Tiny Inventions workflow
Wow! WATCH THIS dark and amusing ZODIAC KILLER inspired short animation:
Something Left, Something Taken- Full Version from Tiny Inventions on Vimeo.
then if you have 30 minutes and you love After Effects and want to make animation - check this 'making of' out:
RGTV Episode 47: Tiny Inventions from Red Giant Software on Vimeo. Check out their website too: www.tinyinventions.com/
iPhone audio recording – Mikey
Just stumbled across this by accident - a video about an iPhone Mic called 'Mikey':
View video - if embed doesn't work
Not sure if it enables you to record great audio whilst recording video, or if it is just for audio. I do like the line in feature and the fact that you can charge it by USB power to stop it draining the iPhone's battery. Hmm... I shall await the future release of the new Mikey and wait a while...
iPhone 4 filming
So a while back I got hold of an iPhone 4 deliberately to play with its HD filming capabilities; because I was dismayed at the utter lack of filming over the last 15 months of hell in my old job and also wanted to negate any excuses that I might have for the future: such as, I haven't time to charge my video cameras up; I've run out of tape; I haven't got my camera on me and am unable to capture this marvellous event happening in front of my eyes etc. Especially now that I've changed jobs for the better and am in a much more saner plane of existence, my excuse pool is very much shallower. ;0)
I know that the quality of footage will never hold up next to a Semi-pro HDV Camcorder when you're needing to be able to push the footage in post, as there's so little visual information to play with in comparison. I also knew that there wasn't going to be even half as much control over what I shot or the quality of the sound. However, for quick 'making of's' on set, for doing possible video blogs / podcasts, or capturing something worth sharing on the net that didn't require the post polish, it was going to be a damn sight better than a Flip type camera.
It was the fact that you can now install the iMovie video editing app on it, and unlike any other phone out there [to my knowledge] you can film and edit and upload all from your mobile phone, that swung it for me and made me sign up to an exorbitant contract for pitiful data rates. But like any cynical sod, I firstly wanted to fully research the workflow and conduct a few misguided experiments. I wasn't going to rush out there like many did, just to be the first iPhone movie (shot and edited on the iPhone exclusively) on the net; although the day I picked up the phone I was instantly inspired to write a very easy to shoot low budget comedy horror short - more news on that soon.
READ MORE...(see link bottom right)
CELTX goes mobile with CELTX Script for iPhone and iPad
Apologies people, I know I've been bad and not posting of late. Hit by the bleak and distracted by life. But I'm back now.
Recently I treated myself to an iPhone 4 - after my old work took back the old iPhone 3 and it's a whole new world of apps! Finally the iPhone, despite its flaws, has matured into something low budget filmmakers can make use of. Not only does it now enable you to shoot and edit video - more on that in another post - but App makers have taken advantage of the multi tasking capabilities of the new OS and developed some cool apps.
Ironically a week after I purchased the Scripts Pro app - the developers of CELTX get in on the act with their own Scriptwriting app! if I didn't already have Scripts Pro, I'd definitely have purchased this; although Scripts pro is not just tied to CELTX and enables you to use Final Draft files too. I'm not sure how much screenwriting I will be doing on an iPhone, but the ability to work on my Macbook, then on my Hacbook and now on my iPhone means that I have no excuse not to write! I could write on the train, on the couch or in bed, and even in meetings, if I don't need to pay attention - or in the pub or train when waiting around and killing time. It opens a whole new world of possibilities for the creative. Now if Scrivener comes out for the iPhone I'll be in heaven!
- Check out the list of features and screenshots - http://www.celtx.com/celtxscript.html
- To find out more about Celtx Script - Check out the owners guide for the iPhone/iPad app here - http://bit.ly/blKE5l
- Sync with the desktop requires installation of the Sync tool/plugin - http://bit.ly/cpPC71
- Get Celtx Script now at the App Store - http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/celtx-script/id381536091?mt=8#
- if you're using it, please stop by to let me know how it's going!
PIONEER ONE – interesting social media promotion model
Fans of science fiction, and those interested in low budget media production, may want to check out PIONEER ONE, a 2010 American independent film project / Web TV series by Josh Bernhard and Bracey Smith (the duo behind the other torrent delivered film THE LIONSHARE) that is being funded purely through donations and created for release via BitTorrent networks.
The series is about a spaceship crash in Canada and its one lone Soviet survivor, riddled with cancer, who may be a cosmonaut from a base on Mars. Federal agents working the case, are conflicted by orders to bring the man back to the United States as a suspected terrorist, despite his severe condition and the possibility that his story may be true.
The pilot episode - a 35 minute webisode - was filmed on a budget of $6000, raised in advance using Kickstarter, and was released under a Creative Commons license. The rest of the season is funded through direct donations. At the time of writing, they've already raised $20K US.
