July Updates

We have been really busy lately (more on that in a bit) but we wanted to give you an update on Project 40.

We are very excited about the story that is shaping up. We are nearing completion on the outline and will soon start the scripting process. It is a pretty dense story and every element has to fit together perfectly, so we are ironing out the last details.

Brigitte has had some writing opportunities come up this year and she has been working on finishing the second draft her comedy feature. She has also been developing a comedy television series that she plans to start pitching soon.

Daniel just started working at Method Studios, where he is part of the tracking & matchmoving team. The company works on high profile films and commercials and Daniel is enjoying the challenge. Check out the link to the company’s demo reel below. We’re sure you will recognize many of the projects they have done!

http://www.methodstudios.com/#/reel/

Also, here is a new animated piece we just worked on. Daniel did the animation and Brigitte voiced the Mom character. We are very grateful to our 3-year old friend Tilly for providing an authentic child voice.

We’ll have more updates for you soon!

Daniel & Brigitte

New Reels!

I know, it's been a while but we've been really busy lately so there are going to be a bunch of updates soon!

I have been doing a lot of tests for an upcoming film project and working with SynthEyes a lot and testing integration of cg characters into live action footage. I also took some time to put a Camera Tracking reel together (which I have been meaning to do for a while now.) Make sure to watch it in HD and full screen!

Also, Please check out the brand new Maya Generalist reel that I (finally) put together.

More to come about the short soon so check back often. Or better yet, add the RSS feed to your email client.

Cheers!

Daniel

Movie Marathon Reviews-Day 1

Hi everybody! Yes, I do mean all five of you.

Daniel here. Brigitte is out of town on a shoot for a few days so I figured it would be a good chance to watch a bunch of movies that she has been hesitant to watch (or just not interested.) Since I just finished a big job, I have a little free time until I find the next gig.
I just finished watching Quarantine, which made me want to immediately write my thoughts down, so I figured I would review everything I watch while she's gone.

I will make this a completely "spoilerless" review because that's just how I think it should be done and I want you to be able to experience it the way I did. I’ll also try to keep the reviews brief for the same reason.

Let me also say that Brigitte is the eloquent one. I'm doing my best to "use my words" as my mom used to say to me (when I was much younger, I promise) but images are the currency I usually deal in so bear with me.

UNDERWORLD

It was fine.

OK, seriously, it felt like your typical supernatural/action movie. The story is good, the writing is OK. That being said, I had a fun time. I enjoyed it more than the Blade series (2 came close which, I'm guessing is due to Guillermo Del Toro's touch). Also, I would ALWAYS prefer to watch Kate Beckinsale over Wesley Snipes any day.

There's not much else to say about Underworld. Enjoyable but forgettable.


QUARANTINE

FLIPPING. AWESOME.

I’m not going to call it “original” for several reasons(o.k., two) – first, it is a remake of a Spanish film called REC (which I haven’t seen but REALLY want to now), second, it has the tone and feel of Alien, The Thing, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Strangers… you get the idea. But I will say that it was entirely satisfying and told the story in it’s own, unique way.

I will also say it is one of the best examples of the “First Person Camera,” “Documentary-Style,” “POV Camera,” “Subjective Camera,” whatever you want to call it. I thought they did a great job justifying the camera. I hate it when the script calls for the actors to explain why the camera is still running (or why they have it in the first place) when in any normal circumstance, the camera would be off and thrown to the ground and left as the anchor that is. I won’t mention any names but you know who you are (COUGH!georgeromeroindiaryofthedead,COUGH! mattreevesincloverfieldCOUGH!) Sorry, something in my throat. This worked for me and I didn’t think about it once. The choreography of the camera was excellent also. To make it look like it was all caught in real time with as long as the shots were takes an AMAZING amount of time and rehearsal. This was not improvised or thrown together. This was a difficult one for the actors, I can tell you that. And they did an incredible job.

