Anyone else in the entertainment business? Cinematographer here!

[blueblood]

I am curious to see if anyone also works in the entertainment business on the forum. I'm a cinematographer with experience in commercial work, music videos, short films and just landed my 1st feature length movie deal.

I'd also like to add if anyone has any questions regarding to the business or the process of making a video, movie or anything like that I'd be delighted to help.

[Truth Seeker]

Hello blueblood! Congratulations on your first feature!

I am a low-budget indie film producer and actor. My husband is a director/editor/writer and we have our own production company.

My best to you!

[witchy1]

Welcome to Avalon blueblood. I think your skills may be in hot demand - LOL

[blueblood]

Thanks! It's an interesting business to say the least... You gotta play their games haha.

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Welcome to Avalon blueblood. I think your skills may be in hot demand - LOL

Haha now that you mention it, I'd love to help bill out with filming his interviews! I know he likes the raw feel and all but adding a little more production value will help attract more viewers.

[witchy1]

Hi, I was thinking more along the lines of discecting certain videos already making the rounds. I am sure Bill would welcome any assistance that can be provided.

W

[Holly Lindin]

I'm a singer, songwriter, music producer, arranger, vocal coach :), author, I've started dabbling in Flash animation (my first animation is to one of my songs, "Prana", at my YouTube - username "Holly Lindin".), and my good friend and I just started a YouTube online show that will discuss many of the topics here. So, yes. :P

<3

[Roseheart]

Hey blueblood. Congratulations on the movie deal. I know it can take years to get something up...
I'm an actress. There's nothing more fun than the act of creation. Making movies or television to me - when it works, is like being in a beautiful dance with everyone on set moving in rythm around each other... It's a wonderful feeling.
Best of luck!

[Lefty Dave]

Greetings Blueblood, et al
Much luck on your new endeavor...
Singer/Songwriter....own. Message Music Prod since 1973...have a nice portfolio of original songs, (my avatar is one of my album covers...) cut several albums over the years...and still play 100 dates a year or more as a single act, or as guitar/piano/vocalist in a local country/rock oldies band. Had a recording studio and did a couple dozen sound beds, voiceovers, and wholly built commercials over the years..
Nice to know there's other creators here...wish you well
blessings

[Dale]

Interesting thread!

I have several close friends in the film industry, both in the fields of directing and screenwriting. Many great experiences and stories there, for certain!

On a personal note, I have co-written two plays, both of which were produced, and am currently finishing a third, tentatively entitled, "Consigliere."

With regard to the entertainment business, I travel about playing bass when I have the time to, usually during the summer. Nothing is quite as liberating and spiritually refreshing as traveling about in a bus, playing music - all in the company of good friends.

Would you believe that someone as bookish as I tends play bass primarily for hardcore rock bands ;)

[Carmody]

I am curious to see if anyone also works in the entertainment business on the forum. I'm a cinematographer with experience in commercial work, music videos, short films and just landed my 1st feature length movie deal.

I'd also like to add if anyone has any questions regarding to the business or the process of making a video, movie or anything like that I'd be delighted to help.

when doing the set up for the shots, always give the sound man the same respect as the cinematographer, regarding the shots.

It is my experience that the visual creatures called the cinematographer and the director of the given works can be and usually are exceedingly unrealistic about the point of sound recording actually making or breaking a film. Don't get caught up in visuals alone. Sound is far harder than it seems. Far harder. Never forget. Excellent sound can be captured off the floor. IMO, it is best to do things this way if at all possible. It can seriously cut production costs, in it's own way. Always consider the acoustics of the given set. When looking at the given set for location checks, always bring a high quality portable stereo recorder and maybe a microphone or two..and then do a quick sound check on the shot specifics. This will tell you what you are up against. It's terrible thing to have beautiful images in the can... only find, to your horror, that the audio is so screwed that the shot is worthless, or requires ridiculous editing in the sonics and this ruins what should have been a beautiful continuity.

It happens every day in the film business as the mentioned people forget that this is the era of the 'Talkies', meaning sound. People can't see sound so they forget that it is everywhere and on everything. They don't know that the ear/brain is an incredible machine and is the most complex organism in the body. They fail to understand that a few microphones does not give the same information as the head and ears do in the same space.... and then do not understand the disconnect between good recording vs impossible locations (sonic attributes). What I mean is they hear it with their ears and think it is OK. They sound man gets there and finds it is so bad he can't even get any intelligence (signal) out of the situation. The ear/brain hears things differently than the microphone. Know this. Live this -for each shot. After a while you'll get the hang of it.

Check your locations with a stereo microphone bit set up at the boom height, just to do a preliminary check on what I'm talking about. You'll 'get' it right away.

Contrary to popular film business belief, a bit of time at an audio editing console does not fix bad recordings. This is what sound editors what you to think. It keeps their job-but the sound still sucks. Get good sound off the floor so you don't have to pay them hordes of money to fix mistakes that never should have occurred in the first place.

[Truth Seeker]

Excellent points, Carmody. So true. My husband and I know very well from experience that sound can make or break a film. Absolutely. It's a critical component and many inexperienced filmmakers learn the hard way after skimping on good sound recording on set once they get into post. We certainly did in the early days of our productions. Quality sound will be a major factor in passing QC for any distribution deal once you get to that point.

[Carmody]

The trick is when doing the boards and set ups for the given run, or sequences, get the entire room space information to the sound people, at this planning stage.

Meaning, for your cinematography, usually all you need is the given corner, wall, lighting, etc for the shot.

The sound man needs a complete 360 degree xyz knowledge of what they are going to have to do for that shot.

They need a visual for the entire space, floor, ceiling, composition of materials, ambient noise leak through from doors, walls, streets, air conditioning Hvac, etc. they need to know all of it. The entire volume of the entire room must be known to them, beforehand.

