El Roberto Presents....

Flicks, tips, and more...

2011-10-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

Do you have a favorite Halloween film? Well checkout the Chicago Tribune's list of top 25 scariest Halloween films here.

This looks really interesting... Checkout this trailer for the documentary The Black Power Mixtape

Here is a great tutorial on lenses by the folks at Vimeo.

Behind the Glass Part 1: An Intro to Lenses from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

Ever want to know how to slate correctly? Its never too late to learn how.

Tech Tip - Slating from Framelines TV on Vimeo.

The Last Circus

2011-08-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

If you can get past the freaky clowns in this trailer, I can say with the upmost confidence that you probably haven't seen a film like this before. The Last Circus is definitely a film I can't wait to see.

Can't wait to find out what movies are coming out this fall??? Checkout IFC's Fall Movie Preview.

Making Music Videos is Fun..

2011-08-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

We have always been interested in making music videos and watching the "behind the scenes" of this new Moby video only inspires us more....I'm digging the "Red" camera they are using in this shoot.

We are entering our favorite time of the year for films...after the summer movies have fizzled out the good films start to trickle out to your neighborhood Art House theatre. Check out this trailer for Senna.

Comic Con

2011-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

We had a pretty busy July and are finally starting to catch our breath after completing some big projects in the first half of the year. Comic Con was as fun and hectic of a shoot as ever. Check out the Upcoming Movies.com website's Comic Con Blog to see some of our work from the event.

Tutorials and movie releases...

2011-08-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

So we are finally putting the finishing touches on God with a Gun and stumbled upon this Sound Track Pro tutorial on how to remove unwanted background noise. Check it out:

Need to color correct your footage? Checkout this great on how to color correct the right way.

Color Correction Tutorial After Effects [The Right Way!] from ☞ Michael DeVowe on Vimeo.

There are some additional instructions here
And if you own After Effects and need to create a quick vignette, checkout the clip below:

Another great film from the folks at Oscilloscope.

Good Things Come to People Who....

2011-08-04T20:23:00.001-07:00

Read our blog posts!!! Sorry, its been awhile...we have been busy covering Comic-Con and working on some other artistic endeavors...but anyway enough about that...Francis Ford Coppola was at Comic Con this year promoting his new movie Twixt. At the panel, Coppola utilized an unique approach to the presentation of Twixt that incorporated live music by acclaimed independent performance artist Dan Deacon. Deacon attend Comic-Con with Coppola to help demonstrate the interactive experience of the film, which incorporates both 2-D and 3-D elements. Staring Val Kilmer, Twixt was inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe' and Nathaniel Hawthorne and and came to Coppola in a dream "while on a trip to Istanbul." The trailer is below...let us know what you think.

Check out this interesting video

Paraic King from Ricardo Zapata on Vimeo.

Blank City....and more

2011-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

First-time director Celine Danhier assembled archival footage and contemporary interviews about New York's underground film scene in the 1970s and 80s. As self proclaimed film jeeks, we can't see enough documentaries about the process of making film, music, and art. Should be an interesting doc....

DIY TIP OF THE DAY:

How to make an explosion- After Effects Tutorial

Ever wanted to know how to create realistic looking Terminator make-up effects??? Look no further.

The Beaver...& more....

2011-03-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

Although the early reviews have been positive about Mel Gibson's performance. Its a safe bet that we won't be lining up to see this one...
2011 Accepted Film: The Beaver

Checkout this other 2011 SXSW film...

SXSW FILM FEST & MORE....

2011-03-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

The South by Southwest film festival is in full swing and unfortunately we cannot be there. Despite this fact, we will be posting some of the coverage from this years festival. Hopefully we can make it next year.

This looks awesome...

Satan Since 2003: SXSW 2011 Accepted Film

Duncan Jones at the Source Code Red Carpet Q&A: 2011 SXSW Film Festival.

Man & Machine: A Naked Robotic Love Story - SXSW 2011 Accepted Film

Film Rumors...Tips and Tools and...Hobo with a Shotgun

2011-03-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...sorry for the delay between posts. We are working on that. But honestly we are knee deep in editing GWAG at the moment and hopefully we will be finally done with it soon. Anyway whilst taking a break in the action I stumbled upon these interesting Quentin Tarantino rumors....first off, Hobo with a Shotgun premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and is set to be released on March 25th....well at least in Canada. But this is the 2nd Grindhouse Trailer film spinoff to be released. The trailer is of course ridiculously funny and honestly I can't wait to see it.

The 2nd rumor is that several media sites are reporting that Tarantino is getting behind the directors chair to make a Spaghetti Western staring Christoph Waltz among others....stay tuned.

Cheap Film Sound Tips..

The Oscars were....

2011-02-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

pretty boring...well except for a F-Bomb, and the auto-tunemashup got a few laughs. Franco and Hathaway gave it their best but mostly came up short due to the Academy playing it safe and staying away from anything deemed obscene or funny....well at least fan favorite Inception didn't win best picture...

List of Winners....

Best Picture
"Black Swan," Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
"The Fighter" David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
"Inception," Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
"The Kids Are All Right," Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
WINNER: "The King's Speech," Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
"127 Hours," Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
"The Social Network," Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán, Producers
"Toy Story 3" Darla K. Anderson, Producer
"True Grit" Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
WINNER: Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"
James Franco in "127 Hours"

Actor in a Supporting Role
WINNER: Christian Bale in "The Fighter"
John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
WINNER: Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
WINNER: Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"

Animated Feature Film
"How to Train Your Dragon" Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
"The Illusionist" Sylvain Chomet
WINNER: "Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich

Art Direction
WINNER: "Alice in Wonderland"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"True Grit"

Cinematography
"Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
WINNER: "Inception," Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth
"True Grit," Roger Deakins

Costume Design
WINNER: "Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit" Mary Zophres

Directing
"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter," David O. Russell
WINNER: "The King's Speech," Tom Hooper
"The Social Network," David Fincher
"True Grit," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)
"Exit through the Gift Shop," Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
"Gasland," Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
WINNER: "Inside Job," Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Restrepo," Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
"Waste Land," Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)
"Killing in the Name"
"Poster Girl"
WINNER: "Strangers No More"
"Sun Come Up"
"The Warriors of Qiugang"

Film Editing
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"The King's Speech"
"127 Hours"
WINNER: "The Social Network"

Foreign Language Film
"Biutiful," Mexico
"Dogtooth," Greece
WINNER: "In a Better World," Denmark
"Incendies," Canada
"Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)," Algeria

Makeup
"Barney's Version," Adrien Morot
"The Way Back," Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
WINNER: "The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
"The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat
"127 Hours," A.R. Rahman
WINNER: "The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from "Tangled," Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
WINNER: "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)
"Day & Night," Teddy Newton
"The Gruffalo," Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
"Let's Pollute," Geefwee Boedoe
WINNER: "The Lost Thing," Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)" Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)
"The Confession," Tanel Toom
"The Crush," Michael Creagh
WINNER: "God of Love," Luke Matheny
"Na Wewe," Ivan Goldschmidt
"Wish 143," Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing
WINNER: "Inception," Richard King
"Toy Story 3," Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
"Tron: Legacy," Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
"Unstoppable," Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing
WINNER: "Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
"The King's Speech," Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
"Salt," Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
"The Social Network," Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
"True Grit," Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects
"Alice in Wonderland," Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
"Hereafter," Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
WINNER: "Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
"Iron Man 2," Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"127 Hours," Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
WINNER: "The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
"Toy Story 3," Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
"True Grit," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone," Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)
"Another Year," Written by Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
WINNER: "The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler

Coming Soon..

The Oscars and its rainy and cold in SD....

2011-02-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

I know the weather is nowhere near as bad as other parts of the world but its been rather cold and wet the last couple of days here in San Diego. Just the kind of weekend to stay in, catch up your DVR list, and watch the Oscars tomorrow night. Anyway even though we haven't seen every movie that is nominated this year we are definitely opinionated about our picks to take home an Oscar but everyone knows that The Social Network and Restrepo will win in there categories....or will they??? I am interested to see if Banksy will make an appearance.

