Moviemaking Videos

[inline] [/inline] | Download video / Stream iPhone | Over a cheap lunch (or was it dinner?) of fried food at Carl's Jr., Jaemin and Mike reviewed their script and described the shots to Sean, the wizard behind the camera---literally. He'd be holding the Steadicam Merlin for the rest of the night, and yes his arms would be sore tomorrow. I was in charge of sound, not the clunky boom-pole type, but the kind you hold with one hand and point like a pistol. Lucky me. I just sat there in the booth and picked at my nuggets. Of course I had to use the little pistol type. Anything more would draw attention. Recording video without a permit in the streets of L.A. is against the law; and of all the places, Jaemin and Mike picked the facade to the Museum of Art. This was their warm-up script, a silly shoot to test how we'd work as a team. But how would we get away with shooting without a permit, and with those guards dotted around the museum? In case you ever wondered the difference between a policeman and a security guard, it's that a security guard isn't paid enough. Oh sure, they stared at us from their posts, folded their arms across their chests even. But only when Jaemin and Mike started skipping and twirling gaily along the poles did one of them tap me on the shoulder. He said it wasn't safe to twirl along the poles and that someone might get run into and hurt. The four of us considered this and nodded. The man was absolutely right. It isn't safe, you shouldn't run with scissors, and somebody could lose an eye. We'll be more careful, sir. So he turns and walks away to sit on his folding chair. We shot for four hours, from eight o'clock to one o'clock in the morning. What you see is not the final cut. Mike is still in the process of tinkering with it. Though it's not like it needs to be tinkered with much more. It is what it is. Depending on the take, you can hear the hum of traffic in the background. And in certain shots a tourist flashes by like a ghost in the periphery of your vision, like a trick of light. But I assure you there were indeed tourists. And bums, and teenagers, and what-have-you. My guess is that, combined with the little pistol-mike I held, the DSLR camera attached to the compact Merlin may have disguised us from being plucked out as a filmmaking crew. Surly by now you can't say DSLR filmmaking isn't good for anything.

Dot (1960, 223KB, 40 sec.) Letter (1962, 1MB, 26 sec.) Two films by the late Dieter Roth. ‘Dot’ is made simply by punching holes in the film and in ‘Letter’ a kind of poetry is scratched onto it. Quoted in a 1989 interview he said: ‘I hate it if I notice that I like something, if I am able to do something, so that I just have to repeat it, that it could become a habit. Then I stop immediately. Also if it threatens to become beautiful.’ Well on his own terms he fails the test set by his last sentence for these are simply luminously beautiful.

[inline] [/inline] | Download video / Stream iPhone | Happy Monday morning! To those of us in the States, hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving as well. Comments in my last vlog convinced me to shoot more videos for the heck of it. Then nostalgia set in and I thought about this past summer, what we collectively termed our "summer of productivity." In retrospect we were not as productive as we had hoped. Yet it was still more productive than most summers I've ever had. The fruit of our labors, "Mike Jaemin Make A Movie," will be posted this Wednesday. So stay tuned! In the meantime, check out the points of interest. They're certainly worth your time. Points of interest: 1. November Lights 2. After the Tone 3. Portrait of Asali Johnson

Auto Exposure and White/Black BGs (2009, 23MB, 3:53 min.) Educational video by Ian Parks.

In this episode I discuss the realities of independent film financing. After my trip to AFM,  I was brought up to speed by some top industry players. Things aren't like the good old days! This was originally a video I created to plug my new film course but many felt there was good info here [...]

[inline] [/inline] | Download coming soon | Good morn---wait, this is a late post, so make it Good Afternoon! Just to correct something, in this vlog I do say "aspiring filmmaker" and not "inspiring filmmaker." I've still got too much to learn and too much humility to go 'round. Points of interest: 1. Collaboration and Design

In episode 111 I discussed how I never would have landed my sales agent at AFM if I hadnt presented a great "dog and pony show". The huge part of the presentation was the previz that my director had done for some other projects. It blew everyone away! Not only does it show a vision [...]

