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May/June 2011 • V. 26 |No. 3
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
FR EE W SU W W BS .M AR A CR IP KE T TI EM O NS AG .C O M
2.0
Special Ks:
High(er) Resolution Production and Post Film and Video: Education for the Next Generation and Industry Professionals Spotlight: Capital Region Sees Stars Stock Footage Guide
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Markee2.0
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
May/June 2011 Volume 26, Number 3
contents w w w. m a r k e e m a g . c o m
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock/ Csaba Vanyi
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features 8
Film and Video Education –
Hands-On Learning: Educating the Next Generation of Production and Post Professionals By Michael Fickes
12 Back to School: Industry Professionals Hone Their Crafts and Master New Ones
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By Mark R. Smith
15 Stock Footage Guide 22
Special Ks:
High(er) Resolution Production and Post By Christine Bunish
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Spotlight – Capital Region
Stars Come Out, Align in Capital Region By Mark R. Smith
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Markee2.0
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
Markee 2.0 is a results-driven magazine that has been published since December 1985. A nationwide survey of film and video industry professionals revealed that Markee 2.0 is at the top of their must-read list. Editorially, Markee 2.0 offers a wide range of content tailored for its diverse readership. Features span film and video production and postproduction topics to include must-read interviews with leaders in the creative community, the latest equipment and technology news, perspectives on innovative independent filmmaking, and in-the-trenches reports on shooters, editors, animators and audio pros – plus regularlyscheduled specialty supplements. Markee 2.0’s seasoned writers know the industry inside-out. That’s what makes Markee 2.0 compelling, informative and timely reading.
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www.markeemag.com
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columns & departments 4
Editor’s Note
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Making TV – Creating a Sitcom Look
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Donald Morgan, ASC, talks camera and lens selection, developing signature camera moves and creative lighting By Michael Fickes
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Making Commercials – Breaking In Two talented brothers, an actor and an editor, combine forces to break into commercial directing By Michael Fickes
36 Inside View – Doug Wood, Omnimusic By Christine Bunish
[On The Cover] Superfad's Will Hyde used the Phantom Flex high-speed camera for a stylized, fantasy-based Sony POP video promoting Bravia TVs.
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from the editor
Markee2.0
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
| by Christine Bunish
www.markeemag.com
Teaching, Learning and Mastering New Technologies In production and postproduction, where technical knowledge and skills combine with creativity, it’s vital that the next generation of video and filmmakers get hands-on experience with today’s tools – and that working professionals keep up with new equipment and workflows. In this issue Markee 2.0 looks at a sampling of high schools and colleges that are providing young people with real-world gear and experiences to prepare them for the work force. We also showcase some of the programs that industry professionals can pursue to stay on the cutting edge. And the cutting edge is a moving target. With video picture resolution moving beyond HD, image capture in 2K, 3K, 4K and even 5K is not uncommon and 2K and 4K post pipelines are no longer rare as our High(er) Resolution feature explains. Be sure to check out the Spotlight: Capital Region for news on this key midAtlantic area and the handy Stock Footage Guide for everything you need to know about finding that perfect clip. Don’t miss the second part of the interview with Donald Morgan, ASC in Making TV; discover what it takes to launch a spotdirecting career in Making Commercials; and learn how Omnimusic’s Doug Wood helps clients of his production music library deal with the issues of today in Inside View.
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July/August 2011
• VFX in Episodic TV – The Walking Dead • Soundstages – Coast to Coast
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Remembering Hilary Araujo and Tim Hetherington
Highlights Coming In
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Markee 2.0 notes the passing of two individuals whose passion for their work made their mark on the industry in very different ways. Hilary Araujo, vice president of marketing for The Tiffen Company, died after a short illness. His lifelong love of photography led to product and marketing posts at Berkey, GMI Photographic, ToCAD and Tiffen, and he will be remembered for the many outstanding personal and professional qualities that made him stand out in a fast-changing industry where busy-ness often takes priority over the human touch. Mr. Araujo was recently named an Associate Member of the ASC, an unprecedented honor for someone who was not a working cinematographer. Photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed covering the front line in Misrata, Libya. He focused on politics and world affairs photographing the documentaries Liberia: An Uncivil War and The Devil Came on Horseback, about Darfur, before spending extensive time embedded with a U.S. Army platoon in Afghanistan where he co-directed the feature doc Restrepo with Sebastian Junger. Restrepo captured the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2010 and was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year.
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• Locations, Locations, Locations • Music & Sound Guide
IN EVERY ISSUE: Making TV • Making Commercials • Newsroom • Inside View 4
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Disclaimer – The statements and opinions in the articles of this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lionheart Publishing, Inc. or the editorial staff of Markee 2.0 or any sponsoring organization. The appearance of advertisements in this magazine is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised.
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making TV
Donald Morgan, ASC - Part 2 | By Michael Fickes
Creating A Sitcom Look Donald Morgan, ASC, talks camera and lens selection, developing signature camera moves and creative lighting. Successful television shows find compelling cinematic looks. A pilot introduces the idea for the series and sets the tone. If the program is picked up, the DP refines the look with signature camera moves and distinctive lighting over the course of the first season.
Shaping New Hits for TVLand As reported in the last issue, over the past 20 years Emmy Award-winner Donald A. Morgan, ASC has shot more than 100 sitcom pilots. When pilots are picked up, Morgan often continues to hone the look, shooting another half dozen or so shows before turning the camera over to another DP and moving on to his next pilot. In some cases, he has stayed with a show throughout its run. Morgan handled the pilots for two new series on cablenet TVLand: Hot In Cleveland and Retired At 35. He shot a handful of Hot In Cleveland shows and then turned over the camera to DP Gary Howard Baum. He took Retired At 35 from the pilot through the first season and plans to continue on the planned eight-episode season two. Morgan chose four Sony F900 cameras with Panavision lenses for Hot In Cleveland. The lens package includes two 11:1 and two 8:1 zooms. For Retired At 35, he selected four Sony HDC-1500 cameras with Canon 20:1 zoom lenses. “Each camera and lens package is like a different film stock,” Morgan says. “I used the Sony 1500 and Canon lenses – with a quarter [Schneider] Classic Soft effects filter – on Retired At 35 to just take a little edge off of the sharp look. “For Hot In Cleveland, I wanted a softer look. High Definition shows every tiny pore, and I wanted to bring that back. The ‘Panavised’ Sony F900 cameras plus one-half black Pro-Mist filters 6
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softened the look. I also raised the midrange to expose the shadow areas more without flattening the picture.”
Morgan’s DIY Formula for Home Improvement Morgan shot more than 200 episodes of Home Improvement over nine seasons. The series was really two shows in one: Tool Time, a cable home improvement show starring Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen) and a show about Tim, his family and Wilson, the neighbor, whose face was never seen. Morgan selected five Ikegami digital cameras with Canon lenses for the series. Four of the cameras rode on four Vinten pedestals. Generally, two cameras shot the main action and two looked at reactions. The fifth camera shot from a jib. While Wilson’s face was hidden by all kinds of devices over the course of the show, the backyard fence masked his face most of the time. “We needed a quick way to move a camera over the fence to look back at Tim or whoever was talking to Wilson,” Morgan says. “That’s why we needed the jib.” To achieve a different feel for scenes shot at home and scenes shot in the Tool
[Above] It ain’t Paris, but the gals of Hot In Cleveland enjoy a night out on their new town.
Time studio he used the Ikegamis’ electronic settings to sharpen the video look of the Tool Time scenes. For the domestic scenes, both interiors and exteriors, he softened the look. He lit Tool Time with relatively harsh studio lighting. For the scenes at home, however, he asked the production designer for plenty of windows and imagined how the house might look in different day parts and seasons. “I also varied the camera movements,” he says. “At home, the camera moves were smoother and more intimate than the shots at work.” Morgan also developed a signature camera move that helped artists select a key element from a lockedoff shot and create animated transitions to the next scene. Over the show’s nine-year run, Morgan won seven Emmys for his lighting and camera work on Home Improvement. ABC just picked up the pilot he shot, The Last Man Standing, a family sitcom starring none other than Tim Allen.
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making Commercials
The Wolf Brothers | By Michael Fickes
Breaking In Two talented brothers, an actor and an editor, combine forces to break into commercial directing. Gary Wolf is a talented, veteran actor with credits in virtually every medium: live theater, television, feature films and commercials. Michael, his brother, is an award-winning editor with an Emmy plus a host of commercial, broadcast television and film credits. Recently, they combined forces and declared themselves co-directors specializing in comedy commercials. They call their Los Angeles-based firm, The Wolf Brothers (www.thewolfbrothers.com).
Who Are These Guys? “We’ve always loved good comedy commercials,” Michael says. “We analyze them and think about how we might do them, and we make up our own. We’ve talked about it so much that I guess we talked ourselves right into the business.” Both Gary and Michael contribute key directing attributes to their new venture. Gary has an intimate understanding of what actors need to know about a scene and a character’s emotions to do their best work. Michael has a deep knowledge of editing, special effects, timing and storytelling with pictures. To get The Wolf Brothers off the ground the brothers “wrote five spec spots and produced two of them,” one for IKEA and one for NASCAR, says Gary. IKEA’s “Upgrade Your Stuff” tells the story of a guy named Joel who would have gotten the girl had he gone to IKEA instead of improvising his own home décor. Gary and Michael financed the project with their own money, paying everyone from the talent to the 17-person crew. “Because of that we now have a good, solid crew waiting for us to bring in more work,” Gary says. The brothers and DP Jeffrey A. Cunningham shot the spec spot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera outfitted with a www.markeemag.com
Redrock Micro cinema rig. The rig included a follow focus with 35mm lens gearing, a swing-away matte box for light management, a shoulder mount and handgrips for handheld use, and a support cage for enhanced stability and low-angle shots. Cunningham moved the camera with a dolly and a six-foot slider. The spot begins with Joel setting up for a party at his house, putting out several odd-looking bowls filled with nuts. Later, he finds himself on the sofa making conversation with an attractive woman, but she frowns when she picks up a snack bowl and asks where they came from. The commercial cuts to a flashback of a target range where a shooter misses a clay pigeon that lands in Joel’s bushes. A sunbathing Joel picks up the stray, bowlshaped object and his face lights up with the thrifty idea that will cost him the girl. The shots were fully lighted with practical fixtures – a couch-side lamp and track lighting for artwork on the walls – and supplemented with Kino Flos. Floor-to-ceiling windows enabled the crew to light from the exterior. Gary and Michael found a shooting range and set three clay pigeons, suspended from monofiliment, spinning side-byside against a portable greenscreen. When
[Above] Michael Wolf (center) and Gary Wolf (right) scout the house location with art director/ production designer Roxy Moronyan.
the pigeons reached full speed, the offcamera range owner shot two of them. “In post, we matted out the pigeons with [Adobe] After Effects,” Michael says, “and composited them over a live shot of the wooded mountains behind the range.” He underlined the cut with a loud sound effect of a rifle being cocked. The spec spot ends with the tag, IKEA: Upgrade Your Stuff. A stinger shows Joel in his driveway with a skateboard, wearing clay pigeons for kneepads.
Crying Wolf Gary and Michael are pitching their new venture to production houses with rosters of directors, reps and clients who work direct. Marketing techniques include e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn and word of mouth. Under discussion: a Facebook Fan Page, a YouTube Channel and a Twitter Feed, the goal being to drive prospects to the spec commercials on the company’s website. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Michael. “The spots are connecting with people.” May/June 2011
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High School and College
Hands-On Learning: Educating the Next Generation of Production and Post Professionals BY MICHAEL FICKES
EDUCATION Professional
Back to School: Industry Professionals Hone Their Crafts and Master New Ones BY MARK R. SMITH 8
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High School and College
F
or some high school and college students today,
hitting the soundstage or manning an edit session is as much a part of the school day as cracking open a book. Whether it’s a county with the foresight to provide media education in its high schools, a charter school dedicated to a specialized curriculum or colleges that immerse students in real-world production and post, the next generation of film, video and digital professionals is gaining valuable hands-on experience.
