Early on I made the decision to maintain two separate journals (or blogs) on my website - one for the podcast, and another for my main blog. In retrospect, I probably should not have done that. Going forward, the Digital Convergence Podcast will appear in my main blog. It's just easier that way. I'll keep these older entries here. So if you are looking for the latest Digital Convergence Podcast or the latest episode of Digital Film TV, just subscribe to the RSS feed of my main blog.]]>This episode of Digital Film TV features Patryk Kisny of LookyCreative and DitoGear.
Episode details can be found here.
This episode was supposed to air back in February. Unfortunately, this was a more ambitious project than I anticipated, combined with technical problems and a heavy workload for the last few months. I appreciate Patryk's patience in waiting for this episode to go live. We experimented with a multi-camera system for the interview: two cameras in Poland, and one here in Atlanta.
]]>This episode was produced in collaboration with planet5D.com.
A few weeks ago planetMitch of planet5D.com introduced me to Michael "Bubba" Fulcher, director of photography of the feature film Undocumented Executive that just recently wrapped up shooting in Atlanta, Georgia. The film is written and directed by Brian Kosisky and is filmed entirely with Canon 5D Mark II's.
Michael Fulcher was kind enough to invite me to visit them as they wrapped up shooting for the film. The day I visited them, they were filming in an office building on the north side of Atlanta. They allowed me to bring my Canon 5D Mark II to a film a few behind the scenes shots of the morning shoot. I was warmly greeted by the crew and actors. I met director Brian Kosisky who was obviously relishing the experience of filming this feature movie with Canon 5D's. I also met a few of the actors including Mark Oliver, Tony Guerrero, Melissa Ponzio, Doris Morgado, and Candace Mabry. Interestingly, Mark Oliver had a part in the movie We Are Marshall where Shane Hurlbut was the Director of Photography.
If I recall correctly, they filmed the entire feature in about 16 days or so. Using the Canon 5D Mark II really opened the door for Brian to achieve his vision with minimal impact. Making use of available light and modest camera support gear allowed them to shoot on location in a number of places including the office building I met them at. Filming went on even as the office they were shooting in - a real business - continued operation.
Here's the press release for Undocumented Executive:
Following in the footsteps as such recent films as Zombieland, Get Low and Life as We Know It, award-winning filmmaker Brian Kosisky has begun filming his new comedy, Undocumented Executive, in Atlanta. Kosisky serves as the film’s writer/director, with legendary screenwriters Herschel Weingrod (Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Trading Places, and Space Jam) and Steve Kaplan, creator of the HBO New Writers Project, serving as script consultants.
Centering on the journey of an ambitious but naive day-laborer who gets caught up in a corrupt American businessman’s scheme , Undocumented Executive stars Tony Guerrero (X-Men: First Class), Melissa Ponzio (Army Wives, The Gates) and Clayton Landey (Footloose, Drop Dead Diva), and is scheduled for theatrical release in late 2011.
Undocumented Executive is being shot exclusively on the 5D DSLR camera which has been used for portions of other feature films, such as Iron Man 2 and Black Swan, portions of CBS television’s Hawaii Five-0 and the 2010 season finale of FOX’s House.
“You don’t need a huge budget or a Hollywood studio anymore to create a very entertaining film”, Kosisky said. “The all-Atlanta cast is absolutely hilarious and the local crew is the best in the business.”
Kosisky, an award-winning film director, screenwriter and producer, makes his comedy feature directorial debut with Undocumented Executive. His earlier films include Solar Town USA, and Breaking the Curse, the story of one American woman’s journey across the globe to India where she forever changes the lives of thousands living with leprosy, which won the 2008 Gracie Award for Outstanding Documentary. Before directing films, Kosisky served as a senior producer at CNN where he produced feature stories and special projects for the network. Seen by tens of millions of viewers in more than 200 countries around the world, Kosisky’s work has captured the most important and compelling global news events of the last two decades.
KOS FILMS, LLC is a private production company that utilizes high definition digital filmmaking to create compelling content with a focus on telling each story with maximum emotional impact. Helmed by Kosisky, Kos Film’s national Emmy, Dupont, Gracie Allen, and Peabody Award-winning team of filmmakers produce programming for multiple platforms, including feature films and documentary films for national television networks.