Which brings me to the writing. It feels like there wasn’t any writing – just a lot of running and screaming. But, thinking back, I completely know what I need to know about, and can differentiate between, all of the characters - and relate to them. And, as I said, it feels like there wasn’t any writing – so I guess the writers did their job. Well.

I also loved that the story was “shown, not told.” This type of shooting, and a lot of horror movies in general, tell you the back story and the setup much of the time. There is usually one character or a few of them that sem to be figuring out what is going on and tell the rest of the group (and the audience) what is going on. Not here. What we do discover is told in very small bits visually. I won’t tell you how much, or what, we find out – watch it.

It was also very simple-one location (basically), one idea. It’s the kind of film that makes me want to go make a movie right now.

One final thought – I love monster movies, zombie movies, slasher movies (I don’t know where to catagorize this one) – this made crawl up into the back of the couch and it made me jump a few times…

I never jump.

That makes me happy.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

I found a Village of the Damned/Children of the Damned 2 pack at Big Lots for 6 bucks. What a value! This is the original black-and-white Children of the Damned (1960) not the 1995 remake by John Carpenter.

What fun! The DVD box listed it as “Horror Double Feature” but I would put it more under the category of Science-Fiction. It fits neatly into the same category as Invasion of the Body Snatchers and many other sci-fi films of the 50’s and 60’s that dealt with the world’s fears of communism – the “Group Mind” and a cold, emotionless enemy – in a way that the public could ingest, disguised as entertainment.

When I bought this I was surprised that I had never seen it before. It is such a part of pop-culture, the little blond kids and their creepy eyes. It’s been parodied many times, not the least of which on a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode. If you call yourself a fan of classic sci-fi (or horror) this is a “must-see.”

Well, that’s it for tonight. I’ll be back at it tomorrow night. I don’t know what I’ll watch yet. I’m just going where my mood takes me.

Cheers!

Sisters of Notre Dame video

Exciting things are happening at Tower 26 Films!  We are happy to announce the birth of a bouncing, beautiful web video created for The Sisters of Notre Dame.  We couldn’t be more proud.  Special thanks to the Roxburgh Agency and Kelly Borgen for bringing us in on the project.

The experience has been rewarding in so many ways.  It started with meeting these amazing women who invited us into their homes and shared with us their vocation stories and reflections on the work they do for God and for the community.  Being entrusted with the telling of that story was incredibly humbling.  They were also wonderful clients to work with because of their openness, collaborative spirit and the many ways that they expressed their appreciation for our efforts.  We have also been grateful for the ways in which this video project has sprouted opportunities for more work. 

We are so pleased to be able to share the final video with you.  

Cheers!
Daniel and Brigitte

HDSLR Picture Styles

There has been a lot of talk recently about what "The Best" picture style is for shooting with your shiny new still camera that shoots HD video (at least there has been with my friends and colleagues).  Let's think about this for a moment and all decide on the "best" flavor of ice cream or the "best" pizza toppings - now remember we all have to eat it so we have to agree.


In still photography this doesn't really come up because, if you want the most control, you shoot in raw.  Case closed.  All of the information is there for you to adjust to your hearts content without sacrificing any image quality.  You can increase or decrease exposure, contrast, saturation.  According to still photographers this is the ONLY serious way to shoot.  Right? You tell me.  My brother in law Joe Photo is an amazing, award winning photographer.  He shoots jpegs (at least the last time we talked about it he did and if you look at the images he creates it doesn't seem like he should change just because everybody else says that he is doing it wrong).  If you want to see for yourself check out his website or his blog.


What does this have to do with shooting video with my HDSLR you ask?  I'm getting to that, be patient.


