San Fransico School of Digital FilmMaking (http://www.sfdigifilm.com/faq.html)
Q: Do I need a background in film or photography to attend your school?
No you don't. You need a passion for filmmaking and a willingness to put in a maximum effort to achieve your goals. We are looking for committed people who care.
Q: I already have movie experience, can I just take the advanced class?
Yes! Qualified applicants can bypass the Essentials class and join one of our Advanced Digital Filmmaking class. Our advanced class is tough and requires a thorough knowledge of moviemaking. Qualified students must demonstrate proficiency in the craft of moviemaking and receive permission from the Director of Education.
Q: What are my chances of getting into SFSDF?
Your chances are excellent to get into SFSDF. Your enthusiasm is your best bet for enrollment.
Q: Will I make my own movie or be part of a group project?
You will be writing, directing and editing your own movies. In addition, you will gain valuable experience and credits crewing on other student pictures.
Q: Will projects be shot on film or video?
Your projects will be shot on High Definition digital video, using the latest cameras.
Q: Will I really work on a feature film?
Yes you will. SFSDF's core curriculum is based on advanced students working with professionals on our school produced and co-produced feature films. SFSDF will do its utmost to promote and distribute completed movies.
Q: How hands-on are the classes?
From the very first day of class you will be getting your hands on the equipment. This is our guiding principal.
Q: What kind of cameras and editing system does the school use?
SFSDF will be using Sony's latest HDV-Z1U High Def cameras, and Apple HD Final Cut Pro on Mac G5 dual processing computers with 23-inch Cinema Display monitors.
Q: How much access will I have to the equipment?
We realize that the greatest frustration a student faces is waiting for equipment. Because of the structure of our curriculum and the small size of our classes, students have greater access to all equipment.
Q: Can I work and still attend classes?
We have designed our curriculum to accommodate working students. Students can choose either a daytime or evening course schedule for our Essentials of Digital Filmmaking class. Because Students apprentice on a feature length digital motion picture as part of their studies, the Advanced Digital Filmmaking class is only offered during the day.
Q: What other expenses are there on top of tuition?
Additional fees and expenses (application, registration and materials) run around $500.00. There is also a $150.00 refundable building access key.
Q: What else will I get besides a Certificate at the end of the program?
We know that the three most important things an aspiring filmmaker needs to be competitive in the job market are; a reel of your work, a credit on a film and contacts within the industry. This is our commitment to each and every student graduating from SFSDF.
Q: Can I get financial aid or a scholarship?
Yes! SFSDF and SLM Financial (a Sallie Mae Company) are partnered in order to help students receive financial assistance for their education. Eligible students may also receive living expenses, up to $6,000, as part of their loan. For more information please contact our admissions department. 415-824-7000
Q: What is the policy for foreign students?
San Francisco prides itself as one of the greatest cities of diversity in the world. We welcome all foreign students into our family at SFSDF. The free exchange of ideas and sharing of cultures creates a climate of tremendous creativity. Students with English as a second language will be required to submit a passing score on the Test on English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) from a qualified testing center. Our staff is happy to assist you in making these arrangements.
Q: If I come for a tour, may I sit in on a class?
We welcome all visitors and would love for you to sit in on any of our classes. Our school is open Monday through Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Call admissions to make arrangements.
Q: Can I contact a former student?
We have many former students who would love to share with you their experiences. Contact our admissions office by phone, fax or e-mail.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Digital Filmmaking Tips for Beginnersby Roger Richards (http://digitalfilmmaker.net/DVtips/DVtips.html)
The following are some basic tips for those of you who are beginning to learn how to use the new generation of digital camcorders to tell stories.1. Select the right camera for your goal and your budget. A 3-CCD DV camcorder, such as the Canon XL-1s or Sony VX-2100, is best for optimum color and sharpness but the new 1-CCD models, such as the Canon Elura or Optura, offer wonderful image quality at a price that won't break the bank. If your production is intended for television, a 3-CCD camera is highly recommended. However, if you are aiming for the Web, a 1-CCD will do nicely. The camera you select should offer manual focus and exposure control, in addition to manual white balance for tricky lighting situations.
2. In addition to your camcorder, a few other accessories are invaluable. First would be a decent tripod, preferably one with a fluid head that allows smooth panning. Manfrotto-Bogen, in my opinion, make some of the best low-budget units that offer sturdy support and decent performance. Next would be an external microphone, such as a short shotgun and/or wireless lavalier. These will allow you to get better sound than the built-in microphone that came with your camcorder. A lavalier microphone, preferably a UHF model to limit signal interference, is useful for interviews and for allowing you to capture sound when your subject is a distance away from your camera. The shotgun microphone will allow you to do the same but can be more tricky to master. Good models are made by Sennehiser, Audio-Technica, Sony and Samson. A wide-angle accesory lens is useful for when you have to work in tight confines, and an on-camera video light for low-light filming situations. Finally, always carry extra batteries for everything and plenty of videotapes.
