Jonathan,

If I can be of any assistance with your streaming issues please don't hesitate to contact me via email for a direct number. Perhaps we can work it out together by phone.

Streaming a variety of video content is what we pride ourselves on.

Peace.

Jonathan,

Well, if you can't run one, at this time, than you can't do it. I know you've got lots of things on the platter and trying to keep them from falling off it is a big task.

Chris, I'm probably butting in, but how about a separate forum started for 2nd Unit? One that Jonathan can link directlry into DVinfo forum for 2nd Unit.

Jonathan, another thing, have you run Press Releases yet? It's seriously a good idea to get the word out about your site. Try something like PRweb.
I just read a press release for a company doing VOD (video on demand) on broadband tv. It's host is a Spanish model by the name of Estelle Reyna. Check out the Press Release at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20060629/bs_prweb/prweb405626;_ylt=Arck2I0UQTlN8ze9xwY3ScHNybYF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

Man, the stuff I'm saying is more for Taking care of Business section.

Anyway, back to topic, interviews with Robert Rodriguiz and that director of Clerks. I can't wait for Clerks 2 to come out. But both of them have become successful from independent films and have branched out into other fields like 3d effects companies, and comic books.

Another one with somebody that does news/documentory research, digging out the information for a news content.

Another one with someone in Entertainment Law. I know that people still have questions regarding Copyrights, Royalties, Model/Property releases, and Fair Use, even with the comic book link on Fair Use that was posted on DVinfo among all the other posts regarding these same questions.

We have Rodriguez and two top entertainment lawyerrs already signed onto the project, Rodriguez through Jaime Emmanuelli and the lawyers obviously through me. As for the separte area of DVInfo, I think that would be wonderful. Jarred asked me repeatedly to take over the JVC area of the DVXUser.comn board and I just didn't have the time. But with 2nd Unit, it all just sort of fits in. If Chris is amenable to that, I'll hire another person on to handle just that section or do it myself until I find the right one. Even though we happen to use the JVCs today, that can change literally tomorrow. Jody Eldred has me seriously looking at the 300 and 350 series Sonys and they already understood the benefit of suppoprting 2nd Unit. The whole idea is to have the entire board able to access these directors and producers and cinematograopgers and DPs and Gaffers and which camera they personally use is less important compared to how they use it and the light that flows through the lens. We had a 2-hour discussuon the other day on the way to Cinematographer Style at the Goldwyn to set the parameters for the 1st 2nd Unit film contest we're goiung to announce on Monday with judging provided by some of the largest names in entertainment. Someone suggested we make it only open to JVC owners. It took less than a minute to decide it would be open to all filmmakers so now the challenge is to advertise it board-wide. If Chris would help with that, that's be great. If ghe wants a separate 2nd Unit section, that's great too. Again, the emphasis in bringing information from top industry professionals to the filmmaker and heading them right back over to DVInfo for meaningful, stimulating dialoge between DVInfo users that will better their films. How we get that done is immaterial to me.

What a huge help. Thanks. I'll e-mail yo my contact info today. Again, not to belabor the point, I know broadcast TV. The Internet is proving a bit of a challenge for us here but with people like you and Paolo and the others who are helping, we'll get it done.

I have to apologize. We expected to have the 2nd Episode up last night and it simply didn't happen.


Hey Jonathon, take it easy on yourself man. I don't think anyone out here cares if you hit your release dates at this point. Take your time, get the process worked out and get a little more sleep. :-)

Well... as long as it isn't, like weeks or something. A day or two is ok. Don't kill yourselves, but no slackin either ;)

Thanks guys but once a Marine always a Marine. When it's all said and done (I still hate that saying almost as much as "At the end of the day") your word is all you have. I missed keeping my word once to a very close friend, Mike Pellagatti, a great, great cameraman to whom I can never apologize enough and it still grates on me so I take things like that very seriously. We have a very aggressive schedule and if it weren't for people like Paolo who's still our house guest after a week getting the start-up stuff ironed out, I don't know what we'd do. We'll get the kinks worked out, especially streaming and editing for the Internet which are worlds apart from television and then it'll become a relative routine but THANKS for your understanding. We've been working on recutting George Dibie's Part 2 all day today taking away alot of the talking head stuff and adding example footage insererts from a show we're shooting right now. And the support we've gotten from people like Ron Ayers over at LA's Abel Cine and Russ Abelein at Tiffin and Jaime Emmanuelli at LitePanels and the others, well, if you ever have a chance to support them, I wish you would. Their prices are in line with everyone else's s because the margins are so thin but the service you get before, during and after the sale are, in a word, Exemplary. And to Tom Simmons who's single-handedly running post on one of our network shows and handling everythig else at the studio on our other three, well, he's another big reason we can get 2nd Unit up and running for this and other boards and the 150k independent filmmakers out there. So again, thanks for the understanding and support and we'll keep at it.

your word is all you have.

