The Kinda Sutra

I'm a big Jessica Yu fan. So here's a three-minute documentary she made (funded by Cinelan, shown via Snagfilms) on how babies are made. Sorta. I love the setting for the interviews. Enjoy.

The Other IMDB Story

There's been a flurry of excitement over the idea of an IMDB category for Web Series (or one-off Web shows).

A few sites are currently reporting that Col Needham, IMDb founder and managing director, has said there will indeed be such a category. For example, Casey McKinnon is reporting exactly that from this year's SXSW fest:

Online Video Categories Coming to IMDb

"The answer is a resounding yes. In the second or third quarter of this year (anytime between April 1st and September 30th), IMDb will roll out the ability to tag a submission as either a web series or an individual (one-off) online video."

I've listened to her audio of the question, though, and it sounds to me as if he says they are "toying with the idea."

I wasn't there, however, and she seems certain -- even presenting that timeline. I do think they'll have to address it, of course -- and I'll be very happy to see it happen. I've got a lot of credits for online work that would be added.

Another discussion of the big picture, written by David Nett, is well worth a read:

IMDB and Web Television

We'll see how this one works out.

Two Films, Neither A Doc

As we finished watching Synecdoche, New York my wife asked what I thought about it. "It's good," I said. Instantly, though, I started to doubt that it was. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize: I hate this film a lot. A whole lot. It's taken me about a day to realize how much, and why that is.

The first reason I hate it so much is that it is -- and I know this sounds strange -- a bad mimeograph copy of All That Jazz. And perhaps it's a sign for all that's gone wrong with our culture in the thirty years since then. (Don't get me wrong -- I'm not a sentimental type, I never hearken back to any good old day, and I'm all for letting things fade away. But I think there's some interesting specific evidence here of the difference in our society's character, so hear me out.)

It took a while for my unconscious to let me in on this: it's the exact same plot. A Director deals with life, multiple wives and mistresses, his relationship with his daughter, his desire to be immortal through his work, his struggle to mount a show, and all along wrestles with death, personified by a woman. Lines blur between life and theater, health and youth prove fleeting, and time slips back and forth.

The difference: the semi-autobiographical Bob Fosse is passionate, free and brilliant; the semi-autobiographical Charlie Kaufman is joyless, empty and self-important.

I know neither film is a documentary, and I know there are plenty of viewers who will see the reverse: "All That Jazz" as self-serving and contrived, "Synecdoche" as deep and universal. Here's why I bring it up: I have a theory about what has gone wrong with the majority of film production since the 1970s, and I think this is strong evidence for that theory.

I believe that most fiction films today are made by someone whose essential life experience is making films. I believe that before the "film school generation" took over Hollywood, most fiction films were made by people who could be said to be formed by other experiences.

Fosse was a song and dance man, and then a dance man, and then a choreographer, and then a director. There's no question that his essential life experiences were significantly connected to Hollywood -- he wanted to be Fred Astaire, after all, and if his hairline had cooperated he might have been. There's a sense, though, of connection to all of life's experiences.

But Kaufman's experience of life is that of a TV writer -- which is no critique of TV writers, but it does explain why "Adaptation" is about writing, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (which I enjoyed greatly) is about putting on a TV show, and "Synecdoche" is about having a choice between life and theater, and choosing wrong.

What's wrong with "Synecdoche," and so many films that I've seen lately: characters are cleverly sculpted pawns for the writer, and hard to really care for. In his screenwriting tome "Story," Robert McKee -- Kaufman's foil in Adaptation -- says that we should react to a great story with a sense of "Ah, that's what life is like!"

I think we do, in both films. It's just that in "All That Jazz," that reaction is a wry smile. In "Synecdoche" it's an empty stare.

One last note: not everyone will agree with this, but I find a lot of documentary-style approach in "All That Jazz," and none in "Synecdoche." But maybe that's just me.

Speaking of IMDB

I had email from a friend a few days back explaining that he'd been involved with a horror movie.

The director of the film has worked a lot as a visual effects person (on about a dozen major big-budget films) and the way I read the situation was that this film was his attempt to shift to directing. As far as I could tell, there wasn't a large budget behind it -- it was a sort of calling-card film to prove he could direct.

So I wasn't surprised when I heard the film would be posted online -- that seems like a match for the goal of the film. But my friend wrote that if the director saw a lot of online attention for the film, he would then send it to film festivals. My inner voice said "No, no, no, no and no," very quickly -- since I know how much and how explicitly festivals generally hate to screen anything that's already online. Festivals generally thrive on the idea of "World Premiere" and "U.S. Premiere" or even "Arkansas Premiere" and if a film is online they can't make that claim.