Below is the list of nominated films.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

Best Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession Tanel Toom
The Crush Michael Creagh
God of Love Luke Matheny
Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)
Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Best Documentary Feature
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Achievement in Makeup
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Hors la Loi (Algeria)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King's Speech (David Seidler)

Random...but pretty cool.

The Insane Console History Video 2.0 from Elder-Geek on Vimeo.

___

Sunday Night Editing

2011-02-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

While we are both really busy working on some editing projects, I managed to stumble upon these tutorials on how to create basic effects in Final Cut Pro. Enjoy!

Muzzle Flashes/Explosions and more!

DIY FILMMAKING 101

2011-02-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

I can never get enough of these tutorials on how to create cheap effects, props, DIY film equipment etc etc. Check these out...
Briefcase of Prop Money

Affordable Underwater Camera Rig

Want to learn how to create real looking cuts on the cheap???

Fans of The Criterion Collection can rejoice!
Read more....Criterion Comes to Hulu Plus - Movies - News - IFC.com

How to Clone Yourself and more....in Final Cut Pro....

2011-02-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

So we are currently working on A's film and have been researching on how to do all kinds of stuff when we stumbled upon these cool tutorials....I always wanted to learn how to create a clone effect and never knew it was this easy.

Want to know how to layer video???

How to remove camera shake in Final Cut Pro

Howlin' for You...

2011-02-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

Checkout this new project trailer from "Las Teclas Del Negro"...aka The Black Keys....good stuff.
Click here.
Need some more Black Keys??? Checkout the video for Next Girl below.

Heading out to Austin??? Click here to see the 2011 The South by Southwest Film Festival lineup.

How to Composite Video

2011-02-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Wanna learn how to composite video using Adobe Premier or Final Cut Pro? Checkout how to do it using Adobe Premier and After Effects from Videomaker.
How to Composite Video for Inserting Backgrounds in Sets
Own Final Cut Pro? Then checkout the video below:

And one more FCP how to video..

Coming Soon...
Even in the Rain

Mister Brainwash Does the Oscars...

2011-02-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well, if you have seen Exit Through the Gift Shop, then you knew that this was coming...a large mural of "Exit Through the Gift Shop"-related street art on La Brea in LA was put up overnight signed by Mister Brainwash. Now if Exit wins the Best Documentary Oscar, who will accept the award? Should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Want to know more about Exit Through the Gift Shop? Click here to read an interview with Banksy.

Not Dead Yet....

2011-01-31T21:36:00.000-08:00

With advances in digital video and photography happening all the time, many professional filmmakers and photographs still prefer the film medium over digital. Although many believe digital video will surpass film or is now actually a better medium, the debate goes on. Not sure which you prefer? Checkout John Mellencamp's tour trailer shot entirely with super 8mm.

John Mellencamp Trailer from Rounder Records on Vimeo.

Don't even think about putting away that super 8 camera...thanks to popular demand Kodak has recently released a new super 8 motion picture film. According to the article on Kodak's website:

"Super 8 mm film is a versatile, affordable option for filmmakers who require the image quality and flexibility of film," says Chris Johnson, product manager, Entertainment Imaging Division, Eastman Kodak Company. "Quantum leaps in film emulsion technology have made Super 8 - once considered a hobbyist's format - a viable option for professional filmmakers and students."

As a fan of all things film, (I regularly shoot 35mm and super 8mm) I am excited to see what the new super 8 color reversal film can do. Recently we shot some test rolls of Kodak Ektachrome 64T color reversal film and some Kodak TRI-X B&W reversal film, to see if we can employ this into our rig as alternative to the cold crisp reality that HD delivers. Yes film is slow, grainy, unpredictable, and development and transfer costs can add up. However, regardless of what anyone tells you, most Hollywood pictures today are still shot with 35mm film. Yes there has been a number of advancements such as the Red Camera or high-end HD cameras such as the camera that George Lucas used during his Starwars Prequels, or plugins and even iPhone aps that replicate the look of film.... but nothing delivers the warm, resolution, and depth of field of film. So for filmmakers and students alike, super 8mm is still a viable alternative. To read more about Kodak's new Super 8mm film, click here.

Don't agree? Here is some experts debating the subject:

Can't get enough? Checkout Robert Rodriguez - Film is Dead

Banksy....Not a fan of 20th Century Fox

2011-01-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

The elusive street artist Banksy has produced an intro for the Simpson's that takes aim at 20th Century Fox's alleged animation outsourcing to Asia. The intro shows factory workers creating animation, promotional products, animal abuse, etc under hazardous conditions. The extended intro is definitely not a typical intro for the show and is interesting considering that the Simpon's are show on Fox. Take a look below.

Even though the 2011 Sundance Film Festival is ending today, this video gives you an overview as to what happens at the festival and demonstrates why you need to go next year. Well, at least we are thinking of going...

Making the transition from day job to filmmaker is easy as...

Sundance Film Festival News....

2011-01-29T12:31:00.000-08:00

Isabella Rossellini on directing:

Checkout this interesting trailer for Pandemic 41.410806, -75.654259, which is premiering at this years Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance Film Festival 2011 "Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul"

2011-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

The Sundance Film Festival has always been the place to release cutting edge independent film to the industry and film fans alike. Top films from around the world compete in the perfect setting to celebrate the art of cinema. This year is no different.
Checkout the trailer for Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul.

The 83rd Annual Oscar Nominations

2011-01-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

And the nominees are....Yes its Oscar season once again. Will the The Network or Black Swan or even The Kings Speech take home the best picture Oscar??? We weren't shocked by any of these films being nominated...well other than Inception.....any thoughts?

The 83rd Annual Oscar Nominations

Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Direction
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”

Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”: Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
“Inception”: Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
“The King’s Speech”: Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
“True Grit”: Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

Cinematography
“Black Swan”: Matthew Libatique
“Inception”: Wally Pfister
“The King’s Speech”: Danny Cohen
“The Social Network”: Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit”: Roger Deakins

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland”: Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love”: Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech”: Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest”: Sandy Powell
“True Grit”: Mary Zophres

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop”
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Film Editing
“Black Swan”: Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter”: Pamela Martin
“The King’s Speech”: Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours”: Jon Harris
“The Social Network”: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful”: Mexico
“Dogtooth”: Greece
“In a Better World”: Denmark
“Incendies”: Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)”: Algeria

Makeup
“Barney’s Version”: Adrien Morot
“The Way Back”: Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman”: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon”: John Powell
“Inception”: Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech”: Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours”: A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network”: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession”: Tanel Toom
“The Crush”: Michael Creagh
“God of Love”: Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe”: Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143″: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night”: Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo”: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let’s Pollute”: Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing”: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”: Bastien Dubois

Sound Editing
“Inception”: Richard King
“Toy Story 3″: Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy”: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable”: Mark P. Stoeckinger

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland”: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter”: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception”: Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2″: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Sound Mixing
“Inception”: Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King’s Speech”: Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt”: Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network”: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Sundance 2011 News
In case you haven't seen it...here is Kevin Smith full Red State speech on Film Distribution....

Transmissions from Sundance...

2011-01-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

Kevin Smith is at the Sundance Film Festival premiering his latest effort Red State which is a departure from his usual fare. Not to mention that Smith is using "alternative methods" to release and promote his film. We applaud his efforts and can't wait to see how this all plays out. Checkout the "Red Statement" regarding their marketing and distribution play and view the trailer below.

"The Harvey Boys have witnessed first hand the vagaries of "studio math" - the byzantine numbers game that sees an uneducated media and public celebrating "huge" openings at the box office while ignoring the obscene marketing costs attached to reach those figures. We believe it's a pyrrhic victory to simply "buy" an opening weekend by pouring millions of dollars into TV spots, billboards and print ads. As storytellers, why not instead use our creative abilities that resulted in a film in the first place to also creatively SELL that film directly to our public?