Miami-Dade High Schools Prep Students for Further Studies Florida is particularly rich in such institutions. High school students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools regularly produce morning announcements and live television shows covering sporting events, pep rallies, proms, graduations and other events. Some schools even sponsor film festivals for student productions. The school district, the fourth largest in the U.S., has long been committed to providing students with opportunities to develop video and television production skills. It equipped many of its 59 high schools with analog television production studios years ago. When digital video rendered analog studios obsolete, the School Board laid plans to go digital. That effort began in 2004 when they allocated funds to upgrade existing studios and install new ones in high schools that had been doing without. “The Board considered High Definition equipment, but decided it would be too expensive,” says Debby Miller, executive vice president of Miami-based Midtown Video, a company that specializes in professional video equipment sales, rental and systems integration. Midtown has outfitted 18 high schools with renovated and new studios. The local public television station, WLRN, developed specifications for the studios. The station works closely with Miami Dade schools, providing a multi-channel district-wide television network, Video On Demand, a video lending library and instructional media. The new and upgraded studios each sport three Sony triax studio cameras, pedestal tripods, teleprompters and intercoms. Adjoining control rooms feature switchers, audio boards, camera control, video monitors and playback decks for pre-recorded video. “We are also providing ENG packages and nonlinear editing systems,” says Fernando Iglesias, Midtown Video’s vice president for operations and senior sales engineer, “and we’re installing digital distribution systems that connect to WLRN.” The rugged and flexible systems will last for years and allow for easy upgrades as budgets permit, he adds. “These are professional-quality studios that provide excellent stepping stones for students aiming for careers in the industry,” Iglesias points out. “After learning production techniques in one of these high school studios, a Miami-Dade County graduate will feel comfortable in any professional television facility.”
G-Star offers its facilities free to producers in return for putting students on their crews as interns, giving them hands-on professional experience. Production facilities consist of 13 buildings, including the new soundstage, one of the largest in Florida with a 20,000-square-foot studio with three staging areas, 2,500 square feet of production offices, a green room, set construction shop, prop shop and picture car paint shop. Production accessories include a 7-ton forklift, 25-foot scissor lift, 600-amp generator, 5-ton grip package and 40-foot Snorkel lift. The 80x120-foot soundstage features 11 custom-built air-conditioning units designed to turn on and off hundreds of times a day on command. The drainage system accommodates water tanks as deep as 25 feet. The fire and smoke evacuation system makes it possible to shoot live fires. The school’s recording studio offers film scoring, automated dialog replacement (ADR), dubbing and a Foley stage with students operating equipment for the performers. Today, G-Star is forging relationships with industry stars such as Academy Award-winning Digital Domain Media Group. “Digital Domain has partnered with Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture
G-Star Rockets to Head of the Class Greg Hauptner founded a charter high school called the G-Star School of the Arts for Motion Pictures and Broadcasting in an old water utilities plant in West Palm Beach, Florida in 2003. In the school’s first seven years, the student body has grown from 150 ninth graders to 885 students in grades 9-12, and G-Star has become the largest film, acting and television and motion picture production high school in the U.S. It now occupies a one-acre campus with 110,000 square feet of academic and production facilities. “We’ve hosted more than 50 feature film productions,” says Hauptner, the G-Star CEO. “They have been low budget, but the budgets are getting higher thanks to the new soundstage we opened last year.” Commercial producers use G-Star facilities to produce spots for national brands such as Nike and Abercrombie & Fitch. The facility also has hosted television and music video productions and rehearsals by Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks and Radiohead. www.markeemag.com
[Above Top] Students get hands on with production at Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Senior High School, Biscayne Bay, via a Midtown Video installation.
[Above] G-Star students worked with Digital Domain on a greenscreen commercial shoot on the school’s soundstage. The shoot was covered by The Today Show, which profiled G-Star last March.
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Education
Arts to build an educational facility in West Palm Beach,” Hauptner says. “That facility will include the Digital Domain Institute. In association with that effort, we’re putting $400,000 into the creation of a curriculum for digital imaging, 3D animation and gaming. “We’re helping to create Florida’s production industry. Our students – 97 percent of them go on to college – are coming back here to work on features and other kinds of productions.” That’s a long way to come in seven years.
[Above] Students in the Full Sail University film program get hands-on experience working each position on set for a variety of different assignments. Photo: Full Sail University
Full Sail University Offers Immersive Experience UNleashed Magazine calls Orlando-based Full Sail University one of the top five film schools in the country. What makes a top-five film school? Outstanding facilities is a big component, and Full Sail offers numerous soundstages for student productions and a unique back lot (see Markee 2.0, May/June 2010) featuring 19 outdoor facades from various cities in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, “Due to our professionally-designed postproduction dubbing stage, we received the honor of being the first school named as a Dolby Digital print master facility in the state of Florida,” says Rick Ramsey, Full Sail’s director of visual arts. “That means our students can master 7.1 surround.” The campus also houses the Full Sail Sports Lab powered by ESPN, the product of a formal collaboration between ESPN and Full Sail (see March/April 2011 issue), which enables the cable sportsnet to experiment with concepts and produce shows. “We collaborate in our facility with ESPN and they, in turn, mentor our students, who get to work on professional projects – and earn professional credits – while still in school,” Ramsey says. The very comprehensive facilities give students real-world experience and help channel them to disciplines where they will excel. “We give students the ability to learn what they are good at,” says Ramsey. “We immerse them in productions.” Students begin with video productions, rotating through positions to learn directing, camera work, lighting and other tasks. Camera operators use Sony EX1 and Panasonic AG-HVX200 cameras for acquisition. Then the curriculum turns to film. Students continue to rotate positions through 16mm shoots, but by the time they get to the 35mm curriculum they stop rotating positions and choose a discipline. They also learn to cut productions editing their first short and documentary on Apple’s Final Cut Pro, their 16mm short on Avid Media Composer and their 35mm short on Avid Nitris/Adrenaline. Full Sail University offers four film-related degree programs: the film Bachelor of Science (offered on campus); a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing for entertainment (available on campus and online); a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (available online); and a digital cinematography Bachelor of Science (offered online), which was developed for digital entrepreneurs and focuses on “creating visual digital assets for all kinds of clients,” Ramsey reports. During their final project, on-campus students in the film program must demonstrate all the skills they have gained working on smaller projects to create their own 35mm movie. Online students in the digital cinematography program use the skills they have acquired to write, produce, edit and output a final video project to cap their studies. Full Sail has tried to make its online programs as intense and immersive as its on-campus offerings. According to the U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA), it is succeeding. USDLA gave Full Sail its 21st Century Best Practice in Distance Learning Award for 2011, which recognizes new and innovative solutions for distance learning. Which is what you would expect of a top-five film school.
Ringling College Students Learn Alongside Top Filmmakers Jason Letkiewicz had a busy spring semester. As a senior in the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida he was part of the school’s first Digital Film program graduating class earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 10
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Last February, he used his new filmmaking skills to direct the music video “Mindset” for Every Avenue, the band he played with in high school and left to attend college. The video debuted in the number one slot on MTV.com. In mid-March, Letkiewicz and two other top Digital Film Program students earned slots on the team that Werner Herzog, a charter advisor to the program, assembled to edit Death Row, his new documentary examining the lives of condemned inmates. Herzog and his editing partner Joe Bini screened the film’s raw footage for classes in Ringling’s year-old Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab. The screening included a look at Herzog’s editing and postproduction processes. (Herzog isn’t the only headline name to visit the campus: Guest lecturers this year included Martha Stewart, Bill Paxton, Andy Garcia and Paul Schiff, who produced My Cousin Vinny.) After the Death Row screening, Herzog, Bini, Letkiewicz and the other Digital Film students went to work. “We have a dedicated editing classroom with 16 computer stations and 15 editing suites equipped with the latest editing, sound and effects software,” says Bradley Battersby, Ringling’s Digital Film department head. “We’re bringing the same focus to building the Digital Film program that made our Computer Animation program the top-ranked program in North America,” according to 3DWorld. With the support of a $1.75-million grant from Sarasota County, Ringling is currently building a 3,000 square-foot professional film and television postproduction facility. Scheduled to come on line this October, the facility will include a private screening room, dubbing bays, two feature film editing suites and a Foley stage. For production Ringling boasts several RED MX cameras, a Zaxcom Deva V 10channel digital audio recorder and wireless units, a dolly, Steadicam and a 25-foot remote-controlled crane. The school also owns a fully-equipped, 5-ton Peterbilt diesel lighting and grip truck.
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“We make these state-of-the-art facilities available to industry professionals for reduced fees,” Battersby says. “In return, the professionals allow our students to work side-by-side with them and earn professional credits while still in school.” That’s the kind of experience that enables a student like Jason Letkiewicz to make his first music video and see it debut at the top of MTV.com.
[Above] Ringling College Digital Film students shooting a project on campus.
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Education
MediaTech Oceanside Opens Newest MediaTech Institute Campus MediaTech Oceanside, southern California’s newest multimedia production facility, began enrolling students for the first day of classes June 27 in MediaTech Institute’s Oceanside campus. MediaTech Institute (www.mediatech.edu) is a post-secondary school that has been dedicated to training new professionals for more than a decade on campuses in Dallas, Austin and Houston. The school has accreditation from the Accreditation Commission of Career Schools and Colleges and participates in federal Title IV funding and Stafford loans. In Oceanside, the multi-studio facility for audio, video and film production offers one-year comprehensive programs in digital film and recording arts. The Digital Film & Video Arts program encompasses all aspects of production from script to screen, including camera operation, directing, producing, lighting, editing and VFX. The Recording Arts program consists of audio engineering and studio techniques, mixing mastering and postproduction, producing and songwriting, live sound reinforcement and the business of music. The MediaTech facilities and MediaTech Institute were founded by 30-year entertainment industry veteran Russell Whitaker. “Today it’s almost impossible to create most audio, video and print media without having both creative and technical skills,” he says. “No longer is someone’s job title just an artist or just a technician; their job has really become what I like to call a ‘MediaTech.’” Tracy Terrell, vice president of MediaTech Oceanside, agrees. “It’s a multimedia world. There is a consistent, growing demand for those with the multimedia skills to create this content, and we will offer training for all of it.” [Top] Oceanside High School music students and their instructor, Mark Phelps, tour the MediaTech Oceanside audio control room where they learned about mixing and mastering sound.
[Bottom] Oceanside High School students discover how a greenscreen is used in filmmaking at MediaTech Oceanside.
Professional
T
he only constant in this business is change, so savvy production and postproduction professionals seeking to stay current, to sharpen their skills and to learn new ones are taking advantage of an array of classes, workshops and interactive webcasts to gain new insights.
ICA Shows True Colors
[Above] Warren Eagles (left) taught an ICA class at Burbank post house, Roush Media, last December.