There are exceptions, of course, and if you are showing a film because it fits a program, you probably aren't as concerned with online exposure. But in general: film festivals today include a section making it clear in your application where the film has show before, and the basic model is one of exclusivity: buy a ticket and come see our fest, you won't see these films anywhere else for a long while.

In light of that, however, there's been a flurry of interest in imdb.com and the "new model" they seem to be moving toward.

As backstory: amazon.com owns both imdb.com and withoutabox.com -- Amazon being the place you might buy a DVD of a film, IMDB being the place you might look up a film, and Withoutabox being the site a filmmaker would use to submit their film to film festivals.

The Amazon acquisition has already had one interesting change: now, when you submit a film through Withoutabox you can get the film listed on IMDB. (Previously, IMDB had placed the qualification standard as "significance" -- usually meaning that the film had been selected to screen at a film festival that was reasonably choosy or on a "major" television broadcast.) Which is great for filmmakers without a huge distribution apparatus behind them -- while one might still make a Web site for the film, the IMDB page can certainly help with promotion.

The "new model," though, arises because IMDB has made video uploads available. Meaning one can post a clip, a trailer, or the entire film. Which, again, is great for promotion. It may also be great for films that have finished their tour of the festival circuit and not been purchased for distribution -- which is really common for first films and shorts.

The attention of the media, however, has focused on speculation that IMDB wants filmmakers to put their entire feature film online, for free, and then profit from the ads. I don't think that's what their plan is, exactly, but here's what folks are writing:

The 'New Model' of IMDb

Col Needham, the Seattle-based founder of the Internet Movie Database, spoke yesterday at SXSW about the site's highly ambitious plans to radically flesh out its video content. Needham's money quote, which wound up in a CNET headline before the afternoon discussion had even wrapped up, certainly turned heads: "We want a play button on every single page," he said. Needham's ballsy strategy to post video content, including feature-length films and television shows, on all of IMDb's thousands of profiles illustrates the industry's need to adapt. IMDb lies at the center of a new paradigm shift for the film community.

IMDb’s Needham: A Play Button on Every Page

So far, the site has 14,000 full length television shows and “a couple of thousand” full length movies and over 120,000 video items ranging from interviews to trailers and clips. Needham said IMDb will use its Withoutabox unit to give the site a direct connection with filmmakers as well as festivals in its effort to recruit feature length films for that play button. “We’re most excited at the moment with our video component,” said Needham.

Prefluence, Profluence, and Postfluence

After a tour of film festival screenings, two films by Profluence Productions have finally made their way to an imdb.com listing.

Bend & Bow (2008)

Blind Faith: A Film About Seeing (2007)

If you happen to have seen them, please give them a "user rating" -- whatever rating you honestly think.

Both were made for the International Documentary Challenge, of course, and this year's entry -- "Hoop Springs Eternal" -- is off to the judges for this years competition. Since we lost three members of the Profluence team -- you know, because we're very hard to work with -- we've called this year's group Postfluence. More on that film soonish....

As well, 12th and 3rd in Brooklyn (2006), made before the Profluence team came together, is now also listed -- so, again, if you've seen it, give it a rating.

Plan for Next Year

Over on my other blog, I've written a few The Doc Challenge: Notes for Next Year

Done

Well, we've completed our Doc Challenge for the year. I think we've made a good film. Details to come....

Doc Challenge Continues

I was so tired when I tried to make this blog post, that I accidently posted it on my other blog.

More tomorrow....

Doc Challenge 2009 Begins

Well, about 8 Thursday morning, I hit the Doc Challenge site and found out that this year's theme is "Hope" and that we drew the Character Study/Biography or Sports genres. So our team sprung into action. Slowly sprung. Spru ... unge.

Kinda slowly, anyway. Ten hours later we were shooting with our first subject. Tomorrow we shoot more.

I brought our two tapes home and digitized the first. No problems. The room had a lot of background noise, so I knew there would be a sound problem to fix, but I was guessing it was repairable.

Then I tried to digitize the second tape, and realized: the second camera wasn't set to DV format, but SD format. After a fair amount of cussing, I dubbed it to another camera -- in DV. Now, at 1:12 a.m. I'm capturing this dubbed tape. Ah well, time does fly.

We received a text message from Dana Bartle wishing us well today, and I also offer a shout out to Haikugirl up in Toronto, who is also participating in this year's Doc Challenge (genres: 1st Person or Character Study/Biography).

Tomorrow our doc day begins with brunch -- and then some location shooting. Then at night ... well, I won't spill it yet. But it should be fun.