We believe the state of film marketing has become ridiculously expensive and exclusionary to the average filmmaker longing simply to tell their story. When the costs of marketing and releasing a movie are four times that film's budget, it's apparent the traditional distribution mechanism is woefully out of touch with not only the current global economy, but also the age of social media.

Therefore, The Harvey Boys will not spend a dime on old world media buys (such as TV/Print/Outdoor) as we self-distribute our film, Red State, in an admittedly unconventional, yet extremely cost effective, word of mouth/viral campaign.

Knowledge is power, and we believe in empowering the filmmaker - so the Harvey Boys vow to make the financials of Red State open and transparent from which anybody hoping to follow suit can learn. We will do what no studio has dared: open up our books for the world to see so anyone interested in pursuing a similar independent release strategy has a better understanding of the BUSINESS of Red State.

And if we're successful - or even merely effective - at producing a film distribution apparatus that can stand apart from the cost-prohibitive studio model currently viewed as the only way to get a movie into a theater? It is our intent to use the groundwork we lay with Red State to aid other filmmakers in releasing THEIR films, via our newly launched SModcast Pictures.

Don't hate the studio; BECOME the studio. Anybody can make a movie; what we aim to prove is anyone can release a movie as well."

The Harvey Boys

Jon Gordon & Kevin Smith

Unseen Orson Welles flick finally being released....

2011-01-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

According to an article on The Guardian, the day has come for Welles unseen film The Other Side of the Wind to be released. Welles started work on the film in the late 60s, shooting periodically from 1969 - 1972, with Wells declaring that the film was 96% complete that year. Some short clips have surfaced on Youtube and add to the mystic of film as being cutting edge for its time through its use of alternative production techniques and psychedelic visuals. Now this definitely isn't Welles only unfinished film as he has several projects that have never seen the light of day. Despite this fact, we are definitely looking forward to its release.

Here is another clip.

As many of you know, the 2011 Sundance Film Festival is underway in Park City Utah. I had an opportunity to attend back in 2007 and loved every minute of it. We weren't able to go again this year but that hasn't stopped us from keeping up with everything that is happening at the festival. This year, the festival is streaming many of its films and panels for free online. That's right! So click here to follow what's going on.

Filming with digital SLR cameras

2011-01-12T22:10:00.001-08:00

Whenever we discuss buying new equipment Andrew has always pushed for purchasing a digital SLR like the Canon 7d as our backup HD video camera. I've been hesitant to consider a digital SLR because the idea of filming with a handheld digital camera just feels WRONG to me. Well, I think its time I get over it. The other day we were walking in Balboa Park and caught a small crew shooting some kind of sight seeing segment and lo and behold what did I see-oh yes, a shiny Canon 7d was perched atop their tripod, so small and unassuming. If that wasn't convincing enough I found out that one of the top video production companies in SD lists the 7d as one of their standard shooting cameras. So obviously I need to suck it up and hop on the digital SLR bandwagon. Especially now that Nikon and other have come out with competitively priced answers to the 7d priced under a thousand. So hopefully we'll be purchasing a digital SLR very soon this year and posting gorgeous vids with 35mm depth of field and detail like the following one we found on vimeo

D3100 test from newreverend on Vimeo.

Happy Holidays....

2010-12-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from all of us at El Roberto. 2010 has been another productive year and we are looking forward to accomplishing even more in 2011.

We have been hearing a lot about the lo-fi post-apocalyptic alien invasion thriller Monsters and have been really anxious to see it. Checkout Uncut Magazines review here. Trailer below.

We have posted a tutorial on how to create "sugar glass" before, but checkout this new easy DIY video from the folks at Indy Mogul.

DIY steadicam

2010-12-07T22:11:00.001-08:00

This is probably the best steadicam tutorial we've seen yet. And the parts are all fairly cheap to purchase.

The Dark Knights going to bed

2010-11-30T22:44:00.001-08:00

So it turns out that the next batman movie (tentatively titled "The Dark Knight Rises"
I believe) may be the last of the series. Per Christopher Nolan he only plans to produce one more film in the series. This might be a good idea, to end the series before it spirals into the indignities of the god awful batman and robin territory. And then 15 years from now we can look for a "series reboot", where batman is played by Miley Cyrus, and the batmobile is a Smartcar. If only. Check out article regarding Nolan's statement at entertainment weekly. Posted by candice

Hollywood still hasn't figured it out...

2010-11-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

According to the LA Times article on Blu-Con, Hollywood is looking for even more ways to milk as much money they can out of consumers. Below is excerpt from article:

"We want to advantage methods that are more profitable," Craig Kornblau from Universal, told the audience of home entertainment industry professionals. "We don't have an obligation to give consumers what they want when they want it."

“While there are things in the Netflix system that are clearly cannibalistic [to sales], there are things we can change…They can pay us more or we can reduce the quality of what we give them.”

Based on these comments, I am thinking that the film industry hasn't learned from the demise of the music industry. Hopefully Mr.Kornblau's views don't represent the views of all of the studios and this doesn't happen. Stay tuned.

Frontera Filmmakers Presents
Feature Filmmaking workshop this upcoming Sat.,
Nov. 13th, 10AM-12PM at Media Arts Center SD. - Ethan

WORKSHOP! Learn How to Make an Independent Sci-Fi Feature Film

* Learn how to create affordable special effects!
* Make-up
* Writing that suspensful script
* How to distribute your Sci-Fi Films
* Two directors and Distributor IN PERSON!

Directors Rodrigo Ordonez (Seres Genesis) and Angel Mario Huerta
(Despositarios) will be present at the workshop on Nov 13th, 10AM-12PM
at Media Arts Center San Diego (2921 El Cajon Blvd., SD, CA 92104).

Learn strategies for affordable special effects, lighting, directing
actors, writing suspenseful scripts and creating that Sci Fi make-up.
Distributor Jesus di Sica will also attend to talk about distributing
your independent feature film.

Sat., November 13, 2010
10AM-12PM

Where: Media Arts Center San Diego (2921 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92104)

Food and drink will also be served.
$5 donation

INFO/RSVP Lisa Franek: lfranek@mediaartscenter.org, 619-230-1938 x 102

This Frontera Filmmaker Workshop is made possible with funding from The Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Read more here.

If your a fan of Danny Boyle, then you might enjoy this IFC Podcast. Check out the article and Podcast here,

Free Webinar on Film Production Incentive Programs

2010-11-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Tired of furtively shooting pickup shots downtown at 6am before the cops roll by bleating that you don't have a permit to shoot in front of that abandoned bus stop? So are we. Luckily there's a FREE Webinar on production incentives taking place on 11/18. it'll gives tips on what states not only like filmmaking, but actively bribe film crews to come and trample on their lawns for the sake of art. Check it out if you're available during the noted time frame. And while you're at it watch Terriers. God knows its one local production that needs the support.

Latest Video

2010-11-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, sorry for the delay in posts of late. We have been busy working on a variety of projects. Below is a video we shot for Citybeat. Enjoy.

Have you had enough of Halloween and scary movies???? Nor have we! Checkout the Horror Festival of San Diego which starts this Saturday at 1pm. For more info, click here.

Halloween is here!!!

2010-10-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

Need a last minute Halloween costume idea??? The folks at IFC offer some tips for a film fan.
Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas for the Lazy Film Fan - Movies - News - IFC.com
Wanna know how to create a impaled Zombie chest effect??? Look no further...

As we mentioned before, we love lists. And in celebration of Halloween, here is:

El Roberto's Top 10 Zombie Flick List.

10. Resident Evil
09. Fido
08. Dead Alive
07. 28 Weeks Later
06. Planet Terror
05. Dawn of the Dead - Original
04. Shaun of the Dead
03. Dawn of the Dead - 2004 Remake
02. Night of the Living Dead
01. 28 Days Later

Honorable mention: Zombie Land. We really like this film but not enough to place it on our top 10 list. Night of the Living Dead#2??? That's right, 28 Days Later was a somewhat fresh take on the genre that helped bring Zombie movies back to the mainstream. What do you think?

Zombies, Halloween, DIY Effects, and more!!!

