Notes On Video

Last night I went to one of the six screenings of films made in this years Boston 48 Hour Film Project . This year 84 teams started the event and 81 finished - 63 of them on time. Having watched a team make a film, and being aware of what goes in to this sort of thing, I really think that everyone did a great job. Not all of the films were brilliant; and it's probably not surprising that none of the films were really perfect, but it was still an interesting - and inspiring - night for aspiring filmmakers. Here's some more tips I gleaned from the showing: Plan your time: A significant number of films were 'late.' You have to plan out your post time, how long it will take to render that last edit (and leave yourself enough time incase there's a problem with that render) AND leave plenty of time to get to the drop-off point. Audio, audio, audio: The consistently weak part in many of the productions was the audio. Image quality was actually pretty good (thanks to...

The Independent Screenwriter: Larry Gross | Filmmaker Magazine “The independent screenwriter” — is the term a tautology or oxymoron? While the word “independent” is often applied to directors and sometimes producers, it’s rarely seen appended to the job title of screenwriter. Is that because so many independent directors write their own scripts? NBCUniversal: “Transmedia storytelling will be a part of Social TV” | IP & TV News I might be an old codger, but aren't people tired of this yet? Social TV will be equivalent to watching TV. The second screen, sharing with others as you watch, interactivity  – the “social” part of TV will all be part and parcel of the regular TV experience. KESSLER PARALLAX – A BRILLIANT SOLUTION TO AUTOMATIC PANNING ON A SLIDER | Dan Chung | News Shooter This week Kessler announced a simple add-on auto panning solution for their popular Pocketdolly and Cineslider. Essentially a bar attached to the slider that couples to a panning base o...

Ray Harryhausen , Effects Innovator Behind Jason and Sinbad, Dies at 92 New York Times Quick Links The Next Steven Spielberg Uses A Smartphone | Readwrite Blackberry has teamed up with famed Sin City director, Robert Rodriguez, to create a short film using the new Blackberry Z10. Former Cannes film festival winner, Park Chan-wook, used a smartphone to film Paranmanjan - it won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.  Filmmaking on an iPhone: What are the benefits? | Kristian Day | Zacuto One of the finest products in the plethora of those that have flooded the market is the Zacuto iPhone Point N Shoot. On my television cooking show, Crowding the Pan, we shoot entirely on an iPhone 4S with a limited budget. This could be anywhere from zero dollars to $3000 an episode (depending on if someone is sponsoring us or not that week). The Real Deal on Redrock’s “One Man Crew” | Crew of One For interviews, this $1,495 rig looks int...

Today Adobe announced that they are moving to an all-rental model for their creative software. You'll be able to rent a single title like Photoshop for $10 a month ($20 after the first year), or get access to the entire Adobe collection for $50 a month (there's some discounts for the first year for current users.) I've been using Photoshop since version 1.0, and Illustrator almost as long, and I just switched back to Premiere from Final Cut Pro , so I'm not an Adobe hater, but I must admit that I'm not a fan of being forced into a rental model. I already wrote at some length about this last year when they first announced the Creative Cloud:  Are Software Subscriptions A Good Idea? Color me a little skeptical about Adobe's justification for moving to the rental model: on the one hand they say that maintaining the Creative Cloud and Suite was a distraction : Producing these different versions was a distraction, and this move, Morris told me, will “giv...

I spent much of the last couple of days following around a team working on the Boston 48 Hour Film Project . I intend to write more, but here's my initial impressions: Things will go better if your core team has worked together before. The most pressure occurs at the beginning (coming up with an idea and a script) and at the end (getting the edit together and done by the deadline.) The in-between part - the shooting - can go pretty easily assuming you have the gear you need and the crew know's how to use it. If your editors and VFX people aren't involved in the scripting and shooting they'll be in better shape for the sprint to the finish on the last day. Have a call time for Saturday morning already set; otherwise it will be midnight on Friday night, the script won't be written, and the cast and crew will be calling wondering when/if they are needed in the morning. Have permissions for locations locked down before Friday evening, otherwise you'll waste t...