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RMM General Meeting Minutes – October 2014

rmm

October 30, 2014
Start Time: 6:30PM
Total in Attendance: 25
Location: RCTV
Agenda:
 
Introductions:

  • Made individually around the room
  • Announced resignation of Treasurer and Secretary Chris Hazenbush

Upcoming Events:
RMM Executive Board Meeting

  • Second Thursday of each month
  • Next meeting is Thursday, November 13, 2014
    • Put out call for new Secretary and Treasurer
    • Any interested parties should come to the board meeting for more information

RMM Writers Group

  • Next meeting is Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at Animatus Studios
    • 6:00pm to 8:00pm
    • Currently working on logline challenges
    • Looking to switch back to Crossroads Café soon

RMM Mind2Movie 2015

  • Thursday, January 22, 2015 – Sunday, January 25, 2015
  • Mentioned that this year, you can opt to have the environment as the character so the film can also be entered into Fast Forward Film Festival
  • Secured Scott Fitzgerald, Karl Goldsmith from the Rochester Finger Lakers Video Office, Michael Gamilla from Image Out Film Festival, and Rebecca Delaney from Fast Forward Film Festival as judges
  • Tentative showing date at Cinema Theater is February 9, 2015

General Meeting Date Changes

  • November meeting is now on Thursday, December 4, 2014
  • December meeting (White Elephant Party) is on Thursday, January 8, 2015

Upcoming Projects:
Pancho Lane – Columbia One (documentary film)

  • Documentary about the first Peace Corp group in 1961
    • Involves the history, training footage, and follow up fifty years later
    • Ends with reunion party in 2011
  • Needs assistant editor
    • Wants to have it done by the end of the year
  • E-mail Pancho at ethnoscope AT yahoo DOT com for more information or visit his website www.docfilm.com

Liz Lehmann – Sharknado Spoof

  • Needs sound person for filming on November 1, 2014
    • 9:30am to 12:00pm
    • 1 actor, 1 scene, 2 shots
  • Has equipment, but needs a sound monitor

Chuck – Skin Deep (short film)

  • Short film with heavy visual and make-up effects
  • E-mail zeroonefilms AT rochester.rr DOT com for more information

Jake Baird – Fast Awake (short film)

  • 30-page script
  • Needs all cast and crew, except for music composer
  • E-mail jakemppbaird AT gmail DOT com for more information

 
Speaker:
Peter Kiwitt – “The Dangers of Reasonable Compromise”

  • Background
    • Teacher at RIT (directing)
    • Worked in the film industry in LA for 20 years
    • Recently finished shooting Purple Heart and will be shooting another film soon
  • Top lessons learned from shooting Purple Heart
    • Don’t underestimate how hard it is to make a film
    • Don’t underestimate how hard it is to get an “ok film” to a “good film” or a “great film”
      • It’s very difficult to get it from 80% there to 100% there
    • Study what you shot to learn and make your next shots better
  • The Dangers of Reasonable Compromise
    • Everyone has to compromise, but it’s dangerous
    • Simple compromises early on can become bigger issues later
    • Example: had to compromise on a glass breaking scene, but it changed the emotional impact of it
    • Example: had to make a fight scene less intense, but it changed the emotional buildup of the character
      • Result: had to rearrange the scenes in post for it to make sense
    • Always “listen to the tickle” in the back of your head
      • Even if you don’t understand why
      • What will hurt you later on is what you don’t consciously recognize while your filming
      • Little decisions can sometimes make a big difference
  • Additional filmmaking tips
    • The first cut should be the movie you wrote, then start cutting the movie you shot
    • Get multiple takes, look for the best moments in everything, and cut to get as many of those good moments as possible
    • Keep writing the script until you get it perfect, then shoot
      • Should take up to at least 7 drafts
    • Always cut the best movie you shot
      • Should take at least 7 cuts
    • The Director should cut with the editor for the last cut
      • Cutting requires a sense of rhythm and flow
      • Need to feel it
    • You can always make something work in editing
    • Story still matters
      • So many filmmakers/content out there, but how much of it is really great?
      • Very hard to make something truly great

 
Screening:

  • Chris Hazenbush – Can’t Weight
    • Screened his short film

 
Networking:
 
End of Meeting: 8:30PM
 
RMM General Meeting Minutes – October 2014 (Word Doc)

RMM General Meeting Minutes – September 2014

rmm

September 25, 2014
Start Time: 6:35PM
Total in Attendance: 23
Location: RCTV
Agenda:
 
Introductions:

Upcoming Events:
RMM Executive Board Meeting

  • Second Thursday of each month
  • Next meeting is Thursday, October 9, 2014
    • Put out call for new Secretary
    • Any interested parties should come to the board meeting for more information

RMM Writers Group

  • Next meeting is Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at Animatus Studio
  • 6:00pm to 8:00pm

