Features / Regular Columns

Amy Oden is a Baltimore-based musician and filmmaker. Her work includes the feature documentaries From the Back of the Room and Exotic, short-form documentaries for Maryland Public Television, and more, as well as playing in queer punk band Homosuperior. She has contributed guest columns in the past concerning her take … Read more

For this edition of Beyond Casual Observation, Ashley Lynch, owner of Burnaby, BC-based Gingerbreadgirl Post—a versatile post-production studio that specializes in genre film-editing, colour grading and theatrical trailer campaigns—stepped away from a busy schedule to answer a few questions for us. As I've focused on film music, sound effects, foley, … Read more

It's ok to like ska. I'm not kidding. It is perfectly acceptable to like ska. With the current explosion of young ska bands coming up and their growing popularity, I've heard some peers kind of dragging on ska. That's ridiculous. The original ska music was VERY rebellious music. It was … Read more

Jason Alberts is an audio engineer with an extensive career in post-production, along with location sound. His recent work includes mixing on Paralytic, Dead Body, and Soaked in Bleach (film review here). Jason is an engineer at Sumosound in Seattle, WA and was generous in answering a few questions for us … Read more

For this installment of "Beyond Casual Observation" Claudio Marino of Artax Film and Swedish band Tid took some time to speak about the processes of picking crew, the goals for a score and his own creative discovery. In his answers he references each piece of his Blood and Spirit trilogy … Read more

BJ Rochinich plays guitar for the Morgantown, WV band Ancient Shores, who released the Step to the Edge 7" last year on A389 Recordings. Rochinich (pictured below right) lends his voice to Scene Point Blank for a new column that explores perceptions of film and art. His turn-ons include Kafka, … Read more

Considering the phrase “making movie history,” one could allude to films with big budgets, big actors, new innovations, or otherwise. For the 1995 film, Heat, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino went head-to-head in a big way. The significance in casting DeNiro and Pacino opposite each other is seen on-screen in … Read more

"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” - Aldous Huxley The definition of a sequel or prequel is basically concrete. At times, sequels or prequels would be better off as an individual, unique piece free of association to another property. … Read more

The story of Nightbreed’s production goes back to the pre-internet days reading fangoria magazine and conversations among those who were into horror movies and fiction. Clive Barker’s journey with this film started in the late ‘80s and continued into the early 2000s. The story of this film is as relevant … Read more

As young as 14, Jeff King was drumming in bands and in years after would continue writing music and touring. He was the final drummer in Arkansas’ Handshake Murders before taking on a path to sound design and mixing films. Where he was once arranging music as a part of … Read more

The Conversation is a film that uses sound to drive the story. Walter Murch handled mixing duties and Art Rochester worked as the sound engineer. Each were early in their careers, having about 10 years of film experience between them. Their work complemented the score composed by David Shire and … Read more

For those who have seen The Take (a four-part British mini-series starring Tom Hardy) or for those who appreciate the differences between British and American gangster films, you may want to take a look at The Long Good Friday. Finished in 1979 and released in 1980, The Long Good Friday … Read more

Although our coverage expands from the world of music to TV, games, films and more, we were sorely neglecting food. With that in mind, we've invited Nick, vocalist of metal band The Famine, to give us an exclusive set of recipes from his extensive collection. Enough from us - over … Read more

Allow me to begin this recipe with a preamble. The outpouring of feedback over my last dish has been nothing short of shocking, primarily because my contact information was not posted anywhere, and I have no idea how anyone was able to track me down, much less how many of … Read more

I stole the idea for this dish from my favorite restaurant in the world, Mr. Chopsticks in Denton, Texas. However, it has recently come to my attention that many of you do not live in North Texas, and that others don’t appreciate food being served by disinterested art students with … Read more

I was in a band called The Lippies. I say "was" because we just broke up. Again. Hahahahaha! When we formed, we never had any intention of truly being anything more than a local or regional band. Then we caught the attention of Toby from Red Scare Industries and things … Read more

After working in national television for almost eight years, Amy completed her first film in 2011, and her Master of Arts in 2012. She is currently working on her second documentary feature while teaching at the University of Guam. Somehow my life has taken me in a direction in the … Read more

Amy Oden is a Washington, DC musician, grad student, and filmmaker. Her recent documentary From the Back of the Room explores women in DIY punk, considering such issues as sexism, motherhood, sexuality, activism, and more—encompassing a broad take on the role women take in the scene. While Oden is game for talking … Read more

Blag Dahlia is the singer for legendary punk band the Dwarves and co-hosts the podcast We Got Issues. Since forming in the mid-1980s the band has ruffled feathers and pushed limits musically and otherwise. As they prep for a pair of new releases in 2017-2018, vocalist Blag Dahlia returns to … Read more

Dear Blag,Why are you so old and such a white man? Don’t you know that old white men are the cause of all the trouble in the world? Music itself was created by young people, most of whom never even got old and weren’t white either! Every time the Dwarves … Read more