Now I sadly won't be watching it, as I hate watching something that I have to wait ages in order to see the finale. But that's just me. If you are not bothered and want to get involved, find out more and study it as a model to launch your own web series, please visit the website:
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS on hold, but script available
Guillermo Del Toro's adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS is still a no-go project sadly. Despite it being the first on his list to do after HELLBOY 2 as stated back in 2007. 
Madness is a short novel about an Antarctic expedition made by scholars from Miskatonic University who discover strange, ancient life forms that are unknown to their science. Highly evolved creatures that seem to pre-date humanity. The script is already written, and in a recent interview with Aintitcool Del Toro Said:
"is exactly the movie I would like to do; it would push buttons, and it's extreme in many areas. It's a hard R-rated, big production tentpole in the genre of horror. What I love about tentpole horror."
Despite the fan interest in the film and Del Toro's clear proven talent for such tentpole flicks, the movie is not in production. However, the script is available to read via Raindance: Download the PDF here. Or read Del Toro's other film scripts HERE.
Read the Aintitcoolnews article (About halfway down, after they finish talking about SPLICE) : http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45341
If you haven't read any H.P. Lovecraft, and you have a really good reason for not doing so ;0), then you can read the original story here: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/mountainsofmaddness.htm
How to make it with a short film – great RAINDANCE article
RAINDANCE posted a great article on "How to make it with a short film in Europe" that nicely sums up how times have changed for the film industry. It shows that although there are less obvious paths into the industry for those trying to break in by making a short, there are still ways to monetise your film and get your start - if your smart and prepared to work hard that is.
Adobe Production suite incorporates STORY into its workflow
Adobe have finally released STORY - a collaborative tool for writing scripts and screenplays that is part of the new CS Live online services.
Check out the promotional video, that explains how STORY fully integrates into the entire production process, but beware the annoying NVidea Advert that you can't opt out of: http://tv.adobe.com/go/4917?trackingid=GYHZE - I suggest you turn the sound down immediately and then put it on when the product tour starts; but then I hate advertising.
Check out the production workflow (PDF) info HERE.
I covered Adobe STORY in a previous post - HERE.
It's an exciting time for low budget film production - and by that I mean in classic film production classification parlance as those productions with a 2ok to 20m budget, as such tools are usually out of the budgets of private individuals such as you and I; especially when I barely pay the mortgage, let alone have the funds to spunk 2k on software on a whim - as such production workflows, with the correct application of planning and knowledge enable low budget productions to efficiently plan and produce a holistic and consistent offering; right up to the point when you sell the rights to your film and deliver the music and effects version for subtitling, complete with a full transcript of the finished edit, which is already timestamped to the edit. Nice.
The story of THE COLLECTOR – aka MIDNIGHT MAN
Funnily enough, while lazily going through all of my RSS feeds and catching up on neglected blog articles, I found out that I'm already subscribed to one blog that is linked with THE COLLECTOR: "THE INSIDE PITCH - A Hollywood executive discusses screenwriting." - Written by Christopher Lockhart. It seems that Christopher, besides writing an excellent blog on the Screenwriting industry, from the inside, also produced THE COLLECTOR, which was originally known as the MIDNIGHT MAN. Read how the project came together here:
http://twoadverbs.blogspot.com/2006/05/midnight-man.html
"a small story that demonstrates one way a project comes together, and the arduous process it takes to launch a career and prove your worth in such a competitive industry."
That'll teach me to not keep up on my RSS feeds. ;0)
Breaking in – The COLLECTOR
SAW 3, 4 and 5 creators have a new film coming out - THE COLLECTOR - which looks amazing. And well worth a view, in an otherwise Horror bereft cinema schedule.
Check out the clip on the HORROR CHANNEL. Or go to the official website and watch the atmospheric trailer.
"For handyman and ex-con, Arkin, a quiet home and a family on vacation is an "opportunity". For inside the house lies a jeweler's safe, and inside the safe is a rare gem - his only hope for repaying his ex-wife's debt and keeping what's left of his family intact. Unfortunately for Arkin, inside the house is also a box containing the latest specimen in a collection catalogued in blood, bone and tears - a human specimen packaged as “bait”. While the trap may have already sprung shut on parents Michael and Victoria – cutting short their vacation before it could even begin - the jaws have yet to close on teenage daughter Jill and eight-year old Hannah. As the seconds tick down to midnight, Arkin becomes a reluctant hero trapped by a masked “Collector” in a maze of lethal invention – the Spanish Inquisition as imagined by Rube Goldberg – while trying to rescue the very family he came to rob."
But, more importantly - SAW creator Darren Lynn Bousman - continues his excellent Blog posts on 'breaking in' to the business here:
- I know I know. A tenuous link between the two. But one is educational and the other is entertaining. And there is a bit of a link.... enjoy. ;0)
