The final draft of Run Hollywood Summer is finally done! I've fallen behind on the last stretch of editing this summer because the labs aren't open on weekends, but I managed to find a computer hidden in the basement of the library that I could use. After spending the weekend toiling away at color correction, final tweaks, and motion graphics, the final draft is done! All that remains is a final audio mix and the film will be ready for film festival submission!
Which speaking of, if you know or have any experience with the film festival circuit please be kind enough to share your knowledge with me. I've never submitted to any before so this will be a new adventure for me.
Well, thought I'd send out an update. I have to get back to Blood Bath and Beyond for now.
dan
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
New photos up - first half of Summer 09!
I don't get to play with the camera a whole lot when I'm working on the set of Blood Bath and Beyond, so I've been taking pictures whenever I get a chance. Here are some highlights of a bunch of pictures I just put up on my flickr account.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Everybody's a (Film) Critic
Once upon a time a while back ago, specifically my freshman year here at college, I did a segment called 'the search for the worst movie ever.' Basically, I seeked out the worst the Walmart one dollar bin had, then showed clips and generally tore it apart. It was all good natured fun and most of these movies were so unbearably bad that I considered it a public service of sorts. I produced the short segments throughout the year, put them online, and forgot about them.
That summer I finally made the leap from short films and 40 minute mini features to my first 90 minute full length film. I struggled through the production and poured every ounce of my heart into the project. My hardy and fiercely hardworking cast and crew of only a few people brought their best to the table in order to make the best film possible.
Later, on one of the many long nights editing that film, I looked at some of my old videos, including the Search for the Worst Movie Ever segments I worked on. I looked at the comments that people had posted. Some agreed with my assessments, some were the usual mature YouTube LOLZ U FFAGS commentary, but a handful of other comments got to me. They were the few that stood up for the films that I made fun of, that told me I didn't understand, that I was too young to say anything.
I continued slaving away at Run Hollywood Summer for months in post, all the while immersing myself in further research on independent production. And I kept thinking about those segments. What right really did I have to make those comments? Some of the videos I tore apart were the work of people who had put all their passion, their life into making their film. They really cared, and what if it all had come to a mediocre film? Aren't they entitled to some sort of respect for even putting themselves out there in a way that most of us are far to afraid to ever do?
But mostly, what if my film, the one I put so much sweat and love into, turned out to be a piece of shit? What if Run Hollywood Summer, despite all my efforts, was utterly unwatchable? How would I feel if some snarky college kid just called it a piece of crap left it at that?
So late one night I got online and removed every Search for the Worst Movie Ever segment from youtube. I was embarrassed that people ever saw them at all, saw a younger, far less experienced me rip on filmmakers I have now come to respect.
For example, I don't love Michael Bay, so what? He makes movies he loves and quite a few others love as well and I respect him for that. I could pick apart any movie I've ever seen, but anybody who can sit in a chair can do that. Could I have done a better job? Maybe, but probably not.
There are so many variables that go into the production of a film that hard work and good intentions alone don't always result in a great movie. Everybody who works on a project wants it to be the next Pulp Fiction or Godfather, but it just doesn't work out that way. The secret is, nobody knows how to make a great film. It just happens. Some have a better track record than others, but if we truly knew, how come every film isn't a great film?
Lately it feels like Facebook and the internet is filled to the brim with amateur film critics. Everybody rates everything, gives their own opinion why a film is garbage or not. They usually speak with complete authority and conviction. A movie is such an easy entity to judge, such an inviting target to just tear apart. While I applaud so much interest in the medium, the idea that some teenager at a computer can publish a scathing review of a project that hundreds put all their effort into to create just seems unsettling.
Don't get me wrong, I love film criticism. I check Metacritic on a regular basis and look at reviews before I ever plop down a dollar to see a movie. But the best film critics have a love and understanding of film that only comes with age and experience. Such as I do not have.
