Sunday, September 25, 2005

Flash Equals Financial Freedom

Cartoon Network’s Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi may just reinvent the way animators think about 2D. Many animated TV shows are still based on pencil-and-paper drawings, which are scanned into conventional animation programs, but Puffy AmiYumi, produced by Renegade Animation, saves time and money by using Macromedia Flash as a key animation tool. The result is that Puffy AmiYumi is the only animated program created entirely in the U.S. READ MORE...

Mike Figgis on Super 16

Writer/ director / cinematographer
Mike Figgis hit Hollywood with Leaving Las Vegas , which generated an Academy Award for Nicolas Cage and nominations for Figgis’s screenplay and direction. On the subject of digital cinema, Figgis says he may yet return to 16mm filmmaking — he plans to shoot Going Down in New York with the same Aaton Super 16 kit he used for Leaving Las Vegas. READ MORE...

Looking To a Hi-Def Future?

1080p monitors are hitting the market just in time for the holidays and videographers and editors must now consider the display on which their clients and viewers will be watching finished video productions. Although there are a number of plasma , rear projection, and LCD monitors in the consumer market already, less than 15% of the public has made a purchase of hi-def displays. Prices of 1080 monitors are dropping from the $20,000.00 range to the $4,000.00 retail price range, and it's quite likely the industry will see much higher consumer purchases this holiday season. READ MORE...

Saturday, September 24, 2005

FORK IN THE ROAD

just finished my first ever horror short. people have been pretty happy with it so far. if ya got 7 minutes, check it out and let me know what you think! WATCH HERE...

Fresh from the Festivals

Most experimentation in animation occurs within short format productions, whether they are high-budgeted commercials, low-budgeted independent shorts or something in between. The growing number of short film festivals around the world attest to the vitality of these works but distribution tends to be difficult and irregular. You can see Quicktime clips from some of the most interesting films. CLICK HERE...

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Using a Graphics Tablet

Using a 4 x 5 inch graphics tablet to have fun with your digital photos With the rising popularity of digital cameras and digital photography, many computer-savy users are eager to put their own finishing touches on their digital images. Some have, however, quickly found out that sketching or painting with a mouse is like trying to draw with a bar of soap held in the middle of your hand. READ MORE...

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

HD FEST New York

On Friday September 30th and Saturday October 1st, HDFEST will present film selections from the HDFEST 2005 World Tour at the Goldcrest Post Screening Room, 799 Washington Street. All projects screened at the festival will be screened in high-definition resolution. The festival will also present a series of panel discussions and seminars on HD filmmaking, HD editing and digital cinema. The festival schedule can be found at http://www.hdfest.com/nyc_05.htm READ MORE...

Muppets return to TV next year (maybe)

However, don't get too excited, because they're not bringing back The Muppet Show. Instead, the six-episode series, America's Next Muppet will spoof American Idol as a slew of new Muppets audition for mainstays like Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy for a chance to be on the show. READ MORE...

Supernatural

So let me get this straight: every week these two brothers are looking for their missing dad, and they not only encounter mysterious things every week, but classic mysterious things every week? The first week was The Woman In White, and this week it's the Wendigo. What's next, not a sea monster but the actual Loch Ness Monster? Not a vampire but the actual Dracula? READ MORE...

AUDIO FOR SPOTS

Visual images are important but let's not forget the power of audio imagry. When you're selling or promoting a product or service, audio can often make the big difference. Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a song you heard in a commercial earlier that day playing over and over again in your head? A more distracted audience and tighter budgets are just two of the challenges facing audio pros these days. READ MORE...

Oscar Brown Jr. Chronicled in a Documentary Film

Music is My Life, Politics My Mistress: The Story of Oscar Brown, Jr.- released by No Credits Productions and More Than Five Years in the Making, Brown Sees Film Before His Death - READ MORE...

