May 18 09

Showcase: The Guild & GTCMS

First of all, I’m shocked at myself for not showcasing this series earlier, especially with my parading Felicia Day around as a ‘web show extraordinaire’ in the past. Along with that, her co-producer has another web series I found recently and watched the first episode of, and it’s great fun as well.

Gimme the goodies…

May 07 09

Link Dump: Articles & Thoughts

This week’s link dump post is a bit more article-based, with little to no free stuff or tutorials in the mix. I know, a more heady load, but it’s good for ya! Get those gears workin’ and thinkin’ and maybe something sweet-ass and original will come out of ‘em. Anyway, it’s basically a roundup from the usual sources, a few announcements, some cool case studies, and some food for thought for those of you of the filmmaking persuasion but not in the ‘I-need-to-know-this-effect-now’ category, go ahead and read past the jump. You other lot, check back at a few previous posts an’ git yer learnin’ there. Otherwise, on we go…

Gimme the goodies…

Apr 27 09

Showcase: Signs

Today’s showcase item is something I found through Videomaker Magazine’s newsletter last week. It’s a pretty cool little short that shows pretty successfully the effectiveness of editing, a simple concept, and a good, short, human story. The coolest part I thought at first was identifying with the main (male) character of the story, and then being able to watch his life go on an upward curve from there. I suppose that’s what we most often find intriguing and lovable in the first place, when we find bits of ourselves in the characters whose lives end up being what we wish ours were. Or maybe it just gives hope. Anyway, on the low-budget side of things…

Gimme the goodies…

Apr 23 09

Link Dump: Tutorial Edition

As promised, here’s a pretty mondo list of tutorial and resource sites for your educational pleasure. I’ve organized the list, just like last week’s, into what made the most sense at the time. If you’ve got additions, suggestions, objections, or anything else, definitely feel free to comment on the post and let me know about more knowledge available for free on the ‘net. Yess…knowledge….

Gimme the goodies…

Apr 16 09

Link Dump: Free Stuff Edition

First off, welcome to the new blog! Yes, I know it’s awesome. I’m proud to say it’s my whole site collection hosted on one domain, inter-linked, organized and consolidated. Awesome. So now…on to the link dump.

I’ve got a massve…and I mean massive collection of links ready for ya. So massive, in fact, that I’m breaking it up into a multi-part series, because frankly, opening tons of links at once won’t be fun for you, and copying and pasting and reviewing what all of them are won’t be so fun for me. Not all at once, anyway. So next week, Link Dump: Tutorial Edition. But let’s get started with part 1.

Gimme the goodies…

Feb 08 09

Showcase: Games, Zombies and ‘Net Stars

Well, it’s been about three and a half months since my last post, and while I apologize for the wait, I haven’t completely neglected this blog.  I’ve amassed a pretty massive collection of showcase and link dump material for the next while, and continue to receive newsletters and am on the prowl for tutorials and resources.  Long story short, the final project’s finishing up, and there’s a vast pool of links about to come your way in the next few weeks.  Starting now… Gimme the goodies…

Sep 11 08

Link Dump: Storyboarding

Well this one’s going to be very quick, as it’s been the most busy and hectic and honestly frustrating week so far at school and I am exhausted to the point of brain-no-function. So here it goes… Gimme the goodies…

Aug 23 08

Link Dump

Alright, I know it’s late, but it’s the first week back at school, getting back into the swing of things, and, quite frankly, feeling more like spending as much time away from the computer as possible, given the amount of time spent on it while at school. Nonetheless, here’s my promised post-after-vacation (which was a great one, by the way).

To start it off with, this article, which I might have posted before, is all about The Dark Knight‘s effects, and offers some pretty crazy insight into the making of the thing. I’m heading off to see the IMAX version tomorrow. Should be fun. Next up in industry-related articles, I found but haven’t read this interview with Simon Reay, DP on the show Man vs. Wild (which I love), which should be interesting.

Among more indie resources, I came across this site, a sort of database of free sound effects. I know nothing of its value or quality or library, but it’s always nice to have one more place to look for that hard-to-find sound when you’re in a crunch. As always, IndyMogul came out with a few new episodes, and apparently are doing a steampunk combo episode with Threadbanger soon, which I’m pretty psyched about. One last thing I actually found quite a while ago but researched again for possible involvement is MobMov, a mobile movie theater group that basically promotes and premieres films in public places via projectors on cars and creating a mini drive-in theater. Sounds great, though their groups in my areas have always been small or nonexistent (though this is the only actual city I’ve been in while trying to get involved). Definitely worth checking out.

Feb 21 08

A Note on Shaky Camera Work

Earlier today I got an email from StudioDaily, a pretty fascinating online industry magazine and resource website about filmmaking, visual effects and editing.  In the letter,one of the headlines was this:

Over at Film & Video, Bryant Frazer talks with director George A. Romero about his return to low-budget filmmaking with Diary of the Dead using Panasonic HDX900 and HVX200 camcorders.

