MYFILM "Independent Film News"

Captain Alpha Male

2009-07-17T07:53:00.002-04:00

Super heroes are big in Hollywood and, today, Captain Alpha Male, just became the latest to try his hand at flying, saving the world and getting some buzz on the web.

The initial six-episode series is the brainchild of two CBS marketing creatives: Jay Lutsky, CBS Television Creative Director, On-Air Promo, and Dan Greenberger, CBS On-Air Promo Senior Writer/Producer/Editor, who created and wrote the six-part series.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE by Debra Kaufman - http://www.mobilizedtv.com/captain-alpha-male-web-series-from-cbs-creatives

Copyright © 2009 Mobilizedtv.com

Behind The Scenes - RED & Motion Control Shoot

2009-07-16T22:28:00.003-04:00

Behind the scenes - filming a tv spot using the RED camera and a motion control rig for a special fx shot. Very cool to work with both of these technologies. Enjoy!

Working with Dead Stars

2009-07-16T22:02:00.003-04:00

This is for real.

Imagine a brand new feature film starring Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe with John Wayne thrown in for good measure!

This has been the dream and it has been possible for many years (but with lesser quality results than today's technology) ever since the program VIRTUAL MARILYN attracted Steven Spielberg's attention and sought to reproduce the image of Marilyn Monroe in films many years ago. SEE a Demonstration of virtual Marilyn Monroe Footage (Miralab) from over a decade ago – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/specialfx2/marilyn.html

Today's processors make the portrayals a lot more realistic and lifelike. The technology is now here to put monsters, robots or dead movie stars in films and make them look extremely convincing. This will happen more and more simply because it can now be done with excellent results.

There are great implications for independent filmmakers because most indy films are shot with low/no/micro/zero budgets and that means that the producers usually have little or no money and cannot afford to employ big name stars unless the stars agree to work for deferred pay or no pay. All this might change very fast especially if you're a producer or director willing to work with dead stars because dead people work for free (if you plan to sell your film, make sure you check out the licensing fees for using dead stars in your film)!

©2009, Stanley Lozowski. All Rights Reserved.

Non-linear editing takes over the linear world

2009-07-13T12:10:00.004-04:00

“The Shake, Rattle and Roll of Editing”

Believe it or not, non-linear editing is not a new phenomenon.

Most films have always been edited in a non-linear fashion by cutting and rearranging clips and strips in order to tell a story. The fact is that most real story based films and television shows are shot out of sequence and necessitate a non-linear approach when putting them together for a finished product.

Linear editing really came about due to video and was based on tape to tape editing from one video player to a video edit recorder.

READ MORE by
Media Wizard - http://www.mevio.com/blog/?persona=mediawizard

© 2005-2009 Mevio, Inc.

PR News Webinar

2009-07-12T08:30:00.004-04:00

YouTube is a relatively easy way to boost mindshare and market share --- if you leverage it correctly. To help you understand what works and what doesn't, and how to get the most out of your video communications efforts, there is an information-packed Webinar offered on July 21.

At this PR News Webinar, you and your team will get practical, tactical ideas and advice from our experts who will answer all the questions you have about using YouTube and show you how to effectively tie it to your business goals.

You can register and find more details at http://www.prnewsonline.com/webinars/YouTubeforPR.html

I hope you'll take advantage of this training workshop. And please be sure to share your PR success stories with PR News!

With Warm Regards,

Courtney Barnes
Editor
PR News
http://www.prnewsonline.com

Stoning of Soraya M

2009-07-09T15:22:00.000-04:00

A small look at the film, including the official trailer for the film and interviews with cast members, The Stoning of Soraya M.

Sell your Movie for $1.00

2009-07-08T07:00:00.005-04:00

Is it profitable to sell your movie for $1.00?

Not on DVD! It costs 23.5 cents to make the blank DVD. Taxes, markups and profits are again and again added at each different sale point as the DVD gets to the company that burns it and that costs about 79 cents. Adding their costs, profits and taxes when they sell it to a distributor (who adds their and your percentages, profits, taxes and costs with their artists' and writer's residuals and percentages, and wholesaling it to retail outlets) for the price of a standard movie ticket, who then sells it to the customer for the regulated retail price (not including discount).

