Oy from Venice, Los Angeles, California
 

HI everyone Miklos here. I own a JVC HD100 package and lights and live in Venice, CA.

More about me here: http://www.pointzeropictures.com

and here: http://www.miklosphilips.info

cheers

Living in LA
 

Hello All,

My path has been a very weird, long and winding road. As a youth, in Chicago, all I did was paint, airbrush and write stories. I attended Art school for a short time but circumstances pushed me into a boring career in IT. Have been living in LA for the last 6 years now, I found my creativity bursting out again. I couldn't fight it anymore and IT just wasn't my life's ambition.

So the last few years I had been working on screenplays in my sparetime (haven't won any competitions yet but who knows), then I also started doing slideshows on dvd for friends and family, which lead to a little sidebusiness.

Right from the start, I didn't want to do what I had seen others doing with slideshows. The generic photo after photo display with boring background music and no real direction. I definitely wanted to tell stories. The first real video I ever did was about my son and the hardship he endured at birth. I intermixed lots of live footage with still shots and told the story of his entire first year. I definitely got the editing bug after that. I am constantly trying to come up with funny new projects about my son, the latest being a spoof of the show 24. And then I will be doing one spoofing MI.

I had been mostly using iMovie for my editing needs and it has been a wonderful tool (except the new version...not sure I like it). But I recently got Final Cut Studio and I can't wait to get it installed and start learning it inside and out.

In my spare time, which isn't much, I also do some web design. I also started making my own techno/trance type music themed to some of my favorite movies. And lastly I am trying to learn Kinemac 3D as well.

Sorry for the long epic post...did I mention I like to tell stories?

Hope to get to know lots of people and maybe have something to contribute to the group!

Is your main focus as a screenwriter? What are you planning on doing with all these skills?

Hi Lori,

Well, it is a difficult thing to pinpoint exactly. I won the young author's writing contest when I was in six grade, and then later also got accepted to the art school I wanted to attend, even though I was only a freshman in highschool at the time. But I found myself back writing alot when I had to quit art school for lack of funds at the time. When I came to LA I focused alot on my writing at first, but then over the course of time I have started to get into other things that are related to film. Such as learning how to edit with iMovie and Final Cut.

I guess my ultimate goal was to write, storyboard, and direct that one really good indie film. I think I know enough about several aspects of what goes into making a quality film, though I may not master each of these aspects myself, I think the key to being a successful director is to understand enough about each of those aspects so that you can get the best out of your team. I don't have to be the best editor and do that all by myself. But if I don't know how to edit and use the tools available, then I may not be able to communicate properly what it is that I want from my editor. Just the same I don't have to be the best writer if I can collaborate with someone who is better but also bring enough good ideas and basic knoweldge to the table.

Does that make sense?

At this point, it is all for fun though. I have fun making DVDs for people and helping them retell those events or relive those memories in a different way. I have fun designing web sites too. And I have fun learning about my new camera and filming my son, even if only at the park or in the backyard.

Welcome, Pat!
 

Hey Pat, check out this thread and see if you can answer his question:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=105034

My first indie effort - The Insomniac Film Festival
 

So with a motley crew of misfits who knew nothing about film making, I will jokingly include myself in this group, I got myself entered into Apple's Insomniac Film contest. With no preparation, no script, no plan, next to no assistance from my misfit crew, I cranked out this little 3 minute schlocktastic and truly bizarre vision. Being a first attempt and under these extreme circumstances I think it is actually pretty decent.

A little background on the process...

At 6am the rules/elements were posted on Apple's site for all registered teams and the brainstorming session for concepts and storylines began.

The brainstorming consisted of me verbally sparring with myself as the other 3 members in my team stared blankly at eachother and back at me. Feeling that I was not going to win this battle with myself and three non existant participants, I got on the phone and started brainstorming with my uncle and my brother who are on the opposite coast of the US.

With thier help, we collectively fleshed out a simple idea in a matter of minutes and tried to include as many elements as possible. I then called any friends I could think of that would be willing to try and act in this little project.

I filmed this video entirely with my new JVC GZ-HD7, it was edited entirely using iMovie since I don't have FCP on my laptop, and my uncle and his 5yr old son somehow managed to learn Garageband in a matter of hours to come up with some sort of background score.

Fastforward to 12am and I am trying to figure out how I was going to edit 25 minutes of raw footage into a 3 min. short.

I made the deadline and there is problably and even funnier movie to be had from just the experience...Well that will be for next year...

Any feedback would be nice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLdxesrIIY

Thanks.

from Los Angeles.new XL1s user
 

hi
I'm a professional drummer and educator in the L.A. area.

I've just begun to use this cool camera. Has anyone here purchased the DVD available which teaches how to better use this camera? I've only used Sony "handicams" in the past. Any assistance is very appreciated.

Thanks!

Chuck Silverman

Hello from Los Angeles, CA
 

Hi, just found this great place while searching the web for video info, and I see here is a lot of it, it will be a nice place to learn more about video.

Javier Rios.
Los Angeles, CA.

Oh forgot to mention this is my first post here(actually the other was the first this is the second) and yes I'm new here.