Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

#INKMINIGT 7 April 2013 on Twitter

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Check out the fun tweets and Vine videos and pics from the Twitter feed, from the Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire’s NAB Show 2013 KISS Mini Golf Tournament!

Jason Konoza ‏@jasonkonoza
Busy Sunday at @NABShow. PPW learnin’ and keynote this morning. @Sony and @Avid events this aft & @INKMINIGT KISS mini golf tonight. #whew

Steve Courtney ‏@malderor
Long day of learnin’. Time for #cinebeer and later KISS mini-golf with @INKMINIGT #nabshow

Michael Kammes ‏@michaelkammes
#Blackmagic shindig over…now heading to KISS mini golf with @quintessential and crew!

Christina Vitagliano ‏@MonsterMiniGolf
Have fun! “@quintessential: #INKMINIGT in full effect! (@ KISS @MonsterMiniGolf w/ @kyl33t) [pic]: http://4sq.com/Y8xQEe ”

Tony Vescio ‏@zebratape
Oh yeah, this is happening…KISS Mini Golf!!! @ KISS Monster Mini-Golf

Michael Kammes ‏@michaelkammes
KISS Mini Golf !

Kylee Wall ‏@kyl33t
Just…yeah. KISS mini golf.

Tony Vescio ‏@zebratape
Catman @ KISS Monster Mini-Golf

Michael Kammes ‏@michaelkammes
More KISS mini golf

Scott Simmons ‏@editblog
Kiss Monster Mini Golf. Yep.

Tony Vescio ‏@zebratape
Oh hai! @ KISS Monster Mini-Golf

Steve Courtney ‏@malderor
My first introduction to @DylanReeve is us getting paired up to play KISS mini-golf together. #postchat #nabshow

Matt Penn ‏@mattpenndotcom
Kiss minigolf!

Doug Daulton ‏@dougdaulton
Rockin’ out with @oddernod. @ KISS Monster Mini-Golf

Evan Pease ‏@Jack_McFly
Fake Gene Simmons rockin at Kiss Monster Mini Golf.

Ko Maruyama ‏@ninjacrayon
Hanging with @rbirnholz and @arcohen at kiss minigolf

Matt Penn ‏@mattpenndotcom
KISS Mini Golf! #Magic https://vine.co/v/bTV5m2I00mL

Liam ‏@EditorLiam
Kiss Minigolf #inkminigt if your in Vegas for nab, you should be here

Carey Dissmore ‏@careyd
Jeff Greenberg taps one in. #INKMINIGT

Kanen Flowers ‏@kanendosei
It’s @ninjacrayon showing his Scruffy!

Tony Vescio ‏@zebratape
I took it, 3 – 2 “@Jack_McFly: .@zebratape is chewing up the air hockey table. #INKMINIGT

Evan Pease ‏@Jack_McFly
#inkminigt & #kmmg is amazing. But lets be honest, hole 11 is total bullshit.

Evan Pease ‏@Jack_McFly
#postchat represented under black light at #inkminigt

Evan Pease ‏@Jack_McFly
The #INKMINIGT at #KMMG is a spectacle to behold. Pretty wild. #fb

Scott Simmons ‏@editblog
@quintessential great time @monsterminigolf for #INKMINIGT

Brad Hagen ‏@bradvr
@INKMINIGT thanks for hosting another great #nab event.

No Whining on the Yacht — Why I Love the Scruffy Thinking Podcast

Friday, January 25th, 2013

*Explicit Tag*

I don’t believe in luck, good or bad. Although, I don’t discount tragedy.

I’m fairly certain life is a fucked up dichotomy that’s always throwing shit at you and yet gives you the opportunity to behold the most beautiful experiences there are to behold. I think in the face of this, we use whatever guile we have to hopefully steer us in the direction of more of the latter.

In travelling this road, I’ve recently and not so recently made some observations. To borrow from a quote in “The Long Kiss Goodnight”, “Life is pain! Get used to it!” or more specifically, my feeling is: “Life is not fair. Get used to it.” Moreover, if you want anything in life, you have to actually go get it.