A $1.00 downloadable movie? Downloading for the night from one of the legit sites owned by I-tunes, Amazon, NBC, Netflix, MGM, Sony, or Paramount should eventually give audiences the best price and put a profit in each filmmaker's prcket.

Puns are the highest form of literature

2009-07-08T06:53:00.002-04:00

"Puns are the highest form of literature" - Alfred Hitchcock

Interviewed by Dick Cavett in 1972

Top 10 Camcorders

2009-07-08T06:44:00.004-04:00

The Flip Video Ultra Series simple, one-touch recording and compact size make it the ideal choice for shooting video on the go. Capture memories as they happen - no fiddling around with memory cards, chargers or tapes.

With only four buttons, it's incredibly simple to record, zoom, playback instantly or delete your videos. Flip Video's internal flash memory holds up to 60 minutes of high-quality video.

READ MORE -http://www.intellireview.com/category/catalog_electronics_camera_camcorders/?aid=518&top=10&gclid=COWqkMj0jpoCFQsYbAodHmm-Fg

© 2009 IntelliReview. All Rights Reserved.

The Devil and Harry Houdini by Colleen De Maio

2009-07-07T08:28:00.006-04:00

Colleen De Maio was freaking out. Having just spilled a drink on her laptop, smoke had finally stopped rising upward.

Her computer screen had flashed on and off for several seconds just before it went dead. As a Nicholl Fellowship finalist, Colleen was being inundated by requests for her script by agents and producers but without her laptop, she wouldn't be able to respond or send anything out.

Five minutes later, after receiving the news that she was one of the six winners of the 2005 Nicholl Fellowships, she realized she could buy a new computer...

READ MORE ABOUT WINNING SCREENPLAY COMPETITIONS AND GETTING THE RIGHT AGENT - http://www.developmenthell.net/Default.aspx?tabid=56&ctl=Details&mid=381&ItemID=40

©2006, Development Hell

Good Advice! 8 Documentary Dos & Don’ts From a Vet Programmer

2009-07-02T14:46:00.003-04:00

“Making Smarter Movies” or “I Need the Eggs!”

When I left school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I immediately started working in theater in New York City. I lived on a steady diet of MSG-laced Chinese food in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side about the size of this lectern. Then I kicked around in the real world, eventually went to a fancy business school, and after graduating promptly refused to take any job that would have me - because all I could think about was producing and directing. In other words, I needed the eggs.

Rule One: Make Smarter Movies!
That’s not the same as making better movies. Everyone says make better movies, and everyone wants to. But that’s like a director telling an actor to act better. Sounds good, but what does it mean?

Rule Two: Respect the money!
Not just the talent.

Rule Three: Before Rolling Cameras… think ‘Market.’Most businesses have a complete plan from the start of a project, which includes the whole chain from manufacturing through distribution.

READ MORE by James D. Stern - http://www.indiewire.com/article/james_d._stern_making_smarter_movies_or_i_need_the_eggs_-_now_what/

Panasonic AG-HMC40

2009-07-02T14:36:00.004-04:00

PANASONIC'S NEW AG-HMC40, LOW COST PROFESSIONAL AVCCAM HANDHELD WITH 10.6 MEGAPIXEL STILL CAPABILITY

Panasonic has expanded its professional AVCCAM line with the introduction of a more compact, lighter handheld camcorder – the AG-HMC40. Weighing less than 2.2 pounds, the new AVCCAM camcorder is packed with an impressive range of professional features including full HD 3MOS imagers, high-resolution 10.6-megapixal still photo capture, 12X optical zoom and high-quality, solid-state AVCHD recording on widely-available SD cards.

LEARN MORE: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalogId=13251&itemId=342251&modelNo=Content04162009020819466&surfModel=Content04162009020819466

Copyright ©1998-2009 Panasonic Corporation of North America. All rights reserved.

Screenwriter JIM UHLS: Tricks of the Trade

2009-07-01T11:18:00.001-04:00

Jim Uhls is not your average screenwriter. For one thing, his nickname is "Professor Peculiar." For another, as this exclusive off-kilter discussion of his craft demonstrates, Uhls is eager to break the first rule of Fight Club : He talks about Fight Club. A lot.

That seminal film, directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Panic Room), pushed every boundary possible for a studio movie, and Uhls' darkly funny script, adapted from the Chuck Palahniuk novel, is a wickedly subversive example of how to successfully adapt an "unadaptable" book.

