Yesterday Apple launched a half-dozen new products, including a new Apple TV. Apple is no longer a computer company; they even changed their name from Apple Computer to Apple, Inc. in recognition of this. But while they’re very clearly a mobile devices company, the question that’s been lingering about Apple since they launched their lackluster first-gen Apple TV is whether they are a living room company too. With the new device, we have an answer to that question: “no.” More »
Lately I’ve been reading a number of books for independent creatives — in film, in art, in business — and the one I’m currently working my way through is Linchpin by Seth Godin. As soon as I can find the time I’ll post reviews of these books, most of which I believe are very helpful in planning an independent career — and most of which align very closely with my own manifesto. Recently Godin announced that Linchpin will be the last book he’ll publish “in a traditional way.” For me to say I’m interested in distributing films in a new way is not news. For Godin (who has written twelve bestsellers) to say the same thing, however, is worth noting. And as it turns out, the decisions he’s faced with as an author aren’t much different than the decisions we’re faced with as filmmakers. More »
I’ve been using a number of Gmail Labs features in an effort to prioritize and filter incoming email, and I’ve settled on a system that has allowed me greater freedom from constant email-checking. But my techniques — which rely primarily on the add-on Multiple Inboxes — are by no means infallible. Thus I found myself intrigued by Google’s announcement today of Priority Inbox, which automagically sorts your email by importance. This is a big deal for any Gmail user, but I wonder if it might create a third category of email just above “spam.” I also wonder if the emails of filmmakers are going to frequently find themselves in this third, deprioritized category. More »
Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter has posted a nice tutorial for turning any old lens into a Macro lens. This process consists of attaching a diopter to the front of your lens, which allows you to focus on objects much closer to the camera than before. Note that these diopters — which come in different strengths — can be “stacked” to allow for maximum effect. Caleb explains the process and then shares some example shots: More »
How are you transcoding your DSLR video these days? If you’re editing in Premiere Pro CS5, are you even transcoding at all? No matter your NLE, there are several options for transcoding, like Magic Bullet Grinder, the still-in-beta 5DtoRGB, and Canon’s own EOS Movie Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro. It looks like Canon’s going to be adding some interesting features to their free solution: More »
Now that U.S. troops are leaving Iraq, we’ll probably be hearing a lot less about Iraq and a lot more about Afghanistan (and innocuous mosques) in the daily news. But that is not to say that the ongoing conflicts in Iraq will be lessened in any way, other than in our perception. One such Iraqi conflict relates to rise of homophobia in the muslim world. From Baghdad to Brooklyn is a DIY documentary focused on this conflict, though after watching the trailer I did find myself left with one complaint. Well, two really: More »
How’s that for an exciting thumbnail, right? This is only of interest for 5D Mark II, 7D, and forthcoming 60D shooters, but DSLRs gobble batteries at an alarming rate in movie mode. To date we’ve been faced with paying $70-$100 for each genuine Canon LP-E6 battery, or taking our chances with eBay models for $10. Until now… More »
Since re-launching in January of this year, NoFilmSchool has received over 500,000 pageviews from 200,000 visits. With an average time on the site of 5 minutes, that accounts for one million minutes collectively spent on this site in 2010! Compared to the largest web sites out there, this is nothing in terms of traffic. But for a one-man operation — there is no marketing department, no ad sales team, no dedicated designers or developers — it’s been eye-opening and very pleasantly surprising. However, sometimes it feels like I’ve spent one million minutes working on the site myself. My eventual goal is to bring in other writers in order to A) take the content here to the next level, and B) keep the site going when I’m off shooting and can’t post something every day. But that’s still a ways off, so in the meantime, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know about a page I’ve added. The Support NoFilmSchool! page includes B&H and Amazon search boxes — if you use them to buy anything, NoFilmSchool gets a small percentage of each sale (the percentage comes out of the store’s margin; it won’t cost you a penny more). There are a couple of kinks to work out — why is the B&H search box messed up? — but by all means, please think of this page anytime you’re planning on buying anything from B&H Photo or Amazon.com — it’s a great way of supporting NoFilmSchool at no additional cost to you. Thanks as always for reading!
