Does it make sense to spend money when the reason for the recession is excessive overspending?
(via)

Suddenly I find myself enjoying making mock-up posters for RED. Here is the newest creation (click for full size):

One of the things I love about the Internets is how they change media, and especially advertising. In TV the advertiser has to spend a lot of money to get fixed slots of say 10, 15 or 30 seconds. Excepts for a few notable exceptions, stories have to be very simple, quickly told.

Now, with Internet and broadband, stories are no longer restricted by length – they just have to be good, so that people do want to watch them. More money can be spend on the actual film, rather than its distribution. “Get out of the Doghouse” is an excellent example of one of those. Observe:

(via Doug Karr)

I finally got around to do all steps to migrate my blog to a more fitting domain name. Modifoo was fun, but really void of a meaning. Visualnary shows much better what this blog really is about.

Hope you enjoy it, and do let me know of any problems you encounter during this switch over.

RED’s boss, Jim Jannard, has pretty much revolutionized the camera business. Here’s a little thank-you-poster I made (after The Last Legion):

Jim Jannard, the ONE legion

I recently bought some 190Ah batteries from Globalmediapro for our RED One and was quite disappointed to see that the camera would not boot up with them, while older, weaker batteries both from Globalmediapro and other manufacturers worked flawlessly. After Globalmediapro did not reply to my e-mail, I set upon finding out what was wrong. more…

Found a great article by BSC and ASC member Roger Deakins, one of my favourite Directors of Photography.

With all our modern inventions and innovations, there are few films that manage to achieve the “quality” of Citizen Kane, though there are many that have far less grain and considerably higher resolution.

Every shot I have ever made has been a compromise in some way. That’s a sweeping statement, but true nonetheless. No image has ever been as good as the one I envisioned in my mind’s eye. Maybe that’s what keeps me going: just once, I want to see that image onscreen!

There has always been a disregard for preservation, whether it’s preservation of a historic site, the Dodo, the polar bear, or a film like Sid and Nancy.

The animators who “photographed” [Wall-E] worked in a three-dimensional world and covered the action in much the same way as a live-action film, but the directors of photography, Danielle Feinberg (lighting) and Jeremy Lasky (camera) – separate positions you might note – used no emulsion, no Fresnel lamps or diffusion, no Steadicam, no geared head, nor any other live-action tool. Nevertheless, theirs was a stunning cinematographic achievement. It’s true they had an advantage – they never had to battle fading daylight, conceal a light’s source or hide dolly tracks – but I would not hesitate to recommend them for ASC membership.

Read the full article here.

In case you are wondering why I suddenly write so much – I was waiting for the friendly TNT guy to finally deliver my new MacBook Pro. Well, he just came, which means that soon I will be able to process R3D footage, and probably no further posts from me today

Oh, and the Birger Mount that was supposed to arrive at the beginning of the week… it hasn’t even been shipped yet. I should have known better…

I am always amazed when attending an audition, just how much of their soul those actors have to lay bare, often for a minor acting job. Here is a humorous view on those auditons: