The film follows the shooting from the perspectives of several survivors, recreating their recounts via actors filmed and later animated in rotoscoping.[3] The film premiered on March 13, 2016, at South by Southwest, before receiving a limited release by Kino Lorber in the United States on September 28, 2016.[4][1] It was later aired on television on the PBS series Independent Lens.
On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower in Austin, Texas and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. When the gunshots were finally silenced, the toll included 16 dead, three dozen wounded, and a shaken nation left trying to understand what had happened. Archival footage[5][6] is combined with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way to illustrate the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors.[7]
Productionedit
The film is based on a 2006 Texas Monthly article by Pamela Colloff, "96 Minutes."[4] Maitland originated from New Jersey and attended UT Austin.[8] 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.[9] Colloff became one of the executive producers of the film.[4] Various University of Texas students worked on the film as interns.[9]
To finance the film the creators opened an Indiegogo, generating almost $70,000 from over 330 people in six weeks.[9] In the final few days alumni of UT offered up a matching grant.[10]
Early on, Maitland realized that he and his team likely would not be able to film reenactments on the University campus, so they instead decided to opt for an animated aesthetic "to show the geography of the campus."[11] Footage was mostly shot in Maitland's backyard and then animated by production company Minnow Mountain who was aided by pictures Maitland had shot around campus.[12] Over 100 people were interviewed including at-the-time media members, police, students, and faculty, who had witnessed the events, but a few selective interviews were used.[9]
Receptionedit
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 99% based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Tower probes into a painful chapter of American history with sensitivity and grace -- and revisits its events from a valuable new perspective."[13] 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."[14]
^ abcColloff, Pamela. "The Reckoning." Texas Monthly. March 2016.
^"Archival Film in TOWER (2016)". texasarchive.org. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
^"TOWER & The Texas Archive of the Moving Image". texasarchive.org. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
^Tower (2016) Film Screening|Institute for Public Health|Washington University in St. Louis
^Ricke, Claire. "Documentary depicts UT Tower shooting marking historic moment in Austin." KXAN. March 14, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
^ abcdSliva, Vanessa. "'Tower' shows 1966 shooting from ground." The Daily Texan. May 1, 2014. Retrieved on March 1, 2016.
^Tower documentary gets boost from UT alumni." KXAN. April 21, 2014. Retrieved on April 1, 2016.
^Laffly, Thomas (16 March 2016). "Director Keith Maitland on Exploring The Country's First Mass School Shooting in Tower". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^Newman, Jason (14 October 2016). "How Animated Doc 'Tower' Explores Nation's First Mass School Shooting". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^"Tower (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. 12 October 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
^Chang, Justin. "SXSW Film Review: ‘Tower’." Variety. March 15, 2016. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.
Colloff, Pamela. "96 Minutes." Texas Monthly. August 2006.
Teague, Rachael. "Filmmakers discuss “Tower” documentary." KXAN. August 1, 2015.
"Archival Film in Tower," video showing the array of archival footage from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image collection featured in the documentary.
