Game Plan?

What does everyone's availability look like this weekend? I've also got Monday off because of labor day.

I don't have anything major planned but maybe we could just do something goofy. Justin, I know you had said something in passing last week about a dude who make an elixir that turns him into a dog. That could be fun.

Cool Tools - Inkling by Wacom

This could be one of the best things ever. I've never been a fan of Wacom tablets. The surface never felt quite right, I could never draw a straight line like I could on paper and I could never rotate the canvas like I wanted.

There's so many thing that seem "right" about this device. I can't wait to try one.

Inspiration - Kevin Smith at NAB 2011

Seeing Kevin Smith talk in person this past April is something I would argue as life-changing. And I don't say that about a lot of stuff.

At certain points during the talk I think "jeez o petes, it's like I've known this guy forever". All star-strucked-ness aside.

Ultimately, it's all about doing what you love and doing it for you.

Business Bird!

I will also be taking the time to restart business bird. As cool as the whole fighting arc things were they were really not what I set out to do in the first place. It will return to it's roots and be outrageous goofiness that is almost too goofy and is so goofy that it's goofier than how goofy it was before gonna be so damn goofy. Probably be drawn more cartoon like too as opposed to comic book like but I haven't decided yet.

Hey Frands!

Sorry I haven't been much lately but soon very soon I will have a lot of time on my hands for anything we can come up with. I will be quitting my job as I can no longer take it. I have a few months in savings I plan to live off of then I will be taking some STNA classes so I can easily, well hopefully, find work.

John Frusciante - The Past Recedes by redhotfan

Article - "Story Boarding for the Coen Brothers"

It's an older article but thinking about storyboarding some short videos made me think of it. It's bout an Ohio artist that worked on the story boards for "No Country for Old Men".

The purpose of posting this article is really two fold. Firstly, to demonstrate the role of traditional drawing in film; notice closely the actual shots adhere to the drawings. And secondly, how we could use storybords when making our videos and films. I have mixed feelings about this because on the one hand we tend to thrive on improvisation and spontaneity but on the other hand I sometimes feel under prepared when looking for shots, which ultimately yields missed opportunities and possible gaps.

Click the image to go to the article.

Short Story Example - "My Best Friend's Sweating"

These guys get into some pretty fun stuff. What I really like about their videos are the production quality that goes into the simplest silly idea. Outside the short film, full length arena, I think this is something that we could get into when there's nothing else to do. Check out some of their other videos too.

My Best Friend's Wedding/My Best Friend's Sweating from DANIELS on Vimeo.

Next Steps - "Egg Timer" & Other Projects

Like we talked about last weekend, we could either continue post production on "Egg Timer" or begin to talk about other ideas. I know one alternate idea we talked about was the mini documentary on ourselves.

Here is an example of an approach we could take; mostly from a shot and story telling perspective. There's a whole series of these and they're pretty good if you dig documentaries.

Uppercut from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Shooting Commercials with the Advertised Camera

Continuing the trend of shooting commercials with the same camera it's advertising, Nikon has produced a spot for the D5100. I wonder when they're going to drop Kutcher?

Nikon D5100 comercial from James Beltz on Vimeo.

About a year ago Olympus had done something similar...



I think these kinds of examples a kind of fun. It really reinforces the idea that you can shoot pretty much on anything and still achieve awesome results. Granted there's a lot of other things a t play here; lighting, sound, lenses etc...

New Gear - Nikon D5100

Yesterday I bought a Nikon D5100. Although I have access to equipment from work I thought as long as we're buying a DSLR, why not get one that shoots 1080p video. It will prove pretty useful for spontaneous shoots where I may not have immediate access to equipment from work.

In many ways the Canon T3i is a superior "video" camera but seeing as how I was already committed to Nikon, because of the lenses and accessories that I already own, it's not a bad deal. Here's an example of it's potential...

Fragments from Nikon France on Vimeo.

It looks pretty darn good. But it'll still take some mindful film making and better lenses. Check out the "making of"...

Making Of Fragments (English Subtitles) from Nikon France on Vimeo.

I will looking at accessories over the next couple days and can't wait to start shooting.

OMG!!!

Justin I had to post this! Ever since you've shown me this clip I can't wait to play this game!

Hey homies! I need your guys help; DeviantArt is having a contest with Dr. Pepper and you have to create a drawing, painting, photo or whatever to express who you drink Dr. Pepper. Any ideas? I have one... like a wild digital painting of myself surfing on a shark chugging a 2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper with a lightning storm in the background.

Short Story - "Egg Timer"

Alright, so evidently you cannot upload simple files to Blogger, you can only upload videos and pictures. I didn't really explore Google Docs or anything else really. However, the web community speaks highly of MediaFire. This is how I'll share files with you guys until I find something better.

It's not too bad, just copy and paste the link into a new browser window and it'll take you to a new MediaFire-branded page. Click "Click to download". An ad will probably pop up, just ignore it, I guess that's the price you pay for a "free" service. I assure you that the site is pretty legit.

http://www.mediafire.com/?kujwy34mmq5yb8l

This was one the first short stories that I wrote when I had resurrected my personal blog back in April (I plan on getting back in the saddle soon). It spawned from the want to do simple but beautiful cinematography; you'll notice there's no dialogue. I think it might a good candidate for a project we could film sooner than later because it's so undemanding.

I'm envisioning something akin to the "Black Hole" short that I posted a week ago; something with high attention to detail in regard to sound design and composition.

