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Shout Out: Escape Pod Films Latest ‘The Stryker Files’
Escape Pod Films: The Stryker Files 4: Fistful of Strykers
Last month our buddies at Escape Pod made the final episode of their Channel101 comedy epic “The Stryker Files” – this is it! I stood around and play both a dead body and a robot, so there’s also that to look forward to. Enjoy!
Also, dudes from Waverly and Decoy Squad are in it. So that’s three web comedy powerhouses. And me.
Avid Trips – Filename Recovery
Posted by Kim in Avid Trips, Misc, Post on April 2nd, 2010
I’ve decided to post some tips/tricks (Trips!) I’ve found to be really useful in working with Avid and as an Assistant Editor that will both remind me later down the road and hopefully help out someone desperately searching for answers late at night online.
Two Ways to Recover Your Original Source Clip Filenames:
If you’ve changed your clip names in Avid, and didn’t copy the column over into another column like “Take” or “Comments” for reference later, you may have already noticed the problems that arise from this seemingly innocent act.
For my current project, there are hundreds of archive clips that all need to retain their original archive clip ID in order to find the clip again and order masters from the archive companies. Having not always kept the original name somewhere in a column of the bin, I’m wondering “How the hell do I know what clip is what without having to open each up and visually reference based on the backed up media?”
1. Reveal File
Though you have changed the clip name in the bin, the MXF file Avid created on the import retains the original clip name in the first part of the MXF file name. Reveal File shows you the exact file on whichever hard drive you loaded it to.
Copy and paste just the obvious clip name part of the file (and not the other Avid generated numbers and letters) back into the Avid in a column like “Comment”, in order to export an EDL with that info in it.
But just so you know, the Avid does cut off the character count of your filename after what appears to be around 18 characters and then just ignores the rest. So I would still cross reference it with the backed up media if your filenames are longer than that.
2. Use FilmScribe and show column “UNC Path”
If you backed up your media, and imported it from where you backed it up from, FilmScribe (another option above EDL in the output menu) will tell you the file path from the imported file, which ultimately ends with the filename.
ex.: G:\Loaded\GettyImages\8jd9fle9.jpg
Copy and paste that last part into the Avid somewhere useful. And/or just give the archive person the FilmScribe printout/file/link. (Though I’d recommend keeping that information that you’ve just worked on relocating somewhere in the bin as well)
If the original location from where the file was imported was changed or deleted or moved somewhere else, I’m not sure if it still retains that information. You could always use the reveal file method instead.
However, both methods are a pain in the ass, so now that you’ve learned it’s a bad idea to get rid of the original clip names all together, don’t do it again! I’m making a habit of putting that info into the “Take” column, which wasn’t being used in our project. Maybe make your own column called “Clip Name” so that there isn’t much of a chance someone accidentally changes the column’s info on you. Then make sure to remind everyone on the project who may load something without you knowing, to keep up the same protocol.
Alice in Wonderland Japanese Commercial
We made a “fake commercial” for the March Channel101 screening, which was fakely sponsored by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
It only seemed fitting, given the crazy trippiness of the film, to make a Japanese commercial, reminiscent of Mr. Sparkle or the Japander streamed commercials with like Arnold Schwarzenegger going bonkers and graphics flying everywhere.
Alice in Wonderland fake sponsor commercial from Kim Huston on Vimeo.
Artbeats giving away footage
The stock footage site Artbeats is giving away one free clip (in either NTSC, PAL, or HD) a day (forever?). All you have to do is register for the site and then choose your resolution and download. Registering is free and basically painless. I just found out literally minutes ago, so I’m not sure about the variety of subject or any other specifics. The clip today is an aerial pan over the Badlands. Who knows when I’ll use it, but I’ll find a way! All I know is that it’s a great idea that I’m going to take advantage of!
You can also request to have the clip shipped to you, on dvd I would guess, but you have to pay for the shipping.
From Artbeats.com
They also say the clips are exactly the same as the ones they sell, or otherwise noted if they have been shorted for download time or whathaveyou.
I’m hesitant to link the “about” page because it seems like the url might change day by day depending on what clip is free, but here it is just in case it stays the same: http://www.artbeats.com/free_clips/SMA128/about
2009 VES Awards Nominations and Winners (in bold)
Annnnnd because I’m interested, here are the nominees for the Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards.
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture
2012
Volker Engel, Visual Effects Supervisor
Marc Weigert, Visual Effects Supervisor
Josh Jaggars, Visual Effects Producer
AVATAR
Joe Letteri, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor
Joyce Cox, Overall VFX Producer
Eileen Moran, VFX Producer
Richard Baneham, Animation Supervisor
DISTRICT 9
Dan Kaufman, VFX Supervisor
Stefanie Boose, VFX Producer
James Stewart, Creature Supervisor
Peter Muyzers, On-set VFX Plate Supervisor
STAR TREK
Roger Guyett, Visual Effects Supervisor
Burt Dalton, Special Effects Supervisor
Shari Hanson, Visual Effects Producer
Russell Earl, Visual Effects Supervisor
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Scott Farrar, Visual Effects Supervisor
John Frazier, Special Effects Supervisor
Scott Benza, Animation Director
Wayne Billheimer, Visual Effects Producer Read the rest of this entry »
2009 ACE Eddie Awards Nominations and Winners
While we’re at it, here are the nominees for the American Cinema Editors
(ACE) Eddie Awards. The winners, which were announced on Valentine’s Day, are in bold.
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
- Avatar – Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E., John Refua, A.C.E. & James Cameron, A.C.E.
- District 9 – Julian Clarke
- The Hurt Locker – Bob Murawski & Chris Innis
- Star Trek – Maryann Brandon, A.C.E. & Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E.
- Up in the Air – Dana Glauberman, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
- 500 Days of Summer – Alan Edward Bell
- The Hangover – Debra Neil-Fisher, A.C.E.
- Julie & Julia – Richard Marks, A.C.E.
- A Serious Man – Roderick Jaynes
- It’s Complicated – Joe Hutshing, A.C.E. & David Moritz Read the rest of this entry »
2009 Oscar Nominations
Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Best animated feature film of the year
• “Coraline” (Focus Features)
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox)
• “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney)
• “The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS)
• “Up” (Walt Disney)
Achievement in art direction
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Achievement in cinematography
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger
Achievement in costume design
• “Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell
Achievement in directing
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman
Best documentary feature
• “Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” (Roadside Attractions) An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home”, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa
Best documentary short subject
• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution) An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Achievement in film editing
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz
Best foreign language film of the year
• “Ajami”(Kino International) An Inosan Production Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production, Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production, Peru
• “Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France
• “The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany
Achievement in makeup
• “Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros. Hans Zimmer
• “Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Best motion picture of the year
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) An Alcon Entertainment Production
• “District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures Production
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” (Focus Features) A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Best animated short film
• “French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films) A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” (Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations) An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park
Best live action short film
• “The Door” (Network Ireland Television) An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute) A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” (Premium Films) A Druid Films ProductionLuke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Achievement in sound editing
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Achievement in sound mixing
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Achievement in visual effects
• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Adapted screenplay
• “District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Original screenplay
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
The State of Hollywood
Posted by Kim in Commentary, Misc on February 6th, 2010
I’m a little concerned about the state of Hollywood. Remember when “movie magic” really did seem to be so? The world of filmmaking was but a mystery except to a select few in the business. Being a celebrity was close to royalty. Back when everyone was still new at it and people were in it for the creativity and invention. You could walk into a studio and say “I want to work here” and they were happy to have you on board. Read the rest of this entry »
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