FilmmakerIQ.com » Filmmaking 360

Tips on Owning vs Renting

John P. Hess — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:03:41 +0000

Caleb Pikes dives into the topic of gear ownership, looking at Oppurtunity Costs, identifying when is a good time to Buy/Rent and determining when it’s time to sell your gear.

Adobe Panel at Sundance: How Technology is Influencing Storytelling & Film

John P. Hess — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:25:37 +0000

Adobe’s first panel at Sundance 2012 featured talented panelists and filmmakers Rob Legato, Jacob Rosenberg, and Vincent Laforet; the panel was moderated by Sharlto Copley. The panelists shared insights on how technology and tools have impacted the way they create films and tell stories.

Kickstarter campaign for Eye3 Drone Hexacopter Too Good to be True

John P. Hess — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:25:09 +0000

Ah… the dangers of the internet. Turns out the eye3 drone hexacopter which was being touted as the easiest flying camera platform on earth was just way too good to be true.

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…

10 Key Tips To Becoming A Successful Video Freelancer

John P. Hess — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:20:49 +0000

Ready to take the plunge to becoming a filmmaking gun for hire? Remington McElhaney compiles 10 tips to help making that transition smoother.

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

A fully dimensional look at 3-D and its use in “Pina”

John P. Hess — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:20:31 +0000

“Pina” is a German dance film dedicated to the choreographer Pina Bausch. Nominated for an Oscar for best documentary feature, Pina is also dazzling audiences with breathtaking 3-D that has been compared to Avatar in terms of total audience immersion. Lewis Segal explores how the use of 3d breathes life into this dance documentary.

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

5×5 Filmmaking Movement

Dennis — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:31:33 +0000

The rules are simple, but the possibilities are endless! The video must be composed of five 5-second clips and use original sound (no music). You can find more 5 Vignettes at the 5×5 Vimeo Group.

George Lucas Retires from Filmmaking

John P. Hess — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:20:51 +0000

IQ Exclusive footage of the reaction of Star Wars fans around the galaxy*

After a rough reception from studio distributors for his latest film, “Red Tails”, the silver haired Father of the Force is going to hang up the Jedi robe for good and focus on smaller esoteric films… unless, of course, Indiana Jones 5 happens **

I’m retiring,” Lucas said. “I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.”

He was careful to leave himself an out clause for a fifth “Indiana Jones” film. But otherwise, “Red Tails” will be the last blockbuster Lucas makes. “Once this is finished, he’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do,” says Rick McCallum, who has been producing Lucas’s films for more than 20 years. “He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.”

— New York Times | Read the Full Article

*Yeah, I know, the original was better…

** Seriously Mr. Lucas, thanks for everything. We only make fun because you’re fantastically successful. Enjoy your well deserved retirement. Maybe you can convert some of Skywalker Ranch into a winery.

Francis Ford Coppola On Risk, Money, Craft & Collaboration

John P. Hess — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:10:23 +0000

Ariston Anderson interviews Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”, “Apocalypse Now”) on how to bridge the gap between distribution and commerce, screenwriting, and directing great actors.

How does an aspiring artist bridge the gap between distribution and commerce?
We have to be very clever about those things. You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n’ roll singer being rich, that’s not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I’m going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you’d be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say, “Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money.” Because there are ways around it.

—The 99% | Read the Full Article

Late Night Chat on the Canon C300 with the DP of 24

John P. Hess — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:00:07 +0000

In this series of late night vlogs with Rodney Charters (DP for the TV show 24) the Bui brothers explore the capabilities of the Canon C300 after shooting a camera test and having a few drinks.

Killing TV Lighting, 4k, and 10 bit

Using the C300 to create believable pictures

Closing remarks on the C300

It’s official, Kodak files Chapter 11

John P. Hess — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:57:49 +0000

The once giant film company filed for bankruptcy, looking to re-organize their business in an attempt to stay relevant in the digital age:

Eastman Kodak with Thomas Edison

The glory days when Eastman Kodak Co. ruled the world of film photography lasted for over a century. Then came a stunning reversal of fortune: cutthroat competition from Japanese firms in the 1980s and a seismic shift to the digital technology it pioneered but couldn’t capitalize on. Now comes a wistful worry that this icon of American business is edging toward extinction.

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, raising the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied casualty of a digital age.

— Associated Press | Read The Full Article