I hate putting up blog posts without any visuals so here is a video that we love:



What this means to shooting video with your HDSLR is this (see I told you your patience would be rewarded):  Don't believe what everybody else is telling you to do.  Test it for yourself.  Let me repeat that.  TEST FOR YOURSELF!  That's how it's been done in the business for years because it works.  Test it with your workflow from beginning to end.  It doesn't matter who you get your information from - Stu, Shane, some random video you saw on Vimeo...all of them are doing their own testing and finding what works for them.  Each of them has a point but the point they make is different - one says that "superflat" is necessary for getting the "best"(there's that word again) dynamic range out of an image - while another says it was "a BIG HUGE mistake" and "it buried me.  Consequently, we underexposed 25 or so shots trying to gain contrast. I will never repeat that mistake again!" So which is right?  (if forced to choose, I would go with the professional cinematographer, the member of the ASC, the one that has shot many feature films, including a tentpole studio film, but that's just me).  


There are too many differing factors to decide on the "Best" or "Only" picture profile.  Should it look saturated or de-saturated?  Should it look "true-to-life" or should it have a fantasy look to it?  What type of post process is it going to go through?  Is it greenscreen footage?  Are there visual effects?  Is it a documentary?  Is this an element that has to work with other footage that was acquired from a different source?

As much as we are pioneering a new workflow there are some things that the industry does do right.  Be prepared, do your homework and never trust what someone else says is the "BEST" or "ONLY" way to do things.

Of course, soon HDSLR cameras will have fast enough processors and be able shoot RAW like the RED camera.  Then we will have to rethink the whole thing.


Cheers!
Daniel and Brigitte

HDSLR Camera Rigs, so far...

We recently added a Canon 7d HDSLR to our arsenal of equipment and are really excited about what that is going to allow us to provide for our clients (as well as our original content).  The image quality is astounding and the size and weight of these cameras allows us to put them into places that traditional film/HD Video systems wouldn't dream of going.  Also, they record to Compact Flash Cards so the amount of footage that you can shoot is only limited to the capacity of a hard drive.  You transfer the footage, format the card, and keep shooting!  


This leads us to our new slogan/motto/way of life...whatever...


Big Ideas, Small Footprint - Tower 26 Films.


Lately we have been working on building some camera rigs. We wanted a modular system that would be infinitely re-configurable as well as expandable as our needs grew. 


Since we are working to cut down on waste (and costs) we also made it mandatory that we used as many of the pieces we already own (from our film/video kits as well as our still photography kits).  We also found many of our pieces from home improvement/hardware stores.


But, even though Baron Victor von Frankenstein got his monster's neck bolts from Home Depot, he still needed some specialized equipment:

    You don't think he had this stuff lying around do you?

To allow ourselves the adaptability that we wanted we also purchased some new pieces.

Some of the pieces that we are using (both new and repurposed) are:

• 12" and 18" Rails,follow focus and Snap! lens gears from IndiSystem (there will be a separate post about them soon)
• Extra "monitor blocks" from indiSystem (2 so far)
• LCDVF viewfinder
• The Pod
• Stroboframe flash brackets (2), which each have a cold shoe that was re-purposed elsewhere on the rigs
• Hand grip from an old shoulder rig that never worked right.
• Simpson StrongTie L-brackets (2 bolted together)
• 4 pound weight for nylon strap-type scuba diving weight belt
• Mini ball-head connectors
• Brass 1/4-20 spuds
• Velcro strapping (the two-sided kind with the hooks on one side and fuzz on the other)
• We still want to get a hot shoe extender but nobody has one in stock

All of this is to attach the following gear:


Canon 7d HDSLR camera
Marshall LCD70XP-HDMI monitor
Zoom H4N audio recorder
Sennheiser ew100G2 wireless microphone receiver


Someday we hope to be as cool as our hero and get to play with all of the cool toys.  Until then we are completely happy to Frankenstein our rigs together as best we can.


Here are a few of the configurations (some of them are still in-progress):
(as always, click on the pictures to make them bigger)


The Shoulder Mount:

This one has all of the bells-and-whistles.  We are using the two flash brackets bolted together for the monitor, wireless receiver and the audio recorder.  This also works as a right handle.  