As long as you're beating yourself up, my question would be why set such an aggressive schedule and publicly promote that before finishing even one show? It's tough to make a firm commitment on the unkown.

Having a public date that's not as aggressive as an internal goal date makes sense. Then you've created an overdeliver possibility.

Jim Jannard has an aggressive schedule for RED, but he's repeatedly said issues could come up and move the timetable back and he can't guaruntee any dates. He just has goals. He's a billionaire and customers are still excited. If he comes in late everyone knows that's a real possibility... but somehow I bet he's actually been conservative in his dates.

Setting and meeting aggressive schedules has been part of my life since the Corp and I'm only finding out now that there's more latitude in public life. You're exactly right in what you say proving once again that we all have things to learn which goes directly to why I decided to do this. In the end, the man who dies the richest dies the poorest for not giving all he has to those who need it most and I try to do just that through 2nd Unit. And just as I have much to give, I also have much to learn from you and all on this board and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. I don't know Jim Jannard but perhaps one day our paths will cross. I know I'm glad ours did and I look forweard to flying your rear end out here to do a show or two with us.

Joel's right, Jonathan. I've never met as much of a perfectionist as you but you need to slow down. Your site is absolutely fantastic but what gets me the most is that you and Paolo must be averaging 20 hours a day or more. Your gonna burn out and then we'll have none of what you promised us. I NEVER hung out on a board as much as I do here and what you're doing for dvinfo is nothing short of gracious. No that's not the word. I can't think of the word for what you're doing but it's great and I join the others who thank you. I just hope dvino appreciates someone whos giving and giving with nothing in return.. You and Paolo are one in a million.OK 2 ina million but ease up on yourselfs or else the site won't have a chance to get better. I can't wait to see more of thet guy in the video your shooting. What movie is that for?

I know I'm glad ours did and I look forweard to flying your rear end out here to do a show or two with us.

I'll make you have an extra beer afterwards.

I'm with you on the idea of giving 110% and really doing something right if you're going to do it. The trick is to keep some of that private so that when the unexpected occurs you've already built that into the schedule. If nothing unexpected occurs then you have extra time to perfect things OR release early if you choose to.

After years of doing consulting work I learned painfully that I estimated many jobs with the mindset of "I can do that in two days". I learned later if I quoted two weeks and turned it in ten days later I was a hero and I could still see movies sometimes. But when I quoted 3 and hit 5 day then things weren't so hot. It's simply managing expectations. Then when people really did call with an emergency I could drop everything, help out, and end up with a client for life.

Similarly, I had a friend who started a monthly magazine and nearly killed himself trying to hit his dates. Ultimately he missed dates after he was taking money and needless to say that was a big problem. He should have done a quarterly thing to start and ramped up from there. Actually, in retrospect he should have written a book because of his particular industry was small and didn't have time sensitive material.

It's great to be the most motivated person around. In the end that really pays off, unless you have a coronary. :-)

Hey Johnathon, I am really impressed with 2nd unit. Sorry haven't kept in touch since NAB but hope you enjoyed the coffee.
I am looking foward to getting the dvd when it comes out.
Keep up the great work you're doing and maybe I can get out to LA for a shoot soon.

The coffee's a God-send, Joe. With the the last couple of days, it's keeping us goim'. I think I'll write to Starbucks and see if we can get a sponsprship...or you could! All kidding aside, Paolo pulled an all-nighter, literally, and it was all due to the Mighty Bean!

Well, you guys have gone and done it now. Chris has offered us a 2nd Unit space on DVInfos board. That's the good news. Here's the bad news. I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm doing. Any ides or recommendations?

I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm doing. Any ideas or recommendations?
You could hire somebody that does and get a good foundation to begin with and then update as necessary going forward.

