ORGANIZED

Twelve high school students set out on a mission to expose the New York Police Department and prove that "No one's above the law". After one night of brainstorming the group decides to use their skills and access of digital technology to secretly capture police crimes on video tape. With the ability to hack into several of the large video screens in Times Square they find their opportunity to expose to the public the first viewing of their 02:30min. short, "Cops Gone Wild".

The identity of the students quickly become revealed when they find out that they too have been under surveillance by a larger organization that for fifty three years have been gathering information that will soon expose the corruption of the US Government. When push comes to shove they find themselves faced with mistrust and corruption from all sides and staying alive becomes their only mission.
Alex Portugal is a accomplished Director as well as Director of Photography with well over fifty features, shorts, commercials and industrials to place him on the map as a vibrant, energetic filmmaker.

Upon graduating from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in CA and riding a full paid scholarship from South Coast Repertory's Professional Conservatory, Alex found himself working as an actor on stage and film from LA to NY. After several exciting years as an actor he felt the need to get behind the camera and form Attack Films in the pursuit to build his career as a filmmaker.

Alex feels that it is important for a director to know all aspects of the craft of filmmaking and therefore spent several years gaining extensive technical knowledge in the areas of sound, lighting and editing while also working as a DP.

See the trailer...
http://www.attackfilms.com/The%20Org%20Trailer.mov

JVC Develops First Consumer Full HD Recording 3-CCD Camcorder System Featuring 16:9 Progressive Scan CCDs

Broadcast HD Camera Fujinon Lens Also for First Time in Consumer Camcorder

JVC has developed the first consumer full High-Definition 3-CCD camcorder capable of shooting and recording full HD images (1920 x 1080i). The technology will be offered in the new HD Everio GZ-HD7 to be available in April 2007, marking the technology’s first use in a consumer camcorder. The camcorder also features a Fujinon lens used in broadcast video cameras, now being used in a consumer camcorder for the first time. The 3-CCD system offers superior color reproduction.

Amid rapidly rising market needs for full HD equipment, JVC borrowed from its other high-quality, high-resolution image technologies developed over many years of camcorder research to develop this system, including its progressive CCD camera system, 3-CCD camera system, super high-end processor, and new HD Gigabrid high-resolution signal processing engine.

1. Full HD Images Created by 16:9 Progressive Scan CCDs recorded in full HD 1920 x 1080i to Hard Drive Camcorder for First Time (as of January 2007) in Consumer Industry.

JVC has developed the industry’s first (as of January 2007) high-quality full HD 3-CCD camcorder system for use in a consumer camcorder. It uses three 1/5-inch 16:9 progressive scan CCDs designed for HD use in a diagonally offset pixel configuration to generate the high resolution image for recording in full HD, explained in the technical detail section later in this article.

Designed for HD use, the 1/5-inch 16:9 progressive scan CCD has large pixels measuring 3.28 microns x 3.28 microns, roughly twice the size of pixels in JVC 2-megapixel camcorders, for greater modulation transfer function (MTF) and sensitivity values. The CCD aspect ratio was tailored to16:9 for full HD recording in a hard drive camcorder for the first time at JVC. The compact camera unit produces high-resolution images that are recorded in full HD 1920 x1080i resolution.

2. First Use (as of January 2007) of Broadcast HD Video Camera Fujinon Lens in Consumer Camcorder.
The highly regarded Fujinon lens used in the JVC system is also used in broadcast HD video cameras. Three aspherical lens elements provide the superior optical performance over the entire zoom range suitable for an HD system. The 3-CCD system has minimal drop off in F. No. because one of the aspherical lens elements is made of indexed glass. The resulting minimal F. No. is F1.8 wide open and F1.9 for telephoto, while keeping the lens unit small.

READ MORE...
http://www.jvc.com/press/index.jsp?item=549&pageID=2&CategoryID=2

WRITING COMEDY

What may strike one person as funny may strike another person as lame.

Comedy is a subjective craft. The task of creating humor comics or comics tinged with humor isn't an easy one. How hard is it to be funny? That is a question posed recently to a number of comics' most comic creators.

