Instructables has a post up today demonstrating how to build a cheap, portable bluescreen. The authors of the post have additional instructions on their own blog. And if this is too upscale for you, you can use those cheap neon-green vinyl tablecloths they sell at dollar stores. I've not done this, but I've seen it done. It ain't elegant, but it can work.
Robert Bresson - A Bibliography
Jane Sloan, Shmuel Ben-Gad, and Frank Blaakmeer at Masters of Cinema have compiled what appears to be the most comprehensive (complete?) Robert Bresson bibliography in the world. As someone whose passion for Bresson's work led him to trying to read Notes on Cinematography in the original French back when the English translation was out of print, well, it pleases me deeply to see the hard work that these scholars have produced. Here's a quote from one of the 2000+ sources listed, J. Hoberman's "States of Grace" (Village Voice, September 27, 2005):
Do this job long enough and you learn to accept certain realities. Some people will laugh at Written on the Wind and cry over Sleepless in Seattle --instead of vice versa. There are reviewers who find Godard boring and think Lukas Moodysson is a genius. And although it is tiresome to hear two-buck chuck extolled as Chateau Lafite Rothschild, you realize that hey, this is America -- everyone's got an opinion, and if it weren't for bad taste, many folks would have no taste at all. But I reach the edge of my tolerance in the case of Robert Bresson.
Bluntly put, to not get Bresson is to not get the idea of motion pictures -- it's to have missed that train the Lumiere brothers filmed arriving at Lyon station 110 years ago.
Links page updated
The links page has been updated for the first time in a few years. A few additions, a few subtractions (mostly broken links). Just a little housecleaning. Nothin' major. If you see something missing -- please, no shameless self-promotion -- let me know by posting comments.
Thx, The Management
ps. Comments are managed, so I'll probably just make the changes instead of posting the comment.
Celtx 1.0
Celtx, the free screenwriting/pre-production software, just launched its 1.0 version. According to the press release, new features include:
- 1. Adapt To - a single click now converts a fully formatted script of one type into a fully formatted script of another - for example a Stageplay to a Screenplay - displaying instantly the multi-media potential of your work.
2. Comic Book - a new editor to write properly formatted Comic Books, and a common framework for collaboration between writer and artist.
3. iPhone - now view your Celtx projects from just about anywhere with a display optimized for your iPhone.
4. Catalogs - a new organization and searchable dashboard view of all your story's elements and production items.
5. Sidebar - annotate and break down each scene with notes, media (images, audio, and video clips), and production items through an easy to manage, thoroughly upgraded new sidebar.
6. Project Scheduling - has been vastly upgraded to fully integrate with the script breakdown and provide a Call Sheet and a host of new shooting reports.
7. Storyboarding - you can now choose from a variety of ways to view and manage your images, create a storyboard outline based on your script, and add shot descriptions to each image.
I'll try to dig into this in the next few weeks and give a report. But first, I've got about 500 emails to reply to and some bags to unpack from my European travels.
Happy Birthday, Agnes!
If it seems I've taken a bit of a blog-holiday, well, that's because I'm on a bit of a working vacation. (I was in England last week; Switzerland this week and next.) But I have to post a happy birthday announcement to Agnes Varda, one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. David Hudson is gathering well-wishes at Greencine. What a great way to make the announcement that one of my favorite films of Varda's, Jacquot, is now available on (Region 2) DVD from her web store.
Ashley, who is in France (on her way to meet me here in Switzerland), stopped by Varda's office just two days ago, where she briefly met Agnes herself and purchased "the second copy in the world" of the Jacquot DVD. As they say in France, super cool!
Quick Feet, Soft Hands @ the Maryland Film Festival
Quick Feet, Soft Hands will be screening at the Maryland Film Festival this weekend. If you're in the Baltimore area come on down to see it and the other amazing films in the MD FF lineup. Quick Feet, Soft Hands Showtimes:
Shorts Program: Narrative 2 Friday, May 2 @ 1:30 pm Sunday, May 4 @ 11:00 am Charles Theater 4
And I'm not even counting the films that I've already managed to see (like Nights & Weekends and At the Death House Door).
DVD Round-Up: April 29, 2008
It's been a long time since I've done a round-up. Below you'll find micro-reviews of these recent releases if I've seen them, otherwise I'm giving you the blurbs or awards that have piqued my interest in each.
Manda Bala
Ganja & Hess
The Guatemalan Handshake
Lake of Fire
The Delirious Fictions of William Klein: Eclipse Box Set
Nashville Film Festival Wrap-up
I had hoped to post some reports from the Nashville Film Festival, but a few things prevented me from doing that. First, we were staying with family that didn't have an easy-to-jump-on internet connection. And, more importantly, I was just too busy having a good time at the festival (and elsewhere). Quick Feet, Soft Hands was well received at both screenings. Unlike comedy or horror, where you might have the laughs or shrieks of an audience to gauge audience reaction reaction, with a drama like mine you get no such cues. But the Q&A after the screening helped me see that at least some audiences believe our time and efforts were worth it. There were lots of thoughtful questions and comments -- not a single "What camera did you use?" or "What was your budget?" Instead I was asked questions about the story, how it evolved, how I came to cast Jason and Greta. There were even some audience members who raised their hands to say some kind words -- no question, mind you, just a compliment. And after returning to Virginia I found that Betsy Pickle (Knoxville News-Sentinel and Scripps Howard syndicated columnist) had some nice (dare I say blurbable?) things to say in her online column. Needless to say, all of this feels good.
I'm sure there will be other things to say along the way as this film screens in different places, and in different ways. For now, I'm glad the thing is done, glad it's out there, and glad that it's beginning to find its audience.
Other films: Ashley and I did some filming in Nashville for a documentary we're working on, so I didn't catch nearly as many films as I would have liked to have seen. Of what I did see, my favorites were In the City of Sylvia, Alexandra, Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind, Voda and City of Cranes, the last two of which are short films featuring superb cinematography.
Of the features, I am particularly glad I saw In the City of Sylvia, which I caught with Darren Hughes, who drove over from Knoxville to see it for the third time (he saw it twice at Toronto). Were it not for Darren's tip I probably wouldn't have caught it -- I somehow skipped over it in my perusal of the NaFF catalog. But it's an exquisite gem of a film. A tale of a young man's attempt to track down a woman he met six years earlier, it's as if Eric Rohmer set out to remake one of his Moral Tales sans dialogue. To say anything more would probably ruin it for future viewers. So we'll leave it at that.
All in all, it was a good year at the Nashville Film Festival, premiere and otherwise. Thanks to Mandy McBroom (Shorts Programmer) and Brian Gordon (Artistic Director) for putting together such a solid festival.
Quick Feet, Soft Hands @ the Nashville Film Festival
My new film Quick Feet, Soft Hands will be premiering at the Nashville Film Festival this weekend. If you're in the area come on down to see it and introduce yourself to me (if I don't already know you). Showtimes:
Friday, April 18 @ 2:15 pm
Sunday, April 20 @ 9:00 pm
Red One - Information Page
I've read a lot of stuff on the web in my efforts to educate myself about the Red One digital cinema camera's new approach to motion picture image capture and its workflow. Below are some of the better resources I've encountered. If I've left off something helpful, let me know in the comments.
COMPANY WEBSITE
RED DISCUSSION FORUMS
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Reduser.net
The Red company-sponsored site.
Creative Cow Red Forum Mostly oriented around Red post-production workflow.
Cinematography.com Red Forum Lots of skepticism and passionate disagreement about the Red here.
DV Info.net Red Forum Infrequent posting; lots of overlap with reduser.
WIKIS
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Redhax.net: a wiki for Red users. Very incomplete, but useful in spots.
Wikipedia:Red Digital Camera Company entry
RED: BASICS
Octamas.com: Red One user menu guides
FresHDV: "All Things Red" - another links listing
Creative Cow: Dress for Success with RED
Creative Cow: Shooting with RED: Testing, testing...
SHOOTING RAW:
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ProLost: Exposing to the Left vs. Exposing to the Right
Pro Lost: Digital Cinema Dynamic Range -- an epic post
Pro Lost: Digital Cinema Dynamic Range [abbreviated version]
Reduser.net: Thread on Working with RAW
Bealecorner: John Beale's camera tests
WORKFLOW:
American Cinema Editors: Podcast discussion for A.C.E. members about the workflow for Red with Avid and Final Cut Pro.
RedHax Wiki: Footage Protocol on Set
RedHax Wiki: Footage Conversion
Editors Lounge: Handling Red One in Post-Production [link to page with pdf file]
Coremelt: Red Camera 10-bit Color Online Workflow with FCP 6.0.2
DV Magazine: Posting RED
Scott Simmons' Editblog: posts tagged "red"
Indie4k: Red Workflow posts 1 and 2
Pro8mm: Red & Super-8 Telecine (!)