It literally takes nothing more than a slow 360 degree shot of the room with a hand held camera and some speaking about what you see in the room and then a shot from far back with a few bodies marking the star locations for the shots. The sound man will hug you and practically have tears streaming down their faces. This is what they need ...as sound goes everywhere and comes back from that everywhere, so full location information is essential for them to be perfectly ready for the shoot schedule.This alone will likely shave some of those very expensive days off your always to be expected overruns, at the same time getting the (complete) shot/sound you want -in the can.

Thus endeth the sound lesson, which I hope will save you oodles of cash and headaches at the editing stage. Hope this helps everyone else, as well. :)

[blueblood]

I totally respect the importance of sound in a production. One of my good friends and co-owners of our company is an amazing producer and sound engineer. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with any of the technical terminology, but I do know what does or doesn't sound good at least haha. I try to stay focused on cinematography. It's an amazing line of work to be in, you think you're doing good then the next day you learn another small aspect and it opens up a whole other world to keep your eye on.

[blueblood]

Hi, I was thinking more along the lines of discecting certain videos already making the rounds. I am sure Bill would welcome any assistance that can be provided.

W

Dissecting how exactly?

[Truth Seeker]

In addition to getting footage and descriptions of the intended filming locations, if the producer can also include the sound person in the location scouting, they can provide input on any potential sound recording issues any given space might have ahead of time, as well, which can be a tremendous benefit in either selecting filming locations or planning around sound issues if the space for the shoot is set in stone. Just throwing a couple more cents into the kitty.

[3optic]

Thanks for the thread. :) My contribution:

Oversimplified Guide For the Live Action Filmmaker Making the Leap (backward?) to Animation

Something rarely considered by the novice: animated film needs a raison d'être. As in: "why is this an animated film?" Too many come from other mediums with misconceptions and/or baggage. It's fundamentally the same game (cinematic storytelling) but the process is very different. Animation has an elaborate and painfully slow (for the uninitiated) pre-production process. It is similar to the writing process with but executed by visual artists. The End.

So there ya go.

[bluestflame]

i remember a few years ago now , I was boom operator on an inhouse docco , was a wide shot , so i had boom on full extension on a wide shot for an 8 hour day ...did i mention it was like having a brick on the end of a broom holding only the very end of the handle lol( had a 15ft extension)

also did a little multicam and learn the basics of lighting

[chelmostef]

Lord Sidious has been chatting about producing putting together a Avalon radio, here is the thread you may be intreasted in-

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?15227-Avalon-Radio

[Fractalius]

14 years as a scenic artist here. Congrats and good luck ;)

[Autumn]

Great thread Blueblood. Congrats on your first feature, I hope things keep evolving for you. And I might even take you up on the offer of helping.

When people ask what I do for a living I tell them that I shed light on the shadowy sides of life through a veil of lies. I’m an author and a publisher and get odd jobs from everywhere (I run a talent development program for aspiring authors – pays nothing but it is very rewarding, so in reality I’m rich and broke at the same time and loving every day).

This job has connected me with a rising producer and director. As I write science fiction (mainly) and adapted the first book in the series into a screenplay he promptly handed me a draft for a contract which includes me co directing my own project. I have NO experience and would like to talk to anyone here who has time/energy/enough love for storytelling to write with me. Any ideas are welcome as this is my research before walking into a business I know almost nothing about when it comes to that side of the screen.Or just the good advice like Truth Seeker’s advice about sound and scouting locations in #15 as we have to shoot in a cave.

Another reason why I like this thread so much is that I have often thought about whether these “talents” could help wake people up. Not as in a Hollywood cloaked disclosure kind of way and not documentary as people would have to be interested in a subject already buried by magazines/commercials etc. These alone seem to take up so much room in people’s everyday lives that they filter out so much that one would have to think very creatively to get through to them. Have any of you ever thought about that?

I see Holly Lindin and Lord Sidius is already doing something in the lines of that. I wonder how many “trip” over the subject vs. the ones already seeking? I admire the efforts though as I haven’t found out how I can do something to help shake the sheep mentality out of people.

[ulli]

Thanks! It's an interesting business to say the least... You gotta play their games haha.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

[QUOTE=witchy1;159092]Welcome to Avalon blueblood. I think your skills may be in hot demand - LOL

Haha now that you mention it, I'd love to help bill out with filming his interviews! I know he likes the raw feel and all but adding a little more production value will help attract more viewers.


And they could also do with a stylist...

[SKIBADABOMSKI]

Hi Blueblood, Yes my job is an entertainer.. in my signature you'll find a link to what I do because it's very difficult to explain. The link is a year old and already we have a whole bunch of new stuff and need a new promo video. Would love your help on this.

Oh I'll just post the video so you don't have to leave the thread



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8QvDhevjJI




I'll pm you about it also.

Thanks

Ski-

[blueblood]

Haha!! Great stuff my friend! Honestly! The costumes, movements and sounds are creepy, original and funny all in one! As far as suggestions go. From a viewing standpoint I'd have at least 2 more camera's capturing your performance. One always wide, one for close ups and one for crowd reaction. It will make it 10x more interesting with great editing.

[Decibellistics]

I play music, record music, have done post on films, and can hold the **** out of a boom mic lol

[Adrian86]

Second year Audio engineer student here (SAE Institute, Melbourne)

have been dabbling in audio for around 8 years, mostly for leisure and to help friends and associates with their music/audio projects. It has only been in the past few years that I have placed more energy into Audio production.

Perhaps with persistence, I can take my skills to the next level and put it to good practical use. I would LOVE to get involved in a creative team at some stage where I could contribute towards the construction a documentary film or something of notable value.