Comedy in comic books appears in many forms and appeals to varying audiences. Elsewhere, in other PULSE articles and threads, the comedy of Ron Zimmerman has been dissected more times than Senator Trent Lott has drafted apologies. As a result, Zimmerman will be among the many creators and subgenres in comedic comics that aren't discussed/interviewed here. The omission of these creators and projects isn't a commentary on their work, but rather a result of limited logistics (so many to interview, so much ground to cover).

Many comedic creators (as with other genres in comics) write differing projects for different audiences, ranging from mature comedy to material targeted for Nickelodeon age consumers. Sometimes a project comes about that works on all levels for all ages. Such is the case with James Kochalka (http://www.americanelf.com/) with his work Peanutbutter and Jeremy (http://www.indyworld.com/kochalka/pbj.html). While the story works on multiple levels, in creating a story that's interesting and humorous, Kochalka doesn't feel restricted in having to make it accessible for all ages.

"Pretty much the only restriction I put on myself when doing all ages comics is to refrain from swearing," Kochalka said. "Which is difficult. I can get around it by have Jeremy make an exclamation like 'Crackers!' and then have Peanutbutter say 'Please don't swear in the house!' In any case, it's not hard to juggle the multiple levels of meaning in my comics... rather, it's hard for me not to include multiple layers of meaning.

Mainly, I find myself disinterested in working on any project that doesn't mean anything to me. I've got to feel an emotional connection to it in order to draw it. And once I've established the emotional connection, I can draw upon the entirety of my experience, thus establishing some kind of depth to what could otherwise be a pretty vacuous story."

READ MORE...BY TIM O'SHEA, PULSE CONTRIBUTOR
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000559

Student Films Across America

We are currently accepting submissions!

We're taking the best short films made by high school and college students, and showing them in theaters across the country!

Student Films Across America is a nationally touring film festival showcasing movies by high school and college students. This summer, we're taking the best films submitted – and a tour bus named Vivian – to 50 cities in the United States and Canada. Each show will also have a local student chosen as its own local featured student filmmaker.

The tour will open in Wisconsin and end with an awards presentation, giving out $35,000 in prizes, in Los Angeles.

The festival organizers will be riding a tour bus named Vivian, starting in their home state of Wisconsin and ending in Los Angeles for an awards presentation. See the list of dates to find out everywhere they're stopping.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT...
www.sfaa07.com

What are the differences between high-def DVD formats?

Q. I'm confused about the format war for next-generation DVDs. Should I get HD DVD or Blu-ray, or should I stick with regular DVDs for now?A. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs store much more data than regular DVDs, meaning crisper and sharper images and sounds on your high-definition television. They also offer greater interactivity and even the ability to grab new information over the Internet.

Both use blue lasers, instead of red ones, to boost storage capacity. Blue light has a shorter wavelength, allowing data to be packed on the disc closer together. So while a regular DVD can hold about 8.5 gigabytes of data on a dual-layer format disc _ the ones used for most movie DVDs _ an HD DVD disc can pack 30 GB.

Blu-ray can hold even more _ 50 GB. That's because the data layer is closer to the surface _ 1 millimeter instead of 6 mm deep _ so the laser can focus in even more tightly, said Andy Parsons, a Pioneer Corp. executive who is chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association's U.S. Promotion Committee.

In addition, Blu-ray discs spin at about a time and a half the normal rate, meaning faster data transfers for even sharper pictures and sound.

But the new technology requires new manufacturing techniques and factories, boosting initial costs.

HD DVDs, on the other hand, are essentially DVDs on steroids, meaning movie studios can turn to existing assembly lines to produce them in mass.

Kevin Collins, a Microsoft Corp. executive on HD DVD's North American promotions committee, said movies have yet to require the additional space or faster transfer rate that Blu-ray offers.

What HD DVD does is require all players bearing its logo to offer picture-in-picture capabilities _ allowing you, for instance, to watch commentary from a director in a small pop-up screen while the movie continues playing. Today's DVDs are limited to audio voiceovers.

All HD DVD players also must support Internet connections, letting you grab new movie trailers, look up movie show times and perform other tasks.

Those features are optional for Blu-ray, although Parsons said picture-in-picture capabilities should be standard by later this year. (LG Electronics Co. is making a dual-format DVD player, but it won't bear an HD DVD logo because it lacks the mandatory features.)

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray support basic pop-up menus, meaning you can change language and subtitle preferences without stopping the movie. Both have versatile, though competing, programming languages to offer features such as searchable databases of major events and characters in a movie.