2010-10-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

With Halloween this weekend our focus is on scary movies and DIY zombie or horror film makeup tips. Check out this trailer for the upcoming low budget (500k) movie Monsters.

Now we normally don't post anything about video games but this one caught our attention. The folks at Rock Star Games makers of Grand Theft Auto have created an expansion pack for their Red Dead series titled "Red Dead Undead Nightmare." Rockstar tends to draw upon thematic influences such as Spaghetti Westerns for their Red Series which only add to quality of the games. This time they are combined the old west with Night of the Living Dead. Checkout the trailer...

Zombies and Reality TV Stars???? Now this looks interesting....

DIY Halloween Zombie Stomach Rip Effect!!!

You know you love film lists as much as we do....click here to see Time Magazines top 25 horror films....

The Question of the Night.....

2010-10-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Fast zombies or slow zombies??? Personally I prefer slow zombies so I can get away.... Still can't make up your mind??? Read this article and you decide!!!

This looks like it has potential...I am really stoked on the audio and visuals in the trailer and apparent use of an Lensbaby during production.

Read more about the Stake Land production here. And if you are looking for a great Halloween flick to see this weekend, checkout IFC's list.

Zombie Alert!!!

2010-10-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Keeping up with the tradition of Halloween, AMC is premiering its show The Walking Dead this Sunday. The promotional machine has been in high gear for this program and after seeing the booth AMC had setup at this year's Comic Con, I am anxious to checkout the show. Here's a synopsis of the show on AMC's site:

"Waking up in an empty hospital after weeks in a coma, County Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) finds himself utterly alone. The world as he knows it is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic. The Walking Dead tells the story of the weeks and months that follow after the apocalypse. Based on Robert Kirkman’s hugely successful and popular comic book series, AMC’s new original series, The Walking Dead, premieres with a 90-minute episode on Halloween night: Oct. 31 at 10/9c. Written and executive produced by three-time Academy® Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile), who also directs the pilot, and executive produced by Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens), the series debuts during AMC Fearfest, the network's annual blockbuster marathon of thriller and horror films.

The Walking Dead is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of moment-to-moment survival. A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous that the mindless walkers roaming the earth. They themselves have become the walking dead."

Checkout this video for tips on how to create Zombie makeup for Halloween or film productions.

Apocalypse Never

2010-10-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

As a major film geek and worshiper of all things Apocalypse Now, I was stoked to see that a new definitive version was coming out on Blu-Ray. However, I was somewhat let down once I read what extras were included. Yes the collectors booklet is cool, the John Milius interview is intriguing, the story boards sound great, Heart of Darkness finally being included, and the 1080p transfer sounds great but where are all of the deleted scenes??? As included in the "A Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse Now," documentary that was part of the "Complete Dossier" DVD and not in this Blu-Ray release, as the title states, (there is over a million feet of film), much of it never seen by anyone let alone the filmmakers. So this would have been a great opportunity to include some of that. Also it would have been cool to include some of Harvey Keitel's footage. Or included some the "missing" footage that is available on the 5+ hr bootleg print that is still circulating around.
Anyway check out this story on IFC.
"Apocalypse Now" and Forever, Thanks to a Definitive New Blu-ray Edition - Movies - News - IFC.com

Creating a Film Look in Final Cut Pro

2010-10-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today we are focusing on completing a script for a film project we have been working on for a long time. More about that later, but in the meantime here is a great tutorial on how to create a film look within Final Cut Pro. Enjoy.

Film remains vital....

2010-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Read more of the Variety article below about the longevity of film.
ShowEast: No dirge for 35mm prints - Entertainment News, ShowEast, Media - Variety
and checkout the trailer below to view the longevity of Jackass...

I have to admit it, I will be seeing this movie next weekend for sure.

Coming Soon

2010-10-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

This looks pretty cool.

Lisbeth is back...can't wait to see the next installment in the "Girl Who" series.

Kanye West Film Trailer

2010-10-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

A cool looking upcoming flick from Kanye West...hopefully this is the trailer and not the actual film (JK)

Sally Menke

2010-09-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

Great Article from Entertainment Weekly about the passing of Film Editor Sally Menke

Sally Menke dies at 56: Remembering Tarantino's longtime editor
by Chris Nashawaty

Sally-MenkeImage Credit: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com; Linda R. ChenBeing Quentin Tarantino’s film editor couldn’t have been easy work. There were the long, unexplained gaps between projects, the fact that her boss was a movie-mad perfectionist who always had the ideal version of his film already playing inside his own head, and the intimidating challenge that all of his movies hinged on cutting back and forth between time, place, and characters — imagine trying to keep all of the mobius-strip plotlines of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction straight. But Tarantino was so devoted to Sally Menke and such a fan of her work that he never employed anyone else to cut his films. And he was such a fan of her as a person that he routinely assembled “Hi Sally” reels (included on the extras of many of his DVDs) where the cast and crew would begin each take by looking into the camera and giving her a shout-out she’d see months later to cheer her up in the editing room and push her to forge ahead. Along with Martin Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, it’s hard to imagine a more collaborative director/editor duo than Tarantino and Menke — a partnership that came to a sudden and unexpected end earlier today when the news hit that Menke, 56, was found dead near L.A.’s Griffith Park. Menke had apparently gone hiking in the morning heat with her dog and was found by searchers in Beachwood Canyon after her friends reported to police that she’d failed to come home. Her Labrador retriever was reportedly found alive beside her.

Menke graduated from the NYU film program and served as an editor on 1990′s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. There were other films after that, but her career really took off when she partnered with Tarantino, an encyclopedic video store clerk-turned-auteur, on 1992′s Reservoir Dogs. The brilliant independent film about a band of nameless career criminals who assemble for a botched heist and reassemble in a warehouse trying to figure out how it all went wrong and whether or not they had a rat in their midst, made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival that year, turning Tarantino’s into one of the most electrifying debuts Hollywood had ever witnessed. There was no arguing that he was a genius, but it was Menke’s editing of the low-budget film that made it so unique and revolutionary. Cutting back and forth between characters, letting their back stories leisurely unspool before putting them back into the cinematic Cuisinart, Menke gave order to the chaos. In the years after Reservoir Dogs came out, Sundance was overrun with crime tales sporting disjointed narratives, aping Tarantino and Menke’s magic formula.

Then, in 1994, Tarantino and Menke topped themselves with Pulp Fiction — arguably the best film of the ’90s. Both were nominated for Oscars — Tarantino won for Best Screenplay with Roger Avary. Again, Tarantino’s ambitions were grand and his storytelling method, if possible, had grown even more fractured and fragmented. It could have been a mess, but in Menke’s nimble hands, Pulp Fiction redefined and re-energized independent cinema. Waiting for Tarantino’s next film, Menke took the occasional gig working with other directors — she edited 1996′s stylish noir Mulholland Falls and 1997′s chiller Nightwatch. The two collaborated again on 1997′s Jackie Brown, another sprawling, shuffling-deck epic — this one paying homage to the blaxploitation pictures of the ’70s and starring one of the genre’s queen bees, Pam Grier. The film wasn’t as kindly received as the director’s first two films, but its reputation has rightly grown with the distance of time.

After Jackie, during a six-year hiatus from the big screen, when the larger-than-life Tarantino supposedly labored on the first draft of a top-secret WWII script that would later become Inglourious Basterds, Menke worked on several other films, including 2000′s All the Pretty Horses — a film that was reportedly edited to death: not by Menke, but by Miramax, who wanted to shrink its running time. Menke must have been relieved then to reunite with the protective Tarantino for the two-part epic Kill Bill in 2003 and 2004, followed by Death Proof, Tarantino’s half of 2007′s Grindhouse. If Kill Bill was a super-sized story presenting a unique bundle of challenges to the editor, Death Proof, although pint-sized, came with its own set of hurdles: the revenge flick is essentially two films shoehorned in a larger two-part film. No easy feat. But that seemed to be par for the course with Menke — a woman who embraced a challenge. The pair’s final collaboration came last year with Inglourious Basterds, which seemed to be the culmination of all of Tarantino’s ambitions and obsessions — a multi-part, interweaving bit of army-green pulp fiction that took the horrors of WWII and recast the victims (the Jews) as avenging victors, doling out bloody justice and rewriting history, plotting and assassinating Hitler, the biggest bogeyman the world has ever conjured. And again, Menke was rightly honored with an Oscar nomination.

