Various TOTEM posts 2007 - 2008
 

So I'm not 100% postive about this, but I could swear someone mentioned to me that somewhere in Manhattan a bookstore specializing in Film Books and only Film Books exists, but I'm not sure how true this is and if so where it is located.

Any other NY'ers care to enlighten me if I'm correct on this and if so where this fabled place might be located.

Need the Theme Song For the Oscars
 

I have looked and looked and looked some more and can't find it anywhere. Not for sale, not for download, not for anything. I am putting together a video for a charitable event/Oscar party. I'll be showing footage I took at the parties for the last two years. Can anyone out there help?

Please!!!!!

Thanks in advance!

Toshiba Offers a $200 Rebate off their HD-DVD players.
 

You have to buy their TV as well.
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6411133.html

ShopWiki Contest
 

Alright - I've been gone for a while (not to mention that I didn't post much when I was around, anyway).

HOWEVER! I bring news of a nice little contest that my girlfriend told me about. For all you cameramen and directors:

http://www.shopwiki.com/valentines_videohome.jsp

In a nutshell; make a short little video about "I Love [Blank]" where you fill in the [Blank] with any consumer good you love. It can be anything from your Canon GL2 all the way down to something like a pair of earplugs.

I've asked around (saving you the time; aren't I nice?) and you keep the rights to your video. So you can use it as portfolio piece later on (all the more incentive to make it cool).

The contest part of this is that if your video gets the most votes you get $500 in spending cash at some large name in shopping. And even if you don't win; if your video is selected for their "video review" gallery, then you get $50. So...all the more incentive to make it look nice :D

That's about it. Hope all of you guys have some fun with this!

-Ben

That's URL again:
http://www.shopwiki.com/valentines_videohome.jsp

Viacom asks YouTube to remove 100,000 clips
 

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070202/viacom_youtube.html?.v=5

Dell selling Sony HD TVs
 

Auction Begins For JVC
 

Lions Gate films coming to iTunes store
 

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...gvisit=y&npu=y

Sony ranked at top in LCD shipments
 

The Video Recordings Act (1984) UK
 

I'd appreciate a few thoughts and opinions about a DVD which I will be making in the next few months. It's a film, made purely on an amateur basis, ie no professional actors, shoestring budget, not in the course of business etc. It's being made because the people involved want to do it. And when it's finished, we'd like to make sure plenty of other people get the opportunity to see it.
So my question is, if I was to offer it for sale on ebay (buy it now, for a nominal low price) just to cover some of the costs of making it (blank DVDs, cases, label printing) would I be able to legitimately claim exemption under section 3 of the Video Recordings Act 1984 ? I should add that it's not got any sex in it (maybe next time if the actors keep hassling me) but does have a suicide scene. It's not all that graphic however there is evidence of a razor blade and some blood, but you don't see it happen. Obviuosly adaquate warnings will be printed on the DVD label about this.

It says a supply for reward. Would it be fair to say that this means financial gain, as in profit ? If I am selling it for less than it costs to make it, do you think it would be reasonable to argue that it's not a supply for reward. I'm not in the film making business. I very much doubt that the film will make a profit, or that many people will buy a copy of the DVD, and I'll happily give copies away free. If I cover just some of the costs, that would be a bonus.

If anyone here has any ideas or experience regarding this legislation, I'd appreciate hearing what you think. :D

Casting for Short Film in Kansas City
 

not really a place for it here on this forum, but oh well....


“AEGIS” AUDITIONS!!!
SUNDAY, MARCH 11
CITY STAGE AT UNION STATION (KANSAS CITY, MO.)

We are looking for several talented actors to portray our characters in a short-film to be shot June 2007.

The movie is titled Aegis (pronounced: ee-jis). It is an original screenplay. The finished film will be entered in film festivals. Actors will receive film credit, provided meals while on set and copy of finished film.

Aegis is a Gothic tale of redemption and freedom from oppression. Unwittingly caught up in the struggle between good and evil while mourning the loss of her late husband, a single mother finds closure in the least likely of forms. It reveals to her, a side of her family she knew nothing about and reunites her with a love she no longer recognizes. Underneath the rock hard skin of a gargoyle there still beats the heart of human, a heart that will lead to a deadly betrayal. They must prevail over sorcery and vengeance so that each may protect the one they thought they lost.

Sunday, March 11th
City Stage – Union Station
(For parking info and directions: http://www.unionstation.org/visitorinfo.cfm)
From: 1pm – 6pm

We will be conducting cold reads from the script. You will be able to pick up a copy when you sign in. For those with martial arts/stage fighting ability, you will be asked to show off your mad skills, so please wear comfortable/loose-fitting clothing. Auditions will run about 10 minutes.

If you are unable to attend the auditions we will accept audition tapes contact us by e-mail for more information.

Walk-ins are welcomed, but please contact us in advance to reserve a time (to make the experience quick and easy!) Scheduled actors will have priority.