The Hobbit movies

You guys know how I feel about Peter Jackson, he is overrated and I think slowly people will begin to see him as such. The only original ideas he had were old school splatter horror films now everything is an adaptation of some other property. Anyway he has chose to shoot The Hobbit movies, there are two, in 48p...just wow man.

Sonic Commercial

Here is a project we could consider to get ourselves out there:

http://www.thisishowyousonic.com/

Gave my blog a whole new look and presentation!
Check it out theThe Island.

Hey you guys! Last night I made some helicopter blades rotating sfx with my iPad. I created this simply by snapping my fingers and using the arpegiator at 1/16. Have any ideas of simple sounds that can be made into sounding like something else? I would like to play with these sounds more.

Short Film-The Messenger

I thought this was pretty good especially considering the hardware. It was shot on an iphone with some effects work added. There was no mention of what program the effects were made in but none the less they're pretty awesome.

Iphone Film Festival

I think there were a few decent submissions, sadly too many seemed 'experimental'. I understand there is a market or at least in interest in experimental films but sometimes I believe they are the result of a lack of creative thought by the creator. Anyhow you guys should look at some of the submissions and tell me what you think. I would like to do something when the next festival swings around. Let me know.

Spicy Popcorn! Cars 2

http://theislandjohnathonlightle.blogspot.com/2011/07/spicy-popcorn-cars-2.html

Vimeo Weekend Project - Handmade Portraits

I haven't created a joint Vimeo account yet but using my own account I was able to at least find out this weekends project. It's called "handmade portraits" and basically it's like a mini documentary or vignette about someone who does or makes something. Some of the examples they used were a video of someone who knits hats and scarves and another woman who paints and lives in some sort of artist community. Here's the link...

http://vimeo.com/blog:425

All entries are due on Tuesday. If we want to pursue it, I had three different ideas...

The first one is pretty good but just not possible this weekend. A friend of mine from BGSU, his mailman actually makes his own electric guitars. From what I hear they're pretty unique too. Unfortunately, he's on vacation and not around for a couple of weeks.

My second idea is a little opportunistic. We've kind of talked about it before but essentially it would be a short interest piece about us and our passion for making movies but struggling with reality, busy schedules and the everyday experience. It could be fun but more importantly be re-purposed to use as a kind of "about us" piece for future endeavors. We could even splice in footage of our old movies.

Lastly, my other idea would be completely fictional and satirical. This is the softest of my ideas but it could be about a fictional new-age artist who makes really crumby work and tries to sell it; or it focus on a royalty free musician (a guy who makes all the ultra generic and stale music you can buy online for $20); or maybe... I don't know, like I said, it's the least fleshed out idea I've had. It has potential to be really fun though.

Even if we can't swing it this weekend, if we've got a good idea we should follow through with it later. Plus, sometime they repeat topics so you never know when we could enter it again...

Just a video I thought I'd share with you all.

Ok.. I know you guys don't give a fruit loop about basketball. Well it's not really about basketball it just has basketball players in it... just watch it's pretty funny.

The rapture maybe over... but this video isn't.

Not only is it a hilarious vid. But try to point towards the simple structure of the video and see what kinds of similar bells and whistles we could pull off sometime.

I love what is going on right now.

Hey my frands. Come check out and follow my personal blog sometime!

The Island
http://theislandjohnathonlightle.blogspot.com/

It features some of the same sort of stuff going on here but different. Hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifow? Idk. Just different. Some stuff is really about nothing. But i got movie reviews, my creative art, ideas, and music is coming soon.

Indie Funding-Kickstarter

This is the site I had mentioned. It's a way for artists to get some sort of funding for any project in development. It could come in handy one day. Check it out.

Outlets - "Vimeo Channels"

To expand on the "weekend project" post from yesterday; there's also Vimeo Channels. For whatever reason we don't like the week's topic or want to do some "extra credit" there's a slew of different channels that could spark some ideas for us.

Outlets - "Vimeo Weekend Project"

I haven't seen any competitions lately so here's another possible outlet for us. Basically, every weekend there's a topic thrown out there and you make a video based on that topic. I don't think there are any parameters in regard to length or anything. Ultimately, It'd be cool to make it a thing.

Short Story Example + BTS - "Plot Device"

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

Red Giant TV Episode #57: Behind the Scenes of Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

This post is kind of a doozey. Not only does it show off some effects packages that we could look into (I actually have access to two or three of them through work) but it also has a great little behind the scenes featurette. I'd love to talk about how they made this short with you guys.

Sound Design Example - "Transformers 3"

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Transformers: Dark of the Moon from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Check out this mini documentary about how they captured sound for Transformers 3. It just goes to show huge sound can be and how it can be found just about anywhere.

Short Story Example - "The Black Hole"

Short Film 'The Black Hole' from PHOTOPLAY FILMS on Vimeo.

Here's an example of the kind of short economic story telling that we could be exploring. What do you guys think?

MoodMeld - Mission Satement

Hey dudes,

This is MoodMeld; or a big mixing pot of all our collective ideas. I wanted to create a place where we can post, link and talk about cool stuff related to film, games, tech and whatever we normally bullshit about; and have it coexist with our busy schedules. 

We talk a lot about doing this and that but never truly get around to following through. Hopefully we can use this blog to inspire each other and and possibly coordinate projects. And "it don't cost nothing", so if this doesn't work and we want to pursue a different way of collaborating it's not a big deal.

We can figure out the logistics as we go; things like the theme, public vs. private, etc.

Awesome.