ONLINE TUTORIAL/DEMO VIDEOS
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Wonderhowto: Learn All About the Red One Camera - 12 videos!
Studio Daily: Shooting Red
Studio Daily: What You Can Do with Red Alert
Studio Daily: Final Cut Pro - Red Workflow
Studio Daily: Edit RED Footage in Avid Media Composer
Studio Daily: RED / Avid Workflow
Studio Daily: Maintaining Red Metadata to Avid
Studio Daily: Assimilate Scratch / Red Workflow
Official REDCINE Training Videos
FOOTAGE
Red Relay Repository of Red One footage.
PODCASTS
RedCentre @ FX Guide Weekly podcast on all things Red from FXGuide.
RED 3rd-PARTY SOFTWARE
Crimson Workflow FCP round tripping application.
RedTrip Essentially an early, free version of Crimson Workflow.
Red Portal Allows you to double-click R3D files to open in RedAlert!
AliasRDC Helps with footage conversion (see http://www.redhax.net/wiki/Footage_Conversion).
MetaCheater Allows MetaData use in Avid.
Spotlight Plugin for R3D Files Lets you easily find and identify r3d-files on your computer.
3rd PARTY ACCESSORIES
Some might ask why this site is posting about Red, considering it is, for many readers, a high-ticket item (especially when you add in the cost of lenses, support, etc.). My answer is that this is a site that's devoted to all forms of maverick filmmaking, including the invention of maverick filmmaking tools. By this standard, Red certainly qualifies.
A New Coat of Paint
To overstate the obvious, there's a new look here at SRF. As I prepare for the premiere of my new film, Quick Feet, Soft Hands, I have been doing some re-tooling of the Lovell Films website. Since I was already spending hours digging around in web design apps it seemed like a logical time to revamp this site as well. SRF has looked the same for nearly two and a half years, which is ages in cyber-time. I, for one, am happy to see a change.
As for the content, nothing's changed. Self-Reliant Film is the same ol' website you know and love.
The only difference of any significance is that I've tried to create more of a bridge between this site and the Lovell Films site, which promotes my own film work. There was a kind of design schizophrenia going on between the two sites -- they didn't look like they represented the same person, and the links between the two were virtually hidden. The links certainly not hidden in real life -- the blogger and the filmmaker are one and the same -- so I've tried to address that a little with the nav bar at the top.
So, that's the main difference. If you're compelled to explore the Lovell Films site, go for it. And if not, I hope you continue to enjoy what you find here.
Ok, enough about the re-design.
Coming soon: The remainder of my long-delayed reviews of Apple Color training tutorials.
ADDENDUM: Oh yeah, one more change: You may notice that the banner of the site has been shortened from "self-reliant filmmaking" to "self-reliant film." That's what I call this blog, that's what most other people call this blog, and that's the URL of the blog. So it was time to have the banner actually use the proper name.
SXSW: Wrap-up
Last year I think I spent as much time posting thoughts on films I was seeing at South by Southwest as I did actually attending films and panels. This year I chose to err in the other direction. There were simply too many movies to see, panels to attend, people to meet, and parties to drop by. Highlights (in the order I saw them):
Nights and Weekends by Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig Wellness by Jake Mahaffy Paper Covers Rock by Joe Maggio The New Year Parade by Tom Quinn Present Company by Frank V. Ross
All make use of handheld digital video, feature naturalistic performances, and were made with small (or no) crews and budgets. Despite the superficial sharing of neo-neo-realistic qualities, it would be tough to compare them. Suffice to say that all are worth seeing.
As good as those films were, perhaps my two favorites of SXSW were two very polished documentaries, Second Skin and At the Death House Door.
Second Skin digs into the world of MMORPGs, and how these online games create new lives and identities -- on both sides of the computer screen -- for the people playing them. Not being a gamer, I wondered how much I would care about the film's subject, especially in light of the fact that 90% of the audience I viewed it with seemed to be there to see a film about their lives. Happily, the film finds some dynamic people to follow and it does superb job of chronicling their lives, both on- and off-line. I suspect this will have a healthy life on DVD, and perhaps theatrically.
