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FINAL

Directed by: Campbell Scott
Produced by: Mary Frances Budig, Steve Dunn, Campbell Scott
Starring: Denis Leary, Hope Davis
Website: http://www.cowboypictures.com/final/

FINAL is the story of Bill Tyler (Denis Leary), a man who mysteriously wakes up a patient in a Connecticut state psychiatric facility. Unable to remember how he got there, Bill seems sure of only one thing: that he has been cryogenically frozen and revived 400 years in the future. Ann Johnson (Hope Davis) is the dedicated therapist assigned to help Bill piece together those events which led to his incarceration, and reestablish his link with the real world. As they work together to understand the shambles of his past, Bill and Ann find themselves inappropriately drawn toward one another, an attraction that will ultimately threaten both the therapist's work and her patient's life.

New York Times Review
Los Angeles Times Review
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CHELSEA WALLS

Directed by: Ethan Hawke
Produced by: Christine Vachon, Pam Koffler
Starring: Kevin Corrigan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Sean Leonard, Natasha Richardson, Uma Thurman, Tuesday Weld, Frank Whaley and Steve Zahn
Website: http://www.lionsgatefilms.com/dnm/profile.html?pid=IN-S-00102

Based on the play "Chelsea Walls" by Nicole Burdette, the film follows the contemporary residents of New York's famed Chelsea Hotel, capturing a mosaic of dreamers and artists. The film was shot in three weeks on location at the famed hotel and was produced by Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of Killer Films.

The Hollywood Reporter Review
Los Angeles Times Review
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WOMEN IN FILM

Directed by: Bruce Wagner
Produced by: Christing Vachon, Pam Koffler
Starring: Beverly D'Angelo, Portia De Rossi and Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Website: http://www.lionsgatefilms.com/dnm/profile.html?pid=IN-T-00708

WOMEN IN FILM stars Beverly D'Angelo, Portia De Rossi, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as women of the film industry who are desperately searching for their place in Hollywood. Phyllis (D'Angelo) is an independent producer who is having difficulty getting her latest project together; Sara (Jean-Baptiste) is a casting director who is taking time out to care for her blind newborn baby; and Gina (De Rossi) is a masseuse who claims to have had every idea she's ever invented stolen by those around her. WOMEN IN FILM is both a satire of the film industry and a celebration of women, produced by Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of Killer Films.

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TAPE

Directed by: Richard Linklater
Produced by: Anne Walker, Detour Filmproduction
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, Uma Thurman
Website: http://www.lionsgatefilms.com/dnm/profile.html?pid=IN-T-00693

In TAPE, Vin (Ethan Hawke), travels back home to Lansing for a film festival and meets up with an old friend Jon (Robert Sean Leonard). Vin is still bitter about Jon stealing his high school girlfriend Amy (Uma Thurman) and can't forget his greatest betrayal--Jon may have raped Amy. Jon and Vin play a tug-of-war of words all night in an old hotel room, all of which Vin captures on tape. Just as the situation reaches a frenzied pitch, Amy arrives to recount her side of the story. The film was produced by Anne Walker and Detour Film production.

New York Times Review
Los Angeles Times Review

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TADPOLE

Directed by:
Gary Winick
Produced by: Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian, and Dolly Hall
Starring:
Sigourney Weaver, Bebe Neuwirth, John Ritter,
and introducing Aaron Stanford
Written by:
Niels Mueller and Heather McGowan
Website: http://www.miramax.com/tadpole/


Oscar Grubman (Aaron Standford) is a very precocious young man. Although he comes from a family of academics (his father is a history professor at Columbia), that doesn't really explain his passion for Voltaire. And he notices things most high school sophomores never really see, like women's hands. More than that, he can order in French and converse intelligently, certainly a rarity among teenagers. But he does share one thing with other 15-year-olds: he's in love.

For the Thanksgiving holiday, Oscar comes home from Chancy Academy with a plan--he's going to pursue the love of his life. He will follow the passionate advice of his sage Voltaire and win the heart of his beloved. Oh, there is one difference from most boys his age--his beloved is quite a bit older than he. And that's not the least of it. Also starring Signourney Weaver, John Ritter, and Bebe Neuworth.