RMM Mind2Movie 2015

  • May change start date to Friday, instead of Thursday
  • Secured Karl Goldsmith from the Rochester Finger Lakers Video Office and Michael Gamilla from Image Out Film Festival as judges

RCTV Classes this Fall

  • Basics of Videography classes – Saturdays 1:00pm to 3:00pm
    • Can take on a rolling basis
  • How to Shoot a Talk-Show Format Show – started Tuesday, September 23, 2014, but can still join class
    • Will have this class again in February 2015

Johannes Bockwoldt classes at Writers & Books

RMM “372-Hour Film Competition”

  • New film competition for next summer
  • Teams have two weeks and three weekends to make an entire short film, five to ten minutes in length
  • A prop, situation, and character will be the same for all teams
  • Tentative Dates are July 18, 2015 – August 4, 2015

Fast Forward Film Festival Call for Entries

  • Submission window – October 8, 2014 (8:00am) through February 27, 2015 (11:59pm)

Upcoming Projects:
Dan Bauman – “Limitations”

  • Experimental nature video
  • Shooting in the Fall, needs an editor
  • Contact danbauman@netzero.com for more information

 
Speaker:
Neeti Fidurko – “How NOT To Make An Indie Film”
o   Teacher at RIT, musician, and promo/music video producer
o   Recently filmed “Who Would Jesus Date?”, which explores the question, “what if Jesus dated?”

  • Filming wrapped in July, currently in post
  • About 15 minutes long
  • Ten tips on how NOT to make an independent film

o   Be an auteur

  • The filmmaker as sole artistic vision
  • Instead, get people to help you and share the workload

o   Continue to work with people who miss deadlines

  • Especially on a low budget
  • Instead, get people that are prompt and responsible

o   Be a democrat

  • Instead, be a decisive director on set (even if you’re mean)

o   Change locations the night before the shoot

  • Especially for a special effects shot
  • Instead, stick to the shooting plan

o   Don’t check the monitor

  • Instead, always check it, especially if the camera operator is not experienced
  • It will allow you to catch focus/smudge/framing issues

o   Cast your friends

  • You can cast your friends, but AUDITION first

o   Shoot everything in three consecutive, 12-hour days

  • Too stressful
  • Instead, be more realistic with time and spread out if you can

o   Don’t have a production photographer

  • Instead, always get promo shots in addition to production/on set shots

o   Consider it work

  • Instead, have fun and don’t stress out on set

o   Save the worst for last

  • Instead, do the toughest shots first because you’re most fresh and awake

 
Networking:
 
End of Meeting: 8:30PM
 
Download the word doc: RMM General Meeting Minutes – September 2014

RMM General Meeting Minutes – August 2014

rmm

August 28, 2014
Start Time: 6:34PM
Total in Attendance: 30
Location: RCTV
Agenda:
 
Introductions:

  • Made individually around the room

 
Upcoming Events:
RMM Executive Board Meeting

  • Second Thursday of each month
  • Next meeting is Thursday, September 11, 2014
    • Put out call for new Secretary
    • Any interested parties should come to the board meeting for more information

RMM Writers Group

  • Looking for a location to hold meetings on Tuesdays or Wednesdays
    • Perhaps a library
    • Will keep everyone posted through e-mail and Facebook

RMM Mind2Movie 2015

  • Announced dates set for event
    • January 22, 2015 through January 26, 2015

RCTV Classes this Fall

  • Starting tonight, class on how to film an entertainment variety show (Phythodd Remix)
  • Videography class – Saturdays in September
  • How to Shoot a Talk-Show Format Show – will also be happening this fall
  • Also, mentioned the Roc Co-Op for shooting TV shows
    • Join a group to help create a weekly TV show
  • For more information, go to www.rctv15.org

RMM “372-Hour Film Competition”

  • New film competition for next summer
  • Teams have two weeks and three weekends to make an entire short film, five to ten minutes in length
  • A prop, situation, and character will be the same for all teams
  • Looking for help on planning
  • Looking for feedback/ideas for improvements

Buffalo Film Expo

 
Upcoming Projects:
Adrian Esposito – Disability Hollywood

  • Documentary about disabilities in Hollywood, and a history of people with disabilities in Hollywood
  • May need cameraman to shoot an Advocacy Group Meeting at Arc of Monroe County (http://www.arcmonroe.org/)
    • Will be screening Freaks and wants to get participants’ reactions on film
  • Doesn’t know date nor time yet, but wants to shoot sometime in September
  • Has camera to use
  • Contact adrianesposito AT rochester.rr DOT com for more information

Randy Huckabone – Eyes of Wild

  • Trailer for film was screened and cast/crew answered questions
  • One-take feature film completed on August 18, 2014
  • The film is about a creature that comes to a secluded campsite
    • Camera is the perspective of the monster
  • Rehearsed all day and shot the last take at night
    • Had to shoot a second time (on a second date) because GoPro cameras had too wide an angle when they shot the first time, and the footage came out too dark
    • Switched to Canon XE10 cameras for second, successful shoot
  • Film had successful Kickstarter campaign
  • Still need to do all ADR for sound
  • Plans on taking it to festivals and will preview it at Rochester Comic-Con on September 21, 2014

