When director Michael Mann was cutting the iconic downtown LA shootout for his blue-hued 1995 neo-noir masterpiece "Heat," he initially set the scene to a foley mix of faux gunfire. But it just wasn't right. He swapped out the track for sound captured on location. "We shot with full-load blanks," the auteur told Vulture. "We were in these glass and steel canyons and the gunfire reverberated in a certain real way, so they had an authenticity to the place that really was unique."Mann has claimed to "reject realism," but it's that close attention to detail, merged with his overall expressionistic brilliance, that turned "Heat" into a genre of its own. "Heat" isn't just a heist movie — it's the heist...
Exploring the not-so-glamorous side of island-hopping. Japan is blessed with a number of beautiful remote islands, especially down south in the Ryukyu island chain, which stretches southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan. The westernmost island in this chain, and in Japan in general when it comes to inhabited islands, is a 28.88 kilometre-square (11.15 mile-square) outcrop called Yonaguni. Only accessible by plane or boat, our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma had been keen to cross this remote area off his travel bucket list for a while now, so he decided to make the trip out there recently, opting to go there by ferry, as it was half the cost of a plane ticket. ▼ Yonaguni lies 108 kilometres (67 miles) east of Taiwan However, after doing...
Exploring the not-so-glamorous side of island-hopping. Japan is blessed with a number of beautiful remote islands, especially down south in the Ryukyu island chain, which stretches southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan. The westernmost island in this chain, and in Japan in general when it comes to inhabited islands, is a 28.88 kilometre-square (11.15 mile-square) outcrop called Yonaguni. Only accessible by plane or boat, our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma had been keen to cross this remote area off his travel bucket list for a while now, so he decided to make the trip out there recently, opting to go there by ferry, as it was half the cost of a plane ticket. ▼ Yonaguni lies 108 kilometres (67 miles) east of Taiwan However, after doing...
25 tips for a kinder Christmas Make small changes to your festive celebrations in order to reduce your impact on the planet Dislike the waste and planet harming aspects of Christmas? Our festive ideas will help you to celebrate in ways that are better for the planet, animals and other people. 1. Make an 'acts of kindness' advert calendar Instead of buying an advent calendar this year, craft an ‘acts of kindness’ countdown! Rather than opening a window to chocolate each morning, you’ll read a numbered card (1-24) and do what it says — this might be anything from simple tasks like ‘smile at a stranger and say hello’ to ‘go litter picking’. You will need: scissors; white card; pen;...
I worked on so many different décor projects this week that I thought the most organized way to share them would be to break them out by category. This will likely be a pretty long post (sorry), and whether it be in one sitting or several, I hope it's interesting enough for you to get to the end. And even more, I hope something here will inspire you with ideas for your own mini projects!Curtain ComponentsFor the living room window, I had in my mind a gauzy sort of single curtain, pulled back to one side because of the stairs. It's always been a struggle trying to figure out how to hang curtains in a dollhouse, so I wanted to...
