» Archive for the ‘Featured Content’ Category
Subzero temperatures. Sunlight filtering through an afternoon forest onto bright white snow. Actors wearing shiny silver outfits, running from direct sunlight to shadows. No neutral density filters and no polarizing filters. No bounce cards and no lights. No tripod. Collectively, all of this makes for some of the worst conditions you could use a camera in. On top of this, it wasn’t even my project, so I was essentially filming a behind-the-scenes featurette with no ability to direct the actors. This was not a project from which to produce a great reel; it was simply a way to put a camera and a new set of lenses to a (freezing) test. With all of those disclaimers, if you care to see the footage, here it is. More »
On Feb 1, 2008 Mark Cuban posted to his blog about a far-fetched, impossible-to-execute marketing concept that he desperately wanted film studios to adopt, in order to leverage the value of free giveaways to combat the crumbling theatrical marketplace. Digital was exploding, distribution was becoming a fractured nightmare, and studios were scrambling to adapt.
The idea was staggeringly simple: give away the film’s soundtrack for free. More »
Audio Recorder Roundup: Zoom H4n vs. Tascam DR-100mkII vs Tascam DR-40
If you’re a DSLR shooter, you know that having an independent audio recorder can be a must for getting quality sound. There are a lot of affordable flash recorders that can deliver great audio, but only a few of them have features like XLR inputs and multi-channel recording. Three models stand out: the Zoom H4n, the Tascam DR-100mkII, and more recently, the Tascam DR-40. How do they stack up in terms of features filmmakers want, and which one delivers the sound you need? I aim to delve into these questions and more, so read on! More »
Holy cow. What if I told you BlackMagic Design was introducing a 2.5K resolution, 13-stop dynamic range, RAW-shooting (with format-agnostic ProRes/CinemaDNG/DNxHD options), Thunderbolt-connected, built-in touchscreen LCD, SSD-recording camera that comes with the new version of Resolve 9 color correction software… all for $3,000? You’d say, “what’s the catch?” Looks like the only catch is a 15.6 mm x 8.8 mm (active) sensor size, which makes it a S16 camera, not a S35. Still, for that price and with those options — this is a seriously disruptive camera and one that targets the HDSLR space perfectly. More »
It’s been announced – the long awaited successor to the MX sensor, Dragon, is finally getting some specs and a release date. Upgrades for Epic will cost $6,000 and begin late this year, while the Scarlet upgrades won’t be until 2013 with a price TBD. Jim slightly broke his rules – announcing specs for something that isn’t shipping yet – but it’s still fun to see what those guys at RED are coming up with. I just came from the REDUser event where the 4K portrait finalists had their films displayed on multiple 4K TVs all at once – my favorite being the Panasonic 152″ behemoth, which isn’t even at NAB – only RED had it at their event. More »
5D Mark III/D800 Hands-On Part 4: Mark II vs. Mark III vs. D800 - Candlelight
Well it’s taking a bit longer to get these up than I’d hoped, but I think the evidence in this one is the most obvious of any test I’ve seen so far. This time the Canon 5D Mark II has been thrown into the mix, in addition to the 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800. We were in a room with large windows well into the night, and so there are a couple streetlights providing very basic illumination at the higher ISOs. Other than that the only light is the candle right in front of our model Sasha. More »
Five Ways Filmmakers Can Use Pinterest
It’s more likely than not that you’ve heard of Pinterest — the fast growing social media network that lets folks create an online scrapbook of images they can share or re-share with others. Being such a visual medium, it’s no surprise many filmmakers are exploring ways in which they can put this new social media tool to use. With that in mind, here are 5 ways filmmakers can use Pinterest to their advantage: More »
Lenses have been covered here a few times before – especially in the DSLR Cinematography Guide (and even a guest post by Matthew Duclos), but I thought this video put together by Caleb Pike over at DSLR Video Shooter was as thorough and brief as one could be on the subject of Nikon prime lenses. Even though Koo dislikes them for their backwards focusing, I happen to own quite a few of them and wouldn’t recommend any other type of lens to budget filmmakers. More »
Why do videos go viral? The success of the Kony 2012 documentary has a lot of filmmakers and activists pondering this very question. Racking over 50 million views on YouTube since Monday (and over 14 million views on Vimeo) the documentary is the quintessential example of a viral phenomenon. Now, beyond the accuracy of the documentary, or controversies swirling about it, it’s interesting to consider just how and why this video went viral. In a recent TED talk called ‘Why Videos Go Viral’, YouTube’s trends manager, Kevin Allocca, boiled the answer down to three interacting factors — factors we can see at play in the ‘Kony 2012′ phenomenon: More »
For screenwriting, I’ve been a long-time Final Draft user, but I’ve never been a huge fan. It’s like the Microsoft Word of screenwriting software — ubiquitous and adequate, but not something you’re particularly excited about. I’ve been using it since Version 4, and it has definitely improved since then, but for a $250 program I’ve never felt that it has evolved as much as I’d like. What am I looking for? More structuring and outlining tools. This is where Movie Draft comes in. Note that it’s Mac only available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, it’s rated nearly 5 stars in the Mac App Store, and it only costs $30. More »
This is a guest post by indie filmmaker Jason Sokoloff.
