Random Thoughts

[Kenny]

I can do it. I could even be a Japanese SFX artist too.

Have enough money for a plane ticket or do you have to swim across the ocean?

[Sonikku]

[Locke_cole]

epic

[AnimeGamer183]

As far as I’m concerned, digital projection is the death of cinema. The fact that most films aren’t presented in 35mm means that the world is lost. Digital projection is just television in cinema. I’m hopeful that we’re going through a woozy romantic period with the ease of digital. I’m hoping that while this generation is quite hopeless, that the next one will demand the real thing. I’m very hopeful that future generations will be much smarter than this generation and realize what they lost.

http://www.miramax.com/subscript/qt-at-cannes

thoughts? I would be interested in hearing Kennys opinion on that too.

[Kenny]

^I remember him saying that before. Spielberg and Nolan are also hardcore fans of celluloid film. I like it alot too, it's the shit I grew up with and digital (even now) doesn't come close to the slickness and smoothness that film stock presents. However, it's also up the ASS expensive so it's no wonder why many in my generation (and previous generations) are going with digital. Fincher LOVES digital cause he can do 100 takes a day and see what the film will look like in each take without having to spend tons of studio money and time waiting to process it and see it the next day.

It's interesting cause right now I'm in talks with a DP who is offering to bring his own 16mm camera, his own film stock, and 1970s era lenses for a criminally low daily rate. Since my short is suppose to take place in 1978, having that equipment would theoretically make my film look SO MUCH MORE authentic and establish me as a serious filmmaker to my potential investors.

On the other hand, I will have to pay out of pocket for processing fees and digitization fees (so I can edit on my laptop) which would cost a few hundred dollars. Not to mention I won't have any idea what the footage would look like until after processing, so if I hate it I'll kick myself silly cause I'm also paying for the actress and the makeup effects artist for that day and will have to reschedule and reshoot everything if I'm that unsatisfied with the output (thus costing more time and money). So it all requires me to trust the DP, it's a huge gamble.

So the alternative option is my friend who is assuring me she can take our digital footage and make it look like authentic film footage. I gave her a challenge and I'm getting results this Sunday. If she can deliver, we're going with her instead of that DP thus cutting costs exponentially while achieving the look I'm going for. So ultimately, I would LOVE to shoot with film stock...but because I'm not in the position to be throwing away tons of money left and right, going digital is a much more viable option. Especially since I'm trying to forge a career while spending as little money as possible.

[Peter]

Just back from the opening day viewing of X Men Days of Future past and its one of the greatest superhero movies I have ever seen. Oh and the ending? HOLY SHIT!

[Calshot]

How much does this make you cringe Kenny?

The Room was being filmed on the Highland Avenue lot of Birns & Sawyer, which over the last five decades had become a legendary provider of cameras and equipment to mainstream Hollywood film and television productions. Birns & Sawyer’s owner, Bill Meurer, had made the unusual decision to let Tommy use the company’s parking lot and small studio space because Tommy had made the breathtakingly expensive decision to purchase, rather than rent, all his equipment. This was a million-dollar investment that not even a large Hollywood studio would dare. Camera and filmmaking technology is always improving and anything regarded as cutting-edge will be obsolete within twelve months. Tommy’s purchases included two Panasonic HD cameras, a 35mm film camera, a dozen extremely expensive lenses, and a moving truck full of Arriflex lighting equipment. With one careless gesture Tommy threw a century of prevailing film-production wisdom into the wind.

Probably the most wasteful and pointless aspect of The Room’s production was Tommy’s decision to simultaneously shoot his movie with both a 35mm film camera and a high-definition (HD) camera. In 2002, an HD and 35mm film camera cost around $250,000 combined; the lenses ran from $20,000 to $40,000 apiece. And, of course, you had to hire an entirely different crew to operate this stuff. Tommy had a mount constructed that was able to accommodate both the 35mm camera and HD camera at the same time, meaning Tommy needed two different crews and two different lighting systems on set at all times. The film veterans on set had no idea why Tommy was doing this. Tommy was doing this because he wanted to be the first filmmaker to ever do so. He never stopped to ask himself why no one else had tried.

[Kenny]

I knew he shot in both HD and 35mm at the same time, but I had no idea he purchased an entire camera rental store in order to do so.

Fuck my life.

[AnimeGamer183]

and how much would a camera rental store cost some one?

[Kenny]

Apparently a million bucks.

If Wiseau was smart he would make all the money back by renting out the equipment over a period of time, especially if the HD cameras he had were top of the line. People still use RED Epics and Scarletts here and those came out years ago.

[Rakim]

Musicians talking shit about each other:
http://imgur.com/a/6DMFP

I particularly liked this one Rick James said about prince.

[mue 26]

Haha, I'm actually listening to Controversy right now! Prince is da gawd.

phpBB [video]

[mue 26]

Fuck me, I always find it impossible to find the avatar I want small enough to fit the size limitations. How does everyone do it?

[Sonikku]

Photoshop.

[Kenny]

As the film date gets closer, the old "digital or celluloid" question is popping up again.

I decided to finally quell that once and for all and get a little bit of film stock for this old 8mm camera that's in my workplace. There's a place close by that can do processing and digital conversion for a reasonable price. I'll go ahead and do that then compare to filtered digital footage just to see for myself first hand what's the best option for this short.