A tip of the hat goes to Paul Harrill of Self-Reliant Filmmaking for linking this article at ESPN with interviewing techniques and tips that could prove useful to filmmakers and videographers. It was written by veteran journalist John Sawatsky.

 FreshDV Film School [54:00m]: Download

FreshDV had the opportunity recently to speak with Jerome Courshon on the marketing and distribution of movies and films. Jerome offers a full course in the “Secrets of Distribution” . If you are a filmmaker of any kind you owe it to your crew, your cast and yourself to watch this segment. From contracts, residuals, and pitfalls to avoid Jerome covers the 101 basics of film distribution and helps prepare you for what you need to know once the ink dries on the DVDs. In Jerome’s words:

So you’ve taken the Sisyphean journey and made a movie, maybe your first. Congratulations! Now what? What do you do to ensure the final step of your filmmaking journey, getting distribution? What is the ‘correct’? strategy to take? Is there even one??

The answer is a resounding YES. Whether you’ve just finished your final cut or are already on the film festival circuit or EVEN if you’ve been turned down by distributors already there is a strategy for successfully getting Movie Distribution that MOST producers & directors do not know. Consequently, most filmmakers give up after spending a year or two spinning their wheels, with only the inner satisfaction of having made the movie.
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Film School: Distribution 101′

I discovered the Filmschool podcast some time ago, and have been slowly catching up on old episodes. In one episode back in December of 2006 Nathan and Mike interviewed reknown documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. I was struck by the sheer amount of useful tips and knowledge dispensed by the director, and it dawned on me that this single podcast is more than just an intriguing interview…it is in fact an excellent tutorial on the basics of what it takes to be a documentary filmmaker. Wiseman is a wealth of insight and experience, and he shares freely. If you have a documentary bent, this particular podcast episode should be required listening. You can download the MP3 directly via this link, and I recommend subscribing to their podcast feed for more great content. A description of the episode follows:
Continue reading ‘How To Be a Documentary Filmmaker’

FreshDV spoke with Michael Kent of DSC Laboratories recently, the following short podcast contains a few interesting excerpts from our discussion. Michael talked about the importance of camera calibration and making your film and video projects more polished…or at least “not look ghetto.” He discusses why they offer a cavity black option for DSC’s popular ChromaDuMonde chart, how (and why) to use a framing chart, and the frame issues in the new film American Gangster that could have been avoided with such a chart. You can download the interview from our normal Podcast Feed, or snag the MP3 manually below.

 DSC Labs Interview Excerpts [7:04m]: Download

Exclusive FreshDV interview with Daniel Gurewitch
By Matt Jeppsen, Editor FreshDV

A Senior writer for College Humor TV, Daniel Gurewitch is actively involved in the screenwriting process for the site’s popular series of original online shorts. We caught up with Daniel recently to get a snapshot of how CHTV’s creative content comes to life.

Matt Jeppsen: Daniel, why don’t you give us a quick summary of how you came into this writing position at College Humor, and what your background is.

Daniel Gurewitch: I was a TV & Film major at Syracuse University, where I focused on screenwriting. I set out from college writing TV spec scripts with the distant hope of one day being paid to write comedy. CollegeHumor hired me as a receptionist, so instead of being a good receptionist, I started writing like crazy. My articles did well, the staff took notice, and they were kind enough to bring me on as an editorial assistant right around the time that CHTV was taking off. The other staff writers are hilarious, but they didn’t have a lot of screenwriting experience at the time, so that nudged me towards scripts. Also, Sam Reich (the director of CHTV) and I have similar comedy tastes and philosophies, so we’re a good team. I guess a lot of things clicked.

MJ: So do you feel that your Film/TV major from Syracuse really prepared you for the specifics of screenwriting in this role?
Continue reading ‘FreshDV Film School: Interview With Screenwriter Daniel Gurewitch’

Anthony Burokas managed to corner Sony’s Juan Martinez at DV Expo and get some detailed technical questions about the PMW-EX1 answered. Questions like, does the EX1 record in 24p mode without additional “pad” frames? I’ve also excerpted a very interesting exchange about how the encoder allocates bitrate below. Continue reading ‘Sony XDCAM EX Nitty-Gritty Q&A’

B&H has been creating a lot of great original content lately, very informative stuff. One recent offering that I appreciated is an interview with Doug Jensen, creator of one of the first training DVD titles on the new XDCAM EX camera and workflow. His instructional DVD entitled “Mastering the Sony PMW-EX1: A Complete Guide to the Camcorder and the XDCAM EX Workflow” is currently available from B&H. You can read the full interview here. Below are a few interesting excerpts. And for more EX1 news, stay tuned to our continually-updated EX link-dump.
Continue reading ‘Doug Jensen Takes a First Look at the Sony PMW-EX1′

Videography has an interesting article on the use of Final Cut Pro in post-production for TNT’s The Closer. It seems that purchasing multiple FCP systems was a more affordable option than a year’s season’s Avid rental fees.