At the Death House Door was the most emotionally gripping film I saw at SXSW. A somewhat conventionally shot documentary featuring lots of interviews, it reminded me that no single documentary style has a monopoly on greatness. The film follows Carroll Pickett who, during his 15 years as the house chaplain to a Texas prison, presided over 95 executions, including the very first lethal injection done anywhere in the world. The film also tells the story of Carlos De Luna, one of those 95 prisoners executed, and one that Pickett believed to be innocent. This is a movie that had me in tears -- both at horrific things, and also in admiration at the remarkable heroism of ordinary individuals. Emotions aside, it did bring some nuance to arguments for and (especially) against the death penalty. The fact that it was premiering in Austin -- that is, in the capital of the state where these executions took place -- made the screening experience all the more poignant. At the Death House Door was co-produced by IFC, so look for it there (and, perhaps, theatrically).
As for panels, not all of the ones I attended have been posted (nor do I know if they will) but here are the festival's recordings of some for those of you that couldn't be there.
SXSW 08: Blogs, Buzz, and Buddylists
This afternoon I'll be moderating the Blogs, Buzz, and Buddy Lists panel at South by Southwest. If you're in Austin for SXSW, stop by. You'll see: Karina Longworth: film blogger, Spout.com
Victor Pineiro: Writer-Producer, "Second Skin" - premiering at SXSW
Ian Schafer: CEO, Deep Focus
Alison Willmore: Film blogger, IFC.com
... along with yours truly.
And if you don't catch the panel, I'll be in town through Wed blogging about the screenings and panels I attend. Drop me a comment or email and we can connect.
UPDATED: Two more sites that we discussed on the panel today:
Review: Stop Staring and Start Grading with Apple Color
Stop Staring and Start Grading with Apple Color
Walter Biscardi, who is a leader at the Creative Cow website, has produced this fine Color training video. It's consists of just over 2 hours of tutorials in the form of 9 lessons. All the lessons are QuickTime movies.
A small FCP project file with three clips, which you take into Color, is included on the disc. The project file that he supplies you with is very basic. I was a little skeptical at first that having only three clips wouldn't be enough to learn the program, but it's actually enough to get you started with all of the basics. In fact, I think the simplicity of Biscardi's approach is an asset.
As a teacher, Biscardi is nothing if not an enthusiastic guy. (At times he's downright manic.) He assumes you're an editor well versed in other Final Cut Studio applications and now you're being asked (or wanting to learn) to be a colorist.
All the movies are screencasts. When Walter wants you to see something up close, he zooms in on the element of the screen he wants you to see. If he wants you to look at something in the user manual, he'll superimpose those pages on screen. It's all very helpful.
The disc's emphasis is really on speeding through as much as possible to get you to dive in. In most cases, I felt like Biscardi did a fine job of covering things with enough detail that the application felt approachable, but not overwhelming. Walt spends the most time on Setup, Primary, and Secondaries. One minor criticism: The Primary Out room is barely discussed at all and I felt like he sped through this room too quickly. (I later found myself not using this room much at all, but was that because Biscardi hadn't taught me about it? Or was that because Biscardi understood it's only occasionally used? I don't know.)
Another minor quibble I have is that the DVD's interface is clunky. It uses a web browser to load the QuickTime movies you're supposed to watch. It's slow to load at times, and this could be done more elegantly. As a solution, I found it was easier to simply find the QuickTimes on the disc and simply play them one by one without the interface.
Of all the discs I surveyed and studied, Biscardi gets you in the fastest. There's truth in advertising: By watching "Stop Staring and Start Grading" while following along on my own computer I was quickly able to navigate through Color with some confidence. Highly recommended.
[Creative Cow info page]
[Amazon link
Documentary Film Festival for Students
I usually don't post film festival calls for entries -- there are just far too many of them -- but this is one I couldn't pass up: The Reality Bytes Film Festival is Northern Illinois University's student film documentary film festival. As most of you know, NIU was the site of a mass shooting on their campus a couple of weeks ago. I received a bulk email from their PR director on Sunday. Here it is in full:
First, we want to thank everyone who has called or e-mailed with messages of support over the past few weeks. We are still coming to terms with the tragedy that occured on our campus Thursday, February 14, and it will be a long journey. However, the journey does begin with the first steps and in that spirit, the Reality Bytes Film Festival is still taking place, but with a change in the deadline and screening dates.
With that said, I am writing to you on behalf of Northern Illinois University and the Reality Bytes Student Documentary Film Festival. The festival is currently in its eighth year under the directorship of Dr. Laura Vazquez and is continuing to grow. The event prides itself on being open only to students and being affordable with only a $20 entry fee.
We have already started to receive films from schools all across the country and the outlook for this year's festival is excellent. Our goal each year is to continue to have a venue where students can showcase their amazing documentary filmmaking talents against their peers.
