Archive for the ‘film’ Category
Barry Jenkins’ terrific DIY feature Medicine for Melancholy won awards at the Sarasota, Woodstock, and San Francisco International film festivals and garnered three Spirit Award nominations. A.O. Scott of the New York times called it an “exciting debut” and made it a NY Times Critic’s Pick. M4M was picked up for distribution by IFC Films and was released theatrically last January (VOD and DVD releases followed).
Barry and I attended the Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium together in 2002 and have run into each other a few times since on the festival circuit. Here we talk about DIY filmmaking, distribution deals, VOD, new media, brand integration, and film school.
Independent producer Ted Hope (Adventureland, 21 Grams, In the Bedroom, and seemingly a thousand other films) is expanding the perception of what “independent film” is and how it should be distributed. I had a chance to sit down with him at Power To The Pixel, where he gave me some very valuable advice; we share the same view of independent film, that with crisis comes opportunity. Ted’s been very generous on his Truly Free Film blog by sharing advice like Ten things to do before you submit a script and Display your value: you are different from them, as well as asking pertinent questions such as What defines an event? In short, his blog is a must-read for independent filmmakers. Here, he answers some questions for the forthcoming film Press/Pause/Play. More »
Thanks to everyone for checking out The DSLR Cinematography Guide, which is up to 20,000 views since launching less than a month ago. While it’s great to get traffic for something, what I’m most impressed by is the average time spent on the page: 12 minutes. This is an eternity by internet standards, where most people click on something, find it’s not for them, and immediately click away. I’m sure many visitors to the guide itself fall into that category, which means the rest of you are spending double or triple that on the page, so I’ll take that as proof it’s helpful. And, of course, thanks to everyone who’s commented on the guide.
Today I made some revisions and posted some new sections to the guide; read on to find out what’s new. More »
Here’s the lead from a post I wrote immediately after the Apple iPad announcement yesterday; it’s now live over at FreshDV:
The Apple iPad offers a number of exciting new possibilities for filmmakers and story architects thanks to its screen size, connectivity, and interactivity. At first glance it may seem like just a big iPhone, but it’s priced to move and — whether you plan on buying one or not — in 60 days it will be in the hands of millions. For filmmakers and independent creatives, there’s a lot of brain candy contained in that thin body; here are seven ways I think the iPad will change filmmaking and interactive storytelling.
To read the article, head on over to FreshDV.
I unpacked my brand new Canon 5d Mark II a few months ago and excitedly clambered onto my Manhattan rooftop to put it through some tests. Within minutes I discovered the nasty aliasing artifact seen above, wherein the uniformly brown brick building down the block seemed to have a pattern of gray concentric circles overlaid across its surface. I knew about, and expected, the DSLR aliasing problems, and even wrote that I had some ideas about how to defeat them (on the rooftop that day, I tested several contrast and softening filters in an attempt to defeat the oversharpened look, to little avail). But I knew what I was getting into, and for the price, I’ve learned to (more than) love the one I’m with. More »
The second episode of RADAR that I directed and DP’d with Zack is live today. Check out the episode below, and stay tuned to RADAR for future episodes on cutting-edge arts and culture. More »
Lots of news from the RED camp today. If you’re interested in what may be not only the future of digital acquisition, but also display, head on over to their forum. Of note: More »
I’m only posting this because I love The Wire, but really you could pull a thousand individual quotes from the show and it wouldn’t do it justice. The issue with this compendium is it focuses on the gully street slang that is, yes, a large part of The Wire — but a large part that is balanced out by profound cultural critiques and real, humanized characters. More »
When an online video series claims a hundred million views, but absolutely no one you know has ever even heard of it, something might be off. When an online video claims to have a hundred thousand views and it only has two comments, something might be off. In general, online viewership metrics aren’t standardized, and one of the reasons web video advertising hasn’t taken off is because advertisers don’t know how valuable a “view” really is. More »
Zack and I directed, and I DP’d, the first episode of RADAR Season 2, which kicks off today with the episode “Undetermined Measurements.” Check out the episode below, and stay tuned to RADAR for future episodes; Zack and I also directed another forthcoming episode in Season 2, and a number of very talented directors helmed the others. Thanks to Lance Weiler, Alex Johnson, Janine Saunders, and the rest of the RADAR crew! More »
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Kris .: Thanks for posting this.. I learned how to take my computer apart in the p… How to fix a noisy MacBook Pro fan
Luge: Ryan- fantastic post, great load of info- nice job. Thanks for getting thi… The DSLR Cinematography Guide
Medicine for Melancholy film | Rebel Cinema: [...] are some quotes from the interview on nofilmschool. You must check o… 6½ questions with: Barry Jenkins
Scott David Martin: Great stuff as usual Ryan. 6½ questions with: Barry Jenkins
Barry Jenkins Interview on NoFilmSchool | 1001 Positively True Stories of An Indie Filmmaker: [...] http://nofilmschool.com/2010/03/questions-with-barry-jenkins/ [...] 6½ questions with: Barry Jenkins