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Australia-based Warren Eagles has made his living practicing the colorist’s art and, in recent years, has supplemented that livelihood by teaching courses for his professional brethren. Through their affiliation with the International Colorist Academy (ICA), Eagles and his business partner, Kevin Shaw – who possess more than 50 years of color grading experience in all forms between them – have shared their insights with all comers from production and postproduction backgrounds. The ICA (www.icolorist.com) attracts “a good mix of people,” says Eagles, ranging from students and established colorists to photographers, directors, DPs and editors who seek additional insights into the color grading process. “One of our recent class members worked on [the Fox TV series] House, one on a reality show and two as part of camera and lighting crews.” Classes in the United States take place in Burbank at post house, Roush Media. “They provide the facility, and we accommodate up to eight students,” he explains. “The classes last from one to three days, depending on what we’re teaching. The installments can be manufacturer specific [Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci, Autodesk’s Lustre or Digital Vision’s Nucoda Film Master, for example], which are the classes that tend to last Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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three days. Those that last a day concern color management, monitor calibration and colorist looks.” Tuition ranges from $500 to $1,500. “We started two years ago and have more interest than we thought we would,” says Eagles; he and Shaw plan to do a road show this summer with stops in New York, Toronto and maybe Florida. “I won’t go anywhere if I don’t sell spots in the class, because it’s a huge commitment for me to travel from Australia, as it is for Kevin to jet in from London.” Key to the ICA’s success is learning at all levels, from apprentice colorists to working colorists and others who want or need to learn another skill, such as on-set coloring for the RED One or the capabilities of a software release, like DaVinci Resolve – one of the industry’s least expensive tools. “We do a course called ‘Resolve Colorist Strategies,’ which is our most popular class. It’s about color theory, working with clients and the overall role of the colorist in the production,” he says. Eagles enjoys teaching in person. “The interaction between me and the students – as well as the students and the students – is really keen,” Eagles says. “You don’t get the same experience with online or DVD classes.” Add to that valuable interaction the fact that Eagles and Shaw share with students about a half-century’s worth of experience in London, Australia and Asia and ICA participants are assured of “getting real insight” from their classes. “This isn’t about just pushing buttons, but how you talk to directors and other professionals,” notes Eagles. “I like to say that it’s more about the art than the act. Yet, it’s like any job. There’s no substitute for what you learn. It gives people new options.”
Midtown Video Dishes the Latest Cameras and Content on jtown.tv When Jesse Miller started a monthly live webcast for shooters via jtown.tv in August 2009, he thought that it would attract a gaggle of professionals looking to learn more about (and trade tips concerning) their camera of choice. But it turns out that vendors watch the stream, as well. “Mind you, we’re getting lots of end users, too: They’re about 80 percent of our viewers,” says Miller, CTO at Miami’s Midtown Video (www.midtownvideo.com). “The rest are manufacturers.” It took time for that mix to evolve, however. “It started out just end users, but the vendors came to find out that our webcast was a great place to show off their software and hardware,” he says. The webcasts’ viewers have confirmed Miller’s hunch about starting the production and have proven to be a vocal audience. “We get many requests to feature new models,” Miller says, “and they want the latest updates.” That’s what Midtown delivers. “We interview filmmakers and review cameras,” he explains. “We recommend combinations of equipment and accessories, and we feature other content, such as directors of film festivals from around the country who show clips from the best entries from their festivals.” Jtown.tv also recently featured Sanjeev Chatterjee, the executive director of Miami’s James L. Knight Center for International Media, where he’s also a professor. “He showed some clips of a project that he’s working on in China, India and Africa bringing awareness to issues like water conservation and urban planning,” Miller says. Another popular feature of jtown.tv is having a guest show two or three 90-second clips, and then start an interactive Q&A about how the shots were achieved and anything else interesting about the content. “I learn a lot myself from doing this, particularly when new products come to market,” he notes. “The manufacturers send experts to www.markeemag.com
us to explain to me and our audience how [products] work. Some of what they offer is so new that we don’t know about it yet, which [generates] great discussion in the live chat room.” Miller believes that “the live chat room is the most effective tool that we offer in our mix that helps professionals stay a step a head of the
[Above] Midtown Video’s live monthly webcast for shooters at jtown.tv, hosted by Jesse Miller, is about to mark its second anniversary.
With thousands of crews around the world, we find the right one for your shoot. Crew Connection.
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Education
game because they can get immediate feedback to their questions. That’s especially true when we get as many as 50 people in a chat room at once. Also key in that mix is the inclusion of industry experts as guests on the show, because I don’t always have answers, and they come from various sectors of the business.” While part of Miller’s original intent was to keep in closer touch with Midtown Video’s customers, jtown.tv has “also allowed us to heighten our digital presence and expand our reputation by reaching viewers that otherwise
[Above] Demonstrating various booming techniques in the field is part of one of Rich Topham’s audio workshops at PSS.
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wouldn’t have encountered us,” he says. “So it’s about providing value to our market and building our brand.”
PSS Audio Workshops Solve Problems Rich Topham of New York City-based Professional Sound Services (PSS; www.prosound.com) conducts workshops on the tools, techniques and procedures used in the pro sound business. But while he’s based in the city, he might just as well be in an open room near you. Do you want to know about the aesthetics of sound recording, audio design, prepro planning and the latest in equipment and tools? Then call PSS, which holds at least two workshops per month at its store in The Big Apple or at a college, university or private businesses in another locale, such as Topham’s spot-on-the-map on this day, Ohio University in Athens. It’s cameramen and editors who usually partake. “The shooters want to know sound better, and the post people want to know why the sound that they’re getting isn’t good,” Topham says. To that end, the most popular topics are “using wireless mics, frequency ranges and how to hang lavalier mics on talent so they don’t get clothing noise and you pick up the talent’s true voice.” Other topics include types of patterns of mics and which ones to employ in given instances, matching time code, and matching picture and sound with the new cameras and recorders on the market. The workshops can last from two to six hours, “depending on how in-depth the users want to get regarding the topic, as well as specific questions [they have] that pertain to how they are working and solving their issues,” Topham says. His overall goal is for his students “to walk away with the knowledge of how to record sound, so their future projects are more successful and their sound is much better.” Repeat participants are not a rarity. “My students want to not only reinforce what they learn, but they encounter new problems they ask me to help them solve.” Topham seemingly stops at nothing in his quest to educate; his students get his cell number and are welcome to call virtually any time. “I just had a former student that I had not spoken to in four years give me a ring,” he reports. The biggest challenges of continuing education in pro audio today consist of keeping pace with camera upgrades. “The mics and the booming techniques have remained the same for the past 20 years,” he says. “What’s key with the latest gear is learning the software changes and knowing how to negotiate the menus, as well as the differences in the laws for wireless mics – and how those laws affect clients. Wireless technology used in the field is another big issue, due to the multitude of new broadband devices that make a crowded spectrum even more crowded,” Topham says. Indeed, what inquiring minds want to know seems to change constantly. Students offer input concerning potential PSS offerings, and each seminar includes a Q&A period where Topham can cover everyone’s specific needs. What’s coming up this summer? Most likely a student filmmakers’ seminar toward the end of July and a gig with the University Film & Video Association, a Boston-based trade group, the following month. Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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May/June 2011 • V. 26 |No. 3
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
2.0
Stock Footage Guide Photo courtesy of Shutterstock/ Rich Carey
A LUNA BLUE
323-871-8919
ALASKA VIDEO POSTCARDS
907-349-8002
info@alunablue.com www.alunablue.com
ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE
212-456-5421
ALL PRO HD
303-253-6300 ALL-STOCK/ACTION SPORTS
310-459-2526
310-317-9996 BBC MOTION GALLERY NY
AM STOCK EXCHANGE
AIR SEA LAND PRODUCTIONS
1-800-IMAGERY
718-626-2646 asl@airsealand.com www.airsealand.com
AIRBOSS STOCK FOOTAGE
BENNETT WATT HD PRODUCTIONS
AMERICAN TIME LAPSE INC
800-488-6359 BEST SHOT STOCK FOOTAGE
224-628-2410
813-877-2118 request@bestshotfootage.com www.bestshotfootage.com
BLACK FILM CENTER/ARCHIVE
sales@timelapse.com www.timelapse.com
APEXSTOCK.COM
888-250-APEX
541-863-4429
BLACKLIGHT FILMS
323-436-7070 smiller@blacklightfilms.com www.blacklightfilms.com
BLACKSTONE STOCK FOOTAGE
info@artbeats.com www.artbeats.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS
212-621-1500
812-855-6041 bfca@indiana.edu www.indiana.edu/~bfca
info@apexstock.com www.apexstock.com
ARTBEATS
800-327-2893
stockfootage@bennett-watt.com www.hdstockfootage.net
footage@americabyair.com www.americabyair.com
502-581-8160 ASSOCIATED TELEVISION INTL
jjdrkn@yahoo.com www.airbossstockfootage.com
www.markeemag.com
818-762-7865
415-431-1122 AMERICA BY AIR STOCK FOOTAGE
sales@gettyimages.com www.aerialhdstockllc.com The Aerial HD Stock LLC collection, shot by cinematographer Steve Cassidy and co-produced with Camera Copters owner/pilotPaul Barth, features a diverse mix of day and night cityscapes, scenic beauty, industrial, energy production, urban, agriculture, and more from locations all across the USA and Caribbean. Shot with the Cineflex aerial system in 1080 24P, new material is constantly being added.Aerial HD Stock LLC footage is represented exclusively worldwide by Getty Images.
866-235-5358 bbc.sales@thoughtequity.com www.bbcmotiongallery.com
researcher@amstockcameo.com www.amstockcameo.com
adpix@adpix.com www.adpix.com
AERIAL HD STOCK LLC/CAMERA COPTERS
bbc.sales@thoughtequity.com www.bbcmotiongallery.com
info@all-stock.com www.all-stock.com
info@actionsportsstockfootage.com www.actionsportsstockfootage.com
ADVENTURE PICTURES
866-235-5358
gm@allprohd.com www.allprohd.com
stockfootage@warrenmiller.com www.wmefootage.com
ACTION SPORTS/SCOTT DITTRICH
404-523-9660 bill@atlantavideo.com www.atlantavideo.com
419-529-5900 BBC MOTION GALLERY L.A.
abcvideosource@abc.com www.abcnewsvideosource.com
ACTION FOOTAGE/WARREN MILLER
ATLANTA VIDEO
stock@akvideo.com www.akvideo.com
615-731-5310
g.clifford@worldnet.att.net www.blackstonestockfootage.com
BLAUSEN MEDICAL COMMS
info@ap.org www.ap.org
800-999-6173 info@blausen.com www.blausen.com
323-556-5600 BLUE SKY FOOTAGE info@ati.la www.ati.la
310-305-8384 sales@blueskyfootage.com www.blueskyfootage.com
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Stock Footage Guide BOEING COMPANY
206-662-6628
DIGITAL HOTCAKES
318-603-0236 FOOTAGEBANK HD
imagelicensing@boeing.com www.boeingimages.com
BRIDGER PRODUCTIONS INC
307-733-7871
DIGITAL JUICE INC
info@bridgerproductions.com www.bridgerproductions.com
BUDGET FILMS STOCK FOOTAGE
800-525-2203
323-660-0187 DOCUMENTARY ED RESOURCES
888-288-0550 DOLLARHIDE FILM INC
info@cameracopters.com www.cameracopters.com The Aerial HD Stock LLC collection, shot by cinematographer SteveCassidy and co-produced with Camera Copters owner/pilot Paul Barth, features a diverse mix of day and night cityscapes scenic beauty, industrial, energy production, urban, agriculture, and more from locations all across the USA and Caribbean. Shot with the Cineflex aerial system in 1080 24P new material is constantly being added.Aerial HD Stock LLC footage is represented exclusively worldwide by Getty Images.