Bronx Princess

Big Sky announced its awards, and I was glad to see that the new film from Musa Syeed & Yoni Brook won for best short. I haven't seen Bronx Princess yet, but I'm a fan of their previous short A Son's Sacrifice. (I saw it twice last year at screenings, and it's good enough that I got more out of it the second time.)

I'm guessing they'll be making something feature length in the next year or so -- and I'm looking forward to it.

Bend & Bow on Doc Challenge DVD

Our film Bend & Bow is now available on the International Documentary Challenge DVD, along with 16 other great short films. It looks like you can pre-order now, and it will ship on March 17.

"This DVD collection features a variety of short non-fiction works from around the globe - from China to New York City; from Seattle to Amsterdam; from Montana to Japan - representing the very best from filmmakers who participated in the first three years of the International Documentary Challenge."

There's more information at Typecast Films.

Bend & Bow at Big Sky

This Wednesday at 5 p.m., our film Bend & Bow will be screening at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana.

Next year, I want to get another film into that fest -- and actually go. It looks like great fun.

The List

Here's the full list of videos I worked on for The New York Times, usually as a producer and editor:

2007: Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip
(12 Episodes -- Won 2008 Webby Award)

Week 1: Maryland and North Carolina
Week 2: Armuchee, Georgia
Week 3: Nashville, Tennessee
Week 4: Columbus, Indiana
Week 5: West Lima, Wisconsin
Week 6: South Dakota & Nebraska
Week 7: Greensburg, Kansas
Week 8: Austin, Texas
Week 9: Columbus, New Mexico
Week 10: Fort Collins, Colorado
Week 11: Wyoming & Montana
Week 12: Newport, Oregon

2008: Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour (14 Episodes)

Week 1: Dover to Calais
Week 2: Paris, France
Week 3: Southwestern France
Week 4: French Riviera
Week 5: Rome
Week 6: Malta
Week 7: Cyprus
Week 8: Bucharest
Week 9: Vilnius, Lithuania
Week 10: Gdansk, Poland
Week 11: Germany
Week 12: Dutch-Belgian Border
Week 13: Frugal Edinburgh
Frugal Traveler: Looking Back

2007 - 2008: Frugal Traveler: Various Cities (6 Episodes)

Chicago
Seattle
Santa Fe
Hawaii
Toronto
New York City

2008: On Par by Bill Pennington (15 Episodes)

The Long and Short of It
Rules That Rule
Relief on the Range
Coming Up Short
The Starter
Nothing Fancy
Hitting it Fat
Personal Best
Playing Backwards
Slow Play
The Fitting
First Tee Jitters
Child’s Play
The Annoying Guy Part II
One-Club Wonder

Artistas Revisited

Previously I posted an embedded version of the "Artistas" trailer. As with many Flash-based video embeds, it doesn't appear in all browsers. So here is a link to the Artistas site, which explains about the film and has a QuickTime version of the trailer.

Persistence

Well, each time my students submit papers, I get at least one that tells me about "persistence of vision."

Ain't no such thing. The brain scientists know this, they've written about it, and the film people should stop copying-and-pasting the myth into their papers, blogs, articles and textbooks. It doesn't exist, it isn't important to film, and it is an unnecessary and incorrect start to a discussion of film ideas.

Don't trust me. Go read this complete article:

The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited

Several years ago we wrote an article entitled "The Myth of Persistence of Vision" which appeared in the Journal of the University Film Association in the fall of 1978 (Anderson and Fisher). In it we offered a considerable volume of evidence that the concept "persistence of vision" was an inaccurate and inadequate explanation of the apparent motion found in a motion picture. At the time we thought the article had laid the matter to rest. We had pronounced persistence of vision dead. And frankly, we expected never again to hear the term, other than in an historical context.

Now, more than a decade later, we are drawn once more to the myth of persistence of vision. Why? Because it is still with us. [1] We read a student paper, and we cringe. We attend the lecture of a seasoned film scholar, and we cringe. We cringe not only because they have chosen to perpetuate the notion of persistence of vision, but because they apparently, even at this late date, do not understand its implications. By this time most film scholars seem to have heard of the inadaquacy of the term "persistence of vision." Some have mistakenly substituted the generally misunderstood term "phi phenomenon" as an explanation of filmic motion, and many still cling to the myth.

Artistas: the Maiden, Mother and Crone

Often, I talk about work on this blog, but can't show it because it is showing in film festivals or otherwise not available for online distribution. So I'm always happy when I can post work. Here is the trailer I edited for the film Artistas: the Maiden, Mother and Crone -- a documentary directed by Sue May.

First, Cut a Hole in the Box

Wired has an article about a "television studio in a box" that I found fairly amazing. I teach a television studio class, and we use a fairly expensive setup including a large switcher, audio mixing console, monitors, etc. to do switching (live editing) on three-camera setups. So it's impressive to see the equivalent in a small package at a sane price.

