In this episode:

• Firmware update 1.2.1 is out for the Canon 5D Mark III with clean 4.2.2 8-bit HDMI out and more
• Magic Lantern eek out RAW output (albeit of limited usefulness) once again proving they are uber-coder geniuses (via NoFilmSchool)
• Alex Lindsey’s The Road To 1080p
• Lilliput 7-inch LCD monitor with HDMI
• Show sponsor and friends: CrumplePop (use DCP20 on checkout to get 20% off your order)

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

A number of things impressed me about this “passion project” film. First, it was funded on a very limited budget that was provided by a successful Kickstarter project (they won $6,075 in funding). Second, it was filmed in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is not a place one normally thinks of as the background for a sic-fi movie. Third, the film has a good deal of compositing and effects that works well for the movie. Fourth, the sound design and music for the movie is outstanding.

Charles Elmore wrote to me and shared this behind the scene story of Unknown State:

“I’m a freelance Videographer/Editor, doing mostly commercial and corporate gigs. When I’m not doing that I’m part of a small group of tulsa filmmakers that collaborate on each others films. Christopher Long and I had met and fast became friends several years back when he took the thankless task of ACing (assistant Camera op) on an indie (i.e. low budget) film I was directing called Tech Support.

“A while after that film was completed Chris brought the idea of Unknown State to me after he’d attended the SXSW film festival in austin, where a noted filmmaker had given his opinions on whether short films were still a valid art form (his opinion was that yes they are). Chris had been kicking around this idea of a sci-fi film rooted in as close to reality as possible. A similar film he drew inspiration from was Shane Carruth’s Primer, which was a feature length time travel film shot on 16mm and made for $7000 dollars, and there’s not one special effect in the whole film, unless you consider its clever and mind-bending plot a special effect.

Sean Lorton (1st AD) and Chris (director) carrying our Hero Prop Balloon to our shooting location, Little Sahara State Park, Western OK

“Chris’s idea was of an unnamed physicist obsessed with trans-dimensional (or other worldly) travel and the mysterious figure that plagues him on his “jumps”. The story would be told mostly visually with an emphasis on sound design and score. In our previous collaborations we’d approach each short or video  with a cobbled together effort, scrambling, borrowing, scrapping to get all the gear and materials needed to complete the project. However with this project Chris really wanted it to push our creativity, which meant going the hard route of getting somewhat of a budget together so that we could have the opportunity, albeit frugal, to give this film the effort it deserved. I shared the same sentiment. At the time, I was just coming off the thrill of attending Shane Hurlbut’s DSLR Bootcamp and seeing how Shane and his crew were able to stretch the Canon 5D to the limit while also being attentive to the aspects that can sometimes be neglected on lower end productions, namely lighting, sound, etc. So when Chris asked if I would like to DP the film, I really wanted to make it look like a big budget short. A Champagne film on a Beer Budget.

“In order to get the budget we felt would give us that luxury, Chris turned to the crowdfunding site kickstarter.com and by having an attainable figure and offering some unique rewards (not to mention some amazingly generous backers) we more than exceeded the amount we had anticipated.

“Even though we’d met our budget goal, The journey to completion was still a challenge. Almost every single dollar we’d received ended up onscreen. The only major exception being one of the most important: FOOD. It’s a bit cliche but yes feeding your crew will net you greater results than renting the best gear and camera. From a logistical standpoint the script called for all these other-worldly locales and Chris knew this would present a challenge both geographically and budgetary.

“Production wise we decided to shoot on the Canon 5D mark II, and set aside part of our budget to rent a set of Zeiss CP.2 primes. The entire film, with the exception of the Rocky chase scene was shot on the zeiss lenses and I absolutely loved them.

Charles Elmore (left) rigging up a homemade helmet cam to Achieve the POV shot that opens the film

“It was up to Chris, our producer and crew to find a way to get these visually dynamic shots without sacrificing any one aspect of the film. Being native Oklahomans we grew up hearing one way or another about all the various landscapes and terrains of Oklahoma. We have a desert and sparkling salt plain in the west, flat farmland and fields that go for miles and oklahoma’s famous Red Dirt terrain & Mountainous geography throughout. It was going to require a bit of driving, but we knew going to many of these locations would add an extra flair to the film’s visuals without blowing a huge amount of our budget.