“People aren’t lucky.”
The appearance of luck is really a whole shit-ton of hard work and putting yourself into situations where “luck” can happen. Luck is action.

“The grass is always greener on the other side”. This is a funny one. A co-worker and I were discussing this a bit the other day. He talked about how a young man asked an older man, “should I get married?” The morale of the story was basically, if you do you’ll always be wondering what life would be like if you didn’t and if you don’t, you’ll always be wondering what life would have been like if you had. We’re always wondering, “what if?” That’s human nature. I had the epiphany “what if you didn’t always wonder and were completely satisfied with every decision you made?”

“If you aren’t living the most beautiful existence you can, it’s your own damn fault!”
You cannot blame anyone else. You can but it won’t lead you out. I’ve got to tell you I am living an extremely “lucky/blessed” existence. I have amazing experiences and I get to meet amazing people. I also have “amazing” kids! They are the light of my life and encompass the entirety of my purpose to exist. I can’t go on enough about this aspect of my life so I’ll just leave it at that. I work hard at it. But like someone told me a long, long time ago, “it’s easier to live in a higher condition than in a lower one.” In other words, you may think it’s a long long hard road and see nothing but more hard work in the future but when you get to a certain level it’s less work to maintain a good existence than you would be or are exerting at a lower one.

“Don’t let your past control your future!”
We have experienced failure and it “hurts” but to let that pain control you, will limit you. Just imagine if you lived the life you wanted to live and nothing held you back. That is what’s possible. Life will continue to throw shit. Know that and move on.

“Get over it!” This one is a hard one for me but the more I can apply it, the better I am for it. There is tragedy and there are people who would like nothing better than to piss you (or anyone) off. The more you stick to those moments in life, the less positive energy you have to create more good in your life and the lives of others. Shake it off.

“Help others.”
Spend time helping others. There is so much selfishness in the world that it sometimes has the ability to spread around like an unfortunate oil spill, getting goo all over. Remove yourself from that goo and do something to help others, volunteer somewhere, tutor someone, give to a family services charity or do whatever you want that helps. It will feel good.

“Look, Listen and Learn.”
I, for one, hate stupidity. I see people making mistakes all the time. The majority of the time, it is because people go on automatic. They are not present in the moment. They are walking through a world they have imagined in their heads and assume that’s the reality of what’s outside their head. Also, there is so much wisdom around. Be here and now and look around and observe. Listen to what the world is telling you. Listen to what people are saying around you. And, learn from it.

“There’s no whining on the yacht.”
I learned this one from Kanen Flowers of Scruffy Thinking. He learned it from someone and he says it from time to time on his podcasts to emphasize how silly it is to complain about such small uncomfortable situations when we’re living a pretty amazing life. It’s true. We are. And if you don’t think you are, see above or perhaps just look at it from another angle. My wife gave a sigh this morning about some task she was about to do. I just told her, “There’s no whining on the yacht!” I mean look at the most amazing day you are about to spend, enjoying time with our amazing children. This is a time that will not repeat itself. Take it in and sip the champagne!

When you put together the meanings of all of the sayings above, and apply them to your life, one could get a pretty remarkable outlook on life and move forward with huge leaps and bounds.

This is what has happened to me, with the help of the Scruffy Thinking podcast and other experiences that I choose to expose myself to. I am experiencing a change in my view on life. Kanen has conversations with some of the most amazing people and through their sharing of life views, I have been able to examine my own life and experiences and synthesize my own ideas and approaches that I want to take. The paragraphs above are an example of that. This is why I love all of the Scruffy Thinking podcasts: Scruffy Thinking, Ruining it For Everyone and That Post Show. So, thank you Kanen! What you do means a lot. I feel you are contributing to a better world. Again, thank you!

