Big Effects in Low-Budget Films

Polygon Creates VFX in Chaw and Haeundae, Develops CG Water Pipeline

Whenever a movie comes along that attempts to create big visual effects on a relatively meager budget it is interesting to look at the techniques involved in trying to accomplish this goal.

When there are two such films that are both Korean-based productions ‘outsourcing’ their visual effects to the U.S., it becomes an even more intriguing tale.

Over the past year or so Polygon Entertainment found itself in the rather odd position of creating high-end visual effects for two Korean films, Chaw and Haeundae, which are now number one and two in the Korean box office. “I don’t know how I suddenly ended up with two films at the top of the Korean box office at the same time,” quips Hans Uhlig, founder of Polygon Entertainment.

READ MORE by Matt Armstrong - http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technique/casestudies/11149.html

STUDIO DAILY © 2009 Access Intelligence LLC. All Rights Reserved.

From Stock to Stories

Using Different Content Libraries to provide stock footage to add context to your movies may not be a new idea, but it certainly works.

Stock footage has often been the last minute, gotta-find-this-shot, solution for producers as they scramble to complete a project.

But “stock” shots are being redefined by today’s professionals as they never pick up a camera and choose instead to create entire stories from existing libraries.

For instance, we recently worked with a producer who was creating a documentary on a college basketball team from the 1970s. Although our library contained NCAA footage of this team in competition, there was more to the story than just basketball. The story needed footage of other events from this time period, and these were found in other collections of stock footage.

For some high production value establishing shots, it was necessary to use content from HBO Archives and Sony Pictures. Even though great shots and content existed within each library, it took all of the libraries together to provide the scenes that would tell the story exactly the way the producer wanted. Countless stories just like this exist within existing content libraries, waiting to be told (or retold).

READ ALL BY Matt Winninger, Marketing Manager - http://www.thoughtequity.com/video/shell/txp/from-stock-to-stories.do?title=From%20Stock%20to%20Stories


Copyright 2004-2008 Thought Equity Motion. All rights reserved.

Karin Chien on Independent Producing

Among Karin Chien's impressive credentials, is the fact that she has had two feature films accepted at Sundance. She is also on the advisory boards of IFP/New York and the Tribeca Film Institute, curator of The Chinatown Film Project, teaches independent film producing and finance management at NYU and New York’s School of Visual Arts, and is very much in demand as an independent producer.

Karin Chien gave an extremely well-organized, practical and informative 8-hour workshop in NYC entitled: Filmmaking Outside the Box: Smart Strategies for Independent Producing.

Karin was quick to emphasize at the outset that “Your life is much more important than your career.” Anyone considering embarking on a career as an independent film producer needs to recognize the fact that film producing is a constant challenge, and is not a path to a moneyed or stable lifestyle.

When considering whether to embark on a project, one should consider if you want to spend at least 5 years of your life on that endeavor. Karin stated that the minimum rough timeline breakdown for producing an independent feature film is 1 year to fully develop the project, 1 year to raise the funding, 1 year for principal photography and post-production, 1 year doing the festival circuit, and 1-2 years distributing the film. And, it is important to know that those five years could easily become ten.

READ MORE by wingatefilms; http://wingatefilms.wordpress.com/