The sad news of Menke’s death robs movie lovers of a woman who was brilliant at her job and an unsung master of a craft that all too often goes overlooked. We’ll never get to see another Tarantino/Menke collaboration. And for that, we’re all a little poorer.

The Hobbit Strike

2010-09-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Adding to the Kilimanjaro sized mountain of problems that have impeded production of The Hobbit movie, there is a new strike happening among the NZ actor's union that may block production. It is really starting to seem like this movie is cursed and will never be made. Here's hoping it comes out in theaters before 2050, when I'm too elderly and fragile to watch anything more exciting than the Lifetime network and movies based on Nicholas Sparks' books.

DIY FILMMAKING

2010-09-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed what Beck has been doing with his Record Club music collaborations. Checkout the video below....

DIY FILM TIP OF THE NIGHT: Pneumatic Dust System

Monday....

2010-09-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Filmmaking Tips, shorts, and more....what else do you need on a Monday night?

Check out theses original shorts....

Dictaphone Parcel from Lauri Warsta on Vimeo.

Spider from Mister K Cartoon on Vimeo.

Sunday Sunday Sunday...

2010-09-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Echoes from JuliusB on Vimeo.

Algo De Bom by Rui Viera

ALGO DE BOM from rui vieira on Vimeo.

Its almost the weekend....

2010-09-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

The Other Guys Movie Review

2010-09-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we finally saw The Other Guys. We had just finished watching the manic gorefest Machete, so it was a refreshing change in pace and blood splatter. The movie focuses on a couple of misfit detectives, Terry and Allen. Terry (Wahlberg)is a disgraced cop who is humiliated after being placed on desk duty for accidentally shooting Derek Jeter in the leg. Allen (Ferrell) is a nerdy transfer from accounting who is perfectly happy typing up police reports. There are some hysterical scenes with Samuel Jackson and The Rock playing the invincible "popular" cops who cheerfully insult the desk duty team which sends Terry over the edge. Terry and Allen inadvertently get caught up in an elaborate kidnapping and extortion case that leads to a lot of screaming, car chases, and cocaine explosions. Steve Coogan does his usual superb job playing the kidnapping victim as a smarmy, weak, tycoon in over his head. I thought it was a hilarious movie and reminded me of Tropic Thunder with its endless asides and over the top humor. Definitely one of the only legitimate comedies to come out this summer. Go see it while its still in theaters!

Tuesday Night....

2010-09-07T22:37:00.001-07:00

This looks interesting...

Probably will wait for video on this one..

How to build a DIY Slider:

TV Tropes

2010-09-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

The above picture had me dying laughing today. TV Tropes is basically a wikipedia site for film and media. It contains loads of information on specific shows, genres, character types, movie cliches etc. For instance, if I was curious as to why so many movie villains confess all their evil doings to their captives, I could go to the TV Tropes page "Just Between You and Me" and see's its applications in various movies, films, and comic books.

I've been on TV Tropes repeatedly this past week for several reasons. First, I'm researching movie cliches and antidotes that would be useful in a Community Spec script I'm writing. Secondly, we are working on A's film thesis script and trying to revise some of the story premise. Believe it or not, TV tropes has a very subtle way of introducing aspects of John Campbell's Hero's Journey without making you feel like your in a class lecture. There is a section on "The Call" and how different versions of the call have been used in movies, which is great because I find it easier to understand the application of the Hero's Journey when applied to films I have seen. It's a fun website, but I can tell you it's such a jam-packed labryinth of good material, you might find yourself looking like the poor sucker above before you're finished.

Mckee Seminar

2010-09-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the famed Robert McKee and his infamous screenwriting seminars. I should have checked this out sooner, but it turns out that you can watch segments of his seminar on youtube. So check it out and enjoy the $745 you just saved!

Neat Video Plugin

2010-08-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

You may remember our episode in April when our Canon XHA1 had a tragic accident right before shooting our friends wedding in Trinidad. We dashed around the island and found an HD HF100 to use as a backup to the Canon Vixia. In general we were happy with the performance of both cameras considering the unique situation. But there were some definite areas, where we felt the pinch of missing our Canon XHA1. Particularly during the low-lit reception. It was held outside on private property that was beautiful but for shooting purposes, very dark. There was very little artificial light setup throughout the venue. The XHA1 is very good in picking up decent footage in lowlight, but the Vixia and more so the HF100 were not as adept. We had two lights on our cameras but some footage was still very dark and grainy.

When we first looked at the footage I knew something had to be done. There was a lot of grain and noise during the reception, and I could actually see the offending channels distorting the picture. At first I tried to fix it on my own using the RGB color balance in FCP, but that didn't work very good. There are lots of tutorials on youtube to lower grain and noise, and frankly I tried them all with little success.

Then I came across a website promoting a grain and noise reducer plugin called Neat Video for sale for $99. At first, being the cheapo I am, I was skeptical about spending 100 bucks on a plugin I couldn't be sure of. There were video tests on youtube that showed some improvement when the plugin was applied, but not enough to be thoroughly convincing. But after several days of trying to make the footage presentable on my own, I decided to stop wasting time and just buy the neat video plugin.

Boy was I glad I did! This plug-in is AMAZING! I am not exaggerating. It did miracles with footage I thought was hopeless. I've made a little video above where you can see the difference it made. Keep in mind I am still learning how to use this plugin, but off the bat it makes cleaning up dark or grainy footage a lot easier. I would definitely recommend this product. OK, enough plugging of the plug-in (Gong!), and off to bed!

Latest work...

2010-08-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here is our commercial we produced for the San Diego Music Awards.

Its been a productive summer, check back for more of videos.

Recent Work

2010-08-25T20:30:00.001-07:00

We have been pretty busy over the past couple of months...with a designation wedding project in Trinidad and Tobago, covering Comic Con, and producing commercial spots for The North Park Music Thing and The San Diego Music Awards, writing some screenplays, and finally working to complete God with a Gun. We are looking forward to the rest of the year...

Giselle Leotaud and Matthew Fribourg Wedding from el roberto on Vimeo.

And as promised....we will finally post about our Comic Con experience this week..

Its Tuesday and we longing for the weekend....

2010-08-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

It usually starts happening Sunday night....I get butterflies in my stomach and slightly depressed as soon the reality of the situation hits me....the weekend is over and we have to make it till Friday. Anyway tomorrow is Wednesday so we are almost there. Here is the latest record club Beck collaboration. Enjoy.

Record Club: Yanni "Within Attraction" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Anything with Danny Boyle's name stamped on it is probably going to be solid....checkout the trailer below.

35mm adaptors and Jag35

2010-08-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

New discovery today! There are still some options for non-wealthy filmmakers out there! I've been slobbering lasciviously over the Letus 35mm Pro for a couple of years now, but can't bring myself to fork over the giant piles of money necessary for the most basic of Letus adaptors. Then today, while perusing youtube for videos Canon Xha1 with 35mm lens adaptors, I came across the Jag35 site. This is a company that builds affordable 35mm lens adaptors for consumer to prosumer video cameras. First off, this company is awesome because they make tutorials showing you how to build your own 35mm lens adaptor, and secondly there 35mm adaptors not only tend to cost less than $500, but they are a very decent quality. Check out the video above. The entire setup (camera included) cost $1200. I for one am sold. We'll definitely be looking into purchasing one of these.

Real or Fake

2010-08-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Who knows but according to the media, it makes for interesting theatre. Over the past couple of years the media has followed Joaquin Phoenix as he has spiraled into a bloated drunken mess and we the viewer have watched it all unfold. Is it real? Or was it some sort of method acting hoax pulled on everyone. You be the judge....

