Films with Empathy

Every now and again, when writing a treatment, I find myself describing one of the objectives is “to create a sense of empathy.” And this short stood out to me as an example of when a film can sucker punch you right in the feels.

I also noticed a few parallels as it relates to the kind of work we do. For example, the scene with Salote and her manager could be compared to some of the communication and coaching themes that we deal with from time to time. Likewise, the idea that “everyone has a story” and “you never know what another person is going through” is a concept we've explored on a few occasions and I specifically like how, in this example, the audience is learning Salote's true motives along with the supporting characters - the misdirection is very clever.

Lastly, this film is simply shot really well. I would be interested in thinking about how we might be about to bring this sort of cinematic quality to our work as well.

Night Shift from Zia Mandviwalla on Vimeo.

AWAY

The other day Wegman and I were talking about the use of VFX in Dead Dixie California, the film he's been working on for the past year or so. Specifically, the almost unreal amount of planning that's required to pull off even the most basic effects. Ultimately, the conversation reminded me of this piece from Convolv, AWAY.

Aside from the really great FX, there's a really good story behind the production. Basically, the two filmmakers were going into the project completely blind and with very little experience. You can read the full story here.

AWAY Official Trailer from Convolv on Vimeo.

AWAY VFX Breakdown from Convolv on Vimeo.

Podington Bear

I referenced in my last post, Podington Bear A.K.A. Chris Crouch, has been the Tree City Films Festival's sort of go-to artist in reference to the music we use for our demo reels, tutorials, and interviews. In the realm of royalty-free music, it's hard to come by great music created by great people and Podington Bear is one of the few artist that I like to think are indie-firendly and quality-oriented. His website is The Sound of Picture where you can find his library and pricing model. Below is and explanation of how the site works as well as some examples of how the TCFF has used his music in the past.

What Is The Sound Of Picture Production Library? from Podington Bear - Chad Crouch on Vimeo.

2013 Tree City Film Festival - Showreel from Tree City Film Festival on Vimeo.

Tree City Film Festival 2014 - Guide to Uploading to Vimeo from Tree City Film Festival on Vimeo.

La Huida - The Runaway

Wes Anderson meets Steven Soderbergh meets music video meets Spanish Cinema. I really like the unreliable narrator, the little sound design ideas, the clever practical effects, and the super fun ending. The cinematography definitely lends itself to Wes and I can't help but think that the film stock adds a lot to the film. It also has elements of an caper flick and a music video.

La Huida - The Runaway (HD version with English subtitles) from Victor Carrey on Vimeo.

NECRONOMICA

A great "you can't judge a book by it's cover" story. Turns out metal guys are just like you and me. The writing is great and the performances are fun. This is the most "evil" short I've seen in a while...

I love all the little things (the upside down cross in their apartment, the way they drink from straws so they don't mess up their black metal make up).

NECRONOMICA from Kyle Bogart on Vimeo.

Ten Thousand Days

New Zealand humor and timing should be bottled and sold

Ten Thousand Days from Michael Duignan on Vimeo.

West of the Moon

While the concept of adapting the words of children is nothing new, I feel this piece executes it in a really original and classy way. The story is loosely based on the dreams of several hundred children.

West of the Moon from Brent Bonacorso on Vimeo.

HD Video Pro Magazine - Emerging Pro Contest

One of the things I picked up in Vegas was a copy of HD Video Pro Magazine. In it was a call for filmmaker and photographers to submit either a set of five photos or one motion short. If you win, you get a Red Epic and a slew of Zeiss glass.

Official rules here.

I think we ought to consider it. Not just because the of the awesome gear but also to keep pushing ourselves creatively outside the office space.

Any good ideas that somebody would like to shoot?

An Entire Film Made From Digitized Photos

After watching this indie film trailer I had to do some research. I wanted to know how they got their stylized look. I found out that they shot everything on green screen and used old Civil War photographs and digitized them to high definition.

Director's Preview Film Trailer

Awesome Stunt Man Demo Reel

I dont know what is better, the stunts, or the creative that went into them.

2012 Vimeo Award Winners - Fashion

I actually became really fond of this piece the second time I watched it. The "fashion" category is beyond me; I thought it had shown merit in other areas as well.

Mulberry 'Skirt' from Academy Plus (A+) on Vimeo.

The Search

Josh and I helped film a scene of The Search. A film my old film partner and tattoo artist Brian 'Monk' Taylor is working on. The scene was a serial killer kidnapping a homeless women, interrogation, drugging her, then examining her brain.