Saturday, September 17, 2005

SWAMP ZOMBIES PREMIERE

KillerWolf Films will be attending the Fangoria Convention in Secaucus,NJ (outside of NYC) on September 24-25th. At this convention will be the DVD premier of "Swamp Zombies" starring Jasmin St Claire, Blue Meanie, Dan Severn, and Pamela Sutch. DVD 3 disc set goes for $15, blue meanie and pam sutch will be at the killerwolf booth. Hope to see you there! SEE THE PREVIEW...

So you Wanna Write a Horror Screenplay

Here is where you will find the help to write a horror screenplay without leaving your seat (God knows you'd be much better off getting some exercise instead of sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, munching Doritos and Cheese Curls and downing Coke after Coke or beer after beer), but, it's your life. There's enough stuff on the Web to help you write your first script and who knows, you may put a little jingle in your jeans and then you can buy Cheese Curls by the case. READ MORE...

Editing "on the fly" -- literally

Technology is always chasing the common task and trying to make everyone's life easier. Tape logging is a task that most want to make as automated and as easy as possible. How else can you explain all the software gizmos and gadgets videophiles have developed to make the task as painless as possible? READ MORE...

Test Your Video Production IQ!

Do you know the difference between balanced and unbalanced audio? When should you use a camcorder's 24P mode? Can you define a Turnkey Editing System?
Then you should take Videomaker Quiz to find out how you rate!TAKE THE TEST...

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Completion Funds Needed URGENT

Low Budget Special FX How can we make a low budget feature film like HORRORS OF WAR look like a big budget feature? Utilizing top notch special effects and innovative new software, we are able to create convicing looks. It could be as simple as changing the colour of the sky or it could be the creation of an army. CONTACT: phil@horrorsofwarmovie.com SEE THE FX.

On the Virtual Backlot

Sam Nicholson, founder of Stargate Digital, described the shift in the visual effects world as “A continual paradigm shift requiring the engine to continually go faster, and those of us in this industry to continually reinvent our thinking about what is achievable, and how quickly.” READ MORE...

Cinema Commercial Mix

Extra Mile, a new cinema commercial for Hyundai's Sonata, includes three 30-second television spots and a 60-second theatrical commercial. For each spot, mixer Peter Rincon of POP Sound, blended music, sound design, and voiceover tracks. Creating the 5.1 mix for the 60-second theatrical spot was the most complex part Extra Mile's audio work. A narrator's track that would typically be placed in the center speaker was instead spread across the left and right channels. READ MORE...

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

THE CORPSE BRIDE


Marrying the old and the new Boy meets girl, boy practices wedding vows by putting ring on finger of dead girl, boy marries corpse. That's the macabre spin to a classic romance story in Warner Bros.' new animated tale, Corpse Bride. This gravely enchanting tale comes to the big screen (as the first digital stop-motion feature film) and is directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson. "What I love about stop-motion animation is that it's so tactile," says Burton. "There's something wonderful about being able to physically touch and move the characters, and to see their world actually exist. It's similar to making a live action film — if you're doing it all on bluescreen, it doesn't give you the feeling of actually being there, which the stop-motion process does." READ MORE...

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Honey, He Shrunk the IPOD

Stevie's Little WonderThe story of the Nano started nine months ago, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his team looked at the iPod Mini. They decided they could make it better by making an absurdly tiny, unbearably sexy successor to the iPod Mini. READ MORE...

Monday, September 12, 2005

Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee to get statue

The martial arts legend Bruce Lee is to be honoured with a statue in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar, as a symbolic protest against ethnic division, local authorities said. Bruce Lee was chosen as a hero that all ethnic groups could relate to, in a city that was nearly destroyed during the fierce fighting between Croats and Muslims during Bosnia's 1992-95 war and that remains bitterly divided. READ MORE...

A Scriptwriter's Career Strategy

Read this astounding interview with Marc Zicree, a master writer who talks about creating a career strategy to navigate your way through the entertainment business. If you ever wondered how to get into the door of a studio or how to get an A-list actor to take you seriously, Marc has some intriguing ideas and strategies. READ MORE...

SCREENWRITING FOR THE LENS

Screenplays are best when the reader forgets they are even reading and believe instead that they are having a VISUAL EXPERIENCE. Just as a trained musician can "read" a piece of music and HEAR it as if the notes were actually being struck before him, the screenwriter relies on their words to make someone WATCH a film unreel as if it was being projected in their mind. READ MORE...