And the new moderator for DVInfo's newest blocbuster site 2nd Unit is................Steven L. Noe from Chicago, IL. Steven L. Noe...Come On Down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats great now we can discuss 2nd unit here. Diffenitely hire someone Johnathon.
We should all introduce ourselves and goals we are trying to achieve. Keep us posted as to what is going on.

Jonathan,

Congrats on the forum here.

As to questions, ask the man (Chris) himself. I'm sure he'll be glad to help you anyway he can or some of the other moderators could help you out with your questions.

Use the forum to brainstorm new ideas for 2nd Unit productions.

I like some of the behind the scenes type shows that you see on MTV. You know those making the music video and how they did it.

P.S. whens the Rodriguez feature going to be up?

Ooh, another idea for your subscription base! Pay for clip downloads. Example on the idea: Korean stations have shows available for viewing, via download, and the cost is like 50 cents per show. Then you got Apple's .99 dls. Like I said, I'm the type that's not really into subscription but if I see something I'm interested in, I'd be willing to pay for it. Something your site is definately worth it's value. Example on the idea. It's something to think on. How about $1.00 downloads for streams. Price structure is up to you off course.

With the amount of shows you'll be producing, I think it'll be a good way for people on the non-subscription list. It'll be cheaper to join the membership. Just make it so that, as Amercian Express says, "Membership has it's privileges."

Maybe like live chat forum with some of the people you interview, free to members, cost to non-members. I know you don't want to go another forum route, but you could use IRC's with invite only to allow for certain people to join up in the chats.

Availablity to view live streams of interviews for members.

Some ideas.

By the way, all these useful suggestions from me, I should get free membership for life. Heh.

Jonathan,

If I can be of any assistance with your streaming issues please don't hesitate to contact me via email for a direct number. Perhaps we can work it out together by phone.

Streaming a variety of video content is what we pride ourselves on.

Peace.
OK, Daniel, you're on. We need help with a pixelization issue. When dissolving between clips, the dissolve pixelizes the underlying material and looks like poop. We're putting together the contest as you know that we'll announce on Monday and did a short commercial as an example. Go to the www.2nd-Unit.tv webside and click on the dot in the "i" of "Unit" in the header to see the commercial and what I mean. There has to be some way, short of hard cutting the transitions, to fix this and not have huge files. Thanks.
Jonathan

There has to be some way, short of hard cutting the transitions, to fix this and not have huge files.

There does? :-)

Smooth gradients of any type are probably the toughest to deal with. Perhaps there is a superior codec out there. Or maybe it's possible to vary the level of compression along the timeline so the areas in question have much less compression.

I'm very curious to hear the answer myself.

If we can put a man on the moon and kep my wash bowl smelling "fresh as the morning dew" (that's d-e-w), then there has to be a way of smoothing the transsitions we take for granted in TV. :-)

I'd stick with straight cuts, j cuts, l cuts. The internet wreaks havoc on transitions, and there ain't much you can do about it.

Jonathan,

Saw the ad you were talking about in the dot of the I.

First, I wouldn't use Tiffen for the ad, if it's going to be on your site (not till the compression is worked out). The compression would make Tiffen look bad.

Maybe you need to cheat/fool the user a little and use still shots from the camera. Photoshopped enhanced or whatever needs to be done to show the true quality of Tiffen.

I think this would be the best way to show Tiffen's quality. A still shot instead of zooming out from the frame. A still shot should still be as effective to point out the quality of a picture.

Or offer actual capture stills on the site, so they can see it for themselves- a sort of before and after type thing.

But other than that, what did you think??? ;-) All kidding aside, I posted it anyway to give people something to shoot for...rather an how to do it right. It wasn't planned that way; it just came out that way. The real way would be to do a butt-cutt. The Tiffien star filter w/o pixelixation is incredible I think w/o Adobe Photoshop . I don't want any enhancements. It has to be all Tiffen or no Tiffen. There is a method to my madness and you all caught on. Anyway, one of the categories is going to be best commercial. We'll give you the details to work with and then it's all up to you to deliver the best 1 min. commercial you can muster...and you can't beieve what the prize is going to be!!! Same thing for drama and comedy under 3-min. So put you thinking hats on over the weekend. We announce Monday!
\J

I've provided an original, clean, non-Photoshop, original footage piece for you using only a Hollywood star filter. The Tiffen Hollywood filter, used correctly, is truly an incredible filter. You looked at the pixellation which is fine; you needed to to see the problems. But don't forget to look past the problems to the whole of the issue. That filter, under heavy compression, performed flawlessly. That's why I put it up and didn't just e-mail the url to him with all it's warts and imperfections and that's why I posted it here to share with everyone. And, BTW, Tiffen liked it knowing that it was a slam together. I want this part of the forum to be totally open to everyone's opinion so we can all comment and I thank you for your perspectives because I want you all to see things as they unfold but I also think you should see the whole picture. It's like that old saying in martial arts; See everything but see nothing. Click on the "i" again. No Photoshop, just a great filter that performs well in the middle of the day like many others only perform at night with high-contrast situations.

