While his film is still in (select) theaters, John August has shared a Director’s Commentary audio track online. The idea is that you load it up in your MP3 player of choice (*cough iPod*) and go watch the movie in theaters again, but this time with audio company of John August and Ryan Reynolds. Two points he makes that are worth noting here:

2. Don’t try to listen to it on your first viewing. The movie is confusing enough. Hearing me blather on about some esoteric detail will increase the bewilderment, not lessen it.
6. Be respectful: If you’re listening to the commentary, sit away from other people, so they’re not hearing it. Yes, that’s just common sense and common courtesy, but I thought I’d point it out.

This is not the first time an in-theater commentary has been suggested…as Kevin Smith recorded one for Clerks II but was prevented from sharing it online by the distributing studio. So this looks like a movie first. John is also running a trailer competition on his site, has shared intimate production details, and the first nine minutes of the film are available online…looks like they are leveraging every viral buzz trick in the book to market the movie. Smart filmmaker.

(Thanks for the tip, Rick!)

GeniusDV has a a few quick tips on creating your own Adobe Encore DVD Menus using built-in buttons and Library elements.

16×9 Inc has released a new lens adapter, a slim single-element design that is well-suited to compact HD camcorders. The new EX Super Fisheye lens adds 0.4X of magnification and a distinctive barrel-distorted, convex view. The lens weighs just under 7oz and fits the following camcorders (some require step-down rings): Canon XH-A1/G1, Canon XL-H1, Panasonic DVX-100B, Sony V1U/FX7, Sony Z1U/FX7, and Sony PD170/150. More details and pricing follows…
Continue reading ‘16×9’s New EX Compact Super Fisheye’

After a recent conversation with some fellow filmmakers I was reminded of how mysterious in some ways our industry is, and how many people may not even be clear of their job titles, and what responsibilities those jobs entail. There also exist a hierarchy of authority on a set and a certain level of professionalism is expected of the departments. In the professional realm with a full staffed crew there exist a level of professionalism and mutual respect for each others jobs and responsibilities, or at least their usually is. Sure sometimes you wind up on a bad crew getting chewed out for nothing. The independent world could learn some valuable lessons about team management and establishing departments, and establishing a creative chain of command. Even among friends there should be a degree of departmentalization and a chain of command for decision making. This will ensure that your production flows smoother and everyone can concentrate on their job responsibilities, which has hopefully been staffed to that persons strengths and abilities.
A chain of command doesn’t mean a dictatorship on set. It simply means people need to be aware of where their orders come from and who has final say so. Good leadership in department heads will ask for input when needed, weigh it carefully, and then make a decisive answer and take responsibility for that decision. This is the level of mutual respect, decision making, and leadership skills that have ruined more independent features than anything else in my opinion. Above the right gear, the right budget, and the right crew, good leadership with clear decisive chains of commands and communication to other team member is paramount. More than one well written story with an adequate budget and great gear has been ruined by the lack of these skills.
To that degree I have included a great job description and breakdown of crew responsibilities of a typical film crew compiled by Noel Paul at the University of Washington. Hopefully you will gain a better insight into the job responsibilities of each crew member. Remember now matter how small your crew is its important to establish a well thought out team with good communication between team member in order to work efficiently.

Continue reading ‘Production Jobs and Responsibilities of Crew’

I’m a big fan of Food Network’s programming. They have an abundance of quality, informative, and clean programming that also happens to be interesting for the whole family. “Iron Chef America” and Bobby Flay’s “Showdown” were instant favorites at our house, as was Alton Brown’s “Feasting on Asphalt”. And “Everyday Italian” with Giada De Laurentiis…need I say more? Food has literally never looked so good.

But one of my favorite shows on the roster is “Good Eats”, another Alton Brown creation. Generally the eloquent host digs into the nitty-gritty science of cooking, but in a recent episode entitled “Behind the Eats”, Alton takes the viewer behind the scenes of the show and does an incredibly detailed job of it. It really is an amazing mini-lesson on production in general. Regardless of your interest in food-related programming, I suggest you check you local listings for a re-airing, it’s well worth the time. As a bonus, towards the end you get to see Creative Cow contributor Walter Biscardi talk about his involvement in the series. For fans that simply can’t get enough Alton, you can buy his “Good Eats” and “Feasting” DVDs at Amazon.

Watch out Firewire. The USB 3.0 standard has been announced by Intel, and it will surpass USB 2.0’s 480 megabits per second data-transfer rate by a factor of 10. By embedding an optical signal path alongside traditional copper cabling, USB 3.0 will support somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.8 gigabits per second, while retaining backwards compatibility with the current standards. Not too shabby, and quite an upgrade over Firewire’s maximum of 800 megabits per second. There are also some steps being taken to fix the issues with USB’s traditional shared-bus architecture, which is one reason IEEE-1394 is often recommended for video work. While the official spec will be completed soon, expect to wait a few years before devices take advantage of the bandwidth upgrade. I imagine that commodity multiple-disk RAID enclosures will be some of the first to adopt the standard.

“Intel is working fellow USB 3.0 Promoters Group members Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors to release the USB 3.0 specification in the first half of 2008, said Pat Gelsinger, general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, in a speech here at the Intel Developer Forum.