Sunday, September 11, 2005

VIDEO EDITING MODULE: BEST-KEPT SECRET

Editing using Jahshaka The world's first OpenSource Realtime Editing and Effects System, Jahshaka takes advantage of the power of OpenGL and OpenML to give its users exceptional levels of performance. Currently supporting Linux, OsX, Irix and Windows, Solaris is on the way! Jahshaka is licenced to the public under the GNU GPL agreement. The jahshaka editing module is new and improved, currently only on linux but with RC2 Osx and windows for our final release! LEARN MORE...

HOW TO SHOOT

Got a New Camcorder? Here's What to Do With It.
You have a brand new DV camcorder. You're ready to get out there and shoot and show your extraordinary vision to the rest of the world. But what if you've never shot any video before? What do you need to know to effectively communicate your ideas to your audience?
Distractions can ruin even a well-thought-out video presentation. READ MORE...

DINKY TV

Not too long ago there was a company in Los Angeles called Intertainer. They were acquiring movies that they planned to catalogue and distribute through interactive television. They may have been just a little ahead of their time, but that same demand for content has now reached the mobile audience. READ MORE...

Destroy All Humans

Alien mayhem for PS2 During the 1950’s the only thing we had to worry about was the bomb, commies, and aliens coming down and destroying us all. In Destroy All Humans, you get to play the trigger happy alien bent on causing mayhem and blowing things up.
Based on the sci-fi B-movies of the day, Destroy All Humans is a homage to the era. Along the way you encounter every walk of life from cows and chickens, a simple hayseed farmer, a sophisticated woman addicted to “mother’s little helper”, all the way up to big wig officials with their sites set on ending Communism. This makes your job as an alien hoping to rescue his captured clone that much easier. READ MORE...

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Serious Interactive Solutions

SERIOUS GAME SUMMIT EXPO Washington, D.C.; Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
The number of non-entertainment games under development is rapidly increasing and as a result, an entirely new market has emerged: serious games. This second annual gathering promises to answer not just why serious games are important, but how to develop games for non-entertainment purposes. READ MORE...

My One Best Addition

DUAL MONITOR REVOLUTION! It was not until I split my computer desktop between two monitors, that everything started to flow so much easier. To have the to video preview always available to see because nothing else has to cover allows you to immedialtly see the results of your actions. To have the tools docked where they can redily be seen is icing on the cake. To have the ablity to have a clear timeline is also fantasic. READ MORE...

Archival DVDs: Good as Gold

Under proper storage conditions, Mitsui Advanced Media (MAM) claims a 300-year archival shelf life for its Gold Archive Grade CD-R product.
If archivability were a front-burner issue, as it was for fading motion picture prints and negatives 20 years ago and more recently, ink-jet printer inks, breakthroughs would follow. As inspiration and challenge, black & white polyester microfilm is rated at 500 years and color microfilm made with Ilford's direct-positive Ilfochrome (formerly Cibachrome), 300 years. READ MORE...

Friday, September 09, 2005

What I Wish They Taught in Film School

An Intern’s Story
Companies train people and use intern programs to give students a chance to see the workings of their business. Animation studios are no different and many offer programs to expose animation students to the rigors and tasks of studio production. One such studio is Cartoon Network, in Burbank and one such intern is Intern X.
READ MORE...

Kory Juul on Sunaba (The Sandbox)

Gaining experience as a visual effects artist on films like Final Fantasy, The Matrix sequels, Return of the King, I, Robot and Revenge of the Sith, Kory Juul wanted a more personal project to work on; an animated short. His Sunaba (The Sandbox) is the result of two year's work for writer/director/editor Juul.His colleagues at Meticulous and some very close friends helped craft the story of a young boy's artistic struggle and perserverance as a sculptor of intricate sandcastles. READ MORE...