3. Some of you will already be familiar with using a still camera. Using a video camera is somewhat similar, except that your subject moves within the frame. One of the hardest things for a newcomer to digital filmmaking to do is getting used to the new camera, and what it can do. My foremost tip is once you get the camera in your hands, before you start filming you should go over the unit carefully and figure out exactly where and what the function of each button is. Read the manual from cover to cover. Most of the people I know don't like to do this but it makes no sense not to. Learn about your camera thoroughly. Only then can you begin to work with it instinctively. There is no time when you are filming something important to start figuring out what to do next because of unfamiliarity with your equipment.
4. OK, so now that you know how to make your camera function, the next step is actually filming. Firstly, until you are more experienced, leave your camera in all the automatic modes, like exposure, focus and white balance. Later on you will probably desire to control all these functions manually but for now go ahead and depend on your camera's auto systems. The most important thing you will learn is to hold your picture steady. Most people, when they get a video camera in their hands, end up recording a picture that when you play it back almost makes you dizzy. Forget about zooming and panning. Compose a picture in the viewfinder carefully, then hold the shot for a minimum of 10 seconds. Let the action happen inside the frame. While filming you should already be thinking about your next shot. Next, pause the camera and reframe. Stay away from the zoom button if you need a close-up. Leave your lens at its widest setting. Instead, walk over to your subject and compose your shot. When your lens is at wide-angle your focus is not as critical as when you zoom in tight on telephoto. Your shot also will be much steadier. Nothing is worse than jiggly video, unless done on purpose for aesthetic reasons, but usually only by people who know what they are doing (remember the TV show Homicide?).
5. Shoot wide, medium and tight. A variety of shots at different focal lengths are necessary to make an interesting production and for editing. Your first shot should be a wide view of the scene, then most of the rest should be of medium and close-up range. Vary your position and angle.
6. If you are trying to capture sound with your camera's built-in microphone, remember to stay close to the person who is speaking and not to move the camera until they are finished talking to avoid sound drop-outs and inconsistency.
7. Once you are finished filming your project, the next step is editing it into a finished production. In the past, the ability to do this was limited to only those who could afford to spend the thousands of dollars necessary to build an editing station. Thanks to computer makers like Apple and their revolutionary products like the G5 and the iMac, editing your DV project is now affordable and easier than ever. If you are just starting out, my recommendation would be to buy an iMac computer, which comes bundled with iMovie editing software. Editing your movies is as simple as connecting your Firewire-equipped DV camcorder to the iMac and transferring the footage to the computer's hard drive. The tape can be logged and edited into a simple production with only a few hours practice. Once you have learned how to edit and have some experience under your belt, it is then possible to move up to Apple's more advanced, professional level computer and software, the G5 and Final Cut Pro.I hope the above information will be helpful to some of you. This is just a taste of what you need to learn in order to be able to produce high-quality digital video productions.
For those of you who wish to take your skills further, more extensive training is available by attending the Platypus Workshop. Please contact me if there are any questions.
The following are some basic tips for those of you who are beginning to learn how to use the new generation of digital camcorders to tell stories.1. Select the right camera for your goal and your budget. A 3-CCD DV camcorder, such as the Canon XL-1s or Sony VX-2100, is best for optimum color and sharpness but the new 1-CCD models, such as the Canon Elura or Optura, offer wonderful image quality at a price that won't break the bank. If your production is intended for television, a 3-CCD camera is highly recommended. However, if you are aiming for the Web, a 1-CCD will do nicely. The camera you select should offer manual focus and exposure control, in addition to manual white balance for tricky lighting situations.
2. In addition to your camcorder, a few other accessories are invaluable. First would be a decent tripod, preferably one with a fluid head that allows smooth panning. Manfrotto-Bogen, in my opinion, make some of the best low-budget units that offer sturdy support and decent performance. Next would be an external microphone, such as a short shotgun and/or wireless lavalier. These will allow you to get better sound than the built-in microphone that came with your camcorder. A lavalier microphone, preferably a UHF model to limit signal interference, is useful for interviews and for allowing you to capture sound when your subject is a distance away from your camera. The shotgun microphone will allow you to do the same but can be more tricky to master. Good models are made by Sennehiser, Audio-Technica, Sony and Samson. A wide-angle accesory lens is useful for when you have to work in tight confines, and an on-camera video light for low-light filming situations. Finally, always carry extra batteries for everything and plenty of videotapes.
