Quick Links

The Five C’s of Cinematography | Matthew Jeppsen | Fresh DC
It's not about the gear, it's about:

1. Camera Angles
“Camera placement is determined by narrative significance.”This is very important. Why are you looking at what you are looking at? Is it because it looks good, or because we need to see it to move the story along? It should always be to move the story along and never solely because it looks good.

6 Crowdfunding Mistakes That Can Kill a Campaign | Scott Steinberg | Mashable
What to avoid when you start your crowd-funding campaign:

1. Nobody Knows Who You Are
Among the most common reasons campaigns croak is the lack of a meaningful brand identity. Projects with existing followings or known personalities attached (e.g. Wasteland 2) often do well. Unproven or obscure projects, such as Class of Heroes 2, don’t fair as well. In fact, according to Kickstarter, 75% of projects fail just in the video game space alone. It makes sense that building and maintaining trust and awareness is imperative in a connected world where the options, particularly to invest, are many.

SMAPP Tutorial - Basic Interview Lighting | stillmotion | Vimeo
Another lighting tutorial:

with almost every interview we feel like we could use one more stinger, one more light, an extra five minutes to tweak the setup, or an extra 5' feet to reposition the talent and camera. however, through working within these constraints we can learn to do much more with much less. half the tricks we know about lighting have all come from having to figure something out while on set, and having to do so quickly. the more we understand light, how it works and how we can work with it, the more we can make the most of whatever time, gear, and space we might find ourselves in.

Cannes chief admits: we must search harder for films directed by women
| Jason Solomons | The Guardian

"Cinema is dominated by men," he said, "and Cannes is just a reflection of cinema." However, Jacob also defended the actions of Frémaux, whom he appointed his successor in 2001 when he was made president. He said: "The selector has said it is not his intention to take a film made by a woman because it is made by a woman but because it has the necessary quality."

3D is not the answer to cinema's problems. How about better films?
| Stephen Kelly | The Guardian
I admit to not being a fan of 3D myself:

3D audience figures are falling, with ticket sales down 4% last year despite a record number of 47 films released in the format. Not only that, but with a YouGov poll last year showing interest waning, complaints mounting about headaches and, with the release of Men In Black 3 this week, a row between studios and cinemas over just who pays for 3D glasses, the cracks are beginning to grow larger.

Pico Dolly with Self Contained Motorized Trailer | ChessyCam
A little motorized dolly prototype:

Here’s a look at a prototype motorized trailer sent to me today and it’s attached to a PNC Pico Dolly. Still a prototype, it’s supposed be universal and have some mounting options to attach to several different dollies or maybe even sliders? The idea is to have a motorized push cart to have consistent movement all of the motors, batteries, wiring, and switches all self contained into one little unit.

VOLKSWAGEN REVEALS ANTHONY HOPKINS’ TRUE MODEL FOR HANNIBAL LECTER | JOE BERKOWITZ | Co.Create
It's impressive how much effort has gone into these commercials:

Created by DDB UK, the new ads pay close attention to period detail, from the clothing and facial hair to the quality of film stock at the time of each movie’s creation. Directed by Stink’s Ivan Zacharias, the Silence of the Lambs spot begins with a hair and makeup woman bemoaning the lack of actual sheep in the film, and ends with the supposed true inspiration for one of Dr. Lecter’s more memorable quirks. (It’s hard to say which is the creepier performance.)