“The Closer has six systems that each cost only about $10,000, which in total is less than Avid rental would typically cost for a season. More important to me is that I can afford to own a system at home. I’m a young mother, so sometimes I’ll take the drives home and work on an episode there. This gives me a chance to spend more time with my kids, which is very liberating. In addition, the assistants have greater access to the project and can cut some scenes on their own, giving them a way to hone their own skills.â€?

A documentary in production, Transcendent Man follows visionary and futurist Ray Kurzweil as he performs his normal speaking schedule around the globe. Filmmaker Barry Ptolemy is lensing the doc, and he spoke with Studio Daily about the process. They are sourcing everything on P2 media using a stock Panasonic HVX200, capturing audio with my favorite wireless mic system the Sennheiser G2, and editing on an Avid.

HD For Indies is hosting a video presentation by Mark Pederson of OffHollywood, taped at Tekserve recently. Mark talks about their involvement with Red Digital Cinema early on, learning to shoot with this new camera and format (“…take most of what you know about High Def and throw it out the window”), and how they have positioned themselves early on as experts in this new arena. He also discusses the tools the RED camera gives you, like a histogram and the “false color” mode, both which indicate clipping and exposure data. These and other tools contribute to the overall RAW digital negative philosophy of shooting with the RED camera…get the most dynamic range and data in the field, and make it pretty in post (my words). Mark also addresses the “disruptive technology” aspect of the new camera…how players in the industry are being careful with their statements about RED based on if it might have an adverse effect on their career. He briefly mentions RED plans for worldwide local service centers, which is also another major concern with this new camera system.

We’ve also added this to our continually-updated big bucket of RED-related links.

 The Art of Pulling Focus Part 3 Demo - 720p HD [15:00m]: Download

FreshDV recently spent a day with Bob Sanchez, a Chicago-based career 1st A/C with 30 years of feature filmmaking experience. In Part One and Part Two of our video series with Bob, Kendal Miller interviewed him on what exactly it takes to do the job, and the tips and tricks he’s learned over the years. Bob explained his unique method of focus pulling with a speed crank, how he approaches measuring and marking a scene, and the tools he uses on a daily basis. In this Third and final segment, we take you behind the lens as Bob shows us how he works hands-on. You’ll get a chance to see us block out a few scenes with an actor, and watch over Bob’s shoulder as he pulls focus on the HVX handheld 35mm adapter rig while Kendal operates. In the split screen you will see both the operators POV synced with what is actually being shot through the 35mm lens. Watch the Part 3 video below. You may also be interested in our video review of 5 popular Follow Focus systems.

Continue reading ‘FreshDV Film School: The Art of Pulling Focus (Part 3)’

Film & Video has an interview with editor Christopher Rouse, who cut The Bourne Ultimatum. Christopher talks about the chaotic style of editing in the series, how he approaches translating the character of Jason Bourne to screen, and why they chose not to use Avid’s DNxHD 36 codec for post on this particular feature. Check the article comments for more technical details on the project.

You may recall some months back that Director Darren Aronofsky had some issues with the DVD release of “The Fountain” by Warner Bros. He was quite candid, in fact, stating;

“Everything at the studio was a struggle. For instance, they didn’t want to do a commentary track cause they felt it wouldn’t help sales. I didn’t have it in me to fight anymore. Whatever.”

So instead of fighting the studio, Darren has made and is freely sharing his own unauthorized commentary track. And in a ironic twist, the audio commentary is being distributed via Bittorrent’s The Pirate Bay, Meganova, and the recently relaunched Suprnova community. Nice. The Fountain DVD is available at Amazon for $14.99, or $27.95 for the HD-DVD.

(Via Scott Simmons)

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!)

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.