Quintessential Studios' Weblog

- ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K ($2,495). A new extremely advanced Ultra HD live production switcher with 6G-SDI technology for only US$2,495. It includes new features such as 10 independent 6G-SDI inputs each with frame sync, built in DVE with zoom, scale and rotate, 4 upstream chroma keyers, 3 independent aux outputs with front panel control and a larger media pool that holds both still frame graphics as well as motion video clips. (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46474)

 
- New SmartScope Duo 4K announced today is a dual 8 inch LCD rack monitoring with built in broadcast accurate wave form monitoring, now also includes 6G-SDI for Ultra HD support. (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46504)

 
- HyperDeck Studio 2 and HyperDeck Studio Pro 2: New models of our popular broadcast disk recorders, which are also now available for $995 for the HyperDeck Studio and $1995 for the HyperDeck Studio Pro 2. These new models include a new machined metal design for a robust and professional looking product and a built in AC power supply. (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46498)

 
- Public beta of Resolve 10: DaVinci Resolve 10 public beta is now available for customers to download. We announced Resolve 10 at NAB, which is a major update including newfeatures for integrating the workflows of multiple different software, upgraded on set tools and editing features, support for OpenFX plug ins as well as new tools for delivering final project masters to cinemas. Also we are including the addition of Ultra HD resolutions and additional GPU support on the free of charge DaVinci Resolve Lite edition. (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46480)

 
- New 4K Mini Converter Models (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46492) are designed to ease the transition into Ultra HD workflows and allow lower cost Ultra HD studios to be built. These new models are fully compatible with SD, HD and Ultra HD equipment and automatically switch between video formats and will retail for $495 each.

 
- HyperDeck Software Update 4.0: A new update for HyperDeck Studio Pro, which now supports Apple ProRes file formats, ProRes 422, ProRes 422 (LT) and ProRes (Proxy). (http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46444)

 
- Desktop Video 10: This major new software update for our Desktop Video software for our UltraStudio 4K and DeckLink 4K Extreme capture and playback products replaces all processing with a wholly new design. The update allows for new features such as simultaneous capture and playback and new frame buffer formats, and will beavailable in October free of charge. http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/dk/press/pressdetails?releaseID=46486

I was asked last night, in a conversation about pay vs. passion, what the selection process is like for me, since I’m not a full-time editor and I really base all of my projects on “passion”.

I unfortunately have to base my day job on pay, I do have a family to feed, after all.  That isn’t really different in my eyes than editing something I’m not passionate about, like a lot of working editors do.  What benefit are you getting then, other than a pay check?  That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me either.  But having a job just makes my “free” time even that more valuable to me.  That is the time I have to spend with my kids, my wife or my friends.  You almost can’t pay me enough to give up any of that time.  Fortunately, with my current job, I have a decent amount of that time.

As an artistic type, I am drawn to create.  I am passionate about what I do and I want to spend endless amounts of time doing that.  It’s just a part of me. I can’t stop it without there being a price of unhappiness.

The time I spend away from my son and daughter, kills me too, even more so.  It’s a balance between getting enough time into all of my passions in life so I don’t sink into a depressive pit of despair.  With the limited time and ALL of the things I want to do, it’s almost an unwinable battle. Time is my worst enemy.  As I’ve tweeted, “So, my main problem to solve is how to squeeze 268 hours into a 168 hour week.” You’d think as an editor, controlling time would be an easy feat.  I guess I gotta get better!

So, my process of selection goes like this: I have the following criteria, 1) Do I want to do it? i.e. Do I care about the project or the people involved in it?  2) Is it worth missing out on time with my kids?  This is a big one.  If I want to do it, then maybe we can work something out, IF, 3) Is there enough time for me to spread it out over enough of a period of time that I don’t feel like I’m missing out of #2 above.

I feel that I don’t have to work inside the box or work my way up in the business the standard way.  I feel that I can find more than enough projects to build my skills that will take me where I want to go, through contacts, friends, etc.  I also feel, there is some power in creating your own projects to work on.  I have a few of those up my sleeve.

I am a firm believer in doing what you love.  I don’t think it’ll be that long until I can do that “full-time”, either.  The opportunities keep broadening for me.  I’m happy with the progress I’m making.

I was also asked if I considered myself a hobbyist, you know, just doing it as a hobby.  No, definitely not a hobby.  I spend so much time organizing events for others to be able to do and learn about filmmaking, putting together training for others to learn filmmaking and editing, doing projects and just proselytizing about the subject in general that it’s much more than a hobby.  And note, I do make money doing what I do.  Not a lot, yet, but I refuse to work for free and I refuse to pass on work to others unless there’s pay involved.  I’ve long passed the point of doing free work.  But I understand why some may do it.  There’s more to pay than “pay”!  There’s experience, being recognized, other forms of exchange and barter.  These are all valid reasons to take on projects.

As long as you’re happy doing the project, then it’s okay.  Do it, I say.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

This week I was listening to a story on public radio about the history of technology and how this all lead to the ability of the NSA to do what it does now, scan our emails and phone calls.

Some interesting early technologies that lead up to this were: the telegraph (1874), by Thomas A. Edison and, of all things, the Dewey
decimal system.   Melvil Dewey developed this system, the first hexadecimal system, to code books for cataloging.  With this number you could almost know everything that was in the book.  This was in the mid 1870’s.  In 1889, the U.S. Census bureau adopted Herman Hollerith’s punch card system to tabulate the U.S. population within weeks.  Also, by the turn of the century, American cities were wired to an innovative telegraph system for police and fire alarms.  These key factors required a lot of human interaction to work but they laid the groundwork for the technology that exists today.

The one thing that stuck with me was how amazing it was that all that information on a book could be detailed within its call number.

Coincidently, I made a film book purchase this day.  The ad read something like, “10 feet of editing and film books for $40”.  There were 89 books in all.  This brought my personal collection to over 300 film books.  I was eager to let a couple of film friends I met for dinner know about all the books I now had.  Earlier in our conversation, I had also mentioned to them about my curiosity about the Dewey decimal system and how I was now going to study it more.  One of them said, “So are you going to organize your film library with the Dewey decimal system?” and that was it!  Of course I was!

I’m still learning about it but figured a good place to start would be to just look up the call numbers of the books I have and go from there.  I currently have been able to find about 150 books’ call numbers.  They fall mainly into two major divisions 778.5 and 791.  According to the Dewey Decimal Classification:  Class 700 is fine arts and recreation.  770 is photography and photographs.  778 is specific fields and special kinds of photography; cinematography and video production; related activities.  791 is public performances.

Further classification has 778.5 as cinematography, video production, related activities. 778.59 is video production.  791.4 is motion pictures, radio, television, although I seem to have books from 791, 791.01, 791.02, 791.03, 791.1, 791.37, 791.45, 791.76, 791.9 and 791.92.

While I realize my nerdiness is showing, I’m really quite enjoying this project.  I think it’ll help me to actually read more, a goal of mine.

So, after NAB, a few of us got together and decided to go forward with an idea of producing a podcast.  Adam Bedford, with a history of morning radio in Australia, heads the show and it is pretty much his baby.

The theme of the show is Post, Production and Pop Culture.

The current team is:

Adam Bedford

Ben Barden

Monica Daniels

Liam Johnson

and myself.

Check it out here: http://www.goingpostalshow.com/episodes.html or on iTunes!

So, going through old notes, and figuring that this will probably never happen, I decided I’d share my idea for a Lost Boys II that I wrote in 2007.

___________________________________________________________________________

Written Aug 4, 2007 – Lost Boys II (alt. title: “The Runaways”)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Title music should be “The Devil Inside” by INXS considering that Joel directed that video for INXS.

End Credits should include music by Evanescence doing “People are Strange”

Other music should include: Marilyn Manson, Korn

Opening Scene, Lots of vampire stuff…

(Vampire POV) night flying over the ocean and a body dropping out of the sky (bloodless and landing on a car cruising the coast line.) Then as we look into the face of the lead vampire who dropped the body, we see it’s Sam! And the music starts (“The Devil Inside” by INXS)! Then an abrupt awakening because it’s Sam having a dream!

The story should revolve around Sam Emerson grown up and dealing with (wanting to be/being) a vampire.

The Frog brothers who are now: (Alan an inventor and Edgar an X-gamer married to a hot model) are called out of vampire hunter retirement to again save the town of Santa Carla.

Keifer Sutherland makes a cameo (Maybe in the dreams of Edgar as he comes to realize he should return to hunt vampires!)

Special efects will be enough to make this film superior to the first, I mean kick ass! People have to be OMG about this sequel.

The end of the TLB screenplay had the Runaways ready to take over where the Lost Boys left off. So the vampire line can continue!

###

So there you have it.
–Eric Francis Harnden

Recently our friend Stu Maschwitz blew us away with the surprise release of a screenwriting app Slugline.

You can hear more about it here: http://www.scruffy.tv/thatpostshow/slugline.html and read more about it here: http://slugline.co/.

I guess you could say my first forays into cinema where through writing. There was a point some years earlier up the road (before I found editing) that I was sure I was going to be a screenwriter. The trouble was I never fully got up to speed on the craft. I never even learned the proper formatting for a screenplay. I just assumed somewhere up the line, I’d figure it out. I had a lot of other misconceptions then too but I still hold on to a hope that one day, I will write some damn fine movies.