And here is an exhaustive mini "documentary" that shows you nearly every video game console ever built. Enjoy!

The Insane Console History Video 2.0 from Elder-Geek on Vimeo.

Coming Soon...

2010-08-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Monsters

The Social Network

A Woman A Gun and a Noodle Shop

Sound Editing Tips

2010-08-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Equally as important as good video, good sound can make or break a project. Here are some tips and techniques that should know.

FINAL CUT PRO TUTORIALS

2010-08-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

With all of the film editing tutorials available on YouTube, here are a few that stand out:

The Bleach Bypass Film Look

Slow Motion Tips with Final Cut Pro Studio

Final Cut Pro- Storyboard Editing Tutorial:

Final Cut Pro Workflow Tutorial:

Merlin Steadicam Stabilizer

2010-08-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

So were SERIOUSLY THIS TIME (again) looking into buying a stabilizer system. It's been a struggle to find a stabilizer that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars but is still robust enough to handle our 5.5 lb Canon XHA1 with an extra 1.5 lbs of light, mic and battery. We've been leaning for awhile towards the Merlin. There's a lot of talk that it can't handle the Canon without support, but I think we'll give B&H a call this week and see if it might just need a little practice in order to work correctly. We've been checking some Merlin/Canon XHA1 test videos (like the one below) and it is giving us some encouragement that the Merlin just might work.

2 days with the Steadicam Merlin from Peter Szilveszter // Living Lens on Vimeo.

Coming Soon...

2010-08-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

To a theater or sketchy internets site near you..

The Hammer Films produced... Let Me In

Everyone's favorite evil corporation Umbrella is back! And yes so is Mila Jovich

Seth Green kicks A$$ in The Green Hornet

and here is Seth Rogen at Comic Con 2010 talking about the upcoming film.

And as promised, this weekend we will finally post our "Comic Con 2010 Scrapbook" complete with links to footage we shot and other fun stuff. So stay tuned....

Film News and more....

2010-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Vincent Gallo strikes again!!! According an article on IFC, actor, director, musician, model, aka jack of all trades, Vincent Gallo seized control of his latest film from an inept director. Reportedly hard to work with, Gallo was irritated by the director onset and had threatened to walk if he wasn't given complete control of the project. But of course, as i am not a huge fan of his work (Buffalo 66 excluded) and regardless of what happened on the set of his latest effort, and whatever reviews it may get, I will probably just wait until its released on video to go see it.

DIY FILM TIP OF THE DAY: Rip a Bloody Heart Out of a Chest!!!

Rolling Roadshow Tour

2010-08-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

We Are All Workers The 2010 Rolling Roadshow Tour is about to commence and according to their website

"Once again, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema takes to the road, departing from Austin, Texas on a whirlwind tour and hosting free 35mm screenings of famous movies in famous places. Known as The Rolling Roadshow Tour, it has been to the FIELD OF DREAMS in Iowa with Kevin Costner live in person, Devil's Tower in Wyoming for a screening of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and Alcatraz Island for a screening of ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. Now, the Alamo Drafthouse and Levi's partner to champion stories of our most celebrated celluloid workers. Throughout Augusts’ hazy summer nights, the Alamo and Levi’s will be taking the Rolling Roadshow to the people under the unified banner of ‘We Are All Workers." This looks an amazing once in a lifetime way to catch some classic films in a classic setting....now only could they actually have The God Father Part 2 in play in Lake Tahoe where much of the film took place and was filmed. ....(yes I know....Littel Italy NYC would probably be an awesome place see this film )

Howl and other interesting stuff...

2010-07-28T21:55:00.001-07:00

So we are finally back and are slowly catching up after covering Comic Con for Moviejungle. We will create post this weekend about the event. For now, checkout these clips from the upcoming film Howl. As a fan of Ginsberg's poetry, I am definitely looking forward to seeing this film.

Countdown to Zero....and more

2010-07-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

Sam Worthington is back in The Debt
And just in case you haven't seen it...here's a little Drunk History.

Mixing it up...

2010-07-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here at El Roberto we try to mix it up from time to time by showing some music videos and animations instead of film trailers and DIY film clips. Tonight we are posted a variety of clips that caught our attention and hopefully yours as well.

Now I am not huge Future Heads fan but I am digging this video. Kind of has the same rotoscoping effect as Scanner Darkly...

Also checkout what RSA can do with a whiteboard and some pens.

And from RSA FILMS

God With A Gun Redux

2010-07-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Over the past several months (working between El Roberto Projects) I've been tasked with completing my thesis film which I started shooting back in the fall of 2004. Over the years I have completed several cuts and have never felt that it was quite right. Last year, based on a new edit that we had assembled, C wrote a new script that utilized most of the existing footage that we assembled and added a few new scenes and a new story arc. After reviewing the material with the lead actor we decided to scrap the idea and go another direction.

A year later we are making progress and should start shooting some additional scenes in August and September....that's of course if we can agree on a script and set some time aside to finish it. Right now we are getting ready to cover Comic-Con for Moviejungle.com so be sure to checkout our daily video posts starting this Wednesday. Also we have a couple of other large projects coming up now through September to keep us busy. So stay tuned.

This looks interesting....Ben Affleck returns to acting and directing in The Town.

When You're Strange Review...

2010-07-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

I think about Jim Morrison and The Doors every day...every time I wanna get tacos or take drive in the desert, on a road trip, or even when I try write a screenplay. Their music was on loop on the old Clarion tape deck when my brother and I used to take turns driving the old 76 Dodge Tradesman back in high school... Jim and his music have had a profound influence on my tastes and creativity and have shaped who I am....so naturally I was stoked to see that a proper attempt was being made to tell his story...their story...our story...When You're Strange is a great documentary, watchable on Netflix, enjoyable watched in parts or as a whole. The only issue is that it left me wanting more. Perhaps it only scratched the surface of something much bigger than can be told in a single documentary...Perhaps not....Weaving concert, private, studio, and Jim's rare film HWY to tell the story the way its meant to be. Don't get me wrong, I love Oliver Stones film, but this was different and almost the same.... and equally as enjoyable. With the addition of Johnny Depp narrating, the documentary almost has a Fear and Loathing feel to it which is great....and adds credibility I guess. Or maybe it adds nothing....you be the judge. Even if you are not familiar with their music or are a fan, take my word for it....and go see it.

Due Date and more...

2010-07-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

Coming soon to theatre near you.....

and this looks pretty creepy.

New Film Releases....

2010-07-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

New movie releases this week:
Inception

Valhalla Rising.

Predators Review

2010-07-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Now I have said this before in my reviews but despite what you may have heard...Predators is actually an entertaining film and is probably the best Predator flick since the original. From the beginning, the film doesn't waste anytime getting to the point and starts with film lead Adrian Brody
free-failing unconscious, presumably dropped from a plane...(quite possibly the first time in cinematic history a film starts this way). After meeting up with a rag-tag group of elite "killers" Brody and company try to make sense of what exactly is going on. Now with the exception of some cheesy looking cgi monsters and an underused Laurence Fishburne... the film mostly works and is to the point. Now is Predators as good as the original??? You already know the answer to that....is it better than Twilight or The Last Airbender???....you already know the answer to that....Go see it now....

DIY FILM TIP:Creating basic animation in Final Cut Pro/Express

DIY CAMERA JIB...

2010-07-11T22:47:00.000-07:00

You can never post enough of these DIY film tips....well at least we think so...

New Machete trailer!!!

Its Saturday Night...

2010-07-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

and we are going to check out The Girl Who Play With Fire tonight. Look for our review in the coming days.

This weekend we are finishing up some editing and researching tripods....our Davis & Sanford Tripod is in need of repair and we have a couple of shoots coming up so we are looking to pick one up. Any suggestions?

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

2010-07-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

Now I saw this trailer about a week ago and have been meaning to post it all week...

I think that it looks pretty decent....but yes its another Michael Cera "hapless nerd flick"....pretty soon its going to become a genre all in its own.

