Dangerous Stunts

Was in a discussion this week with a fellow filmmaker who was wondering how he was going to shoot a particular special effect scene where the actor was to be suspended and tumbling, in front of a green screen. Red Flags were being hoisted high for me. Even though they were going to use a professional harness (which is a must) and have a professional flying rig (which is a must), still there is the question of the HUGE liability involved. Hey, what could possible go wrong? Plenty... AND the consequences could easily be LIFE altering... all for that one shot. Not worth it in my book.
This is the temptation I've seen many times in no-budget movies... "How can we do something just like the Multi-Million dollar guys?" Simple answer...You can't. At least not the WAY they do it.
What could go wrong? How about the rig fails and fall on the actor's head? How about the harness fails while the actor is suspended upside down, even a few feet off the floor... Could put him in a wheelchair for life. And you in the poor house for LIFE. ..even if you have insurance (that will probably be inadequate to cover the jury award). All for that one scene in a no-budget movie.
Here's where we need to be creative which is your mantra in a no-budget movie. How else could you simulate that effect without the need of a flying rig? There are a number of creative ways that will soon be shown at www.thestudiocenterfilmschool.com . At the very least, you could re-write the script to show the samething. We'll be talking about all the options.

Things Are Looking Up

From an absolutely terrible 4th quarter last year, we had the bottom of the recession hit the video market here in Sacramento in January. It was the worst I've seen the business in the past 30 years or so! In this business, one goal is just to survive. The market will always come back up at some point... but if you're not there anymore, it won't matter will it? So just having the ability to survive the downturns is an important attribute to have in this business. Thankfully, we're having a more active than normal February. I think that's because there is quite a bit of pent up projects that people were holding back on until they were sure it was safe to come out. Hey, I was doing the samething. The rule around here was "don't go buy anything... we may need that money for electricity next month"... and unfortunately, that point of view only kept money out of circulation and kept the recession going on longer. It is no nice to see Spring is on the way!

Office Available

There's an opening at The Studio Center. A 9x12 room is available for $250/mo, all utils included. If you're looking for a presences in one of the most active studios in northern California, give me a call to take a look at it... and all the bene's you'll get.

Cool TurnTable for the Studio

Check out this Turntable built by Master Set Builder Ed Duffy of Artfab. As you can see, it holds some substantial weight and is belt driven with a variable speed motor. We rent it here at The Studio Center.

First Step to Digital Distribution Announced at CES

What I've been predicting has just been announced at the Consumer Electronics Show ( CES). Intel has unveiled its new WiDi device... or Wireless Display Technology. This device, along with Netgear's Push2TV Adapter, allows an Internet download to be transmitted from your computer to your big LCD screen in the living room. The device is a bit pricey right now ( as ALL tech breakthoughs are at their beginning) and haven't read reviews of the quality yet... But... This is the first crucial step in the coming Digital Download Revolution for movie distribution.

Netflix Sees The Future of Film Distribution To Be The Internet

An article in the 2-19 internet issue of IT Solutions tells of a deal struck between Warner Bros. and Netflix, where Netflix will refrain from renting new Warner releases for a month, in exchange for Digital Download rights in the future... What does that tell ya? Netflix sees the future of distribution to be in the Internet Digital Download. And so far Netflix has been right on most of the time.
So much so, we may be seeing the slow dissolution of Blockbuster with their incompetent management having missed most of the above messages.

Ryan Todd Directing Music Video

Ryan Todd (he's the one in the hat) was in The Studio Center recently, directing a new music video on the GreenScreen set. Eric Maddox was shooting with the Sony EX1 High Definition camera... like the two we have in-house here at The Studio Center. More pictures to come.