I'm still learning, and as I embark on my second feature length I find that I know far less than I ever thought. The experience of directing is a humbling one, and I realize how little I truly know and understand, and how much I have to learn from everybody around me. I am in no position to publicly criticize anybody who has ever put their film, their baby, out there to entertain the world. Because, for the first time in my life, I'm starting to understand what it feels like to be on the other side.
So Ron Marchini, I owe you an apology. I tore apart your indie low budget futuristic flick Karate Cop in my first Search for the Worst Movie Ever segment. You went out there in the days when independent film was far more expensive and difficult than it is now in the digital age and made a movie, to hell with anybody who told you no. Wannabe filmmakers, such as myself a year ago, have nothing on you, because you made your movie. And for that, you have my utmost respect.
And so, a toast to the good, bad, and ugly of film. Celebrate it all, because anybody can talk, but only a few get out there and do. So if you're a doer, my hat's off to you, even if your film makes my spleen want to claw its way out of my body. You did it anyway.
dan
That summer I finally made the leap from short films and 40 minute mini features to my first 90 minute full length film. I struggled through the production and poured every ounce of my heart into the project. My hardy and fiercely hardworking cast and crew of only a few people brought their best to the table in order to make the best film possible.
Later, on one of the many long nights editing that film, I looked at some of my old videos, including the Search for the Worst Movie Ever segments I worked on. I looked at the comments that people had posted. Some agreed with my assessments, some were the usual mature YouTube LOLZ U FFAGS commentary, but a handful of other comments got to me. They were the few that stood up for the films that I made fun of, that told me I didn't understand, that I was too young to say anything.
I continued slaving away at Run Hollywood Summer for months in post, all the while immersing myself in further research on independent production. And I kept thinking about those segments. What right really did I have to make those comments? Some of the videos I tore apart were the work of people who had put all their passion, their life into making their film. They really cared, and what if it all had come to a mediocre film? Aren't they entitled to some sort of respect for even putting themselves out there in a way that most of us are far to afraid to ever do?
But mostly, what if my film, the one I put so much sweat and love into, turned out to be a piece of shit? What if Run Hollywood Summer, despite all my efforts, was utterly unwatchable? How would I feel if some snarky college kid just called it a piece of crap left it at that?
So late one night I got online and removed every Search for the Worst Movie Ever segment from youtube. I was embarrassed that people ever saw them at all, saw a younger, far less experienced me rip on filmmakers I have now come to respect.
For example, I don't love Michael Bay, so what? He makes movies he loves and quite a few others love as well and I respect him for that. I could pick apart any movie I've ever seen, but anybody who can sit in a chair can do that. Could I have done a better job? Maybe, but probably not.
There are so many variables that go into the production of a film that hard work and good intentions alone don't always result in a great movie. Everybody who works on a project wants it to be the next Pulp Fiction or Godfather, but it just doesn't work out that way. The secret is, nobody knows how to make a great film. It just happens. Some have a better track record than others, but if we truly knew, how come every film isn't a great film?
Lately it feels like Facebook and the internet is filled to the brim with amateur film critics. Everybody rates everything, gives their own opinion why a film is garbage or not. They usually speak with complete authority and conviction. A movie is such an easy entity to judge, such an inviting target to just tear apart. While I applaud so much interest in the medium, the idea that some teenager at a computer can publish a scathing review of a project that hundreds put all their effort into to create just seems unsettling.
Don't get me wrong, I love film criticism. I check Metacritic on a regular basis and look at reviews before I ever plop down a dollar to see a movie. But the best film critics have a love and understanding of film that only comes with age and experience. Such as I do not have.
I'm still learning, and as I embark on my second feature length I find that I know far less than I ever thought. The experience of directing is a humbling one, and I realize how little I truly know and understand, and how much I have to learn from everybody around me. I am in no position to publicly criticize anybody who has ever put their film, their baby, out there to entertain the world. Because, for the first time in my life, I'm starting to understand what it feels like to be on the other side.
So Ron Marchini, I owe you an apology. I tore apart your indie low budget futuristic flick Karate Cop in my first Search for the Worst Movie Ever segment. You went out there in the days when independent film was far more expensive and difficult than it is now in the digital age and made a movie, to hell with anybody who told you no. Wannabe filmmakers, such as myself a year ago, have nothing on you, because you made your movie. And for that, you have my utmost respect.
And so, a toast to the good, bad, and ugly of film. Celebrate it all, because anybody can talk, but only a few get out there and do. So if you're a doer, my hat's off to you, even if your film makes my spleen want to claw its way out of my body. You did it anyway.
dan
Monday, May 18, 2009
Lotsa New Pictures!
I find photography incredibly relaxing and creatively stimulating. It's amazing.
I remain quite inexperienced, but I'm learning all the time. I'm always amazed how good so many people are at this art.
These are pictures I've taken from the past few weeks. Enjoy!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream' Abridged and Performed by Legos
It's been a while since I've been able to put out a short film since I've been so busy with BBB and RHS, but I managed to get this little thing done. For my honors 199 class we were allowed to film a summary of Norman Mailer's rather violent novel in place of doing an essay, and my mind naturally drifted to legos.
I had a lot of fun building the sets and playing with depth of field effects with my still camera lenses. This is the thing that gets me about still photography. I paid only 500 bucks for my Nikon D40 and two lenses, but they are far superior to lenses that I've toyed around with on 100,000 dollar video cameras. What gives? My only guess is that the consumer market is huge for DSLR cameras and competition has driven prices down and quality up.
Anyways, I'm getting off topic. You can find the short here.
As always, enjoy and thanks for watching!
I had a lot of fun building the sets and playing with depth of field effects with my still camera lenses. This is the thing that gets me about still photography. I paid only 500 bucks for my Nikon D40 and two lenses, but they are far superior to lenses that I've toyed around with on 100,000 dollar video cameras. What gives? My only guess is that the consumer market is huge for DSLR cameras and competition has driven prices down and quality up.
Anyways, I'm getting off topic. You can find the short here.
As always, enjoy and thanks for watching!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Mountains in Muncie
I haven't posted many pictures for a while, but this is one I took last week. It is easily one of my all time favorites. It was a windy spring day in Muncie and a storm was rolling in.
When I was a little kid I always desperately wanted to be a weather photographer. I'm living the dream.
There are some other new pictures I added as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/danfinnen/
Side note, since I haven't had a chance to mention it yet, thanks to everybody who came out for the Run Hollywood Summer premiere, I deeply appreciate it!
dan
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Dan's Guide to Sony HDV Workflow
I've been working in HDV 1080 60i full time for the past year and a half, spending much of that time pulling my hair out over problems encountered with the codec. I put together a little guide to help out anybody who is embarking on a journey to cut a video using HDV footage assembled from the myriad of lessons I've learned. Enjoy!
Sony HDV workflow for FCP
I am going to write this in a painfully obvious manner as I tend to forget steps like turning on the camera myself.
This is the workflow for capturing Sony HDV 1080 60i and converting it to ProRes to edit. You can edit HDV natively, however, it is a terrible format to edit in and will cause problems if you want to key, color correct, or add visual effects to your project.
CAPTURING HDV
This is assuming that you are shooting HDV 1080 60i on a Sony camera. If you don’t know what the frame rate of your camera is, it is most likely 60i, you have to manually change settings on the more expensive cameras to get false 24p and the such.
Make sure you have Final Cut Pro 6, otherwise you’re not going to have access to Sony HDV settings or ProRes. Open Final Cut Pro and set your scratch disks. Make sure you have at least 30 gigabytes of space on whatever hard drive you choose.