40 years ago ACE started the Student Editor Program/Competition

Friday, December 7th, 2012

As probably one of the oldest editing students in existence, (I’m a late bloomer. What can I say?) I am challenging myself to do and learn all I can in this field that has captured my heart and soul. For the past almost five years, I have been taking college filmmaking classes, starting with my first editing class on February 18, 2008.
I have been to many events and have met many award winning editors, including Eric Kench who took home the Student Editing Award last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jCxQy_nVvkc

In my pursuit of editing knowledge, I recently made an eBay purchase of old American Cinemeditor magazine, the then ACE publication, and I found this among it’s pages:

Photo from the Winter, 1972-73 American Cinemeditor Magazine

So, forty years ago (I was five-years old) this competition began. ‘Could it be an omen? I hope so!

Either way, I’m proud to be participating in the competion this year and being a part of such a rich history of cinema editing. This upcoming ACE Eddie awards is February 16, 2013, almost exactly five years since I started this journey!

Congratulations to all the participants this year and years past, I am humbled and honored to be in your company.

The State of Shrinking Expos and Budgets (or more, really, What I Found Interesting at Createasphere’s ETE)

Friday, November 9th, 2012

I find it kind of sad to see expositions like DV Expo and Createasphere’s Entertainment Technology Expo shrinking in size. But, I guess, that’s a sign of the times.

I don’t know what that sign represents but it’s a sign of something.

One thing I’ve found is that while there are less companies and attendees at these expos, there is an opportunity to get more quality networking accomplished.

I also like the fact that I can discover cool things based on what others find interesting at the show.

The first, most vocal, booth wrangler was, I’m assuming, Alex Mikhaylov (at least that’s what the card he gave me said) from Production Tube (www.production-tube.com). He basically stated that it was a free site to post Who you were, what you did and videos, etc.

I ran into a few people I knew there. One, Thomas Mathai (@rebeldigitalgod), pointed me to Scayl (www.scayl.com, @scayl). I went there and talked to the EVP, Lars Soderstrom. Scayl is apparently “email without limits”. In other words, you can share large video files via email, as long as you both have a Scayl account. The service is free, up to a point, but can be very scalable to large companies. He wants people to give it a try, to see how they like it and to help get the word out about it. This is a new service that has a lot of potential for many uses. So you got a large file you want to send to someone? Give it a try.

Noah Gusdorff and crew from Creative Mobile Solutions (http://www.cmsi.tv) introduced me to the Magma (www.magma.com, @magmaexpressbox) folks who have a *very* interesting Thunderbolt to PCI-E slot solution. Take a look at these pictures and see if you can see what I mean.






Yes. All that stuff is connected to the 15″ retina display macbook pro!

Michael Kammes from Key Code Media was on hand to show off their interesting take on LEGOs and clay (actually he was showing shooting with a Red and splitting the signal off to a couple of places for PRoRes files (or DNxHD) and proxies and live streaming through a NewTek TriCaster) but he also pointed out Assimilate’s booth which was showing off a 4K Dolby monitor, which didn’t really impress me. Maybe because the guys working the booth were too busy sitting around bullshitting with each other to give a crap about us being there.

LAPPG (http://www.lappg.com) had a booth there. Yay!

And there were a couple free magazines on hand.

For my entertainment value, I sat in on the Peter Deming, ASC presentation. What a career this guys has! That was quite a presentation. Very glad I attended that one. (I’m sure they’ll post the video soon.) (It’s now posted! Click link above or on pic.)

And then the “reception”. Last year it was bigger and had free grub. This year, you had to buy at the taco truck.

Of the 20 people that told me that they were going, I saw four and heard another two were there at other times. (I find people not so motivated to attend things, lately.)

The reception was a bit dull, so we opted to go to Denny’s across the street rather than even cashing in our free drink tickets.

Did have a great time meeting with Brian C. Janes (@briancjanes) and talking post, freelance and entrepreneurial slants.

1980 All Over Again

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

This week I got a “Movie Maker” magazine from the UK, that I bought off of eBay. It’s from 1980. It’s a magazine that covers the amateur filmmaking movement. This particular edition incorporates writing talent from what seems to be a merging of two to three different magazines. In other words, this is one of the first issues where Amateur Cine World and 8mm Movie Maker and Film Making (or just Film Making) magazines are combined into one magazine. It’s a British magazine and has UK ads in it.