We are using the Pod as a shoulder pad (with a section of plastic cup and a 1/4-12 nut to hold it in place) and the Simpson StrongTie bracket assembly to hold the scuba weight on (with a strap of velcro through the belt loop).

You can also see the follow focus with the indiSystem Snap Gears - they are lens gears that attach around the lens using magnets to hold them together. - So far it seems like an awesome way to do it.

The Zoom is held attached to a mini ball-head (We plan to move both the Zoom and wireless receiver to the top of the camera once we get the hot shoe extender).

This is also, incidentally, our tripod rig (with the exception of maybe moving the monitor above instead hanging from the bracket) on top of our Manfrotto 525 MVB sticks and 501 head.

  
Handheld with follow focus (Stradivarius mode):

This configuration uses the viewfinder instead of the monitor.  You can really get into some tight places with this setup but you still have the follow focus so you can stay in focus while moving around (or while your talent moves around).  We have stripped it down to use only one of the flash brackets.  With the flash bracket, the camera's hand grip, and the view finder, you get 3 points of contact for stability.  Plus, we put an extra rail block on the end and adjusted the rails so it gives you one more point of contact with your chin (this is why we named it Stradivarius mode):

We are working on a pad but it's pretty comfy as-is.

Stripped down handheld (Lean-and-Mean mode):

This is exactly what it says, lean and mean.  With a super-wide lens you can shoot anywhere with this one.   Small, light and maneuverable - sometimes a camera and viewfinder is all you need. You still get the point of contact with the viewfinder which can help stabilize the shot when you need to.  I left the indiSystem Snap gear on because it gives a big solid area to grab ahold of for focusing.  

Home-made stabilizer (not pictured mode):

This is a DIY version of the Glidecam

I still have a few things to work on with this one (and I forgot to shoot it fully rigged).  So I'll put a separate post up for this one but here's a teaser of our first test drive:

We are also working on a DIY slider.  Kind of like this one.  More about this later as things develop.

Well, that's it for now.  Stay tuned for the indiSystem post as well as more about the DIY stabilizer and slider.  We also have a post coming regarding a recent job that we finished so check back often!!

Cheers!

Daniel and Brigitte

The Stalker Chronicles

As promised, here is a link to one of the projects that we have been working on here at Tower 26 Films.

Daniel was the editor, colorist and assistant director on a music video for a web series called The Stalker Chronicles. The video is chapter 3 in a 9(?) episode series. Each episode has a different theme and this one was inspired by a blend of Vaudeville, Old World Carnivale, and Silent Films of the early 1900's (specifically George Melies). Jamie Moniz and Genie Willett created, write and produce. They bring different director for each episode - fun, right?!

This episode was directed by our friend Todd Stashwick, who actually requested Daniel for the project. Thanks Todd!

To see the other chapters go to: http://stalkerchronicles.com/

You can watch it below. To watch it in HD, watch it here. But, please, go to their website and check out the rest of the series and click on the episodes there so they get the youtube views that are such a valuable commodity in the digital age that we live in. The first three episodes are up now with more to come soon. The website also has descriptions of the different film and theater styles that they are referencing. They are all really fun so go and check it out.



Thanks for watching!

More soon, so keep checking in.

ALSO, if you subscribe to this blog you will get notifications when we post something.
OR, add us to your RSS feed for your email client (if you have a mac, email me and I can tell you how).

Cheers!
Daniel and Brigitte

Worldwide web premiere...

People have been asking us when we were going to post our film "Marlena" online.  For those of you who don't know, it is a short film we did back in 2006.  Here it is...enjoy!



We actually shot this film over our wedding anniversary weekend.  We had just bought our Canon XL-2 and were hesitant to spend more money on an anniversary trip.  But then, in a stroke of genius, we decided that if we could turn the trip into a shoot, we could justify going.  We chose Las Vegas and set out to write a film noir (perfect for Vegas) that we could do with just one actor and a one-man crew.

