The Production

I made this short film with a partner for an intro to filmmaking class.  I shot, directed and edited this piece.

Look Closely

This short was also for an intro to filmmaking class.  I wrote, shot and edited this piece myself.  The song used in the credits is “Creep” by Radiohead.

Digital Editing Example

This is a scene I edited for a digital film editing class.

With obsolescence clearly becoming obsolete, RED announced last week their most ambitious upgrade yet: RED DRAGON.  Now those of you who are familiar with Red Digital Cinema and what the young company has done to revolutionize the film industry, it would be no surprise that any product that RED unveils should be met with awe and wonder.

Ever since the release of their original RED ONE camera, each new development from RED continues to push the envelope in modern motion capturing and imaging.  From RED ONE’s 4K resolution, in which nothing in the industry has clearly seen the likes of at the price it was running for ($17,000), to the latest camera siblings, the older brother RED EPIC’s 5K resolution and smaller sister RED SCARLET’s 4K resolution, RED has continued to raise the bar in what is possible for digital motion capturing in the entertainment industry.  RED cameras have outgrown the film industry itself and has now spilled over into the fashion world with high ranking photographers using RED Cameras for Vogue and Elle.  The leap from 4K to 5K was astounding to say the least when other huge camera companies like Arri, Canon, and Sony barely scratched the surface with their own 4K line of digital cameras.  And all of these accomplishments is where RED stood several weeks ago!  Now the gap between RED and its competitors have grown exponentially with this latest upgrade, the most astounding by far: RED DRAGON!

It has been announced that RED DRAGON will be a 6K resolution upgrade to the RED EPIC and SCARLET models.  So to put it in perspective as Ted Schilowitz explains it, the shift from 4K to 5K is 60% more resolution; which is a huge jump for the capabilities for motion capturing.  The shift from 5K to 6K also packs a huge leap with another 60% more resolution, not to mention the jump from 13+ stops to 15+ stops of native dynamic range.  What we have here is a company that is focused in perfecting their products and leading a revolution into a new age of filmmaking.  The possibilities with this kind of range, with this kind of resolution, with this kind of affordability by Hollywood standards, is seemingly endless for young filmmakers.  It has also been announced that RED DRAGON will be able to shoot 120fps at 5K resolution (the level of the RED EPIC).  This will essentially open the door never before imagined to image creators out there who want to experiment the possibilities of slow motion cinematography.

The end of analog film as being the industry standard format in Hollywood may be fast approaching.  To put into perspective how monstrous RED DRAGON is to analog film, 35mm film is almost equaled to the 4K imaging power of the RED ONE.  With RED DRAGON being released later this year, not only will it surpass 35mm but will come ever closer to the resolution size of IMAX 70mm film (which equals about 8K resolution).  If RED continues to push their momentum, a day may come when digital film will surpass 70mm and all analog film formats all together.  Will we wake up one day and see RED cameras sporting sensors capable of 12K resolution and beyond!?  That day is not today, but that day is fast approaching.  And with the migration to digital high resolution projectors, perhaps digital filmmaking is a necessary and inescapable shift in Hollywood’s blockbuster making industry.  Time will definitely tell, but what is clear now is that any hope major industry companies had in catching up with RED has now been utterly shattered by the global take over of a new digital imaging monster known as RED DRAGON!

Share what you think about Red’s latest 6K sensor upgrade below!  We would love to hear from you!

the dea skinny on what’s happening:

if video killed the radio star, as the buggles 1979 song noted, it will also kill the free internet as we know it today. perhaps one of the most frustrating things we see is the telecom industry self-disparagingly blaming and flagellating itself for their “telco-head” slow innovation mentality. go easy on yourselves. we don’t even remember that stupid isdn idea from decades ago. we forgive you that. unlike 2-person-inked-hipster-social-video-internet startup types who can move quickly in their studio apartment virtual world-is-flat businesses, telcos have major constraints for good reasons. we all need to get that.