And players out in both formats can read regular DVDs, too.

HD DVD players came first, but Blu-ray is rapidly catching up, with more manufacturers making Blu-ray and with players included with Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation 3 game consoles (The HD DVD player for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 is optional).

More Hollywood studios are also backing Blu-ray exclusively _ The Walt Disney Co., News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures _ compared with General Electric Co.'s Universal Studios for HD DVD. Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures are releasing movies in both formats.

For now, though, each format has about 200 movies out in the United States.

Of course, little of this matters if you haven't yet bought a high-definition TV. You'll get the improved interactivity, but you won't notice the full picture quality.

If that's the case, better to stick with standard DVD players, save yourself hundreds of dollars and let the format war sort itself out. That way, you'll avoid ending up with the 21st century version of the Betamax VCRs.

By The Associated Press
Copyright The Associated Press 2006. All Rights Reserved

ABOUT-ON THE LOT

Aspiring filmmakers can take the first step toward fulfilling their dreams of becoming a Hollywood director by taking part in FOX's new reality competition series ON THE LOT. Video submissions and application forms are now being accepted at thelot.com. Applicants must submit a self-directed short film, up to five minutes in length, that may be shown on the website on a future date.

Steven Spielberg is a principal partner of DreamWorks SKG, which he co-founded with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen in October 1994 and which was sold to Paramount Pictures in early 2006. Under their leadership, the studio has enjoyed critical and commercial success, and has been responsible for some of the most honored films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award® winners: "American Beauty," "Gladiator," and "A Beautiful Mind" (the latter two co-productions with Universal).

One of the industry's most successful and influential filmmakers, Spielberg has directed, produced, or executive produced some of the top-grossing films of all time, including "Jurassic Park" and "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Among his myriad honors, he is a three-time Academy Award® winner, earning two Oscars® for Best Director and Best Picture for "Schindler's List," and a third Oscar® for Best Director for "Saving Private Ryan."

VISIT-ON THE LOT-AMERICA'S SOON-TO-BE NEWEST BEST TV SHOW...

http://films.thelot.com/

GET FAAMOUS

Did you ever consider killing your Boss?

Get Faamous (intentionally misspelled) is the story of a mail clerk who works for a company and finally completes his screenplay after seven long years. When his boss deletes the only copy of the screenplay from a company computer, the disgruntled mail clerk plots revenge.

This independent film follows the mail clerk through a typical day on the job but with the only copy of the screenplay that he thought would launch his film career lost forever, the sweetest justice seems to be a slight case of murder.

SEE THE TRAILER...http://youtube.com/watch?v=T_u7q-TIFwc

URCHIN

Independent horror lives!

This is the story of a Kid who lives in Scum City. When the Old Man came to Scum City, a homeless camp in the Manhattan tunnels, his story seemed wild. He was from a kingdom deep within the earth, he said, and was sent to find the five nobles who got lost up here.

He had a map that would lead him and his followers back to this paradise, and a blue crystal called The Blessing, that when smoked granted the clarity and vision needed to complete great tasks.

Some believed. They were allowed to stay.

The Kid believes. Abused and tormented, he escaped the city shelter and fled to the streets, where he survived by wit and blood until he found Scum City. He will fulfill the Old Man's prophecy; he will get to paradise.

But someone else believes. The Old Man had a bodyguard once, a powerful little man called Goliath whose lungs and mind are rotting away. In his dementia he has committed to the ritual murder of innocents and the capture of the map held fast by the Old Man.

This is the story of a Kid trapped in a world of violence, degradation, wonder, and discovery. As he battles the evils of the street to save the Old Man and the future of Scum City he meets Julia, a young girl in need of protection. He struggles to decipher the true motives of the Old Man and Goliath, while safeguarding Julia and the map that leads to Paradise.

LEARN MORE & SEE THE TRAILER...
www.UrchinTheMovie.com

Planning Ahead

The Importance of Pre-Production

It’s a wonderful idea and it's sure to be a cinematic masterpiece!

You can’t wait to start shooting and allow all those stunning ideas to unfold for the camera. Great! But first, take a moment to slow down and let’s do a little planning.