The submission deadline for students is now March 8, 2008 and the documentaries must be under 30 minutes length. Any style or genre of documentary will be accepted. The application form for this year's festival can be viewed and printed as a PDF file by visiting the Reality Bytes website at the following URL:
http://www2.comm.niu.edu/~realitybytes/index.html
The screening event will be held on April 4th and 5th and cash prizes will be awarded on April 5th. The best of festival winner will receive $200 and Avid video editing software, second place will receive $150 and third place will receive $100.
Thank you. We are looking forward to seeing all of the great student work coming out of your university.
Sincerely,
Kathy Giles Public Relations Director for Reality Bytes Northern Illinois University
***
If you're a student filmmaker with a documentary, send it on in. It sounds like a neat festival, it's an affordable entry fee and, in some way, however small, by submitting your film you'll be helping the NIU community move forward after a terrible tragedy. I imagine this edition of the festival will be pretty special.
Woo-hoo! Spring Break! Time to... Study?
All filmmakers are, in some way, students of filmmaking (I know I am), but this one's for the REAL (i.e., in-school) student filmmakers out there: Some of us are starting spring break today, while others will be enjoying spring break later this month. Assuming you're not already using this time to make a movie this week, here are some ways to spend your time if you're unable (or uninterested) in traveling to Cancun, Panama City, or wherever it is the kids go these days. No excuses -- any of these suggestions can be done on a budget:
Read your camera's manual! Seriously. I've met a lot of people that have never read their camera's manual. You might be surprised at some of the things it'll do. After you read it....
Take a daytrip for inspiration! Get out of your apartment and explore your area. Take your camera and shoot some location scouting shots. Already got some inspiration?
Work on that script you've been meaning to write! Visit your local library, take your notebook or laptop with you and don't leave until you've written a few pages. And while you're there...
Catch up on film history! Check out (literally) some of the greatest films of all time. Blockbuster probably doesn't have them, but your library might. And get some books while you're at it: Bazin and Sarris are your "beach reading" this week.
And for extra credit:
Teach yourself filmmaking software! There are a ton of ways to do this. Here's just one of many: Lynda.com's excellent Final Cut Studio tutorials are all available online, and for $25 you have access to every single one of them for an entire month. That's enough time to learn enough about Final Cut, Compressor, Motion, DVD Studio Pro to move you to the head of your class.
The most precious resource for us filmmakers isn't a camera or even money -- it's time. If you're not already making a movie this week, use this week to recharge your batteries. Literally. Then go shoot. If filmmaking isn't just a hobby, it's your compulsion, I can almost guarantee that in ten years you'll look back and consider this time better spent than doing tequila shots in front of MTV's Spring Break camera crews. At the very least, you'll remember more of it.
Oscar® Bragging Rights: Avid vs. Mac
I ran across some amusing (because they're duelling) press releases today: Avid is touting that all of the nominees in "every single one of the nominated and award-winning films in the Best Motion Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Documentary Feature and Original Score categories at this year's Academy Awards were created using at least one Avid, Digidesign, Sibelius or Softimage product."
What Avid doesn't tout is the fact that multiple-Oscar (and Best Picture) winner No Country For Old Men "is the first movie edited with a completely digital workflow on Mac to win the Oscar." Indeed, the Coen Brothers have done a fair amount of promotion for Apple's Final Cut Studio suite.
Review: Digital Color Correction - The Final Cut Studio Workflow with Apple's ColorTraining DVD
Digital Color Correction:The Final Cut Studio Workflow with Apple's ColorCall Box $75
Digital Color Correction:The Final Cut Studio Workflow with Apple's Color stars Stuart Ferreyra and Noah Kadner (host of other Call Box videos) discussing Apple Color. The tutorial is really aimed at absolute beginners to Color and color grading. Being a beginner myself, that was exciting.
Ferreyra is an expert. Kadner, admittedly new to Color, represents a pro and indie (even low budget) philosophy. Kadner asks questions to Ferreya as Ferreya moves throgh the app. Kadner's backwards ballcap sensibility brings a welcome looseness to the proceedings.
This isn't is a step-by-step tutorial. As is repeated a few times, the DVD is not meant to take the place of the manual. And, significantly, there are no project files. This is a DVD (not a DVD-rom) that you simply watch.