it is a simple fact that telecom companies are huge, their employees numbering in the many hundreds of thousands of people, who deploy billions of dollars of network infrastructure comprised of expensive switches, fibre-optics, cell towers, transmitters, microwave, and yes, miles of conduits and telephone poles. did we mention software?  read their balance sheets. these are BIG players. you try doing it. and try doing it quickly. plus they have to deal with pain-in-the-neck regulators in a million different jurisdictions who sometimes want pie-in-the-sky open everything for nothing. in the end, if you want a simpler business to run, buy a large international airline – it is child’s play by comparison. and telcos are the people who supply you your life’s blood: the internet.

to add insult to injury, we all expect it from them for free. like free video. facebook,  webex, youtube, netflix, hulu and The Content Which Cannot be Mentioned, porno, which some estimate already consumes almost 30% of the internet at any given time and is video-bandwidth intensive in nature.  video, unlike “bursty” interactive traffic which is more easily multiplexed for which the telco nets were originally designed (voice and now data), is long content, persistent in duration and session length and THE ultimate major bandwidth hog which multiplexing technologies cannot help as a “biggest loser” medium as easily. there is short and long form video and the long form is REALLY long.

on video traffic growth, ask the whizzes at cisco if you don’t believe us nor trust what the telco engineers have been saying for ages. the recent cisco visual networking index report  which tracks visual networking traffic stats that by 2015, video traffic on the internet will be 70% of all consumer traffic. sure, this is a self-serving vendor forecast (man, did they blow their e-learning traffic growth projects in the past!) but you catch the general drift so go with us on this. they are directionally dead-on. in the ballpark. no one is arguing against their general case.

for a telcom provider, the arithmetic for all this stuff adds up. adds up big. adds up huge. as in billions and trillions of dollars world-wide. by 2015, some projections say worldwide capital spending will reach $225 billion dollars per annum. but we are a spoiled “trophy” generation who expects its sushi and creme brûlée just so and we therefore naturally expect free bandwidth because we are “digitally entitled”, having grown up and actually gotten used to the freemium freakonomics of internet access. the era of over-investment and global crossing and worldcom and excess bandwidth is long over. video ate it up while you were grooving out on youtube videos of singing cats and your company’s mind-numbing webex meetings. but if you do the math kids, you will see the party is over and you need to grow up. video is here to kill it all for all of us.

the stakes:

trillions of dollars over decades in capital expenditures and at least $225 billion/year worldwide by 2015. we said that already. did it sink in? you don’t need a nobel prize in economics to figure out “free internet video” is over. but  who will pay? you. many telecom players will start taking it out of your pockets. they have to….it’s only business to quote michael corleone in the godfather. the recent att kerfuffle around “cramming” your cell bill with extra “value added network” charges is only the beginning. 

the dea takeaway:

if you are a telecom service provider, consider handling demand with special video rate schemes. yes, we know the natives will revolt and everyone will hate you but somebody has to pay for this. the airline seats are packed to the gills now and airfares are high, but at least, for now, they are temporally profitable. you are already working with the major bandwidth hogs for revenue shares, when they will take your calls, at youtube, hulu, netflix and the porno industry (we have no idea how to contact that last group) as well as the networks. so you have 5 simple alternatives: 1.) revenue sharing with the IP video providers (and that is chump change relative to your future build-out costs) unless you share rev with google, et al. 2.)  dampen video demand through new revenue streams a/k/a higher prices, a blunt instrument which works well (aka tariff play) at the access & service layers and then tango dance with regulators to do this as only your century-experienced clever rates & tariffs people and lobbyists know how to do so well, 3.) partner again or re-think cable franchise deals/acquisitions Justice Department be damned, 4.) develop new bundled services like att’s U-verse,to offload it and charge value-add as you are doing now, or 5.) and this is the least attractive, suck it up and build massive parallel new infrastructure and cross-charge and nickel-and-dime everybody else, within the letter of the law for offerings ala internet access and cross-charge and nickel-and-dime everybody else, within the letter of the law for offerings ala internet access.

if you are a video IP TV content provider or content-producer or anyone else creating services, applications and, most importantly content, get used to the idea that you will need to bake increased IP video network telco access, transport and costs into your models now. don’t act shocked or angry when the telcos start to tell you this stuff costs money and that you have been getting a free ride for years. them days is over.

if you are a network-centric hardware, firmware or software infrastructure or service player, start innovating faster. you can make a ton of money if you continue to find new ways to compress, compact, route and shrink down bandwidth-consuming fat into nothing. this will take decades.

for more information, please contact us at 512.825.6866 to discuss the issues more fully and the specific impact & implications to your business. it’s free!