© 2009 YouTube, LLC

THE BUDGET MISTAKE THAT FIRST TIME FILMMAKERS MAKE

2009-07-01T11:07:00.004-04:00

Today, everyone who can pick up a camcorder makes short films to get their feet wet and their films play on youTube and other streaming websites. Some become popular with millions of viewers, but most fall by the wayside.

Encouraged with a high number of viewers, more and more new media filmmakers are setting their sites on making a feature as a follow up. It does not matter that they have never made a longer film before. Most amateurs are soon faced with the realization that they will never obtain millions of dollars in funding to create their silver screen vision. Their only hope to produce their film then hinges on writing a budget with little money but high expectations and "wishful thinking" to insure that their film will be completed.

"No budget" and "zero budget" filmmakers usually work with "bare bones" budgets of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. "Micro budget" filmmakers work with a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.

Filmmakers trying to produce theatrical films (not TV or documentaries) with more realistic initial budgets of 100k to 500k begin to learn that their project could have a budget of around 2.5 to 7 million as a low-budget feature, even if it's a non-union shoot.

Continuously under-budgeting, first time filmmakers often think of film budgeting as if they were taking a bank loan. They believe that the smaller the amount needed the better, when in reality, the reverse is probably true for making films. Film funding companies make their money funding films and they tend to be extremely aware of and all costs including the latest union and non-union fee structures, etc.

"Thriller"

2009-06-29T07:53:00.003-04:00

Millions of people had seen the 1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! With Michael Jackson's untimely death, the video is becoming a new internet destination.

"Thriller" (original upload)

Michael Jackson - Thriller live (1987)

MEASURING CONSUMER APPEAL

2009-06-29T07:00:00.005-04:00

If you want to learn the "true" inherent audience appeal of programs, networks, personalities and characters.

This info is necessary to make informed decisions about scheduling, program compatibility, new show acceptance/rejection potential, "staying power" of returning shows, star power/cast chemistry, genre appeal, and program development needs.

A variety of key audience measures are obtained throughout the year for over 50 different demographic segments in the areas of personality and character appeal, program/network likeability, audience impact and current viewer emotional connection. The "advertiser value" of programs can also be determined in a variety of ways.

READ and LEARN MORE - http://www.qscores.com/pages/Template1/site11/30/default.aspx

Copyright © 1963 - 2009 Marketing Evaluations, Inc. The Q Scores Company

American fiction overwhelmingly popular on European screens

2009-06-29T06:47:00.003-04:00

Overwhelmingly, American fiction is still dominant on European television screens although it is on the decline.

This is just one of the many trends highlighted in Volume 2 of the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Yearbook “Trends in European television”, which has just been published.

READ MORE - http://www.iefilmi.org/

Copyright 2008 'Cine Ink Limited'

Red “Scarlet” Prototype to Debut at NAB

2009-06-23T10:58:00.001-04:00

At NAB last year Jim Jannard & Co. mentioned they had plans to create a “Pocket Pro” camera, as well as a line of 4K projectors. And it appears that we will see the new camera mockup and associated specs at NAB this year…Jim has confirmed that they are calling it “Scarlet.”

by Matthew Jeppsen

http://www.freshdv.com/2008/01/red-scarlet-prototype-to-debut-at-nab.html

Will The Web Do To TV What It's Done To Newspapers?

2009-06-22T17:10:00.003-04:00

"If consumers are being retrained to pay less for professionally produced TV content, then returns on capital (Roic) should fall," resulting in the networks trimming budgets and firing personnel.

In the end the networks may be forced to turn towards user-generated content, which, Laura Martin, an analyst with Soleil Media Metrics, said, is no "true substitute for long-form premium TV content.

CLICK HERE to Read more: http://showbizdata.com/news/49708/WILL-THE-WEB-DO-TO-TV-WHAT-ITS-DONE-TO-NEWSPAPERS

TWITTER is heard around the world

2009-06-21T09:53:00.005-04:00

The images captured by cell phones and camcorders can be powerful and captivating. All people anywhere in the world are able to report, share and influence what happens. Digital electronic communication has clearly changed everything.

Chaos prevailed as protesters and police clashed in the Iranian capital.

"RIP NEDA, The World cries seeing your last breath, you didn't die in vain. We remember you." That post on Twitter came from a man who identified himself as an American guitarist in Nashville, Tennessee.