TV Studio in a Box Enables Long-Tail Television

"We had to take a process that normally has 5 to 30 people creating a show and make it easy enough for one person to run, [someone] who has never run a TV show before," explained Philips. Indeed, the TriCaster allows a single operator to mix multiple cameras (higher-end models support more cameras) interspersed with graphics, pre-recorded clips, real-time effects and more than 300 three-dimensional transitions. The box outputs to the web, television stations or big screens in churches and sporting arenas.

NewTek's entry-level TriCaster, with support for three cameras, costs $4,000. That may seem like a lot, but considering that it can be used in place of a mobile production vehicle, four grand is small potatoes, relatively speaking.

Trailing Off

Since my recent adventure in cutting a trailer for a documentary, I've been thinking this might be something I should do more of. It has several pluses: it's a relatively intense, fast, and direct process and allows me to focus on editing instead of all the myriad details that even basic doc production requires.

Which doesn't mean I don't love doc production. It's just nice, sometimes, to do something that is a direct challenge: take this stuff, cut it into a trailer. I kinda like that.

Big Sky Here We Come

I admit it -- I've been doing all my posting over at my other blog: New York Portraits.

But I want to share one bit of good news over here: our film Bend & Bow will be screening at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February 2009.

Frugal Traveler: New York City

Here's a Frugal episode I forgot to post: Frugal Traveler: New York City.

I think it is my last episode with the series.

"The Frugal Traveler discovers that New York is really a city of small, manageable neighborhoods, and it's not expensive if you know where to go."

On Par: The Annoying Guy Part II

On Par: Child's Play (YouTube Version)

On Par: Shaking at the First Tee

On Par: The Fitting

On Par: The Annoying Guy Part II

The latest episode of "On Par" is The Annoying Guy Part II.

I like the way the series is going. It has a touch of style, I think, and enough substance to make it interesting. As a freelancer, I'm not sure if I'll be cutting these next year or not, but I think it will be interesting to see it develop through another season. The humor, increasingly, comes out of the timing. Something happens, someone reacts, something is revealed. Usually, all in under 2 minutes 30 seconds....

On Par: Slow Play

On Par: Playing Backwards

On Par: Bending the Rules

On Par: Hitting It Fat

On Par: Meet the Starter

On Par: Coming Up Short

On Par: Relief on the Range

On Par: Child's Play

Here's the newest episode of "On Par By Bill Pennington": Child's Play.

On Par: Rules That Rule

On Par: The Long and Short of It

Now that the "On Par" series is winding down I'm embedding all of the episodes I've been involved in. Enjoy.

Frugal Edinburgh

I usually give links for each new "Frugal Traveler" episode as they come out. I noticed, however, that the New York Times is posting these on YouTube as well. It turns out you can embed them.

You can see this episode at the usual New York Times site as well, of course.

The Edinburgh episode marks the 13th and final for the summer tour. There is a "reminiscence" episode that will post this upcoming Wednesday, also, looking back on the Grand Tour.

Frugal Traveler: Week 12, Dutch-Belgian Border

I forgot to post last week's episode. Embedded above via YouTube, and at the New York Times as always.

Dokufest Screening

Here's the program that includes our film "Bend & Bow":

International Documentary Challenge.

If you happen to be in Prizren, Kosovo, on Tuesday, please attend.

Don't Even Bring Up the Sound Crew

It's easy to forget that, when creating a video that's seen by a large audience, folks will tend to bring their own, unique perspective to it. They'll interpret it in their own way.

The Frugal Traveler has a great post about a viewer who's just certain that the series is actually shot by Matt’s Secret Cameraman.

Antimatter

On my other blog, I've posted about that upcoming film festival:

Santas To Antimatter

Blind Item

My film "Notebook on Santas and Elves" is going to ... well, I'm not sure I'm allowed to say yet. Will announce the festival and screening dates very soon.

Video Catch-Up

A new "On Par by Bill Pennington" episode about Slow Play.

And also two "Frugal Traveler" episodes:

Week 10: Gdansk, Poland

Week 11: Germany.

Videos

Newest:

Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour, Week 9: Vilnius, Lithuania

On Par by Bill Pennington: Playing Backwards

Bend & Bow Going to Dokufest

Just got the following email:

Hello Doc Challenge Finalists,

The Doc Challenge Finalists showcase has been accepted into Dokufest in Kosovo! Your film will be screening in Prizren, Kosovo sometime between August 4-10. (The exact time has not yet been confirmed.)