It’s very intriguing in many aspects. The first page is numbered “793″ and continues on to “884″. I gather this is a British convention, whereas, since this is issue No. 11, from a Vol. 14, that issue No. 1 would have started from page 1 and No. 12 will end in the 900′s. Looking at all the old gear and advices is mind blowing. It’s like a history lesson. It’s like what I should have been doing with my life in 1980. It may very well be what some of my older friends in the industry might have been doing in 1980.

As a late starter or a “late-comer” to this particular aspect of my life, I sometimes feel sad that I didn’t do more, earlier in life in this field, especially since I had plenty of interest in it. Coming from the sane place I want to come from, in my heart, I try not to be too disappointed in this fact and try hard to just enjoy that I have arrived here and try to concentrate on all the good to come.

Another thing that’s funny about this magazine is the line, “Twenty years ago, when amateur movies were experiencing their biggest boom…”. That means in 1960! Full disclosure, I was born in 1967.

The 1980 magazine talks a lot about Super 8 and 16mm but remember VHS and Star Wars have been around a few years by now. “Video” though was a thought as there is a review of a VHS recorder in the mag. It kind of reminds me of the Film vs. Digital talk of recent years.

There’s a ton of cine clubs listed in the mag too. Ah! Remember clubs? http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net/?p=350

The main reason I bought the magazine was the article title on the cover, “A Fresh Look At Film Editing”. The article turns out to be the first in a series on film editing by none other than Bernard Ashby. At the time, Ashby is credited with “…currently heading the team responsible for editing and dubbing Shoestring.” (for BBC Television.) The title of the article in the pages of the magazine is “A Matter of Choice” and this part, “Part 1: Choosing the Shot”. The advice in here is amazing! (I think I could copy the article for educational purposes and not violate any copyright laws, right? I’ll look into this and see what I can share.) I love the line “Don’t be afraid to experiment, however. Faint heart and feeble ‘scissors’ will never win a Ten Best Oscar.”

This magazine reminded me what it was like to be 13 all over again and of some of the ideas and reasons why I love film. It spawned my search for the Monster Makeup book that I have been trying to remember that I owned as a kid. And now I found it!

Wildebeests and Rabbits

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Alternate Title: What Inspires Me? (Every G’damn Thing I Witness!)

A recent podcast discovery of mine is Scruffy Thinking by Kanen Flowers.

I’ve known about his That Post Show podcast for some years now and his Life Zero one (now defunct) a bit too.

Since the return of That Post Show (there was a bit of a hiatus) I noticed that it was under the banner of Scruffy Thinking, apparently an umbrella moniker which describes where the idea well springs from.

I, at first, just perused the “new” podcast looking for post related content. One guest who caught my attention on That Post Show was Merlin Mann. Sorry, I’m late to the show but I didn’t know who he was. Still don’t really but he’s really smart and thus funny. I am utterly impressed with his ability to geek out on Star Wars and take you on the longest freaking tangents only to be spot on with every step of that journey and bring you right back around to the salient point of the topic at hand. I really admire his ability there, definitely a quality I wish I had.

It’s so funny how he keeps going on the tangent, all the while apologizing for doing so and still keeps going! Just fucking epic!

So, searching for more Merlin Mann content, I find Scruffy Thinking podcast episode 18, “Chasing Wildebeests”. This particular episode also has Stu Maschwitz, writer of The DV Rebel’s Guide, a book that just happens to be in a lot of independent filmmaker’s library, including mine.

I commute about an hour to work, on the days I work, and podcasts provide a great way to get more filmmaking inspiration and education (mostly inspiration).

This particular episode is also an hour and forty-four minutes long! So, it took two sides of my commute to finish but well worth it. So much so, that I’ve listened to it a number of times. I think the reason it resonates so much for me is that it talks about a lot of the things that are constantly on my mind: priorities, doing what you love vs. a “day job” and time management (which is really “priorities” isn’t it?) especially “family time”!

Kanen’s grandma, I think has had to have been one of the most amazing influences on his life, mainly because of two reasons that I know of: buying him his first computer and giving him the advice to follow what you love to do and you won’t have to worry about making a living, it’ll happen. Looking back on my life, my Grandmothers were very influential to me as well. I think I could go on for quite a long time about how important grandparents are to a child. Parents too, obviously, but sometimes a grandparent has just a bit more of a broader view. They’ve seen a bit more of what life really comes down to and imparting that loving view to a kid brings a much needed balance, they may not get otherwise.