“Also, thankfully, several of these scenes took place outdoors which saved us immensely on grip and lighting rental and allowed us to keep our Camera and Lighting crew small. This allowed us to stretch the dollar more when it came to the compositing VFX, done by Ryan Haines at singlezer0.com did all of the VFX and compositing and did so at a very affordable rate. From the Red Balloons to the Watch, Ringed Planet skies and several other shots he took my otherwise basic and flat shots and gave them a whole new and unique look.

Matt (left, lead actor) and Chris (right, director) walking through a scene in the Lab set

“The lab took the most time and where we spent a healthy amount of our budget. This was the biggest challenge for me, as a DP, because all the visual responsibility fell on me. Most if not all of the other locations were light with natural, available light. Didn’t require a Gaffer or lighting package or any special lighting other than a reflector (with the exception of the Garage chase scene, which was lit with Fluorescent fixtures bought at Home Depot). Even though it was a challenge I took the Lab as an opportunity to push myself by aiming for specific look, feel and composition parameters. We hired an amazing Gaffer, Rodney Autaubo and his lighting package for that weekend and much of the credit goes to him for the way the Lab looks. He took most of my indecipherable ramblings and turned it into what you saw on screen. My biggest goal in a project this big in scope is trying to keep the film cohesive as a whole, while also trying to distinguish each location, with the Lab being the anchor of the whole film. It was lit with, I believe, at most 4-5 arri lights, most no higher than 300w. We then accented the cabinets with the same Fluorescent lights from Home depot (RECYCLING!) and a rope light.

“Once principal photography was finished Chris and his editor, Elvis Ripley, edited the film in Final Cut Pro while Ryan did all the compositing and VFX work. Chris also worked closely with Ryan Weaver on the sound design and sound mixing, and the two of them also worked closely with Daniel Sutliff, a tulsa musician, to create the film’s distinct music and tones. To me, and I’m sure Chris will agree, the music and sound design was almost as hard, if not harder, than deciding on the visual aspect of the film. One of his biggest concerns was to make sure it didn’t sound canned or like a parody of a famous score or composition.

“Now that the film is completed Chris has the film submitted to several festivals, where we’re hoping to hear back from, and in the meantime he’s made the film available on Vimeo (and posted it on planet5d.com videolog as well) to allow it to be viewed by as many people as possible. Since then, we’ve finished another little feature that I wrote and directed and am currently editing, Chris has produced 2 short films for okie filmmaker Sean Egan that I’ve also shot and we’re also planning a few projects with our group as well as filmmakers Sterlin Harjo and Matt Leach from www.thislandpress.com/video.

Charles (left, behind camera) framing a shot for one of the “Jump” scenes with Matt Spurlock (center, lead actor)

“I can’t stress enough just how important and collaborative our crew was on this film. Every single member of this crew, from top to bottom, gave more than 100% everyday. Almost every person on this crew (myself included) gave their time and energy with no guarantee of financial compensation to help make this film. A lot of that, I believe, is due to Chris’s above average idea, his attitude and his hard work ethic as well as the desire to make films, in our own backyard, that rival the films that inspire us.

“Thanks again for featuring us on your show, like I said, it’s humbling and rewarding getting to share, participate and learn from you guys.”

• Storytelling the @stillmotion way – new free training! (via planet5d.com)
• Visual Storytelling Tour (via planet5d.com)
• Panasonic Lumix G6 & New 14-140mm Lens Unveiled
• BlackRapid Yeti
• Ryan Holm’s blog post: Adobe and Creative Cloud
• Charles Elmore cinematography in The Unknown State
• Red Giant’s Spy vs Guy
• Devin Grahm: Fighting for Your Passion – Inside Look at What I Do For a Living
• Tascam DR-60R audio field recorder
• GoPro Hero3
• Ripple Timelines for Final Cut Pro
• Greyscalegorilla Blog
• Show sponsor and friends: CrumplePop (use DCP20 on checkout to get 20% off your order)