Please supply us with the following:
Contact information:
A headshot and resume with all acting experiences
Resume reel (if available)
An hour time window where it would be best to schedule your audtion (aprox. 10 min)
What role you would like to audition for


Contact us at aegisthemovie@gmail.com
and check out on myspace http://www.myspace.com/aegisthemovie
for more information and current news.


Below are the characters and a brief description:


Karen – A single mother in her late 20s to early 30s. She is dealing with a recent tragedy
in the family. She is the girl-next-door type, motherly and caring. She appears stressed but is managing to keep things running as usual. Must be capable of physical scenes (i.e. running, being lifted of the ground, falling, being tossed around)

Henry - (Fireman/Injured Man) – A dedicate firefighter, where his fatherly
instincts come in handy, he is in his late 20s or early 30s. He must be able to lift a small child of 7 years old or younger. Must be physically fit, strong built.

Jacob – An older man in his 50s or 60s. Grandfatherly, pays attention to detail. Owns a
used book store but has a secret life in the occult and magic realm. Good with his
hands, kind and patient.

Child – young child (preferably female), 7 years old or younger, who is able to portray
fear and distress.

Father – An older man in his 40s or 50s. He is the priest in Karen’s community and
brings a feeling of peace and calm. Shows a caring nature to his parishioners, but
perhaps an arrogance of all knowing.

Monster – Must be athletic, martial arts/ stage fighting ability a major plus. Actor will be in a full body suit. Not a requirement, but the taller the better.

Jenna – an athletic female in her late 20s to 30s. She is attractive, shapely, seductive and
competitive. A former apprentice of Jacob’s. She is mysterious and will do anything to get ahead.

6 Thugs – serve as Jenna’s enforcers to get what she wants. Actors must be able to
portray fight scenes, ability to lift, run. Some roles require stunt work and martial art ability. Prior experience is highly admired.

Smiley – creepy looking guy. His smile makes people uneasy. Has an ulterior motive for taking this “job”. Some stunt work required.
Small speaking role.

Wife Beater – nice physique, able to look tough in a “wife beater” tank-
top. Intimidating, someone you would avoid walking by at night.
Speaking role. Some stunt work required.


Samurai – A master of his blade. Takes his job and duty seriously. Follows through with orders. Martial art ability required, sword proficiency required. Non-speaking role.

Brawny – big body builder or biker type (character is covered in tattoos). The big muscle in the group. Not too bright. Some stunt work required. Non-speaking role.

Mad Boy – slim, imp-like, non-threatening. Comic relief character.
Very little stunt work required. Small speaking role.

Cannon – A teenage female runaway. The Lolita type. She has turned to the streets and has found a home with her gang. Little stunt work required, must be able to carry a large gun on back and handle it while “shooting”.
Small speaking role.

Police Officers – 2 male officers

Pedestrians – extras on street. Need aprox. 15-20 people of all ages, genders, and races.

Crew Jokes - look up.
 

Just a note because I know some people are going to look here and not see it anymore, I made the "crew jokes" thread sticky, so look UP.

My Life As a Child
 

It’s a TV series on TLC.
20 kids between the ages of 7 and 12 were each given a camcorder to document their lives. You are probably going to see future famous videographers for sure, just as long as TLC thought them how to use a camcorder properly.

The premiere episode is going to be today at 7:00pm Eastern.
http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/specials...ild/about.html

I bet it was YouTube that gave TLC the idea to do this.

ISCI Codes
 

Are ISCI codes a mandatory thing when submitting a spot to a local station or are they just a nice thing to have?

I just found out that it costs $1500 to get one. I can't imagine that the guys who make those cheesy local lawyer commercials are paying $1500 for an ISCI (or AD-ID) code.

Interesting article about Apple Stores
 

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...2321/index.htm

Thomas Edison in NYTimes 3/11/07
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/bu.../11edison.html

This is a must read. The article talks about Edison and his business practices and attitude--from propriety music formats, and signing up music talent to record for him.

I really laughed at how much of what he has done relates to everything from Beta vs. VHS and now HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

Check it out. Thomas Edison was always a hero of mine...this is a very interesting look at him, that I've never read about--though I have read about Edison's push for DC power--even though AC was a much better way of transmitting electricity-- kind of speaks a lot about his stubbornness.

Check it out.

Helping to stop spam in Mac's email clients
 

http://www.macworld.com/2007/03/secr...rilworkingmac/

I read this in the magazine and agreed about the new "image" spam vs. text. I set up the Rule in email to junk the emails with .gif attachments (majority are spammers, but I had one that wasn't. Might've been a mistake or a .gif was in it.) Check it out!

heath

Some of the best WWII Photos Ever!
 

