MicroCinema Scene

It’s a new year and time for a new direction here at MicroCinema Scene. Regular readers will have noticed that we have been down for some time now and you’ve probably wondering what the hell was going on. Here’s an explanation:

EXPANDING OUR FOCUS

Since 2003, MicroCinema Scene has covered the world of no-budget moviemaking. What’s remarkable is how much has changed in that brief span of time. MiniDV was the hot new technology and getting your movie on DVD was the ultimate goal. The term “microcinema” specifically referred to small exhibition spaces that screened independent or underground movies. Things have changed dramatically.

High Definition cameras are now an affordable option. The internet has opened up countless new ways to distribute, network and even find financing for independent projects. In 2008, a microcinema could be you, an iPod and a digital download.

While we will continue to review as many DVD releases as you can send us, we will be seriously expanding our focus to cover work that that is being released digitally. We will also be exploring these technologies as they advance, always looking for ways they can be exploited by independent filmmakers. Just to clarify, we want to add to our coverage, not replace the old with the new.

With that in mind, we saw a need to do a lot of work to the site itself, so that we can publish more content and move faster when it comes to incorporating new technology.

THE NEW SITE

You’ll notice immediately that quite a bit has changed about how the site looks. What might not be as readily apparent is that the site has changed structurally as well. MCS now uses Wordpress as it’s Content Management System.

Wordpress is primarily known for being a popular, free, open source blogging platform. I’ve used it for quite a few sites over the last few years (including my personal blog) and as the software advances I’m starting to become more and more impressed with it’s capabilities as a CMS. Also, it has a very simple user interface that makes it easy for our growing group of contributors to directly submit content.

I also believe that Wordpress is a very important tool for the indie filmmakers publicity arsenal and will be writing a series of articles about this in the near future.

There are still a lot of kinks to work out. A lot of the articles look really ugly right now because of code that carried over from previous versions of the site. Some of the old content is difficult to access. We are working to fix this and soon our entire archive will be clean, nice-looking, fast loading and easy to find.

THE FORUM

The MicroCinema Scene forum has always been a huge part of this site. We are working on a new system that will solve some of the problems we had with previous versions of the forum. Forum 1.0 was getting completely besieged by spammers. Since the site is a completely volunteer run project, spending hours deleting messages and banning IPs was becoming a real drag. Forum 2.0 was relatively SPAM free, but slow to load and increasingly buggy. Forum 3.0 should alleviate these problems and develop into a place that keeps the spirit of the old forums, but that makes communication even easier. If everything comes together as we think it will, you should even be able to access it via your mobile devices.

Meanwhile, you’ll notice that all of the reviews and articles have a comments section. We would love if you took advantage of this, because nothing on this site should be seen as one-way communication. Everything we publish should be seen as an invitation to conversation and community.

Thanks for bearing with us during our recent downtime. Stay tuned and get involved because some cool stuff is on its way.

And most importantly… keep making movies!

It’s January. Your geek-sense should be tingling because that means it’s time for new product announcements. Here are two buzze about projects that I’m particularly excited about:

1. The RED Mini
At last years NAB, Red honcho Jim Jannard hinted that a pocket version of the RED would be unveiled for NAB 2008. This product is now confirmed and it even has a name: Scarlett. Jannard posted the following at reduser.net:

“Scarlet. Our Pocket Professional camera.

We know that the name has leaked out, so we want to avoid any postings and speculation.

Prototypes will be shown at NAB. It is not a competitor or replacement for the RED ONE.

Jim”

2. Apple’s new motion graphics application

When Apple slashed the price on Shake last year, it immediately triggered a wave of speculation about what was coming next. A product code-named “Phenomenon” has been whispered about for over a year. Now AppleInsider reports that Apple will be unveiling something “super-secret” on January 16th at a MacWorld meeting of Final Cut professionals. This is a day after the Steve Jobs keynote which is sure to include some new product announcements as well. Although I’ve been editing on AVID more lately, Final Cut is my first love when it comes to editing and I can’t wait to see what they unveil.

What new cameras, software or other gear are you looking forward to in 2008?

Filmmakers spend lots of time discussing the latest camera gear or fancy plug-ins for their editing system. Very seldom does the conversation turn towards the more practical issues like:

1. How to keep people happy when they are working very hard for little money.
2. How to negotiate lower prices from rental houses.
3. How to plan a scene so that it not only works but gets in the can on time.
4. Etc.

There are so many vital - but not very exciting - elements of the filmmaking process that tend to get glossed over or left to the last minute. But these are the things that can really make or break your productions. That’s why I was excited to find this tutorial put together by ILL Machinima Productions that focuses on how to break down a script. The old-fashioned way. On paper.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

Breaking down a script is the process of logging each significant element needed for production of a scene (such as cast, costumes, special effects, cars and stunts) onto a breakdown sheet. The purpose is to create a means of communication and documentation between the production team and the various departments so that they are informed of what has to be produced and by when. Since a lot of live action filmmaking is done on location, there must be an extraordinary amount of coordination between departments to make sure every necessary item is at hand when the cameras roll on a specific scene. If a prop, vehicle, light, costume, animal or camera crane isn’t on location when you need it, you can’t shoot that shot.

