FilmmakerIQ.com

Behind the Creepy Screaming of the Prometheus Trailer

John P. Hess — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:51:59 +0000

Joe Berkowitz interviews Paul Dinletir of audiomachine about how he writes music from film trailers and where that electronic scream on the Prometheus trailer came from.

The music used in trailers isn’t always organically drawn from the film. Often the composers who create it have nothing to do with the score of the film in question, but still manage to boil its essence down to a minute or so of audio. We spoke to Paul Dinletir of audiomachine, the company that made the music for the Prometheus trailers, about the indelible sounds from that film, and the ins and outs of making music for trailers in general.

The music is such a big part of the Prometheus trailer; what sort of music and sound references did the filmmakers give you?
The big cue that was used on Prometheus is called “Judge and Jury.” This track was created with the idea of the orchestra, not being used in the traditional “orchestral” sense, but as more of a sound-design element to support the prominent electronic elements in the track. I wish I could say we delivered just what they asked us to do for this spot, but “Judge and Jury” was an existing cue off our Deus Ex Machina release that they licensed. You’ll have to track down the savvy music supervisor or editor that picked this cue for the trailer, although it was definitely written for a futuristic sci-fi type movie trailer. On the teaser trailer, they also used our cue “Knights and Lords,” which is a big action-adventure type cue.

How does one get into creating music for trailers?
I grew up playing classical piano with aspirations of becoming a songwriter. I first became interested in film scoring when I took a class about writing music for film through UCLA Extension. Eventually, I started getting jobs creating custom score for trailers while I was also composing for cartoon shows (Samurai Jack, My Life As a Teenage Robot) and reality TV shows (Hell’s Kitchen, Paradise Hotel, The Swan). As you can imagine, the pace of writing for all of those different projects was pretty intense. Currently, all of my efforts are concentrated on creating trailer music for audiomachine.

Fast to Create | Read the Full Article

World’s First Compact Shoulder Mount 8K Camera

John P. Hess — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:17:21 +0000

Make up artists around the world just grunted angrily. The techies in Japan just pushed the boundaries of Ultra-High Definition with this demonstration of a compact 8K (7680×4320) camera that can actually utilize still camera glass.

Via Diginfo.tv

Use Vinyl Flooring as a Backdrop

John P. Hess — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:06:25 +0000

Want a durable backdrop that’s stronger than paper and won’t wrinkle like cloth? Try stopping by your local hardware store and buying up that ugly vinyl flooring that’s in the cheap bin.

The Reverse Key Light

John P. Hess — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:56:32 +0000

So often when discussing the three point lighting basics we place the key light (the brightest and most important light) to our subject’s front and offset by 30-45 degrees. But a lot of interesting and naturalistic compositions can be obtained by moving the key further to the side or even behind the subject.

I used to work with a cinematographer named Rob Draper (Halloween 5, The Spitfire Grill). He was having me practice one day by shooting a product shot for a whisky bottle. I had set the bottle up in front of a seamless backdrop and put a light in front of the bottle at about a 45 degree angle. Rob came in to see how I was doing. His first comment was “What made you put the light in front of the bottle rather than behind the bottle?” I hadn’t really thought much about it. “Why wouldn’t you put the light behind the bottle and bounce in a little light for fill on the front side?” he asked. And that was when I was first introduced to “Reverse Key Lighting”.

Reverse Key Lighting is also called “short lighting” or “narrow lighting”. The idea is that the key light is placed behind the subject rather than in front (the way you would probably see it set up in most cinematography books). In the world of news and interviews its sometimes called a “reporter sandwich” because of the way the reporter is sandwiched by the light behind him and the camera in front of him. Its a very versatile technique so lets take a look at some examples.

Evan E Richards | Read the Full Article

How do you make a documentary about Ken Burns?

John P. Hess — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:32:11 +0000

Making a short documentary about the iconic documentary filmmaker is a tall order in itself. Sarah Klein and Tom Mason sit down with the Atlantic to discuss how they approached the form and how they found b-roll for lofty ideas such as “1+1=3″.

The documentary of Ken Berns:

The Atlantic: What inspired you to explore storytelling as a topic for this film?

Sarah Klein and Tom Mason: Everyone loves a great story. Stories teach us things, move us emotionally, and form the basis of the way we understand the world. As filmmakers, we’ve been telling stories for a while now — but at a certain point we realized that it’s actually really hard to explain what makes a good story. We know it when we see it, but the recipe always proves elusive. Ken Burns has been telling incredible stories for decades, and we thought that if anyone would have a thoughtful perspective on this, it’d be him. So this project started as our own exploration to figure out what that magic dust is that brings his stories to life.

It takes guts to make a documentary about one of documentary cinema’s most iconic filmmakers. How did you approach it?

We were definitely nervous about it. Ken Burns has defined documentary for our whole lives. We both remember sitting with our families watching The Civil War series in awe. We came to this project with a lot of questions and very little idea where they’d lead. He was incredibly patient, and brought his own curiosity and open mind to the conversation about how he tells stories and why. The first time we sent him a cut, we both poured a couple glasses of bourbon and crossed our fingers. Luckily, he liked it.

The Atlantic | Read the Full Article

12 New Effects in Adobe After Effects CS6

John P. Hess — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:20:42 +0000

Review some of the fun new effects available in AE CS6 including the Cycore HD effects and other built in plug-ins. Along the way, you’ll discover why updating many of these effects to 32-bit in this version of After Effects is so important.

How To Approach Corporate Sponsors

John P. Hess — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:45:42 +0000

Filmmaker Meg Pinsonneault on the best way to approach corporate sponsors, whether she is plan-oriented or fatalistic, why she feels she is on the right career path and how to use jealousy as motivation.

Behind the Scenes of “Video Game High School”

John P. Hess — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:27:53 +0000

Go behind the scenes of “Video Game High School” – A feature length web series mixing real life and First Person shooters. From directors Brandon Laatsch and Freddie Wong.

You can watch the first episode here:

A Closer Look at the Bell & Howell 2709 Cinema Camera

John P. Hess — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:23:10 +0000

Enough of these fancy-pants digital cameras! Sam Dodge gives us a tour of a historically significant antique motion picture studio camera. Originally purchased by Thomas Ince for use at Thomas Ince Studios. February 23, 1918.

François Truffaut – The Man Who Loved Cinema

John P. Hess — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:19:32 +0000

He was suspicious of directors who had hobbies… he couldn’t understand how you could love two things in life. He loved only one… cinema.