Endcrawl - the tool that gives your film the proper ending it deserves

I'm not gonna lie. End credits are notoriously pesky to do because the person doing them usually doesn't have all the characters, cast, crew, people to thank, venues and places and companies to thank, sponsors, production and distribution companies to credit along with their logos and set details necessary to construct the credits - BUT - when "all" the details are received and the end credits are finally created, it is usually followed by a "whoops, forgot this person here" or a "ohh and there are all these people to add as well". Repeat this process about 50 to 100 times and you get the picture.

Well, there is a tool that will help facilitate the workflow at least. You'll still have to deal with the myriad of changes and the pesky nature of gathering information - but at least when it comes to actually making the end credits roll itself, with EndCrawl, it looks like it'll be a breeze!

Private beta ensues. See if you can grab a spot!

A7S II reviewed by Tom Antos. Verdict is in: IT'S GOOD!

Internal 4K. Yep. 14 Stops of dynamic range in S-Log3? Yep. Brilliant low light performance? Yep. This is turning out to be a great camera. The only single issue with this camera now is the hideous rolling shutter. Once that is solved, this camera will be the ultimate power in the universe. Even Vader will want to steal the A7S-II plans and build one himself.

The lighting is the most important part of the setup. Without question.

You can have a RED or ARRI or any highly expensive amount of acquisition gear. If you don't understand lighting, what do you end up with? That's right... expensive crappy footage.

Watch as Lee Morris from Fstoppers uses nothing more than his phone, some foam and cheap-o lights to take amazing photos of some model. I kid you not.

This goes to demonstrate one thing and one thing only: If you are not getting good footage, it's not the camera's fault. It's yours. GET YOUR LIGHTING RIGHT. GET YOUR COMPOSITION RIGHT. GET YOUR FRAMING RIGHT.

Too much emphasis on gear, not enough on sense in this world.

Well looks like the GH4 is killing even the Black Magic Pocket Camera

I know... I know... It's been said to death but this time I swear it's different.

Anyway, just in case you didn't already know, the GH4 now semi officially pwns not only the 5D mk 3 but also the venerable Black Magic Pocket Camera in RAW mode also. Hard to believe... but check the video.

3DX Point Memory 1000x faster than SSDs (NAND) and 10x denser

Look at your SmartPhone. Impressive, isn't it? Just like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, Intel and Micron - two behemoths of the microchip fabrication world - landed an impressive blow to the status quo across the memory storage board especially Random Access Memory (RAM) that has held out since 1989.

Now pity your SmartPhone, to paraphrase Kenshiro's famous quip before he slays his enemies "You're already obsolete. You just don't know it yet." That's right. Your computers. Your tablets. Even those that you are going to buy next holiday season. All obsolete.

Why? Because the future is now 3DX Point memory. Memory 1000 times faster than the SSD that is making your current desktop fly at insane speeds at the moment, is like comparing a kids bobsled to an AA-Sidewinder missile. There will be a good 3 orders of magnitude difference. Check the figures. That's not hyperbole or an over-the-top exaggerated assertion. In fact, it's slightly underexaggerated: A bobsled could go a decent 20km/hr but multiplying that figure by 1000, you'd be hard pressed finding a sidewinder reaching 20,000km/hr folks. It is far, far slower.

So now, what does this new technology mean when it hits? Well, this is a filming and video blog... so the ramifications for film and video editing is ridiculous.

UTTERLY RIDICULOUS.

Strapping expensive cameras to cars

Get hooked on suctioncups and things as you watch this great how-to video from the guys over at Film Riot and Triune Films. Take home points: 1. Get insurance. 2. Get insurance. 3. Use other people's gear. But seriously, filming at 3am without a permit is perhaps the route most indy film makers would have to go. There are a few caveats with that route but all in all on a tight budget you can end up with some amazing epic footage and hopefully no broken gear.

Cheap lens vs Expensive lens

Don't chuck your fantastic plastic el-cheapo Canon glass just yet! For many applications, a $150 lens is indistinguishable from a $15,000 lens. Thanks Freddy.

Filmconvert Tutorial - Simple easy colour correction for the masses

Has colour grading been this elusive fontleroy? Always preferential, sometimes optional, never simple? Got 6 minutes to spare? This is perhaps the magic bullet you've been waiting for. It's so simple and fast, it will allow you to speedily grade your footage and strengthen your resolve.

