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8 Tips: Making Silent Films Today | Karlanna Lewis | Raindance
This article suggests that making a silent movie is a great way to build skills:
4. Camera and Set
Because visual elements are the core of silent movies, camera quality is crucial. Set also plays an important role in the story, so consider contrasting locations to follow the plotline and using existing locations since background noise does not matter.


Canon announces EOS-1D X release date | Christopher MacManus | C|net
The 4K DSLR is coming, though in limited quantities:
Talking to Imaging Resource, a Canon U.S. representative said that "the EOS-1D X cameras will be arriving in mid-June to select dealers in small quantities and increase gradually over time. They will be here in time for the Olympics and will be available."


Exclusive preview of Zacuto’s Revenge Of the Great Camera Shootout
| Philip Bloom | Blog
As luck would have it, they showed the film in Boston last night; unfortunately, I was unable to make it:
What Steve and Jens have made is a documentary of 90 minutes broken into 3 parts. The first of which goes lives on the 15th June. Unfortunately for some, I am in it. Although I was not able to participate in the testing part I was interviewed for the doc in Chicago last week and took the opportunity to get Steve and Jens to explain on camera exactly what this “Shootout” was about. You can view the video exclusively below.


Insert Coin: The Aviator Travel Jib lets you crane on the go (video) | Steve Dent
| Engadget
A KickStarter project for a jib:
At less than 3.75 pounds and 24-inches compacted, the device will tote anywhere but support up to six pounds, thanks to its sylphlike but rigid carbon fiber construction. It'll take your cinema cam or DSLR rig out to around six feet, and with its built-in fluid pan base, let you crane, track or truck to your heart's content. Pledge $400 and you'll get the jib, ballast, mounting hardware and a bubble level, while students can get the jib alone for $300. If that sounds like it could hit your mark, move fluidly past the break for the video.


Clean Up Your After Effects Projects for Archiving | Danny Greer | Premiumbeat
A link to a tutorial by Creative Cow contributor Kevin P. McAuliffe:
When you’re cleaning up an After Effects project, and especially before archiving, you’ll likely want to have one master composition and all the files that are associated with it. If you didn’t end up using a particular graphic or video that made it’s way into an After Effects project than there’s no reason for archiving it.


Prometheus: rebuilding hallowed vfx space | Mike Seymour | Fxguide
Visual effects creation for Prometheus:
Weta Digital produced a range of shots for Prometheus, from alien attacks to disturbing med-pod sequences, from Engineer ritualistic suicide to shot-for-shot digital doubles. A theme for many of these sequences was realistic skin. To produce such believable close-up character work, Weta had to build on its effects in Avatar and go even further into sub-surface scattering (SSS) algorithms than ever before. Weta used a global illumination tool starting on Avatar, and every project they have done since has advanced it incrementally

Several videos shot with the Canon C300, thanks to Paul Antico;

The Kimberley Gorges: Canon C300 | Philip Bloom | Vimeo
Montage for C300 Canon presentation in Seoul. Full documentary coming soon.
Edited by Sarah Estela with minor tweaks by moi.
Canon C300 - Overview & Setup - Magnanimous Media | Magnanimous Media
| Vimeo
Jonah Rubash extols the virtues of the Canon C300 and demonstrates the basic setup.
Canon C300 Field and Studio Test Tutorial | Marko Visual | Vimeo
I had the chance to field test a C300 for a couple of days. I'm going to be using the camera on my next trip to Guatemala to finish shooting the second documentary for Athentikos called Becoming Fools: becomingfools.com
So I used this opportunity to see what kind of images I could get from the camera in certain lighting situations and settings. I used two lenses, the Canon 24-70L 2.8 and a Zeiss ZE 50mm 1.4. None of the footage has been treated and I used the LogC profile for all the clips you see.


Larry Jordan and Autodesk Smoke: What Makes Smoke Different? (Session 1)
| Autodesk | YouTube
More on Autodesk's Smoke 2013 (free trial through September):
In this first "Getting Started with Smoke 2013" tutorial, learn what makes Autodesk Smoke different from other NLEs and understand Smoke terminology.


“Save As…” Makes a Subtle Comeback in OS X Mountain Lion | J. Glenn Künzler
| MacTrast
Glad to see Save As coming back:
One of the few things that has constantly frustrated me with OS X 10.7 Lion has been the removal of the “Save As…” command in all of the built-in apps. While certain tricks have surfaced that sort of duplicate the function, such tricks pale in comparison to the real thing.


Shot Lister | Reel Apps Inc | iTunes
Interesting iPhone/iPad app that's on sale this week for $9.99:
Shot Lister revolutionizes the art of shot listing from pre-production to the minute by minute decisions on set. It's designed by experienced film makers to deliver the only solution that can build, organize, schedule and share shot lists digitally.
Shooting a film never goes to plan, and now instead of scribbling over your printed out spreadsheet from a week ago, you can get back on track with a flick of a finger.


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