Technology Archives - M3 Studios Miami

Challenges Facing Independent Filmmakers

Independent is the only true form of art; nobody doubts of an independent ballerina, writer, or sculptor, but when it comes to an independent film studio, the concept of independence seems to be unusual. To be independent in the film industry you need to be free from something, commonly the matrix of companies that dominate the production and distribution of film production in America. Most of the productions are made in Hollywood, a multi-million dollar business; and anyone who produces a film outside of this exclusive factory has to call itself “independent” to be distinguished from the suit; however, as long as a film is screened in commercial theaters, or aired on pay or network TV, “independent” is a relative term.

It is not a secret for anybody that film industry is not as healthy and successful as it used to be. Hollywood is certainly thriving, and the future of the industry is bounded to the success of independent filmmaking, where the majority of personnel of Hollywood got their start. Unfortunately, independent filmmakers face several challenges, most of them have existed for decades, while others have recently appeared due to new technologies in the industry. The best way to face these challenges is by taking advantage of them, in order to use the weaknesses in our favor, though it might seem to be absurd.

Challenges Facing Independent Filmmakers:

Money and Financing

The majority of independent producers will agree that the most difficult task is raising money to pay for the production. The truth is that raising money is the key to any independent film, regardless of the position, experience, and past credits of the people involved. To choose the method that will fit better with the production is important to consider factors such as the type and subject of the film and the experience behind the cast and crew involved in the project. It is common to use crowdfunding platforms to raise money or to secure increasingly elusive government grants for short films. In fact, “the most beneficial situation for the filmmaker would be to receive 100% of the film costs from an equity sale in exchange for substantially less than 100% of the income” in a range of 25-50% according to “The Independent Filmmaker’s Law and Business Guide: Financing, Shooting, and Distributing Independent and Digital Films”. Even though filmmaking should be commercially viable without the need for public funding, is important to remember that people or organizations invest in the films to make profits out of them; therefore film budgets need to stand the scrutiny of investors seeking cost-effective production, as well as a reasonable rate of return.

Digital Revolution

Digital revolution has transformed the film industry, including production, editing, post-production, marketing, and distribution processes. These technological innovations have forced film studios, rather independent or not, to respond to the popularity of the internet and the success of new digital platforms guided by a potential for profit. In fact, the widespread use of digital media technologies has resulted in considerable cost reductions, which have helped create more product than buyers. Additionally, the affordability of making films on digital media has increased competition. Several filmmakers fear bankruptcy; however, the challenge to filmmakers is to make unique genre-specific movies using digital technology. The genre is the only way that a film buyer and the marketing manager of a distribution company can quickly visualize the movie poster, trailer, and marketing campaign. The industry is changing into a more consumer-centric one, nowadays consumers can enjoy podcasts, web shows, and can access them by downloading or streaming the product. It is important to focus on the benefits that the digital revolution has brought such as worldwide distribution and instant access to the final product.

Decline of Innovative Storytelling

Nowadays is more frequent to see sequels and remakes of stories we loved instead of new stories to enjoy. It seems like the industry has reached a point of fatigue in which lack of ideas is the common denominator, resulting in low expectations among audiences; additionally, the gaming industry, which breeds on digital technology, has been influencing storytelling in the film industry. In fact, the incorporation of gaming techniques in terms of storytelling and visualization will make movies stronger; it is mandatory for independent film studios to focus their efforts on unique storytelling, these new ideas will stand out more than they have in the past.

Creative Control

In Hollywood, everybody has a specific role to accomplish, and there is a budget for that, but in the independent filmmaking industry is common to have limited resources. A low budget makes people assume multiple roles in order for a film to be produced at the lowest cost possible, as director Benjamin Dickinson said: The biggest challenge that I had making the film was just that I was wearing too many hats. This de-emphasis on specialization means individuals are less likely to develop the specialized skills that Hollywood and large film agencies demand. Ultimately, it is a hit or a miss, depending on the director’s ability to wear multiple hats.

Essentiality of Social Media

Social media is becoming an essential part of a film’s package, that is why it is necessary to adopt a robust social media strategy in order to evaluate what is making an impact. Nowadays, we have more access to data than ever before that can help filmmakers to understand the audience they are trying to reach, and create not only awareness but stronger loyalty and engagement for the long term; unfortunately, filmmakers are not collecting and analyzing efficiently their data. As an example, ‘Paranormal Activity’ may have cost a mere $15,000 to make. What Paramount bought was not the film, but the social media strategy that the filmmaker Orin Pelli developed around his film.