3. Some of you will already be familiar with using a still camera. Using a video camera is somewhat similar, except that your subject moves within the frame. One of the hardest things for a newcomer to digital filmmaking to do is getting used to the new camera, and what it can do. My foremost tip is once you get the camera in your hands, before you start filming you should go over the unit carefully and figure out exactly where and what the function of each button is. Read the manual from cover to cover. Most of the people I know don't like to do this but it makes no sense not to. Learn about your camera thoroughly. Only then can you begin to work with it instinctively. There is no time when you are filming something important to start figuring out what to do next because of unfamiliarity with your equipment.
4. OK, so now that you know how to make your camera function, the next step is actually filming. Firstly, until you are more experienced, leave your camera in all the automatic modes, like exposure, focus and white balance. Later on you will probably desire to control all these functions manually but for now go ahead and depend on your camera's auto systems. The most important thing you will learn is to hold your picture steady. Most people, when they get a video camera in their hands, end up recording a picture that when you play it back almost makes you dizzy. Forget about zooming and panning. Compose a picture in the viewfinder carefully, then hold the shot for a minimum of 10 seconds. Let the action happen inside the frame. While filming you should already be thinking about your next shot. Next, pause the camera and reframe. Stay away from the zoom button if you need a close-up. Leave your lens at its widest setting. Instead, walk over to your subject and compose your shot. When your lens is at wide-angle your focus is not as critical as when you zoom in tight on telephoto. Your shot also will be much steadier. Nothing is worse than jiggly video, unless done on purpose for aesthetic reasons, but usually only by people who know what they are doing (remember the TV show Homicide?).
5. Shoot wide, medium and tight. A variety of shots at different focal lengths are necessary to make an interesting production and for editing. Your first shot should be a wide view of the scene, then most of the rest should be of medium and close-up range. Vary your position and angle.
6. If you are trying to capture sound with your camera's built-in microphone, remember to stay close to the person who is speaking and not to move the camera until they are finished talking to avoid sound drop-outs and inconsistency.
7. Once you are finished filming your project, the next step is editing it into a finished production. In the past, the ability to do this was limited to only those who could afford to spend the thousands of dollars necessary to build an editing station. Thanks to computer makers like Apple and their revolutionary products like the G5 and the iMac, editing your DV project is now affordable and easier than ever. If you are just starting out, my recommendation would be to buy an iMac computer, which comes bundled with iMovie editing software. Editing your movies is as simple as connecting your Firewire-equipped DV camcorder to the iMac and transferring the footage to the computer's hard drive. The tape can be logged and edited into a simple production with only a few hours practice. Once you have learned how to edit and have some experience under your belt, it is then possible to move up to Apple's more advanced, professional level computer and software, the G5 and Final Cut Pro.I hope the above information will be helpful to some of you. This is just a taste of what you need to learn in order to be able to produce high-quality digital video productions.
For those of you who wish to take your skills further, more extensive training is available by attending the Platypus Workshop. Please contact me if there are any questions.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
To start with, I'm putting some interesting articles that I came across. Take a look -
Three-Minute Moguls (from December 2005, Businessweek)
Can a converted barbershop off a main drag in Santa Monica, Calif., really be the new epicenter of entertainment? Evan Spiridellis, 31, a director, takes his spot in front of a computer on this December afternoon as his team of twentysomething computer animators puts the finishing touches on his latest creation, 2-0-5. The two-minute film is a none-too-subtle lampoon of President George W. Bush's 2005 lowlights. Set to a banjo rendition of Auld Lang Syne, the short features a marionette-like Dubya bouncing from one calamity to another singing "there's a special investigator after my friend Karl." Along with his 34-year-old brother, Gregg, Spiridellis runs JibJab Media Inc., a onetime commercial animation house that first became an Internet hitmaker with the 2004 election spoof This Land. Now, feverishly working his computer's mouse as the President tiptoes sheepishly through Iraq, Evan is rushing to make a deadline: Jay Leno wants to see a finished version for The Tonight Show.
By the time 2-0-5 aired on NBC on Dec. 15, the film was already on its way to becoming an Internet smash. "We were seeing a huge spike in traffic," says Rob Bennett, product manager for video, TV, and movies at MSN, which licensed JibJab's short to be shown on the online service. Within two weeks, about 2 million additional folks watched it directly on JibJab's Web site, says Gregg Spiridellis.
Those may not be the blockbuster numbers of, say, a Spider-Man or Lord of the Rings, but six years after the Internet bust dashed hopes that original movies and shows would fly in cyberspace, online production is back. And it's not being fueled by Hollywood suits and high-priced directors like Ron Howard and Tim Burton who crowded the Net in 1999. Today a small army of computer jockeys from Santa Monica to Brooklyn is quietly creating a New Hollywood by conjuring up hundreds of short bursts of animated or live-action entertainment from their second bedrooms or kitchen tables.
AD MAGNETS
Even though the online flicks can be crass, irreverent, even downright gross, companies such as Ford (), Miller Brewing (), and AT&T () are taking notice, placing products in the films themselves or running ads next to the videos. Going a step further, companies eager to connect with a younger audience are hiring these new filmmakers to create commercials. "It is becoming a business instead of a pastime," says Frank Dellario, a co-founder of Brooklyn's ILL Clan Productions, which has created shorts for MTV2 and other channels and commercials for Audi.Improved broadband speeds and penetration, as well as growing demand for content for wireless devices and game consoles, are giving the genre a boost. Soon, plans for Internet protocol TV (IPTV) by giants like Google () and Yahoo! (), which lets viewers see shows on both TV and computers, could create an even bigger opening. In fact, edgy fare is precisely what's connecting with teenagers, college kids, and, increasingly, older folks getting hip to the Net's vast offerings. "There's a wealth of cool content out there that plays well with our demos," says David Cohn, general manager of MTV2, which airs the shorts on its show Video Mods.
As with any kind of fringe media, these new filmmakers pride themselves on producing their work on the cheap. Three-minute shorts can cost as little as $1,000 and rarely more than $50,000 to produce. They often star girlfriends or feature the voices of out-of-work comedians. And because it costs so little to get started -- a computer, some software, and a digital camcorder -- there's no shortage of counterculture Spielbergs flooding the Net. Atom Entertainment, founded in 1998 and today the reigning site of this category, has 6 million monthly visitors to its various Web sites that act as a distributor for the films, much like a cable channel. Atom pays as little as $500 per short, say online producers. But the site also gives content creators a small cut of the ads preceding their flicks. That can mean popular shorts can make more than $200,000, says Atom Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Mika Salmi.
BOTTOM DOLLAR
Still, it's a tough way to make a living. The hippest Web sites of the moment, like MySpace.com, purchased by News Corp. () ()last summer, build communities of young videophiles by offering viewers a chance to show their work. That free content drives the price down for even the hottest pros cranking out films for the Web. "It has become like independent filmmaking," says Internet investment banker Michael Montgomery. "The good ones will get attention and money. Lots of others get nothing." It has also created a rarity among the online crowd: bidding wars. Last year, JibJab left AtomFilms to jump to MSN after the site agreed to host JibJab's advertising on its servers.
Internet filmmaking also serves as a showcase for directors eager to hit the big screen. Jason Reitman, the 28-year-old son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, says he was able to raise money for his upcoming independent film, Thank You for Smoking, in part because of the attention he got from three live-action films he made for AtomFilms. Icebox Inc. is producing one of its shorts, Queer Duck, into a full-length movie for Paramount Pictures Corp. () More telling, Creative Artists Agency Inc., which represents such directors as Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, now represents the JibJab brothers.
Some of these newbies, however, say it's best to keep some distance between the old and new cultures. By steering clear of large studios, John Evershed, CEO of Mondo Media, says he has gotten better deals from smaller middlemen to distribute DVDs and merchandise based on Mondo characters. Its hit short, Happy Tree Friends, in which cute critters are often torn to pieces, has sold more than 500,000 DVDs through stores like Blockbuster and Best Buy. And its stickers, key chains, and plush toys are big sellers in retail chains like teen-centric Hot Topic. "Large media companies have their own way of doing things," says Evershed, "and it's not always the right way for us." Now there's a creed for the alternative Hollywood.
By Ronald Grover
---------------------------------------------
France: Thousands of Young Spielbergs (Machinima -- making movies using video game software -- starts to explode )
Alex Chan simply wanted to make a political statement, countering what he deemed inaccurate coverage of the riots in French suburbs. Instead, the industrial designer created an emblem for a hot new form of entertainment. Working on his laptop with software from a $70 video game -- a technique called machinima -- Chan made a rudimentary but powerful 12-minute animated film about racism, The French Democracy, that is winning applause worldwide. "What I love is how neatly it blends the culture of games with the aesthetics of film," says Clive Thompson, a journalist in New York who has written about machinima and runs a well-known blog on technology and culture.
Since it emerged in the late 1990s, machinima has been the playground of mainly hard-core gamers who cobble together characters and sequences from favorite games, adding voice-overs laced with references that only fellow gamers can grasp. But with more user-friendly software tools on the market, novices can create their own narratives. That will democratize the movie business, machinima enthusiasts say. Anyone with a computer and off-the-shelf game software can now make and distribute animated movies over the Internet. "This is to the movies what blogs are to the written media," says Paul Marino, executive director of the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences, a New York nonprofit.
Many entertainment executives see machinima as an opportunity rather than a threat. One is Evan Shapiro, general manager of Independent Film Channel, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp. () that reaches 36 million U.S. homes. IFC has sponsored a machinima film festival and commissioned six films from animation companies such as the ILL Clan and RoosterTeeth Productions. The films are cheap and appeal to IFC's tech-savvy viewers, Shapiro says. "This is grassroots moviemaking at its best."
1 MILLION HITS
Chan produced his film using a video game called The Movies, in which players make their own films. He then posted the film on a site hosted by the game's developer, Lionhead Studios Ltd. of Surrey, England. The site is hot: Within three weeks of the game's November release, users posted more than 15,000 films. New ones are being added at a rate of one per minute. The French Democracy helped the site hit 1 million unique viewers in the past month.
No one is more astonished than Chan. The 27-year-old from the Paris suburb of La Courneuve was upset by news reports suggesting the violence was linked to Islamic fundamentalism. The film weaves together the experiences of three dark-skinned characters, all French citizens, to back Chan's contention that racism was a key reason for the riots. "I wanted to get people to understand why this happened," he says. It's not a polished work of art: The street scenery provided by The Movies is in Manhattan, so Chan's French characters act against a backdrop that includes the Empire State Building. Still, the film packs an emotional wallop.
The buzz over the film could help Hollywood and machinima move closer together. Directors George Lucas and Peter Jackson already have tried the technique for special effects. Who knows: The maker of the next blockbuster may be hunched over a computer right now, ignoring Mom's calls to dinner.
By Carol Matlack, with Ronald Grover in Los Angeles
----------------------------------------------------
Views on the Digital Age ( I think this is from Business week too :-))
“PAIN is temporary, film is forever.” That hopeful thought, which found its way into the original script of Peter Jackson's recent re-make of “King Kong”, might be seized upon by today's beleaguered entertainment industry. Media companies are suffering intense pain—and it is starting to seem worryingly permanent. In America shares of “old” media firms such as News Corporation, Comcast and other giants of television, film, radio and print, have fallen 25% behind the S&P 500 in the past two years, despite some heroic financial results. Meanwhile, the market value of Google, which made its debut on the stockmarket in 2004, is now equal to the combined worth of Walt Disney, News Corporation and Viacom, three beasts of the old media jungle. One investor, who recently moved two-thirds of his $1 billion fund out of American media and into emerging-market companies, moans that “the market thinks something's going to get them, whether it's piracy, personal video recorders, or Google.”
Desperate to rescue its share price, Viacom broke itself in two on January 3rd. Time Warner, the biggest media group of all, is under attack from Carl Icahn, a corporate predator perfectly adapted to sniff out the weak and vulnerable. The big groups have seen their newspapers and magazines lose readers and advertising to the internet; their music businesses suffer piracy and falling sales; and someone else's video games captivate new generations of consumers. Now come fears about film and TV, the bedrock of their business.
Hollywood took 7% less at the box office in 2005 than in 2004 and growth in sales of DVDs has slowed. Internet video threatens the satellite and cable systems of companies such as News Corporation and Time Warner. Dozens of advertisers are shifting budgets from television to such places as the internet and billboards. Brand-owners hate it that people are using digital video recorders to avoid their pitches. And if media firms move on to the internet themselves, they risk losing their films and television programmes to pirates.
Moguls still
No wonder that on media island they are downcast. Yet, if Hollywood teaches one thing, it is that stories can be re-made and dreams can come true. Rather as big retailers, including Wal-Mart and Tesco, have discovered advantages online, so too will big media companies.
True, the internet and digital devices will eventually break those companies' grip on distribution. But they gain something else: a digital world in which what you supply matters far more than how you supply it. In satellite radio, for example, Sirius has crept up on XM Satellite Radio thanks chiefly to its content, in the controversial form of Howard Stern. And this world holds another promise, too: an abundance of virtually costless ways to supply consumers with what they want to watch, whenever they want it—things established media are ideally placed to provide.
The internet is still in the digital equivalent of the silent-film era. It has been formidable for text, still images and music, but is only now, with broadband access, entering an age of high-quality video. As it does so, Time Warner, News Corporation, Disney and other media companies will be able to cash in on their film and television archives. Selling video direct to consumers, without distribution getting in the way, lets media firms, and viewers, mine their vaults for old episodes of “The Outer Limits”, Johnny Carson, or whatever: minority tastes, to be sure, but taken together, a vast new market.
Moreover, old media will command audiences for many years yet. New media understand this: Google has just bought dMarc, which sells old-fashioned radio advertising. Websites, such as BabyCenter.com and AlwaysOn, have recently launched print-magazine versions of themselves, to capture advertising that was out of their reach online. As the best remaining source of a mass audience, TV and film are the best places to create and promote the next “Simpsons” or “Narnia”.
Some people worry that new media companies may over time shunt old ones aside as producers of content. Certainly, digital media will create new stars and new businesses, but making high-quality video content will always be a daunting and expensive task. Music or a blog can be composed from a bedroom, but not an episode of “Friends”. Just last month DreamWorks, Hollywood's youngest studio, sold itself to Viacom, despite its strong financial backing and the talent of Hollywood luminaries. It made some money, but could not afford a billion-dollar investment in films year-in, year-out. Yahoo! has a media unit, but so far it hasn't had any hits. Responding to the news this week that Yahoo! intends to spend up to $10m on a reality-TV concept called “The Runner”, analysts complained that the investment would damage its margins.
By contrast with Yahoo!'s dabbling, old media is now investing in digital media in earnest. It all went terribly wrong before 2000 when bewitched executives squandered money on the internet and Time Warner sold itself to AOL in one of history's worst-ever deals. But now they are back. Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corporation, made a series of acquisitions in 2005 (see article). Disney is supplying two hits, “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost”, using Apple's iTunes download service. Last summer Viacom bought Neopets.com, a virtual-pets site. Old media is well placed to steer its huge offline audiences to its websites.
Helpfully on cue, piracy now seems less of a threat. The music industry now has a healthy business in legal downloads. Operators of peer-to-peer networks, such as eDonkey, are going straight. And Hollywood is realising that it has no equivalent to a big musical weakness—that many albums consist of a few decent tracks padded by dross.
Any media business has two products to sell: its content (to readers and viewers); and its audience (to advertisers). The task for old media is first to protect its advertising revenues by amassing audiences online and, second, to offset their viewers' intolerance of mass-advertising by making them pay more for content—which they are increasingly willing to do. It will not be easy, but then saving the heroine never was
Three-Minute Moguls (from December 2005, Businessweek)
Can a converted barbershop off a main drag in Santa Monica, Calif., really be the new epicenter of entertainment? Evan Spiridellis, 31, a director, takes his spot in front of a computer on this December afternoon as his team of twentysomething computer animators puts the finishing touches on his latest creation, 2-0-5. The two-minute film is a none-too-subtle lampoon of President George W. Bush's 2005 lowlights. Set to a banjo rendition of Auld Lang Syne, the short features a marionette-like Dubya bouncing from one calamity to another singing "there's a special investigator after my friend Karl." Along with his 34-year-old brother, Gregg, Spiridellis runs JibJab Media Inc., a onetime commercial animation house that first became an Internet hitmaker with the 2004 election spoof This Land. Now, feverishly working his computer's mouse as the President tiptoes sheepishly through Iraq, Evan is rushing to make a deadline: Jay Leno wants to see a finished version for The Tonight Show.
By the time 2-0-5 aired on NBC on Dec. 15, the film was already on its way to becoming an Internet smash. "We were seeing a huge spike in traffic," says Rob Bennett, product manager for video, TV, and movies at MSN, which licensed JibJab's short to be shown on the online service. Within two weeks, about 2 million additional folks watched it directly on JibJab's Web site, says Gregg Spiridellis.
Those may not be the blockbuster numbers of, say, a Spider-Man or Lord of the Rings, but six years after the Internet bust dashed hopes that original movies and shows would fly in cyberspace, online production is back. And it's not being fueled by Hollywood suits and high-priced directors like Ron Howard and Tim Burton who crowded the Net in 1999. Today a small army of computer jockeys from Santa Monica to Brooklyn is quietly creating a New Hollywood by conjuring up hundreds of short bursts of animated or live-action entertainment from their second bedrooms or kitchen tables.
AD MAGNETS
Even though the online flicks can be crass, irreverent, even downright gross, companies such as Ford (), Miller Brewing (), and AT&T () are taking notice, placing products in the films themselves or running ads next to the videos. Going a step further, companies eager to connect with a younger audience are hiring these new filmmakers to create commercials. "It is becoming a business instead of a pastime," says Frank Dellario, a co-founder of Brooklyn's ILL Clan Productions, which has created shorts for MTV2 and other channels and commercials for Audi.Improved broadband speeds and penetration, as well as growing demand for content for wireless devices and game consoles, are giving the genre a boost. Soon, plans for Internet protocol TV (IPTV) by giants like Google () and Yahoo! (), which lets viewers see shows on both TV and computers, could create an even bigger opening. In fact, edgy fare is precisely what's connecting with teenagers, college kids, and, increasingly, older folks getting hip to the Net's vast offerings. "There's a wealth of cool content out there that plays well with our demos," says David Cohn, general manager of MTV2, which airs the shorts on its show Video Mods.
As with any kind of fringe media, these new filmmakers pride themselves on producing their work on the cheap. Three-minute shorts can cost as little as $1,000 and rarely more than $50,000 to produce. They often star girlfriends or feature the voices of out-of-work comedians. And because it costs so little to get started -- a computer, some software, and a digital camcorder -- there's no shortage of counterculture Spielbergs flooding the Net. Atom Entertainment, founded in 1998 and today the reigning site of this category, has 6 million monthly visitors to its various Web sites that act as a distributor for the films, much like a cable channel. Atom pays as little as $500 per short, say online producers. But the site also gives content creators a small cut of the ads preceding their flicks. That can mean popular shorts can make more than $200,000, says Atom Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Mika Salmi.