Amid the hundreds of images and videos of Saturday's brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran that flooded the Internet, it was the graphic video showing the death of a young woman that touched a nerve among those following the events in Tehran for more than a week.

PROMOTING YOUR FILM ONLINE

2009-06-20T09:30:00.003-04:00

O.K.! Your film is in the can!

As you take some time to rough cut and edit it, you should also be thinking about publicizing and promoting it. This will help build up an instant audience of fans who might want to see more.

The first thing to cut is a series of teasers-a group of films that will each give some information (but not too much) about your epic. Grab your audience and astound them, make they laugh, make them cry, but make them want to see more.

No matter what genre, there is only one goal in publicizing your film. The best advertisment you can have is one that will make people remember the name of your film. And if you produce a half dozen teasers, make sure they all make viewers remember your name. This is called “reinforcement”.

http://www.zombieedthemovie.com/index1.html

Zombie Ed Teaser

Zombie Ed: Behind the Scenes with Pete Mendoza and Tom Nyman

Late Night Cooking With Pete Mendoza

Zombie Ed: Behind The Scenes with Shaun Dallas and Jim Davis

Zombie Ed Behind The Scenes: Team zUSA

"My Ride" with William Cutting

©2009, Stanley Lozowski. All Rights Reserved.

Cisco Touts A Killer App: Online Video

2009-06-19T08:29:00.005-04:00

In March, Cisco (NasdaqGS:CSCO - News) offered to pay $590 million for Pure Digital Technologies, makers of the Flip mini camcorder, designed to make sharing video online easier.

"Video killed the radio star" the old song goes. And now, online video could make a killing for network gear makers over the next few years.

When IBD recently asked Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers to offer some predictions about the future of technology, the networking pioneer didn't mince words.

"If I had to make one big bet on the future, I would bet on video," Chambers replied. "I think video is a major killer application, and the combination of video and networking will be a huge driver for how we will communicate in the future."

"Video services (Hulu, YouTube, CinemaNow, etc.) are offering consumers even more choice for video consumption, and network traffic growth could mean more network infrastructure will be required," Sue wrote.

Web-based entertainment and online video sites such as Google's (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) YouTube are creating a big spike in demand for network bandwidth. Total time spent watching online videos shot up 49% last month over the year before, to 188.7 minutes per user, according to Nielsen Online.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY by J. Bonasia - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20090616/bs_ibd_ibd/20090616tech

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

GEORGE LUCAS - Filmmakers Will “Pre-Visualize” Movies Before Making Them

2009-06-17T00:29:00.001-04:00

George Lucas has disclosed that his company is developing an advanced form of storyboarding that will allow filmmakers to create a virtual version of their planned movies on a computer before they actually begin shooting it.

In an interview with today's (Monday) Chicago Tribune, Lucas said that the system will "pre-visualize" a film. "Everyone involved can know what the movie will look like before they shoot," he said."

Lucas indicated that he is also developing an editing system that will at once be "more sophisticated and much more simple" and will "make editing available to more people."

Read More - http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/lucas-filmmakers-will-pre-visualize-movies-before-making-them_1106595

©2009 Contactmusic.com Ltd, all rights reserved

Studios prepare future 3D franchise installments

2009-06-15T15:05:00.003-04:00

Within five to seven years, I expect all movies out of Hollywood to be in 3-D," Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted at the recent 3DX conference in Singapore.

"In sound, we've gone from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to digital," the DreamWorks maven said. "The flatscreen movies of today are the equivalent of vinyl records."

If so, when it comes to live-action tentpoles, it seems as if most of Hollywood is still clinging to their turntables and LPs.

Stereo 3-D is the rage in animation, but there have been no announcements of a Batman, Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean or other existing or potential franchise in 3-D, other than James ...

READ MORE - http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996536.html?categoryid=3431&cs=1

© Copyright 2009 RBI, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

How to Raise Money For a Movie

2009-06-14T15:30:00.001-04:00

Film Fund-amentals:

There are many ways to raise money for a low-budget independent film. Bank robbery is one method.

Unfortunately, the current economic crisis makes it one of the less rewarding ways (unless you happen to be a banker, in which case you are already engaged in this pursuit).

[Continue Reading] go to: http://www.creditspectrum.com/