Creating a visual story is a wonderful experience. Then, to see the concept you had unfold on the screen edited the way it should be is amazing satisfaction. But most people who have brilliant ideas never see them to fruition. Why? Simply because they never complete pre-production.

Pre-production is a planning period before the start of principle photography and this is the most important time in the craetion of any film. Unfortunately, many producers and directors rush through this phase on their way to the excitement of getting to the location and shooting. It’s understandable. But it’s also deadly.

Let’s take a good look at why pre-production is so important.

First, there is the all-important issue of funding — in other words, the money. Unless you are independently wealthy (and by the way, if you are, I would like to talk with you), shooting even in video can be costly. The fact is that the more you plan, the less you will pay and the easier the shoot will be.

LEARN MORE...by Sharon Wyly
http://www.tailslate.net/articles/index.asp?ID=7&lst=n&dpt=articles

Sharon Wyly is a line producer/UPM based in Orlando, Florida, with over 10 years of experience in low budget independent features.

Canon XH-A1 HDV Camcorder

Starting at $3,999 the XH-A1 series is an extremely powerful camcorder wrapped around a very approachable HDV tape format that is bound to please prosumer and professional shooters.

Canon is very confident that these two camcorders will make a huge splash in the market. But, are they for everyone?

First, the XH-A1 and XH-G1 are nearly identical camcorders, except the G1 has a professional jack pack, with an HD SDI, genlock and time code terminal each. This additional jack pack is the difference between the price tags: $3,999 (A1) and $6,999 (G1). Unless you own and use an expensive, professional HD SDI live mixer or a professional deck, the G1 won't justify its existence in your next production, so this review will mainly address the XH-A1.

Canon sent us a laptop with their Console application and a Focus Enhancements DTE to review with this camcorder and we've got a lot of ground to cover, so buckle up. But, just so you know, we're choosing to focus only on the camcorder for now.

The XH-A1 by far has more function and image control options among all the prosumer camcorders we've seen thus far, making it an ideal camcorder for the budding director of photography. On the outside, the A1 shows classic Canon features (e.g., the "steering wheel" or shooting mode wheel). There are also some unexpected features: one is the top placement of the LCD display. This is a clever position, leaving the left side of the camcorder accessible; however, the LCD is a bit small.

3" is a minimum for HDV and, while its 207K resolution isn't bad, focusing is a primary consideration and Canon has implemented a new Instant Auto Focus feature (known as "Instant AF"). This helps snap the focus more quickly and accurately into the ballpark focal length at a fraction of a second before the typical auto focus adds the precise touch.

Instant AF uses an additional focus sensor on the outside of the lens, which makes matte boxes and other accessories interfere with its effectiveness but it can be deactivated. If you're really such a control freak, you'll likely use just the manual focus. Using just the LCD display, we were able to manually focus in an extreme close-up successfully 3 out of 4 shots and the missed shot was just slightly soft. This could be fixed with an external monitor for more accurate focus control.

All the great features aside, the XH-A1 is a simple, feel-good camcorder.

READ MORE...by Mark Montgomery, March 2007
http://www.videomaker.com/article/13174/?&label=enews200702

©2007 Videomaker, Inc.

DETAILED PLANS FOR SHOOTING A SHORT FILM…

DETAILED PLANS FOR SHOOTING A SHORT FILM…
AND SCHEDULE

The producers of A Long Awaited Tea Party, a short science fiction film in pre-production have budgeted and posted plans on the Internet to create their short film. These plans are typical of what independent filmmakers everywhere face in producing their vision.

This comprehensive plan will give newer independent filmmakers a close look and a "reality check" concerning what is in store for them as they embark on their indy film project. All the details are carefully thought through and everything from raising funds to method of distribution is spelled out in detail.

It is amazing how many filmmakers pick up a camera and decide to make a film with no preconceived thought as to what they are doing, where they will go and how they will get there. Having a good plan or road map is critical to producing a good film and a well-conceived plan or road map will take you where you want to go. You can avoid many pitfalls and disappointment if you plan everything in advance and this is a plan that offers a ready made guide to improvising your plan for your own personal film project.

The outline and format are here and with a little work, you can adapt your own project and budget using this template.

http://www.jjofilms.com/

Studios Accuse Google of Benefiting from Piracy: WSJ

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal said that Major media companies have accused Google Inc. of benefiting from the sale of pirated movies and providing business support to two Web sites suspected of offering access to illegal film downloads.