More Golf

Three more "On Par By Bill Pennington" episodes:

The Starter

Nothing Fancy

Hitting it Fat

Frugal Traveler Europe, Week 7 and Week 8

Here are:

Frugal Traveler Europe, Week 7: Cyprus

and

Frugal Traveler Europe, Week 8: Bucharest.

Frugal Traveler Europe, Week 6

Frugal Malta

Frugal Traveler Europe, Week 5

Week 5

On Par Episodes

Recently I've been editing some episodes of "On Par by Bill Pennington," a series on golf. It's been a fun experience, with a style quite different from The Frugal Traveler episodes.

Coming Up Short

Relief on the Range

Rules That Rule

The Long and Short of It

Grand Tour Week 4

This week's edit: the Frugal Traveler goes to the French Riviera.

The Webby Awards

Well, the Webby Awards were fun. No dramatic results, since you know ahead of time who won what. Nonetheless, the reception was good, the event itself was fun, and the 5-word acceptance speech limit keeps the duration reasonable.

The speech for the Frugal Traveler got a mention in: Webby Film And Video Awards: Best (and Worst) Acceptance Speeches.

I have a photo from the elegant afterparty posted on my other blog....

And, in case you were wondering: yes, the Chocolate Rain guy sang the national anthem.

And Newer Still

Here's the newest edit, completed about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour. Week 3: Southwestern France.

New Edits

I know, I know, I haven't had time to post. Been editing, and trying to keep up with everything else. Here are two new videos. Again, as always, I learned a lot in the process, but until I catch up I won't have time to post any notes or discussion.... Maybe soon.

Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour. Week 2: Paris, France.

On Par by Bill Pennington: Rules That Rule

Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour

I'll post some notes on the editing process for this when I catch my breath (maybe on the weekend) but, until then, here's the first week of "The Grand Tour."

Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour. Week 1: Dover to Calais

Two New Edits

Two new videos edited. Lots to learn from both, but no time to discuss just now....

Frugal Traveler: Toronto

The Long and Short of It (On Par by Bill Pennington)

Update: link corrected.

Frugal Traveler Wins a Webby

Frugal Traveler: American Road Trip -- the video series I edited 12 episodes of last summer -- won the Webby Award in the "Travel" category of the "Online Film & Video" division today. Congratulations to Matt Gross and the entire Frugal team.

A new series of Frugal Traveler episodes is coming in just a few weeks, by the way....

Oh, Canada

Even the Canadian taggers are polite.

Aftermath: The Susan Lucci of the IDC

At the screening, our film played very well. The audience laughed in the right places, applauded strongly, and seemed to like it.

The level of quality this year, however, was very, very high, and all 14 of the films were strong. So, the judges didn't see it our way, not even on Best Use of Time Stamp.

That's okay: there was a vodka bar within walking distance, and after two Rosemary Martinis, it started to seem like a good idea to enter again next year....

Chief Instigator

The highlight of our visit to the Duke of York? That would be meeting Tony. Follow the link to read his notes from this years' event.

The Duke of York

The two years we've gone to the IDC finals we've made it to the scheduled filmmaker get-together at The Duke of York. Meet the other teams, have a beer, wait for any nervousness about the screening to pass. Great fun.

One note: do not try to say "The Duke of York" when you've been drinking, as it may come out "The Dork of Yuke."

2 A.M. or So

After another screening (I'll write about that one soon) we went to a fabulous dinner with Mary Margaret (a.k.a. Haikugirl) and then went on to a get together with some of the other International Documentary Challenge finalists. (Great group of folks -- and it really seems like this will be an excellent screening, so I'm looking forward to it. In a Zen-like way.)

Later, we continued on with our old New School pal Erin (a.k.a. Rackle), now living in Toronto.

More Screenings

On Friday, I saw "Mr. Edison's Ear" and "The Man Who Crossed the Sahara."

Mr. Edison's Ear was fascinating, like a talented teenager: it showed promise in many directions, but could not decide what it wanted to do. Starting with the notion that Edison's loss of hearing at the age of 12 profoundly changed the development of audio recording, the film makes the strange choice to end with a long recording of Rachmaninoff played over footage of the electrocution of an elephant. To me, a documentary that makes a claim to have historical insight needs more mastery of its subject.

I found The Man Who Crossed the Sahara remarkable, and recommend it highly, but I was left with many questions that detract from the main themes of the movie. I love films that leave room for interpretation, but the beginning and ending of the movie -- seemingly tacked on around a great central story -- left me confused.

Peameal Optional

On Friday morning, we followed tradition and went to the Golden Griddle for breakfast. Same section of the restaurant, same waitress as last year.

Haikugirl met us to give us some local tips and to set up a great dinner in town later that evening.