The ink on Nikon’s D3100 announcement has hardly dried, and here we are with some stiff competition. It’s not really news anymore that a DSLR shoots full HD (1080p), and all three of these cameras qualify in that category. The new Canon 60D brings with it manual audio, and Canon’s flexible video recording options of 1080p20/25/24 and 720p60/50. Meanwhile the Sony A55 and A33 claim some interesting new “phase detection” autofocus technology thanks to a translucent mirror. From most expensive to cheapest, the Canon 60D will be $1,100 (body only), and the Sony A55 and A33 will be $750 and $650, respectively. All three cameras sport APS-C sensors. However, while the Canon looks like a winner, I think the Sonys will fail filmmakers for one main reason: More »
Lifehacker is currently running a great series called “Lifehacker Packs,” wherein they round up all their favorite applications for the iOS, Android, and Mac platforms (no Windows love yet). Many of these applications are free, and each post is a great resource for anyone looking to add some creative/productive/fun tools to their computerized lives. The compilations are aimed at anyone, not just filmmakers (the full links are at the bottom of this post), but I’ve grabbed a number of relevant apps (and Lifehacker blurbs) for independent creatives: More »
To me, it’s one of the most important American stories to come out of the post-9/11 war on terrorism. It’s currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, and will be opening wide September 3rd. It’s a fascinating, tragic, true story that you simply couldn’t write — and it’s well-told by director Amir Bar-Lev (My Could Could Paint That). I’m talking about the first feature-length documentary on Pat Tillman, who famously gave up a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the military, only to be killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire (not, as was initially reported, by Taliban soldiers). But after watching the film, I couldn’t help but wonder: does The Tillman Story bury the lede? More »
The Mac operating system is elegant and simple, and the same goes for its process for installing and uninstalling applications — right? After all, to install an application, you just drag an app to your “Applications” folder, and to uninstall it, you just drag it to the trash. Simple. But the dirty secret with OS X is this simplicity comes at a cost: when you drag an application to the trash, you’re leaving a bunch of associated files scattered behind on your hard drive, and they’ll never go away. As I’ve recently been migrating my old laptop files to my new hackintosh, I’ve discovered a ton of old, orphaned files. Luckily, there are a number of simple ways to get rid of them. More »
Everyone has a general idea of what “f-stop” means, despite it also being known as “f-number,” “f-ratio,” “focal ratio,” or “relative aperture.” But then there’s “t-stop” which is similar but slightly different from f-stop, in that it’s a measurement instead of an equation. Richard Schleuning Of Zeiss explains, clearly and concisely, the difference between the two: More »
After 512 days without updates, the new Mac Pros are finally on their way to creative professionals. While I’m hacking my way DIY-style to a better editing machine, those of you with a need to edit in front of clients will be requiring a legit machine from Apple. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re not also interested in saving some money, so here are some deals and savings to be had — and some benchmarks to ponder. More »
When Google announced Google TV, I called it “a device/spec that obliterates the line between ‘TV’ and ‘computer.’ Suddenly it’s going to be a lot easier to get content from around the web onto your TV.” At the time, however, I was only able to find the official Google launch video and a few blurry screen grabs to demonstrate the forthcoming device. Thanks to StuffWeLike, however, we now have a video of the device in action — and while the blurriness is still a problem and the camera work is awful, there are some interesting hints at potential game-changers contained in the clip: More »
Since I’m currently building a Hackintosh with the express intent of switching from Final Cut Pro to Premiere Pro — and all systems are go, so far — it’s nice to know that Singular Software’s amazing sound-sync plug-in PluralEyes is now available for Premiere (it was previously restricted to Final Cut and Vegas). The plugin, which automagically syncs dual-system audio, is currently available with a 20% discount. However, there’s a caveat attached: More »
Daniel Plym shoots for the online entertainment mag Buzzine, and as a result he shoots a lot of red carpet interviews — on a DSLR. He’s responsible for both video and audio as a one man operation, and he manages to shoot dual-system without an audio guy. Here, he breaks down how he’s able to do this via the combination of a 5D Mark II, Sennheiser wireless mic, Zoom H4n, and the Pluraleyes plugin for Final Cut Pro. His tutorial is clear and concise — perfect if you’re not yet shooting dual-system but are thinking about doing so: More »
It seems Nikon has finally caught up to Canon. They might even surpass their rival in the entry-level market when their just-announced D3100 debuts in September — that is, if the camera delivers on its specs, which are the most filmmaker-friendly of any Nikon DSLR to date. The $700 prosumer model adds all of the most-requested features missing from Nikon’s previous offerings. The D3100 ups the video resolution from 720p to 1080p, switches from a low-quality MJPEG codec to better h.264-based encoding (no word on bitrate yet), and tosses in a new feature Nikon claims is a “world’s first.” More »
Ty: Like you stated though, all you need is a PC that runs iTunes (for now) With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
Ty: Ah. Good point. Ever since switching over to Apple I've kind of taken fo… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
William: What I want to see is a device that will bury the cable companies. Time Wa… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
Koo: That's a good point -- all you need is another piece of Apple hardware tha… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait