FilmmakerIQ.com » IQ Podcasts

Camera tests be damned as John Hess pixel peeps (or doesn’t) Zacuto’s Great Camera Shootout. Listen Audio Only: Subscribe to our Podcast Feed Subscribe via iTunes Shownotes The Zacuto Shootout films (all 103 minutes of it) Art Adam’s Article on PVC To quote Steven Poster, ASC, in part 2, “You have to be very careful what you release into the world.” Showing the film industry a series of camera tests where the results have been manipulated to make them look as similar as possible does no one any favors—unless you make the differences clear FIRST. I, for one, am dreading the phone call where, based on this test, someone tries to talk me into shooting with a GH2 because it “looks nearly as good” as an F65. Do I do my due diligence and try to explain the technical nuances of the test and risk losing the job because I appear at best “geeky” and at worst argumentative? Or do I just nod my head, say yes, and collect the paycheck? That’s not a choice I want to have to make. I do my best to ensure that my clients get the most bang for their buck, but if they want to second guess me… I’d be stupid to turn down the paycheck. And then, one way or the other, we all lose. Art Adam’s in the comment Section in response to Steve Weiss of Zacuto: In my opinion the best thing you could have done is to show the differences first. By showing the re-lit footage first and trying to fool a bunch of people into potentially picking the poor cameras you set a bad precedent. Francis Ford Coppola is a director, not a DP, and while he has impeccable visual taste he does not have as nuanced an eye as a lot of people in that room. But—his quote is the one Gizmodo picked up on, and a lot of other people will pick up on it too. He’s very well known, and people don’t know that he’s not as visually sophisticated as, say, Steven Poster, ASC or Daryn Okada, ASC. Will they also pay attention to him liking the Epic and Alexa? Sure! But the GH2 is the one that’s going to stick because it costs $700. That’s what a lot of people want to hear: that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to buy a camera that will allow you to become a famous filmmaker. (RED started that, but more on that subject later.) Best Movie about a Font until Warner Bros finally decides to release my expose on Comic Sans. My favorite Articles of the Past Week (or Month) EXCLUSIVE: Blackmagic Design Answers Your Questions about Their New Cinema Camera” Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera RAW files now available to the world. How to Solder XLR Connectors to Make (or Repair) an XLR Cable How to Upgrade your Boot Drive to SSD Correcting for Ground Loop When Using Mic Pre-Amps on DSLRs Magic and Light: The Films of Steven Speilberg This series examines facets of Spielberg’s movie career, including his stylistic evolution as a director, his depiction of violence, his interest in communication and language, his portrayal of authority and evil, and the importance of father figures — both present and absent — throughout his work. Filmmakers: Continue to think of the Critic as Irrelevant “Asking a writer what he thinks of critics is like asking what a fire hydrant feels about dogs.” No one has portrayed that Ann Landers quote better (or more directly) than Mel Brooks in History of the World: Part 1 in the sketch where a caveman critic pisses all over a newly envisioned cave drawing. Not only is the relationship between creator and critic as old as man, it’s also always involved urination. On the most recent edition of the Scriptnotes podcast, screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss the looming spectre that is The Critic – a terrifying boogeyman for some, a knock-kneed weakling to others, and a complete non-entity to more. “Well this isn’t going to endear me with many critics,” begins Mazin (who recently explained the depressing state of screenwriting as a career to Reject Radio listeners). “I don’t care. I do not care. I don’t write movies for critics; I write movies for audiences. My entire focus is on what the audience thinks of the film.” The thing is, that outlook does endear him to me. That may sound counter-intuitive coming from a critic, but it’s an excellent mindset to have as a creator. Here’s why. Film School Rejects | Read the Full Article

Screwed by GoPro’s refusal to share the size of their screws, John extracts his revenge with a little experimentation and knowledge from that powerful thing known as the Internet. Episode 59 Listen Audio Only: Subscribe to our Podcast Feed Subscribe via iTunes Shownotes Hacked GoPro with Hacked Housing: Video of Hacking: Top 7 Articles of the Week 7. Introducing Elements 3d – Powerful 3d Rendering inside After Effects Andrew Kramer roadshows his new After Effects plugin with astonishing 3D capabilities inside After Effects. 6. 21 Photographs And Lighting Setups For Every Occasion Here’s a collection of photographs and lighting break downs using everything from professional photography equipment to cheap DIY setups. 5. Matthew Allard reviews the Sony FS700 While assignment in Mongolia, Matthew Allard gets a chance to put a production model of FS700 to a real world test. 4. Garret Brown on Shooting Rocky The inventor of the Steadicam Garret Brown talks about how his test shot up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art became a cultural icon in Rocky. 3. Why Do We Hate Seeing Photos of Ourselves? Duncan Davidson is an author, small-business owner software developer and principal photographer for all major TED events since 2009 provides his theory on why people don’t like their own images. ‘ 2. The Very First Photo Uploaded on the Web Particle-colliders and cross dressing – Here’s the story behind the world’s first photograph ever to be uploaded to the internet. 1. Light with Fire – with a DIY “Medusa Light” Lighting with real fire or candlelight can be tricky – but Shane Hurlbut ASC has developed a unique way to simulate the flickering look of fire with a DIY Medusa light. WTF Post of the Week

John Hess gets all sparkly when talking about about Vampires. Episode 58 Two Minutes of Twilight Hate from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo. Listen Audio Only: Subscribe to our Podcast Feed Subscribe via iTunes Shownotes Top 7 Articles 7. Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? A Classroom Drug Education Film Jason Willis wrote and directed this 70s still drug education film to spread the word on the dangers of Catnip. 6. Ben Burtt on the Sound Design of Light Sabers Ben Burtt talks about creating the sounds for the lightsabers in Star Wars. As he worked on “A New Hope”, Burtt probably wasn’t aware that he was inventing modern sound design. 5. Bezier Basics: Simple Tracing in Illustrator Good graphics can really make a video look polished and if you’re working inside Adobe’s suite, you’re going to be working with Bezier Curves. William Card demonstrates the basics of the Bezier Curve – a mathematical curve you’ll be working with in Illustrator, After Effects and Photoshop. 4. The Physics of the Amazing Spider Man Swings In the quest to make incredibly impossibly fake things look more real, director Marc Webb and stunt coordinator Andy Armstrong dive into the physics of web slinging. 3. Valve’s Source Filmmaker – A New Tool For Machinima Valve, makers of Half Life, Portal, and Team Fortress, are releasing a beta form of “Source Filmmaker” – a real time 3d animation engine for creating films using a game environment. 2. The Fundamentals of Exposure (Infographic) 1. A Conversation With My 12-year Old Self Jeremiah McDonald has a conversation reaching back 20 years to talk to his 12 year old self. WTF Post of the Week Techno Cat It’s really Dubstep.

It’s not too far from robots scanning YouTube channels for copyright protected content to mass killing of all humans. Episode 57 Listen Audio Only: Subscribe to our Podcast Feed Subscribe via iTunes Shownotes Evidence of the Impending Robot Apocalypse The Robot that can’t be defeated at Rock Paper Scissors. Top 7 Articles of the Week 7. Internet Scam Alert: Most “Kickstarter” Projects Just Useless Crap Internet criminals are using a website called “Kickstarter” to bilk friends and families out of money for terrible, ill-conceived, and unnecessary “personal projects.” 6. Replace the Camera Lens on Your GoPro with a Third Party Lens Here are two tutorials: One installing a Sunex Lens and the other from Ragecams: 5. How to Create Technical Sci-Fi Interfaces You’ve seen them – rotating progress bars, moving graphs and dancing gauges. They probably don’t mean anything but they look cool. 4. Nora Ephron: You Know Nothing About Screenwriting Until You Get Into Filmmaking Nora Ephron reflects on her career in this interview for Authors Magazine from December, 2010. 3. What’s in a DP’s Traveling Case? Trey Chance gives a quick tour of his camera and grip package he carries when he’s traveling for work on a small to medium sized production. 2. The Ultimate Aaron Sorkin-ism Super Cut Kevin Porter assembled a detailed supercut of recycled lines from Aaron Sorkin’s projects from Malice, A Few Good Men, Bulworth, Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60, Charlie Wilson’s War, and the The Social Network 1. Martin Scorsese Gives up on Film – Shoots Digital So long film and thanks for all the fish. Link to Article WTF Post of the Week Android Humanoid Talking Robot