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After enduring multiple setbacks in trying to record this episode via Skype, we managed to record a lively conversation that I hope you will enjoy. Cristina and Jon embraced HDSLR filmmaking early on.In this episode you will hear them talk about how that came about.
Cristina and Jon have been very active in building community and sharing education for HDSLR filmmakers. An exciting development of that outreach is the launch of Canon Filmmakers Live that begins March 8 in Chicago and spans 12 cities across the United States. The event features cinematographer Philip Bloom - certainly one of the most recognized names in the world of HDSLR filmmaking.
In this episode of Digital Film TV, Jon and Cristina talk about what to expect from the Canon Filmmakers Live tour, and also talk about their involvement with Kessler University - an exciting new resource launched by Eric Kessler of Kessler Crane.
I'll be attending Canon Filmmakers Live in Atlanta on March 16. I look forward to meeting Cristina, Jon, and Philip face-to-face and will have more coverage from that event to share with you in upcoming episodes of Digital Film TV.
Jon and Cristina on the web: http://canonfilmmakers.com/
Canon Filmmakers Live: http://canonfilmmakerslive.com/
]]>Last year Mitch was kind enough to appear in the very first episode of my old Digital Convergence podcast. In my new video web series, Mitch returns to the mic and Skype to chat about blogging and podcasting in general and to talk about HDSLR news and happenings. Mitch has a top-notch podcast featuring some of the movers and shakers of the HDSLR filmmaking world. A unique feature of his podcast is that he combines live UStream feed and Q&A from a live chat. It's a great way for the audience to ask questions directly to Mitch's guests. Mitch usually records these episodes so if you miss the live event, you can download and listen to them later.
Mitch's planet5D.com website is the leading HDSLR blog, forum, and news aggregator in the industry.
Since I'm recording these early episodes via Skype, I appreciate your putting up with the poor audio quality and sync issues. I'll work to improve this over time (and that's a never-ending quest!).
planetMitch will be back on Digital Film TV from time to time to talk about the latest HDSLR news.
Find planetMitch at planet5d.com
For information about Digital Film TV, visit:
16x9cinema.com
digitalfilm.tv (currently a work in progress! coming soon!)
Follow me on Twitter @dfilmtv:
twitter.com/#!/dfilmtv
Gale Tattersall is our first guest on my new videocast Digital Film TV.
As Director of Photography for one of the most successful and popular network television series - House MD, Gale Tattersall embraced using the Canon 5D Mark II as part of the show's cinematic tool chest. Expertly mixing the use of Canon 5D Mark II footage along with traditional film has allowed Gale to film unique point of views that before now were difficult at best to pull off with bulky film gear.
Gale Tattersall is passionate about sharing what he has learned and feels strongly in the "democratization" of filmmaking that the HDSLR revolution has brought about with cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II. In this episode, Gale and I talk again about his work on the television show House MD, how the Canon 5D Mark II has changed his approach to filmmaking, and then we talk in depth about his new HDSLR workshop.
The HD DSLR Workshops With Gale Tattersall: http://hddslrworkshops.com/
Gale Tattersall's website: http://galetattersall.com/
Digital Film TV is sponsored, in part, by Kessler Crane. Many thanks to Eric Kessler for believing in the show. Be sure to check out Eric's new website: Kessler University.
Please sign up for our newsletter so that I can let you know about future episodes of Digital Film TV. Sign up here:
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Stay tuned!
]]>But do not despair! Something new is coming in 2011.
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Victoria Taylor-Gore's pastels have been exhibited professionally for over 20 years with representation in premiere art galleries in Sante Fe and Taos, New Mexico. Her pastels have a luminous quality - ordinary scenes appear backlight with warm light emanating from an unseen light source. Victoria recently begin experimenting with a Canon 7D to produce short films featuring her art and antique miniatures. She has also ventured outside captuing such scenes as Cadillac Ranch along Route 66. Victoria says "the Canon 7D has changed my life - what a magical tool." Victoria continues: "Painting, filmmaking, and photography deal with the same essential design components... composition, light, color, emphasis...it's all part of visual storytelling."
