The documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation. We show what artists and filmmakers have been able to accomplish with both film and digital and how their needs and innovations have helped push filmmaking in new directions. Interviews with directors, cinematographers, colorists, scientists, engineers and artists reveal their experiences and feelings about working with film and digital–where we are now, how we got here and what the future may bring.

Episode 36

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Super Bowl Ads featured in this review:

“The Dog Strikes Back” – Volkswagen

“It’s Reinvented” – 2012 Toyota Camry

“2012″ – Chevy Silverado

“Transactions” Extended Version – 2012 Acura

“A Dream Car. For Real Life” – Kia

“Prohibition” – Budweiser

“King’s Court” – Pepsi

“It’s Halftime America” – General Motors

A couple of years ago, my friend Erik who worked with me asked me why I didn’t get my own line of coffee. I thought it would be a good idea and I began to test many different types of coffee. I finally found a coffee that I loved more than all the rest. And during blind tests I would always pick that one coffee.

I contacted the company that made it and together we worked on slight variations for a house roast, a decaf, and an espresso blend. This became the David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee. And I really like it very much. My friend who came over today had a decaf cup and said it tasted very good. I now drink about seven large cups per day, and I really look forward to each new cup.

—Huffington Post | Read the Full Article

Lynch even released a commercial entitled, “Oh Yeah” (but don’t expect any punch pitchers breaking through walls):

It may not make you want to grab a cup of joe but its still better than last year’s teaser for the coffee line:

You can pick up David Lynch’s Signature Coffees here

This short film is directed by Jeremiah Zagar and is part of the Focus Forward Films inspired by GE.

The Following includes shots that may be disturbing to viewers.

Kickstarter pulled support for this project when eagled eyed Helicopter enthusiasts noted that the helicopter in the pitch video was actually photoshopped images of the Chinese built Xaircraft which is currently selling for $669.

Furthermore, the team behind the eye3 Hexacopter, Grayson and Kellie Sigler were the owners of a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) company called Lumenlabs which was selling a computer controlled 3D lathe called the MicRo. But order fullfillment has been abysmal, customers reporting that they haven’t recieved shipment for orders placed 8-10 months ago. LumenLab’s Facebook page and Yahoo Group paint a very nasty picture of a company that simply can’t deliver.

According to a forum message on LuminLab site The company and the Sigglers had to stop production on the micRo due to Grayson Siggler’s recent medical battle with Lupus. In that forum message, Mr. Siggler seemed to indicate that the eye3 hexacopter project was designed to provide funding to keep Luminlabs in operation – a project that was supposedly started before Grayson got sick, but there’s no evidence they ever built or tested a model to begin with before launching the Kickstarter campaign.

In the same post Grayson seemed apologetic to customers who had bought the micRo 3d lathe but it doesn’t look like unfulfilled orders could expect any sort of refund (or product for that matter).

Whether the husband and wife team are just big dreamers who got in way over their heads or a couple of fishy crooks remains to be seen. Luckily a watchful internet community was able to spot a potential fraud and, under the rules of Kickstarter, no money was exchanged because the project had not reached it’s deadline.

But for the budding aviator, there’s still a silver lining. Paul Mather of DIYDrones.com put together a shopping list of parts that you’ll need to build the aircraft as seen in the picture. What’s not included is the hours of trial and error and fine tuning to get it successfully off the ground. But with a final cost of between $1000-1600, the possibility of flying your own Xaircraft hexacopter isn’t that far off.

And the demo video for the Xaircraft is way more impressive than anything in the Kickstarter Campaign…

1. Be Prepared
Deciding to take the leap into freelancing can be terrifying. You can ease your way into it but eventually you are going to have to take the plunge and jump on it. Quitting your job and not knowing where your next pay check is coming can be very scary. It’s especially scary if you have a lot of bills or a family to support (luckily I didn’t).

One of the most important things to do is to make sure you are prepared. I made sure I could go three months without getting a single job and still be okay. Not because I thought I would have that hard of a time getting work, but I didn’t know. I was awarded 10 jobs in December. For all I knew though, December could be the biggest month of the year for freelancers. Maybe January was the worst…

Another important reason for this was I didn’t want to be pressured into taking jobs I wouldn’t normally take. If you are getting desperate for work and your bills are stacking up you’ll take anything. I didn’t want to be put into that position. A few (or one) negative feedback on a site such as Elance can sink your freelancing dreams very quickly in the early stages.

