Last month I had the chance to create a new short film for the RezDowntown campus. (you can check it out after the break) The community recently moved into a new venue, formerly the Crosstown Station, which provided some wonderful visual opportunities. I especially loved the different kinds of available light found there.
One of my favorite things about this project was that it gave me the opportunity to experiment with a number of different post-production techniques I'd never attempted. As a result, this might well be the first project I've ever created that I'd be really happy to see on a 40-foot screen. A big part of that had to do with some major software finessing of the footage in post...
We talk A LOT about storytelling here because everything starts and ends with story. If you can't tell a good story, or worse even if you don't have a story to tell, then there's no point in picking up a camera in the first place. So what are the clues to telling a good story?
This weekend the blockbuster-scale John Carter movie releases wide, and it's directed by Andrew Stanton. If you don't know who Stanton is, you seriously need to get ahold of two of his all-time classics: Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Here's Stanton talking at TED about how to tell great stories...
As you can imagine I've gotten a lot of texts, email and Facebook IMs about the fact that Canon dropped the new 5D Mark III last night. (just to get this out of the way, on paper I'm not see that much to make the upgrade compelling) But all the hype brings up a point I think is worth making every so often: the story you're telling is a lot more important than the gear you have, or do not have.
I know that sounds a bit strange coming from someone who's trumpted video-DSLRs as being "revolutionary", but here's the deal: the Canon 5D Mark III is actually the price we consumers are now paying for the 'accident' that was the Mark II...
Today's a huge day for DSLR filmmaking. For the first time ever a major Hollywood blockbuster shot almost entirely on a DSLR is getting a wide release. (see the trailer after the jump) Three years ago a group of visionary cinematographers instinctively grasped how disruptive, these new tools would become, and they immediately set out to pioneer what has now become a revolution.
One of the guys on the very forefront of this whole movement was Shane Hurlbut, a widely-acclaimed cinematographer on movies like Terminator: Salvation and We Are Marshall. Rather than seeing DSLRs as a tool for budget filmmaking, Hurlbut immediate understood that the small form factor of these cameras would allow him to create imagery that would have be impossible otherwise.
One of my all-time favorite books from one of my all-time favorite authors is "Blue Like Jazz", and over the past several years it's author Donald Miller and Steve Taylor have been working to create a movie based on the source. Yesterday the official trailer for the film was released and I thought you might get a kick out of seeing it. (after the jump)
What's interesting about this project to those of us who are into indie filmmaking is that this movie was funded using a Kickstarter campaign. While the filmmakers originally had a goal of raising $125,000, passionate fans of the book ended up contributing $345,000, setting a Kickstarter record. If this reminds of us anything it should remind us that story truly is king.
At this year's Sundance Film Festival Adobe hosted a panel about technology and storytelling that's really worth giving a listen to. (check it out after the break) The group includes some of the filmmakers and producers behind "Avatar", "Hugo", "District 9", and the upcoming "Act of Valor", and it's amazing just to hear about them using widely available technology like the Canon 7D and After Effects. I just found this to be really inspirational - hopefully you will as well.
I saw the music video for Coldplay's "Paradise" a few months ago (before it has 68 million views), and I specifically remember thinking two things: #1 - "This video is really works" and #2 - "This video was probably really easy to make".
Sometimes we get stuck thinking that making great videos and films takes tons money and a slew of talented people. And on some projects that's true. But a great idea and some ingenuity trump big bugets almost every time. As filmmakers it's important to unlearn our limits. We do not know what we cannot do.
To see what I'm talking about, let's take a closer look at the "Paradise" video...
Porn addtiction is one of the most pervasive problems we face in our society, yet it's something no one really wants to talk about. It takes a lot of courage to be willing to stand up and share your story about your battles with pornography. And while Tom Ryan's story is more dramatic than most, it's far from being a unique problem.
After posting last week about the upcoming "Side By Side" documentary I got some traffic about another great documentary on the future of digital media entitled "PressPausePlay." After screening at SXSW and the Seattle International Film Festival the makers of this extraordinary documentary have taken the extraordinary step of posting it up for world to see, all for free.
One of the great things about this documentary is that while it has a lot to say it also asks some really important questions, questions like 'what truely makes someone and artist?' and 'how can true artists break through the digital cacophony?' What's even better is that while wrestling with some big issues PressPausePlay ultimately maintains a hopeful vision of the future.
Check out the entire documentary after the jump...
Yesterday Eastman Kodak announced that they are filing for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection. I can't imagine a more profound illustration of the way digital imagery has reshaped the photography and filmmaking. While for some this may appear to be the end of an era, to many of us it's the beginning of an amazing new chapter.
Enter Side By Side, a new documentary from Company Films exploring the turbulent transition from celuloid-based filmmaking to digital. As if the subject isn't compelling enough, check out who they've interviewed for the project (trailer)...
