Project Projection – Exploring new films and new themes

Project Projection is a new project from Jamie Malcolm & Rishaad Ait El Moudden exploring new films and new themes. They have set themselves the task of watching a film that they have never seen before from a specific criteria every month. Criteria includes ‘A film from the year you were born,’ ‘A film not set on earth’ and ‘A film based on a book.’ Fascinated by the idea and inspired by their plan, I decided to ask more.

Why did you begin this project?

During the dreary post Christmas pre New Year break my brain was on the look out for a fresh project to start 2015. A ritual in those very odd days is placing my new DVD and Blu-ray haul into their new alphabetised homes on my shelves. This action sparked a realisation that a hefty amount of films I have received from many a Christmas past have sadly stayed there unwatched. The current golden age of TV runs parallel with the DVD medium becoming ubiquitous and my free time has been spent with the former, so much so that these well regarded films gather dust. So I put these two things together, asked my friend Rish for his thoughts (and possible participation) and here we are. Firstly my idea was to just watch 1 film each month with the only criteria being that you had never seen it, then I felt each month could be made into more of an event and that could then lead to some cross discussion and the potential of themes overlapping. So I picked 12 fairly wide reaching themes, figured out how to record a Skype call through Garageband and here we are.

Have you always loved film?

Similar to my love of music it came fairly late. Growing up my parents never watched films. So trips to the cinema were infrequent, Sky movies (and Sky in general) wasn’t considered and renting a film to sit down as a family wasn’t part of my life. I somehow managed to watch most of the iconic films that every kid in the 90’s should view and absorbed loads of information so I knew as much as I could. The launch of the Playstation 2 in late 2000 opened the flood gates for me (and presumably 150+ million others) as it gave us access to a cheap DVD player. That added to the rise of Play, CD Wow and Amazon gave me access to a huge worldwide library of films and slowly but surely I ticked off many classic films each fresh to my teenage eyes.

From listening to the first episode it seems that you and Rishaad both have a lot of DVDs that you never watch. How have streaming sites like Netflix changed how you consume films?

For my personal consumption level of Netflix I think the price point is perfectly balanced. When I get the notification from Paypal that £5.99 is coming out of my account I can always forgive what it lacks as I get just about what I pay for. One area that it has really helped is that odd mid level of film that has me slightly interested, but not interested enough to make me head to the Cinema or give £15 to Amazon. https://soundcloud.com/project-projection-1/project-projection-episode-1

What makes a good film for you?

A good blend of all facets from every department and steered by a director with a clear vision showing me something fresh. All those pieces then carefully placed in a world that has been thoughtfully crafted and populated by organic characters.

Is there a golden age of film?

For me the peaks and troughs are easily more defined in TV. Film is far more constant and yes there are years better than others, but I’m sure even periods considered poor in relation have some standout gems.

Which directors are you most excited about – either past or present?

Rian Johnson – So much inventiveness and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the new Star Wars universe.
Cary Fukunaga – Even with so many big names dipping their directing toes into TV, his staggering work on True Detective really stood out in 2014.
Michelle MacLaren – Often handed the meatiest episodes of some of the best TV shows around and always showcases her wide ranging talents to a near perfect degree. Being that I went on a trailer free diet about 5 years ago I rely heavily on reputation and with that David Fincher and Wes Anderson have built up so many positives with me over the years that I will continue to watch their films until the end of time.

What is the one film you encourage everyone to watch?

Mark Kermode might say 2001 A Space Odyssey as Stanley Kubrick goes from the dawn of mankind to the birth of a new species in 142 minutes… Sadly I have yet to see 2001, so I will go for Blade Runner. It tackles monumental questions, treads on complex ground and has aged tremendously in the 30+ years since release. Another layer in Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is reading into the rigmarole surrounding the production as it shows a wonderful snapshot of the madness of Hollywood.

Which month’s theme are you most looking forward to?

Probably December as during the Christmas just passed I set myself a goal to watch Elf, Bad Santa and It’s A Wonderful Life each for the first time, yet I somehow managed to consume none of them. So this Christmas I have the opportunity to at least watch one of them.

Are there any podcasts that inspired you?

Plenty. I was a real early adopter to the wonderful world of podcasts and Movies You Should See was one of my first regular listens when it began in 2005. They opened my eyes to so many things regarding both movies and podcasts and I thank them greatly. The quality of anything produced from the Digital Driftumbrella is something I would love to reach. Their format style and well researched method is perfect and really makes them shine in this medium.

February’s podcast is Oscar themed. What are the benefits of the Oscars for the film industry, or is it just a celebration of American films?

They’ve certainly changed to be far more accommodating in the past few years, but they still make some baffling decisions. Rish had pencilled in The Lego Movie to watch this month and we (like the rest of the world) was flabbergasted when it wasn’t even nominated. Not only should that be in contention for best animated film it could easily be in the now longer list for best overall film from 2014.

Jamie and Rishaad recorded their podcast only a few hours before the Oscars were awarded – listen in to find out if any of their thoughts were echoed by the judges.

https://www.facebook.com/projectprojection2015
https://soundcloud.com/project-projection-1