The Next Day

Friday morning I discovered the view from my hotel window. I wondered if this would channel the sound from the courtyard into my room.

Disco Documentarians, 2008 Edition

After the screenings we went to the Industry Party, grabbed a free Steam Whistle, and met a few people, including a few other International Documentary Challenge finalists.

Thursday Screenings

The first screening we attended this year included the short "$4 Haircut" -- which is exactly what it sounds like -- and the feature "S&M: Short and Male."

$4 Haircut, set to a soundtrack of tuba music, is a fun profile of a man who frequents a bargain barbershop. It's funny, but it's only the third-best barbershop documentary I've seen this year. It didn't entirely live up to the raging ovation heard from the director's friends , but it's an unpretentious, fun film and I did laugh out loud more than once.

S&M: Short and Male is a well-put-together film that's too all-over-the-place to succeed completely.

I love the premise -- that males below average height are discriminated against both overtly and unconsciously -- and enjoyed the process of meeting an initial batch of characters with exactly that problem. From there, though, the film attempts to look at world-wide issues, including a teen who struggles through painful surgery to gain height, and the legal fight over job height requirements in China. While each part is fascinating, it feels less like we've expanded the story than that we've tried to cover every possible aspect of the issue. By the time we return to resolve the story of our initial group of height-challenged guys, the movie feels 15 minutes too long.

And I have one other gripe: the main story that gets resolved is only a story because the director has withheld information from us. While that's interesting, it doesn't feel as if we've followed along with someone to the end of the story, and that we've just seen an essay rather than a journey.

On College

Later, we headed to the Royal for our first screening. Anthony arrived in town and met us in line. I love this section of the city -- restaurants and bars line the street block after block, and most of them look very good.

Swag

The Festival's gift bags are a better design this year. No t-shirts left except in Extra Small.

The Other Yorkville

I had forgotten: Toronto also has a Yorkville.

Sunny Toronto

Passion turned out to be a good choice -- good food, a pleasant outdoor courtyard, and drinks to match everyone's wardrobe.

On Yonge

Once we got into town, we decided to follow normal Profluence protocol and stopped for drinks. We started at a restaurant called Passion. Here Laura is seen wondering if the drinks go with her outfit.

Hot Docs

On Thursday, Dana, Laura and I took a cab to the airport and then flew to Toronto. I'm normally stressed when I travel, but I've decided to take a Zen approach to the trip and the International Doc Challenge and the whole festival. Win, lose, whatever. At least I'll get to see the city again.

Mobisodes

Shooting materials for a podcast-style video this week. I think sometimes it's easy to consider some types of work "serious" and some "for pay" -- but I find I learn from every project I do. Tomorrow, weather permitting, there will be some shooting out in the sun on a nice spring day. Should be fun.

Details of the IDC Screening

The films are listed for the International Documentary Challenge Screening at Hot Docs.

The Next Twist

I had forgotten that last year's trip to Hot Docs, as great as it was, included the kind of tension that happens when awards are on the line. While I realize awards for art are, in a way, really silly, it was still a very interesting experience to stand in front of the full-house audience when team names were called, and to find out what the judges thought of our film.

Well, there will be added tension this year. This email came in yesterday, from the International Doc Challenge organizer:

Hello Doc Challenge Filmmakers,

The American Documentary | P.O.V Award for the International Documentary Challenge has been determined and is going to one of the 14 finalists. We will announce this winner with all of the other winners at Hot Docs on April 26!

Cheers,
Doug

P.O.V. Prize for a Doc Challenge Film

According to Doug Whyte, the Doc Challenge Producer:

The International Documentary Challenge is partnering with P.O.V., PBS' premiere showcase for independent, non-fiction film. P.O.V. will be awarding the "P.O.V. Prize" to a Doc Challenge film. This film will be prominently showcased on their website and receive a $1,000 award.

Currently P.O.V is looking at the top 25 rated films from the 1st round of judging to determine the winner. The winning film will screen at Hot Docs, where the prize will be awarded. If the P.O.V. Prize goes to a non-finalist, we will announce it next Monday so the filmmakers can attend the festival if they want to. If it goes to a finalist, we will just announce the winner at Hot Docs.

Well, that's very cool.

Bend & Bow at HotDocs

Our film "Bend & Bow" will have its world premiere at HotDocs Canadian International Film Festival on Saturday, April 26th at 9:30 p.m. It will screen with 13 other International Documentary Challenge finalists, and the winning films will be announced.

It looks like all six members of Profluence will be attending, so come say hello. Get your tickets early, though -- last year's event was sold out.

The Doc Challenge Finalists

Here are the finalists for the International Documentary Challenge. (We are team number 5 on the list.) I'm really looking forward to the screening -- last year's event was sold-out.