Jonathan,

Wow! What a difference a day makes. The new transitional shot looks awsome.

So tell us what you did differently.

Anyway, one of the categories is going to be best commercial. We'll give you the details to work with and then it's all up to you to deliver the best 1 min. commercial you can muster...and you can't beieve what the prize is going to be!!! Same thing for drama and comedy under 3-min. So put you thinking hats on over the weekend. We announce Monday!
\J
Geee... thanks for waiting till I go on vacation!

No link in the dot in the "I". Is that down already?

Nice work on Part Two, Guys! I enjoyed it very much. The cut aways made it totally work- although the internet is a bit of a curse on some transitions. I especially enjoyed the Tiffen comparisons. Too bad you couldn't do a split-screen to see the difference side by side. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Scott... when talking about the HD100, I think Split screen is a bad thing to mention ;)

Thanks. We're wotrking hard and I mean HARD on this show; much more so that my network stuff because it means so much more. I don't want to get all misty here but I want you guys to know what bringing this information to you means to all of us here. And to Joyce, you made our day! The coompliments all of you made our day and are great.

As to the split screen, if we come to terms with Tiffen, I think you'll like what we have in mind with a modified split screen. It's not imperative but you guys should take a minute and write to Tiffen (rabelein@tiffen.com) Russ is a great guy, and let them know how much you'd appreciate a show on filters. For us in the industry, they're indespensible IF you know what to do with them. The whole idea is giving post as little to do as possible. Post's main objective needs to be to preserve and enhance YOUR vision and giving them properly filtered images to start with is the best way of doing that.

As for the vacation deal, don't wory, you'll have 30-days to do what can be done in a few days. I argued with Paolo over this and he's right, it should be a 2-week limit but its summer and people are away on vacation. The 30-days will give everyone a chance to complete and submitv their best pieces and whe you find out who the judges and sponsors are, you'll know there's a very good chance you'll get discovered and I mean that in all sincerity. This world is rapidly evidencing its slide into the abyss of filmic crap as evidence by what we have on TV today. You guys have a very real oportunity to have your work seen and heard by people that can literally make you. Do your best and the best will see your work, I guarantee it.

Ok yeah, and as to the Internet doing a number on well-shot stuff, that's why I took down the commercial example but after thinking about it, it's going back up as an example of the commercial competition. And also, for the competition, the finalists will be asked to submit their work on tape format for the ASC, DGA, WGA and producers to see so your total work ethic can be judged fairly. The Internet just isn't fair quality but right now there's nothing we can do about it.

Nice work on Part Two, Guys! I enjoyed it very much. The cut aways made it totally work- although the internet is a bit of a curse on some transitions. I especially enjoyed the Tiffen comparisons. Too bad you couldn't do a split-screen to see the difference side by side. Anyway, keep up the good work!
Hi Scott.
We are working to put online a QT version of the show, with much improved image quality, compared to the current wmv file. We talked about split-screen and side by side comparison but it's hard to make it work on the small format. This is something that we will be able to add when we prepared the DVD version.
Thank you for the suggestion.

The back cross discussion is very cool, I just started noticing that as I've been digging into lighting that every TV show uses it.I started noticing it on CSI first the key for actor A acts as the hair light for actor B and vice verse! This is neat to see it diagrammed somewhere other than my head :) I thought the lighting in the last segment was very reminiscent of most soap opera lighting. Much less movie-like and more TV-like than I've been doing...it's good to see other options having been 3-point lighting everything for the past 2 years.

Thanks again for this series.

This is neat to see it diagrammed somewhere other than my head :) I thought the lighting in the last segment was very reminiscent of most soap opera lighting.
Yes, we made up our little mini-soap scene and let the actors create their own dialog from an outline that Jonathan gave them. It illustrates the point and it works because George has designed the backcrosses initially for TV so it's an appropriate context.
Glad it worked for you.