So, in the “Chasing Wildebeests” podcast, that particular advice is examined in great detail. Stu taking the “this is why you must do what you want to do” view and Merlin taking the “let us not forget the trail of the fallen on your ‘path’ to superstardom” view. The ying and the yang of these two on this topic is EPIC!

This topic is so much on my mind these days, it consumes almost every minute of my thoughts and I’m constantly working on solutions to answer questions related to this topic. I even mentioned trying to balance what I wanted to do with my life vs. time with my family to Kanen himself at NAB, before I even knew about this particular podcast. So, I think it’s kind of serendipitous that I happened to listen to it when I did.

I’m even going to take a Franklin-Covey class, in about a week, called “FOCUS: Achieving Your Highest Priorities”. This I’ve been planning for quite awhile. It was recommended to me by one of the most (apparently) organized guys that I know. He went on quite a while about the virtues of this class and how it’s changed his life and how it helped him be able to brush off the unimportant. In short, it sounded like just the thing I needed to take!

I am pretty excited to have the opportunity to gain another tool to help me define who I am and what I want to become and, hopefully, gain more traction in that direction, all the while being able to, hopefully, achieve the balance I want to achieve in my life.

There are so many views and ideas related to this very topic, that I think I’m going to start my own webcast/vidcast on it. I want to share what I find in this arena to others. Those that know me, know that one of the most important things to me, that define who I am, is helping people do what they want to do. I have long held the same belief that Kanen’s grandmother shared, “do what you love to do.” You can see that as a common thread in my past blog posts too. It’s who I am.

At this point, if you haven’t listened to “Chasing Wildbeests“, please do so. Then return and finish reading this blog post. Then leave a comment. Thank you.

Okay, so now you get what I mean. Right?

How many of us are that hyper tiger/lion trying to catch ten wildebeests? How many of us are chasing our dreams at all? Are you “driving a beater around the track”? Were you a skater in the mid 80′s too? Yes, I too went on the hunt for Mr. Chin in my late teens. (a motorcycle accident later ruined my balance but “good times” for sure.)

I hope we can all find balance and work better at reaching our goals. It’s, as they say, the journey, not the destination, right? To borrow a line: Happiness is the overcoming of not unknowable obstacles toward a known goal.

Kanen Flowers’ podcasts inspire me to action and I hope they do/will for you too. I hope that what I “keep rappin’” here reaches some people. I hope to improve all I do too. I hope to be passionate about “every g’damn thing I do”!

Talk to you soon!

For those of you expecting a NAB post, one’s coming. In the meantime, check out @Kyl33t’s post on Creative Cow: http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/confessions-of-an-nab-virgin. Pretty much describes what I feel about NAB!

#INKMINIGT* Official Prize List

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

Thank you to all the sponsors and partners and bloggers and tweeters for playing along and getting the word out!

The main point of this party is to have fun and set the mood for a great NAB!

For those of you that could pony up for the VIP tickets, GREAT! You will get to play golf for free and get the beer and food and be in the running for the sponsored prizes. There are a limited number of VIP collector’s passes (first come first served) but I think there will be enough for all of you.

For those of you who RSVP’d for a “We’ll just come hang out!” That’s AWESOME too! I can’t wait to see my old friends and make new ones!

Are you psyched? I’m PSYCHED!

I am still banging out the official itinerary but will post it here when it’s complete.

Thanks to our sponsors:
Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire, KISS by Monster Mini Golf, Blackmagic Design, JAG35, Divergent Media, Focal Press, DV Expo, DigiEffects, ArtBeats, Assisted Editing, RevoStock, FilmTees and iKan Corp!

I am sure there will be more before “tee time” and for those who couldn’t donate this year, there’s always next year!