CAMERA ONE
206-523-3456 cameraone@prodigy.net www.cameraone.us
CARTER PRODUCTIONS
617-926-0491
info@footage.net www.footage.net
FOOTAGELAND
800-442-0550 footageland@aol.com www.footageland.com
601-853-4252 FRAMEPOOL
DOUBLETIME PRODUCTIONS
800-331-1314 americas@framepool.com www.framepool.com
516-869-1170 FREEWHEELIN FILMS
970-925-2640
infodoubletime@optonline.net www.doubletimeproductions.com
DVARCHIVE.COM
800-666-8904
kayla@fwf.com www.fwf.com
GETTY IMAGES
info@dvarchive.com www.dvarchive.com
ECHO FILM PRODUCTIONS
208-336-0349 echofilm@mindspring.com www.echofilms.com
EEF PRODUCTIONS
970-479-6333 hayden@eefhd.com www.eefhd.com
303-499-9430 EFOOTAGE LLC
626-395-9593 info@efootage.com www.efootage.com
800-462-4379 motionrequests@gettyimages.com www.gettyimages.com
GLOBAL IMAGEWORKS LLC
201-384-7715
info@globalimageworks.com www.globalimageworks.com Global ImageWorks licenses contemporary and archival footage including: 9/11, aerials, climate change, destinations, extreme sports, fire and rescue, global conflict, hip hop, historic travel films, home movies, lifestyle, nature, pop culture, re-enactments, rock n roll, storm chasers, technology, time-lapse, US cities, wildlife. All formats including Hi-Def and 35mm. 30,000+ clips searchable on-line. Rights managed and royalty free. Additional services: Footage Research and Music Clearances.
310-360-9600 info@celebrityfootage.com www.celebrityfootage.com
CHICAGO VIDEOGRAPHER/NED MILLER
CINEWORKS/NH MOVIES
501-321-0440 GLOBAL VILLAGE STOCK FOOTAGE
ELITE VIDEO
888-798-3463
production@videosource.com www.videosource.com
support@elitevideo.com www.elitevideo.com
847-816-9020 ned@nedmiller.com www.nedmiller.com
ENCOUNTER VIDEO
503-285-8974
GOAL PRODUCTIONS
626-584-9515 info@goalproductions.com www.goalproductions.com
dburkhart@encountervideo.com www.encountervideo.com
603-463-5900 info@nhmovies.com www.nhmovies.com
CLASSIC IMAGES
ESPN FOOTAGE LICENSING
212-515-1252 GOLAN PRODUCTIONS INC
312-642-4500 candice@golan.tv www.golan.tv
footage@espn.com www.espnfootage.com
310-277-0400 sales@classicimg.com www.classicimg.com
CLASSIC WORLDWIDE
F.I.L.M. ARCHIVES INC
212-696-2616
GOLIATH MEDIA
617-306-6106 info@goliathmedia.com www.goliathmedia.com
info@filmarchivesonline.com www.filmarchivesonline.com
440-838-5377 info@classicworldwide.com www.classicworldwide.com
CNN IMAGESOURCE
FARISH MEDIA
808-329-1655
GOTFOOTAGE.COM
702-257-8822 support@gotfootage.com www.gotfootage.com
farishmedia@hawaii.rr.com www.hawaiivideo.com
404-827-3326 cnn.imagesource@turner.com www.cnnimagesource.com
COMPASS LIGHT INC
CONUS ARCHIVE
888-436-6824 GREG HENSLEY PRODUCTION
970-984-3158 hensley@sopris.net www.greghensley.com
stockshots@earthlink.net www.stockshots.com
FISH FILMS FOOTAGE WORLD
818-905-1071 HARBOR BRANCH OCEANOGRAPHIC footageworld@aol.com www.footageworld.com
772-242-2400 cousin@hboi.edu www.hboi.edu
FLIXDISC LTD
800-708-1584 flixdisc@aol.com www.flixdisc.com
HAWAIISTOCKVIDEO.COM
808-329-1655 farishmedia@hawaii.rr.com www.hawaiivideo.com
FLORIDA FILM & TAPE
407-297-0091 brad@ffandt.com www.floridafilmandtape.com
800-373-2677 sales@cmsp.com www.cmsp.com
Markee 2.0 |
FILM & VIDEO STOCK SHOTS INC
860-868-1771 catarchive@aol.com www.catarchive.com
CUSTOM MEDICAL STOCK PHOTO
402-339-1001 rod@thegreatplains.com www.thegreatplains.com
866-473-5264 sales@corbis.com www.corbismotion.com
CREATIVE ARTS TELEVISION
612-789-6000 GREAT PLAINS MOTION PIC CO fastfootage@aol.com www.fastfootage.com
651-642-4576 cbridson@conus.com www.conus.com
CORBIS MOTION
FAST FOOTAGE
207-236-2078 info@compasslight.com www.compasslight.com
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732-385-1122
jim@dollarhide.net www.dollarhide.net
rcfilmvideo@earthlink.net
CELEBRITY FOOTAGE
FOOTAGE.NET
docued@der.org www.der.org
dan@caelestisproductions.com www.caelestisproductions.com
CAMERA COPTERS/AERIAL HD STOCK LLC 888-463-7953
info@footagebank.com www.footagebank.com
customerservice@digitaljuice.com www.digitaljuice.com
filmclip@aol.com www.budgetfilms.com
CAELESTIS PRODUCTIONS
310-822-1400
info@digitalhotcakes.com www.digitalhotcakes.com
May/June 2011
FOOTAGE BAKERY
800-773-2753 support@footagebakery.com www.footagebakery.com
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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877-426-1121 HOTSTOCKFOOTAGE.COM
footage@hboarchives.com www.hboarchives.com HBO Archives collections include: Sports – exclusive sports imagery and top athletes. Contemporary – stock shots from HBO Films. Archival – anchored by The March of Time documentary series. Wildlife – wildlife and scenics from exotic locations around the world. Entertainment News – exclusive behind-the-scenes and other footage covering music, comedy television and film celebrities. Our website features high-speed video and text searches and offers low-res video downloads. We also provide free research.
INTERNATIONAL HISTORIC FILMS
HIGH PLAINS FILMS
HISTORIC FILMS
800-249-1940
info@historicfilms.com www.historicfilms.com Since 1991, HISTORIC FILMS has been the world’s leading source for vintage entertainment, music performance and archival stock footage. With exclusive representation of such libraries as THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, DON KIRSHNER’S ROCK CONCERT and PATHE NEWS INC., Historic Films offers over 40,000 music performances (as well as comedy, vaudeville, burlesque and other performance genres) and over 20,000 hours or circa 1895-2000 archival footage.
HOLLYWOOD NEWSREEL
323-833-5920
IRON ORCHID FILMS
808-955-1000
LEN AITKEN PRODUCTIONS
720-565-1313 brookaitken@comcast.net www.laproductions.com
filmhawaii@aol.com www.filmhawaii.com
ISLAND CENTURY MEDIA
888-373-4539 LEONARD RUE VIDEO PRODS
info@icm4hd.com www.icm4hd.com ICM4HD.com stock footage collection, premium collection of High Definition (1080P) Gyro-Stabilized Aerial footage shot with Sony CineAlta F-950 encompassing scenics, cityscapes, industrial and more. We will search for you and provide relevent samples. All footage shot by Aerial Cinematographer Robert Gunter conforming to the highest editorial and production standards. Call us today for exclusive footage, rights managed and royalty free. Toll free 888-373-4539 or info@icm4hd.com
K&K MEDIA
KBC PRODUCTIONS
801-521-5567 info@lonepeakproductions.com www.lonepeakproductions.com
LONE WOLF DOCUMENTARY GRP
207-799-9500 info@lonewolfdg.com www.lonewolfdg.com
281-495-3691 LOUIS WOLFSON II ARCHIVE
208-344-1948
908-362-6616 sales@ruevideo.com www.ruevideo.com
LONE PEAK PRODUCTIONS
kurt@kkmedia-tv.com www.kkmedia-tv.com
rickspalla@yahoo.com www.hollywoodnewsreel.com
305-375-1505 info@wolfsonarchive.org www.wolfsonarchive.org
MAMMOTH HD INC
kris@kbcconnect.com www.kbcfilms.com
www.markeemag.com
541-326-1496 info@lastfrontierfootage.com www.lastfrontierfootage.com
213-841-6335 inttrvfilms@aol.com
406-728-0753 yak@highplainsfilms.org www.highplainsfilms.org
305-909-1637
kesserimagelibrary@gmail.com www.kesser.com Kesser Image Library has offered stock footage for more than 30 years. With a collection from the 1930’s to recent quality footage shot on HD we’ve compiled a grand variety of beach, sunset and recreation footage as well as brilliant fireworks, airports, exotic birds, animals, clouds, skylines, time-lapse and more. If we don’t have what you need, we can shoot it.
LAST FRONTIER FOOTAGE
406-581-0260 markzetler@hotmail.com www.heroshots.com
773-927-9091 info@historicfootage.com www.historicfootage.com
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FILMS HERO SHOTS
303-721-6121 KESSER IMAGE LIBRARY
john@hotstockfootage.com www.hotstockfootage.com Wild! Wacky! Unusual! Hostockfootage offers a myriad of extreme sports, action, wild, wacky and unusual scenes as well as RARE and one-of-a-kind sports crashes, rescues, scenics, sunsets, etc.
303-670-7973 info@mammothhd.com www.mammothhd.com
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Stock Footage Guide MEDIA BAKERY
805-682-9325 NORBERT WU PRODUCTIONS
831-375-4448
info@mediabakery.com www.mediabakery.com
MIAMI NEWS NET
305-285-0044
office@norbertwu.com www.norbertwu.com
NORMAN KENT PRODUCTIONS
386-446-0505
mnn@bellsouth.net www.miaminewsnet.com
MICHAEL GRABER PRODUCTIONS
949-489-9330
info@normankent.com www.normankent.com
NORTHEAST HISTORIC FILM
207-469-0924
info@graberproductions.com www.graberproductions.com
MICHAEL MAY PRODUCTIONS
nhf@oldfilm.org www.oldfilm.org
808-739-0032 OCEANFOOTAGE.COM
866-375-2313
mmmay@me.com
MOVIECRAFT INC
MYSTIC SEAPORT
ODDBALL FILM + VIDEO
415-558-8112
NATIONAL GEO DIGITAL MOTION
OMEGA MEDIA GROUP INC
NAUTILUS PRODUCTIONS LLC
770-449-8870
NBCUNIVERSAL ARCHIVES
NEW & UNIQUE VIDEOS
OPPER SPORTS PRODUCTIONS
NEWYORKSHOTS.COM
858-481-7283
NHL HOCKEY ARCHIVE
201-750-5860 nhlha@nhl.com www.nhlhockeyarchive.com
781-449-6282 info@royaltyfreehd.com www.royaltyfreehd.com
503-521-9004 info@royaltyfreestore.com www.royaltyfreestore.com
SAVAFILM
307-739-2256 sava@savafilm.com www.savafilm.com
541-923-1390 SEVERE WEATHER
OUTBACK STOCK
305-394-6000 mike@ultimatechase.com www.ultimatechase.com
mike@outbackmediagroup.com www.outbackstock.com
PAL PRODUCTIONS INC
206-361-9366
SHOW POPPERS
323-666-7968 info@showpoppers.com www.showpoppers.com
lazpal@aol.com www.paladventurevideos.com
520-298-4810 dfrench@newyorkshots.com www.newyorkshots.com
ROYALTY FREE HD
info@oppersports.com www.oppersports.com
619-644-3000 footage@newuniquevideos.com www.newuniquevideos.com
562-438-6300 sales@rocketclips.com www.rocketclips.com
omni@moabvideo.com www.moabvideo.com
212-664-3797 footage@nbc.com nbcuniversalarchives.com
ROCKETCLIPS INC
435-259-8444 ROYALTYFREESTORE
OMNI PRODUCTIONS
910-624-7488 nautilusvideo@earthlink.net www.nautilusproductions.com
504-834-8811 rberning@berning.com www.berning.com
clientservices@omegamediagroup.com www.omegamediagroup.com
877-730-2022 ngdigitalmotion@ngs.org www.ngdigitalmotion.com
ROBERT BERNING PRODUCTIONS
info@oddballfilm.com www.oddballfilm.com
860-572-5379 suki.williams@mysticseaport.org www.mysticseaport.org
PENN STATE MEDIA SALES
800-770-2111
mediasales@psu.edu www.MediaSales.psu.edu Penn State Media Sales offers exclusive footage from the world’s most famous and infamous educational and research films. Rare archival footage subjects include psychology, anthropology, primates, and sociology. Titles include Obedience, Comparative Tests on a Human and a Chimpanzee Infant of Approximately the Same Age, Transorbital Lobotomy, and Stanford Prison Study. Subjects and authors include Milgram, Jung, Bandura, Skinner, and Zimbardo.
SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGES
866-663-3954
support@shutterstock.com www.footage.shutterstock.com Shutterstock Footage offers instant access to thousands of premium, creative digital video clips for just $10 to $50 per clip, or via subscription for even greater savings. Shutterstock has over 280,000 diverse clips available for your video projects, with thousands more added every week. Royalty-free licenses mean once you download a clip, you can use it forever. Visit footage.shutterstock.com.
SILVERMAN STOCK FOOTAGE PERCEPTIONS INC
804-338-2234
donald@silvermanstockfootage.com www.silvermanstockfootage.com
802-425-2783 perceptivt@aol.com www.perceptionsvermont.com
SOURCE STOCK FOOTAGE PRAIRIE PICTURES INC
520-290-4810 requests@sourcefootage.com www.sourcefootage.com
817-276-9500 info@prairiepictures.com www.prairiepictures.com
SOUTHEAST STOCKFOOTAGE PRODUCERS LIBRARY
404-685-2806
contact@southeaststockfootage.com www.southeaststockfootage.com
818-752-9097 research@producerslibrary.com www.producerslibrary.com
SPORTS CINEMATOGRAPHY GROUP PUBLICDOMAINFOOTAGE.COM
info@publicdomainfootage.com www.publicdomainfootage.com
SPORTS CINEMATOGRAPHY GROUP
212-744-5333
sportscinema@earthlink.net www.sportscinematographygroup.com
610-258-2957 research@louredaproductions.com www.redafilms.com
STILL HOPE PRODUCTIONS INC REELIN’ IN THE YEARS PRODUCTIONS
310-785-9100
sportscinema@earthlink.net www.sportscinematographygroup.com
301-471-8058
REDA ARCHIVES, LLC
804-683-0937
lionheartkrh@earthlink.net www.reenactmentstockfootage.com The worlds most complete, royalty-free full color historical recreation and re-enactment HD footage collection. Major-motion-picture quality with authentic and accurate costuming, action, special effects, locations, sets and props. We are experts and historians covering 1600 to today. Fifes & Drums... Camps and Campfires... Cavalry... Artillery... Flags... Historical Women... African-American History... Slavery... Generals... Tanks... Machine Guns... Trenches... Musket Volleys... Indian Warriors... George Washington... Abraham Lincoln.
support@footagesearch.com www.oceanfootage.com
708-460-9082 stock@moviecraft.com www.moviecraft.com
REENACTMENT STOCK FOOTAGE.COM
360-598-4152 info@stillhopeproductions.com www.stillhopeproductions.com
619-281-6725
dpeck@reelininthe years.com www.reelinintheyears.com
STOCK VIDEO
978-449-0065 stockvideo@aol.com www.stockvideo.com
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Special Ks:
High(er) Resolution Production and Post With HD formats now firmly entrenched in production and post, many in the industry have begun to migrate to even higher resolutions, using 2K, 3K, 4K and 5K cameras, especially for effects-intensive projects, and following a 2K or 4K pipeline for postproduction.
BY CHRISTINE BUNISH
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The concept of higher-resolution image capture may not be so new, however. “35mm has been the standard for a hundred years, and it’s considered 4K acquisition,” says DIT Dino Georgopoulos of Kosmos Innertainment Group, Inc. in Venice, California. “We just haven’t had digital 4K from acquisition to delivery to make content futureproof. All the manufacturers get it now and are starting to release 4K cameras, monitors, projectors and displays. It will be a 4K world – from acquisition to post to distribution – in three to five years.”
ARRI ALEXA Lets Geissbuhler Exceed Expectations “As a DP, it’s very important that the camera you choose is something you can stand behind, that it performs dependably and won’t let down everybody who’s working on a film,” says New York City-based Luke Geissbuhler (www.lukegeissbuhler.com). A long-time Arriflex SR user, he moved to the ARRI D-21 for the Muppets movie Letters for Santa. “Then they came out with ALEXA. It’s not as much an answer to the RED One as a natural development of the D-21,” he says. “The ALEXA is such a pleasure to use: Its menus are supremely intuitive, it delivers a gorgeous image, it’s physically and ergonomically well thought out, and it’s an integrated camera so everyone’s accessories work on it.” Geissbuhler was among the first to reserve an ALEXA, which ARRI bills as a compact, lightweight digital camera with ultra-fast workflows and image quality akin to 35mm film. It boasts a 3.5K sensor pixel count; its actual image area is 3K which, when fully debayered, delivers a 2K image. Within three days of its arrival, Geissbuhler took ALEXA to subzero Alaska for a month to shoot a Frankenstein-themed independent feature. “Alaska was a great test, and ALEXA came through with flying colors,” he reports. “We used it mostly handheld or with a very lightweight tripod. It jumped from set up to set up very quickly.” He paired the camera with a lightweight matte box, a small monitor that sat on top of the camera, and two compact zooms. “The camera’s integrated rods are fantastic: ALEXA sits well on your shoulder and so low that the operator can finally look to the right and see over the camera!” At press time, Geissbuhler was completing a documentary short on ALEXA, which looks at the future through the eyes of children around the world. The project took him to Mexico, Germany, South Africa, India and China; he just wrapped segments in Denver. “We did a lot of running around with the kids, so the camera’s compact size and our small crew were ideal,” he says. “ALEXA eliminates all the things that usually corrupt the image: motion artifacts, distorted highlights, noise in the shadows, color shifting, et cetera. It’s so satisfying when the camera seems to get out of the way and just lets the beauty reveal itself.” Before investing in ALEXA Geissbuhler looked at the roster of jobs he typically shoots, which had required him to rent a dozen different cameras annually. “It’s a pretty eclectic mix: highly polished, gritty, handheld, studio shoots, movies, commercials, industrials, documentaries. ALEXA fit so many of them that I quickly became convinced that it made sense to own one. And when I’m on smaller jobs, it just allows me to exceed expectations.” Geissbuhler is always present for his color corrections, which have been a pleasure so far, he reports. He has yet to shoot with ALEXA in the ARRIRAW mode opting for the more compact ProRes 4444 in LogC format that virtually all post houses today can easily handle for a smooth and speedy finish.
[Above Top] Luke Geissbuhler (with 1st AC Scott Daharb in blue shirt) carrying ARRI ALEXA through a housing development in Mumbai, India, where he shot segments for a documentary on the future seen through the eyes of children around the world.
[Above] Luke Geissbuhler took ARRI ALEXA into the Chiemsee in Rosenheim, Germany for a documentary shoot.
[Left] Luke Geissbuhler shooting an indie feature outside Anchorage, Alaska near Chugiak State Park with ARRI ALEXA.
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High(er) Resolution [Below] Bully Pictures’ director Craig Tanimoto has shot many commercials with RED One.
Tanimoto Taps RED One for Film Look Director Craig Tanimoto with Santa Monica’s Bully Pictures (www.bullypictures.com) describes himself as “traditionally a film guy” who has spent the last few years primarily shooting with RED Digital Cinema’s now-famous 4K RED One camera. “I’m known for doing a lot of live action and special effects, so RED works to my advantage,” he says. “It does a really good job in getting a film look with shallow depth of field. And 4K has more information so you can blow up shots, move them around and really manipulate color. In the old days, if a window was blown out, that was it. Now you capture everything raw so you can pull out and find the details in the window. RED offers a lot of freedom that way.” Tanimoto, a former agency creative who wrote Think Different for Apple Computer, enjoys the ability to achieve “a film look with the technology of today” and notes that “master cinematographers are now moving to 2K and 4K when just a few years ago people shied away from it.” He didn’t experience much of a learning curve with RED One, he says. “Apart from working with a DIT now, nothing has changed that much for me.” He relies on a DIT more to assure smooth image capture than to set a look for a TV commercial since “as
a special effects guy, I do a lot of manipulation in post,” he explains. Tanimoto gave “a very cinematic look” to the Panda Express “Enchanted Island” spot shot on RED One in which one of two pandas sailing on a pirate ship raises his telescope and spies a mermaid. After doing an extensive greenscreen previs of the commercial to sell the agency on the look, he got an expansive cinematic feel and depth of field from the RED One. “There’s a sensuous ebb and flow of the pandas standing on the boat, the wind rippling their shirts and the horizon line in the distance,” he says. “The only danger I see in shooting 2K or 4K is that [higher resolutions] can make things look too good, too slick and perfect. You have to make sure the look you get matches the message you’re trying to communicate.”
Georgopoulos Joins First RED EPICM Heavy Hitters DIT Dino Georgopoulos of Kosmos Innertainment Group, Inc. in Venice, California (http://red31.com) owns the third RED EPIC-M camera released. A producer by trade, he helped create the Digital Entertainment Network streaming media site, was head of production for the launch of Al Gore’s Current TV, became a digital cinema projectionist, then reserved one of the first RED One cameras and “fell into the job” of renting out the camera with himself as DIT. He’s done commercials with director David Fincher and features with director Ter-
Sony Raises the Bar with F65 CineAlta 4K Camera Building upon Sony’s popular CineAlta platform, the F65 CineAlta Digital Motion Picture Camera, officially unveiled at NAB, represents next-generation acquisition technology. It raises the bar in the quest for the look of 65mm film and delivers on its promise to derive true 4K resolution and beyond at the point of image capture. A unique 8K image sensor, with approximately 20 megapixels, offers higher image fidelity than other cameras, according to Sony. With 16-bit RAW output, the F65 establishes a gateway to an end-to-end 4K mastering workflow. The Sony imager is the first to provide a dedicated green photosite for each pixel in the 4K output image: This is twice the amount of green resolution compared with traditional 4K Bayer pattern sensors, providing a significant improvement in image resolution that’s idea for VFX processing. “Sony is committed to driving every aspect of a 4K workflow – starting with acquisition,” says Alec Shapiro, senior vice president, Professional Solutions of America, Sony Electronics. “This camera is the pinnacle of 30-plus years of research, experience and engineering breakthroughs and is the latest example of Sony’s ongoing pursuit of the highest-quality content creation and production.” The F65 has been designed for multiple production applications, including 3D rigs and Steadicam and will offer a compact and lightweight detachable camera T-head for these configurations. An optional mechanical rotary shutter will be available for eliminating motion artifacts that are inherent with other CMOS sensor technology. 24
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[Left] DIT Dino Georgopoulos of Kosmos Innertainment Group owns one of the first RED EPIC-M cameras.
rence Malick “and everything in between.” With a form factor about half that of RED One, EPIC-M currently shoots “three flavors of 5K: the basic 5K 2:1, 5K full-frame for 16:9 TV and 5K 2.40:1 for wide-screen features,” he explains. “With the push to get EPIC out to big-budget, tent-pole features, RED has done a lot to legitimize the format for everyone else.” Among the motion pictures shooting on EPIC are Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, the Spider-Man reboot and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Georgopoulos experienced a “five-minute learning curve” from RED One to EPIC-M. “RED has taken everything it learned with RED One and elevated it a level, making it easier to operate the camera with a touchscreen GUI so the DPs can change all their settings, format the drives and check metering without me,” he says. Even though the new GUI means that he doesn’t “have to jump up all the time” to attend to the camera’s operation, Georgopoulos still watches “the image at the
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cart to make sure the exposure is perfect every second and nothing in the image will come back to bite us in the final.” In his role as DIT he also consults on bluescreen or greenscreen effects, keeps data safe and delivers iPod dailies for the director. His EPIC-M has been working non-stop since its delivery on productions such as a Kenny Chesney music video; Reebok commercials featuring Swiz Beatz and Alicia Keys; H&M spots; Bravo cable promos and content for the Annenberg Space for Photography’s “Beauty CULTure” exhibit, which will be projected in 4K. Just as it’s been an easy transition to EPIC-M production, it’s been an equally easy transition to EPIC-M postproduction, which follows the same pipeline as RED One, according to Georgopoulos. “I use the new version of REDCINE-X to handle files,” he says. “I copy them and bring them into REDCINE-X for a slight grade, then push out QuickTime ProRes 422 or 4444 files or Avid DNxHD files” for editing and finishing.
