DavidMarcusFilms

Hobbit in 48fps

David — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:11:53 +0000

If you’re a film geek like the rest of us, this is world-shattering news. Shooting and playing back in 48fps is a whole new way of viewing films. Here’s Peter Jackson’s facebook notes: http://www.facebook.com/notes/peter-jackson/48-frames-per-second/10150222861171558

Sony VideON video on Sony 2K/4K

David — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:43:50 +0000

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/video/related-most_popular/video-cinealta_pmwf3_behind_the_scenes_f3_usc/

——If you can handle the tech talk for the full 30 minutes, you get bonus points. One of the head honchos explains the difference between CCD and CMOS and resolution across several of the latest cameras (Canon, JVC, and Panasonic not even mentioned here. Shows what Sony thinks of them in the professional video world…)

But some things we’re looking at here- Tapes coming back with their new VTR that’s not a VTR…It can handle 4:4:4 color space in 3D. Wow.

SStP codecs at 220Mbps they are claiming is just as good for delivery as full uncompressed, saving 85% of space

New memory chip “SR Memory chip” up to 5Gbs. Wow. Also in Raid 5 format so you can save any lost footage.

Ellcami transcoding ‘from anything to anything’. Same as cell chip in PS3 with possible 16 chip slots. Incredible speeds and features that you’ll have to check out for yourself. It’s a lot to type.

New ways to up-res 2K to 4K using D.E.E.P (Dynamic Element expansion protocol)

4K projectors coming, but there are no true 4k devices for capturing 4k.

And then he wraps up explaining that there needs to be ways of capturing, storing, and exhibiting 4K for any of it to work. Good stuff to know now so we can enjoy the anxious wait for these to emerge.

NATPE

David — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:23:31 +0000

NATPE is a major film market for Hollywood’s top players. Watch the panels now, FREE! The National Association of Television Program Executives is in full swing this year in Miami, January 24-26. If you’re interested in learning from the pros without paying the full $430 per day or whopping $1050 3-day pass, there’s another way. Check the link above to see a list of selected free LIVE seminars happening throughout the event. “How to deal with network notes without killing yourself”, “Building entertainment brands on Facebook”, and “The new guard of digital deal makers” are just a few of the 20+ offered that I’m interested in.

NATPE streaming seminar schedule

PreVis Documentary

David — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:37:43 +0000

Previsualization is possibly the best tool for communicating your film. Don’t know what it’s all about? Watch this quick, free 9 minute documentary brought to us by the renowned (just kidding, I’ve never heard of them) Previs Society. The video is very well put together and includes interviews with some of the top names, and prevsis comparisons to some of the top recent Hollywood films like “The Matrix” “Star Wars” “Speed Racer” and “I Am Legend” to name a few. As it explains, it’s not just for animated or high visual effects shots (although it’s pretty much a must for them), but for laying out a sequence for the director to see emotional beats, and producers to see in order to schedule and budget. I recently did some on a relatively simple toy commercial to figure out the quick ADD pacing that our shots would have to hit. Ended up helping a lot and made editing (almost) a breeze.

Watch it here: http://www.previssociety.com/documentary-part-1/

Google’s April’s Fools Prank

David — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:33:01 +0000

So Google announced that it changed it’s name to Topeka, a city which just changed its name to Google. They almost took me for a run there until I realized the date. Good one Google! Let’s see how the public takes it.

The article: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html

Helpful web apps for writers

David — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:00:17 +0000

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/03/100-free-and-useful-web-apps-for-writers/

Really helpful page of links broken up into categories:
Organization
Brainstorming
Inspiration
Writing
Publishing
Freelancing
Communication
Collaboration
Marketing and Networking
Miscellaneous Tools

*Courtesy UMLA

DV formats

David — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:47:33 +0000

Someone asked me today the difference between dv, dvcam, and dvpro. Didn’t know exactly how to answer other than they are the same but for different types of cameras, dvpro being the most reliable.

Here’s the breakdown of each

Turns out it’s all about Microns!

David speaking at UM

David — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:21:37 +0000

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, I’m speaking at UM for Com Week- a week long event that brings the real world to students.

Career Connections: Surviving Your First Year in the Motion Picture Industry

Special lunch with alumnus David Marcus.

David has been successfully working in the Miami area on features, commercials, documentaries and music videos as well as starting his own production company. He will share his insights on breaking in, and preparing for a career as a working professional.

Read all about it here

And other speakers at Com Week here

GI Joe commentary is actually good

David — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:05:31 +0000

Ok- you caught me, I watched GI Joe off Netflix. But as far as a throw away action-figure-based action movie goes- this wasn’t too bad. Not a big fan- but whatever it worked for me.

But the commentary is great for aspiring filmmakers to learn from. Director Stephen Sommers and Producer/Editor Bob Ducsay explains a lot about the special effects, shooting, and the difficulty in keeping the stories complicated, yet easy to follow while keeping the fans pleased and the action on full throttle. Some quick anecdotes:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in this movie…(I didn’t even notice until the credits)
Sommers was also the director of the Mummy films, so Brendan Frasier said he HAD to be in it, but he was too expensive, so brought him in for one day.
Dennis Quaid (who FAILED in this role) had a daughter who was a fan and said he had to be in it. So they made his part bigger.
The director’s brother plays the rogue secret service agent who shoots everyone around the president.
The motorcycle stunts were done in France by a 65 year old real getaway driver who served his time and got into stunt business.
It was budgeted as a 95 day shoot, but he said 85- ended up wrapped after 83!
It was internet rumored that the movie was horrible and he was fired, but James Cameron (his neighbor) watched it and cleared up the rumors.
There was a line “It wasn’t I who killed our master”- but that made the audience confused that the bad guy was really a good guy. Cut it out.
It’s VERY HARD to test an FX movie with a audience- they can’t get past the blue screens and ping pong balls, and leak to the internet that the FX are really bad, when in actuality they’ve still got months to go
A lot of crew members went to film school with Bob
The studio says that they’re used to seeing green and blue screen raw footage- but they get painfully confused- and the director does too with “pans across floor and ceiling- cut to blue screen…”

New Google Buzz

David — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:52:48 +0000

So google is trying to put its foot into social networking, like apple did with the ipad for netbooks and eReaders.

“By letting users post photos, links and updates openly, the tool would mimic Twitter’s micro-blogging format. But users also will be able to make their content available to “friends only,” more closely following the Facebook model.”