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

• The DCP team recaps NAB 2013
• We meet Gabe, Jed, Sara, and Patrick of CrumplePop
• The DCP team hijack’s Michael Artsis’ NAB coverage in the Teradek “fishbowl”
• The DCP team meets the incomparable father of color timing: Dale Grahn
• Paul Graff of Crazy Horse Effects
• Brian “the brain” Mulligan – Autodesk Smoke 2013 Guru
• Yan Shvalb of http://lertavu.com
• Carl meets Dave Dugdale & Caleb Pike
• Tascam DR-60D DSLR Field Recorder
• Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
• Blackmagic Production Camera 4K 
• Freefly MŌVI M10
• DJI Phantom Quadcopter
• EditShare’s Lightworks NLE for Mac, Windows, and Linux - Free! (or $60 annually for Pro version)
• Host Duplex hosting service
• Atlanta Cutters Post Pro User Group meeting April 24, 2013

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

Carl Olson tries out the Freefly MoVI

Chris Fenwick and planetMitch practicing the CrumplePop foley at breakfast before NAB 2013

The CrumplePop Gang at NAB 2013 – Jed, Patrick, Sara, and Gabe

Brian Mulligan – Autodesk Smoke 2013 Expert – at NAB 2013

Carl Olson and Dave Dugdale (LearningDSLRVideo.com)

Dave Dugdale (LearningDSLRVideo.com) and Chris Fenwick

The Shoe Shine Lady cleans up Chris Fenwick’s Converse sneakers at NAB 2013

Here are some of the things we talked about in today’s show:

• Andre rants about too many cameras on the market. Fav line “we’re so confused!”
• Adobe CreativeCloud gives a sneak peak into new versions of video pro apps (via ReelSEO)
• Adobe announces that video pros can subscribe to CreativeCloud for $29.99 per month for 1st year subscription (via CreativeCow)
• DCP show listener Andrew Crawford is inspired by our podcast to shoot a passion project video – and wows the crowd at the 2013 Sun Valley Film Festival. Check out his video: Morning Mic (on Vimeo).
• Another DCP show listener, Daniel Latimer, is inspired by the podcast to create a new service – converging a family still photo session with video.
• Chris Fenwick talks about shooting and processing green screen video
• Convergence Design announces not a new cool OLED monitor / video recorder combo – but also a “rent-as-you-need” business model
• Chris explains what “Graphic Recording” videos are (and they are really cool!) and Carl share’s how you can create your own using Sparkol’s VideoScribe service
• The DCP team will be at NAB and doing a live show at the Teradek booth on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 11 AM PDT. planetMitch is also providing a daily NAB wrap-up show each evening beginning at 5 PM PDT. Check out planetMitch’s blog post at planet5d.com/NAB
• 6 Steps to Persuasive Design with Dr. Eric Schaffer
• Good Ideas Are Hard to Come By

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

MIke Carroll – news videographer, indie filmmaker, author

Mitch, Chris and I talk to author and indie filmmaker Mike Carroll. He’s been on the show before (back in episode 75) and he’s back – this time talking about the second edition of his book Naked Filmmaking: How To Make A Feature-Length Film – Without A Crew – For $10,000-$6,000 Or Less Revised & Expanded For DSLR Filmmakers (Volume 1)(Note: affiliate link)

I apologize to our listeners for being late getting this episode out. I got sick again and fell behind with my business and the podcast. The wait is worth it, though. Mike Carroll loves cinema and the craft of filmmaking. We love listening to Mike, in part because of his fountain of filmmaking lore and knowledge, but also because of his passion for the craft. After listening to Mike in this episode, you can’t help wanting to grab your camera and start making an indie feature with your HDSLR!

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

Mike Carroll http://mikecarrollfilms.com/

Naked Filmmaking: How To Make A Feature-Length Film – Without A Crew – For $10,000-$6,000 Or Less Revised & Expanded For DSLR Filmmakers (Volume 1)(Note: affiliate link)

The Moog Theremin

Recommended by Chris Fenwick: Flux – better lighting for your computer (but don’t use this while color grading!)