Thursday, September 08, 2005

The History of Musicals

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MUSICALS
Musicals101.com features separate histories for musical theatre, film, television and cabaret, with a bibliography and a collection of dates and figures called "The Musicals Index." Pick your starting point – READ MORE...
What Is A Musical? A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START! READ MORE...

Invasion of the B movies

In these post-drive-in days dominated by corporate multiscreen theaters, where can auteurs of indie popcorn flicks show their stuff?
Sci Fi Channel isn't just classing up its line-up with critically lauded dramas like "Battlestar Galactica." It's also setting down a main couse, running refugees from the big screen. Any sleaze-appreciator has to love the 2005 titles seen so far in the cabler's Saturday night movie slot. "Alien Apocalypse." "Pterodactyl." "Mansquito." Last weekend's "Frankenfish."
And now, "Man With the Screaming Brain."
Yes, "Man With the Screaming Brain"! Judging from the title, the film could be dreadful - who'd care? That gaudy title. The kitschy poster. And that hearty star--- Bruce Campbell. READ MORE...

Bob & Margaret

Based on an Oscar-winning short film 'Bobs Birthday' from 1995, 'Bob & Margaret' is a show I've seen many episodes of over time, but I've never managed to watch them all (52 episodes over 4 seasons - not sure if they've all been aired here) in the correct order. Deceptively simple in its premise, Bob (a Dentist) and Margaret (a Chiropodist) stuggle to work out what's missing from their life. Essentially, they're not entirely suited to modern life, but like so many of us they still battle to master it. READ MORE...

This must be film-buff heaven

There was no such thing as the DVD 30 years ago and not many people owned VCRs. Summer was just starting to become an annual bazaar of special-effects blockbusters. There was no such thing as digital photography or editing, either. The movie world back when the Toronto International Film Festival began in 1975 was a lot different from what it has transformed into today.
The growth of Toronto's film festival into one of the most significant annual movie-industry event in North America is just one of the astonishing changes cinema has seen in the past three decades. READ MORE...

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Taking some mighty swings

Ex-baseball great Jose Canseco is trying to become Hollywood's latest action hero and his almost unknown manager Bob Debrino is trying to make it in Hollywood as well. Both guys make this article fascinating reading for anyone trying to get into the Hollywood game.
READ MORE...

WB TV series bows on Web

The new WB series "Supernatural" doesn't begin airing until next week, but it's available online now — another sign of broadcast TV's increasingly aggressive promotional schemes.
Beginning Tuesday, Yahoo users could stream the first episode for a week, WB and the Internet company said. "Supernatural," about two brothers who encounter evil forces as they search for their missing father, premieres on TV Sept. 13. SEE THE SHOW...

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Farewell Little Buddy...

Bob Denver has died at the age of 70. Adored by fans of classic tv as Gilligan, the first mate of the S.S. Minnow in Gilligan's Island from 1964-1967...and earlier as beatnik Maynard G. Krebs from the "Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" show from 1959-1963. Saturday morning tv fans also knew him as Junior from "Far Out Space Nuts" ("Lunch not launch!") Denver was a gifted comic actor.His work with Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper were like a modern day version of Laurel and Hardy. VISIT THE FAN SITE...

MOVING PICTURE

MovingPicture is a tool that allows documentary and industrial filmmakers to pan, scan and zoom on high resolution images (up to 8,000 by 8,000 pixels), ala "Ken Burns."

Rather than use an expensive and bulky motion-control rig or animation stand, often requiring expensive photographic prints, MovingPicture takes high-resolution scanned images and allows for perfectly repeatable pans and zoom moves on a desktop computer. READ MORE...

Monday, September 05, 2005

'Transporter' tops Labor Day box office

The Jason Statham thriller enjoyed the biggest debut of any film opening over the Labor Day weekend and helped propel Hollywood to its second-best Labor Day holiday overall, behind only 2003. Transporter 2 raked in $20.3 million, according to estimates from box-office tracker Nielsen EDI.

"We feel like we may have a new franchise," says Bert Livingston, a distribution executive with 20th Century Fox, which released Transporter. Photo: 20th Century Fox
READ MORE...

