Making Indie Films

Do you use a matte box when you shoot? If so, go ahead and post your favorites in the comments.

I have had my eye on the RedRock Micro (www.redrockmicro.com) Matte Box, but at $599 for the basic bundle, it is getting up there.

It is a beauty though…

RED’s newest addition is the Scarlet, which will be released in early 2009. It has the amazing resolution of 3K (to put that in perspective, most HD tvs project at maybe 1080i). It will have up to 120FPS shooting with a 180FPS burst. AND a built in LCD. Amazing, right. It gets even more amazing, the price is expected to be under $3,000.

Wowzers.

There are a few drawbacks, the lens for example (no interchangable lens). But this camera will undoubtedly be a boon to thousands of filmmakers around the world. Start planning your projects now, as it is expected to be released in early 2009.

Keifer

As a filmmaker or writer it is important to make good work, but it is equally, if not more important, to get that work read or seen. If nobody reads or sees your work then the quality will go unnoticed and your skills will pass without recognition. No - I’m not saying prepare your Academy Award speech or get ready to collect a trophy at Sundance - I’m just saying do the diligence to get your work seen or read.

There are many ways to send out work or get it seen. Obviously for completed works there are the obvious festival routes and screenplay contests. However, there are also more offbeat ways to get your work noticed. Perhaps you have friends in the business or other filmmakers that you kick-around-with… Well, there is never any harm in getting them to read your script or you can perhaps even organize an impromptu screening for other filmmakers in your home or at a small local venue. The key is to generate interest and put your work out in the world. Building a website with your trailer and clips or posting on YouTube is another way to generate interest and have people looking at your stuff.

When it all comes down to it, perhaps you just have to start sending out emails to engage with people. You can send pitch letters or introductions or even the tried and trusted screenwriter query letter. The unfortunate fact is, your success will be more about your level of diligence than your level of skill. Remember - the indie film business is built on hard work and tenacity. Now repeat after me - I WILL GET MY WORK SEEN - I WILL GET MY SCREENPLAY READ! Say it 100 times. Say it until you believe it and then start sending out those emails!

Below is the trailer for 30 DAYS OF NIGHT… Not sure if it’s a Halloween winner or Halloween whiner…

Today is my Birthday, hence no post yesterday and only this today. My Wichita thing STILL isn’t finished - still, I’m taking the day off for R-AND-R. Hopefully this weekend it will be done, as it looks like I’ve just been hired to write a silly action romp… The trailer below might give you a few clues…

I am on another deadline this week, so today’s post has to be extremely brief. Above is Alicia Silverstone posing nude for a Peta ad, which quite caught my eye. Although it has nothing to do with John August’s directorial debut The Nines - I did find this fantastic clip (below) of Ryan Reynolds discussing his belly button from the movie… It is a terrific exercise in strange paranoia… And yes, you can just about see Alicia’s belly button in her Peta clip - which displays under Ryan…

We WILL get back to the filmmaking process tomorrow, when hopefully my other job is done…

Finally, the first of the RED ONE cameras shipped last week. Red marks a landmark step for digital movies because they offer a 4k camera that comes somewhere near affordable.

According to the specs on the RED site: “Typical high-end HD camcorders have 2.1M pixel sensors and record with 3:1:1 color sub-sampled video at up to 30fps. We (with the RED ONE) deliver 12M pixels at up to 60fps and record wide dynamic range and color space 12 bit native RAW. That’s more than 5 times the amount of information available every second and a vastly superior recording quality.”

What does that mean in layman’s terms? Well, we’re talking the type of resolution that you might see in a George Lucas Star Wars prequel or with a VIPER FILMSTREAM CAMERA. Okay, well maybe that’s an exageration - but the Red One seems good enough for Steven Soderbergh to have shot The Argentine on it - and you can’t get more of a Hollywood recommendation than that.

Weighing-in at a spritely 9lbs (without a lens on it) - the Red One is lightweight, appears to have a great deal of flexibility and levels of customization. They already have lens mount adapters that allow you to attach Nikon 35mm lenses and a similar adapter for Canon lenses is in the works. Sure at $17,500 for a body alone, the Red system isn’t cheap - but in terms of comparative 4k rigs it’s an absolute snip. Again, it’s only a matter of time before Red One rigs hit the rental market - in fact Silverado Systems of Folsom, California is already taking reservations…

Unfortunately, in terms of content, the sample footage on the Red site looks quite cheeesy. However, the image quality on display remains staggering.