BOTTOM DOLLAR
Still, it's a tough way to make a living. The hippest Web sites of the moment, like MySpace.com, purchased by News Corp. () ()last summer, build communities of young videophiles by offering viewers a chance to show their work. That free content drives the price down for even the hottest pros cranking out films for the Web. "It has become like independent filmmaking," says Internet investment banker Michael Montgomery. "The good ones will get attention and money. Lots of others get nothing." It has also created a rarity among the online crowd: bidding wars. Last year, JibJab left AtomFilms to jump to MSN after the site agreed to host JibJab's advertising on its servers.
Internet filmmaking also serves as a showcase for directors eager to hit the big screen. Jason Reitman, the 28-year-old son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, says he was able to raise money for his upcoming independent film, Thank You for Smoking, in part because of the attention he got from three live-action films he made for AtomFilms. Icebox Inc. is producing one of its shorts, Queer Duck, into a full-length movie for Paramount Pictures Corp. () More telling, Creative Artists Agency Inc., which represents such directors as Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, now represents the JibJab brothers.
Some of these newbies, however, say it's best to keep some distance between the old and new cultures. By steering clear of large studios, John Evershed, CEO of Mondo Media, says he has gotten better deals from smaller middlemen to distribute DVDs and merchandise based on Mondo characters. Its hit short, Happy Tree Friends, in which cute critters are often torn to pieces, has sold more than 500,000 DVDs through stores like Blockbuster and Best Buy. And its stickers, key chains, and plush toys are big sellers in retail chains like teen-centric Hot Topic. "Large media companies have their own way of doing things," says Evershed, "and it's not always the right way for us." Now there's a creed for the alternative Hollywood.
By Ronald Grover
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France: Thousands of Young Spielbergs (Machinima -- making movies using video game software -- starts to explode )
Alex Chan simply wanted to make a political statement, countering what he deemed inaccurate coverage of the riots in French suburbs. Instead, the industrial designer created an emblem for a hot new form of entertainment. Working on his laptop with software from a $70 video game -- a technique called machinima -- Chan made a rudimentary but powerful 12-minute animated film about racism, The French Democracy, that is winning applause worldwide. "What I love is how neatly it blends the culture of games with the aesthetics of film," says Clive Thompson, a journalist in New York who has written about machinima and runs a well-known blog on technology and culture.
Since it emerged in the late 1990s, machinima has been the playground of mainly hard-core gamers who cobble together characters and sequences from favorite games, adding voice-overs laced with references that only fellow gamers can grasp. But with more user-friendly software tools on the market, novices can create their own narratives. That will democratize the movie business, machinima enthusiasts say. Anyone with a computer and off-the-shelf game software can now make and distribute animated movies over the Internet. "This is to the movies what blogs are to the written media," says Paul Marino, executive director of the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences, a New York nonprofit.
Many entertainment executives see machinima as an opportunity rather than a threat. One is Evan Shapiro, general manager of Independent Film Channel, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp. () that reaches 36 million U.S. homes. IFC has sponsored a machinima film festival and commissioned six films from animation companies such as the ILL Clan and RoosterTeeth Productions. The films are cheap and appeal to IFC's tech-savvy viewers, Shapiro says. "This is grassroots moviemaking at its best."
1 MILLION HITS
Chan produced his film using a video game called The Movies, in which players make their own films. He then posted the film on a site hosted by the game's developer, Lionhead Studios Ltd. of Surrey, England. The site is hot: Within three weeks of the game's November release, users posted more than 15,000 films. New ones are being added at a rate of one per minute. The French Democracy helped the site hit 1 million unique viewers in the past month.
No one is more astonished than Chan. The 27-year-old from the Paris suburb of La Courneuve was upset by news reports suggesting the violence was linked to Islamic fundamentalism. The film weaves together the experiences of three dark-skinned characters, all French citizens, to back Chan's contention that racism was a key reason for the riots. "I wanted to get people to understand why this happened," he says. It's not a polished work of art: The street scenery provided by The Movies is in Manhattan, so Chan's French characters act against a backdrop that includes the Empire State Building. Still, the film packs an emotional wallop.
The buzz over the film could help Hollywood and machinima move closer together. Directors George Lucas and Peter Jackson already have tried the technique for special effects. Who knows: The maker of the next blockbuster may be hunched over a computer right now, ignoring Mom's calls to dinner.
