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Saturday, December 1, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
When Dreams Die
So I've been getting a lot of questions asking me if I'm all right in regards to Dream in the Dark getting shut out of every award on Sunday. In my gut I am very upset but I have to look at it from a logical perspective to even rationalize what happened. I'm not bitter against any of the winners as I thoroughly enjoyed their films...well except one (we all know which one). But the others were strong films.
I am surprised that Adam Zielinski's film did not place better. It seems that Spring Flicks suffered from a case of the Sunday syndrome again. Movies that play on Sunday have a better chance on winning. Its just a fact and always will be.
Even the judging was off. One of the judges explained to me that they went back and changed their scores for the first day after seeing the second day's films...that sounds a little shady to me.
To fix any problems I had with Spring Flicks a few things need to happen:
1. DO NOT let bad films in. Two nights of films is enough. It screws over the good films.
2. DO NOT let anyone associated with UNLV judge. Having a judge such as Danette Tull seems much more logical to me. Sadly she couldn't make it this year.
3. Program the shorts better. Having two similar films that are both great play one after the other is a detriment to both films. Sometimes fatal. I learned that the hard way.
Congratulations to all the winners. We all know what should and should not have happened. It was a fun year and the films are getting better and better.
And as to how I feel? Like Chris Nolan when the Dark Knight got snubbed. But hey. I still feel like Chris Nolan.
Friday, February 11, 2011
It's been a while...new film projects coming up by Tony Clifford
So the entire month of January was basically devoted to Jeremy Cloe's Liars, Fires, and Bears.
I was 2nd Assistant Director on the shoot. Meaning lots of call sheets and phone calls. I ran out of minutes with 3 weeks til they renew.
It was a very growing experience that left a lot of us absolutely wrecked afterward. And I have a shoot coming up in 9 days. So that's what I've been doing. Finalizing casting. Rewrites. Rewrites. Scouting. Shot list and storyboards. Driving to different states. Rewrites. Trying to find time for class. Rewrites. and more rewrites. The script is finally in a place that I'm completely comfortable with. All I'm sweating on now is one actor's schedule.
Oh and I went to Sundance!
Pictures coming soon.
In the meantime check out In a Better World by the best female director (and one of the best directors in general) in the world, Susanne Bier.
But my to do list is this:
finish storyboards and get them turned into legitimate ones by the amazing Julia Tokuhama. Finalize costuming and design (oops have to make that phone call right now...) cast some of the one liner roles which seem to be already taking care of themselves, and then do a lot of other random things I'm sure I can't think of at the moment.
I've had this script in mind since my junior year of high school so its been evolving for quite some time and I'm extremely excited to direct it.
I confirmed one of my beliefs that casting a professional actor can be hopeless when you haven't had anything already win something substantial. Success breeds further success. I tried casting a youtube celebrity for a cool cameo role but their manager hasn't been the most helpful. It's sad in a way because I fully believe in this script and the people working on it and know it will go places. At the same time the person we have cast instead of that internet celeb is an actor that is absolutely outstanding. I've worked with them before and know that they can bring a lot more to it than if my internet celeb experiment had worked out.
Now I better get back to my Random thoughts outline (Thank you Will Akers!) and storyboarding.
Current read other than textbooks.
TC
Out.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Need to know about modern shooting
So many times I get questions about how to use DSLR cameras such as the 5D, 7D, or T2i. I don't mind them but people think I have taken courses on them or something. To be honest I got my 7D in the beginning of the whole Hdslr awakening. I'd taken cinematography one, which was of absolutely no help to me in regards to camera, but other than that I was still in camera virgin land other than using cameras with dv tape. I just got into the whole letus adapter thing right before it became obsolete.
So how do you go about learning how to use a dslr? Basically, you have to learn about cinematography. That's going to be your main asset when using any camera. I had my 7D for a couple of months and everything was extremely overwhelming. I didn't find a book that spelled everything out for me but basically you need to know these things like the back of your hand:
F-Stops
Focal lengths
Shutter speed
Frames per second
ISOs
White Balance
and the most important thing...
Post Production workflow. You can shoot the next Inglorious Basterds but have nothing to show for it if you don't get this down.
Also DSLRs have MANY hidden costs.
Harddrive for storing footage. $100+
Lenses $300-$2000
Want to shoot hand held? HH rig $250-$800
Follow Focus? $150-$450
Outside during the day? ND Filters $100
And thats just off the top of my head. These are all estimates by the way. So the nitty gritty. Where to obtain the knowledge of how to actually use your investment. I say investment because thats what it is. If you are just buying one to take cool pictures or cool video then save your money. But the source of all dslr information is...
the internet.
The one thing that is free with a dslr is knowledge. That's if you know where to look. I know that Philip Bloom gets a lot of flack because he's not the best filmmaker but man has this guy championed the age of DSLRs. He's made it mainstream and he has even put together a thing called Vimeo Video School. I wish these videos were out when I was starting out. Would have helped me lots.
The other guy I follow really closely is Robin Schmidt, AKA, El Skid
This guy is really in the same boat as all of us right now. He has done numerous music videos and things but still finds himself without a job. He wants to do narrative dramas and he understands how hard it is to break into that. He is currently embarking on a youtube angle to gain a crowd following. He also regularly posts problems and solutions he runs into along with reviews of products and of course some guides to dslrs.
And lastly everyone should sign up for the weekly email from
Nofilmschool.com.
They have saved me when I was in a bind and didn't have time to set up a steadicam for a pushin type shot. Luckily I learned a magic trick from these guys that let me pull it off and ultimately turned out to be the best shot of the movie.
Ultimately, to get better at what you want to do, go out there and do it. You can get into intellectual arguments about frame rates and exposures and what not but to be honest nobody gives a damn. They care if it looks good, not if your frame rate was 30 or 24. (NEVER do 30). But in all seriousness go and test it and you will see what problems come up.
And don't ask me for help when I've given you everything you need to get started here. Lol. Thanks for reading.
TC
out.
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