Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Bitfilm festival deadline tomorrow (1st July)

Bitfilm festival deadline is tomorrow (1stJuly). Right now I'm still struggling to get my movie 'Liberty City' uploaded. Hope they get the upload page fixed until tomorrow.

Their MACHINIMA category is open for films of all genres which are shot live inside a computer game. There is no limit in length or size. They accept free artistic works as well as music videos or commercials. They only accept submissions which are uploaded as video files. All submitted videos will also appear in their YouTube channel.
The Internet community will decide on the Bitfilm Awards by a public voting process from August 20 to September 24, 2009. The winner film will receive a prize money of 2000 Euros.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The making of: Waltz with Bashir

Last week I got this amazing animated movie on DVD. Guess most of you have seen or heard of Waltz with Bashir already. So I don't want to comment that much on the film itself which is indeed one of my favourite animated films, but on the little gem I've found on the DVD. My version came with an 'Making of' for that film which even for it's own sake is worth buing it. I rarely have seen such and informative and fun to watch documentary on how this film was produces. It covers every aspect from the idea to the final presentation at Cannes festival. It covers artwork, animation, effects, sound and music and adds some nice backround details about the whole creative process.
It's amazing to see how such a marvellous animated feature film is created by such a small team in a short time. The way they did the animation (cut-out technique done in Flash) is just bejond imagination.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Brainfood: Murch and Ariely

I'm wondering why I've not bought and read so far this amazing little book by legendary film and sound editor Walter Much (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now).
In the Blink of an Eye

It's not a basic course on film editing, but includes deep insight into the process of editing, interesting theories and anecdotes and many practical hints. This second edition adds new stuff on on digital editing. Highly recommended for everyone who is into filmmaking.
Second book I'm reading right now and which is very inspirational and fun to read as well is Dan Ariely's :
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decision
Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist and his research/results are amazing,
especially in the view of the recent economic crisis and our struggle to undertand our own behaviour. After listening to his talk on TED:
Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?
I wanted to know more about his research and his findings and this book is a great resource of knowledge and easy to read. Highly recommedned as well.

Friday, June 5, 2009

"HOME" released today

Today on World Environment Day, "HOME" by director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is simultaneous released in over 50 Countries, and free of charge, release on every format: movie theatre, TV, DVD and Internet.

"HOME is an ode to the planet's beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to understand it. But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the Earth - our Earth - as we have never seen it before. Every image shows the Earth's treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve. "From the sky, there's less need for explanations". Our vision becomes more immediate, intuitive and emotional. HOME has an impact on anyone who sees it. It awakens in us the awareness that is needed to change the way we see the world. (HOME embraces the major ecological issues that confront us and shows how everything on our planet is interconnected.)"

HOME official website
Home on YouTube

This is an amazing project and movie. Reminds me a bit on "Koyaanisqatsi"
If you have the chance watch it on the 'big screen' in a cinema nearby. Unfortunately I've not found a direct download site for the HD version so I've to watch it on YT. You can skip the first minute which is advertising in some sense. I would love to be able to disable the narration and maybe even the music, just to enjoy watching the pure images.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Sims 3 Machinima

Finally Sims3 is released here in Germany as well. I don't know yet if I'll buy the game and use it for an own movie project. Neverthless I found some interesting stuff on the net on Sims3 machinima I wanna share.

Sims3 Review on Gametrailers.com

3 Sims Machinima filmakers on the Sims 3:
Spotlight on The Sims 3 Player: Decorgal
Spotlight on The Sims 3 Player: Baconandeggzie
Spotlight on The Sims 3 Player: TheSidDog

With Sims3 they released an online 3 movie mashup tool where you can edit and share your movies. It's very simple to use allows editing you own clips or preproduces clips from, add transitions, music and title pages and some effects. Unfortunalely you cannot upload any own music, voice-over to be included in your movie. Nearly 5000 movies have been released so far.

Sims 3 Movie Mashup Guide / Tutorial
Sims3 Movie Site

There is as well a Sims3 movie channel on YouTube. Right now they have started THE SIMS 3 "LIVE THE DREAM" CONTEST. Deadline is June 22, 2009

Sims3 Movie Channel on YouTube

On her blog, Sims2 filmmaker Decorgal has some in debth informations on how to
use the camera tool in Sims3 (and why she does not have Sims 3 yet)