By Carol Matlack, with Ronald Grover in Los Angeles
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Views on the Digital Age ( I think this is from Business week too :-))
“PAIN is temporary, film is forever.” That hopeful thought, which found its way into the original script of Peter Jackson's recent re-make of “King Kong”, might be seized upon by today's beleaguered entertainment industry. Media companies are suffering intense pain—and it is starting to seem worryingly permanent. In America shares of “old” media firms such as News Corporation, Comcast and other giants of television, film, radio and print, have fallen 25% behind the S&P 500 in the past two years, despite some heroic financial results. Meanwhile, the market value of Google, which made its debut on the stockmarket in 2004, is now equal to the combined worth of Walt Disney, News Corporation and Viacom, three beasts of the old media jungle. One investor, who recently moved two-thirds of his $1 billion fund out of American media and into emerging-market companies, moans that “the market thinks something's going to get them, whether it's piracy, personal video recorders, or Google.”
Desperate to rescue its share price, Viacom broke itself in two on January 3rd. Time Warner, the biggest media group of all, is under attack from Carl Icahn, a corporate predator perfectly adapted to sniff out the weak and vulnerable. The big groups have seen their newspapers and magazines lose readers and advertising to the internet; their music businesses suffer piracy and falling sales; and someone else's video games captivate new generations of consumers. Now come fears about film and TV, the bedrock of their business.
Hollywood took 7% less at the box office in 2005 than in 2004 and growth in sales of DVDs has slowed. Internet video threatens the satellite and cable systems of companies such as News Corporation and Time Warner. Dozens of advertisers are shifting budgets from television to such places as the internet and billboards. Brand-owners hate it that people are using digital video recorders to avoid their pitches. And if media firms move on to the internet themselves, they risk losing their films and television programmes to pirates.
Moguls still
No wonder that on media island they are downcast. Yet, if Hollywood teaches one thing, it is that stories can be re-made and dreams can come true. Rather as big retailers, including Wal-Mart and Tesco, have discovered advantages online, so too will big media companies.
True, the internet and digital devices will eventually break those companies' grip on distribution. But they gain something else: a digital world in which what you supply matters far more than how you supply it. In satellite radio, for example, Sirius has crept up on XM Satellite Radio thanks chiefly to its content, in the controversial form of Howard Stern. And this world holds another promise, too: an abundance of virtually costless ways to supply consumers with what they want to watch, whenever they want it—things established media are ideally placed to provide.
The internet is still in the digital equivalent of the silent-film era. It has been formidable for text, still images and music, but is only now, with broadband access, entering an age of high-quality video. As it does so, Time Warner, News Corporation, Disney and other media companies will be able to cash in on their film and television archives. Selling video direct to consumers, without distribution getting in the way, lets media firms, and viewers, mine their vaults for old episodes of “The Outer Limits”, Johnny Carson, or whatever: minority tastes, to be sure, but taken together, a vast new market.
Moreover, old media will command audiences for many years yet. New media understand this: Google has just bought dMarc, which sells old-fashioned radio advertising. Websites, such as BabyCenter.com and AlwaysOn, have recently launched print-magazine versions of themselves, to capture advertising that was out of their reach online. As the best remaining source of a mass audience, TV and film are the best places to create and promote the next “Simpsons” or “Narnia”.
Some people worry that new media companies may over time shunt old ones aside as producers of content. Certainly, digital media will create new stars and new businesses, but making high-quality video content will always be a daunting and expensive task. Music or a blog can be composed from a bedroom, but not an episode of “Friends”. Just last month DreamWorks, Hollywood's youngest studio, sold itself to Viacom, despite its strong financial backing and the talent of Hollywood luminaries. It made some money, but could not afford a billion-dollar investment in films year-in, year-out. Yahoo! has a media unit, but so far it hasn't had any hits. Responding to the news this week that Yahoo! intends to spend up to $10m on a reality-TV concept called “The Runner”, analysts complained that the investment would damage its margins.
By contrast with Yahoo!'s dabbling, old media is now investing in digital media in earnest. It all went terribly wrong before 2000 when bewitched executives squandered money on the internet and Time Warner sold itself to AOL in one of history's worst-ever deals. But now they are back. Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corporation, made a series of acquisitions in 2005 (see article). Disney is supplying two hits, “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost”, using Apple's iTunes download service. Last summer Viacom bought Neopets.com, a virtual-pets site. Old media is well placed to steer its huge offline audiences to its websites.
Helpfully on cue, piracy now seems less of a threat. The music industry now has a healthy business in legal downloads. Operators of peer-to-peer networks, such as eDonkey, are going straight. And Hollywood is realising that it has no equivalent to a big musical weakness—that many albums consist of a few decent tracks padded by dross.
Any media business has two products to sell: its content (to readers and viewers); and its audience (to advertisers). The task for old media is first to protect its advertising revenues by amassing audiences online and, second, to offset their viewers' intolerance of mass-advertising by making them pay more for content—which they are increasingly willing to do. It will not be easy, but then saving the heroine never was
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