Being a film buff myself, but always struggling with the technical aspect of the film-making process, I found this documentary very informative and easy to follow. It presented the two sides of film making – whether the newer digital process, or being faithful to the 100-year-old 35 mm film process, it showed the pros and cons of both formats, allowing viewers to make their own conclusions.

The Master Class is one of the major activities organised by the Academy, which was established in 2010 as a three-year film education programme run by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) with a donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

My View – The Asia-Pacific Video Contest

Deadline: 23 March 2012
Open to: citizens of the 67 member states of the ADB
Prizes: a total of 10.000 $

Description

My View is a micro documentary competition for anyone who wants to be seen and heard.

Participants are asked to send in a 1 to 5 minute digital film about renewable energy, the organizers of the Asia-Pacific Video Contest get the world to watch it, after which the best entries can win major cash prizes.

Your film can be in any digital video format – you can even use your mobile phone. Films in any genre are accepted, including but not limited to animation, documentary, drama, experimental, art, testimonial, etc.

Videos can be in any language, though contestants are strongly encouraged to include subtitles and a full length script in English, in order to facilitate public outreach and the contest process.

Eligibility

Anyone who is a citizen of any one of ADB’s 67 member countries who is interested in renewable energy can join. ADB employees and their family members are not eligible to compete.

There are two contest categories:

• Youth (under 21)
• Open (21 and over)

Application

You may submit as many entries as you like. All you have to do is follow these steps:

• Upload your video on YouTube.com or Youku.com.
• Tag your video with “ADB MyView.”
• Fill out the online registration form or alternatively, download the form and send an email to myview2012@adb.org

All entries must be submitted by March 23, 2012. Videos submitted after this deadline will not be considered for prizes.

The Official Website
qaynaq : mladiinfo.com

Luxury Digital Film – Vertu

►

One of many digital films created for luxury brand Vertu.

Directed and produced by our award wining film team Scott and Jon.

www.beloved-media.com/portfolio/digital-film-production-vertu.php

Beloved Media
Digital Film Production – www.beloved-media.com

Anyhoo, we were  given a little brief for this camera testing. We had to make a short narrative piece in around an hour or so. The premise was that it had to depict someone trying to get to college, but someone (or something) is delaying their journey. We decided to opt for the creepy stalker angle, because our friend Nathan who was in our group is amazing at pulling faces. This all counts as coursework towards our video and video-editing workshops that have been taking place this semester. I’m enjoying them so far! Although. truth be told, as ever, I am feeling a wee bit apprehensive towards learning how to use a new editing software. Seems to be going well so far in our After Effects workshop on a Monday, so who knows?

I threw this together on Wednesday evening, just so that we had a general idea of how we wanted the scenes to play out. I had to add music to it, just because it helps me work better – old habits die hard I suppose (also a massive perfectionist, but hey-ho!). I found the music on Youtube – it’s performed by an amazing duo who re-write famous songs so that they sound like old ragtime music! I love it! The “Cantina Theme” from “Star Wars” seemed to be the best suited for the comedy angle we all decided to go for. It’s quick, cheerful, and I think that in general, ragtime music is very cheerful in itself!

CAST & CREW

• Directed by: Me & Sean.
• Camera-work: Sean.
• Starring: Jordan (as “The Student”) and Nathan (as “The Stalker”).

Computer Helpdesk: Corrie Erk

Corrie is a computer and digital forensics major who has chosen to focus her capstone project on MBR malware analysis. “Malware is bad software disguised as something legitimate when you download it,” Corrie said, “and MRB malware takes control of the computer before the user or operating system can.” Corrie is testing types of malware from 2011 and trying to find ways that forensic examiners can detect them.

After graduation, Corrie said she will most likely be joining the digital forensic investigation team at Mass Mutual.