TADPOLE was shot with three Sony PAL PD-150's. The cameras were set to 4:3 aspect ratio and kept in interlaced scan mode. The film was editted in PAL on a Macintosh G4 powered Final Cut Pro system at The Edit Center in New York.

New York Observer Review
The Hollywood Reporter Review

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PERSONAL VELOCITY

Directed by:
Rebecca Miller
Produced by: Lemore Syvan, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian
Starring:
Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk
Written by: Rebecca Miller based on her book

Website: http://www.mgm.com/ua/personalvelocity/


Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, PERSONAL VELOCITY is based on Miller's book of short stories and tells the tales of three women's escapes from their afflicted lives. Segmented into three parts, Greta (Parker Posey), Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) and Paula (Fairuza Balk) have one thing in common, each struggle to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom. As each story begins to unfold, the film follows their tangled webs of tragic circumstance that ultimately force them into an awakening of their inner selves and an emergence on their own life's path.

New York Times Review
Variety Review
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KILL THE POOR

Directed by: Alan Taylor
Produced by: Ruth Charny, Lianne Halfon, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian
Co-producer: Jonathan Shoemaker
Written by:
Daniel Handler
Director of Photography:
Harlan Basmadjian
Production Designer:
Rick Butler
Costume Designer:
Marie Abma



When a marriage of convenience becomes the real thing, Joe (David Krumholtz) moves his pregnant French wife (Clara Bellar) to a tenement building on New York’s Lower East Side. The street is like a war zone with none of the nostalgic appeal that Joe remembers from tales of his immigrant grandparents arriving in the same neighborhood with a new life. This is the urban frontier filled with a wildly funny mixture of gentrifies, homeboys, dealers and local residents simply bent on staying a float.

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PIECES OF APRIL

Directed by: Peter Hedges
Produced by: John Lyns, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian
Written by:
Peter Hedges
Starring:
Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt and Patricia Clarkson
Website:
http://www.magiclanternpr.com/films/pieces_of_april.html

"Pieces of April" marks the directorial debut of writer Peter Hedges, novelist and screenwriter of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."

April Burns (Katie Holmes) is a 21-year-old wild child with a very big problem. Against her better judgment, she's invited her straightlaced family for Thanksgiving dinner. Her boyfriend, Bobby, wants to help, but she banishes him from the apartment while she attempts to cook the meal. To make matters worse, she then discovers that her oven doesn't work. So, while April is forced to ask her eccentric neighbors for help in cooking her fifteen pound turkey, the Burns Family begins a reluctant journey from suburban Pennsylvania toward New York City's Lower East Side. April's Dad, Jim Burns (Oliver Platt) tries to convince the family that the day will be beautiful. Her mom, Joy (Patricia Clarkson) has her doubts and freely voices them. April's teenage sister and brother are squeezed between Grandma Dottie and a bag of snacks in the back seat as the Burns' family car hurtles toward Manhattan and what will most likely be certain disaster

You can just do a search on IMDB for films shot on DV. Be sure to exclude videos and TV programs to sift the wheat from the chaff.

Right, there's no narration. And, yes, I make extensive use of music, though it's not wall-to-wall. Judicious use of titling identifies the locations.

I never was much interested in, "This palace was built in the 15th century after the invading Mongol hordes got mortgages," kind of thing. I'm much more interested in capturing the experience of actually being there, getting a sense of the people, the environment and the culture of wherever I happen to travel.

I was thinking about something like this, i.e. if you are thinking about going to Sicily, this is what it's like -- not a "video guidebook," but a sampling of the overall aesthetic of the place.

That's an issue. I had been picking up CDs of local music when I travelled and used those. For my current project (Rajasthan in India), I took a long a mini disk recorder and made live recordings of itinerant musicians -- these have worked out quite well, and tend to be of the "folk song" variety, and are probably in the public domain. At any event, absent a copyright registered in the US, I'd have only miniscule liablity exposure if I were sued.

I'm not too worried about that. I live in a state with commercial appropriation of likeness laws so I could, in theory, be held liable. However, again, the damages for something like this would be negligible, assuming I were successfully sued.

One for the Brits:

28 Days Later

// ATANARJUAT:The Fast Runner" was shot on DigiBeta, not DV

I knew that too. Just not then. My brain fart.

Recent Dogme95 films shot electronically include "Italian for Beginners" (Digibeta) and "The King Is Alive," shot with a couple of PD150's. The first time I saw "The King Is Alive" in a theater, I thought it had been shot 16mm. It's on DVD now.