So naturally I emailed that quote off to the first friend I thought of when I think of zombie movies, and he responded pretty quickly saying that he didn’t like the new “Blair Witch sort of style that’s coming back.”  That I can completely understand, so I responded with the following passage, which is the basis for this post:

I kind of like the shaky cam style that’s on the rise, it’s more viral and amateurish, and it blurs the lines between amateur films and professional ones, making it so that it doesn’t matter as much anymore to the audience if it’s a “real movie” because they can’t always tell, so it’s not worth bothering about.  If it’s good, it’s good, and it deserves praise, if it’s bad, well, they leave it alone (or flame it, the bastards).  Sometimes it’s hard to see or hard to handle (I got mildly nauseous watching Cloverfield), but I think it’s a cool way to kind of get the super-hype of paying high attention to lighting, costumes, and even set design a little bit out of the way, and letting amateurs get more into the field, simply because the cheapest way to film (handheld and shaky) is often the most real feeling, because it’s not completely stable like a statue, nor is it to the extent that Cloverfield was (though that was pretty wonderfully done).  Basically, it give me even more of a chance to go out and shoot random stuff, put it all together in some sort of cohesive, understandable and entertaining story, and then market it and get attention because it looks real, it could be real, and if it’s good, people will appreciate either the documentary-ness of it or the realistic acting and detail of the thing.  So basically I don’t put anywhere near as much effort into the preparation of the film that Hollywood does, and I can still come out with a viable film to show at festivals and gain a reputation among the biggies of the business.  So that’s why I like it.  As a style, though, you’re right, it’s hard to take sometimes.

Now, that being said, I haven’t seen the trailer for this, but I’m going to look it up and see what I can find, heh.

NOTE: You can see the trailer here.  And I actually was a little disappointed with it when I watched it.

Feb 01 08

LATENT(CY) Reviewed!

My good friend Jeremy over at Microfilmmaker Magazine, an e-zine for – you guessed it
- low-budget filmmaking, recieved a copy of LATENT(CY) a while back and has reviewed it for the new issue of the zine.  It was great to hear that this project hasn’t lost steam (something I’ve warned against in my report on DIY distribution that has yet to be online).  The review was more than kind, and though the score wasn’t high, it was a justified and even helpful review.  Go ahead and read it over here and feel free to download or watch it from the links over on the Films page.  Thank, Jeremy, and the rest of the Microfilmmaker Magazine crew for watching, critiquing and showing my film’s review to the internet community.

One little tip for all you self-distributors out there: keep the submission fees for your films in the same package as the film when you send them to festivals, it makes it harder for the money to be lost.  And you’d probably rather not learn that the hard way like I did just recently.  Also, checks are much better for paying through the mail, since if they don’t make it to the right person, they usually can’t be signed and cashed or deposited, since the account and “Pay to…” names won’t match, and you probably won’t be cheated out of your money… whereas if you send cash… that’s a whole different story.  Best of luck, and I’ll put an announcement up once I get the e-book version of my report on self-distribution and -promotion online.  Happy filmmaking!

Dec 29 07

The Waiting Room…in the can!

The Waiting Room is finally completely shot and locked! I’m super excited to finally have this done. We fiddled with lighting more than usual on this shoot, and I liked it quite a lot. Direct light from my work light was too harsh, so we simply bounced it off a tinfoil-covered piece of cardboard sitting on the desk on the opposite wall, which gave a perfect soft back light from behind me. Next, we taped a piece of tin foil on the window in front of me, pointing the two track lights on the ceiling toward it, bouncing that light off the tin foil and onto my face, giving a nice soft glow that looked almost like it was coming from the paper I was writing on. It was a very nice effect, and perfect for the scene. Michelle really helped out on this shoot, being the cameraperson, the lighting technician and whatnot. It was fun to play with the lighting and get the shots I wanted to get in a relaxed, small-scale environment. Unfortunately, I only had the chance to take four pictures while shooting this stuff, but at least it demonstrates the lighting configurations I had set up. Take a peek at all of them here.

I think an awesome thing about low- and no-budget filmmaking is the ability to just improvise with what’s there at the time, with what you’ve got and what you know. I knew I had two little tin foil reflector type pieces (actually I just knew metal is reflective and I had some at the time), and I could use those to light up the scene in the way I needed and wanted. I’m excited now to relax tonight, and I have all day tomorrow to cut the thing together, start figuring out music, and finish up my school violence piece I’ve been not-so-diligently working on since last Spring.

Dec 18 07

New Films Page!

The Big Announcement
Well, here it is, finally a ‘films’ page to showcase the work of myself and others involved with AnimiVirtus Productions.  I know I haven’t posted in quite some time, and that this is the only thing that’s happened on this blog since that post, but I’ve been working on my personal blog to establish an effective, efficient, productive workflow solution that is entirely digital and helps me keep track of all the things I have to do, including how close to being completed they are and other information about each project.  Completely unrelated to this blog at the momentum, I’m hoping that once that’s figured out I can schedule times during each week to post a new resource website, showcase item, and other things on this blog while maintaining my personal blog and personal life as well.  I’ve also been working, am finishing up school, and getting ready for the holidays and my move out to Vancouver.  I haven’t been incredibly active in these areas, but they are still pressing areas that need tending to.

OK… now the Big Announcement
The films page is on the right hand menu, has a listing of films made by AnimiVirtus Productions, along with descriptions of the films, places to buy copies, watch the films online, and other links for each of them.  At the moment there is only the one feature LATENT(CY) on the page, but more will come as they are made (duh!).  So for now, enjoy the new page, the layout, the screenshots (oh yea, did I mention there’s screenshots?) and the links for the film.  More will come as it is edited, and hopefully I’ll be able to finish shooting The Waiting Room soon and be able to post some photos and stuff for that, as well as get it finally completed before I move.  Yea, that would be nice.  Enjoy the new page!