As a reminder...The Vimeo Festival + Awards is accepting submissions until July 31st...Learn more here

Check Mic one, two

2010-07-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

So we decided to add to our filming cache and FINALLY bought a decent wireless handheld mic system. We were looking for a quality but affordable wireless mic, but unfortunate;y "affordable" and "wireless" doesn't often go together these days. Fortunately we found the Azden WMS-PRO Wireless Microphone System which had some pretty good reviews. It comes with a lavalier and handheld mic, so that'll gives us more options during use, and it only costs $140 bucks! Pretty sweet. B&H was actually sold out of the system, but we were able to get it through Amazon. We'll be sure to film a test demo once the shipment comes in. Chow for now!

Coming Soon....

2010-07-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

to a theatre near you....Winnebago Man

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Predators

Record Club...

2010-07-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Always on the cutting edge in music and video, over the past year or so Beck has been rounding up other musician friends to jam an album in its entirely and document what happens....and usually its pretty awesome. Here's what it says on the record club site:
"Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. The songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to 'add to' the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens."

Record Club: Yanni "Santorini" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Wall of Film

2010-07-05T21:10:00.001-07:00

Looking forward to the pending release of Predators???, check these out:

and here is new a character featurette.

The new Phil Spector documentary explores the once genius music producer now conviction murderer dark mind. Read and see the trailer here.

Fourth of July Flicks!!!

2010-07-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

After all of the barbequing, drinking beer, lighting fireworks, and stuffing yourself with food, checkout one of these inspired flicks:

Fear of Loathing in Las Vegas by Terry Gilliam. Yes, the drug fueled adventure and critique of the American way of life during the late 60s early 70s. A definite must read book and must see film.

Dazed and Confused by Richard Linklater.

Mr. Freedom directed by William Klein, is a 60s era French film that explores American Foreign policy...more here.

Thursday Night....

2010-07-01T23:07:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't see the Get Low trailer...check this out.

DIY Film Tip: Indiana Jones Melting Skull Effect!

Latest Video and more..

2010-06-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Anyway, its been an extremely busy week here at El Roberto, as we are working on a number of projects. We hope to have some more new videos posted over the next week. Stay tuned for more.

Random Film News:
Judd Apatow Developing New Pee-wee Herman Movie??? Yes apparently its true.

Video: The Making of a DIY Film

Winters Bone

2010-06-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Winner of the Sundance Film Festivals Grand Jury Prize, Winters Bone is being hailed as one the years best films. We are looking forward to seeing this film.

ShortsLab:L.A.

Presented by Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute invites you to participate in ShortsLab: L.A., a three-part, all-day educational workshop to offer filmmakers first-hand insight and access into the world of story development, production, and exhibition of short films. The focus of the day will primarily be on short narrative (fiction) films.

Story Development (9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.): Acclaimed filmmakers share their experiences working with short-form during their careers. These tales from the trenches will focus on conceptualization and script development.

Production (1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.): Industry professionals and special guests speak to the many challenges filmmakers face during production, including budgeting, working with unions, music rights, financing, and much more.

Exhibition (3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.): An eclectic mix of speakers— including festival programmers, agents, managers, distributers, and more— share their advice on how to handle a completed film.

Cocktail Mixer and Screening (5:30 p.m.): ShortsLab caps off with an informal gathering followed by a 7:30 p.m. screening of award winning short films from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Feedback: If you participate in ShortsLab: L.A. and submit your short film to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, a Festival programmer will call you post-Festival to offer individual feedback on your film.

A list of guests will be announced shortly, so please check back for updates. For more information about ShortsLab: L.A., please call us at 310-360-1981 or email todd_luoto@sundance.org.

Purchase Tickets – $150

Its Sunday Night

2010-06-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

and we are both busy working on projects. (No complaints). A is working on the latest Citybeat video and C is working on a screenplay. We will have the new video up soon for your viewing pleasure.

The American by Anton Corbijn looks pretty good to me...what do you think?

DIY Filmmaking Tip: The Scriptwriting and Storyboarding Software Buyer's Guide
Checkout this article on Videomaker Magazine, it will give you the rundown of what you need to get started writing your screenplay.

Jonah Hex Review

2010-06-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

isnt as bad as the reviews say. Matter of fact, its an entertaining film. If you can get over the digital softening of Megan Foxes face during close-up shots, then there is not much else to complain about. Basically the film is as close to a psychedelic western (heard it here first) remake of the 60s TV show Wild Wild West as hollywood is willing to make. (Please ignore the Will Smith remake). And yes its a just a popcorn flick without any deep meaning, but honestly sometimes that's exactly what a viewer is looking for. Anyway definitely go see it while its in the theaters or when its on video.

European Flicks Invade America....

2010-06-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

and we are better off because of it...
Valhalla Rising, finally gets its American Theatrical release this summer after being released in Europe in 2009. Check out the trailer:

And the much anticipated sequel to the wonderful The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire is out:

Robert Rodriguez Presents....

2010-06-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who thinks this looks awful???

In Film News:
Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Richard Shepard's (THE MATADOR, Emmy® Award-Winning director of Ugly Betty pilot) documentary I KNEW IT WAS YOU, which explores the life of the exceptional but little-known actor John Cazale. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO June 1, 2010. The film was produced by Brett Ratner and Stacey Reiss. O-Scope will release the DVD in the fall of 2010.

South of the Border...

2010-06-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

No stranger to controversy, Oliver Stone is now heading South of the Border in his latest project, a documentary about Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Watch the film and you decide.
Interested in learning more, checkout The Revolution Will Not Be Televised on Youtube.

Death Race 2000 on DVD!?!?- That's right kids....the Roger Coreman dystopian car race flick is out on DVD this week..(1st, 2nd release...who knows) read more here.

New DVD Releases

2010-06-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Its Tuesday and several new DVD/album releases are hitting the shelves. Red Desert (Criterion Collection), Michelangelo Antonioni's "1960s panoramas of contemporary alienation were decade-defining artistic events, and RED DESERT, his first color film, remains one of his greatest. This provocative look at the spiritual desolation of the technological age--about a disaffected woman, brilliantly portrayed by Antonioni muse Monica Vitti (L'avventura), wandering through a bleak industrial landscape beset by power plants and environmental toxins, and tentatively flirting with her husband's coworker, played by Richard Harris (This Sporting Life)--continues to exert force over viewers. With one startling, painterly composition after another--of abandoned fishing cottages, electrical towers, overwhelming docked ships--RED DESERT creates a nearly apocalyptic image of its time, and confirms Antonioni as cinema's preeminent poet of the modern age." Antonioni's work is brilliant and if you are a student of film or just a film buff, his work is definitely worth checking out.

Close-Up, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, "completely buries the defining line between documentary and drama. It’s a subversive piece of meta filmmaking that comments on the value of art and cinema through the trial of one overzealous man whose desire to live vicariously through the films — and filmmaker’s — he loves drove him to deception."
Sounds pretty awesome right??? Go see these films now...

Monday Sucks

2010-06-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Red Dawn Redux??? Think again!!! This "original" film is based on a novel by John Marsden, and is basically the same movie....who cares that the American Red Dawn Retread has been put on hiatus.

DIY FILM TIP: Blow your actor in Half!!!

New Movies and More....

2010-06-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Centurion "is set during the war between Roman soldiers and Pict tribesmen during the 2nd century Roman conquest of Britain. Michael Fassbender stars as Quintus Dias, Roman centurion and son of a legendary gladiator who leads a group of soldiers on a raid of a Pict camp to rescue a captured general (Dominic West). The son of the Pict leader is murdered during the raid, and the Romans find themselves hunted by a seemingly unstoppable group of the Pict’s most vicious and skilled warriors, led by a beautiful and deadly tracker (Olga Kurylenko), and hell bent on revenge.” We are guessing that this will be pretty awesome.....

Here is the behind the scenes teaser.

Coming soon from the folks at Oscilloscope the documentary WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A MAN WITHIN.
The film "Features never-before-seen archival footage of Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg, WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS.." This should be interesting.