The paper said the companies included News Corp., Viacom Inc., Sony Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, Time Warner Inc. and Walt Disney Co.

They allege that Google deliberately directed traffic to Web sites that were engaged in fostering piracy. Google replied to the studios on Friday saying it would implement new procedures to prevent recurrences according to the Journal.

The claims against Google were based on sworn statements made late last year as part of a civil lawsuit brought by Hollywood studios against two men accused of operating Web sites that allegedly helped users illegally access copyrighted material according to the Journal.

READ THE FULL STORY...by Reuters, Copyright Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2093951,00.asp?kc=PBPWUEMNL021507EOAD

WORLDWIDE SUNDANCE

Will the Web make film festivals obsolete?

For 10 days, Park City, Utah, gets tied up in more velvet ropes than a practitioner of Japanese bondage, while boorish "fans" make New York's Meatpacking District seem mellow by comparison. The films, meanwhile, range from great to boring to barely watchable. You might think, in our era of decentralized media, that we would have discovered a better way of finding good independent films.

Yet, despite living in an age where bands are born on MySpace and blogs by basement dwellers out-rate CNN, the world of independent film seems strangely immune to the World Wide Web. Sundance and other film festivals represent the big running exception to the main media story of the 2000s: crowds besting experts in finding great independent material.

At first glance, the Web and independent film appear to be a perfect match. The main economic challenge in independent film is finding the one great film amid the hundreds of pretentious, dull, or simply average films that get produced every year. Someone has to sit through those films and find the few diamonds in the several thousand acres of roughage.

The Web can be an incredible tool for finding such needles in haystacks. It takes advantage of that segment of the public with enough time, bandwidth, and surplus attention (i.e., boredom) to watch or read completely unknown content. In Web culture, if you like what you see, you recommend it—either by linking to it on your blog, through recommendation sites like

reddit, or simply telling friends.

In the same way that Wikipedia was built by volunteers, the Web is the world's greatest, all-volunteer system for finding that one great cartoon or blog entry buried underneath thousands of duds. Moreover, the good independent stuff the Web finds gets big attention by any measure.

The No. 1 YouTube video of 2006, The Evolution of Dance, had 38 million viewers. That's comparable to the number of people who paid to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the top-grossing film of 2006.

http://www.slate.com/id/2158392/?GT1=9010

All the World's a Stage for Oscars

A year ago, Rinko Kikuchi was appearing in mothball ads on local Japanese television. Today, she's nominated for an Academy Award as the world breaks into that most exclusive of clubs: the Oscars.

No matter who wins at the Feb. 25 ceremony, the global movie community is already gushing over this real-life version of a Hollywood feel-good movie.

This year's lineup is the most ethnically diverse ever, with five black people, two Hispanics and an Asian among the 20 acting nominees. Best-picture nominee "Letters From Iwo Jima" is almost entirely in Japanese. Hispanics alone garnered a record 19 nominations, including three Mexican directors contending for some of the biggest prizes of the night.

"They represent us," declared a headline in the Mexico City newspaper El Universal.
No film better exemplifies Hollywood going global than "Babel," from Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, a saga of families on three continents linked by tragic events in the African desert. It received seven nominations, including for best picture and best director, and has dialogue that jumps among Arabic, Berber, Spanish and Japanese.

"It's a joy. American cinema is receiving people from all over the world this can open the doors for everybody," said Mexico's Adriana Barraza, nominated for her supporting role in "Babel."
"Nowadays we are a global society people are thinking in global terms, and I think it touched society as such," she said of "Babel," speaking in Spanish from Miami.

In Japan, euphoria has erupted over Kikuchi's nomination, also for a supporting role in "Babel." No one from Japan has won an Oscar since Miyoshi Umeki, for her supporting role in "Sayonara" in 1957.

Moviegoers are flocking to theaters in Tokyo, while tourist agencies are offering cruises to the island of Iwo Jima after Clint Eastwood's film renewed interest in the World War II battleground.

Since her acting debut eight years ago, Kikuchi, 26, had been confined to low-budget movies, television dramas and commercials.

"We really hope she would win since it would be great for a Japanese person to be given recognition on the world stage," said Naeko Natsume, who helped produce the Japan portion of the film.

