Decades before there was reality TV, there was reality filmmaking, and they are nearly polar opposites. The style of filmmaking Robert Drew pioneered was known as Direct Cinema in its early days, though now it is interchangeably referred to as American cinéma vérité. It was the purest form of documentary storytelling — letting life play out in …
Final frame of the life story of Direct Cinema’s father Read More »
Franz Welser-Möst recently told me he doesn’t understand classical music. That’s very surprising coming from the music director of one of America’s best orchestras and one of Europe’s great opera companies. But the maestro was talking about something bigger than just comprehending notes on a page. He was talking about the indescribable beauty that can …
It’s a classical concert thing; you wouldn’t understand Read More »
My latest assignment was published this morning: A story about ‘Glamping,’ the amalgam of Glamor and Camping, which, in this case, means a tent with a bed and sheets. Have a look. As I hung out among the residents of the 70 tents, I met some very fun, and funny, folks. And watched a LOT …
‘Glamping’ with race fans in the infield at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Read More »
Especially if you want to pass a class in backpack journalism with Professor Duff. Check out other great gifs of NYC tips and Etiquette by the talented and smart Nathan W. Pyle at http://imgur.com/a/mq8jH
If you’re in Chicago/Evanston on February 27th, please join me and several other Medill colleagues for an evening of ideas and fun thinking about life, the universe and journalism. (BTW, for those of you not in the news world, lede is a word for the lead paragraph or line in a story. It’s spelled that …
Join me February 27 for Medill Talks: Where Great Ideas Take the Lede Read More »
I’m running behind on everything these days, so forgive me for not posting this sooner. On December 11 at the Forum in the McCormick Tribune Center at Northwestern, three student projects made in my documentary class this past quarter, premiered to a full house. It was an amazing evening and I couldn’t be prouder of …
I know this is late, but please give a round of applause for these fine student films Read More »
Mom holding up the gift I gave my family this year: a collection of various instagram photos titled Me, My #Selfie and Eye
Last Friday night, I helped New York Times video journalist Reem Makhoul on her story about Mohammed Assaf, a former wedding singer from Gaza who went on to win Arab Idol, and take the Arab world by storm. Now he’s touring America, wowing fans here. Hundreds of those fans (many of them Palestinian-Americans) crowded into …
“Arab Idol” winner Mohammed Assaf tours USA, including Chicago Read More »
Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. To complement a new production featuring Fiona Shaw, who is doing a staged performance of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner this month, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) asked Ben Cohen and Claire Frisbie to craft an …
Two score and seventeen months ago, David Clair and I boarded a COD (carrier onboard delivery) flight from San Diego to reach the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. It was a couple of weeks before the 200th birthday of the ship’s namesake, and I had asked a selection of the crew to read aloud the …
Why I once learned the Gettysburg Address by heart, and why I’m doing it again today Read More »