Phantom Delivers Slo-Mo Hyde Seeks Will Hyde, executive creative director and one of the partners at Superfad (www.superfad.com), loves to shoot slow motion – just look at his reel. Over the years, he and Superfad, which has offices in Culver City, California, New York City and Seattle, have achieved a certain expertise in
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High(er) Resolution
[Above Top] Superfad’s Will Hyde captured the magic the holiday season holds for children with the Phantom Flex highspeed camera for a Publix supermarkets campaign.
[Above] Superfad partner and executive creative director Will Hyde finds a lot of advantages in shooting slow motion with the Phantom Flex high-speed camera.
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the high-speed cinematography world thanks to the amount of production and R&D they’ve done. In the course of that, Superfad itself has migrated from a design and effects-based company to become more of a live-action production company. After shooting for several years with Vision Research’s Phantom HD highspeed camera, Hyde recently acquired the Phantom Flex, which shoots 5-2,570 fps and boasts 2560x1600 resolution, roughly the equivalent of 3K. The camera accepts a wide array of industry-standard lenses and supports a raw digital workflow, a video workflow or a combination of both. “The big advantage of Flex is its light sensitivity,” says Hyde, which he cites as closer to ISO 1,200 compared to the Phantom HD’s approximately 250. “One of the biggest production hurdles of high-speed cameras is the amount of light they need: You have to use old-school, tungsten lights, and they generate an incredible amount of heat,” which is undesirable for tabletop shoots. “To shoot paint drops at 2,000 fps without a lot of motion blur we had to place four 20Ks within three feet of each other pointing down at the paint drops,” he recalls. “It was so hot you couldn’t go in there! The light sensitivity of Flex allows us to use fewer lights and get the same exposure on the set.” Hyde is experimenting with increasing the capabilities of LED lighting, aiming to pack the most powerful LEDs together in a fixture that achieves the level of a 10K tungsten. A two-minute Point of Purchase retail project for Sony direct, “Eye Candy” employed Phantom slowmotion footage to showcase the detail of its Bravia line of HD televisions. “Sony didn’t want clichéd slo-mo shots, so we took a more stylized and fantasy-based approach to the concept, adding narrative and context,” says Hyde with stunning shots of billowing fabric, swirls, splashes and scattering pixie dust. Publix supermarkets’ “Magical Moments” campaign for the 2010 holiday season incorporated Phantom slow-motion imagery to alter time as kids’ showed delight in opening a present, watching the first snowflakes, turning a snow globe and spying the Christmas tree. “You see them in realtime first then we slow down to 1,000 fps to see that tiny slice of time stretched out,” he explains. “It’s the intimacy of the moment that’s really interesting and makes you happy.” When Superfad got into high-speed cinematography, it also invested in a postproduction pipeline, buying a “more sophisticated, expandable” Isilon server system to process extensive amounts of 4K data. “With the exception of some installations we’ve done that need high-resolution display, we haven’t been
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asked to finish anything in 4K,” notes Hyde. “Everything is shot 4K for more detail and easier compositing, but we ultimately finish in 2K or 1080 HD.”
Glodell Gives Kudos to SI-2K’s Flexibility Independent filmmaker Evan Glodell (www.coat wolf.com) has scored a hit with his first feature: Bellflower, a love story with apocalyptic stakes, premiered at Sundance in January, played at SXSW and is set for distribution this summer via Oscilloscope Laboratories. Glodell wrote, directed and starred in the movie. He also engineered many of its cameras, including the Coatwolf Model II Ultra Large Format, consisting of Silicon Imaging’s SI-2K camera with custom Coatwolf Optical System. A long-time SI-2K fan, Glodell “heard about the camera before it was released” and “started to bug the company to let me play with one.” He became a beta tester and owner of a pre-production camera head. He obtained a full camera body for the Bellflower shoot which lasted about 90 days in and around Ventura, California. Joel Hodge was the DP. (For more on the SI-2K see November/December 2010 issue.) About two-thirds of Bellflower was shot on Coatwolf’s custom camera set ups and the rest on the SI-2K with standard 16mm lenses, Glodell reports. The Silicon DVR recording software, with all of the camera controls, resided on a laptop where Glodell could open the SI-2K’s integrated IRIDAS Speedgrade On-set color grading tool that enabled him to select a desired look, save it and record with that look. “Each section of the movie has a drastically different style because we could color correct every day on set to get the mood to match the scene we were shooting; that was very important for me,” he says. Hodge did a lot of VFX shots featuring pyro and action-filled stunts – Bellflower’s stars tote a custom flamethrower and ride in the Medusa, an apocalypticequipped car. “We could take a frame of the first shot and bring it back while we were framing the next, which was an incredibly useful feature,” Glodell explains. The SI-2K’s tiny head allowed the filmmakers to get shots inside Medusa. “We wanted as wide a shot as possible so we duct-taped the head to the back inside window to get the shot,” he recalls. “You couldn’t have rigged a regular-sized camera and gotten those cool shots.”
[Right] Evan Glodell on the set of Bellflower with his SI-2K camera with custom Coatwolf Optical System. Photo: Joel Hodge, courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories
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JVC Unveils 4K Camera Prototype JVC (www.pro.jvc.com) displayed a prototype 4K camcorder at NAB 2011 featuring its new large-scale integration (LSI) chip for high-speed video processing. The new LSI enables processing, encoding and recording of 4K and multiple 2K images. JVC plans to utilize this processor in next- generation cameras that include both 4K and 2K-3D models. The small handheld camcorder shown at NAB was capable of producing video at 3840x2160 pixels. “While still a prototype, the camera could record and play back full 4K resolution,” says JVC assistant vice president of marketing communications Dave Walton. “It records to solid-state memory cards that output full 4K and allow users to begin editorial immediately.” With advanced image codecs and other technologies assembled in a single chip, the new LSI’s camera signal processing enables realtime RGB debayering of 8.3 megapixel video at 60 fps. The LSI requires 40 percent less power and, compared to previous LSIs, cuts systems costs in half. Walton says JVC is planning a series of forums with cinematographers and other production professionals to collect their feedback on “what to build into a sellable product. We want to let the community know we’re serious about developing products utilizing this technology. The prototype camera was a huge hit at NAB with production people. 4K is the future revolution in technology.” Postproduction posed no problem, according to Glodell. The cameras recorded in CineForm RAW; he did quick edits on the fly on his laptop’s Final Cut Pro software and a full Final Cut edit later – CineForm RAW is native to the software. “Although the native files had our looks embedded, we could have taken them off if we changed our minds,” he says. “But we had an idea how the movie should look, and in the final color correction pass once the cut was locked, we changed almost nothing. We’ve gotten a lot of attention about the way the movie looks.” Glodell says the flexibility of the SI-2K was something he started to take for granted. “Being able to zoom in on a shot in post was great, and the optical system gave us resolution to spare – the imagery was awesome. The trend is definitely moving to higher-resolution production.”
Cinelicious Takes Mile-High Postproduction View In the postproduction arena, higher resolution color grading and finishing are gaining ground. LA-based creative post studio Cinelicious (www.cine licious.tv) is housed in an open, 1960’s-design space that offers HD, 2K and 4K color grading for spots, music videos and features as well as VFX, beauty work and finishing. “Feature film clients are definitely thinking about or doing a 4K finish,” says principal and executive producer Paul Korver. “Texas Instruments will soon deliver its 4K DLP chip for 4K projection, and the big theater chains are investing. By the end of the year you’ll see flagship theaters showing 4K.” It used to be just “the blockbusters” that took advantage of “futureproofing their DI for the time when you could see the film in 4K,” he points out. But Cinelicious’s new DFT SCANITY 4K film scanner – just the second in the U.S. and the only one owned by an independent company – has increased speed and quality over rival devices “so the cost of a 4K DI becomes a more accessible price point” for $10- to $60-million features. www.markeemag.com
While Korver says there’s “no foreseeable 4K broadcast market,” he muses that “home always follows theater” in terms of consumers wanting home viewing to parallel the best of the theater experience. Cinelicious is seeing more commercials, especially those with VFX, shot in higher resolutions – Fage Greek yogurt spots with Phantom footage, a L’Oreal spot with mixed film and Phantom content – those destined for broadcast are still seeking HD finishes. With the maze of acquisition formats growing daily, it seems, Cinelicious is getting raves from producers for its prototype digital dailies worksheet that “analyzes processing times for every popular digital camera and all the formats they shoot,” says Korver. “You check boxes for type of camera, frame rate, sync sound or MOS, color correction or LUT implied, add your deliverables for production and editorial and the run time of the footage, and the worksheet calculates the cost of digital dailies. “There’s a wide difference between processing times in postproduction depending on the camera and codec you’re shooting,” he explains. “Film dailies are a known quantity, but that’s not true for digital acquisition – there’s no simple, known workflow across the board for all digital cameras. We think the worksheet makes people’s lives much easier. Our goal is to make sure that everything works, that you can conform the footage with the right metadata encoded in the dailies.” Korver’s advice for those entering the higher-resolution world is to work with a savvy post house that “takes the mile-high view” of postproduction. “Don’t assume that digital is like film, that post paths are all the same. You need a post company that sees the path from raw material through dailies to final editorial and can guarantee the conform. You don’t want a company that’s just trying to get your project out the door.” May/June 2011
[Above] Cinelicious principal and executive producer Paul Korver with the company’s new DFT SCANITY 4K film scanner, the only one in the U.S. owned by an independent facility.
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Spotlight
[Clockwise from Above] Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia. Photo: Bill Crabtree, Jr., Virginia Tourism Corp.
Dramatic view of the Iwo Jima Memorial with the Capitol and Washington Monument in the background. Photo: Destination DC
Fall shows her colors along West Virginia’s Highland Scenic Highway. Photo: West Virginia Film Office
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor at dusk. Photo: Maryland Office of Tourism
Capital Region
Stars Come Out, Align in Capital Region The District of Columbia and the three states (Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) that comprise the Capital Region are hosting film and tele-
BY MARK R. SMITH
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vision productions as diverse as the area’s landscapes. With Washington, D.C. pushing for incentives, Maryland boosting its package, Virginia successfully implementing its program and West Virginia serving up some generous incentive numbers, no wonder the region is attracting the likes of Spielberg – twice! – Eastwood, HBO, Showtime and many innovative indie producers. Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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GVI Documents Gulf Coast Post-Oil Spill
D.C. Works Toward Incentives
Among recent work at Washington stalwart GVI (www.g-v-i.com) is a documentary, Crude Justice, produced for the D.C.-based Alliance for Justice. Producer/director John Ringstad took GVI’s crew to the Gulf Coast to illustrate the obstacles that average citizens face in getting compensation by corporations involved in the BP oil spill and ensuing clean up, says GVI president Andy Hemmendinger (see photo). The doc, hosted by actor Ed Begley, Jr., was distributed via the Internet and within the legal community. GVI shot footage on a Sony PDW-F800 XDCAM HD camera, edited the program on an Avid Media Composer and mixed it in its Digidesign Pro Tools LE suite. Hemmendinger notes that in the last four months, “almost all of GVI’s clients that had been hanging on to SD production have – finally – made the transition to HD.” With that in mind, GVI bought its second and third HD cameras, another Sony PDW-F800 and a Sony PMW-EX3.