READ MORE... by Associated Press
http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/associatedpress/20070214/1144.html

How to make a 60-second film

Start with an idea

That part sounds obvious, but I've been watching many, many one-minute films and, while plenty of them are accomplished in terms of visuals, special effects or animation, they are NOT engaging. Though it may be difficult to take your viewer on much of a journey in 60 seconds, it can be done; otherwise, what you're making is just visual moving wallpaper.

The one-minute format can be both limiting and liberating and it doesn't have to be a drama or a gag-it can be an idea that no one else seems to be using.

Overwrite your script

I've done commercials and whatnot where people have said, "Your script is too long for the time". Don't be afraid to overdo it at this stage; it costs nothing and gives you plenty of vital information to streamline down later. You'll be surprised at just how late you can come into a scene or how early you can leave it. Viewers are sophisticated enough to fill in the blanks instinctively.

Don't overstretch your means

Of course you have to have ambition - without it you wouldn't even attempt to make a film. But a dose of realism is essential. Don't attempt to replicate some overcomplicated camera move or something you've seen in a big budget movie. You just can't even hope to compete with the resources they have. Keep it simple.

READ MORE... by Martha Fiennes
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1976923,00.html#article_continue

Panasonic's NEW 3CCD camcorder

Panasonic introduces AG-HSC1U, AVCHD-shooting 3CCD camcorder

Panasonic has introduced the world’s smallest professional 3CCD high-definition camcorder, the AG-HSC1U. This handheld camcorder weighing only 1.1lbs., delivers 1080i recordings with the accuracy that professionals require for capturing events in HD. And and natural 3CCD color reproduction is excellent.

This is the first small affordable HD camcorder ideal for widescreen, high-resolution event documentation, presentation, training, coaching, and video production applications. Compatible with the growing number of large HD flatscreen displays as well as front- and rear-screen projectors, the AG-HSC1U offers much sharper images than can be obtained by standard definition (SD) camcorders.

Flexible and highly reliable since it records to solid-state media with no moving parts (as opposed to tape- and/or disc-based systems), the noiseless AG-HSC1U camcorder records up to 41 minutes of video in the highest-quality mode and 88 minutes in the standard-quality mode. The Recording is made on a high-speed 4GB SDHC memory card. Capable of receiving and storing the contents of 10 4GB SDHC cards in the field, a portable 40GB hard drive, is packaged with the camcorder. SD video can be output in the widescreen 16:9 format.

The remaining question is this: how good is the quality of that H.264 MPEG-4 footage using the AVCHD format, with its measly 15Mbps bit rate as implemented thus far? Will that be bumped up to the AVCHD format's potential 24Mbps bit rate? Only then can it be more accurately called "professional."

LEARN MORE...
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/hdhdv/prods/02062007_Panasonic_AG-HSC1U/
© 2007 Prism Business Media Inc.

VIEWER DISCUSSION...
© Copyright 1996-2007 Camcorderinfo.com, all rights reserved.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-Unveils-AG-HSC1U-First-AVCHD-Pro-Camcorder.htm

GODASS

A dark independent comedy about how having a gay father can be the least of a punk girl's problems.

In terms of execution, Godass is better than Smithereens…itsfemale leads evoke Janeane Garafolo and Shirley MacLaine…Fred Schneider is well cast… - The San Francisco Guardian

Bell gives almost equal weight to Teri's family and friends in South Carolina, the zine she brings to New York to sell (Skid Marks), the drug-fueled music scene she quickly plunges into, and her father's troubled relationship with his longtime lover (convincingly played by Fred Schneider of the B-52s). Despite some rough edges, the film is frequently amusing, bringing out the absurdities and contradictions of its various milieus. - Fred Camper, The Chicago Reader

Naturalistic performances let the oft-wry dialog and situations sneak up on us rather than going for overt laughs….bright sensibility and polished presentation on a low budget suggest Bell has a future worth tracking… - Dennis Harvey, Variety

Godass reveals an edgy sensibility and is charged with genuine emotion. - Kevin Thomas, LA Times


SEE THE TRAILER...
http://www.merlionfilms.com/trailer-godass.htm

NYC MIDNIGHT

MISSION & HISTORY
The mission of NYC Midnight is to discover a new wave of talented filmmakers and storytellers from around the world and provide them with an outlet for their creativity. Each year, NYC Midnight designs intense competitions to challenge the stamina, determination, and originality of these aspiring filmmakers and writers.

