Wednesday 7 January 2009

Dogme 95




So I was watching Julien Donkey Boy by Harmony Korine again tonight, and at the start of it realised there is a certificate saying "Dogme 95", now I don't know if I'm stupid or what but I had no idea what that meant, so I wikipedia'd it, standard.



Basically, if you dont know either, there is a set of rules that you are supposed to follow to have a Dogme 95 certificate, as follows -



1 - Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).

2 - The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed, i.e., diegetic).

3 - The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)

4 - The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).

5 - Optical work and filters are forbidden.

6 - The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)

7 - Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)

8 - Genre movies are not acceptable.

9 - The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)

10 - The director must not be credited.



There is a whole list of films that follow these guidelines on the Dogme 95 website. Does anyone know any more about it, or know any of those films? Would be good to know which other ones to check out.

2 comments:

Russ Tannen said...

sweet

Anonymous said...

i think lars von trier was into all of that stuff