Haven Falls Productions doing video for Schools

This past week, Haven Falls Motion Pictures out of Davis was in the studio shooting a video for the San Juan School District. Mark Holman produced with Chris Terry directing and Chris Robson as DP. Also assisting the actors was Casting Director and Acting Coach, Sally Forcier.

In the scene here, the microphones will be digitally removed in post /editing for the final picture.

Our "Horizonless White" stage (with the built-in cove... or "Hard Cyc") has not been getting as much use as our GreenScreen stage, so it was nice to see the great pictures Chris Robson was getting for this production.

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"Doing Time" finished it's 3rd shooting day last week, with lots more to go for this full length feature directed by Joyce Glover and DP'd by me with our new Sony EX1 high definition camera.

"Doing Time" Second Day

Shooting has begun on "Doing Time" as you can see at the right. Behind me are Boom Operator Swayne Cates and Production Assistant James Thornton. This is actually the 2nd day of shooting and it was 102 degrees by the time we wrapped for the day at 2pm. Of course we chose the hottest day ever (record breaker) in May to shoot a scene that is supposed to me in December! Things are going great with a great crew, superb cast, super preperation... and Joyce Glover (Writer-Producer-Director) is really power schmoozing. She's finding support for this project all over the halls of power... and people finding further funding for us. It really helps being on a shoestring to begin with...any infusion of funds seems like a windfall. But Joyce has a great script that may be opening doors because it seems to be coming at the right time in the right places... Timing is everything!

On another note: I've changed the blog perameters to allow anyone to post a comment. Before you had to be a registered user, but that wasn't made clear... so be nice and you can comment!

The Studio Center set to produce "Doing Time"

Writer/Director Joyce Glover is about to commence production on her new full-length movie "Doing Time". As all of Joyce's scripts, this one is a very intense, in-depth look at family dynamics and relationships that are particular to the African-American community...yet have profound messages for us all. I directed two of Joyce's first movies: "The Mile In Her Shoes" and "The 9th". Joyce went on to write and direct a third movie and this will be her fourth. Originally this was to be a short movie, but then it just grew and grew. At that point her initial crew realized they may be in over their heads, so that's when Joyce called me and asked if I would consider producing and shooting the feature for her. How could I say no?... Not to mention I believe in Joyce's writing and projects. Obviously I think this one has great potential.

In addition to all that, I want to open the doors to those that would like to get some real movie making experience. I rarely work with interns or trainees. But this time I want to start to develop a crew pool for future productions. I will take on a few interns for this project who will have to the opportunity to not only work with us, but it will be treated as a serious learning experience. I will tell you what I'm doing, and more importantly why. Why I make the choices I do... What's the look I'm trying to achieve and why...etc. If you're interested, drop me an email at Frank@TheStudioCenter.com and I'll fill you in on the projected shooting schedule.

Learning the Sony EX1

Whew, What a Camera! This thing is amazing. I'm not going to review it here since there is plenty out there on the web. Just a note...When I check out the DVX User chat lines, which were pretty much dedicated to the Panasonic HVS-200, many posters are asking how they can sell their Panasonics and get the EX1. That alone should tell ya something. It's obviously no contest when you look at the specs. That's what tipped the scale for us to buy one. You gotta be careful when you pick your equipment purchase points when you're in business for yourself. You can't always go out and buy the latest and greatest just because it's the latest and greatest. You have to ask: Is there a market supported for this in the town where I make my living? Will it make any difference to my clients? Are they willing to pay more for it? Or will I actually lose business if I don't have it? For most of High Definition the answers were a NO. We were going to buy the Sony F-330 for $40,000, but then I came to the conclusion that's nuts! I won't be able to charge any more even with that camera...and the monthly payments will be over $1,000 per month. What will it be like when business bottoms out?... Like NOW! So when you look at the fantastic specs of the EX1...and you can get it for under $7,000! That tipped the scale. Why do we even need HD? Actually we don't. No way to deliver it anyway. But I will admit, even as bad a resolution as web video is, the HD camera original footage looks better than our DVCAM originated footage... that's why we bought it. Oh and did I mention it will be a great camera for shooting feature movies on... That's the secret reason we got one!

Sacramento Film Festival Workshop

The Sacramento Film Festival ( www.sacramentofilmfestival.com ) begins soon...at the end of this month. In case you didn't know, the Festival does more than showcase movies. There are also many great workshops by movie people from far and wide. These are some very good deals for $20. One in particular coming up Thursday, April 3rd, I will be one of two panel members for "Film School 101-- Feature Films at Shorts Prices".
We're going to talk about making movies on the cheap...but they don't have to look cheap. I've made over 8 short movies in the past 5 years or so...most all award winners... and we didn't spend more than a couple hundred dollars on any of them. I've also shot a full length feature in the past few years... The budget there was maybe $10,000...and it looked darned good, if I do say so myself. That's related to what I'll be talking about. But wait...There's more!
I'm going to actually be giving the attendees some of my actual projected budgets for two or three new full length features The Studio Center will be producing. This is information I rarely share except with investors... I'll tell you how you can make a good looking movie for very little dollars. So see you at Film School 101 at 2:00 p.m Thursday April 3rd @ the 24th st Green Room.

We Made The Business Journals Top 25 List

Take a look at today's (3-21-08) issue of the Sacramento Business Journal... We came in as the 8th largest video production company in town. I must admit I looked at the list with a bit of a chuckle... OK, outright laughter in many cases. I haven't seen so much fibbing since the last Bush speech! If you believe most of those numbers, I've got a slightly used bridge over the American River I can make you a real good deal on. Especially #1 KVIE Media... They put the numbers for the whole station in, not the dollar amount generated by KVIE Media. And oh yeah, KVIE Media employs 60 people... How about 1 or 2 is more like it. My only regret is that I didn't lie enough! The challenge The Business Journal had was trying to figure out some way to rank video production companies. They went to their only formula which is Gross Dollars & Employees. But I don't think you can rank video production companies realistically that way. But granted, another formula (like number & type of productions) would take way too much time for the paper to do. So I guess the message is: If I want to move up the list next year... Lie Bigger!

Chromakey over the Web

Big trend these days (in case you didn't notice) is chomakey video over the web. Just in this week was Bob Murray and Tonya Rizzo from Trapeze,LTD. doing segments for a really cool bit for SureWest for a web presentation. Can't wait to see how the composite will look.
That's why we've recently purchased the new Sony EX1... because it gives a superb picture when doing web chromakeys. Fred Casanova, our ace editor, has perfected the chromakey process for the web... which is a mixture of technology, art, and voodoo. Unfortunately, it's not a "one button" process. We use different chromakey programs (FCP Keyers, After Effects, DV Matte Blast, Primatte, and Apple's Shake) for different camera framings and compositions since each has it's strengths and weaknesses. Maybe we can get Fred to talk about this... once we can get him to stop playing with the voodoo chicken bones.