Although no incentive package is currently offered in the Nation’s Capital, Crystal Palmer and company are working hard toward that end. “We’re trying to put together an incentive and rebate package now,” says Palmer, who has served for years as director of the District [Top Left] of Columbia Office of Motion Picture & Television Development (www.film.dc.gov). Scenic walkway along Washington’s “We’ll probably come up with some combination thereof. Given D.C.’s home rule as a Georgetown Canal. Photo: Destination DC city [and not a state], we have to put together a package that’s a bit different.” For instance, “We’re looking at trying to raise money not just through appro[Bottom Left] priations from the city government, but from grants from foundations and private The stunning interior of Washington’s donations, as well,” she says. Library of Congress. In the meantime, the city is abuzz with various film-related activities. “We have a cross-section of production going on in the city today,” Palmer reports, citing parts of the recently wrapped Clint Eastwood FBI film, J. Edgar, set for release in mid-spring, and portions of Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon, the other big feature feather in the city’s cap. Homeland, a pilot starring Claire Danes, shot in the city and has been picked up by Showtime; another, ABC’s Georgetown, is on the market. The office is working with Snag Films, receiver of $10 million in funds from a partnership that includes Comcast and AOL, to promote a “best of” film competition for D.C. It’s open to district residents and locally-based production companies. The city has seen indie production, too. “We’re working with John Gann, a D.C.-based filmmaker who runs the D.C. Film Alliance and D.C. Shorts film festival, and Melissa Houghton of Women in Film & Video on promoting indie film production in town,” says Palmer. “We’re starting to provide the same services to indie projects that we provide to the Hollywood crowd, Washington’s venerable Double R Prosuch as location assistance, scouting and ductions (www.doublerproductions.com), research assistance.” located near Dupont Circle, recently com-
Double R Continues to Answer NAB’s Call
pleted the latest edition of a project the company “has been involved with since 1985,” says president and CEO Rosemary Reed. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Congressional PSA campaign gives members of Congress and their families (see photo) the opportunity to tape two PSAs of their choice; they’re distributed free to NAB member TV stations and audio tracks are edited for radio. For the 12-day production, Double R set up a full HD studio, master control board and two make-up stations in the basement of the U.S. Capitol, then shot footage at the Capitol and Reserve Officers’ Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars buildings. The spots were
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lensed with a Panasonic AJ-HDX900 camera, edited on an Avid Nitris, closed captioned and Sigma-encoded, then delivered by satellite. This year Double R taped 232 participants, representing 48 states, in 350 PSAs.
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Shine Illuminates Bloomberg Launch
Also in the hopper are talks with a business group that is interested in building a soundstage within the city limits, something they’ve done in three other U.S. cities and abroad, according to Palmer. While D.C. has other such infrastructure, it’s often unavailable to outside producers. “[Washington-based] BET usually uses its stage for inhouse production,” she notes. “We’re working with the landlord at the [now-closed] Atlantic Video location on a financing package” for a soundstage. Having such options give D.C. greater potential to become a favored locale for live television programming. “This year we got BET Honors to come back for a fourth year,” Palmer says, “and we hosted PBS when it filmed its tribute to Motown founder Berry Gordy at the White House.”
Recently, D.C.’s Shine Creative (www.wemakeitshine.com), located in the city’s new Design District, produced videos for the launch of Bloomberg Government, a website that’s “similar to what Bloomberg offers the financial market, just geared toward government actions, legislation, contracting” and more, says Bernardo Alvarez, the company’s creative director. The effort was, in a word, “complex. It could have been boring,” he says, “but we made it interesting” for agency client Fleishman-Hillard, “by going full-on with the animation” created in Adobe After Effects and rendered at 1080i, then brought into Apple’s Final Cut Pro HD. Audio was designed and mixed on Digidesign Pro Tools prior to the conversion of the animation to web formats. In the end, Shine created seven videos for the website: one overview and six sections for areas such as government relations, agencies and lobbies (see photo). “The software is the real product, and it allows the user to find info on anything government-related,” Alvarez reports.
[Below] Eduardo Sanchez (center) discusses his new film, The Possession, with crew on location around Hagerstown, Maryland.
Maryland Reopens Door for Major Productions
There’s good news within Maryland’s production community because of a coordinated effort by the Maryland Film Industry Coalition (MFIC) that resulted in the unanimous passage of Senate Bill 672 (SB 672) – establishing the Maryland Film Production Employment Act law. It increases the funding available for film and TV production from $1 million last year to $7.5 million for fiscal 2012 (which started July 1). It also changes what had been a discretionary grant program to a plan that allows a qualified film production entity to claim a credit against the state income tax for specified costs. The MFIC had been shooting for a package worth $15 million, but the $7.5 million is still a step in the right direction, making Maryland competitive again and hopefully building toward a bright future. Even before the expansion of the proDick’s Sporting Goods promoted gram was announced, there was other posiNational Runners Month by producing a two-spot campaign lensed in tive news on the state scene. Most notable Austin, Texas on the ARRI 435 by Balwas production of the pilot for Veep, starring timore-based Producers (pictured). Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The show was quickly The spots aired nationally on ESPN and various other outlets. picked up by HBO, and industry insiders are Both commercials have similar very hopeful that the initial season’s episodes content focusing on “the mentality of will be shot in Maryland. runners and what motivates them,” says Rip Lambert, president of ProAnother HBO project, the original movie ducers (www.producers.tv). They Game Change, which centers around the were cut inhouse on an Avid Sympho2008 U.S. presidential election and stars Ed ny after film transfer at Nice Shoes in New York. The client may add a third Harris as John McCain and Julianne Moore as “anthem spot: a tribute to runners Sarah Palin, just wrapped. and why they run,” he notes. In addition, Eduardo Sanchez (of the indie Recent editorial upgrades at Producers encompass Avid Nitris DX software and 80TB of storage, which complement the addition of Fairlight Constellation mixing desks in its two main audio sensation The Blair Witch Project) shot his
Producers Races Ahead with Spots, Equipment Additions
rooms last year; the latest Pro Tools system for the company’s sound design room comes next.
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Boni Teams With TV Animal Legend
new chiller, The Possession, around Bethesda, Maryland-based Boni ProducHagerstown in Western Maryland; tions (www.boniproductions.com) lensed another indie that lensed this past spring, Jim Fowler (TV animal icon from Mutual of L.U.V., was written and directed by Omaha’s Wild Kingdom) at his wildlife ranching operation for a sequence for a doc-inMaryland native Sheldon Candis and stars production with the working title, rapper Common, Danny Glover and Trailbreakers (see photo). Charles Dutton; it shot in the Baltimore It features an “amazing two-wheel drive motorcycle” called a Rokon, which Fowler’s area. lifelong buddy and Rokon founder Orla Many observers have felt that with a Larsen nicknamed a “mechanized mouncompetitive incentive package Maryland tain goat” due to its ability to navigate rough terrain “while not damaging or destroying could become a production juggernaut. the environment,” says director/DP Dennis Often called “America in Miniature” for a Boni. variety of looks that span many centuries The segment also focuses on the people who create, modify and maintain Rokons. It was shot on a Panasonic HPX3700 camera with P+S Technic Pro-35mm adaptor and UniqOptics 35mm Prime lensand cross diverse locations, “It offers es. The only additional production toy was a Cam Tram for dolly shots. Boni is still raising funds for the directors and producers a multitude of doc; upon completion his company will edit the project in its Apple Final Cut Pro HD suite. visuals,” says Jack Gerbes, director of the Maryland Film Office (www.mdfilm.org). He points to mountain ranges; more than 7,000 miles of waterfront, including beach resorts; and quaint fishing villages along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. “We can offer the urban grittiness of The Wire, the bucolic countryside of Runaway [Bottom Left] Bride, the historic locations seen in Gods & Generals, [or] double as Washington, D.C., Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Photo: Jack Gerbes for Live Free or Die Hard,” Gerbes adds. Today, the Maryland’s production community is rolling up its collective sleeves and getting back to work. “We’re really proud of the effort and the ultimate accomplishment” the incentives represent, says Debbie Donaldson Dorsey, MFIC secretary and director of the Baltimore Film Office. She stresses that the incentives are not about “giving money to Hollywood. It’s about a return on investment with a promise of considerable economic impact. “[The incentives] will bring people here back to work and help support all of the small businesses that provide infrastructure for the industry at a crucial time for the Based in Baltimore, Atlantic Cine state,” she notes. “It’s a great victory for the film industry Equipment (ACE; www.aceeast.com) in Maryland.” not only offers the mid-Atlantic region
ACE Gets Ready, Set for Bolt
equipment rentals, but also fills the needs of areas beyond. Case in point: trekking to Orlando to shoot a Gatorade spot for LA-based production company HSI, featuring Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Usain Bolt. “We worked on his events at the summer Olympics in Beijing, so we were a natural to shoot him for the Gatorade spot,” says ACE managing partner Randy Greer, Sr. He and company laid out 150 feet of ACE TRACKrunner HS against a greenscreen on a college track for Bolt’s commercial sprint (see photo). The spot was lensed with an ARRI 435 with the Nettman Stab-C Compact five-axis, gyro-stabilized remote head that tracked Bolt and captured his profile as he shot off the blocks. “We rent very unique equipment. That’s our whole concept,” says Greer. “We want to create new ways to move the cameras all the time.”
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RainMaker Answers Audio Questions for GEICO Richmond audio house RainMaker Studios (www.rain makerstudios.com) works with major national agencies that represent commercial icons such as Pizza Hut, WalMart and GEICO. The company recently completed soundtracks for several of the latter’s famous TV spots, says senior sound designer Jeff McManus. Among his favorite GEICO spots (pictured) are those from the “Rhetorical Question” TV campaign, from Richmond-based The Martin Agency, that have been running nationally for the past several months. RainMaker taps its Icon D-Command console with Pro Tools HD 7.5 software, along with Brent Averill vintage Neve and API mic pres, to create the spots’ sound. Monitoring is handled with ATC 5.1 surround speakers. “I really like working with the creatives at Martin because they let me do my job; GEICO is my favorite client,” says McManus. RainMaker has taken on more work with another Martin account, the U.S. Tennis Association.
Virginia Welcomes Spielberg and DreamWorks Some of last year’s news at the Virginia Film Office (www.film.virginia.org) has led, as was hoped, to bigger news in the Commonwealth this year. The incentive program that was established for fiscal 2011 finds Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks preparing to shoot a major production in the state capital of Richmond and in nearby Petersburg. The Spielberg/DreamWorks team will shoot a film about the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln, (based on the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin) goes into production this fall with Spielberg producing and directing; Disney/Touchstone is set to distribute. Lincoln will “likely use the services of Petersburg’s New Millennium Studios, as well as many of Central Virginia’s historic locations,” says film office director Rita McClenny.
