Vivre Ma Vie take 2

Damon Lindelof on Lost

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:27:00 -0400

Interesting insights into writing & producing Lost from Damon Lindelof. I’ve given up the show after 2nd season because I felt the story was sprawling out of control & the resolution is going to disappoint no matter what the creators do.

Yet, I love the reference to the X-Files. I still haven’t finished that series, either.

25 Things We Learned From the ‘Se7en’ Commentary

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:34:00 -0400

25 Things We Learned From the ‘Se7en’ Commentary:

Fincher mentions something he learned while working at ILM, that a director should look at a scene with the left eye for composition, because it goes to your right brain. Focus or technical side of a shot should be looked at with the right eye or left brain, as it’s more of a technical eye. He also mentions his eyes are two, different colors, so all bets might be off at that point.

Interesting.

Fincher thinks every marketing person sees their job as trying to save the film. “I’ve never heard a marketing guy go, ‘What a great movie. That’s a home run. We can’t mess with this.’,” he says. In Fincher’s mind, marketing departments look at every film as something imperfect that they have to sell to as many people as possible.

Hahaha…

the default state of a startup is failure

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:37:00 -0400

the default state of a startup is failure:

“first-time entrepreneurs often fail to realize that when you build something new, no one will care. People won’t use your product, won’t tell people about it, and almost certainly won’t pay for it… The default state of the world is to stay the way it is, which means the default state of a startup is failure.” Amen.

Magic Bullet Colorista Free 1.0

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:56:20 -0400

Magic Bullet Colorista Free 1.0:

Color Correction / Grading software competition is intensifying. Exciting time, indeed.

comedycentral: Countdown to Futurama: The Podcast! If our...

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:18:08 -0400

comedycentral:

Countdown to Futurama: The Podcast!

If our Countdown to Futurama leaves you craving more inside info about the upcoming season of Futurama, good news, everyone! The first episode of the Countdown to Futurama podcast has just hit iTunes. Download it to hear behind-the-scenes details about the new episodes straight from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen!

Futurama’s one-hour season premiere airs Wednesday, June 20 at 10/9c.

I edited this in haste last week when I was buried under the Comedy Awards workload. I promise to deliver better podcasts in coming weeks.

The Art of Film & TV Title Design. Love’em!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:26:25 -0400

The Art of Film & TV Title Design. Love’em!

Nothing at NAB was more surprising & exciting than this...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:24:55 -0400

Nothing at NAB was more surprising & exciting than this announcement of Blackmagic Cinema Camera. 13 stops! 2.5k sensor! uncompressed 12-bit RAW! Include DaVinci Resolve! All for less than $3k! Needless to say, I’m very tempted.

the top 10 favorite features that I’ll miss in FCP

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:27:00 -0400

the top 10 favorite features that I’ll miss in FCP:

I will also miss the ability to open multiple projects…and especially multiple sequences.

You begin to realize how much you have relied on these features before you have to work away from Final Cut Pro & move to Avid. I sincerely hope that Avid addresses these feature sets before I have to completely abandon Final Cut Pro 7 as an editing tool.

The Nimble Empire: In Defense of Cable

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:23:44 -0400

The Nimble Empire: In Defense of Cable:

Our problem with cable is cable as it actually exists. Our problem is with bad service, local and regional monopolies, crummy interfaces, waiting in line for hours to return a stupid set-top box before we can leave town and move somewhere else to do the same dance all over again.

We’ve become so frustrated and paralyzed by these problems, they’ve come to seem so inevitable and intractable, that we’ve largely stopped talking about them. Instead, we talk about other things — business models, technology companies, disruptive startups — that just might possibly get our real problems, with our service and with our experience, to change.

Follow the money.

This is what a trailer should be, IMHO.

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:29:10 -0400

This is what a trailer should be, IMHO.

With the rise of DSLR videos, I should’ve seen this coming...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:23:00 -0400

With the rise of DSLR videos, I should’ve seen this coming sooner than later. I’ve heard the photographers are asked to do videos on assignments in addition to photos & this might help them to transition to manage-if not edit, videos while on the field.

DaVinci Resolve Color Grading Sessions in less than 25 minutes....

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:10:00 -0400

DaVinci Resolve Color Grading Sessions in less than 25 minutes. An excellent overview of how a Colorist approaches color correction & color grading.

Ever wonder why your OLED and CRT, or Plasma and LCD, or even...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:01:52 -0400

Ever wonder why your OLED and CRT, or Plasma and LCD, or even two LCDs with different types of backlights look different to you even when they measure as matches with high-end color analyzers? This video helps to explain the reason for this and provide some practical guidance for how this impacts your use of any given display device in a professional editing environment.

When The Consoles Die, What Comes Next?

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:39:06 -0400

When The Consoles Die, What Comes Next?:

This isn’t just about the video game industry, but I see it affecting the media industry as whole.

Dear Hollywood, nostalgia is not a business model

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:16:00 -0500

Dear Hollywood, nostalgia is not a business model:

It’s clear that the business model of Hollywood is built around scarcity, while the business model of Web-based companies is built around abundance. How the leaders of these two industries handle the vast dichotomy between these two models will tell you a lot about the future of video entertainment. During last night’s Academy Awards, the Hollywood message was distinctly one of scarcity, and it went something like this: It is only a few unique individuals, trained for generations, who can create this magic on a consistent basis. Anyone who has spent more than a few hours on the Internet knows otherwise - that the world is full of uniquely talented people, crowdfunding their ideas, embracing off-the-shelf digital tools and experimenting with innovative new formats for film.

There you have it.

This is the very 1st spot that I color corrected & color...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:45:00 -0500

This is the very 1st spot that I color corrected & color graded with DaVinci Resolve. Nothing fancy, but you can tell the differences that made the shots look better.

It took me about a working day, partly because I didn’t have a strategy except to color correct & grade shots individually. It finally dawned on me that I should also aim to grade the shots to look consistent.

Color correction and color grading have firmly planted its place in my post production process.

7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:45:51 -0500

7 Tips for HD Color Correction and DSLR Color Correction:

Order of Operations

Remove artifacts and de-noise.
Balance your shots by adjusting BLACKS/MIDS/WHITES, SATURATION and WHITE BALANCE.
Relight within a shot using power windows or masks.
Add gradients, diffusion and other lens filters.
Add vignettes.
Grade your images.
Simulate a film stock of your choice.
Resize and sharpen.

Color Correction/Grading is my new favorite playground.

Blockbuster Designs: The Creative Content that Sells Movies

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:44:55 -0500

Blockbuster Designs: The Creative Content that Sells Movies:

Despite the details & the craft, I generally don’t like these “Hollywood” posters. :-/

Before I forget, John Mulaney stand-up special, New In Town is...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:47:00 -0500

Before I forget, John Mulaney stand-up special, New In Town is out with the very special video commentary that I edited for this DVD release.

4 camera multi-cam shoot, edited on Final Cut Pro 7. I’m quite proud of it as it is the longest form I edited in the employment here at Comedy Central, by far.

Michael Cioni talks 4K workflow and FCP proxies for The Girl...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:50:00 -0500

Michael Cioni talks 4K workflow and FCP proxies for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A lot of great info and more to learn here, no doubt.