1. All The Eights, 88
Team: Sholi
City/Country: Sydney, Australia
Genre: Biography/Character Study

2. Ars Magna
Team Juicebox
City/Country: Seattle, WA, USA
Genre: Biography/Character Study

3. The Art of Balance
Team: Surge Media
City/Country: New York, NY, USA
Genre: Sports

4. Beholder
Team: Boss and Coder 34
City/Country: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Genre: First Person

5. Bend & Bow
Team: Profluence Productions
City/Country: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Genre: Experimental

6. Click Whoosh
Team: Reel Grrrls
City/Country: Seattle, WA, USA
Genre: Historical

7. Ghost Bike
Team: Go!
City/Country: Toronto, ON, Canada
Genre: Art

8. I=me2
Team: Year of the Rooster
City/Country: Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
Genre: Experimental

9. Ice Fishing
Team: Rotating Planet
City/Country: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre: Sports

10. Jetty
Team: Fly On The Wall
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political

11. Meet The Freegans
Team: Shields Films
City/Country: Portland, OR, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political

12. Pennywise: The Changing Face of Change
Team: Lucky Shot
City/Country: Silver Spring, MD, USA
Genre: Social Issue/Political

13. Red Light Blues
Team: Abrahami-Netz Productions
City/Country: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genre: Social Issue/Political

14. Stick and Pound
Team: It Donned On Me
City/Country: Foster City, CA, USA
Genre: Art

These 14 finalists will screen on the evening of Saturday, April 26 at 9:30pm at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto where the Grand Prize Winner will be announced.

HotDocs

It has been a tough and unusual week. A little good news showed up this afternoon. So I say: Toronto Here We Come.

Breaking News

This just in: our short film made it into the finals of The International Documentary Challenge, so we'll be screening at HotDocs on April 26th. Details later tonight....

No, Thank You

They seem to be filming a piece about the "junk shop" on First Avenue near my apartment. Which I'm all for. Good luck. I hope it goes well.

Perhaps they could put some identification on this flyer, though? A contact phone number? A company name? They've left these signs up for days, also, not just during the hours when I've seen the camera there. Are they shooting out the window onto the sidewalk? Is the camera hidden? Someone has scrawled "Is this legal?" on it. It would be nice if there was someone to ask.

Don't do stupid things that make the public suspicious of documentary filmmakers. Bring out your camera, and if you point it at someone and they say "no" then stop taping them. Have some respect. Don't just post flyers that make people think documentarians are out to pull a fast one.

IDC Shoot

Over on my other blog -- New York Portraits -- I have a short account of what it was like to work on this year's International Documentary Challenge.

The amazing thing, of course, is that we had all six members of Profluence Productions again. Anthony Weeks flew in from across the country, and everyone moved their schedules around to make this work. I expect if we do it again next year, it might not be possible to have everyone here. Maybe the team will split in two. Maybe it will split into six. Or maybe we'll feel we've gotten all we can out of the process of making something for the Challenge.

If we do try once more, though, I think I should leave a few notes for next year while they are fresh in my mind:

First, since making a documentary in five days is crazy on the face of it, you've got to maximize editing time. We should choose projects that can be shot completely on Thursday night. Starting the edit Friday would be much better.

Second, a few days before the event we should have some technical practice. Everyone on the team knows how to work with cameras and audio, but we were overconfident. We used a camera that a few of us hadn't used much -- and had problems with a few basics. Once we got everything working, it was fine -- but it would be best to show up with everything dialed in.

Third, we need better lighting gear. We made it work fine -- I think our interview shots look great -- but being able to set up a softbox or shoot-through umbrella and a big white reflector would have been the way to go. We were saved by taking a long time and not settling until the shot looked good, but could have been much faster with the right equipment.

Above: Dana Bartle, somewhere in the NYC subway system.

IDC Yet More

Haikugirl and Rackle also completed a film for the International Doc Challenge. Tons of respect to them -- that's not easy and it sounds like they were a two-person team.

I'll be curious to see how the numbers work out -- I believe 122 teams entered the competition, and some number can't complete their films in that time. It's a huge challenge, and anything from weather to any bad luck can stop a film in its tracks. I would guess over 100 will qualify, though, so I think the competition will be very tough....

IDC

Girl With a Movie Camera has a post about the process of making our little film. I'll have a few notes here (and on my other blog) and maybe a picture or two very soon.

Finished

We finished our film. I think you'll like it.

Details soon....

Freeheld

Huge congratulations to Cynthia Wade for her Academy Award win with Freeheld. I was thrilled to see this happen.