Film Distribution

The traditional film distribution model has been working good for big budget films, but for many other mid-, small- and micro-budget films it is almost impossible to achieve the results desired. Additionally, independent filmmakers end up competing against each other for limited attention and fragmented audiences due to the fact that there are too many films being made. At a movie theater, independent films face several challenges more than a regular film. First, they need to put in the effort of distinguishing themselves from the other independent films that are opening at the same time. Secondly, they need to invest in identifying their audience efficient. And thirdly, they need to be worthy for the audience that will pay for the ticket. Independent filmmakers are beginning to explore Video On Demand (VOD) as a distribution method. Thus it allows filmmakers to reach larger audiences with relative ease, streaming services don’t provide nearly the same return as physical sales of DVDs; therefore, many independent filmmakers fear that this technology may lead them to go bankrupt if they are not able to attract the same volume as larger Hollywood films that garner millions of viewer. To overcome this issue, independent filmmakers often develop a hybrid distribution strategy that encompasses traditional releases with online distribution in platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Conclusion

The independent film industry is full of challenges as summarized in this article. Film studios normally face issues raising money to pay for the production, making unique genre-specific movies using digital technology, incorporating gaming techniques in terms of storytelling and visualization to make
movies stronger, assuming multiple roles in a film to reduce costs as much as possible, understanding the audience they are trying to reach, and distributing the final product through different channels. Although these are challenges that can be recognized easily, the solutions seem to be far away whether for the companies themselves or those public sector agencies which support the industry. Unfortunately, the structure and economics of independent film productions are not well suited to build sustainable companies which leads to a number of serious challenges that threaten to limit filmmakers’ creativity and push the industry even further into the shadows. It is important that the industry focuses on finding solutions to these pressing issues. As viewers, we just enjoy the final product without understanding all the challenges that filmmakers faced behind the scenes. We need to internalize that making a great movie goes above working extremely hard, and having luck; the truth is that it needs love, passion, commitment, and tons of patience, especially if we are talking about independent films.

The Technology Behind the Hobbit and Middle Earth

Bilbo Baggins reviews the colossal budget of his own adventure

It’s been eleven years since our first journey through Middle Earth, where Peter Jackson invested our hearts into the destiny of one tiny hobbit facing insurmountable odds against the forces of evil.

Our faith was rewarded with a triple crown of cinematic achievement as the Lord of the Rings trilogy killed it in every way a movie can be judged: Financially (2.97 billion world wide earnings), critically (17 Academy Awards including ‘best picture’), and sensually. It created a world of wonder and awe the likes of which had never been experienced on film.

Essentially, these films embodied all the reasons we attend midnight premiers, and we’re all better off for them.

Simply creating these films was a monumental technical achievement. Andrew Lesnie’s cinematography turned New Zealand into Middle Earth by painting each location with a spectral pallet that ranged from aesthetically elegant to viscerally haunting. The visual effects were groundbreaking, peaking during the claustrophobic battle at Helm’s Deep where thousands of Uruk-Hai charged at a pitifully outnumbered army of men clawing to survive. They also took one long leap in creating computer-generated characters with vitality, specifically the spiritually mangled creature, Gollum, whose lust for the ring gave Andy Serkis the type of sandbox every actor dreams of to bring that pain to life.

The best part of it all, in case you’ve really been living in Middle Earth the last few years, is that we get to go again. We’re all fidgeting with anticipation for the trilogy’s prequel, The Hobbit, to hit theaters in 2013.

Thankfully, Peter Jackson has maintained a video blog documenting plenty of behind the scenes content to keep fans engaged. Besides providing some great nerd porn, the videos give some fascinating insight into the technical aspects of the film, which are once again, setting the bar. We’ll go over a few of them.

http://youtu.be/2CtQGtwxTAc

Video 7 takes us on a tour through Stone Street Studios in Miramar, New Zealand, the headquarters of the whole production. Here we see an enormous back lot they use, which doubles as a green screen. Notice the drapes they use above the lot to block out the sun.

At the 9:00 mark, they showoff their wireless, waterproof, shockproof, “surface rig” that sends a direct feed to the director’s chair while capturing underwater images. It looks like they’re using it to film a scene on a river.

The Hobbit will be broken up into two simultaneously filmed movies, both of which will be shot in 3-D. That’s right: They’re not just going to process 2-D images. The 3-D won’t be a cheap gimmick used to squeeze a few extra bucks from the audience. It’ll actually be integral to the story telling. Mirkwood Forest is already supposed to have some hallucinogenic elements to it, so just imagine how trippy it’ll feel to have its trees reach out for you.

The films will be shot using the Red Epic 3D cameras. The production has 48 of them (spare no expense). Because the lenses are so big, they have to use two for each shot to create the ocular effect that our eyes naturally produce.

They are going to double the frame rate of traditional film by shooting at 48fps, to put that in perspective, our eyes see at 60fps, so that screen in the cinema is going to feel like someone carved a rectangular hole in the wall and created a window into Middle Earth.

Peter Jackson did not want the 3D process to compromise his shooting style, which includes a variety of mobile shots. They developed a series of less cumbersome rigs to stay nimble and make the audience feel as if “the same filmmakers went back to Middle Earth to tell a new story.”

Another interesting note is that the Red Epic cameras tend to desaturated colors, so whole sets had to be painted like acid trips. The makeup and costume departments had to make their adjustments as well as a result. Some of the flesh tones on the actors are purposely exaggerated for that reason.