To that end, last year I finally bought Final Draft. I even installed it! I used to subscribe to Creative Screenwriting too. Most of them lay around, still in their plastic wrappers. I used to go to Jeff Goldsmith’s Q & A screenings a lot. Those were and are most educational and I recommend them to filmmakers of all disciplines. I have a few books on writing and on screenwriting too. On Writing by Stephen King is my favorite. (Full disclosure, it’s the only one that I read completely.) I also at one time subscribed to this great screenwriting newsletter from the site MillionDollarScreenwriting.com. Chris Soth sends out some great info in his newsletter. I recommend signing up for it.

The Slugline app sounds so elegant and fluid that I almost expect that once I use it, nothing will stop the stream of mind-blowing films that will flow from my “pen”. I’m half tempted to hold off until I get (they make) an iOS version to see how it would really work on a novice (who likes to jot things down on his phone all the time). The Slugline webpage also has some great tutorial information on screenwriting. Check out: http://slugline.co/basics

Coincidentally, this week Chris sent out the following “SLUGGIN’ IT OUT” email newsletter with some great information on slug lines. With his permission, I present it to you now:

Hey Gang,

So, a brief one this week on “slug lines”.

Slug line is slang, by the way, for what
would technically be called a “location line”.

But to be honest, I’ve never heard ANYONE
call it a location line, with the exception of
Final Draft Software. The term of art that
seems to be most bandied about the
screenwriting community is definitely
SLUG LINE. So, what is it?

(I promise my more experienced readers,
I’ll come to some slightly more unusual
information soon)

The Slug Line is that line, ALL IN CAPS,
that tells the location of the scene beneath
it. Tells whether the scene is set outside
(EXT. for “exterior”) or inside (INT. for
“interior”).

Like this:

INT. CHRIS SOTH’S OFFICE – EVENING

Chris works on his laptop. The newsletter is late.

FADE OUT.

Now, here’s the part I learned at USC that
I’ve never heard anywhere else.

How do we arrange these slug lines. Here’s
the trick:

Slug lines go from:

THE SPECIFIC………….to………….THE GENERAL

So, what you want is to set the scene as quickly
and easily and with as few words as possible. And
your reader is hoping to GET the scene as fast
as possible, so, based on their knowledge:

They can stop reading as soon as they know
where they are. Take this as contrast:

INT. CHRIS SOTH’S OFFICE – WARNER BROTHERS STUDIO – BURBANK, CA. – USA -
WESTERN HEMISPHERE – PLANET EARTH – MILKY WAY GALAXY

Ok, that’s an exaggeration, I’d never
let a slug go to a second line, but my
point is, you can go as far as you need to
make sure your reader knows where they are
(literally!) Versus:

INT. MILKY WAY GALAXY – PLANET EARTH – WESTERN HEMISPHERE – BURBANK…

…etc. You’ve read this far…and you STILL don’t know
where you are, do you? And you’re confused,
it starts w/an interior, then goes to outer space…

…whereas doing it the other, way, no problem. The
office is on the lot, in Burbank, which is situated
in the USA, etc. But it happens to be an interior.

And how’s stuff at YOUR office? How’s the
screenplay coming? Could you use a new approach
to story? Come check out what we have for you at
MillionDollarScreenwriting.com.

Thanks “A Million”,

Chris
MillionDollarScreenwriting.com
HollywoodByPhone.com (It’s OFF THE HOOK!)

++++

So there you go! Happy writing y’all!
–Eric Francis Harnden

For NAB 2013, I decided to help produce some content with the folks at Scruffy.tv.

These videos are a first for That Post Show, the number one post production podcast on iTunes, Videos.  The That Post Show podcast has been all audio since its inception.  April 2013 marks the introduction of videos into the podcast stream.

You can see and hear all of the audio and video podcasts here:

http://tinyurl.com/TPW2012 AKA http://www.scruffy.tv/thatpostshow <- A little hard to navigate but basically follow the “>>’s” or scroll down and see a list near the bottom right.

or

http://tinyurl.com/TPS2012 AKA https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/that-post-show/id293692362 <- The iTunes page.

We’re releasing them at a steady pace and so far there are eleven (11) videos up. (Listed in latest at top order):

It was a massive undertaking and we worked our butts off (and still are) but it was quite rewarding.

NAB is always a special time for me, a time to spend what little precious face to face time I can with friends and colleagues from around the world.

As I grow in the profession and come to know more and more people in it, it’s even that more special to me.

Please take the time to discover That Post Show and meet the Scruffy.tv crew through their individual Twitter feeds, etc.  These are great souls doing great work.

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.

*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!