There will always be clients you should steer clear off and unfortunately that’s one of those things you will to figure out and develop a sense over time. Being prepared will help take some (not all) of the stress out of freelancing.

— AE.tuts | Read the Full Article

The Trailer for Pina

But right now 3-D is arguably just a novelty act, existing in so many formats and processes that it’s premature to embrace it as the future of film and video dance. For starters, the stats on “Pina” say it exists in Digital 3-D and Real 3-D (that’s a corporate name, not a value judgment), as well as 2-D. And current 3-D eyewear ranges from those red-and-green plastic glasses you need for most YouTube 3-D on through so-called passive movie specs to expensive electric goggles required for 3-D TV. Most of them darken the image or desaturate color and some impose a flicker or shimmer.

What’s more, “Pina” is a special case, a valedictory compendium of excerpts, not a dance film per se. Indeed, Wenders arguably misrepresents Bausch’s achievements by emphasizing early and pure-dance pieces, never revealing that some of the exquisitely eccentric passages on view are embedded in multidisciplinary three- to four-hour panoramic epics. Bausch’s sense of time in the theater and her use of audience-confrontation tactics are ignored. What remains is eine kleine Pina: her Tanztheater with only the Tanz.

— LA Times | Read the Full Article

]]> http://filmmakeriq.com/2012/02/a-fully-dimensional-look-at-3-d-and-its-use-in-pina/feed/ 2 http://filmmakeriq.com/2012/01/john-gets-a-go-pro-hero-2-the-wrap/ http://filmmakeriq.com/2012/01/john-gets-a-go-pro-hero-2-the-wrap/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:30:40 +0000 John P. Hess http://filmmakeriq.com/?p=10696 Filmmaker IQ’s John Hess talks about his new filmmaking tool: the GoPro Hero 2.

Episode 35:

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Shownotes

Shots from my first day out with the GoPro Hero 2

Top 7 Articles from Last week:

7. 10 Tips for Writing an Unsellable Screenplay

In this tongue-in-cheek guide, “Pappy Crappy” outlines some easy steps to ensure that your precious vision will find a comfy home at the bottom of a recycle bin.

6. In-Depth Interview with Billy Wilder from 1996

In a interview with the Paris Review in 1996, Billy Wilder opens up about getting started as German Immigrant, flops, collaboration and why it seemed so many east coast novelists couldn’t make it in Hollywood.

5. DIY Streaming Media Server

The filmmakers at our favorite underwater film production, The Underwater Realm, talk about what it takes to put together a 16 terabyte media server running on Infiniband to safely store and stream Red Epic Raw files for a fraction of the cost of an enterprise grade server.

The discussion on the server starts around 1:20

4. What is Motion Design?

This video from Motion Design Plus takes a look at the growth of Motion Design throughout the century with the ultimate aim of creating the first exhibition center dedicated solely to Motion Design in Paris, France.

3. The Future of CGI with Michael Bay, Jon Favreau, Ray Liotta and Paul Scheer & Rob Huebel

Ray Liotta, Michael Bay & Jon Favreau talk about the future of CGI with motion capture experts, Paul Scheer & Rob Huebel in this Funny or Die video.

The Future of CGI w/ Michael Bay, Jon Favreau, Ray Liotta and Paul Scheer & Rob Huebel from Michael Bay

2. Up with Cameras! eye3 Helicopter Drone for $999

Kellie Sigler and her husband have spent the last two years developing a low priced helicopter platform for aerial photography. Launching through Kickstarter, the basic 6-blade hexacopter with 24lbs of thrust can be yours for a cost of just shy of a grand.

Kickstarter cancelled this project – as of the posting of this podcast, we don’t know why.

1. 33 Jaw Dropping VFX breakdowns from Television

Television Programs have grown to become major cultural events in our culture. And with the availability of technological magic, visual effects for the original “boob-tube” can now match almost anything being seen on the silver screen.

Slaughter of the Bumblebee

Here I am playing a nasty quartet

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