VIEW SAMPLE RED ONE FOOTAGE

Filmmaker MIKE FIGGIS is a DV pioneer for numerous reasons. Not just for his groundbreaking digital movies like Timecode or Hotel - but because of his innovative use of new technologies and techniques. Perhaps one of his greatest yet lesser known contributions to indie filmmaking is the Manfrotto Fig-Rig…

Tripod manufacturer Manfrotto worked alongside Figgis to develop a camera stabilizer that minimized ‘camera shake’ and at the same time allowed the same freedom of motion as working hand-held. Named after Figgis, this FIG RIG was also developed as a modular system - allowing the end user to attach accessories, including zoom controllers, mics, mixers, lights, monitors and arms to the same base unit.

As you can see, the design emulates the look and feel of a steering wheel, but as well as turning left and right, you have a range of motion that is gyroscopic in nature. Any which way you want to shoot, the Fig Rig will follow. And attaching accesories like a mic and a zoom control give the thing added balance and flexibility.

Some of you reading this might think - oh, the Fig Rig - it’s old news dating back to the days of the PD150 etc. And you’d be absolutely right. However, I tested the Fig Rig with a SONY Z1 and the results were anything but old news. My hands aren’t particular steady, but with this thing I was rock solid and all those swishy pans and tilting zooms were possible. Granted the Z1 had been fitted with a VZ Zoom controller (which was strapped to the rig) - but still, using this contraption was simplicity itself. I can only imagine that with regular use anybody’s Fig Rig skills would improve - much the same as say a golf swing with practice. Okay - well maybe not a golf swing - but you get the picture.

At under $350 the Fig Rig is certainly an option worth considering for your next production. I am still curious if it could be used with the beloved Canon XH-A1 - I’m guessing yes. But I’m not certain how the Fig Rig would fare if your camera was equipped with a Red Rock and a bigger lens… I think I might try that next week, if the stars aline and my friends with equipment let me.

Meanwhile here are some Fig Rig resources…
The FIG RIG at a good price from Digital Foto
Various Zoom Controllers from Varizoom
Felicity Huffman chatting about the Fig Rig

I had a chance to tinker with the Sony HVR-V1U - Sony’s pro version of the HDR-FX7. It shoots native 1080i - with a robust 24p setting that compares favorably with the Canon XH-A1. In some respects, I have always liked the solid feel that you get from a Sony - which maybe dates back to the fabulous PD-150. But what I like most about the V1U is its ease of use. This is not complicated to handle or get used to. The settings are easy to navigate and quite responsive.

The propriotary 3 CCD ClearVid CMOS system gives high quality imaging. Amazing clarity. Good color saturation. Not as good as the XH-A1 in terms of color - but that’s always the Canon vs. Sony trade-off. Still, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 20x (optical) zoom is a very nice ‘peice of glass.’ It feels almost ‘meaty’ with adding too much weight or bulk. This is a nicely balanced camera. It feels solid, like a DVX100 - only with a little more heft.

Some people have told me that for under $4k, this unit is the perfect, flexible tool for the Indie Director. In some respects I agree. However, the unit I tested was then fitted with a Cinevate Brevis 35 digital imager and a nice Nikon prime. The difference was staggering. Sure the Brevis 35 adds around a grand in price to your rig - but with the extra glass it delivers 10,000 times the result. Terrific depth of field and range of focus. A giant leap in aesthetic terms.

I would definately recommend this camcorder - but it was Cinevate attachment that perhaps intrigued me more.

VISIT the Cinevate site.
FULL SPECS ON The Sony HVR-V1U

So you have raised some money or got a new credit card and gone out and bought an HDV camcorder. The playblack of the 24p setting looks amazing. Yes - I know. And a you got ahold of a Red Rock Micro M2 and a few 35mm lenses - kicking the picture up another seven notches. So you think you’re ready to start shooting? Okay. But what audio solution have you picked-up? If you’ve spent $1,500 on a SENNHEISER shotgun mic and another three hundred on headphones, then read no further. However, if you are like me, when I was new to this - you might have just spent $75 on an external ‘field’ mic hoping that its specs will be more than sufficient for your movie. Well, if that’s the case - think again.

BAD AUDIO WILL KILL YOUR PICTURE FASTER THAN AN INAPPROPRIATE TONGUE-KISS (as pictured above).

I can’t stress too often that in low-budget or micro-budget movies; audio is king. Say it with me: “AUDIO IS KING.” Despite what you may have read or been told - audio will account for a great deal of your picture. The dialogue, which will probably occupy 60-70% of your screen-time is reliant on being crisp, clear and audible. Sure if you messed-up, you can try to fix it in ‘post’ - but the truth is, if you go that route, you are in for a world of pain.

In the immortal words of Aristotle, later appropriated by Mary Poppins : “Well begun is half done.” What does that mean in the case of audio? Well, simply put, you will need THREE things to acheive quality audio on your production. In themselves they don’t seem like much, but together they make for a powerful package.

1) SHOTGUN OR RIFLE MIC
You can spend anywhere from $500 to $1,500 on a shotgun mic and all the extra bits that you might need to run it. Aside from the mic itself, you will need some kind of ‘blimp’ or windshield. Also a boom pole and shock mount. And in some cases you might even need a thing called ‘phantom power’ - which is basically a little box that another battery goes into - to power the mic via long cables. All the extras soon add up. But they are usually worthwhile having and can mostly be purchased inexpensively as ‘used’ items. Myself - I bought an Audio-Technica because of its specs and price point. But I know others who will only use Sennheiser products. So you might want to shop around.

2) HEADPHONES
It makes no sense to have good, clean audio going into your camera, if you are monitoring it with your $20 i-pod headphones. Invest in a pair of ‘pro’ headphones, that feel comfortable. Get ones with good padding and ear coverage. It makes most sense to have headphones with a long cord - which adds to flexibility of use. Again price points range from $130 to considerably more. It is invaluable to be able to monitor your sound effectively.

3) A SOUND PERSON/BOOM OPERATOR
Yes - you can set up your mic on a c-stand or hide it behind a potted plant. And yes - your camera-person can monitor the audio. Don’t get sloppy here. Remember audio is king. If you don’t know an experienced sound person - try to find one on the likes of craigslist. The right individual will be worth their weight in gold. But if you don’t have that individual - find a person with good ears and attention to detail. Let them wrangle the boom and monitor your audio. Do some field tests with them. Remember - a shotgun mic is very sensitive with a narrow ‘cone.’ That means it must be directed correctly for proper reception.

With the above three elements in place, the technical quality of your movie will increase a great deal. So happy shooting and may ‘good audio’ be your mantra.

You can search specs on AUDIO TECHNICA MICS HERE
You can search specs on SENNHEISER MICS HERE

The problem with most of your HDV productions will be the fact that no matter how much you have spent on your HDV Camera - somehow the ‘film-look’ and 24p setting STILL does not quite look like a movie. Sure there’s resolution and definition. Sure you shot it and lit it well. But still - it doens’t quite look right. Well the answer is simple - and usually it comes down to the glass. Yes. The glass - or should I say, the fixed lens on your HDV camcorder. Okay - so you read the manual and tried all the tricks - but you somehow can’t get the ‘depth of field’ that you wanted. Stuff looks ‘flat.’ Those no dimension to it and right now you need an answer.

Well, the answer is here and it’s call the Red Rock M2. Simply put the M2 is an adapter that allows you to bolt a heavyweight 35mm lens onto the front of your HDV camera. What it does is create incredible depth-of-field, angle of view, and focus typically found on much bigger movies than yours. Described best on the Red Rock web site; “the M2 uses the same core technology as products cost ten times as much. This approach - known as the rotating ground glass method – is completely transparent when translating the image from the 35mm lens to your DV camera.”

Depending on the HDV camera you have and the lenses you want to bolt onto it - the Red Rock M2 varies in price anywhere between around $1,200 and $2,500. From my research thus far it will easily add 10 times that in the look of your production.