The article specifically targets Machinima filmmakers, but don’t let those elements scare you off. This is essential information if you are putting together a production. You can even download PDF files of the Script Breakdown Sheets.

LINK

“If IndieMaverick was around earlier, Robert Rodriguez would not have had to offer his body for medical experiments to raise the $7000 he needed to make El Mariachi which went on to make $2 million at the box office. He could have just uploaded his script and reel to our site, sat back and waited for the money to pour in,” says IndieMaverick creator Shane T. Hall. “Here at IndieMaverick we have set out to democratize the way films are made, giving audiences the ability to not only choose the films they watch, but to choose which ones actually go into production.”
Read more

Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse theater has launched another in their long line of filmmaking competitions. Their latest is a tie in to the new Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind. The gimmick this time is that filmmakers re-enact an existing movie. The Drafthouse has joined forces with AMD and Dell to offer two grand prizes: an editing workstation and a 17″ inch laptop. Winning entries will be included as part of the Alamo pre-show for Be Kind Rewind.

Interested? Head to Filmmaking Frenzy where you can get all the information on this competition as well as several others that are sponsored by the Drafthouse throughout the year.

Black Santa’s Revenge bills itself as “a two-fisted tale of yuletide vengeance reminiscent of the classic blaxploitation and revenge films of the 1970s and 80s.” This would have been enough to get me excited about it a few months ago. However, my enthusiasm for homages to the “grindhouse” style of filmmaking has been on the wane because we’ve been deluged with them lately and most of them are pretty bad. But Black Santa’s Revenge comes with a pedigree: It’s written and directed by David Walker creator of the long-running (and very awesome) zine BadAzz Mofo. If there’s anybody out there who has proven themself to be a true expert on blaxploitation - it’s Walker.

Adding to the projects cred is actor Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead) who also produced the film. Walker and Foree worked on the film for three years to develop the character and create a 20-minute mini epic filled with “graphic violence, gratuitous nudity, and tons of profanity.”

Black Santa’s Revenge is being self-distributed by the filmmakers and is now available on DVD.

Joe Swanberg - creator of the popular web series Young American Bodies - is launching a new series in January. Butterknife will incorporate conventions of the detective genre into Swanbergs lo-fi style. The series is sponsored by Spout who previously tapped into the mumblecore scene through their promotion of Four Eyed Monsters.

While Wes Anderson definitely definitely isn’t a “micro” filmmaker, his new film will debut on screens that are definitely small. Hotel Chevalier is a 12-minute short film that serves as a prequel to Anderson’s upcoming Darjeeling Limited. It was made a year before Darjeeling began filming and takes place entirely in a Paris Hotel Room. Anderson’s original intentions were for the short to screen in theaters prior to the feature, but Fox Searchlight canceled those plans.

Taking matters into his own hands, Anderson has decided to release the short as a free download via Apple’s iTunes Store. “I don’t know if it’s a wildly commercial idea,” says Anderson. “And it is probably a little confusing to people who are thinking, ‘Why is this separate from the movie?’ But the short is just as important to me as the feature is.” Chevalier was financed entirely by Anderson, shot in 2 1/2 days and edited on his laptop.

The winners of the 2007 MicroCinemaFest have been announced. Here’s the complete list!

Best Feature Comedy - The Chemistry of Dating

Best Feature Action/Thriller - FIVE

Best Feature Drama - Midlothia

Best Documentary - A Hundred Dollars and a T-Shirts

Best Short Comedy - ARC

Best Short Drama - Pretty Dead Flowers

Best Short Family - How My Next Door Neighbour Discovered Life on Mars

Best Editing - Midlothia

Best Cinematography - How My Next Door Neighbour Discovered Life on Mars

Best Visual Effects - How My Next Door Neighbour Discovered Life on Mars

Best Sound - Grim Circumstance

Best Score - Intoxicated Demons

Best Actor - Brandon Rowray (The Chemistry of Dating)

Best Actress - Jessica McClendon (Midlothia)

Best Supporting Actor - James Thomas Gilbert (Midlothia)

Best Supporting Actress - Anna Castelaz (The Chemistry of Dating)

Best Director - Bill Sebastien (Midlothia)

Alumni Award - Imprint (Linn Productions)

We’re a few days behind on this one, but just in case you missed it, MicroCinemaFest 2007 has announced their lineup of this years films. There are a lot of movies I’m unfamiliar with, but a few that I’ve heard great things about. I’m really interested in Imprint (the new feature from the Linn Brothers) and Midlothia which I have been hearing great things about ever since the beginning of the year. Click here to check out the full list of MCF2007 entries.