Since 2002, thousands of filmmakers and screenwriters from around the world have taken part in NYC Midnight events. Top films from NYC Midnight have gone on to screen and win awards at festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Cinequest, and Crossroads.

NYC Midnight is dedicated to creating competitions filled with rewarding events for the participants, the film community and beyond. In addition, NYC Midnight strives to support and inspire filmmakers and screenwriters in their future cinematic endeavors. Since our inception in 2002, we have provided our winners with over $140,000 in cash and prizes to help them take their next big step in the industry.

COMPETITIONS

Whether you are interested in filmmaking, animation, screenwriting or creative writing, NYC Midnight has a competition to challenge and inspire you! Check out our annual events below:

►12-Hour Film Race [filmmaking] - Filmmakers have just 12 hours to create an original short film (4 minutes max.) from noon to midnight. The films must be based on a theme and surprise element assignment given to all of the teams at noon. All of the films are screened at a local theater for public viewing.

►Animadness [animation] - Animators are challenged to create an original short animated film (5 minutes max.) in just 3 weeks based on a theme, character and object assignment. All of the completed films are streamed online. This is an international online competition - anyone may compete from anywhere.

►Midnight Run [filmmaking] - Filmmakers are challenged to write, shoot, edit, and score an original short film (8 minutes max.) in just 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. The films must be based on a theme assignment (ex. revenge). All of the films are screened at a local theater for public viewing.

►Movie Making Madness [filmmaking] - Filmmakers have 2 weeks to create an original short film (10 minutes max.) based on a genre and subject assignment. All of the completed films are streamed online. This is an international online competition - anyone may compete from anywhere.

►Screenwriter's Challenge [screenwriting] - Writers have 1 week to create an original short screenplay (20 pages max.) based on a genre and subject assignment. Finalists are chosen to compete for thousands of prizes by writing a short screenplay in 24 hours. This is an international online competition - anyone may compete from anywhere.

►Short Story Challenge [creative writing] - Similar to the Screenwriter's Challenge, writers have 1 week to create an original short story (2,500 words max.) based on a genre and subject assignment. Finalists are chosen to compete for thousands of prizes by writing an original short story in 24 hours. This is an international online competition - anyone may compete from anywhere.

Click here to learn about upcoming events and check out the results from past events.
http://www.nycmidnight.com/Events/Events.htm

A Lesson in Seeing & Hearing

Film is a visual medium. A professional screenwriter must learn know how to acquire a 'camera eye'. But there is another sense that is important to a screenwriter, and that's hearing.

Right now we can't give our audience the same smells, tastes or touch that our characters experience, but we can let them hear the same things our characters do. So, as well as a camera eye, you must learn to develop a camera ear.

A LESSON in writing what you HEAR...
Put on a blindfold for ten or fifteen minutes. Make sure that you're sitting in a safe place. Be aware of all the sounds around you--even the small ones like the beating of rain on your porch roof, or the steady humming of the refrigerator.

Next, get a notebook or journal and describe what you heard in that time. Write in full detail what you thought was happening based on the sounds you heard. Like a motorcycle, vibrating with a put-putt-putt sound, or a child screaming bloody murder down the road or the hallway.

Let your imagination run riot. What was that woman's shout all about? Has she just won the state lottery, or is she begging her partner not to hit her? Or that squeal of tires? Has the local realtor been drinking again, or is it a desperate gang holding up the local bank?

Try to put the sounds that you heard into words. At first, just take notes, and then later put them into sentence structures. (Taking the blindfold off before you write will help!)

Then try and envisage the scenes that go with them. Tell the story. No one need ever see it, so knock yourself out. Have fun, and make this little exercise a regular feature in your writing warm up routine, when the words aren't flowing as easily as you'd like them to. Before you know it you'll be cranking them out at a frantic rate!

CIRCLE OF TIME

Circle Of Time… is a story about an artist’s journey, hope, and desperate attempt at fulfilling her passions through art and poetry. We discover Angioli’s pain through flashback images revealing troubled times in her life being abused as a young child.

