Not strictly Doctor Who this week, but a cool interview all the same. The local chapter of SIGGRAPH (a group of computer graphics geniuses) brought Industrial Light and Magic special effects legend Dennis Muren to Vancouver, and Warren was able to interview him. Apologies for the dodgy audio during Warren’s questions….the details are too boring to go into, but at any rate Muren’s thoughts on visual effects, art and the motion picture industry are the good stuff.
Here’s the second video from out trip to Egypt. Camels in trucks, ancient monuments, and a felluca ride. Go here (and head to the lower right for the link) to get the HD version.
So Mel and I went to Egypt this Christmas, and I finally found the time to put together some highlights from the first part of our trip. In this video you’ll see downtown Cairo, the Coptic area (home to some of the oldest Christian churches in the city and the oldest synagogue in Egypt) and, of course, the Pyramids. I shot the video on my Canon HV20 and graded it with Magic Bullet Looks, which was well worth my hard earned cash. Head to the Vimeo page and go to the lower right hand side to download the HD version of this video.
Twitter, for those not in the know, is a “micro-blogging” platform that lets you jot off quick notes in 140 characters or less. At first I was in the same boat as most, not “getting it,” but soon I found that if I dashed off quick notes about whatever struck my fancy, I soon developed followers based on those topics. Besides the digerati I already know here in Vancouver, I’ve also built up a small community of fellow videographers, and we spend a lot of our time firing advice back and forth. It’s also a great way to interact with the small and highly-connected audience of my podcast.
At any rate, New York Magazine has a feature on the guys behind Twitter, who are neither in New York nor making any money with their service. But it’s still an interesting peek into the world of a hot start-up.
Vimeo, my new video host of choice, is presenting a new web series called Filmfellas, a “Dinner for Five” type show featuring four filmmakers engaging in badinage about process, web vs. TV and film and the changing media landscape. One of the regulars is Philip Bloom, who puts out some amazing looking short films using only a lens adapter and a Sony EX1 (a camera I’ve played with and mostly like). Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’ll definitely be a regular viewer. You can see the first episode below.
So it appears that indie filmmaking in 2008 is in dire straits. The technology to make a film has spread far and wide and the cost of making a film has plummeted, but according to Mike Curtis of HD for Indies, distribution is still next to impossible and the math doesn’t work in favor of people being able to make a living off of making movies. But…where’s the surprise here? Hasn’t that always been the way indie films have been? Kent Nichols, of Ask a Ninja fame, certainly thinks so, and states in his blog that the next generation of creators and stars will emerge from Youtube and other online venues. The Observer also has an interesting article about how web series have come of age since the early days of LonelyGirl15.
Personally, as someone who creates content for a living I don’t even think it’s worth it to create an independent feature film for anything other than as a calling card to showcase your skills. Sure, there’s lots of street cred, but that doesn’t pay the bills. Web series are an ideal platform in which to not only hone your craft but also pre-build an audience, should you ever decided to damn the torpedoes and go the feature route. And unlike the frankly byzantine procedures needed to make content with a studio or (here in Canada) a government agency, all a web series requires is a hosting service and the ability to click “upload.”
RED, the creators of the RED ONE camera that’s revolutionized digital filmmaking, recently announced two new cameras, the RED Scarlet and Epic. Essentially these two cameras operate as a modular “brain”, with an almost infinite choice of attachments that extend the camera from a fixed-lens shooter to a IMAX level behemoth capable of shooting 28k pictures.
The only problem with this panacea is that the original Scarlet, announced last year and them shelved, was a planned “3k for 3k” wonder camera that would have taken the prosumer and DV Rebel world by storm. Instead, low end users would have to shell out something on the order of $7,000 or more to build a suitable camera for their needs. That figure simply isn’t in the budget of many indie filmmakers.
Even more mysteriously, RED has announced that even more info will be released on December 3rd. It remains to be seen if lofi auteurs will be elated or disappointed in a few days time.
Here’s the demo reel for my video production company, Freyburg Media. Just a sampler of the stuff I’ve worked on and the skills I can bring to a corporate video, podcast, or broadcast television segment.