[inline] [/inline] Download this Video So things have started picking up and it seems we might actually begin to have a bit of income again. This means we are going to be extremely busy pretty soon, but no matter what, expect a new video every Monday and Friday. Vicente's music videos on YouTube | Sean's Desert Skylapse in HD

I had the pleasure of reading a new book by "The Digital Guy" Bruce Nazarian called "Fast Path To Blu-Ray". The title is absolutely misleading. It should be called "The Ultimate Guide To Blu-Ray". Inside the pdf formatted book (hey save a tree right?) is a plethora of information including workflows in Final Cut Pro [...]

Greetings! Wow I am back podcasting from a long much needed hiatus! I have to admit I was a little nervous getting in front of the mic! This is episode 111!Today I discuss my recent visit to the American Film Market! Make sure you join the newsletter so you will get an invite to our live [...]

[inline] [/inline] | Download this Video | Good morning! Welcome to one of our very first vlogs. Unlike regular episodes, these are unscripted thing-a-ma-jigs that simply allow us to keep in touch with the internet. If you're expecting self-conscious rants or candid confessions, prepare to be absolutely satisfied. Maybe. I (Peter) will post every Monday. Sean's day is Friday. Over and out. Points of interest: 1. The Third Man (out of print) 2. Save the Cat! 3. George Lucas on Campbell

With the music video and after-party behind them, the boys have to resolve a delicate payment negotiation to shoot the remaining scenes in "Invasion Q". See the full film at http://www.LowBudgetComedy.com

[inline] [/inline] | Download this Video | Music by Leszek Cichonski | Peter here: sorry kids, no shorts this Halloween. Oh we tried and tried, but our creative juices have all but dried from the well-springs of our minds. In it's place is an actor reel. Yes, these actors are new to L.A., flavored by European accents; but they ain't bad. From an outline provided by our actress, I wrote the script in three pages; about one page too many. The shorter the reel, the more likely casting directors will bother. I managed to pare down the cut to a swift two minutes. To some agents this is still one minute too many. The location is a private bar in L.A. We had to wrap in three hours, minus the combined hour it took to set-up and then clean-up. Outside, it was a Sunday night in full swing; if Sean and I had social lives we might have envied the twenty-to-thirtysomethings downstairs in the public bar, busting seams of laughter, flirting and spilling drinks as baseball looped on the screens. We might've, but we didn't. Maybe in another lifetime, when my fixation isn't in the telling of a barfly pimped out by her lowlife boyfriend. One main criticism I have of the reel is that the exposure is uneven. There's a story to that: as we were hauling the equipment out of the Scion, a block away from the bar, Sean lifted out the pre-assembled softbox and out tumbled the lighting head. It had come loose from the fixture. I heard a sound like crunched glass. Sean muttered "Oh no!" The lighting head had tumbled onto the asphalt and landed on it's fifty-dollar bulb. A minute prior, I was telling Sean how the three-point lighting should be arranged. "Guess we'll have to make due with two," he added, not without a hint of irony. Thankfully, the reel helped our two actors land an agency. Taking a break from shooting in the car: three days till Halloween. That's the kind of news you hope for. But enough about boring old actor reels. Bet you're all wondering about Take Zer0. While I'm not typing this from a homeless shelter (yet), we've all run afoul of hard times. (I'm at a coffeeshop typing this on my iPhone, sipping coffee paid with quarters and dimes I scavenged around the house) The autonomy Sean and I shared in earlier times---like a full tank of gas to drive where we pleased---is a liberty we're very, very nostalgic for. Thus we have decided that when we do make videos it will be for professional reasons. Believe us when we say that when we've made a few bucks to get ahead, we'll be sure to cook up a few new videos for you all. But creativity is king. As Joke and Biagio allude to in their blog, creation is the key to success. Those of you who remember Jaemin Yi will be happy to know that he intends to write and direct a feature film. At least that's what Sean tells me. And Drew (remember Drew?) has finally posted a video after a long hiatus. As for Sean and I, well, the truth is that we did try to shoot a short for Halloween. I wrote it quickly, and regrettably I think it needed at least one revision. And then we didn't have time to finish the shoot. It's a ghost story, of sorts. Here's a screen cap of Anna (that's Sean in the foreground checking his watch, which figures into the story). What is she looking at? Why is she anxious? What is Sean doing? Well, I guess this phrase was going to be inevitable: Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween! What did you all do? I sat around and revisted They Live (what I consider an influential low-budget genre film) and Freaks. And so, until next time...