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Showing posts from October, 2005

Digital or Film

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The above picture is one of the cameras I have in my arsenal. The other is a Arri BL, and I love both of these cameras. The above camera, which is called an Eclair NPR has been used in many productions in the past. Many an independent film has shot with the NPR because of it's portability, and it's relative quiet running. Of course both these cameras are older models, and now there are Arri SR's and Anton's which are quieter, but a lot more expensive. It's a no brainer to shoot film if you have the budget, but more and more the world is going digital, and if your final output is to DVD then you might as well shoot digital, and put the extra money you save into paying your actors or better food on the set. Trust me it will be money well spent. I have a affinity for film. I like the latitude film gives, and even if I go the DVD route I know the film will look great. Maybe it's the cinematographer in me. I've gotten GREAT images in the past with film, and Kodak

Remembering Sarah!

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Sarah Jacobson was one cool lady. She wrote & directed as well as edited, and produced along with her mother the film "Mary Jane isn't a Virgin Anymore". I had a chance to see the film here in Philly, but was disappointed when she didn't show up to the screening. You see Sarah was a one women tour`de force. She took her film to colleges, and small art theaters around the US and even in parts of Europe. She was exhausted, and could not come, but it mattered not, because I was thoroughly impressed at what Ms Jacobson had done for a mere 12K. Sarah was the original punk Do it your-selfer. She and her mom did their own advertising through the web, and by putting up posters for her screening. She sold a short film on video called "I was a teenager serial killer" at her screenings as well as T-shirts. Ms Jacobson eventually got a job at the Oxygen Network, and was a producer there before her illness took her. I've read almost every article I could get my h

It's in your head

The above is a saying my screenwriting teacher used to tell us, and she was SO right. Any idea starts in your head, and then gets written down. That journey from your head to the paper and finally onto the screen can be a long and cumbersome journey. Richard Rush took 10 years to get the movie "The Stuntman" made, and he suffered a heart attack in the interim. So though there is a lot of product out there in the market place. There is also a lot of junk too. Good writing is where it starts, and don't let anyone say any different. So I'm in the process of writing several things, and seeing which one pans out. I even have several ideas for shorts, but I'm a little put off in doing a short because there isn't really a big market out there for shorts, and if you're going to put in a lot of effort into a project it might as well be something you can market like a feature. The writing process can be one of frustration, and sheer isolation. It's you

Next Project?

So what to do now. I've completed a feature, and I've done several shorts. Now what? For a long time I've been looking for people who are in the same situation as me. People who had an overwhelming love for the cinema, but who also hold a firm grasp in reality. What do I mean by that you ask. The media is full of stories of people bucking the odds and getting their film made, but over the years I've met others who have danced the dance, and have been less successful. Mostly money, time, or both conspire against one and after all the film industry is a strange mistress. It will love you one minute and forget about you the next. For MYSELF I've been interested in film since I was a young teen, and it has given me much happiness as well as heartbreak. You do what you have to do, and with the tools you have. It's that simple. Glory, fame, money are all nice, but it's not what drives the engine. What drives the engine is the desire to create somethin