Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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Lots of New Software from Blackmagic, Adobe, Avid and More
The advances in camera technology over the past few years have somewhat overshadowed application software developments, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some interesting new updates and new applications. Here are just some of the most interesting application updates announced over the past couple of months. Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 12 At NAB Blackmagic announced Resolve 12. It’s not available yet, but this update continues where 11 started, adding more video editing features and continuing to turn Resolve into a serious editing tool. Blackmagic even claims it’s now the “most powerful editor available.” The new interface is lighter and offers […]
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A.C.L.U Investigates Exclusion of Female Directors in Hollywood
Early this morning, The New York Times ran an article that detailed the A.C.L.U’s investigation into Hollywood’s hiring practices and their demonstrable prejudices — given the statistics — against female directors. As spearheaded by Melissa Davidson, the director of the L.G.B.T, Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the A.C.L.U of Southern California, The Times also ran her official letter to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that outlines the reasons behind her inquiry in full. Cara Buckley, author of The Times article, put forth the career trajectory of Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards, who landed […]
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Trouble at the Cinémathèque québécoise
The Cinémathèque québécoise — the main repository for all film, television and video production in the province of Quebec — is in the midst of controversy over its future direction. Like many cultural-memory institutions, it has been plagued by severe budget shortfalls, and members of both the Cinémathèque ‘s own board as well as the provincial government have suggested a merger with the Bibliotheque et Archives du nationales du Quebec (BAnQ) as a means to keep it solvent. Others, including most of the Cinémathèque’s workers and non-administrative staff, as well as filmmakers and other supporters, have expressed grave concern that […]
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Popularity Mechanics: A Beginner’s Guide to Curmudgeonly Crowdfunding
Randy Mack is in the final three days of his Kickstarter for his New Orleans-set Laundry Day, and with roughly three grand to go, he lets loose with an acerbic howl against the indignities of crowdfunding that, he hopes, might make you think and, perhaps…. donate. People are the worst, and there’s nothing more humiliating than pandering to them. You became an artist to push back against sheeple’s sacred cows and conventional wisdom, and now technology has risen to empower… them. Not you. The Popular Ones. The last people on Earth who need empowering. Popular people, remember them? The ones […]
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Short Film: ornana’s All Your Favorite Shows
ornana’s latest short form outing, All Your Favorite Shows, might just be my favorite yet. Length notwithstanding, it features some of the most exacting and exhilarating editing you’re likely to see anytime in the near future, as it seamlessly shifts from film clips to Danny Madden’s original animation in the blink of an eye. I asked Madden to elaborate on his collaboration with editor Mari Walker in designing the film and stringing together its “found imagery”: The clip selection began at the storyboards. I laid out these high energy action moments that followed as many modern film and television tropes as I could […]
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Watch for 24 Hours: Die Wilderin vom Montafon and Sabbatical from the Eastern Oregon Film Festival
As the Eastern Oregon Film Festival runs this weekend in Le Grande, Oregon, the festival and filmmaker bring you another day of 24-hour online premieres. Below are Evamarie Shaller’s short, Die Wilder vom Montanon, and Brendan Colvin’s feature Sabbatical, starring Robert Longstreet as “a middle-aged Kierkegaard scholar.” Both are embedded below and are free to view for the next 24 hours only. Die Wilderin vom Montafon from Evamaria Schaller on Vimeo. DIE WILDERIN VOM MONTAFON (dir. Evamaria Shaller) Technical Info 2014 / Austria / 21min / Experimental Short Synopsis The Austrian mountains. Legend of itself. Powerful and wild. Dangerous and […]
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Watch for 24 Hours: In Search of the Miraculous and Friendship from the Eastern Oregon Film Festival
As part of this weekend’s Eastern Oregon Film Festival, Filmmaker is partnering with the fest to stream four online selections. Today, for an exclusive 24-hour window, you can view Sam Kuhn’s short film, In Search of the Miraculous and Nathaniel Bennett’s short feature, Friendship. Program notes for both are below, and check back tomorrow at 9:00 AM EST for Evamaria Shaller’s Die Wilder von Montafon and Brandon Colvin’s Sabbatical. In Search of the Miraculous from Lion Attack on Vimeo. In Search of the Miraculous (dir. Sam Kuhn) Technical Info 2014 / USA / 15min / Experimental Short Synopsis A seventeen-year-old […]
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Distribution Transparency: Four Filmmakers Reveal Their Numbers, Part Two
Tuesday’s post looked at Neil Berkeley and Judy Chaikin as two filmmakers who wanted to create a theatrical release for their films to boost visibility, increase ancillary value and learn for themselves how to operate in the new hybrid model of distribution and marketing. Today we will look at Paco de Onís from Skylight, the company he runs with creative director Pamela Yates and editorial director Peter Kinoy, and their film/media project Granito Paco de Onís, Skylight and Granito According to de Onís, Skylight is “as much a filmmaking organization as a human rights organization.” Hence their goals are not about monetary gain […]
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Five Takeaways from Linda Pan of SundanceNow Doc Club on the She Does Podcast
Linda Pan discovered her way into media after traveling down a vastly different path for several years. Linda, the first-generation daughter of Chinese immigrants, was raised in Saskatoon, Canada. Her parents persuaded their daughter to follow a path similar to theirs: electrical engineering. So she did. But ater two engineering degrees and a handful of hard family conversations, Linda talks about how she transitioned from electrical engineering to media business, attended Harvard Business School and climbed the ladder at MRC and Netflix. Today, Linda is the general manager of Sundance Now Doc Club and Vice President of Business Development at […]
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Distribution Transparency: Four Filmmakers Reveal Their Distribution Numbers, Part One
Alternative distribution models are no longer the experiment, but are now the norm for the vast majority of filmmakers. However because of a variety of reasons, including not least contract obligations and a fear that exposing numbers may not show the filmmaker in the best light, many filmmakers have been reticent to give out the real numbers from their film’s releases. As a result, for last October’s Getting Real Documentary Conference, held by the International Documentary Association, I wanted to create a panel where the participants were required to reveal the data about the releases of their films. I wanted […]