In this episode, Chris and I are amazed by Victoria's visual story telling and the clever, experimental approach she takes to accomplish her vision. She clearly has an eye for visual story telling. In this episode Victoria delights us with her narative as to how she "paints as a director" and how film is affecting her pastels in new and exciting ways. You will be inspired by Victoria's new found passion for filmmaking with the Canon 7D.
A special thank you goes out to @planetMitch for bringing Victoria to our attention on his website planet5D.
Download (iTunes AAC): Digital Convergence Episode 42 - iTunes/AAC
Download (MP3 version): Digital Convergence Episode 42 - MP3
RSS Feed: Subscribe to the 16x9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast
Subscribe in iTunes here: 16x9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast
Victoria Taylor-Gore's website: http://www.victoriataylorgore.com/
Victoria on Twitter: @vtg60
"Colored Dust" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
Dream House by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Complete Video) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
Sunset at Cadillac Ranch by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
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Christine Anthony and Owen Masterson are the wife/husband filmmaker/ photography duo known as Anthony-Masterson. They moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles 5 years ago because they wanted to experience a different part of the country.
Their first film FARM!, a 13 minute documentary about young farmers in Georgia, was shot on the Flip Ultra. In 2008 FARM! was an official selection of both the Rome International Film Festival and the Athens EcoFocus Film Festival. They have since picked up a Panasonic HPX170 P2.
In this episode of Digital Convergence, Owen Masterson speaks with me about his latest movie project, the documentary: Grow!. The movie is about about young, new organic farmers in Georgia.
Since 2005, as photographers and filmmakers, we've been documenting young, organic and sustainable farmers in Georgia. We’ve travelled all over the state, spending time on the farms getting to know the farmers and watching this burgeoning movement grow.
According to Owen and Christine:
"We're drawn to them because of their dignity, passion, intelligence, and dedication to growing clean fair food. We also believe that they hold the key to a more sustainable future and that they provide a solution to our broken food system.
Frankly it all started out because we like to eat...
When we moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles 5 years ago we had a hard time finding Farmers Markets where we could buy food fresh from the farms. Back then, there wasn't much demand for local food and not too many small organic and sustainable growers. We teamed up with Georgia Organics, a great farmer advocate organization, and started photographing farmers pro bono. We wanted to help make the farmers into rock stars and put a face on farming. After a couple of years we got involved with filmmaking.
So we decided to make this movie…
Our main hope for GROW! is to shine a light on this next generation of farmers and, by example encourage even more young people to consider farming as a viable career option. And although we are filming this in Georgia, we could be filming anywhere in the U.S. We need more farmers!
We chose 12 farms located throughout the state. The cast includes 21 farmers, each one unique as far as education, experience, opportunity and motivation. Most of them do not own the land they are farming on.
We began filming in April as the first crops were going into the ground. We will film through November as the growing season comes to a close. We will be editing over the winter and readying the film for the premier at the Georgia Organics Annual Conference in Savannah, GA in March 2011.
So far, GROW! has been self financed, with the help of a few friends and one generous family member. We bought the gear, the gas and everything else it has taken to make GROW! As we head into our last stretch of filming we are now asking the Kickstarter community for help in funding post-production costs. Post-production involves things we can’t do ourselves, otherwise we wouldn’t be asking for support. Post production expenses include color correction, sound mixing, music production and licensing fees. $10,000.00 is the minimum we will need to complete GROW! The more we raise, the sweeter the film will be."
GROW! Movie Trailer 3 from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.
Get your audio bits here:
Download (iTunes AAC): Digital Convergence Episode 41 - iTunes/AAC
Download (MP3 version): Digital Convergence Episode 41 - MP3
RSS Feed: Subscribe to the 16x9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast
Subscribe in iTunes here: 16x9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast
Owen Masterson on the web:
Anthony-Masterson Photography: http://www.anthonymasterson.com/
Anthony-Masterson Films: http://www.anthonymastersonfilms.com/films/FILMS%3A.html
Grow! Movie blog: http://growmovie.blogspot.com/
Grow! Movie Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/growmovie/grow-movie
Grow! Movie on Twitter: @growmovie
Grow! Movie channel on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/channels/growmovie
Serenbe, Georgia, community website portal: http://www.serenbe.com/
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