So the prizes are…

From Blackmagic Desgn

A copy of Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Software ($995)

A Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle ($345 value)


From JAG35.com

A JAG35 Straight Rig ($400 value)

A JAG35 Street Runner Rig ($250 value)


From Divergent Media

A copy of ClipWrap ($50 value)

and

A copy of ScopeBox 3.0 ($100 value)


From Focal Press

9 Focal Press Books:

3-DIY – Stereoscopic Moviemaking on an Indie Budget
By Ray Zone
Plug-in to After Effects – Third Party Plug-in Mastery
By Michele Yamazaki
The Insider’s Guide to Independent Film Distribution
Second Edition – By Stacey Parks
First-Time Filmmaker F*#^-ups – Navigating the Pitfalls to Making a Great Movie – By Daryl Goldberg
Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users – Making the Creative Leap – By Tom Wolsky
FilmCraft: Editing – By Justin Chang
Make Your Movie – What You Need to Know About the Business and Politics of Filmmaking – By Barbara Freedman Doyle
Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography, Second Edition – A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography
By Mark Sawicki
Indie Film Producing – The Craft of Low Budget Filmmaking
By Suzanne Lyons


From DV Expo

A Three-day VIP pass to DV Expo West ($975 value)


From DigiEffects

3 Copies of DigiEffects DigiSuite ($499 value, each)


From ArtBeats

A prize of $500 worth of stock footage of the winners choice from ArtBeats


From Assisted Editing

AssistedEditing.com

a $100 voucher to spend on any Assisted Editing products


From iKan Corp

A VL5 monitor ($349 value)


From Film Tees

FilmTees.com T-shirts!


From RevoStock

$1,000 in RevoStock credit! (5x$100 and 1x$500)


From Red Giant Software

$5,000 in Red Giant Software Prizes!


OFFICIAL SIGN-UP HERE.

*#INKMINIGT = [I]FIE (Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire) [N]AB (National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show) [K]ISS (by Monster [Mini] [G]olf) [T]ournament. #INKMINIGT is the official hashtag for the event. Get involved! Tweet it up!

GOOD LUCK!!! SEE YOU THERE!!!

PODCASTS

BLOGS

What To Do at NAB

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

The NAB Show, as I’ve mentioned before, to me, is a must do and see.

There you can meet with all of your online social network peeps, learn things, see what’s new in products and technology and just be engulfed in tech geek goodness.

Obviously http://nabshow.com is the place to visit to find out all about what’s there. The NAB Show app is really cool too.

Here’s a couple NAB Survival Tips blogs:
http://adamtheeditor.blogspot.com/2012/04/adams-nab-survival-guide.html
http://www.biscardicreative.com/blog/2012/04/tips-for-attending-nab-2012/

Here’s Walter’s Post Centric “What to See” blog post:
http://www.biscardicreative.com/blog/2012/04/things-to-see-at-nab-2012/

Here are a few party list pages, that mostly have the same parties listed:
http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/nab2012/story/whats_happening_at_nab_2012/
http://www.mediamotionball.com/nabinfo.html
http://supermeet.com/
http://www.nabshow.com/2012/event_highlights/official-afterparties.asp
http://kyleesportfolio.com/blog/?p=550
http://www.thomas-pr.com/01/nab2012.html

A Couple Podcasts with something to say:
http://t.co/SML3ri1N
http://scruffythinking.com/thatpostshow/2012/4/8/hold-it-again.html

As I think I mentioned before, color correction and iPad broadcasting (not necessarily related) are my two main interests this year. I really don’t think there’s going to be too much new to take in (that I’m not already aware of but can’t talk about because of NDA’s, even though the news seems to be breaking all over the place anyway!) for me as far as products go, but I do have a couple “want to buys” on my list.

As a new iPad owner, I am looking to see what products are out there for it and hopefully see them in action. I am also trying to do as much as I can on it as far as blogging and vlogging from there as well. Yes, we’re going to give you some video this year.

I plan on buying a couple Go Pro cameras too.

I plan to get to four main parties.

As far as I know free NAB show floor pass codes have expired but this page claims to have a link that works. So, give it a try? http://www.fcxuser.com/node/164

On The Pot, The Primordial Thinking Stool

Sunday, March 25th, 2012

Please excuse this short foray away from digital filmmaking.