Everyone wants to write and direct, but the reality is it doesn’t happen immediately. Coming out of NYU’s Graduate Film Program, I was surrounded by talented filmmakers, but, while you’re writing scripts and trying to do what you love, you have student loans to repay, rent that’s due, and health insurance would be nice. Quite simply put, you need a job – preferably with benefits. In order to pay my bills and still be active in the film community, I found my niche working as a production manager and line producer. I cannot express how important it is to work on a film set and what better way to continue growing as a filmmaker than by helping others produce and make their own films. More »
I mentioned previously that I’d shot a micro-short to test out the RED SCARLET, and here it is. To put the camera through its paces, we wanted to use it in a real-world setting instead of shooting charts in a studio — but we also didn’t have the time or budget to put together a “real” short. What we set out to make (and what we ended up with) is something more than a series of test shots, and something less than a proper short. This was a no-budget, quick production on which everyone donated their time. Let me know what you think! More »
This is a guest post by DP and filmmaker Randolph Sellars.
I’ll be talking about working with experienced actors and feeling a little uncomfortable or inadequate as a director. The lack of confidence when directing actors is an embarrassing secret many directors share that’s not often discussed. More »
This is a guest post by cinematographer Angelo Lorenzo.
So there we were: my production partner rented some of our gear for a music video and roped both of us in to camera operate. The crew was made up mostly of film students still in, or just recently out of, an expedited 6 month film program. The director had bailed the night before principal photography and had left our DP in charge. Throughout the course of the two day shoot we watched the production slowly implode; not because these guys lacked knowledge or enthusiasm, but because they hadn’t gained the experience to “turn the ship around” when a production starts sinking into turmoil. With this recent experience in mind, I wanted to share some advice to novice filmmakers to help their days on set go as smoothly as humanly possible. If you’re battle worn then let this serve as a gut check when shooting lean. More »
Celluloid is expensive. And besides, literally nobody makes film cameras anymore. But it does have a very particular aesthetic, one chief component of which is grain. There is a grit to film that today’s digital cameras lack, and while there are plenty of plugins out there to simulate this grit, there are no substitutes for the real artifacts. The guys at CineGrain took dozens of different film stocks and painstakingly scanned them in, delivering authentic grain, dirt, headers, tails, lens flares, and flash frames on a nice branded hard drive. Film grain isn’t appropriate for every project, but if you want your video to look like grainy 35mm, 16mm, or 8mm — but can’t shoot the real thing — you’ll find CineGrain to be a handy addition to your toolbox of tricks. More »
This is a guest post by Matthew Duclos of Duclos Lenses.
There’s no doubt that all of the new cameras announced in the past couple years are very capable in their own field and will prove to produce many, many beautiful images. Regardless of your camera choice, everyone is going to need to find a lens that fits their style and fulfills their needs for a range of productions. Whether you’re shooting a film school project or shooting a feature film, there is a balance to lensing your imagers. More »
In a post about the new RED SCARLET-X, I mentioned that I ordered the camera myself. First of all, some context: I’ve been a “professional” in video (since apparently we need to distinguish between professional and amateur) since I was hired as a video editor in 1999, at the age of 18. Since then, save my four year stint in college, I’ve made my living in and around the industry, shooting, editing, directing, producing, designing, etc. for hire (here’s a resume). Yet I’ve never owned a “professional” camera. So I got all excited on Twitter about the prospect of finally being able to own and operate a camera of the SCARLET-X’s caliber, after twelve years of working my way up to this point. But I’ve been surprised at the number of people who have left comments questioning this decision, accusing me of misspending the Man-child Kickstarter funds, or writing critiques with me at the center. So here are a dozen points of clarification: More »
Here’s what I learned from running a $125,000 Kickstarter campaign for my feature film Man-child, which became the most funded project in Kickstarter’s narrative film category — for just one day, it turns out. More »
For its future as a streaming only service, Netflix is reliant on deals with content owners, a situation which has the service being described aptly as a castle on quicksand. As evidence of its constantly-changing library, Netflix recently lost Starz content but today added Dreamworks Animation films to their library. However, Amazon also doubled their Prime library today (which at $79/year — including an unlimited free two-day shipping tie-in — compares favorably to Netflix’s $96 annual fee). Competition is heating up, but I can’t help but note one other thing about Netflix: the design of their website and most of their apps is, and always has been, mediocre at best. Which is to say nothing of the connection between the service’s benefit to consumers and its detriment to content creators. More »
I heard recently from an NYC-based actor friend who is undergoing an internal debate common to his profession. Should he move to LA to pursue an acting career (uprooting himself in hopes of getting cast in a major TV show or film), or stay where he is and do what he can outside of Hollywood? As someone who runs a web site focused on DIY/independent careers, I thought I’d write him an open letter explaining why I think 21st-century performing artists should forget about putting their careers in the hands of others, and instead take the reins — and responsibility — themselves. Here is that letter: More »
Heiko: I love DigitalRevTV - these guys do great reviews and tutorials. Look at … How Durable is Your Camera? A Canon 7D is Tested to the Extreme
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shaun wilson: What this thread has demonstrated is that there are a few issues at play -… Ken Burns on Storytelling: 'All Story is Manipulation'