In an interview after the speech, Gelsinger said there’s typically a one- to two-year lag between the release of the specification and the availability of the technology, so USB 3.0 products should likely arrive in 2009 or 2010. A prototype shown at the speech is working now, and USB 3.0 will have both optical and copper connections “from day one,” he added.”

I look forward to our new multi-Gbps unshared-bus overlords…

Interview with Dave C. Hill of Sony by Eugenia Loli-Queru

Following the recent release of Sony Vegas Pro 8 video editing suite, today we host an interview with Sony Media Software’s VP of Technology Dave C. Hill who talks to us about the new product, the engineering hurdles his team faced and more.

1. What’s the most important new feature in Vegas Pro 8 in your opinion?

Dave C. Hill: All the new features are important but because Vegas has such a broad user base it is hard to prioritize them. We’re very excited about the new creative options that the ProType titler brings, 32-bit float processing allows very high end image processing, digital signage we expect to be a growth area (at least within our own company), we’ve got some very interesting new AVC related technologies, the audio console and rotuing enhancements will really benefit the pro audio people, we’ve got new formats and workflow improvements like multicamera and smart MPEG HD rendering…but again, what matters most is going vary per user.

2. Which feature was the most difficult to implement and why?
Continue reading ‘Interview with Dave Hill on Sony Vegas Pro 8′

Macworld is coming in January of 2008. And what would a months-off Apple event be without unsubstantiated pre-launch rumors of sweet new product offerings at incredibly low prices? Need I remind you of the Apple Product Cycle? Gentlemen, Start Your Rumors!

MacSlice is reporting rumoring that the requisite unnamed “Apple informant” has delivered (rumored) glad tidings of (rumored)great joy unto all potential Mac Pro buyers…
Continue reading ‘New Mac Pro to Include Awesomeness, Blu-ray Option’

Component signal is analog, HDMI is digital. So HDMI must be better…right? Not necessarily, says Tom’s Hardware. In HDMI vs. Component - What’s The Difference? they outline the pros and cons of both technologies.

(Via Studio Daily Blog)

Editor Daniel Hollister used to hate iMovie. But from his recent Why iMovie ‘08 Matters article, it sounds like the latest version in iLife ‘08 is begining to grow on him. He makes a good case for using iMovie for simple productions; “For anyone needing to edit video extremely quickly, this is a godsend.” For a slightly different viewpoint, Mike Curtis wrote a detailed review of iMovie ‘08 for Macworld.

The latest version of iLife is available for $79 at the Apple Store.

Walter Biscardi, owner of Biscardi Creative Media, has been sharing a four-part series on what it takes to start and run a multimedia business over at the Creative Cow Blogs. Part One and Part Two are up.

Here are ten notes on making art. Excerpts below…

#5. “How to have ‘lots of ideas’: permute. Start anywhere. Once a piece is done, try varying some aspect. Think of all the variables that could have permutations.”

#7. “Don’t even bother “fixing” pieces. Making art shouldn’t be a struggle. You’re simply “thinking out loud” onto the page, photo-paper, or canvas. If a product seems confused, leave it confused. Make another piece where you contemplate whatever issues you were wrestling with. Try something different. When clarity arrives, it will come in one living piece — not be Frankensteined together out of a single infinitely re-worked, mangled corpse.”

#10. “Don’t hide your failures. If you are only willing to show those perfect pieces that you are aspiring towards, you’re never going to display / publish your work. Show everything, the worst of the crap included, and let your ego be humbled — and goaded to create more.”

Apple’s highly-anticipated new operating system revision, OS X Leopard, is due out next month (barring any more iPhone related delays). In a curious move, Adobe Systems has admitted that Creative Suite 3, their flagship new software collection for multimedia creatives, may not be fully compatible with the new OS from Cupertino. Stating that Adobe has “not received a final copy of Leopard,” Exec Bruce Chizen revealed that “CS3 hasn’t fully been tested under Leopard,” and promised “If it doesn’t work, we will make the necessary adjustments.”

This nervous corporate posturing strikes me as odd…how do you read it? Why has Adobe made this announcement now, prior to the Leopard release? Is this an attempt to take a pass at Apple publically for making them wait to test the new OS? Maybe shame them into sending a copy earlier? Or perhaps Adobe suspects a specific incompatibility and is attempting to position the blame on Apple? The bottom line is that if you depend on CS3, you may need to consider holding off on the Leopard upgrade for the present. They don’t call it the bleeding edge for no reason.

(Thanks for the tip, Randall)

My review of the cost-effective IKAN V8000HD 8â€? LCD focus/framing monitor is in the September issue of DV Magazine, you can read it online here (if you haven’t already).

The FreshDV crew conducted our tests with a HVX200 on Zacuto rods outfitted with a Cinevate Brevis 35mm lens adapter, Zeiss 85mm PL-mount cine lens, assorted Zeiss ZF Nikon-mount lenses, and a variety of matte boxes and follow focus units. More full rig pictures below.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Review of IKAN LCD Field Monitor’

We mentioned that the new version of Sony Vegas was announced recently, and it includes several impressive features and capabilities. Even FCP die-hard Mike Curtis was impressed. Sony Vegas Pro 8 is now available (and a little bird told me that until October 31 you can take $200 off the pricetag at this link)