Also set video settings, don’t worry about easy setup. Make your sequence ProRes 422 1440x1080 60i. NOT ProRes HQ. NOT 1900 x 1080. NOT 1220 x 1080. Import settings should be HDV – ProRes 422. Once again, not HQ. HQ is the same quality of ProRes except with massive files that are impossible to store. You’re already going to be hurting for space using just standard quality. Finally, set your camera settings to Sony HDV. It used to be HDV Firewire Basic, but FCP 6 has the Sony setting.
Rewind your tape to the very beginning. ProRes import is different than DV and won’t rewind the tape for you. Plug the camera in to the computer using good ol’ firewire 400. Put your camera into VCR mode. If you’re using a deck, make sure that the deck is in HDV mode. I’ve spend hours yelling at a VCR for not working when it was just sitting in DV mode the whole time.
Select Log and Capture. A tiny window will come up asking you to name the tape. ProRes importing will work through the tape and automatically divide up the footage into clips and automatically prefix them with the tape description. It is wonderfully easy and far superior DV capture. Let the computer capture. As it captures you’ll be able to monitor the footage. Don’t worry if the motion is behind, the computer will be screaming.
NOTE: If you’re on a Mac laptop, be very careful about importing. After one tape the computer will overheat and you’ll get a grey screen of death.
After it finishes importing a large amount of clips will suddenly appear. Now your footage is ready to edit. Make sure you keep your timeline set to ProRes 422 1440x1080 60i throughout the process. When you first drop in a clip a warning might appear that asks whether or not you want to change sequence settings to match clip settings. Always click yes on this.
EXPORTING PROJECTS ORIGINATED IN HDV
Exporting high definition is a pain in the ass. I’ve been struggling with it for years and there are no clear answers, just compromises. However, here are some of the tricks I’ve picked up over hours of swearing at the machines.
The primary reason that exporting footage that originated as HDV 1080 60i is a hair pulling process is the fact that it’s interlaced. I don’t know why the gods decided to make interlaced HD, but they cursed us with it and we have to deal. When you edit on your computer, you’re going to look at motion that looks 30p, and all will be well. However, when you go to export it, suddenly it looks like your parent’s home videos with 60i motion. Huh? I’ve tried a billion techniques to try to make my footage 30p and I’ve only come up with a handful of processes that work.
DVDs
Since Mac has a tradition of making everybody’s lives miserable by ignoring formats that they helped create (like the recent abandonment of Firewire 400), Mac has shrugged off Blu-Ray as well. Thus, you’re stuck with DVD if you want to give out your HD film in a consumer friendly format. But wait, isn’t DVD standard definition and interlaced? Yes. Welcome to hell.
Forget about trying to make things progressive in DVD Studio or Compressor, it’s not going to work and you’re going to get those awful interlace artifacts. Once you finish editing your project, go to your sequence settings. You’re going to see a box that says ‘upper’ in reference to scan lines. Select none. Then go to advanced settings and uncheck the interlaced box. Now your timeline is 30p without any artifacts. Take this timeline and send it to compressor. Compress it like any ordinary SD project, and you got a 60i DVD with progressive motion and no artifacts.
WEB OR COMPUTER VIDEO
Sweet! So by just changing the sequence to 30p all of your problems are solved in regards to Progressive looking motion? Sadly, no. For some strange reason, if you export using the sequence settings above to quicktime, you’re going to end up with some wonky artifacts. So return your sequence to its original settings of interlaced motion if you changed them or just keep them as they are. For some reason, the weirdly progressive interlaced motion that you’ve been editing in will be preserved, so you’ll get 30p from 60i. It’s a mysterious world.
If you’re wanting to make a master copy of the film, simply export as a quicktime movie, make sure it’s self contained, and use the exact same settings that you’ve been editing in. Don’t expect to use this file for anything other than archiving or further compression, it won’t play on PC and takes at least a quad core Mac Pro to play properly.
