Field Guide for Indiegogo's Crowdfunding.

I have run a few successful Kickstarter campaigns for raising money for film projects and recently wrote a blog on the difference between Kickstarter and indiegogo.  I also have seen some great projects that fail due to not really understanding the format for success in reaching the goal. So when I saw this I wanted to share it!

indiegogo has just released a field guide that I looked at, and believe it is a great tool to help you get the most out of your campaign.  These basic tools mentioned in the guide can work with any crowdfunding project.

Here is the link for the download of the guide. http://landing.indiegogo.com/iggfieldguide/

i-Book publishing "The Balloon Man" Children's Book.

We have been publishing children's books on i-Book because I believe its is one of the best interactive formats out there. We have been including audio, images, and video on this multi format e-books. Here is our free new release, age 3 to 5. Check out the video on the last page.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-balloon-man/id626628300?ls=1

Screenwriting App, "Highland" free to try!

I am always interested in screenwriting software. If it can make the task more streamline and I can share the process of rewrites on line with producer etc.... I will give it a look.  Right now I am a big fan of Celtix but check out Highland it might work for you.

Highland Promo from Quote Unquote Apps on Vimeo.

Do what you want or make lots of money?

Common Audio mixing issues.

In the studio we master many home studio recordings. Now with people using their labtops and their living rooms as studios, often there are many issues that can be addressed before the final mastering.

I read this blog the other day and thought that it covered many of the problems I see in home recordings that can be of some help.

http://desmastering.blogspot.com/2011/07/10-biggest-mixing-mistakes-that-can.html

New i-Book Release, Binary Studio Production

Just published a new i-Book for all you i-Pad folks called
" In Cecilia's Garden". A multi-touch book with images, audio and video. I really like the i-Book format with its interactive elements. 
 Binary Studio Production.



https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/in-cecilias-garden/id622233520?ls=1

The Art of the Steadicam

How a camera moves can help tell the story you are presenting in your film. I found this website that I would like to share, it's called www.steadishots.org 

It lets you check out the steadishot clip from some of your favorite films with the name of the operator , equipment used and sometimes commentary on how they pulled off the shot.

Free Peer-To-Peer Video Streaming

Here is a interesting method for sharing your broadcast, films and video content with live streaming technology. You can broadcast directly to your viewers. Each viewer in turn becomes a miniature broadcaster and amplifies your broadcast across the web.

BitTorrent Live is a powerful new web-based live streaming technology. Designed to eliminate barriers to broadcast, Live is an entirely new protocol, designed to deliver high quality video to large audiences - with significant reduction in infrastructure cost and network delays.

BitTorrent Live is currently in open beta.   http://live.bittorrent.com/

                                                  

Vimeo launched its open self distribution service

Vimeo today launched its open self-distribution service, Vimeo On Demand.   I have had different distribution deals but I am ready to give this a try! Available now to all Vimeo PRO members, Vimeo On Demand empowers creators to sell their works directly to their audiences and retain a 90 percent share of the revenue after transaction costs. In addition to its creator-friendly revenue share, Vimeo On Demand gives creators the flexibility and control to choose their price; select country-by-country availability; customize their page design; and offer content on Vimeo, their own website, or both.

ADR dialog looping Ambience matching

The last couple of day's I have been doing the audio post on this film which required some ADR work and ambience matching.  Some of it came together pretty easy, but there were a few dialog lines that were done in a big living room space with lots of glass windows.  It was real hard to get the same ambient sound with my reverb devices in the studio. I had to match the lines of the living room location dialog with the ADR replaced dialog.  If you can,  sometimes it faster to go back to the location and re-record that ADR.

Walter Murch explains the concept of ‘worldizing’. This involves re-recording sounds in a real location to add the acoustic characteristics of the environment to the original sound.

On Set Production Sound tips

Getting good quality sound on-set can sometimes feel like an impossibility, especially on lower budget productions. While the sound mixer can often go underappreciated on many of these productions, their job, if done correctly, is right up there with the 1st AC (or focus-puller). If your movie is not in focus it’s going to distract the audience, and at the same time, bad audio will be even more distracting.

 Nicholas Allen, who is the sound mixer on NBC’s Parenthood and is one of the best out there now, put out this cool video. check it out!


Binary Recording Studio a Audio / Video Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

"Spotting" A Locked film Cut for Audio Post

What is the locked cut ? 

In short, the final version of the finished film. Although it may receive a small edit here or there in the next few weeks, the film is essentially "locked" into this form.   

What happens once the cut is locked ?  

Audio Post begins now in earnest. Once the cut has been locked, the film can be spotted for the placement of sound effects and music. The Sound Editor, the Director and possibly the Composer will gather at one or more spotting sessions to determine the film's audio post needs. "Spotting for music" is the process of viewing the locked cut and deciding where the music score will be, and where the source music will be needed. "Spotting for sound" is the process of determining:  

• if and where any dialogue problems may exist, so that ADR can be cued to be recorded

• where sound effects are needed and what kind 

• what Foley effects will be needed in the film, and where 

• If Sound design (the creation of special sound effects), will also be needed.

After the spotting cues are determined the audio post progress begins.

In the next weeks the sound editors will locate and synchronize all of the sound effects needed in the film. 

I will be getting into more elements of post audio in the next postings on this blog.

Adobe Media Encoder or Apple Compressor H.264

You have just put together this beautiful looking high rez film and now you have to compress it down for streaming content or DVD.   I have spent alot of time trying different compression methods  so that my footage will be represented the way I see it in my editor.  I started reading Jan Ozer's post on what he has learned.

Link:

Tutorial: H.264 Encoding in Apple Compressor and Adobe Media Encoder

Why do films entertain us?

To be entertained a good film has to engage us and this is done with how well the film maker can bring us into their visual creation. How well they use the tools of film making determines their success.

Being provided with amusement or enjoyment is entertainment for us. We are entertained by film in many ways and not always the same way for each person. That is why we have different genres of film to enjoy.

We do alot of post production for independent film artist. I have seen many films that come in that are technically great but don't provide the entertaining discovery of a story.  This can be as simple as the sound effects are great, but are used in a way that is so predictable that they don't lend to the movement of the mood or story.

In my opinion a good film should be a journey.

Don’t hit them over the head with the effects, sound and a story that is so layed out that there no engagement from the viewer.  Let your audience discover as they watch, created some curiosity that promotes interest.

Here is a quote from independent French director and musician Woodkid’s (aka Yoann Lemoine) approach to music videos. 

“I create these stories with missing pieces. Missing pieces are very interesting because then people wanna fill them. People are afraid of emptiness and they wanna fill those gaps…. That’s exactly what I want to do with my art. I want people to think about what they see and wonder if what they see is real. If what they see has a meaning.”

Here is one of his video's with 24 million views!

Woodkid - Iron from WOODKID on Vimeo.