Media Services: Castle Gosselin

Castle, a Digital Filmmaking major, has been working on his senior film since the fall. “All the principle video has been done,” Castle said. “Now we’re working on post production like reshoots, scoring, and post sound effects.” The final product will be a 10 minute film about a couple who hire some painters, not knowing the workers are actually con artists looking for precious metals.

Castle’s goal is to move to New York City and find a film job after he graduates.

Triage & Marketing Team: Sam Maslak

Sam is an Applied Psychology major with an interest in the field of human resources (HR).

Sam’s final project reflects that aspiration. She’s going to create the new training program for the new marketing team here at Champ Support. The current team is graduating, so with this program the newcomers can be oriented effectively and have an easier time integrating themselves into Champ Support’s work environment.

When asked about her post-graduation plans, Sam was quick to respond, “I’m not sure yet. I may be crying often.” Her goals are right now to find employment in HR (which will help reduce the crying) and, if possible, travel.

Even among just one of our departments, the projects vary greatly. Each senior puts a piece of themselves into their final pursuit and that helps produce a truly unique product.

Doesn’t everyone wanna make movies? Doesn’t everyone dream cinematic-ally?

Apparently, not everyone. Talk to long-time still photographers, and they’ll express no small amount of concern over the move towards DSLR video. “My camera was designed to shoot pictures, not movies,” is a curmudgeonly statement you’ll hear quite a bit.

The more progressive shooters will say, “I’ll shoot ‘em, but I won’t edit them. My place is behind the camera, not behind a screen doing post.”

And then there’s the rest of us.

A couple of years ago, I picked up a Nikon D90 right after it’s buzz as the first DSLR to shoot HD video had died down, and other players with admittedly superior sensors (and competitive prices) hit the market in it’s wake. I was fascinated with the power I held in my hands: RAW still images, and HD clips, all “capturable” with the twist of a knob and a press of a couple of buttons. And the best thing, was that I could flip back n’ forth at will, and change exposures for both with (almost) reckless abandon.

I pointed my lens, and it’s curiously-open aperture (shooting minutes instead of fractions of a second still amazes me) towards the racket outside: my own sons and their neighborhood peers immersed in wiffleball outside in the street.

2 months of footage later (that’s over 500 individual clips) I had the makings of my first DSLR film: The Alabaster Bears Play Quickball.

It’s been a crash course in learning, and I love it: Final Cut Pro versions 6 and the new X, After Effects, Audition, the amazing noise reduction software Neat Video, Compressor, color grading, media management, audio capture, a new workflow.

It’s a whole new world.

And yet, one that is swimming in familiarity. Nearly 3 decades in advertising means I’ve been in and around these disciplines and those who specialize in them for a host of clients. That’s a lot of stories with varying clientele and audiences. It’s just that my role was limited, and I wasn’t doing as much of the “doing.”

It’s so much more fun, actually getting one’s hands digitally dirty.

It jumps right in at the heart of the action, opening on Jack driving a car wildly through a city at night whilst being chased and shot at by loan sharks. He then recieves a phone call that he can’t bring himself to ignore, it’s his neice who is upset and needs Jack to calm her down. Whilst still on the run, he starts to tell her a story, but it’s a little bit closer to the truth than she, or even he, knows.

One of the most interseting things about Uncle Jack is that writer/director Jamin Winans chose to shoot it entirely with a DSLR Camera, the Pentax K-7 to be specific. Until very recently most filmmakers have been very sceptical about shooting digitally instead of using actual film. Now, when you have a multi-million pound/dollar budget, I can see why they could get fussy. Film does give a much better quality picture and if you use 16mm instead of 35mm it doesn’t have to break the Bank either. However, for entry level filmmakers, cheap digital is a valuable option now, sure, you don’t get the crisp quality or clarity that film delivers, but most of the time the footage is very watchable and will usually suffice.
One great thing about being able to use a DSLR to shoot digital footage is the lens options that open up. You can now combine cheap digital stock, with all the lens option of a film camera as well as the extreme flexibility in terms of camera position. Being comparably very small, you can fit a DSLR into all sorts of tight little spots to shoot from angles that would have previously been unavailable.