 
Speaker:
Derrick Petrush – “Improving Your Digital Filmmaking”
Five tips

  • Always shoot progressive scan
  • Shoot 24-frame
  • Always edit natively
  • Shoot the highest resolution you have available
  • Make a Master File

Always Shoot Progressive Scan

  • Get clean, full images every time
  • Easier tfilter and rescale later
  • Cleaner compression due ta less complex frame
  • The worse alternative is shooting interlaced
    • Conceived in the 1920s as a clever hack tincrease rate of images without increasing bandwidth needed for transmission
    • Image is split inttwfields of alternate lines that are drawn one after another
    • Suitable for broadcast and physical videdelivery media that displayed on CRTs
    • Interlace “combing” is inconvenient and unattractive on every other platform
      • Too jagged-looking
      • But broadcast TV is still working with 30i
  • How tuse progressive scan
    • Progressive Scan cameras will prominently announce this feature
    • “video” cameras are not necessarily progressive, and often are not
    • All “cinema” cameras are progressive scan, and will rarely offer interlace as an option for compatibility
    • Progressive scan modes will always be denoted with a “p” after their resolution indicator (e.g. 720p, 1080p)
  • Sometimes Progressive is isn’t full Progressive
    • Progressive imagery can be “stored” in an interlaced frame
    • Progressive scanning videcameras that must maintain compatibility with traditional videsystems may convert the image tInterlaced prior trecording (e.g. mini-DV, HDV, DVCPRO)
    • Progressive scan display modes are not supported in “video” display and transport, except for 720p, only in North America (for now)
    • Twork and edit in Progressive these conversions must be un-done beforehand

Shoot 24-frame

  • Standard Cinema frame rate
  • Directly compatible tCinema projection, Internet and Streaming, On-Demand services, Blu-ray, and DVD
  • Easily convertible for North American broadcast by Telecine process
    • So, you can shoot in 24p, but then teleconvert t30fps
    • Both technical and artistic reasons tdit this way (as opposed tshooting directly in 30fps)
  • Easily convertible for European broadcast by speeding up 4%
  • Shooting in 24-frame
    • The frame-rate is actually 24.00fps or 23.976fps, depending on platform
      • They are compatible, but not interchangeable
    • 24.00fps is standard for Cinema
      • Film and projection run at this speed
      • Very few videcameras shoot at this frame rate, but all true “Digital Cinema” cameras support it
    • 23.976fps is for NTSC broadcast compatibility, as it can easily fit int29.97fps via the Telecine process
    • The dropped frame came from the 1950s, when a one frame out of 1000 was dropped tmake room for color broadcast signal
      • This “drop frame” followed through intDigital VideBroadcast and transports for compatibility

Shoot the Highest Resolution You Have Available (within reason)

  • There are a number of different resolutions available
    • 480 (NTSC), 576 (PAL), 720p, 1080, 2K, 2.7K (Arri Alexa), 4K (RED One), 5K (RED Epic), 6K (RED Dragon)
  • Shooting at higher resolutions than your finish resolution allows for:
    • Increased image quality and decreased noise (supersampling)
    • Flexibility in reframing
    • Ability tremaster ta higher resolution in the future
  • However,
    • Big frame rates take up big data, and require fast computers and a lot of processing power
    • Shooting 5K for something that will only ever be seen on SDTV is unnecessary
    • Shooting 5K and assuming you will have finished 1080 prints twork with by the end of the day is very difficult tdwithout money
  • That being said, shooting 4K for 2K or 1080 broadcast mastering is fantastic
    • Don’t feel bad about shooting in 2K
  • Use your best judgment, and balance time, quality, and money

Always Edit Natively (or in a Production-friendly codec)

  • Edit in a workspace native tyour camera (e.g. DVCPRO-HD)
  • Use an intermediate/working codec like Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD
  • Some codecs cannot be worked in natively, such as most variants of MPEG
    • For example, H.264 is very tough on your computer just tplay the footage
  • Processor time can be spent on effects and faster response time
  • If you shoot in a non-edit-ready format, you must transcode prior tediting
    • “Pre-flighting”

Make a Master File

  • Your final, fully-rendered, finished movie in a single file
  • Should be created in your working codec for minimal processing and faithful reproduction
  • Easily and efficiently able tbe converted for finishing and distribution
  • You can then make different versions in an encoder from the master file much more easily
    • The movie is already rendered and all processor time can be devoted to conversion

Also, don’t forget sound
 
Networking:
 
End of Meeting: 8:30PM
 
RMM General Meeting Minutes – August 2014 WORD DOC