I thought I'd share some of my photos on here. Check these out:

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/photo-sample.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp1.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp5.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp4.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp7.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp9.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp3.jpg

http://www.ww2incolor.com/images/mp2.jpg

1500 more can be found at: www.ww2incolor.com/chart.html

I hope this is useful for someone. Thanks.
-Nick

Pseudo photographic art
 

I came across a webpage detailing a form of photographic art... without a camera. The artist is using flat bad scanner instead, and completes the compositions in Photoshop. Never would have crossed my mind...

http://www.katinkamatson.com

Disposable video camera
 

http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/...able_vide.html

heath

Interesting article on Rockstar Games
 

http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingre...F_160_rockstar

heath

iPhone coming out June 11, 2007?
 

http://news.com.com/2061-10801_3-6171953.html

heath

My local newspaper spotlights DVDs and Blu-Rays
 

This is telling; my local paper, the Palm Beach Post, does a tiny column on Tuesdays spotlighting new DVDs. What made me pause was that they also list Blu-Rays, but not HD DVDs. I don't know how long they've been doing it--I picked up the paper yesterday at my in-laws.

Heath

Tom Green turns RED
 

Tom Green has a 'Web-O-Vision' program every night on www.TomGreen.com live from his studio/home in the Hollywood Hills.

Tonight he was showing off his new Panny HVX 200 and Firestore. He then started talking about RED and Jim Jannard and how it they are going to change Hollywood.

Some consider Tom a silly A@@, but his use of video in comedy is revolutionary. Check out his Leonard Mills Videos on the front page. He really is a video geek too. Gotta love that.

Anybody going to Broadcast Live in London in June?
 

I'm looking forward to it....

wondered if any other UK people are going.... first time this year and i'm certainly going to have a ganders round at the Apple stands.

http://www.broadcastlive.co.uk/

Neil

Cablevision appeals remote-storage DVR ruling
 

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070410/cable...dvrs.html?.v=5

'DVD Sales statistics ?
 

I am looking for a site that has informatin on DVD Sales by title. Major Hollywood films are not what I am conbcerned about, but the more obscure straight to DVD and indiependent rleases that are seen at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Netflix ...

As usual, I see some really bad B Grade (Corman, Scifi Channel) style releases and think; how much is that making ?!

Tks in advance !

R.I.P. Jack Valenti, former MPAA president
 

He was the father of the letter-based movie ratings system:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070426/D8OOJ620F.html

New Wedding Music
 

I didn't know where to put this thread without spamming, but I wanted a place to offer videographers the opportunity to listen and consider a wedding song that I have written titled "This Ring" for media usage. I'm a new songwriter from Indiana and I'm trying to make a small dent in the wedding music market. Songwriting is not my main gig though. I am a teacher/track coach/husband/and father first. The song I am selling is what wrote for my wedding 6 years ago. Just this past January, my wife convinced me to get it recorded and do something with it so here it is! A few videographers have stumbled across my website and have wanted to use it. Check it out if you are interested. Thanks guys!

http://www.songforwedding.com

Recommend me and HDTV.
 

My parents are thinking of buying an HDTV because our current tv is getting old. We want to get an HDTV because then we can move to high definition when SKY's service is cheaper. I may not know everything about HD but I do know that they should get a full 1080p TV just to be entirely future proof. The budget is probably about £1000 ($2000). The only thing I do know is from what I've seen from a friend's tv, one thing I noiced was that there were white lines on edges in the picture, it looked like a photo that had been oversharpened in photoshop, he also said when watching sports that on the wide shots the players were often ringed with a white line. I would hate this so I just wanted to check that I get a tv that doesn't do this or one that you can adjust if this does happen. Don't forget I'm in the UK so if you recommend any models then please tell me UK ones.
Thanks

Reflecmedia blooper reel
 

We were just wrapping up our Reflecmedia chroma key demonstration video when I ran across a pretty funny blooper...then another...then another pretty soon I thought it would be funny to string them together into a sequence. So just to tease our production assistant we uploaded it to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4zU2LU_g5s
Check it out, by the way that's a Serious Magic background at the end. The segment was shot with a Sony FX1.

McCartney says Beatles/iTunes deal is "virtually settled"
 

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/..._id=1003583922

Here's something new: Mac OSX 10.4.10?
 

I don't think I've seen it hit x.x.10 before.

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/17/...r-development/

heath

The Joker from THE DARK KNIGHT
 

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32723

Pretty freaky!

heath

Unofficial iPhone wait lists
 

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/05...ists/index.php

heath

Jobs and Gates onstage together
 

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/30/...hings-digital/

heath

AT&T hiring crowd control for the iPhone...
 

...but if they build it, will they come? I'm curious what will happen when the iPhone debuts on June 29.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...il_stores.html

heath

My film is screening in Ft. Lauderdale Sat. June 9!
 

Hey everyone,

If you live in South Florida, please come on out to the screening of my film 9:04 AM, at the Cinema Paradiso in Ft. Lauderdale Florida, 8 PM--and it's only $5! Details, directions, etc., at:

www.904am.com

Thanks,

heath

New cable box specs go into effect July 1
 

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070609/bye_b..._box.html?.v=6

Starting a Film Festival
 

Has anyone started a film festival?

How did you do it? What problems did you incur?
Any type of help or guidelines would be appreciated.

What I have…
A desire to succeed, good volunteers and a theater.

What I need…
Direction from those who were, where I am now, at the beginning.

Thanks,
Bill