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 04 09

Showcase: Space Lasers

Dastoli Digital has been a filmmking crew I’ve admired for years now, since back in early high school, and I’ve actually had the privilege of emailing back and forth with one of its key members for a while, talking about filmmaking and asking about their processes, projects, etc.

Gimme the goodies…

Apr 30 09

Link Dump: Eclectic Edition

Well, here’s the finale in those “tons-of-stuff” brags I’ve been making the last few posts. There’s a bit of a mix in here, but mostly the usual categories of free stuff and tutorials, with a few random ones thrown in at the end just for the sake of it. Enjoy, and see you next week!
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…

Oct 10 08

Link DUMP

Alrighty…sorry for the late post, but I think I’ll make up for it this time.  I’ve got a whopper of a list tonight…tons of stuff I’ve been discovering over the past two weeks.  So I’m not going to intro…here they are: Gimme the goodies…

Oct 06 08

Showcase: Virals & Ads

Alrighty…so here’s this week’s showcase.  I’ve noticed as I become more entrenched in the industry-bound mindset and more into the tools and techniques and whatnot of the professional side of things, I’m introducing more of that into my blog posts.  I hope you guys don’t mind, but I’ll try to keep this low-budget aimed anyway, since that’s the purpose of the site in the first place.  Now, that said, let’s move into the good stuff… Gimme the goodies…

Sep 25 08

Link Dump: Rigs

Alright, well I haven’t collected any links that are new to me, but I started digging through my collection I’ve amassed over the years doing research for the project, and came across a few things that will be helpful.  We’re not actually building rigs for the shoot, but it was a thought in the beginning, so naturally I got excited about it.  So, here’s what I’ve got to offer right now, feel free to leave additions and whatnot in the comments. Gimme the goodies…

Sep 18 08

Link Dump: Eclectic

Well this one’s another brief and rather scattered one, we’re entering the planning and scheduling of the project now, so I’m thinking about how we’re going to do the practical, on-set effects or complicated shots we’re going to need to pull off.  And since I spent my high school years researching that kind of thing, I’m excited that I finally have a use for all that amassed knowledge and inspiration.  So, here goes the short list… 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.

Jul 21 08

New Resources!

Alright, it’s been a while and the site’s design is still in the works, but I’ve got some good news to share.

Firstly, in recent events, today I went to a screening of Apocalypto followed by a discussion and Q&A session with Dean Semler, the DP on Apocalypto and many other great films (Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Waterworld, Dances With Wolves to name a few). It was interesting to hear stories from the set and listen to someone talk about their business from a still-active, first-person point of view.

On to things I can share with you… Andrew Kramer’s done it again with TWO great new tutorials from Video Copilot, the 3D Offset possibly now my favorite of all his installments. So definitely check those out, even if you’re not an avid or current After Effects user. A basic interest will surely be inspired by this guy and his knowledge. Among other online tutorials, I checked out CreativeCow.net today and found this one by Grant Swanson, which is absolutely brimming with tips and tricks and knowledge surrounding the main theme of the tutorial: making DV footage look more cinematic. It’s basic, quick, and works beautifully. Best of all, most of it could even be done in other programs like Premiere or Final Cut, if After Effects isn’t available where you are.

I’ve got a few more resources lined up to check out, but not having done so yet, I’ll hold off on posting about them until I’ve reviewed their quality. However, one’s a video on DVD vs. Digital distribution, a hot topic these days, and the other’s a video of John Knoll, VFX Supervisor on Pirates of the Caribbean talking about the role of VFX Supervisors in modern cinema. IndyMogul‘s posted some good stuff in the last few weeks and are always worth checking out, and though I haven’t read it yet, this article on Color Correcting might be good for anyone interested in the idea. I’ll be sure to post at some point about other findings I come across as I come across them, but for now, enjoy the wealth of stuff I’ve posted this time and best of luck in your films. Happy filmmaking!

Jul 03 08

Featured on Microfilmmaker!

You may have heard me mention my friends over at Microfilmmaker Magazine before in some previous post, say announcing their review of my last film, or something like that. Well, they’ve come through for me and the low-budget filmmaking community again and published an article I wrote about self-promotion and distribution in the DIY, low-/no-budget filmmaking arena in their most recent July issue.

The magazine is a great resource for all kinds of things from simple DIY instructions to cheap or free music for your film projects, reviews of films to reviews of software tools and packages, as well as articles by people working (and playing) in the industry. Check it out, it’s a great resource, and they happen to like my stuff so far, so obviously, they’re good in my book .

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!