Enough about the technicalities, as we all know, a film is nothing without a story, this story is simple, fun and I’ll be honest, bloody ridiculous! But it’s a bit of a laugh and worth the four and a half minutes it takes to watch. Enjoy.

To watch Uncle Jack you can click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vez7qSrZfpc

And if you want to watch a short video on how Uncle Jack was made, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL86qxCasoI

New and amateur filmmakers is said to get an opportunity to showcase their talent at a platform decked with who’s who of global and Indian cinema with the country’s digital film festival UFO 0110 International Digital Film Festival introducing a contest to promote new talent and fresh ideas in the industry.

UFO 0110 International Digital Film Festival will be organized 23rd February 2012 to 1st March 2012 at Siri Fort Auditorium New Delhi.

Christened as ‘Film in 6 Days’, the one-of-its-kind competition will present a challenge to young film makers to direct a short film in a brief span of six days. To facilitate this process and help the participants bring their imagination into life, the organizers will provide all the logistical support to them.

Madhureeta Anand, Festival Director, UFO 0110 IDFF and Film Director & Founder of Ekaa Films said,”The six day competition is an integral and important part of the UFO 0110 International digital Film Festival. It’s our way of seeing that budding filmmakers get a chance to make films that on the one hand can be a showcase of their work and on the other hand can be learning experience. This is why the chosen teams will have access to well known and regarded people from the film industry who can advise and guide them.  It’s a unique opportunity. For us at the film festival it’s our way of planting seeds. We hope that these very filmmakers will, in the future, send in films to the festival and add to the viewing experience and quality of the festival.”

Sudhir Mishra, Jury member of the last IDFF, a renowned and critically acclaimed Bollywood Director said, “Digital format of film making is an amazing format that gives you the freedom to shoot things, make a movie, put forth your viewpoint about an issue/agenda etc while overcoming the constraints of inadequate funding or networking etc. It is a wonderful medium for independent voices and certainly more and more people are now open to the idea of digital film making. As a jury member a had very fond memories of the featival, Even the quality of films churned out by amateur film makers / directors such as students  or those coming from non- film industry background is very exciting. Festival like IDFF should be promoted so that maximum talent can be discovered.”

Conceptul exista si cercetari preliminare au fost efectuate. Din motive neclare proiectul a fost abandonat in anul 2001, conform Wikipedia, doar ca sa renasca mai tarziu, in anul 2011 sub forma unei “farse” cu ocazia zilei de 1 Aprilie.

Totusi, din punctul meu de vedere e un concept interesant pe care mi-ar place sa il vad realizat in anul ce urmeaza. Din pacate, este clar ca producatorii de aparate foto digitale nu au nici un interes sa dezvolte un astfel de “gadget”… pentru ca pana la urma, asta este: un gadget. Nu se adreseaza profesionistilor ci mai degraba nostalgicilor fotografiei pe film. Ar fi un gadget care cred ca s-ar vinde bine si interesant de testat. Chiar sunt curios cum ar fotografia “digital” Zenit-ul E care sta in debara de foarte multi ani…

Ce ziceti? Ati cumpara asa ceva? Credeti ca va avea succes?

Articol preluat de pe : http://www.clubulfoto.com/digital-film-o-inventie-2012/?ref=nf

In other news, the local art world is becoming very interesting, with “galleries” ( and I do use that term very loosely here because ome of which I maybe referring to here don’t even have a perminate home to exhibit in) are starting to charge fees to exhibit in. Now I can kind of understand this if we were talking about NYC, London or some other major market in the world, but in Lawrence fucking Kansas? Are you serious? This is a city that is known for it’s music, not for it’s art.

Now yes, I will state that there are some amazing artist here, but I’m afraid that there are a tone of crappy ones as well. Now I’m not saying that I’m better than any of the others out there in my home city, but the thing is that if all the shit looks the same, then is it really an art show or more of a craft show that some “artist” like Thomas Kinkade would be proud of and promote? Hell, over half of the work that is produced for these shows look no different than his work anyway, and that that is not is so heavily influenced by the computer that it because a computer generated work than what it was supposed to be to start off with. So my question is, always has been and will continue to be when does it go from being the art work that you wanted it to be to start off with, such as a photograph, and turn into a computer generated piece of crap?

