Reel Inspiration:Take 2 with Philip Bloom

If you don't know who Philip Bloom is you must be living under a rock.

 He's boldly trailblazing a new breed of cinematography, filmmaking without the film, 

utilizing 35mm adapters and VDSLR's. His recent work, besides being co-founder of the 

highly popular online training resource F-Stop Academy , includes films for 

Discovery HD, Five, Living, Sky One, Greenpeace and too many others to list here.

 He's an invaluable asset to the filmmaking community. I am very glad to have met him and consider him a true friend. He tirelessly works doing what he loves most and in the process educates, inspires and sets the bar higher in the filmmaking community. Visit his website to see some of the amazing work he's done and while you're there check out the bevy of useful information. It's filled to the gills. 

So here's part two of the series Reel Inspiration, I started this because I'm sick of watching crappy movies. Therefore, I decided to see what the best of the best recommend . Here's Philip Bloom's picks:

"These are not my favourite films of all time, but films I saw this year that had a real impact on me. As time goes on I am getting more and more jaded with modern cinema, so it's great to still be surprised and excited despite the best efforts of 2012, Transformers 2 and that godawful New Moon. " - Philip Bloom

Moon (2009) Directed by Duncan Jones

"I only saw this for the first time last month. I had heard great things about it and often when that happens you will be disappointed. Not this time. Moon is the debut feature from Duncan Jones, formerly know as "Zowie Bowie" son of David. It essentially is a one man film. Sam Rockwell plays the man running the mining operation of the moon. His only company is the computer voiced by Kevin Spacey. Despite these limitations Jones has managed to create an utterly engrossing film that harkens back to the likes of Silent Running and 2001 but with a low budget. It's miniatures  and real sets here all held together by a mesmerising Sam Rockwell. Anyone who things CGI and large casts (Michael Bay) is the way to make a movie then they should watch this. Easily one of the best films I have seen this year." - Philip Bloom

Colin (2008) Directed by Marc Price

"Going even further down the low budget route is another debut feature by a friend of mine, Marc Price. Shot over an extended period of time, his Zombie flick was shot for about £50. Everyone worked for free, gear was borrowed, locations were guerilla. Pretty impressive for a film with this subject matter. He shot it himself using a knackered old SD 4:3 mini DV Sony camcorder and cut it on a very old version of Premiere. Despite this is has made huge waves in the market. Lauded at Cannes and praised by Horror fans as a really fresh take on the Zombie film, Colin really is an inspiration to aspiring filmmakers." - Philip Bloom

The Fall (2006) Directed by Tarsem Singh

"Another one I saw this year but has made it into my top 5 films of all time. Simply the most beautiful film I have ever seen. Incredible real locations, almost no CGI. A script that was organic and heavily improvised due to the nature of the story and the interpretation of the young girl. This film has to be seen to be believed. This film will make you fall in love with Cinema all over again after the excesses of some of this year's movies. It takes the beauty of Ron Fricke's "Baraka", real global locations, and fashions a wonderful story that utterly captured me as much as the visuals did. Watch this on Blu Ray and prepared to be slack jawed." - Philip Bloom

So there you have it folks. Now pick one of these films up and put back Paul Blart: Mall Cop. No, seriously. Put it back. 


For more information or to view Philip Bloom's work check out
www.philipbloom.co.uk