Netflix close to offering online movie downloads

Blockbuster vs. Netflix and Downloadable Movies
In 1986, Barron's columnist Alan Abelson predicted video rental stores would fail within three years. His thinking was based on his idea that new technology (especially advances in cable and satellite television) would render such stores obsolete, but like many seemingly outdated technologies, video rental stores survived.
Blockbuster and Movie Gallery, which have half the market for rental videos between them, have recently been showing losses. Is the end near?
Downloadable movies are on the horizon, but it will be interesting to see if the retail operations can take advantage of their one competitive advantage: Human beings like to shop in the company of other humans. READ MORE...

Sunday, September 04, 2005

We need more penguin movies!

Summer Bust Leaves Hollywood Uncertain
We need more really good independent films. What didn't go wrong? That's the question! This was a summer that really could be characterized as under a cloud from the beginning. Usually, the first weekend in May, you have a big film that kind of kicks off the summer. It didn't happen that way this time, and that was sort of an indicator of things to come. READ MORE...

'Constant Gardener' Director Fernando Meirelles

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles burst onto the international independent film scene with 2002's critically adored feature 'City of God,' which chronicled the life of boys growing up in one of Rio's notorious favelas. The gorgeously shot drama, starring actual young residents, propelled Meirelles all the way to an Oscar nod for Best Director.
A perfectly timed trip to Africa and London led him to his new thriller, an English adaptation of John le Carre's 'The Constant Gardener.' The project allowed Meirelles the chance to prove his directorial prowess with a budget 10 times greater than he's ever worked with and a veteran cast that includes award-winning actors Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Bill Nighy. READ MORE...

Clooney turns up the heat

"Should fear be used to take away certain civil liberties?" Actor George Clooney has insisted that his second directorial outing - Good Night and Good Luck - is not intended as a political statement. "My goal is not to attack any administration, my goal is to raise a debate."
Known for his outspoken attacks on the Bush government, Clooney says his film focused on a period in the 1950s which saw US broadcaster Edward R Murrow confront the actions of Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy. READ MORE...

Italian cinema looks to the future

Italy began hosting one of the world's most prestigious film festivals as long ago as 1932 when Benito Mussolini was one of the first to understand the importance of international exploitation and marketing of films. Both he and the Nazis in Germany were to use the new art form for regime propaganda. He invited along to Venice for the first festival Louis Lumiere, the Frenchman who had invented the motion picture camera and projector and had given the world's first movie show in a Paris cafe in 1895.
Italy was also the country that gave birth to Roberto Rossellini, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci - who achieved stardom as some of the most important film directors and actors in the subsequent history of world cinema. READ MORE...

DIRECTING with STYLE

Each director must have his own style. There two answers why this is so -- short and long. The short answer is commercial; the unique style is your ability to say the old stories in a new way. They give you a proven formula story and you make money selling it again.
The long answer involves theory about texture and structure, Aristotle and other interesting subjects. A NEW director must have a NEW voice. You know how it is in the music industry and film is no different. So, which is your voice? READ MORE...

Gay cowboy rides into Venice

"There has never been a homosexual cowboy movie." Brokeback Mountain is based on a short story by The Shipping News author E Annie Proulx, this is the tender story of the forbidden love that develops between two male cowboys who meet on a Wyoming ranch in 1963. Hidden from a society that will not accept it, their relationship grows and deepens over 20 years in a film that is sure to raise eyebrows in the country where it is set. Director Ang Lee's last film was comic-book blockbuster The Hulk. READ MORE...

Crash writer 'takes on Bond film'

The writer and director of the movie CRASH who also wrote the script for MILLION DOLLAR BABY has been brought in to work on the next James Bond film. Paul Haggis has been hired to do a rewrite of the script of CASINO ROYALE.
Casino Royale was turned into a spoof spy movie in 1967, with David Niven in the lead role, but Ian Fleming's original book was actually one of the most violent in the series, with the heroic secret agent taking a beating from his rival Le Chiffre.
As yet no-one has been cast in the lead role of Bond to replace Pierce Brosnan, who played the role in four films. READ MORE...