Over the next month, our story began to take shape during nightly brainstorming sessions on walks to the Santa Monica Pier.

"We can't go anywhere for our anniversary this year.  We spent too much on the camera."

"What if we went out of town and made it a shoot?"

"We would have to drive."

"Santa Barbara?  Wait, no.  Vegas!"

"Perfect!"

"So what happens in Vegas?"

"Stays in Vegas."

"Stay on track...stop kidding around."

"How about noir?"

"That works.  And in black and white, too."

"We'd have to shoot it in the hotel room."

"I have my old wedding dress.  And we have a bottle of champagne..."

And from there the seed of a story was planted.  We had been watching a lot of classic film noir and knew it had to be a downer.  But what kind of downer...murder, kidnapping, betrayal?  Things began to fall into place.  Daniel's background as a wedding photographer inspired the use of stills.   We also knew that we couldn't control noise in a hotel, so it would have be told visually,  and remember, one crew member, one actor.

Luckily, we were blessed to have an amazing musician friend, Craig Henry, who in turn, had wonderful musicians in his circle.  The music was an essential element that contributed to the success of our film, and we are eternally grateful for the work that they did.

We built the story around what we had available.  We played to our strengths and interests.  We planned ahead, budgeted, storyboarded and wrote a script.  In the end our film cost us $1398 total.  If you subtract the travel costs, it set us back $849.

Throughout 2007 and 2008 it was accepted into Reno Film Festival, Big Island Film Festival, Crested Butte Reel Fest and Sedona International Film Festival.

Everybody has stories to tell.  A film doesn't have to bankrupt you.  Get creative, plan ahead and you don't have to spend thousands of dollars.  Good luck!

Cheers!

Daniel and Brigitte

A long time ago...

The video below has so many things that I love in it that my head is about to explode. Scroll down and watch it and when you get back I should have calmed down a bit.

Back already? You didn't watch the whole thing, did you? Whatever, your loss.

All right. I've calmed down enough to explain why that dated looking video is so exciting to me. Where to start? I guess I'll just make a list of the things I love.

1. Star wars
2. "Making of..." videos
3. Computer animation
4. Star Wars
5. Special Effects
6. Videos with super old computers in them
7. Star Wars
8. Examples of computer graphics dating back to 1976
9. Videos that show us what it was like "Back then"
10. Star Wars
11. Film history
12. The history of computer graphics
13. Star Wars
14. Hearing someone saying things like: "That technology didn't exist so we had to invent it."

The video below shows a Star Wars "Making of..." video that contains special effects using Computer graphics on old 1976 computers showing us how it was "Back then" that shows a bit of film history, the birth of computer graphics, Star Wars, I guy saying "unfortunately that reality didn't exist", Star Wars...computer...history...Star...making...Wars...1976...of...computer...uuuuurrrggnnnghhhhhgggg. drooling.

This is Brigitte. Unfortunately, I came home and found Daniel slumped over the keyboard. His head had exploded so, I'm going to have to complete this post for him. He didn't apparently finish the list of the things he loved so I'll finish it for him.

15. Star Wars

16. His wife

17. Good Barbecue

18. Star Wars

Well, that's it for today.

Cheers!

Brigitte

How do they do it???

Hey folks! (I am pretending that somebody is reading this - fake it till you make it, as they say)

Just a quick one today.

If you love special effects and always wondered how they do all of that awesome stuff, I have the show for you. Science of the Movies on Science Channel.  Its second season started last night (Thursday).  This episode is called "Zombies! Science of the Undead."

It really gets down deep into how they do it all and it covers a wide range of topics and skills.  The host Nar Williams is a total film and effects geek.  It's like watching myself (or most of my friends) when he goes into these studios and his excitement and sense of humor is what makes the show.

It airs Thursday nights at 8pm on Science Channel.  Check it out!

Cheers!
Daniel