As I watched it, I had Color open, but I didn't really find myself following along in the application. Instead, billed as an "insider's look", it's like sitting down with a friend and watching over his shoulder as he works. Sometimes that's a great way to learn; other times you feel like you want the friend to move over and let you push the buttons. If the disc had gone a little further in having Ferreya discuss the artistry of being a colorist -- what he looks for in an image and how he has learned to adjust it -- this DVD could have been a home run. But I did benefit from hearing Ferreya discuss his craft and it does better than the other DVDs I'll be reviewing in terms of discussing the actual art of grading.
In sum I enjoyed the disc, but I didn't think it carried as much value as the other two Call Box discs I've seen, 24P Digital Post Production with Final Cut Pro and the DVX100 and Digital Color Correction:Panasonic P2 Workflow with Final Cut Pro and the HVX200. The latter, in fact, is a truly superb introduction for to the HVX and I recommend it to anyone new that camera and its unique workflow.
Working with Apple Color
As I began the process (still ongoing) of delivering my new film, Quick Feet, Soft Hands I started weighing whether or not to try to do the final color grading in Apple's Color. Certainly, in the spirit of self-reliance, it made sense to go this route. On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for the artistry that a colorist can bring to a project. When the quotes I was getting from some of the post-houses I was considering turned out to be far higher than what little I had remaining in my budget, I decided to spend some time learning Color. If I couldn't get the job done myself, I figured I could always raise some money and plunk down the money for a grading session with a pro. Color, though, is not nearly as intuitive app like Apple's other studio applications. (Color began as Silicon Color's FinalTouch application, and this is probably the reason it lacks the signature intuitiveness of Apple software.) On top of that, most people haven't had color theory in the way that they've had experience editing picture. At least, I certainly hadn't. So, for me, this was -- at least initially -- as complicated and intimidating as jumping into nonlinear editing after using a Steenbeck.
So, where to start?
What Equipment You Need to Start Working in Color: Aside from working on computers that meet Apple specs, I found that you want to do work in Color on the largest monitor(s) that you have available. You may find that you even want to purchase a new monitor.
I began by working on a Dual 1.8 G5 with two 15" 4:3 monitors set up at 1024x768 and I soon discovered that it was literally impossible to use only one of these monitors in Color's single monitor mode. Even when using two monitors, reading the text in the menus was not easy. So, you need a big monitor -- I'd even take one large monitor over two small ones (and I rarely say that). In the end, I did most of my work on a MacPro with two Apple 23" monitors with an external Broadcast HD monitor, which I have access to at Virginia Tech. If I hadn't had access to this computer my G5 at home would have worked, but it would have been slow on renders and playback. And upgrading my monitors would have been a must.
Can you work in Color without a broadcast monitor? Sorta. The color of computer monitors will not match that of output for television, so it's obviously far better to know what you're really looking at as you work. (Consider: Would you edit the sound to your project listening to it through your computer's built-in speaker?) I think that for matching the color temperature of one shot to another you're fine looking at a computer monitor. The problem is knowing whether or not the colors you're seeing overall on that monitor are accurate. So, at the very least, if mainly working with computer monitors, I would want to make sure that I had access to a computer with a properly calibrated broadcast monitor for a few hours to tweak settings before final rendering.
Aside from computer and monitor issues, you need a three-button mouse. I don't especially care for Apple's so-called "mighty mouse", but it can work. (I prefer Kensington's Optical Elite.) If you're going to go pro with this stuff, you'll want to purchase a colorist's control surface. But such things are expensive -- $5000 and upwards. (If you've got that kind of money what are you doing working with Color?) Seriously, if you're not doing this all day, a mouse should be fine.
Finally, you're also going to need some hard drive space. A full output of Quick Feet, Soft Hands meant re-rendering a little less than 20GB of new footage. (We brought it into Color in its native DVCProHD, but took it out using Apple's ProRes 422 HQ codec.) Loading up your computer with RAM is a good idea too, but then you probably already knew that.
Digging In
I learned fairly quickly that Color is not the sort of application that the novice can just jump into. The interface doesn't feel like an Apple application -- even navigating through "Open..." and "Save..." menus looks different. So I looked for help in the way of instructional DVDs. My next few posts on SRF will evaluate the pros and cons of each disc I watched.
After those posts I'll share the overall workflow we used to get Quick Feet, Soft Hands color graded and onto HDCAM for delivery to ITVS. Who knows? By the time I finish these posts the movie might even be delivered.
Film Preservation Manual
Chris Cagle over at Category D recently posted information about a film -- as in 16mm, 35mm, etc. -- preservation manual he found online. For me, this is perfect timing. Just this week some librarians at Virginia Tech asked Stephen Prince