Cheap technology spawns a new movie style: mumblecore

Tag : Documentary Bag

Scene: Four struggling actors desperate for their big break hole upin a cabin to make the movie that will put them on the map. Troubleis, their screenwriting falls aside as they wind up dissectingtheir relationships in heady discussions over multiple beers andcome-hither stares.
And that's when they realize that a creepy dude wearing a shoppingbag might be stalking them.
Mark and Jay Duplass ' "Baghead," which opened Friday, is pushing the dialogue-heavyfilm movement known as "mumblecore" closer to the mainstream. Alsocalled Generation DIY or talkies, mumblecore has quietly emergedfrom the era of digital video and YouTube as a new wave of indie directors collectively paint a tragicomicportrait of postcollegiate life.
"It jumped off from documentary filmmaking, and reality TV hasopened the door for this kind of esthetic," explains "Baghead"actor Ross Partridge , 40, from the East Village.
"Plus, technology has gotten cheaper, so people can make moviesthemselves. With [laptop] editing technology, it's like, 'Allright, so what are you waiting for?'"
"It was a convergence of new technology and people feeling likemovies didn't show how their lives were actually being lived," says"Baghead" co-star Greta Gerwig , 24, from East Williamsburg .
Mumblecore typically features a crowd of twentysomethingnavel-gazers passing time by agonizing over their quarter-lifecrises with a steady stream of chatter. Filming is done digitallyusing a lot of closeups, and the cast of unknown or unprofessionalactors improvise most of their lines. The plot is dialogue-driven