tower, 2016, film, tower, 2016, american, mostly, animated, documentary, film, about, 1966, shootings, university, texas, austin, directed, produced, keith, maitland, towertheatrical, release, posterdirected, bykeith, maitlandbased, minutes, pamela, colloffpro. Tower is a 2016 American mostly animated documentary film about the 1966 shootings at the University of Texas at Austin directed and produced by Keith Maitland 2 TowerTheatrical release posterDirected byKeith MaitlandBased on 96 Minutes by Pamela ColloffProduced byKeith Maitland Susan Thomson Megan GilbrideCinematographyKeith Maitland Sarah WilsonEdited byAustin ReedyMusic byOssei EssedProductioncompaniesGo Valley ITVSDistributed byKino LorberRelease datesMarch 13 2016 2016 03 13 SXSW September 28 2016 2016 09 28 US Running time82 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office 101 987 1 The film follows the shooting from the perspectives of several survivors recreating their recounts via actors filmed and later animated in rotoscoping 3 The film premiered on March 13 2016 at South by Southwest before receiving a limited release by Kino Lorber in the United States on September 28 2016 4 1 It was later aired on television on the PBS series Independent Lens Contents 1 Summary 2 Production 3 Reception 4 References 5 External linksSummary editOn August 1 1966 Charles Whitman rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower in Austin Texas and opened fire holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes When the gunshots were finally silenced the toll included 16 dead three dozen wounded and a shaken nation left trying to understand what had happened Archival footage 5 6 is combined with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic never before seen way to illustrate the action packed untold stories of the witnesses heroes and survivors 7 Production editThe film is based on a 2006 Texas Monthly article by Pamela Colloff 96 Minutes 4 Maitland originated from New Jersey and attended UT Austin 8 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 9 Colloff became one of the executive producers of the film 4 Various University of Texas students worked on the film as interns 9 To finance the film the creators opened an Indiegogo generating almost 70 000 from over 330 people in six weeks 9 In the final few days alumni of UT offered up a matching grant 10 Early on Maitland realized that he and his team likely would not be able to film reenactments on the University campus so they instead decided to opt for an animated aesthetic to show the geography of the campus 11 Footage was mostly shot in Maitland s backyard and then animated by production company Minnow Mountain who was aided by pictures Maitland had shot around campus 12 Over 100 people were interviewed including at the time media members police students and faculty who had witnessed the events but a few selective interviews were used 9 Reception editOn review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 99 based on 100 reviews with an average rating of 8 5 10 The site s critical consensus reads Tower probes into a painful chapter of American history with sensitivity and grace and revisits its events from a valuable new perspective 13 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 14 It also won numerous Best Documentary awards including at the 2016 Austin Film Critics Association 15 16 17 and the 2018 News amp Documentary Emmy Awards 18 References edit a b Tower 2016 Box Office Mojo Retrieved February 21 2018 Whittaker Richard Kickstart Your Weekend Tower Austin Chronicle April 10 2014 Retrieved on March 31 2016 Roger Ebert a b c Colloff Pamela The Reckoning Texas Monthly March 2016 Archival Film in TOWER 2016 texasarchive org Retrieved 2020 11 19 TOWER amp The Texas Archive of the Moving Image texasarchive org Retrieved 2020 11 19 Tower 2016 Film Screening Institute for Public Health Washington University in St Louis Ricke Claire Documentary depicts UT Tower shooting marking historic moment in Austin KXAN March 14 2016 Retrieved on March 31 2016 a b c d Sliva Vanessa Tower shows 1966 shooting from ground The Daily Texan May 1 2014 Retrieved on March 1 2016 Tower documentary gets boost from UT alumni KXAN April 21 2014 Retrieved on April 1 2016 Laffly Thomas 16 March 2016 Director Keith Maitland on Exploring The Country s First Mass School Shooting in Tower Film School Rejects Retrieved 12 November 2016 Newman Jason 14 October 2016 How Animated Doc Tower Explores Nation s First Mass School Shooting Rolling Stone Retrieved 12 November 2016 Tower 2016 Rotten Tomatoes 12 October 2016 Retrieved April 22 2020 Chang Justin SXSW Film Review Tower Variety March 15 2016 Retrieved on March 31 2016 2016 Awards Austin Film Critics Association The Arbalest and Tower take top prizes at 2016 SXSW film festival Film The Guardian Calgary Film Independent Lens Wins Two 2018 News amp Documentary Emmys TOWER and Forever Pure Independent Lens Retrieved 2020 11 19 External links editOfficial website nbsp Tower at Independent Lens Tower at IMDb nbsp Tower at Indiegogo Colloff Pamela 96 Minutes Texas Monthly August 2006 Teague Rachael Filmmakers discuss Tower documentary KXAN August 1 2015 Archival Film in Tower video showing the array of archival footage from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image collection featured in the documentary Portals nbsp Film nbsp United States nbsp 1960s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tower 2016 film amp oldid 1168576628, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