The Red Epic cameras operate at a 5K resolution. That’s downright magical when you consider that 4K technology is considered the next step in HD technology, and that’s already four times the resolution as the 1080p blue ray player currently in your living room.

That’s right folks: Quality will not be an issue: Here’s hoping they serve some midnight pints as we wait in line wearing our beards and chainmail.

Hologram Resurrections Won’t Stop with Tupac

Coachella was just the beginning.

The estates of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix are entering an arms race over the possibilities of generating their own holographic concert tours to cash in on the buzz that Tupac’s posthumous revival garnered earlier this summer.

People tend to respond to ghost sightings with psychotic breakdowns, or a neatly plotted series of epiphanies about life and death in the spirit of old Ebenezer Scrooge. But now it seems they are willing to pay cold hard cash to be haunted by the nostalgia of history’s most iconic entertainers.

Tupac wasn’t the first artist to perform from the grave. Who could forget Elvis’ passionate 2007 duet with Celine Dion on American Idol? Of course that was done using a body double and a technique known as “rotoscoping,” not the hologram technology developed by Digital Domain, who will also revive Elvis for his upcoming tours.

Elvis and Celine perform “If I Can Dream.”

There is something unsettling about the lengths people will go to profit from the dead, especially given how “realistic” these holograms are and how they can blur the threshold of reality. Just think of the intuitive way Tupac greeted the crowd: “What the F**** up, Coachella?!” (Coachella wasn’t even around until seven years after his death). Additionally, all of the above mentioned artists have one common denominator: Their deaths captivated the nation with a collective gasp of sorrow and paranoia that still fuels a vortex of conspiracy theories to this day, which likely says something about our obsessions.

Regardless of where you stand on the moral and ethical implications of this technology, there is no doubt that this new meme has the potential to restructure the way the audience consumes entertainment. The verdict is still out on whether this new fad will fizzle like ghost hunting shows, Charlie Sheen, and the Mayan calendar, or if it will create a new ballpark for the artist.

Coachella may have been for thrills, but the hologram technology can very well introduce a whole new generation to the work of deceased artists. But that’s just scratching the surface. Even artists who are still alive can utilize it by producing concerts without leaving their studios. These “micro” concerts can distribute their content at a discounted price for the audience (though it’s probably not financially feasible at this point), and raise the premium on actual live shows.

Eventually, like most technology, it may enter the consumer market and allow individuals to download (at a cost) performances of musicians both dead and living, and host their own concerts from the comfort of home. Think of the traffic your next wine tasting could generate if it’s headlined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Music wouldn’t be the only medium of entertainment to be affected by holograms. Could you imagine Bruce Lee co-starring in the Expendables 3? Or Johnny Depp on the screen with James Dean?

But again, that’s thinking small. Mark Hamill once said that if “there were a way to make movies without actors, George Lucas would do it,” and this technology might eventually revolutionize the acting profession as we know. It’s reminiscent of Al Pacino’s S1mone, where he plays a film producer desperate for a hit who digitally creates an overnight sensation. Think of a customizable, aesthetically appeasing, skillfully flawless, egoless, triple threat star, who can act,sing, dance, perform his/her own stunts and never age. Sounds like a wet dream for George Lucas.

Of course, much of this is pure speculation, and hologram technology is still in its nascent stage of development. It could very well dissipate and be rendered into a cheap gimmick used to lure gamblers to roadside casinos. Only fools rush in according to Elvis, but money is a smoldering temptress.

Tupac at Coachella

Hollywood Cinematography At The Tip Of Your Iphone

Portable Cinema

The smartphone is modern man’s new appendage. If you’ve ever left it charging on the counter, as you enter the realm of rush hour traffic, you’ve likely felt handicapped, as if someone chopped off your dominant hand for the day. Smartphones are also the fastest growing, most widely absorbed form of technology in history according to this MIT Study, so it’s no surprise that there is an entire industry devoted to making the phone an extension of the consumer.

This evolutionary climate change has infiltrated the landscape of guerilla cinematography. The quality of viral movies is surging in proportion to their popularity. Check out this short film made entirely on the Iphone.

While smartphone cameras still have their limits, the Olloclip lens kit for the iPhone is the latest tool to bring a professional edge to mobile videos. It connects to your iPhone 4/4S within seconds, and with a simple flip, you can shuffle between fisheye, wide angle, and macro lenses. It will add unique variety to the often stagnant compositions available on most phones, and it fits in the palm of your hand. The storage bag is made of a micro fiber material that doubles as a lens cleaner.

The Ollokit is the perfect companion for anyone who uses the iPhone to chronicle his/her daily escapades, but it’s also a step in the right direction for amateur photographers and videographers who use their creative innovation to compensate for small budgets. At just under seventy dollars, it’s a third of the cost of similar products, and a fraction of the cost of the phone itself!

It’s also an indication of the integrative trend of mobile technology. The future is about efficiency, portability, and customization. Check out some sample videos below.

An intro to the lens system:

http://youtu.be/74HP-_2_nD0

Check out the Micro Lens in action

This is the Fisheye

http://youtu.be/YxWtqJy5hEg