Recommended by Chris Fenwick: Sound City by David Grohl

Mike Carroll’s blog post about Stanley Kubrick interview

Via Planet5D: What would you do with a LensBaby and two rolls of film? See what Vincent Laforet did

Via Photography Bay: Canon EOS-b New DSLR Images Surface

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

Carl Olson on Expert Interrogations talking about making money with video content.

Last week I had the privilege of being interrogated by video biz gurus Kris Simmons and Michael Gebben on their excellent new live video screencast Expert Interrogations. Under pressure I caved and revealed all my secrets for making money off content I’ve produced. Seriously folks, I had a great chat with Kris and Michael and the dozens of great participants in the live chat room. There were a lot of great questions. I was not as lively or as alert as I would have liked because my wife and I had been up early with the birth of our new beautiful grand daughter. You can catch the replay of my interview and Q&A session on Expert Interrogations here.

Expert Interrogations is part of KRE8insights.com – the best resource on the web focused on developing and growing your video business. You can sign up for a free trial, and then after the trial is over you pay only $24.95 per month. That’s an amazing deal for insider info that will help you grow your video production company’s profits.

Sign up today at KRE8insights.com (note: affiliate link)

Well, perhaps not. In fact, they are probably clueless as they hold on to their old business models.

The thing is… opportunities for independent content producers to self-publish and distribute their video content for profit keep growing. Today, Vimeo announced their Video on Demand service available to Vimeo Pro members. The numbers are great: $199 per year for a Vimeo Pro account is a bargain considering they are providing a beautiful video hosting environment and are handling all the back-end complexities of handling payments. The Vimeo On Demand service allows you to determine where your content can be viewed (by country or worldwide) and set your price. Vimeo takes a 10% cut of the sale – which is quite a deal.

I’ve cobbled together a number of WordPress sites with various plugins, wired up payment gateways, and integrated expensive video content delivery networks enough to know that it’s more fun just to produce video and upload and be done with it!

In episode number 113 of the Digital Convergence Podcast, we talk about the following:

• March 27, 2013, Atlanta Cutters to feature Marc Solorio (BMCC camera) and Rob Ashe (Conan Show editor)
• A fix for the Black Magic Cinema Camera
• Nikon announces the D7100 – with no low-pass optical filter on the sensor
• Canon is developing an amazing new high sensitivity sensor
• Are we keeping with change in our art and craft?
• Getting constructive feedback from our customers
• Script writing for promo videos

Get Your Audio Bits Here:

The DCP Team:

Carl Olson@TheCarlOlson | DigitalFilm.TV | The Gainfully Unemployed Podcast

Chris Fenwick @chrisfenwick | http://chrisfenwick.com/

Mitch Aunger @planetMitch | http://blog.planet5d.com/

Ron Dawson @DareDreamerMag | DareDreamMag.com | Crossing the 180 Podcast

Sponsor Links:

CrumplePop: Film and Broadcast Effects for Final Cut Pro. Get 20% off with discount code DCP20 when you check out on your next order.

CrumplePop now provides and hosts transcriptions of past DCP shows. The first transcribed episode (DCP #109 with color timer extraordinaire Dale Grahn) is now available on CrumplePop’s blog.

KRE8Insights.com -  Helping talented and passionate filmmakers become successful entrepreneurs. Visit their website today for proven strategies that can help you grow your business. To learn more about the program and to sign up for a free 30-Day membership, visit KRE8insider.com/dcp.

Podcast Mentions:

The DCP Mystery Movie / TV Show Theme

Carl Olson on Expert Interrogations March 7, 2013, 3PM EST

Atlanta Cutters

Stop Being Scared of Video (iPhone Video Course)

Video Promo Badge

The New Nikon d7100 (via DPReview.com)

Shooting From a Moving Car With the New Kenyon X Series 3 Axis Gyros (via planet5d.com)

Canon Announces the Development of New High Sensitivity Sensor (via CanonRumors.com)

Chris Fenwick’s Product Pick: LED Light From Rosco

Rosco LED Light

Oreo Separator Machine (via ChrisFenwick.com)

Wealth Is Fleeting (via ChrisFenwick.com)

Peter Dippery’s Media Creation Strategy

Peter Dippery’s Guest Appearance on the Digital Convergence Podcast