YouTube is now HD, so there’s no reason to export in anything other than sweet HD when posting to the web. Select export with Quicktime conversion (not movie). You’ll need to change the settings from default. Select H.264 as your codec and set it to 10000 to 6400 kbps depending on how big you want the file. If you just want to make a sweet looking file and aren’t concerned about size, ignore the bps box and push the quality slider to highest quality. Now move down to size. Select HD 720, not 1080. Ignore the weird default that will be listed when you open the window. If you’re adventurous, I’ve heard that adding a filter that crushes the blacks makes videos look many times superior. Let me know what you find out.
A quick note, for any sort of HD export in any codec for delivery, I recommend exporting in 720 not 1080. First off, nearly every monitor that people actually watch is 720 max, so 1080 doesn’t get you anywhere. Second, 720 gives you square pixels rather than the strange anamorphic ones with normal 1080 footage (Remember, HDV actually records a square picture and stretches it out later). Last and most important, there have been tests that show that the human eye usually can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080, so why waste date on redundant information? If you’re trapped at 10 mbps, why not use that data rate to make a kick ass 720 picture than a mediocre 1080 picture at the same rate? 1080 exists to sell expensive televisions and equipment.
If you need to export something in a hurry and aren’t concerned about quality, use the MPEG-4 codec. It’s just a worse and fast version of H.264. Put quality at best and give it 6000 kbps. (MPEG-4 settings are a tad different than H.264) Put frame size down to anamorphic 16:9 NTSC. It’ll export extremely fast, but if you have any sort of movement, expect the picture to pixelate severely. On the plus side, this file will play on even the slowest of computers.
I hope you find this mini guide helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, problems, or better ideas!
Sony HDV workflow for FCP
I am going to write this in a painfully obvious manner as I tend to forget steps like turning on the camera myself.
This is the workflow for capturing Sony HDV 1080 60i and converting it to ProRes to edit. You can edit HDV natively, however, it is a terrible format to edit in and will cause problems if you want to key, color correct, or add visual effects to your project.
CAPTURING HDV
This is assuming that you are shooting HDV 1080 60i on a Sony camera. If you don’t know what the frame rate of your camera is, it is most likely 60i, you have to manually change settings on the more expensive cameras to get false 24p and the such.
Make sure you have Final Cut Pro 6, otherwise you’re not going to have access to Sony HDV settings or ProRes. Open Final Cut Pro and set your scratch disks. Make sure you have at least 30 gigabytes of space on whatever hard drive you choose.
Also set video settings, don’t worry about easy setup. Make your sequence ProRes 422 1440x1080 60i. NOT ProRes HQ. NOT 1900 x 1080. NOT 1220 x 1080. Import settings should be HDV – ProRes 422. Once again, not HQ. HQ is the same quality of ProRes except with massive files that are impossible to store. You’re already going to be hurting for space using just standard quality. Finally, set your camera settings to Sony HDV. It used to be HDV Firewire Basic, but FCP 6 has the Sony setting.
Rewind your tape to the very beginning. ProRes import is different than DV and won’t rewind the tape for you. Plug the camera in to the computer using good ol’ firewire 400. Put your camera into VCR mode. If you’re using a deck, make sure that the deck is in HDV mode. I’ve spend hours yelling at a VCR for not working when it was just sitting in DV mode the whole time.
Select Log and Capture. A tiny window will come up asking you to name the tape. ProRes importing will work through the tape and automatically divide up the footage into clips and automatically prefix them with the tape description. It is wonderfully easy and far superior DV capture. Let the computer capture. As it captures you’ll be able to monitor the footage. Don’t worry if the motion is behind, the computer will be screaming.
NOTE: If you’re on a Mac laptop, be very careful about importing. After one tape the computer will overheat and you’ll get a grey screen of death.
After it finishes importing a large amount of clips will suddenly appear. Now your footage is ready to edit. Make sure you keep your timeline set to ProRes 422 1440x1080 60i throughout the process. When you first drop in a clip a warning might appear that asks whether or not you want to change sequence settings to match clip settings. Always click yes on this.