Saturday night....

2010-06-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Neill Blomkamp to Direct The Hobbit? Well according to an article on Film Junk, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp has been selected as Del Toro’s successor for The Hobbit. Read more here.

Now this looks pretty awesome. Based on what Ronald Reagan called “one of the most important espionage cases of the 20th century.” Farewell by Christian Carion is in select theaters this July.

Creating a Cinematic Look with Video

2010-06-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

Now there are several ways to create a "cinematic" look with video. You could shoot in 24p, you could download a variety of plugins from the internet, you could use a 35mm adapter, use some camera filters, or you could follow one of these tutorials:

Filters by Tiffen for a film look with a DV camcorder

35mm Adapter

With After Effects

Upcoming Film Festival Submission Deadlines & more!

2010-06-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Portland International Film Festival is a showcase of the very best in contemporary world cinema. Established in 1977, the festival runs for two weeks in February and screens approximately 125 films each year from all corners of the globe.

This non-competitive festival focuses primarily on work from outside the United States but American features, documentaries, and shorts are included. The intent is to reveal and celebrate the diversity of cinema. We welcome the world's filmmakers and those who love film no matter the language spoken.

The Portland International Film Festival accepts submissions from the beginning of March through the end of November.

The Slamdance Film Festival is a year round organization dedicated to new filmmakers and their vision.

Started in 1995 by a group of writer/director/ producers, Slamdance continues to be organized and programmed by active filmmakers. Now in its tenth year as a festival that runs simultaneous to the Sundance Film Festival, Slamdance has established a unique reputation for premiering independent films by first-time directors working with limited budgets.

As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent and is dedicated to the nurturing and development of new independent artists and their cinematic vision. For the 2010 Festival, Slamdance received a record number of over 5,000 submissions. Slamdance lives by its mantra: "By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers." No other festival is fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the festival, including Christopher Nolan, Marc Forster and Jared Hess. Oren Peli’s PARANORMAL ACTIVITY originally acquired from Slamdance went onto to gross over $100 million at the Box Office. New filmmakers and writers today realize Slamdance is a great place to launch their careers. Submission deadline AUGUST 13, 2010.

DIY FILM TIP: Creating Explosions in After Effects

How to create a Time Lapse Video

2010-06-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

The easy way with Gawker and the not so easy way with Evo Cam.
Creating a time lapse with After Effects.

Time Lapse Video Using After Effects from ziad chatila on Vimeo.

Creating a time lapse video with still images using Quicktime.

Or the tried and true version of just capturing some video normal speed and adjusting the speed in imovie or whatever editing program you use to 800% or more.

DIY Filmmaking Projects Tutorials

2010-06-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are focusing on low budget production tips. Whatever your budget, these tips will help you add production value to your project....well hopefully, we can't promise anything.

Build Your Own Low Budget Green Screen from winston varn on Vimeo.

To build a "poor mans" steady cam that kinda works... Click no further!. Although a bit shaky, the video example is below:

My Homemade 18 Dollar Steadycam from winston varn on Vimeo.

Ever wanted to build a ghetto water proof container for your camera??? Watch the video below.

Here are a few more DIY film projects for you to checkout...
Learn to build a camera jib here. For creating fog click here. Learn to build a Cheap boom pole!

Indiana Jones 5 News

2010-06-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

According to sources, Indy 5 is on track to begin shooting next year and will take place in the Bermuda Triangle? Read more here. Regardless, we feel a bit mixed on the subject...hopefully there won't be any CGI monkeys in this one....

DIY FILM TIP:DIY Cable-Cam!

Michael Bay...

2010-06-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

finally says what everyone already knew...that his film Transformers 2 sucked. Is anyone surprised??

The Los Angeles Film Festival is coming soon! The festival runs from June 17th - 27 and definitely worth checking out.

Clash of the Titans' sequel in the works, read more here.

Oscilloscope to distribute Burroughs documentary.

DIY FILM TIP: 35mm Pin Hole Camera!

The Weekend is almost here!!!

2010-06-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

and here are some good upcoming films:

Herzog and Lynch?!?! Its a cinematic nightmare come true....and yes it is true.
Their collaboration is titled MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE,

Winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for a Documentary, RESTREPO.

From director Michael Winterbotton comes THE KILLER INSIDE ME.

And In case you haven't seen it, click here to see our latest video.

Latest Video and more...

2010-06-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting last night but we were busy covering the Primary Election festivities late last night for Citybeat. Below is a video overview of the evenings festivities.

I was surfing the internets today and stumbled upon Davidlynch.com. The acclaimed director provides everything on his site to daily video weather reports from his digs in LA to selling coffee and mousepads. Its an interesting site that is definitely worth your perusal....

Film Tips:
How to make your video look like film

UPCOMING FILM FESTIVAL:
The Action on Film International Film Festival
June 17, 2010 - Late Deadline
Upgraded projects save $5 on this deadline

MISSION AND OBJECTIVE
The Action on Film International Film Festival aims to promote artistically and culturally significant film arts through education and exhibition to enrich the life of the community, filmmakers, and individuals who pursue careers in front of the camera.

MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
AOF FEST has proudly hosted the premieres of a multitude of films that have gone on to much success, including Kim Coates' KING OF SORROW, Stan Harrington's BRED IN THE BONE, and Ron Perlman's ACTS OF VIOLENCE, among many others. The screenplay for the $20 million star-studded film STRENGTH AND HONOUR received early recognition by AOF FEST; writer Mark Mahon gushes, "Winning at AOF made the difference in me pursuing my dreams as a filmmaker."

El Roberto Presents....

Flicks, tips, and more...

The Last Circus

Making Music Videos is Fun..

Comic Con

Tutorials and movie releases...

Good Things Come to People Who....

Blank City....and more

The Beaver...& more....

SXSW FILM FEST & MORE....

Film Rumors...Tips and Tools and...Hobo with a Shotgun

The Oscars were....

The Oscars and its rainy and cold in SD....

Sunday Night Editing

DIY FILMMAKING 101

How to Clone Yourself and more....in Final Cut Pro....

Howlin' for You...

How to Composite Video

Mister Brainwash Does the Oscars...

Not Dead Yet....

Banksy....Not a fan of 20th Century Fox

Sundance Film Festival News....

Sundance Film Festival 2011 "Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul"

The 83rd Annual Oscar Nominations

Transmissions from Sundance...

Unseen Orson Welles flick finally being released....

Filming with digital SLR cameras

Happy Holidays....

DIY steadicam

The Dark Knights going to bed

Hollywood still hasn't figured it out...

Free Webinar on Film Production Incentive Programs

Latest Video

Halloween is here!!!

Zombies, Halloween, DIY Effects, and more!!!

The Question of the Night.....

Zombie Alert!!!

Apocalypse Never

Creating a Film Look in Final Cut Pro

Film remains vital....

Coming Soon

Kanye West Film Trailer

Sally Menke

The Hobbit Strike

DIY FILMMAKING

Monday....

Sunday Sunday Sunday...

Its almost the weekend....

The Other Guys Movie Review

Tuesday Night....

TV Tropes

Mckee Seminar

Neat Video Plugin

Latest work...

Recent Work

Its Tuesday and we longing for the weekend....

35mm adaptors and Jag35

Real or Fake

Coming Soon...

Sound Editing Tips

FINAL CUT PRO TUTORIALS

Merlin Steadicam Stabilizer

Coming Soon...

Film News and more....

Rolling Roadshow Tour

Howl and other interesting stuff...

Countdown to Zero....and more

Sam Worthington is back in The DebtAnd just in case you haven't seen it...here's a little Drunk History.

Mixing it up...

God With A Gun Redux

When You're Strange Review...

Due Date and more...

New Film Releases....

Predators Review

DIY CAMERA JIB...

Its Saturday Night...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Check Mic one, two

Coming Soon....

Record Club...

Sam Worthington is back in The Debt
And just in case you haven't seen it...here's a little Drunk History.