Last week, Alec and I went to California to visit with Jason and talk post-production shop. It was a Friday evening and the three of us were sitting in Jason’s editing studio talking about things like multi-angle editing and color grading. Jason generally has a rant about how much better AVID is than FCP because that’s what he uses at work. At home, he uses FCP like the rest of us financially-challenged filmmakers. He was showing us what he’d learned at an Apple presentation about multi-angle editing. They’ve been touting multi-angle editing for a while but I’d never seen it used. He stepped through it and I was excited. He said (and I agreed) that there wasn’t all that much need for it in his type of work.
However, while we were in Zambia, the National Arts Council brought five (5) Native Storytellers in from other regions in the country. All five spoke a different language. There were about 25 children making up the audience. This was definitely NOT a highly-controlled nor highly-choreographed recording session. On top of that, this was the second weekend in Zambia so the student crew were all continuing to build their skills in all of the different pieces of equipment. To maximize our odds, we ran four (4) cameras during the shoot. Two cinematographers were on the storyteller, one was on the audience and one was handheld. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on a different continent. So, next week, I’ll be cutting the Zambian Storytellers using this method. I can hardly wait. If you want to check it out, you will want to read Steve Martin’s well-illustrated and very clear tutorial on Final Cut Pro Multi-Angle editing.
Since I’ve been on a tutorial kick, I decided to go looking for good Maya tutorials. I love Maya. The software package is just so deep, there is so much one can do with that program. So, I have found a lot of sites with tutorials but I do not have tremendous confidence about the sophistication of many tutorials and, in fact, some tutorials teach inefficient or improper techniques. For example, game modelers need to monitor their polygon count and their polygon shape to avoid malformations in animation. Film character animators are more likely to use a NURBs patch model and have to pay attention to edge looping for better blendshapes when the character speaks. So, a list of tutorials and a word of caution. They always say, “Begin with the end in mind.” Know what you’re final goal is so you make the proper decisions along the way.
I love Adobe AfterEffects. Ever since I read the first CREATING MOTION GRAPHICS by Trish and Chris Meyers, I’ve been hooked and amazed at what that program can do. I’ve used other tools for footage stabilization, color correction, motion graphics and FX compositing. In the end, I always end up coming back to AE. In addition to being an all-around great tool, my favorite thing about AE is how quickly it renders. Sophisticated and efficient.
If you’re wanting to learn more about the more advanced AfterEffects tricks. I strongly recommend that you visit Andrew Kramer’s VideoCoPilot.Net Site. He’s got 64 tutorials on everything from greenscreening, replacing sky and stabilizing footage to putting bugs under your skin and freaky eyeballs in your skull. Terrific techniques for the modern filmmaker. For those who love to learn by reading, the books by Trish and Chris Meyers are still the best. For the media generation, try Kramer first. Then, take a look at Pixel2Life and CreativeCow.
Way back in April of 2005, I did a blogpost about a Johnny Chung Lee’s $14 Steadicam. Lee gave the full instructions for how to build his poor-man’s steadicam using pieces and parts that could be picked up at any hardware store. It is the steadicam that Jacob built to take to Zambia. We used it there and left it behind with the Zambian National Arts Council. For the mechanically challenged, chronically lazy, or only moderately-poor filmmaker, Lee even offered a fully built version for only $39.95. A great little tool that was most useful.
So, earlier this month, I’m at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, meeting with students and going over their interactive media projects. One group is working on a Nintendo-based tool that teaches high school students the slope-intercept formula in a game format in preparation for the exit examination. While talking with them, we got onto the idea of full-immersion gaming. One of the students was really excited about this fellow from Carnegie Mellon University who was developing immersion techniques using the Wii Remote. I started digging around and discover that this immersion innovator is the $14 Steadicam guy, Johnny Chung Lee. The YouTube video sure got my imagination going.
We’re experiencing a bit of “good timing” with the film Zambian BAD TIMING. The film is now listed in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). So far, only the title is in … they say the actual names / credits take another week to ten days to get updated. It’s so exciting to finally see everything coming together and the people in the film getting acknowledged for their work. Everyone involved with this project gave a solid month of their life in Zambia to get this film made. The crew also spent six months before the project in training and preparing for the project. Following the shoot in Zambia, the crew spent another couple of months helping with the rough cut … and several more continued another year with the revised cuts.
We’ve been test screening the film with small groups and the response has been really terrific. When you edit a film, you watch it thousands of times and lose all perspective on it. You think it keeps getting better but it’s so subjective. The really exciting thing is that people who know nothing about the film, know nothing about Zambia, know nothing about the production challenges are understanding and liking the film. They’re liking the good people, disliking the bad people and are getting really involved in the story. It’s a very satisfying feeling having people watch the film and enjoy it. I can hardly wait for the Zambians to see it.
You may have noticed that I recently switched over to WordPress for my personal Cyndi Greening blog. I’m still getting used to it but I’m liking it a lot. Cinema Minima has been using WP for quite a long time now. Austin Burbridge, the genius behind Cinema Minima, has always been ahead of the crowd. He was encouraging RSS, podcasts and VOD long before anyone else had ever heard of it. At heart, I’m a filmmaker, teacher and writer. So, I sometimes drag my feet on new technologies, wanting to see if they’re going to stand the test of time. In the past, I always resisted changing blog software because I feared losing my content. Making the switch from Radio Userland to Movable Type was costly. So, I was trying to avoid that problem. Fortunately, Jonathan at PC Optimized helped make the conversion fairly seamless. (He says it took about an hour and one-half to make the conversion. Much better than the weeks it took to bring it over from Radio Userland.) I have noticed a few tweaky challenges I’ve had to overcome and, if you find something out of sorts, please send me an email so I can fix it, but overall it’s pretty slick … and the price is very appealing.
Recently, I’m learning how to make new content pages. I decided to start by testing a very large link resource page. You can check out the Film Resources page that I was testing.
Last evening, (Thursday, March 6, 2008) Beth McDonald, Schumacher Mercedes and the folks at KEZ threw a celebratory dinner for the twelve Woman of the Year nominees. It was held at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in North Scottsdale. The Hyatt is always wonderful. Great ambiance, great food, great service. The only thing that could make it better is if they held it in the mineral pool at Spa Avania. Just kidding, of course. I kept telling the other nominees that there would be a swimsuit competition later in the evening. Now, mind you, some of these women established orphanages in Afghanistan, escaped violence in Bosnia and faced personal danger on streets serving the homeless. But, mention a public viewing in a bathing suit and they tremble with (mock) fear. It was funny.
Nominees were allowed to bring three of their friends to the event. Most everyone seemed to have invited the person who nominated them for the honor (I, of course, invited my nominator, Pamela Jo). Each table had two nominees and their pals (MCC Media Arts professor Jeanette Roe and FilmZambia-supporter Tammy Fannin rounded out my party) AND two representatives of KEZ. We were joined by the delightful Smokey Rivers (former on-air personality and current programming director) and the gracious, gregarious Kevin Gossett. We ended up in a fun conversation about KILTS (yes, he used to wear a kilt) and the winds that whip off the Great Lakes. He grew up in Indiana, so I got more insight into Purdue University.
The event is sponsored by 99.9 FM and Schumacher Mercedes Benz. We received an evening and dinner at the Hyatt, a day at Spa Avania and (Alec’s and my favorite) a great Mercedes Benz model car built to 1/18 scale with working doors, hood and trunk. The model is a very durable and accurate metal Benz and, as it is no doubt intended, motivates me yearn for one of my very own. The Schumacher folks were at the table beside us. Mr. and Mrs. Werner Schumacher were in attendance and generously presented winner, Zema Kovac, with an oversize check for $2500. Everyone was teasing about wanting to go with her when she went to the ATM. Young Michael Schumacher was there with the folks. The other nominees were given (in addition to all of the other prizes), a crisp Ben Franklin. I was being silly and saying, “Look what I got for the night.” Michael teased back and said, “No, that’s for the whole year.” Funny. Nothing I love more than a great sense of humor. (In my internet search, I discovered there’s a Formula One driver by the name of Michael Schumacher who is considered the greatest driver alive. Not the same fellow, but interesting just the same.)
We had a great evening. Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor spoke about her path from entering college to get her teaching certificate to her current position on the Arizona Court. She shared funny stories about her college days and early days as a female attorney. I was fascinated with her story and thought, “Heck, someone should nominate her for woman of the year.” So, if you know a courageous woman that you think deserves the honor, go to KEZ to Nominate for the Beth McDonald Woman of the Year.
Former animation student Jordan Pack, now a BYU graduate and married man, is finishing up his animated short film at BYU and graciously sent some stills and information on the film. Jordan was always an exceptional student and he continues with a mentorship by Pixar on the short, KITES. According to Jordan, the film is about Alex, a young boy who has to deal with the death of his grandfather. In a way, the grandpa comes back to soothe the boy and help him through his loss, sadness and frustration. The film is being made in Maya and Renderman, naturally. As I mentioned in an earlier email, Jordan is also working in the Disney gaming environment. Not too shabby, Jordan. Not too shabby at all.
It has been a while since I put a shout out to AnimWatch. Always one of my favorite sites, AnimWatch keeps tabs on all the animated shorts that are in production out there. It’s a sweet site. You can read summaries, look at stills, concept art and, sometimes, animatics. It’s a great resource for animators. Speaking of good resources for animators, HighEnd 3D is one of the best for tutorials and shaders and such. Another of my very favorite sites for tutorials and DVDs is The Gnomon Workshop. And, for sheer joy of looking, be sure to visit Craig Mullins’ GOODBRUSH site.
I love the Knoll brothers. No, they’re not a musical group, like the Neville Brothers. They’re the whizzes behind Adobe Photoshop and Knoll Light Factory. They’ve done amazing things in the world of digital visuals. Brother Thomas created the digital editing program that has become a verb in the common lexicon. People (even Ross and Chandler on FRIENDS) talk about how they “photoshopped the image.” Brother John is an award-winning visual effects guy who also did a program that adds light effects to still photos and motion footage. I enjoy going to the Luxology site to look at the Image Gallery. Luxology created modo (now on version 3.01), an extraordinary modeling, texturing and rendering tool. On the site, there’s actually an image John Knoll modeled for the film APOLLO 11. There’s even a rave endorsement. That’s not too shabby. If only there were an animation component in it … until they can get that integrated, I’m hanging with Maya … although I’m sure they’re feeling the pressure of the modo competition.
I had a great day! Sometimes, life is just fun. Today was one of those days. (It wasn’t as good as Marion Cotillard’s day but more on that later.) So, I got up at the crack of dawn to grab what I needed for a quick trip to LA (heaven forbid that I would pull it together the day before). I was at the airport by 8:15 for my 9:30 flight (not bad for me). Heavy rains in LA gave us a 30-minute runway delay but I just caught up on some reading so I didn’t really mind.
At the car rental joint, they actually let us choose the car we wanted (when did this start, the opportunity to choose any car on the lot in the price range?) … I chose a lovely navy blue Sentra and buzzed my way up the 405 to Westwood. The parking fellow was so kind. I forgot to get cash before I left Phoenix and he let me park without having to pay ahead. I guess I have an honest face. As I walked to the ATM, I was enjoying the fresh breeze and high-energy that seemed to be reverberating effortlessly. I recalled that physics lecture about how energy cannot be created or destroyed. It seemed to be emanating from every nook and cranny of the City of Angels.
Then, my meeting with Zimbabwean-born filmmaker Eunice / Tafadzwa. There’s something so rewarding about sitting around discussing film with someone who understands the love of making films that make a difference. To talk about the greater idea of film as an art form, as a medium that can change minds, as a catalyst that can change the world. I shared the details of the Zambian film projects. We discussed all of the other African-made or African-themed films that we loved. THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, HOTEL RWANDA, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, CATCH A FIRE and BLOOD DIAMOND were all discussed in the feature arena. The DARFUR film, THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, LOST BOYS OF SUDAN and WAR/DANCE popped into the documentary discussion. We talked about the possibility of future projects and went over the script structure for one of the projects.
Ultimately, I almost didn’t make it back for my return flight. Fortunately for me (the rest of the folks at the airport weren’t so happy), the flight was delayed 45 minutes because of weather. So, I made my flight and made it home in good time! It was faboo. Now, I’m watching the Academy Awards. I was sooooo happy to see Marion Cotillard win for her portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in LA VIE EN ROSE! She was so dang happy. Just prior to the announcement, I was thinking about how much I thought she deserved the award but thought she’d never get it because it was a relatively small picture. It was so cute. She said, “It’s true. There really are some angels in this town.” Sweet, sweet, sweet.
There’s a chance I’ll be going to Singapore at the end of April to shoot video for a fellow putting together a non-fiction DVD. It would be my first opportunity to shoot in Asia. Last year, there was a potential China documentary that fell through so I won’t be counting my chickens until they hatch. I’ve been doing quite a big of research on Singapore. Not a very large country, it used to be part of Malaysia. Originally it was a valuable trading port that was part of the British empire. Later, it became part of Malaysia and then, in 1965, separated. Listed as a democratic republic, it has been ruled by a single party since independence. It could be fun and interesting. I read that three bloggers were fined for SEDITION (that is writing or saying things that upset people, they can be true things … the point isn’t whether or not they’re true but whether or not they’re upsetting). I understand they still CANE people in Singapore, too. So, I’m going to have to be on my best behavior … IF the project comes through.
On Sunday, I’ll be meeting with the director of the Zimbabwe projects. I am really excited about those two films but am unsure how it’s all going to work out. There’s been a growing interest by production companies and distributors about this project. We’re going to sit down and talk about the script, strategies and schedules. The Zambia projects started in January of 2006 and we shot in August 2006. So, to be at the end of February and still hoping for a summer shoot is scary to me. Especially given the current political situation in Zimbabwe and we don’t have in country contacts like we did in Zambia. (If you follow this blog, you know that we still had numerous challenges and collapses with logistics … and that was WITH in-country support … so, unless some significant support comes in, it looks like summer 2009 to me.)
I do, of course, wonder if this is part of my lunar eclipse on my ascendent. It’s all about surprising and unexpected occurrences. The last few years have brought nothing but surprising occurrences to my life. In fact, surprising occurrences are becoming the norm. So, the eclipse has a lot to do to make a memorable impact in my current existence.
Looking for money to make your film? What a foolish question. Who isn’t? Who couldn’t use more funding? Here are some of the best sites I can find on the web that list grants and funding opportunities.
In 2005, Gavin Hood’s dramatic narrative feature TSOTSI won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. I’ve written about this fantastic film in the past. I positively adored that film. First and foremost, it was a GREAT story. Teenage thug carjacks a luxury vehicle and discovers that he has inadvertently kidnapped an infant. Ultimately, the thug becomes a young man as he takes responsibility for the child and his actions. So, obviously, the story is powerful.
Director Gavin Hood augmented the story with equally powerful elements. Of course, the acting is terrific. The visual aesthetic is stunning. The cinematography, art design, production design, costuming and make-up were woven into a symphony of compelling beauty. And, one of the most amazing and powerful elements of all is the music, the score. I absolutely love the music. A bit of research revealed that the composers were Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker.
Mark Kilian was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kilian’s biography says he helped launch the jazz band SHADES which helped break the color barrier in his native South Africa. He played with Shirley Bassey and Ladysmith Black Mambazo among others. While pursuing his advanced degree in composing, he taught disadvantaged kids. WITHOUT THE KING, a documentary about the absolute monarchy in Swaziland, was a passion project for Kilian.
Paul (PawLee) Hepker was born in Zimbabwe but raised in South Africa. He toured and recorded with Johnny Clegg and Savuka (I have two of their CDs), Miriam Makeba (I have two of her CDs, too) Vusi Mahlasela, and Shirley Bassey. In 1997, Hepker was given a “green card” for being an “alien of extraordinary ability.” INTO THE LIGHT, a documentary about the AIDs crisis in Tanzania, was a recent passion project for Hepker.
In the more commercial realm, Kilian and Hepker also did the music for RENDITION (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon), in addition to TSOTSI. They also worked together on THE BIRD CAN’T FLY (something about ostriches) and a film I saw at Sundance many years ago, CLOCKWATCHERS.
We’re almost ready for PICTURE LOCK on the feature. At that point, it’s simply a matter of doing the sound mix, the score and the color grading. Pamela Jo’s been putting in temp music before we screen it for folks (so they get the feeling we’re going for). We’ve been using a lot of the TSOTSI score as a placeholder and it makes such a difference. It gives the film a lot more depth and resonance. So, today, we contacted Mark Kilian’s manager about the possibility of having them do the score for the Zambia films. Of course their fees are quite high but … we’ll see ….
According to their press release, “This presents a great opportunity for all our independent filmmakers, festivals, and industry professionals. The new arrangement preserves the vision that Withoutabox has championed for eight years, teaming it with the Internet’s number one destination for film lovers and film insiders.
As Filmmakers and self-distributors, you can look forward to more ways to reach your audiences and monetize your work. As Festivals, you can look forward to powerful tools to scout, collect, select, and schedule films, plus access to a vast audience of movie lovers that only IMDb can deliver - more than 50 million visitors a month. As Film Sellers, Sales Agents, and Acquirers, you can look forward to unprecedented information, discovery, and connectivity at your fingertips, across the entire landscape of commercial and independent film.”
So, what’s the plus for the Without a Box user? The owner/developer of Without A Box surely benefits from the divestiture but what about all of the users. It will be interesting to see if it aids independent participation and distribution. That is the key need of Without a Box users. Heaven knows it deepens the vertical market for IMDb and it brings about 50 million users a month to the WAB game. Of course, only time will tell. It seems promising to me.
Some fun emails recently. Former MCC Animation student, Jordan Pack is up at BYU finishing his program. A terrific and talented guy, Jordan updated me on his exciting adventures with Pixar and Disney.
Jordan says, “Animation life is also good. I work part time at Avalanche, Disney’s game studio in SLC, as a work builder (modeling, texturing, and game play set-up). I’m finishing producing a short animation mentored by Pixar. Two of my classmates/friends just got accepted as interns. So I am hopeful that there is an opportunity there for me, too.” Jordan has a second website with artwork and commentary. I’m expecting great things from Jordan.
Talk about a blast from the past! I grew up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Much of my family and some of my dear friends still live in that small town. Two young fellows from Chippewa decided to get into the film industry. Jason Behnke came to Arizona to attend Scottsdale Community College’s film program and ultimately went to LA where he now works as an editor. One of his good friends, Noah Arntson went to school in Florida and now lives in LA and does 3D work. Noah has also worked on live action films like the Jim Carey film, BRUCE ALMIGHTY. It was fun to get an email from him with a link to his portfolio.
Last evening, (Thursday, March 6, 2008) Beth McDonald, Schumacher Mercedes and the folks at KEZ threw a celebratory dinner for the twelve 
Nominees were allowed to bring three of their friends to the event. Most everyone seemed to have invited the person who nominated them for the honor (I, of course, invited my nominator, Pamela Jo). Each table had two nominees and their pals (MCC Media Arts professor Jeanette Roe and FilmZambia-supporter Tammy Fannin rounded out my party) AND two representatives of KEZ. 
We were joined by the delightful Smokey Rivers (former on-air personality and current programming director) and the gracious, gregarious Kevin Gossett. We ended up in a fun conversation about KILTS (yes, he used to wear a kilt) and the winds that whip off the Great Lakes. He grew up in Indiana, so I got more insight into Purdue University.
The Schumacher folks were at the table beside us. Mr. and Mrs. Werner Schumacher were in attendance and generously presented winner, Zema Kovac, with an oversize check for $2500. Everyone was teasing about wanting to go with her when she went to the ATM. Young Michael Schumacher was there with the folks. The other nominees were given (in addition to all of the other prizes), a crisp Ben Franklin. I was being silly and saying, “Look what I got for the night.” Michael teased back and said, “No, that’s for the whole year.” Funny. Nothing I love more than a great sense of humor. (In my internet search, I discovered there’s a Formula One driver by the name of Michael Schumacher who is considered the greatest driver alive. Not the same fellow, but interesting just the same.)
Former animation student Jordan Pack, now a BYU graduate and married man, is finishing up his animated short film at BYU and graciously sent some stills and information on the film. Jordan was always an exceptional student and he continues with a mentorship by Pixar on the short, KITES. According to Jordan, the film is about Alex, a young boy who has to deal with the death of his grandfather. In a way, the grandpa comes back to soothe the boy and help him through his loss, sadness and frustration. The film is being made in Maya and Renderman, naturally. As I mentioned in an earlier email, Jordan is also working in the Disney gaming environment. Not too shabby, Jordan. Not too shabby at all.
It has been a while since I put a shout out to 
I love the Knoll brothers. No, they’re not a musical group, like the Neville Brothers. They’re the whizzes behind Adobe Photoshop and Knoll Light Factory. They’ve done amazing things in the world of digital visuals. Brother Thomas created the digital editing program that has become a verb in the common lexicon. People (even Ross and Chandler on FRIENDS) talk about how they “photoshopped the image.” Brother John is an award-winning visual effects guy who also did a program that adds light effects to still photos and motion footage. I enjoy going to the 
I had a great day! Sometimes, life is just fun. Today was one of those days. (It wasn’t as good as Marion Cotillard’s day but more on that later.) So, I got up at the crack of dawn to grab what I needed for a quick trip to LA (heaven forbid that I would pull it together the day before). I was at the airport by 8:15 for my 9:30 flight (not bad for me). Heavy rains in LA gave us a 30-minute runway delay but I just caught up on some reading so I didn’t really mind.
Then, my meeting with Zimbabwean-born filmmaker Eunice / Tafadzwa. There’s something so rewarding about sitting around discussing film with someone who understands the love of making films that make a difference. To talk about the greater idea of film as an art form, as a medium that can change minds, as a catalyst that can change the world. I shared the details of the Zambian film projects. We discussed all of the other African-made or African-themed films that we loved. THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, HOTEL RWANDA, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, CATCH A FIRE and BLOOD DIAMOND were all discussed in the feature arena. The DARFUR film, THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, LOST BOYS OF SUDAN and WAR/DANCE popped into the documentary discussion. We talked about the possibility of future projects and went over the script structure for one of the projects.
There’s a chance I’ll be going to Singapore at the end of April to shoot video for a fellow putting together a non-fiction DVD. It would be my first opportunity to shoot in Asia. Last year, there was a potential China documentary that fell through so I won’t be counting my chickens until they hatch. I’ve been doing quite a big of research on Singapore. Not a very large country, it used to be part of Malaysia. Originally it was a valuable trading port that was part of the British empire. Later, it became part of Malaysia and then, in 1965, separated. Listed as a democratic republic, it has been ruled by a single party since independence. It could be fun and interesting. I read that three bloggers were fined for SEDITION (that is writing or saying things that upset people, they can be true things … the point isn’t whether or not they’re true but whether or not they’re upsetting). I understand they still CANE people in Singapore, too. So, I’m going to have to be on my best behavior … IF the project comes through.
On Sunday, I’ll be meeting with the director of the Zimbabwe projects. I am really excited about those two films but am unsure how it’s all going to work out. There’s been a growing interest by production companies and distributors about this project. We’re going to sit down and talk about the script, strategies and schedules. The Zambia projects started in January of 2006 and we shot in August 2006. So, to be at the end of February and still hoping for a summer shoot is scary to me. Especially given the current political situation in Zimbabwe and we don’t have in country contacts like we did in Zambia. (If you follow this blog, you know that we still had numerous challenges and collapses with logistics … and that was WITH in-country support … so, unless some significant support comes in, it looks like summer 2009 to me.)
Director Gavin Hood augmented the story with equally powerful elements. Of course, the acting is terrific. The visual aesthetic is stunning. The cinematography, art design, production design, costuming and make-up were woven into a symphony of compelling beauty. And, one of the most amazing and powerful elements of all is the music, the score. I absolutely love the music. A bit of research revealed that the composers were 
Jordan says, “Animation life is also good. I work part time at Avalanche, Disney’s game studio in SLC, as a work builder (modeling, texturing, and game play set-up). I’m finishing producing a short animation mentored by Pixar. Two of my classmates/friends just got accepted as interns. So I am hopeful that there is an opportunity there for me, too.” Jordan has a 