Angioli’s troubled past is enlightened by Joaquin, a new love who encourages her to pursue her dreams. Angioli is torn between the city she knows and the man she wants to know and pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist in New York City.

Joaquin is tormented when Angioli is offered a position she cannot refuse. After Angioli leaves, he struggles with the essence of the woman who continues to plague his mind and everyday routines.

Moving to New York, Angioli is forced to suppress the powerful attraction she felt for the man who encouraged her goals. As she becomes engrossed in the NY art and social scenes, we follow Angioli’s discovery of the greatness within her.

The film takes you through the present part of Angioli’s world and Joaquin’s anxiety of seeing Angioli for the first time in months. When invited to the opening of Angioli’s art exhibit, Joaquin fantasizes about the romance that has yet to materialize.

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DEAD REIGN

DEAD REIGN is survival against toxic plagues and my fellow man that has turned against me.

INDEPENDENT HORROR LIVES!

The music for DEAD REIGN is anything 70's. Anything Rock. Right now my script is filled with gritty imagery that filling the screen with horrific scenes of debauchery and carnage.

Being a horror film and even more so a zombie film I have a lot to pay homage too. First and foremost the zombie films of George Romero which include Night of the Living Dead('68), Dawn of the Dead('78), Day of the Dead('85), and Land of the Dead. Some of my fav horror films are: The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre('74), Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, The Howling, Dead Alive, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Friday the 13th, The Devil's Rejects, The Toxic Avenger, Frankenstein('31), Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula('31), Halloween('78), Psycho('60), The Shining, Jaws, King Kong, Godzilla, Last House on the Left, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Return of the Living Dead, The Phantom of the Opera, The Thing, The Omen, The Brood, I Spit on Your Grave, Night of the Creeps, The Horror of Dracula, Spiderbaby, Monster Squad, Night Breed, The Lost Boys, From Dusk Till Dawn, Scream, just to name a few on the surface. I also love 80's comedies like Caddyshack, Stripes, Back to School, Porky's, Wierd Science, Revenge of the Nerds, Peewee's Big Adventure, The Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Richmont High. Oh and 70's explotation films like The Big Doll House, Coffy, Foxy Brown, The Big Bird Cage, Switchblade Sisters to name a few. I love anything low budget with Roger Cormans name on it, Christopher Lee &; the Hammer Films, Herschell Gordon Lewis is fun and all his films have the best titles. Troma is fun times too.

SEE THE TEASER TRAILER & LEARN MORE...
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Michael Mann on Digital vs. Film

Director Michael Mann is well-known as a perfectionist, so it’s not surprising that when he started planning the shoot for Collateral, he opted to use fairly new HD camera systems, the only technology that would allow him to translate the images in his head onto the big screen. That artistic decision necessitated radically new technical approaches in post-production

What was the appeal of shooting Collateral in HD?

A few things. I really wanted to work in a very new way and I wanted to shoot a digital film, and this is the first full-length big-budget studio one. George Lucas shot Star Wars digitally, but that was for visual effects. This was conceived from the start as a digital project, and we shot about 50 percent entirely digitally in the end. I wanted to shoot the whole film at night, and right away I knew I’d never be able to get what I wanted by shooting 35mm. It just doesn’t pick up all the little details and gradations of color and tone that the naked eye picks up at night.

And L.A. at night is this whole other character, and the only way to be able to see it the way I’d pictured it was to go digital video— HD. That method also suited the subject matter perfectly. It’s a thriller, but it’s also about characters in conflict. It’s not just a genre thing. It’s a character-driven drama, and I was really attracted to the idea of Tom playing this complex, rather tragic character. And I also loved the way the story compresses everything into just one night, so that it’s almost like you come in at the end of the story. All this stuff’s gone on before, which you gradually become aware of as the events unfold.

Break down the workflow in terms of shooting.

We shot about half the movie on film, and then 20 percent with the Sony CineAlta HD camera, and the rest with the Viper FilmStream. The CineAlta has two more stops of range at the high end, so before whites clip and burn out, I’ll see details. So if I’m shooting in front of a car, I’ll see the outline of the car’s headlight with the Sony camera, but I won’t with the Viper camera. That’s the strength of the CineAlta camera.

READ MORE...Interviewed by Iain Blair

http://www.studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/searchlist/4775.html
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