Morgan Spurlock meets with FastForward to discuss One Direction: This Is Us

CINEMA - September 2013 Feature

By Lizzy Chadbourne; Senior, Marin Academy

If you have ever seen the documentary film about the health impacts of eating fast food, Super Size Me (2004), you’re probably familiar with Morgan Spurlock’s work. The director/producer/writer has done many riveting documentaries such as Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008), and his most recent film, One Direction: This Is Us is no exception. The film follows arguably the biggest “boy band” in history on tour and takes fans into concert halls, hotel rooms, the tour bus, and their hometowns. The film, shot in hyper-realistic 3D, gives viewers a sense of who Louis, Harry, Niall, Zayn and Liam really are behind the mask of their extreme fame.

“Their story is a great story,” says Spurlock when asked about what drew him to the film. He describes the experience of making the film “fun” and “a thrill,” especially in contrast to some of the films with more serious topics he has worked on in the past. But Spurlock also characterized the process as “a big undertaking.” He was given the release date practically on day one of the job, and he knew how much work was ahead of him in the following ten months, resulting in an intense and fast-paced process.

FastForward mets with the film's writer/director and her husband/film editor

CINEMA - September 2013 Feature

By Avani Bahl, Eliza Ross and Joseph Cohen; from Branson, Mill Valley Middle and Tam High Schools

You look around and admire the beautiful hillside. You hike into the majestic woods, run along a sandy beach, and hike up a hillside so you can look out over the California coast. You might see a few deer hopping over the hills, some seals in the water and a few birds flying around. We live in paradise. We live in Marin County.

But did you know many people have spent countless hours, days, months - even years fighting developers and big corporations to preserve this for us? We learned the story about what happened right in our own backyard.

The Science of Character

CINEMA - September 2013

By Margot Bickler, Joe Blair, CC Clark, Joseph Cohen, Gemma Calandra, Adam Epstein, Luca Evans, Dean Griffin, Spencer Hao, Sabrina Hao, Carolyn Hansen, John Hassen, Sarah Knopf, Hawke Lenihan, Bella McWhorter, Cole Summers, Isabel Rodriguez, Audrey Romjue, Luke Rudy and Christine Watridge; from Bacich, Branson, Davidson Middle, Del Mar Middle, Kent Middle, Lycee Francais International de San Francisco, Marin Academy, Marin Country Day School, Marin School of the Arts, Mill Valley Middle, Redwood High, San Domenico, Sir Francis Drake High, Saint Ignatious College Preparatory, Saint Rita, Tam High and University High Schools

What are your best character traits? Loyalty? Kindness? Curiosity? Why does character matter? Can you shape who you are or who you will become? We visited the home of cutting-edge filmmaker Tiffany Shlain to learn more about the topic of her new cloud film, The Science of Character.