Now, let me say one thing, I’m not against graphic design art or computer based art work, but fucking lable it as such instead a photograph that you go fuck over so much on a computer by thaking three photographs and make it one single image or take a crappy shot and make it one that is able to be viewed before by the general public instead of puking at the site of it.

The thing that I have the biggest problem with the new age of photographers is that for the most part they don’t even know how to manually i work their camera, let alone know how to use a darkroom. Now yes, I have use digital cameras, and I do like them. It does cut down the cost of prints and it does take out the question if you had snapped a good photograph or not, the thing is that when you har everything set for automatic and don’t take the time to learn what an F-stop is or what your shutter speed is, then why the fuck are you even bothering with calling yourself a photographer? It just doesn’t make since to me and if someone can prove me wrong, I’d love to see it. I have yet to find one, even after god, YEARS of this debate who has actually been able to prove me wrong. In all of the cases, the other part gets pissed off at me for the info I throw at them and their inability to actually make since of what the hell they are saying and their reasonings, and they leave before the conversation or debate or what you will call it, is actually done.

So, there you have my first new rant in a long while.

I will assure that this is not going to be a blog where I cut people down for their inability to actually learn their craft, but I will review art, happenings and give tips for artist of all factors and we will have some fun, promise.

But anyways… it was only supposed to be a rough guideline, and doesn’t honestly reflect the final edit, i  had some interesting calls to make, i found out that my aunt who’s sound we needed to redo and who currently resides in Los Angeles… has no recording equipment! so it was down to crazy techniques to salvage our audio, however we found an awesome resolution in the form of re interviewing and recording her over the internet through a Skype call, i set up an external speaker from my computer and put a zoom recorder (my dad had one to himself all along… facepalm) up to the speakers.

I edited the sound as well as possible and Adnan and Jack Pieced together the final edit with the new sound, some clever editing form Adnan allowed us to “pretend” the new sound was the original sound. we also used mixcraft to put together a short intro and outro track for the final film, eventually we decided agaisnt out original use of narration in favor of text on screen

The link for the finished piece is here on vimeo: “What it takes”

Alternatively, check it right here:

So i have hailed my aunt in a n effort to get her to re record he audio, and hope fully save the day, our only other option is to get more footage,  but that may prove extremely difficult, due to the lack of actors i’m currently aware of. We will endeavor!

Adnan worked tirelessly with what footage we had, and we have until Thursday to work some magic, so hopefully we’ll  crank something worthy out…

Today was the big day for our second interview, in contrast to the last interview we decided to hold this interview indoors, to counter the worsening weather conditions… as camera equipment is expensive and wind is VERY NOISY.

We used my room for our shoot, setting up a tarp against the wall and clearing the set up, so that a single chair was all that was present on screen, we ensured the lighting was good and made sure there was no subtle noises (such as the hum of a computer)  in the area.

Gordon came in and after a sound and visual check we began our take.

 - Gordon makes himself at home

This time i stayed out of shot, but the setup was much the same i interviewed Gordon and got the fledgling actors perspective, it went well, we all had lemonade.. the next step in the process would be the most challenging! Editing!!!!

 - Adnan aligns the camera for the shot

First We acquired all the gear we needed:

• One HD camcorder, + Adnan’s own HD Cam
• One RODE Mic
• Two tripods

Then we set off to our location, St.Stephen’s Green; There we met with Sile and found a quiet area of the Park to begin Shooting. we began our shoot in the place usually reserved for those shooting up; The Rockery.

We made use of the two cams to make a multi cam interview, as set out in the original treatment, one cam had the mic armed for recording while the other was used to capture different angles of the scene.

camera setup

I was on screen interviewing Sile throughout the day, in the finished project however, i will not appear on screen and the the questions will be voiced to both Sile and the audience through a narrator.

shooting day 1

http://www.nowness.com/media/embedvideo?itemid=1747&issueid=1780

Art Basel Miami: Marco Brambillafrom Chris Wallace on Nowness.com

http://marcobrambilla.com