Want to know all you need to know to use FilmConvert? I can say that once you watch this tutorial, you would be able to download the software and colour correct your footage - AND apply film stock and grain to them to give your takes a nice cinematic film look.

Special Effects using transparent film and projectors

There are amazing special effects you can do with just a few simple projectors and some transparent film (really just transparent vinyl table covers) hung from the ceiling.

Canon unveils C300 Mk II and points it squarely at RED with 4K recording, FHD at 12-bit 4:4:4 and 120fps recording and 410mbps.

This is what your movie can look like if its shot on a C300.

Canon just declared war on the RED line. Its new refreshed line up of Cinema cameras is looking better and better with each announcement. The new C300 Mk II brings a killer package to the table for a paultry $15,999, including:
- 10-bit 4:2:2 in 4K recording (UHD 3840 x 2160 & DCI cinematic (4096 x 2160 pixels)
-  up to 410Mbps (in 4K)
- 10/12-bit 4:4:4 in 2K & Full HD
-  up to 30p in 4K, 120p in 2K/Full HD
-  4K RAW files to external recorder
-  dual DIGIC DV5 processors
-  dual CFast 2.0 slots
-  15 stops of dynamic range with new Canon Log2
-  Dual Pixel CMOS AF
-  New XF-AVC Intra, Long GOP and Proxy H.265 codecs in 4K, UHD, 2K and 1080p
-  4-channel audio in 16 or 24 bit and 48 kHz
-  sensor-read out 2x faster than C300, less rolling shutter

This camera will be sold out and on backorder.

Thanks to Linus Tech Tips for the video.

Story Concept and Story Premise: Do You Know the Crucial Difference?

What’s up with story concept and story premise? Are they interchangeable words for the same idea–or are they separate tools with their own important jobs to fulfill?

Check out this fantastic write-up piece by K.M. Weiland on this very thing. Get your story and flesh it out with this remarkably simple and straight forward method.

"Expanding Role of the Cinematographer" with Robert Legato, ASC

Two-time VFX Oscar Winner (Hugo - 2011, Titanic - 1997), Director of Photography and VFX Supervisor Robert Legato, ASC sits down with GCI Co-Founder Yuri Neyman, ASC to discuss how the lines have become blurred between Cinematography and Visual Effects.

5 Things Cinematographers Can Do To Make The Editor Happier

Anybody successfully working in the arduous art of filmmaking will confirm it: it’s a collaborative process. And yet, because so many people are involved at very different stages, effective communication can sometimes be tricky. Two of the most important positions in the filmmaking crew are the cinematographer and the editor, but unless a conscious choice is made, they rarely overlap during the storytelling process and little chance is given for both parties to exchange.

This is actually a shortened list from an article over at RedShark News by Jonny Elwyn entitled "11 things video editors wish they could say to camera operators and DOPs" --- check it out for a more detailed list!

In any case, head over to jamuura.com for the top 5 list!

New Devilry: DJI Inspire Quadcopter with native 4K camera and 3-axis gimbal launches

This is the quadcopter that does everything. Huge range? Yep. Doesn't use WiFi, it uses LightBrdge. SD Cards? Well, yeah, or you can simply transmit your footage (up to 1080p though) via your LightBridge connection. 4K Camera with full 360 degree swivel. Controller can hook up to anything from a HDMI monitor to an iPad. It has telemetry to the ground via infra-red and ultrasonic sensors so it doesn't need to rely on GPS to make a safe landing. It has powerful 13" rotors as opposed to 9" and a massive 4500mah battery giving you up to 18 minutes of flight time.

Yeah, its around $4,000 bucks, but you literally don't have to buy anything else (except maybe more batteries and a picnic chair). It's so good, even Adam Savage from MythBusters couldn't wait to get his hands on one and you can click after the break to see what he's done to his DJI Inspiron.

Magic Leap AR: Google's answer to Microsoft's Hololens. Yes, please!

Google has fired a warning shot over the bow of Microsoft's now infamous Hololens project and Microsoft's underlying Holographic platform with the mollycoddling of a new ravishingly fit startup called "Magic Leap". These guys are poised to bring Augmented Reality to newer heights with an additional camera scan for real-world occlusion (notice the player's HAND in front of the graphics). This is going to be fun to watch as it plays out over the coming months.