[Far Right]
McClenny discussed the importance of Virginia’s $2.5-million motion picture tax credit program that, Photo: Cameron Davidson, Virginia Tourism Corp. combined with a cash grant program (both refundable), has facilitated increased consideration by the major studios. The minimum spend for the credit is $250,000; for the cash grant (which has no cap), there is no minimum. In 2010, no major Hollywood production shot in the state, but Richmond hosted a Sony telefilm, Unanswered Prayers, based on the Garth Brooks song of the same name. Three indie features, Lake Effects, Nutcracker, and Alone Yet Not Alone, shot not only in the capital city, but also in Roanoke and the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. Other highlights included a variety of TV programs, often originating from Discovery Communications, such as Facing Trauma for Discovery Health and an episode of Paranormal, which airs on The Discovery Channel. While there were no major disA four-spot campaign for high-end homecussions about altering the incentive builder Eagle Construction is a recent credit at Richmond’s Studio 108 (www.studio108.com). package for fiscal 2012 during the The concept for “Signs,” based on Eagle’s versalegislative session that concluded in tility and high-quality product, features in-ground March, McClenny says that she has signs listing various home features (pictured), which a jealous guy from Acme Builders plows seen “a steady stream” of applicaover with his truck. tions for the remaining incentive The two-day shoot was lensed on the Canon money and activity “continues to be 7D and edited inhouse on Apple’s Final Cut Pro HD with Adobe After Effects for graphics and brisk.” color correction via Mac Color. Studio 108 owner The state has proven its versatilJack Hartmann served as director and editor of ity in terms of locations with its varthe spot, one of a series of four encompassing themes such as quality workmanship, security ied topography featuring everything and eco-friendly features. from mountain ranges to farms to Studio 108 just moved its seven employees into a new facility in the city’s Art & Design District that Hartbeaches. Virginia is well known for mann says “makes us Richmond’s ultra boutique.” Kayaking in Chesapeake Bay with the New Point Comfort Lighthouse in the background.
Signs of Success at Studio 108
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“its historic preservation, which motivates many filmmakers to come here for our numerous 19th century, and earlier locales, and backdrops for their productions,” she says, noting the upcoming Spielberg/Disney film. With the new fiscal year starting on July 1, McClenny is looking ahead. “We have 15 active projects that we’re working on now, so we expect that we’ll put our incentive resources to full use in 2011,” she says. “We’re looking forward to doing likewise in 2012 and creating job opportunities for Virginia’s crew base, which has stayed busy working in spot, indie and episodic markets.”
MVI Shoots, Post Shoots Migrant Journey Doc in Central America New at MVI Post (www.mvipost.com) in Falls Church, Virginia is a documentary on the kidnapping, human trafficking and sexual slavery endured by Central American migrants journeying to the U.S. (pictured). Produced with Virginia Wolf, A Bridge Apart was shot in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico by MVI director/DP Frank Maniglia, Jr. on the Sony XDCAM EX1 due to its “light weight and durability” and the necessary “stealthy nature” of production. He edited the doc on the Avid Media Composer; senior designer Steven Maniglia used Autodesk Smoke and Adobe After Effects to create the open, title sequence and other graphics and maps. The sound design and mix was done by Frank Scheuring on the Fairlight EVO. MVI Post also finished the online, color correction and surround design/mix for National Geographic Channel’s high-energy Snipers pilot. The company also completed a Star Trek-themed spot for the Social Security Administration (SSA); they previously shot and posted SSA spots featuring TV and music icons Patty Duke and Chubby Checker.
West Virginia Almost Heaven for Filmmakers There’s big news in West Virginia these days, and it’s because Hollywood came calling – with the much anticipated J.J. Abrams/Steven Spielberg project for Paramount, Super 8, scheduled to hit the silver screen at a multiplex near you in June. The film was shot in and around the small A long-time local industry anchor that’s town of Weirton (where The Deer Hunter also still evolving, Richmond’s BES Studios shot), which is 30 miles due west of Pittsburgh, (www.besstudios.com) recently produced a during a stretch of several weeks last fall, says :30 spot for First Capital Bank from Martin Branding Worldwide that’s heavy on Pam Haynes, director of the West Virginia Film motion graphics (see photo). Office (www.wvfilm.com). “It’s the largest film The spot focuses on “the need to keep the state has ever had shoot here in terms of money and investment in Richmond and not allow migration to other countries, such money spent, even bigger than We Are as China,” says BES executive producer Marshall.” Mark Remes. Senior editor Michael Howell As always, incentives played a big role in the posted the commercial on the Avid DS (which has since been replaced with three decision to shoot in country a famous singer once Avid Symphony systems) and added graphics in Adobe After Effects. The voiceover and music deemed “Almost Heaven.” The state offers up to were handled inhouse with Digidesign Pro Tools. 31 percent in tax credits if at least 10 or more The new editing systems are just part of the rebranding of BES Television as BES Studios. Two Pro Tools suites are new, as is the logo and website. Additional talent has come onboard, West Virginia residents are included in the productoo, including veteran DP Stephen Lyons, BES’s new creative director. tion (27 percent otherwise). The ceiling is $10 mil-
BES Banks on First Capital
[Left] West Virginia’s New Rover Gorge Bridge, featured in the film Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. Photo: West Virginia Film Office
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IA Productions Plays to Win
lion every fiscal year, with no sunset. “There’s also no project cap, so a production can take all $10 million and we’re done for the year,” Haynes reports. Aside from Super 8, multiple broadcast and web campaigns for Degree deodorant via production company Science + Fiction that featured NHL legend Mark Messier and Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild were lensed in state and a reality show about miners for Spike TV, Coal, was shot by IA also boasts a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter Original Productions (of Deadliest Catch with a Cineflex mount for the Sony HDC-1500 and Ice Road Truckers fame). camera. The company furnished production services for the feature Super 8; tasks included “There is about $6 million left in the ordering costumes, hiring SFX professionals, program until the end of the fiscal year on making arrangements for dailies processing June 30,” says Haynes, noting that in-state and more. production companies take advantage of the incentives as well, such as Bill Hogan’s Image Associates (see profile) for spot campaigns for Massey Energy and the West Virginia Lottery. Among the challenges for West Virginia is developing infrastructure. “Like any state, we’re deep in gaffers, grip, camera operators and production personnel. What we need is more 1st and 2nd assistant camera operators, costume [Bottom Right Top] personnel and make-up and hair people,” says Haynes. Having large markets such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore-Washington close by is helpful for sourcing The upcoming Lionsgate feature, Warrior, shot in Moundsville’s former those disciplines. West Virginia Penitentiary. She believes the long-term answer is working with the state education system Photo: West Virginia Film Office to create workforce training programs and infrastructure development, “with the goal being to create a year-round sustainable industry.” [Bottom Right] But as far as looks go, West Virginia’s got ’em. “We’re obviously known for mounWinter in West Virginia’s tains, but we have a couple Snowshoe Village. Photo: West Virginia Film Office of counties [Hancock, which is near Pittsburgh, and Jefferson, near Harper’s Ferry] that can stand in for the Midwest,” Haynes points out. “In fact, Super 8 is set in Ohio.”
“You in?” That was the question at IA Productions (www.iaproductions.com), of Charleston, West Virginia where a campaign for the West Virginia Lottery from Fahlgren Advertising/Columbus proved to be the biggest production of the last year. The “You In” umbrella campaign for instant tickets included :60, :30, :15s and some :10 spots. They featured an actor who pops up in various places – a flower nursery, with a hiker in the woods – asking people, “Are you in?” Managing member and creative director Bill Hogan used two Sony F950 cameras for the shoots. The spots were cut on an Apple Final Cut Pro HD system in IA’s new edit suite (pictured), “which is available for $90 an hour, much less than a producer would pay in most other places,” he says.
Sweetsong Documents Crisis Evacuation Western Migration, a public service DVD (pictured) that educates and informs agencies, businesses and residents of West Virginia about how to respond to terrorist threats or attacks, is among recent projects at Sweetsong Productions (www.sweet song.com) in Parkersburg. Sweetsong used a Sony HVR-Z1U camera to shoot the video, which was funded by the Citizens Corps, the West Virginia Commission for National & Community Services, The Arc, the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department and The Education Center. The company tapped Adobe Premiere for editing and graphics and Digidesign Pro Tools V. 7 for audio post. The DVD’s topic is of particular interest because “residents of Washington, D.C., would pass through or evacuate to West Virginia should such a crisis occur,” says Sweetsong owner Roger Hoover. Content includes movers and shakers in the Capital Region’s business, government and homeland security sectors offering important info all residents need to know.
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Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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Inside View
Omnimusic | by Christine Bunish
Doug Wood Founder/CEO – Omnimusic • Port Washington, NY (www.omnimusic.com) Markee: As the head of one of the world’s leading production music libraries, what are some of the chief issues you’re dealing with today? Mr. Wood: “There are always new producers coming along and, for newcomers, copyright and legal issues surrounding music are kind of a black hole – they’re very complex. The copyright law creates a bundle of different rights: ‘mechanical rights’ to make copies, ‘synchronization rights,’ which permit synching a copyrighted work with a video, visual images or other audio sounds, and ‘performance rights,’ which allow a TV station or cable channel to broadcast the work. No wonder people getting into production for the first time scratch their heads! “It’s not unusual for people doing corporate presentations to say, ‘We’re only using 30 seconds worth of a song and we’re not using it to sell our product, so we can go ahead and use the Beatles, right?’ Of course, that’s not true. Another frequent misperception is that a non-profit organization is exempt from copyright laws. While non-profits may qualify for discounted licensing rates, they are not exempt from copyright laws. People also believe that if they have ASCAP and BMI licenses they can use any music they want in their productions. Those licenses are only for performing rights, not the ‘synch rights’ needed to synchronize the work with content.” Markee: That does sound confusing. What does Omni do to help? Mr. Wood: “We do a fair amount of hand-holding and helping clients sort through the maze of legal entanglements to get all the rights they need with just one stop: We’re kind of a cross between a music publisher and a recording company, so we control all the rights to the 36
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compositions and the sound recordings in our catalogs. “Clients may not realize that getting rights to hit songs can be really expensive. It can take five figures just to get the conversation started. But, in many cases, you can find the same flavor or feeling in a piece of our music that doesn’t infringe on anybody’s copyright. In fact, sometimes it’s better not to use a song everybody knows. Well-known songs come with memories and baggage. Music has the power to go right to the subconscious of the audience in ways you can’t defend against. Our tracks use this inherent power of music to orient the audience to exactly the message you’re trying to convey.” (Read Doug’s blog about music, media and copyright at: www.omnimusic .com/copyrightqa/) Markee: What are some of the latest trends you’re seeing in music, and how is Omni responding to them? Mr. Wood: “Sounds change and tastes change over time. There’s always a need for new music and, besides, it’s fun to hear what young composers on the scene are doing. “One of our newest libraries is called Music Outside The Box. It’s contemporary concert music that probably no other library would dare put out! We hope it will inspire new ways of thinking and encourage clients to be more creative. “When TV dramas started to use songs as background music I didn’t think it would work – I thought it would interfere with the story. But, of course, now songs are standard in TV programs. Our new Spice collection contains fresh and powerful songs for film and television – there are some terrific visual images in the lyrics. “Today, Omni covers pretty much every musical genre and style you can
think of. There’s almost nothing someone can ask for that we don’t have. It’s a nice feeling.” Markee: Is there anything new on the music distribution side of the business? Mr. Wood: “Omni was one of the first music libraries to offer full-quality audio as well as MP3s for download. We have a very, very fast system for searching, audition and download. So now it’s a matter of constantly fine-tuning our system and improving its functionality so people can find the music they want quickly.” Markee: Where might we see new developments in the industry? Mr. Wood: “The past hundred years was arguably an era of unprecedented creativity in films, TV, music, art – and the United States has really led the world in creating intellectual property. “But now, with all the new methods of distributing content, maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at copyright laws. We need a more streamlined system that will protect the creators and give clients an easier way to access their work. We want the next hundred years to be even better for both creators and users!”
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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