Ron and Russell release the original 2013 recording of the 'Annette' soundtrack, as a limited edition 3LP boxset on the band’s own label Lil’ Beethoven Records.

Writing in the sleevenotes of this boxset release Ron and Russell said “Annette

was a divisive film, but we feel a great film, and directed with enormous artistic skill by Leos,

with a magnificent cast. It was unapologetically a musical. After all, the French had made the

greatest film musical of all — apologies to Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen — The Umbrellas

Of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand. Still, we feel that this earlier version of

Annette should be listened to not as the preparatory or demo step toward a filmed version,

but rather as a complete and alternative version in itself. We are very proud of it.”

Annette - An Opera By Sparks (The Original 2013 Recordings) is available exclusively

through Sparks’ store at www.store.allsparks.com, limited to 1,000 copies.

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*Note: This interview was recorded on March 22nd 2024.

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Sparks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparks_official?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

00:14 - Passion for Cinema

02:00 - Working with Leos Carax

07:10 - The Cast of 'Annette'

12:53 - Storytelling through Music

16:22 - Reactions to 'Annette'

22:23 - The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte Tour

25:26 - Advice for Young Artists

28:38 - 'X-Crucior'

30:19 - The lights cut out!

30:52 - Lyrically Speaking with Ron Mael return?

32:43 - Outro

'SPARKS talk Annette, X Crucior and Share Advice for Young Artists' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's third guest is Jason Reitman, director of such modern classics as Juno, Up in the Air and his latest, Saturday Night: a visceral portrait of the 90 minutes leading up to the birth of the classic late-night comedy show!

Jason joined us to chat the length and breadth of his career, ranging from his exuberant debut ‘Thank You for Smoking’, to the life-changing impact of making ‘Juno’, up through the deeply personal journey he undertook making ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ with his father Ivan to working with the iconic J.K. Simmons and exec-producing Damien Chazelle's ‘Whiplash!' For all this and more, watch on! #jasonreitman #saturdaynightmovie #ghostbusters

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*Note: This interview was recorded on July 27th 2024.

Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast

Listen to the podcast online...

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Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod

Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnel...

Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QY...

Ahmed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrahmedoali?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Jason on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonreitman?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

00:44 - Thank You for Smoking

04:57 - Directing is reacting

06:07 - Improvisation on set

10:30 - Young Adult

12:31 - Diablo Cody

13:37 - Up in the Air

16:08 - Flawed Protagonists

17:24 - Juno

25:01 - Tully

27:55 - Favourite Scenes

29:44 - Adapting novels to screen

31:53 - Discovering young stars

34:52 - Adam Sandler

38:45 - Maker's Mark in Diablo Cody scripts

40:09 - Eric Steelberg D.O.P.

43:59 - The Front Runner & confident directing

46:36 - Ghostbusters: Afterlife

48:51 - Growing as a filmmaker

51:32 - Jason's favourite directors

55:18 - Exciting upcoming movies

57:10 - Invisible directing

01:00:31 - Using Letterboxd

01:02:20 - Saturday Night

01:05:08 - J.K. Simmons & producing Whiplash

01:06:56 - Outro

'JASON REITMAN talks Juno, Ghostbusters & Saturday Night' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's second guest is Tristan Oliver BSC, cinematographer extraordinaire and arguably the leading DOP working in stop-motion animation today!

Tristan joined us to chat about his experiences working with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs, making his start as an actor before switching to cinematography, shooting the iconic train chase in The Wrong Trousers and having lunch with the legendary Jack Cardiff, as well as to share advice for aspiring animator/cinematographers!

For all this and more, watch on! #wesanderson #isleofdogs #wallaceandgromit #aardman

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*Note: This interview was recorded on July 20th 2022.

Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/@HalfThePicturePodcast?si=4voOUGPn1WEE6fYY

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Half the Picture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halfthepicpod/

Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnell96?igsh=MWk0aW5yeHZ4dTVpYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QYyJcwx8wDDu_oVNj9MXQ

Tristan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tristanoliverbsc?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Huge thanks as well to Nazifa for designing our new logo! Check out her work here: https://www.instagram.com/logo_designsby.n?igsh=bDNubjRhNDkxOWxt

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

03:24 - Working with Aardman

08:15 - Stop Motion vs Live Action

12:54 - Maintaining Your Passion

15:42 - Fantastic Mr. Fox

18:03 - Working with Wes Anderson

24:08 - Robert Yeoman

25:49 - Isle of Dogs

31:21 - Wes' Remote Directing

33:10 - Multi-Tasking On Set

34:49 - The Dog Flu Injection Shot

40:19 - Puppets

42:46 - Rewatching Old Work

45:40 - Meeting Jack Cardiff

47:38 - What Makes a Good Director?

49:40 - Advice for Aspiring Animators/DOP's

55:31 - Outro

'TRISTAN OLIVER talks working with Wes Anderson and Shooting Fantastic Mr Fox & Isle of Dogs' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's first guest is Brendan McCarthy, Mad Max: Fury Road's brilliantly inventive co-writer and visual designer!

Brendan joined us to for an in-depth chat covering all things Fury Road, from his experiences working closely with George Miller in pre-production on the scripting and storyboarding to Splendid's original (and much more hardcore) death scene that was cut from the film. He also delved into the original ending he and Miller had planned and even teased the upcoming and eagerly anticipated 'Furiosa!'

For all this and more, watch on! #madmax #furyroad #furiosa #georgemiller #HalfthePicturePodcast

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*Note: This interview was recorded on July 7th 2022.

Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/@HalfThePicturePodcast?si=4voOUGPn1WEE6fYY

Listen to the podcast online...

APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/half-the-picture/id1768054211

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp7BrhusFCCeBBNyg?si=k-TB_l39SFa5u-zyC3pCFw

Follow us online!

Half the Picture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halfthepicpod/

Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnell96?igsh=MWk0aW5yeHZ4dTVpYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QYyJcwx8wDDu_oVNj9MXQ

Brendan on Twitter: https://x.com/MysticMcCarthy

Peter Pound's Website: https://www.peterpound.com.au/

Timecodes

0:00 - Intro

01:07 - Mad Max 2 impact

02:40 - “Whatever happened to Mad Max?”

04:15 - The Dawn of CGI

06:13 - Pitching Fury Road to George Miller

09:28 - Working with Miller

11:38 - Seeing Fury Road the first time

12:56 - Playing in George Miller’s sandbox

15:29 - Unmade George Miller animated film ‘Fur Brigade’

18:30 - The scripting process + a Great Mad Max movie

21:12 - Cameron/Miller/Spielberg

22:53 - CGI vs. Practical Action

24:05 - Fury Road’s action storytelling

28:49 - Marvel + boring action movies

30:16 - Casting Tom Hardy

32:19 - Visiting Fury Road set

34:00 - Inventing Fury Road characters

35:06 - Splendid's Original Death Scene

39:05 - Fury Road’s Original Ending

44:30 - Furiosa’s backstory + genre cinema

47:52 - Furiosa Prequel

49:32 - Fury Road's Legacy

51:43 - Designing The Doof Warrior

53:24 - S&M Costume Design

55:15 - Designing the War Boys

58:23 - Fury Road Premiere + Mel Gibson

01:00:21 - Outro

'BRENDAN MCCARTHY talks writing Mad Max, George Miller, & Fury Road's Original Ending' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.