DV CAM in our Homes
 

A general question:

Can any of you give me concrete examples of DVCAM aquired shows (documentaries, news pieces etc) that have been broadcast nationally? (I'm talking high end DVCAM aquisition like the DSR-570, Ikegami etc.) I am trying to get a sense of how it looks when it is beamed to our homes. Beyond that, if anyone has any experiences dealing with the national cable broadcasting co's (ie. Discovery, Animal Planet) that would be interesting too!

here's one
 

Bushnel's Secret of the Hunt.

Comes on Saturday's in my area on TNN......

I will have to catch that!

Your actors are superb! I mean they are really on point. The script is good too. Shot selection is good too!

There is only one thing i want to point out, is the lighting in the interior. the window is on fire. Gotta put some gels over the window (maybe a ND 1/2) To stop it from burning the whole room up.

You could also use some ambient sound in the first shot of him flipping thru the book.

The exterior shots seem fine lighting wise. Kudos

startup.com
 

which cameras and how many were used shooting this flick?? Encouraging huh??

Hi Guerrapato,

I'm not to sure what exactly you are talking about.

Perhaps you could supply us with more information.

Thanks- Nori

He's talking about the documentary movie titled:

"STARTUP.COM"

It's been playing on Showtime recently, but is available on DVD and VHS.


From what I have read on several sites it was made with a Sony PD100 and a Canon XL1.

I have heard that it was a PD150 and XL1 also.

I had the same problem with some windows in my first short. Even tho it was overcast outside, and we had lights inside, the windows were way overexposed.

What are these ND gels you put over the windows? Do they go on the outside of the house? Can you get them in big enough sheets at a reasonable price? What would I search/look for, for example, at the bhphoto.com website?

Thanks!
[bac]

Bruce,
The "ND gels" are basically neutral-density transparent gray plastic sheets. I really don't know if B&H carries such studio supplies. I generally use Studio Depot for such stuff.

Saw it the other day on satellite. Directed by one of my favorite documentarians ever, D. A. Pennebaker, who did the Dylan doco "Don't Look Back."

Here's Pennebaker's site which, unfortunately, doesn't provide any production details.

I saw, and very much enjoyed, Startup.com.

Autobiography of a Suicide
 

Well...

Its almost finished! In post, working hard, and loving every second of it.

This is a pre-thanks to all that volunteered their knowledge and helped me (and others).

I hope to have a trailer reel (HAR HAR) soon for your input and shortly after that the full short. It will be exclusive to only this site because of the contracts I am honoring.

Thanks all!

Coming SOON!

Smiles for all!

Cheers!

Derrick

Thanks for the replies guys. Like I said I knew it would be blasted with light - but I thought the director wanted to put it in B&W... so much for that.

Once we move to a new domain server we'll have more room and my feature length trailers will be online, I'll be sure to post when that all goes down.

stuffing
 

I thought the short was pretty funny. Were those supposed to be the frogs from Magnolia? The guy with the curly hair is a good actor. Very natural. The other guy was kinda over the top, but still funny.

The part where they are talking over a black screen and then later they open the trunk is really great.

Cheers
[bac]

Curt wrote a little more to it where the dude with the curly hair (me) went through a little Magnolia scene of his own - but of course we don't have a few hundred thousand billion trillion dollars for that...

So I guess yeah, it's from Magnolia - fresh from ILM :)

Looking forward to seeing it Derrick.

-Nori

Looking forward!!!
 

My best on its final outcome, as we all know it was the process you'll mostly remember.

-Alex

As promised, we've moved to our new domain host and have plenty of space now (yay me!)

Check out american-ocean.com click on the films section - scroll down until you see Trailer A and B.

Shane

And other video (Motor TV program)
 

Well, this is a motor magazine that we are developing. These is the pilot program as we call it here. Just 8 minutes of what it will be on TV.

The file is a big one. About 70 Mb. It is encoded in divx. But quality is excelent also. You will like it. It is a test of BMW´s Z8. Lot of action and moving images, not the usual in TV. It speaks for itself.

Almost all the work was done by me (even i change the credits so the same name wouldn´t appear all the time). I was the director, videographer (;-))), editor, sound editor, 3d special effects (except for the engine was done by a hollywood major, not me), producer, cameraman, and production developer.