The Thinker is one of the world’s most renowned objects to convey thought.

Driven from my slumber this early Sunday morning by a bed full of coughing, whining children who only want “Mommy” to console them, I started to my office to finish some unfinished work, namely the sending out of the remainder of sponsorship package notices that I need to for #INKMINIGT.

Making some tea and settling in to do so, I realized I had some more pressing issues to handle. So, thinking my iPod touch nor iPad would really be productive at this time, I grabbed a small book to accompany me. My mind a whirl of thoughts, I never opened the book but contemplated the amazing amount of thoughts I had running across my mind… and why.

Throughout time, your cells, in whatever form they had, even before they begat the thousands of generations to come, have been at their most vulnerable when one had to scurry off from the tribe to “drop one off”. There they were, all alone, making an easily trackable scent. One, let’s say, any predator could pick up on. Just for sheer survival of of the species, one had to be on high alert at this awkward time. All fight or flight options had to be fully at hand, as who knew when some Lion or Cougar would come sneaking up on you!

As one’s form developed safer methods of protection during one’s most “aware” time, one had the luxury of being able to pursue more future thinking options. I dare say, in the “cycle” of life, its greatest advancements have been born during these times.

It’s amazing how fast one can compute any scenario. One could “write” a whole movie in an instant. One could think of multiple endings, in conceptual form, all at once. I would go as far to say that one’s whole future could be laid out in the short time it takes to…. After all, don’t they say your whole life flashes before you just before you die? The mind is (or you are) an amazing computing machine, beyond what we are probably even capable of understanding. I say, take advantage of this most conscious of times and postulate a divine future for whatever time frame you wish but exercise your mind and explore what Earth shattering developments you could push forward out into the world. Heave with all your might and release wondrous creations into the stream of the world’s consciousness. Squeeeeeeeeze one out… for the benefit of mankind.

I know you can. I thank you. The world thanks you. (And make sure to handle all the necessary paperwork and especially remember, “Employees must wash their hands before returning to work”!)

Hollywood Camera Works “Hot Moves” DVD Review

Sunday, March 4th, 2012

by Thomas Mathai
@rebeldigitalgod

We all want to make great visuals. Slick camera moves is the hallmark of the Hollywood blockbuster. Watching a ton of action movies is one way to figure out how great camera moves are done.

Hollywood Camera Work (www.hollywoodcamerawork.us) seemed to have dissected all that work for us with their DVD, “Hot Moves: The Science of Awesome”. Hollywood Camera Work has two DVD training sets, one is a master course on blocking and staging, the other on visual effects. “Hot Moves” is an addition to the master course, building on concepts introduced in that set. In fact, the narrator refers to the full master course set for in-depth information on designing shots that cut well, while Hot Moves is just the dessert.

Many of the camera techniques discussed are designed to be big and expensive, using long dollies, sweeping crane shots, or fly overs. Alternative less complicated or expensive options are given when possible. Animators may find Hot Moves more useful, since they aren’t facing the same real world limitations.

It’s important to realize that the narrative instruction on this DVD is purposely monotone with long pauses. While you may want to watch the whole DVD in one sitting for an overview, it’s seem to really be designed for repeated viewing to better understand the concepts being presented.

The DVD starts with a recap of some concepts from the master course. Then goes into the use of parallax, pivots, rolls and angles. There’s even some extensive information on shooting from extreme heights and aerial shots. These moves are definitely recognizable, and it’s interesting to see what works and what doesn’t.

Computer animation is used to great effect to demonstrate the techniques. The animation is visually clean and direct, and making it easier to understand the concepts.

It would have been nice to have a PDF showing diagrams of the moves presented on the DVD. While it’s nice to see the results of the move, it’s also important to know how complex it is.

Hot Moves is definitely for the advanced filmmaker, the one who’s ready to try something a bit more complicated, even attempt to cheat the more expensive shots using their available tools.

Contributing Writer Thomas Mathai works doing DI work in Hollywood for the movies.
You can follow him on Twitter: @rebeldigitalgod