EXPORTING PROJECTS ORIGINATED IN HDV
Exporting high definition is a pain in the ass. I’ve been struggling with it for years and there are no clear answers, just compromises. However, here are some of the tricks I’ve picked up over hours of swearing at the machines.
The primary reason that exporting footage that originated as HDV 1080 60i is a hair pulling process is the fact that it’s interlaced. I don’t know why the gods decided to make interlaced HD, but they cursed us with it and we have to deal. When you edit on your computer, you’re going to look at motion that looks 30p, and all will be well. However, when you go to export it, suddenly it looks like your parent’s home videos with 60i motion. Huh? I’ve tried a billion techniques to try to make my footage 30p and I’ve only come up with a handful of processes that work.
DVDs
Since Mac has a tradition of making everybody’s lives miserable by ignoring formats that they helped create (like the recent abandonment of Firewire 400), Mac has shrugged off Blu-Ray as well. Thus, you’re stuck with DVD if you want to give out your HD film in a consumer friendly format. But wait, isn’t DVD standard definition and interlaced? Yes. Welcome to hell.
Forget about trying to make things progressive in DVD Studio or Compressor, it’s not going to work and you’re going to get those awful interlace artifacts. Once you finish editing your project, go to your sequence settings. You’re going to see a box that says ‘upper’ in reference to scan lines. Select none. Then go to advanced settings and uncheck the interlaced box. Now your timeline is 30p without any artifacts. Take this timeline and send it to compressor. Compress it like any ordinary SD project, and you got a 60i DVD with progressive motion and no artifacts.
WEB OR COMPUTER VIDEO
Sweet! So by just changing the sequence to 30p all of your problems are solved in regards to Progressive looking motion? Sadly, no. For some strange reason, if you export using the sequence settings above to quicktime, you’re going to end up with some wonky artifacts. So return your sequence to its original settings of interlaced motion if you changed them or just keep them as they are. For some reason, the weirdly progressive interlaced motion that you’ve been editing in will be preserved, so you’ll get 30p from 60i. It’s a mysterious world.
If you’re wanting to make a master copy of the film, simply export as a quicktime movie, make sure it’s self contained, and use the exact same settings that you’ve been editing in. Don’t expect to use this file for anything other than archiving or further compression, it won’t play on PC and takes at least a quad core Mac Pro to play properly.
YouTube is now HD, so there’s no reason to export in anything other than sweet HD when posting to the web. Select export with Quicktime conversion (not movie). You’ll need to change the settings from default. Select H.264 as your codec and set it to 10000 to 6400 kbps depending on how big you want the file. If you just want to make a sweet looking file and aren’t concerned about size, ignore the bps box and push the quality slider to highest quality. Now move down to size. Select HD 720, not 1080. Ignore the weird default that will be listed when you open the window. If you’re adventurous, I’ve heard that adding a filter that crushes the blacks makes videos look many times superior. Let me know what you find out.
A quick note, for any sort of HD export in any codec for delivery, I recommend exporting in 720 not 1080. First off, nearly every monitor that people actually watch is 720 max, so 1080 doesn’t get you anywhere. Second, 720 gives you square pixels rather than the strange anamorphic ones with normal 1080 footage (Remember, HDV actually records a square picture and stretches it out later). Last and most important, there have been tests that show that the human eye usually can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080, so why waste date on redundant information? If you’re trapped at 10 mbps, why not use that data rate to make a kick ass 720 picture than a mediocre 1080 picture at the same rate? 1080 exists to sell expensive televisions and equipment.
If you need to export something in a hurry and aren’t concerned about quality, use the MPEG-4 codec. It’s just a worse and fast version of H.264. Put quality at best and give it 6000 kbps. (MPEG-4 settings are a tad different than H.264) Put frame size down to anamorphic 16:9 NTSC. It’ll export extremely fast, but if you have any sort of movement, expect the picture to pixelate severely. On the plus side, this file will play on even the slowest of computers.
I hope you find this mini guide helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, problems, or better ideas!
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