It is completely shot with canon Xl1, edited mostly in Ulead Video Editor, and sound edited in vegas audio. It was finished about 1 year ago.

I am sure you will have a lot of questions after watching it. Ask me if you want.

For those who do not understand spanish don worry and watch it until the end.

The link:

www.macgregorcorp.com/km77tv.avi

I am going to move up a smaller version, it will be about 30 Mb.

The link doesn't work, Miguel.

That is because i am uploading the new version. It will be available in 50 minutes. Sorry.

check out this video
 

Hey guys,

I have some friends who have a bike component company
and they asked me to get some video tape of a Professional
mountain biker using their equipement so they can put it up on their web site.

Well they just wanted something simple but I got creative
and made this.

They love it but I wanted to get some opinions from video guys.

The indoor footage was shot with a Canon GL2 and the first outdoor clip was shot with a Sony PC5 and the second was shot with a PD150. The effects were done in after Effects and it was edited in Premiere.


please right click and select 'Save As'
http://www.downfallproductions.com/e13.htm


P.S. let me know what you think of the graffitti also.

Well, the watching was going a bit slow [especially with me not understanding too much espanol and all] =) but remembering what you said I watched until the end. And I’m glad I did! The shipyard scene is awesome! Really. Great job, Miguel!

As for a technical question (I’ll just ask one as the effects are incredible but, I’m sure, way past my abilities, even with explanation), what system did you use to attach the camera to the car? Any advice on filming a car like you did the last 1.5 minutes of the clip (car spinning around with camera attached, etc.)?

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers.

Dom

Very nice! Though I'm not quite sure what "near zero drag" is.

To my eye the grafitti looks like it was there in the shot to begin with--doesn't look like a post effect at all.

The video is cool, nicely edited. I think you could have used some better font choice and placement, though to make it that much better. Something a bit more stylee, instead of that non-serif font you were using when describing the features of the bike.

thanx alot guys

I really appreciate the comments.

Robert:

thanx for saying that the graffitti looks real. It's hard to look at an effect I've created objectively when I'm trying to decide if it looks real enough.

The text was not written by me. I asked them what they wanted it to say and they told me.
The "near zero drag" refers to 2 things, the fact that the security guide (the part I zoom in on) is smooth enough to let you slide rails with little friction and that it guides the chain well enough that you can do "crankflips" (the part when the rider kicks his crank backwards 360 degrees) that are fast and smooth.
We might have to have a focus group of bikers watch it and see if they understand it. I think they would.


Keith:

the font was also their choice. They like it and the customer is always right, right?

I like to hear peoples input, so what do you think I should have done with the text placement.
By placement, do you mean in the timeline or on the screen?


thanx again guys

Why was the watching a bit slow? You mean the watchingor the download?

If you want to save the clip and then watch it go to www.macgregorcorp.com/km77tv.htm

and then save destiny as...

Well, for ataching cameras to the car there are several ways of doing it right.

Check this pictures:
www.macgregorcorp.com/dole3.jpg
www.macgregorcorp.com/madrid4.jpg

bye!

Well, if the font was not your choice well that's what you have to do.

Other things you could have done with the font were some slow tracking, fades. In the spots where you weren't doing that faux technocheesy stuff. Otherwise, some tightening up of the leading.

looks good, but i'd be careful about the copywrited music.

Critique please
 

This is really the first thing I've eve done in Premiere or NLE in particular. It's a music video I did as a favor for a friends wedding.

http://kodacksdarkness.com/wedding_music_video.wmv

Done on a Canon ZR40, tripod mounted and manual mode.

Update 3/19/03

Not a peep? I realize it's not as professional as many of you could make. But a lot of what I meant to show the viewer I believe I suceeded. And I think it was a good first try.

Please give me feedback. Shooting video and documentaries is something I really want to do.

Yet more Alaska light
 

http://www.alaska-photo.com/March%20...big%20file.wmv

This one's really nice, shot by Greg. Enjoy!

Everything, not least the music, makes a great, powerful forward flow in this video. But the zooming in and out of the green quadrangle slows it down. When I've seen that once, I've seen it. Don't make me have to see it over and over again.
Another improvement would be to let the main shot move on and just freeze the PIP.