You can BUY M2 bundles including all the accesories you need DIRECT FROM RED ROCK.

If you want further detail check out the M2 REVIEW ON MICRO-FILMMAKER

Video Gear rents out FULL BLOWN M2 PACKAGES WITH ALL THE LENSES YOU MIGHT NEED

I managed to get my hands on the new Canon XH-A1 at Samy’s last week. FYI - this action-packed beast was initially recommended to me by (Candyman director) Bernard Rose… Coming in basic black, the XH-A1 has the same three 1.67 megapixel CCDs as the unweildy XL-H1 but a much trimmer profile. A Canon L-series 20x optical zoom lens comes as standard, as does a 24p /1080i mode. That’s (more or less) full-on HDV for under $3,500. As I was told (by Bernard) you can actually shoot an entire feature on this thing - passing largely unnoticed in areas that might ordinarily need permits. Not that I’m advocating the ‘no permit route’ - but discretion is always helpful, even if just in terms of the actors you are working with…

Anyway - back to the camera itself. The auto-focus is suprisingly responsive and the 24p setting works like a dream. Vivid colors. A fluid, filmic look. And it hardly weighs anymore than a DVX100B. Add to that the dual XLR inputs and this baby is built for speed. The company I am involved in - I-Force - is looking at accquiring two XH-A1’s to take to Jamaica and I will be eager to see how the camera performs in the jungle heat.

Just as an FYI, though… The HDV codec that this thing shoots-in isn’t compatible with any other HDV deck, so you need to use the camera as a deck for FCP capture purposes. Still, regardless of that - it’s a lot of camera for the price.

BUY the XH-A1 at Amazon
READ the XH-A1 tech specs from Canon
XH-A1 FAQ from our friends at DV-INFO

I am not king of the tech guys. It’s just not my thing. But I know my way around a camcorder and an FCP rig. Some time ago a producer/director friend - David Basulto - had talked to me about shooting his last feature on the ‘JVC 110.’ So as you might imagine, when I had the chance to try one out I jumped. The feauture set of the GY-HD110U is impressive. It shoots full HD at 1280×720 and ‘true’ 24 frame progressive. It is HDV and DV compatible. You can switch lenses for anything with a standard bayonet mount and the flip-out screen has both color and b/w options. Just holding this camera you feel like a pro. It has more of the profile of a shrunk-down betacam than the prosumer ‘look’ of the old PD-150 or DVX100. At the same time the HD110U is compact and nowhere near as unwieldy as the XL-1s (which to be honest - I never liked).

On to picture quality. Crisp, bright images. The HD110U compares well to both the new Canon XHA (which I love) and has considerably more depth than the DVX100B (which I still think is great for under $3k retail). I would guess the clarity is more to do with the 16x pro Fujinon lens than the CCDs - although I’m sure that they’re part of the equation.

Alledgedly the HD110U’s 24p setting delivers a film ‘look’ that is streets ahead of your regular 1080i setting - but I just didn’t spend enough time with this ‘beast’ to confirm or deny that. It would be my guess that - yes - the film look is convincing as far as this kind of HDV camcorder can deliver it.

Other things that I liked:

TWO XLR audio inputs - which always comes in handy - especially if you’re in the business of documentaries.

A crazy ’skin tone detection’ feature/setting that softens faces - so that don’t look harsh and tv-like.

All the custom settings that you program into the camera can be stored on a interchangeable SD Card. Gotta love that.

You can even get a third party adapter to add prime lenses to the front of this thing.

Things that I wasn’t sure about or didn’t like:

I felt the unit could be a little less boxy. You feel like a news-cameraman with it slung on your shoulder.

At first glance - a little daunting to figure your way around the myriad of settings.

Too big and ‘pro’ looking to pass unnoticed. If you shoot on the fly, or are stealing locations - this thing will make you stand-out too much.

Extra battery system is expensive. Always the case - though.

Despite any of my dislikes - the basic GY-HD110U rig can be bought on Amazon for under $5k. It’s a lot of camera for under $5k and certainly powerful enough to shoot your first feature on. If you can try on out - it’s a must. In the main - two thumbs up!

BUY the GY-HD110U on Amazon
CHECK OUT the HD110U’s feature set on the official JVC PRO site