Tower (2016 film)
Tower is a 2016 documentary film about the 1966 shootings at the University of Texas at Austin by Charles Whitman. Directed by Keith Maitland, it is the first factual documentary about the shootings.[1] The film is 98 minutes long[2] and premiered at the 2016 South by Southwest.[3]
Background
The film is based on a 2006 Texas Monthly article by Pamela Colloff, "96 Minutes."[3] Maitland originated from Austin and attended UT Austin.[4] Maitland read the article in 2006 and asked Colloff to have lunch with him. He suggested making a film about the incident during the meeting.[5] Colloff became one of the executive producers of the film.[3]
To finance the film the creators opened an Indiegogo, generating almost $70,000 from over 330 people in six weeks.[5]
Production
The film includes interviews, many of which conducted by one of the producers, Susan Thomson. Over 100 people, including at-the-time media members, police, students, and faculty, who had witnessed the events.[5]
University of Texas students worked on the film as interns.[5]
The film initially uses a cast of young actors to portray the historical events.[2]
Rotoscopic animation and archival footage are used to portray the event.[6]
Eventually most of the real-life persons appear and speak in the present day. Some of the involved persons, such as Houston McCoy, a police officer who killed Whitman, died before the production of the film. McCoy's daughter Monika is interviewed as part of the film.[2]
Reception
Justin Chang of Variety wrote that the film is "a uniquely cinematic memorial that will be in demand from programmers and buyers as the 50th anniversary of the shootings approaches."[2]
References
- ↑ Whittaker, Richard. "Kickstart Your Weekend: 'Tower'." Austin Chronicle. April 10, 2014. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chang, Justin. "SXSW Film Review: ‘Tower’." Variety. March 15, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Colloff, Pamela. "The Reckoning." Texas Monthly. March 2016.
- ↑ Ricke, Claire. "Documentary depicts UT Tower shooting marking historic moment in Austin." KXAN. March 14, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Sliva, Vanessa. "'Tower' shows 1966 shooting from ground." The Daily Texan. May 1, 2014. Retrieved on March 1, 2016.
- ↑ Cihock, Haley. "Tower documentary gets boost from UT alumni." KXAN. April 21, 2014. Retrieved on April 1, 2016.
External links
- Tower official website
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Tower at IMDb
- Tower at Indiegogo
- Colloff, Pamela. "96 Minutes." Texas Monthly. August 2006.
- Teague, Rachael. "Filmmakers discuss “Tower” documentary." KXAN. August 1, 2015.
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