Spike Lee criticizes movie sequels

Controversial US director Spike Lee has criticized Hollywood for its lack of originality while launching his latest movie at the Venice Film Festival.
"I'm not naming any individual films but it's the worst it's ever been," he told reporters. "It's full of sequels and remakes of TV shows. There's no originality..." READ MORE...

SCRIPTWRITING vs FORMAT


I do not believe that there are initial forms for scriptwriting. Look how Bergman does it ("Four Screenplays")!
Write the way YOU want, you will format it later (as long as there is the story exists told in visual language). And here is the major concern I emphasize time and again: too often I see you working and reworking the script with no film in it! READ MORE...

METHOD ACTING

Method acting is the endeavour to apply natural rules and laws to the theatre which can aid an actor with the process of playing a role.
This approach, characterized by any specific or technical approach to acting, is usually the antithesis of cliché, unrealistic, and so-called "rubber-stamp" acting.

Depending on the exact version taught by the numerous directors and teachers, the process can include various ideologies and practices such as the the extremely notable "what if", "substitution", and "emotional memory". READ MORE...

SHAME

For writers, Shame can be a strong and divisive emotion. It seems to surface at the very worst times and when we are most vulnerable. It's also an occupational certainty, and how we deal with it can make a huge difference in our progress.
Behind the scenes of all great screenplays that seemed to the outside observer to come so easily, was undoubtedly confusion, lots of frustrating trial and error, periods that lacked inspiration, but most devastating at all--feedback that made us feel insecure, and right next door to feeling...shamed. READ MORE...

Draw the Looney Tunes: The Warner Bros. Character Design Manual


This is “not the usual art book; this book about character design was created by artists for artists, and speaks to them in their own language.”
You should know at least the basics of drawing for this book to be of help to you. If you are already an artist and if you know something of anatomy and what it means to “feel” a pencil line, this book is a nice addition to your library. READ MORE...

Digital Eye: GENESIS


The Genesis digital imaging camera is here!!!
It’s currently being used on at least five major movies and some commercials. Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns is the first and perhaps most significant. Panavision proudly boasts, “The use of Genesis on Superman Returns represents a defining moment in moviemaking.”
The Superman crew has 11 Genesis cameras on hand, both in Australia and LA. From what I hear, they’re all pretty enthusiastic about working with them.
"In some weird way, it’s like shooting 65mm.” READ MORE...
Image courtesy of Deron Yamada. © 2004 DYA367.

A Sound of Thunder: Combining the Futuristic with the Prehistoric

Based on the short story by Ray Bradbury, A Sound of Thunder relates the disastrous consequences to the history of the world if even a minor piece of the past is altered.
In Chicago of the future, a big game hunter on a time-traveling safari to hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric era accidentally kills a butterfly. When a primeval jungle threatens to overrun the windy city, monstrous eels take over the flooded subway and reptilian Baboon lizards replace mammals as the dominant species. A team of experts must return back in time and replace the butterfly before the unknowingly instigated chain reaction erases humanity from existence. READ MORE...

Thursday, September 01, 2005

I HATE YOU - Independent Horror : )

AN OUTLANDISH PREMISE: Norman is an aging, second-rate comic. He wants to leave his mark on the world, but he knows he’s not a good enough comedian to be remembered for his stand-up routine. Ours is a violent society and if you want to be famous, and don’t have any skills, an easy way is to kill as many people as you can before you either die or get caught.
I HATE YOU , the B&W independent film, is not a perfect movie; it does have its flaws. But it also shows a lot of promise from the up-and-coming director, Nick Oddo. The film is smart, darkly humorous and it has that special way, at times, of making you feel strangely uncomfortable. Seeing this pulled off with a limited budget and resources makes me eagerly await Oddo’s next offering.
READ MORE...
SEE THE PREVIEW (not for the squeamish)

AFTER EFFECTS Tutorials

This listing is for users interested in getting the most out of AFTER EFFECTS. It's always easy to do things after you know how. There are tutorials for just about everything on the Internet and finding the best ones can take a lot of time and research.

LEARN MORE about AFTER EFFECTS.