New Devilry: DJI Ronin 3-axis Gimbal that holds - wait for it - up to 7.5kg of gear (16lb)

3-axis gimbals are all the rage nowadays and if you are in the market for one you definitely have to take a look at the DJI Ronin. Lots of features and DAT PRICE - only $2.5k USD. Compared to stuff like the entry level MoVI (which only holds up to 2.5kg or 5lb of camera gear) which sits at a much higher entry price point of $4k USD, the DJI Ronin looks like it offers much more bang for your buck. The guys over at Film Riot have released this amazing review on YouTube. Go check it out!

5 Things Cinematographers Don’t Talk About

Sean Porter on the set of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (Photo by Chris Ohlson)

There are so many wonderful anecdotes about the life of a cinematographer in this article. I touch briefly on 2 poignant paragraphs that hit very close to home for me:

The Gear: It gets you jobs
There were new “d.p.s” who happened to have the new coolest kit, and they ended up getting jobs I was up for, in some cases replacing me in relationships with directors I’d been working with for some time. It didn’t help that in many cases they also turned out to be capable and even talented shooters. The gear buys you jobs, which buys you experience and relationships, which buys you more jobs. But wait! Shouldn’t skill alone be enough to get the call?

You career vs your relationship
I had just wrapped It Felt Like Love. It was autumn in NYC. Beautiful. I was settling back into “dad” mode, and Laurie had left to prep Cold Comes the Night in upstate New York. Then came the phone call. “We’re working on a film shooting in Japan and Minnesota.” David Zellner could have stopped there. “We wanted to know if you might be available; we start prep in Japan in three weeks.” Wait, what happened to alternating projects? I read the script and the knot in my stomach just got worse. I called Laurie. “Well, I think you have to do it!” she said. So began many more phone calls with the Zellners and a scramble of logistics. I packed Jackie and myself up, and we headed for Seattle, forgetting my passport, of course; why do I need a passport to go to Seattle? I dropped him off with the grandparents and departed for Tokyo. Jack didn’t see either of us for almost four weeks until Laurie wrapped and departed NYC for Seattle — over Thanksgiving! — to pick him up and finally head back home; Laurie and I wouldn’t see each other for 11 weeks. Yet only three short weeks after we all split ways, Hurricane Sandy hit our neighborhood. All three of us were safe, scattered about in different parts of the world.

Making the decision to take on Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, regardless of the turbulence it caused us — this was a time to say yes. There have been many more decisions like this to make for other films, and Laurie and I have had to say no a lot. And while it never feels good to say “no,” you have to ask yourself, “Even though this job may be good for my career, will my relationship with my family suffer, or maybe even fail?” Sounds dire, but if it hasn’t happened yet, it will. Part of stepping up is about finding your own balance with life and work before you get lost.

Read the full article on filmmakermagazine.com here

How THE COUNCELOR viral video works so exquisitely well, it's done the advertising of the film on a shoestring budget

NSFW: This new clip from Michael Fassbender's THE COUNCELOR demonstrates exactly how to draw the audience in with something so dull and boring as a shopping scene.

Opinion Piece: I am not my NLE.

It is irrelevant what NLE you use. The general public will not go to a movie or watch a TV show and say, Wow, that was cut on [Insert NLE Here]. They will say, that movie was good or that movie was bad.

Sure, editors might have their preference of NLE, but I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to hear people drone on about the same arguments, over and over, why [Insert NLE Here] isn’t as good as [Insert Other NLE Here]. We could be talking about the craft, we could be talking about story, structure, pacing, techniques, but no, we always fall into NLE tech talk. This is partially because of the In-Group/Out-Group dynamics that Gordon Burkell mentioned in his article, The Psychology of the Cutting Room. You’re either in a particular NLE group or you aren’t, and you feel a connection to those who are aligned with you.

Read the full article at aotg.com

CHAPPIE IS ALIVE – NEILL BLOMKAMP AND THE ART OF SCI-Fi

We take a detailed look at the practical and VFX of Neill Blomkamp's latest film, 'CHAPPiE'. From Weta designed live action models, to marker plates worn by actor Sharlto Copley, tracked and replaced with CGI animation. BONUS: BTS vids and Blomkamp's short film 'Alive in Joburg', the precursor to 'District 9'.

Read the full article at videoandfilmmaker.com