Documentaries in the News

Discovery Channel Accused of Political Censorship for Dropping Oscar-Nominated Doc on U.S. Torture

ALEX GIBNEY: Well, it turns out that the Discovery Channel isn’t so interested in discovery. I mean, I heard that—I was told a little bit before my Academy Award nomination that they had no intention of airing the film, that new management had come in and they were about to go through a public offering, so it was probably too controversial for that. They didn’t want to cause any waves. It turns out, Discovery turns out to be the see-no-evil/hear-no-evil channel.

Studio Day

Today was spent in a recording studio. First: voiceovers for some upcoming DVDs. Next: some podcasts.

Another view can be seen on my other blog.

I'm fine whenever I'm recording basics, but whenever I have to speak about myself my practice is to say too little, followed by saying too much, and then quickly follow this up by saying the wrong thing.

Big Sky Opens Today

Well, it's finally here, and our film "Blind Faith: A Film About Seeing" will be included.

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Missoula, Montana - The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival opens Thursday, February 14 at Missoula's Wilma Theatre for the first of seven consecutive days and nights of world-class documentary cinema. The fifth annual event boasts 106 films from more than 40 countries, including many world premieres. In addition to screenings, the festival includes panel discussions, a Retrospective Series, Q&A sessions with dozens of filmmakers, as well as VIP events, receptions and parties. Since its 2004 debut, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has matured into an internationally-recognized venue for showcasing innovative, contemporary, and classic works of documentary film

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Sambadende Brazil Tour

Dana Bartle has been blogging her documentary trip to Brazil at Sambadende Brazil Tour 2008. I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never.

Frugal Traveler, Hawaii

Editing this episode of Frugal Traveler: Hawaii was a strangely textbook process. I don't mean mechanical by any means. Not at all. Rather, it went through very specific phases, progressing from an impossibly long first draft, through an intractable second version, eventually reaching that moment I still don't quite understand: when the piece becomes watchable.

Here's what I mean: the first assembly was 45 minutes long. (The final piece is exactly 7 minutes long.) Once this was done, I cut away at the material, but found I couldn't make a coherent version with my normal way of working.

Then, after a lot of struggle, I found that this particular piece wanted to be edited backwards: work on the ending, then the material before that, and continue back to the beginning. Seems strange after the fact, but that's what worked....

Blind Faith at Big Sky

It's official. Our film Blind Faith: A Film About Seeing will be screening at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

We're an "official selection." Excellent.

Frugal Traveler, Santa Fe

It's been a tough week. Things move forward, though, when possible. Here is a new episode of the Frugal Traveler series: Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Maysles in the Gossip Pages?

Yes. Because he hangs with Fall Out Boy.

Finally: Frederick Wiseman Films on DVD

Finally, you can buy the films of Fred Wiseman on DVD.

To go along with your DVDs, grab and read Five Films by Frederick Wiseman: Titicut Follies, High School, Welfare, High School II, Public Housing.

At Downtown Community Television

When I was in high school, I was an avid reader, and there was a brief flurry of books about young New Yorkers. I became fascinated by the city, picturing raw spaces filled with artists. The newspapers of the time, however, were overflowing with stories of a high crime rate and few jobs, so it didn't seem like a place I could go.

Last night, however, I felt I had a glimpse back into that time. The screening at DCTV far exceeded my expectations.

The program was excellent -- I liked every film in it, and was very surprised and impressed by several. The space was edgy -- picture where firetrucks would be parked, but with folding chairs and a high-quality digital projector -- and the crowd was very hip. All the tickets sold out, and every seat was filled.

There was free beer.

Above: Man with Chair Versus Woman with Whipped Cream.

The Online Audience

The video I made for NYIP on the recent Photo Contest has passed 2,000 views. It's a strange thing: 100 views a day doesn't seem like very much, until you realize that the Internet is on and available every day, 24 hours. So the first few days, you shrug. A few hundred.

If a video keeps going, however, soon the views are in the thousands. While that won't compare to broadcast audiences, it can be a significant number of people.

So the question becomes: what's the goal? I expect the screening tonight for "12th and 3rd in Brooklyn" will be a medium-sized audience. Is that better? Worse? Just different?

On Friday, Go To NY Short Docs

Yes. Go directly to NY Short Docs.

If you want to.

Structure

On Monday, I had my video editing class interview each other. Our topic: bad dancers. We shot with 2 Canon GL2s, one on a tripod and one handheld. A shotgun mic was setup on a stand, running into a BeachTek and into a GL2.

Today I had the footage from those interviews ready for them, and they started the process of getting to know the material, trying to find a beginning and an ending and the best bits, and trying to make order out of chaos.

Great fun. We'll see how the pieces turn out....

NY Short Docs on Friday

On Friday, go and see: NY Short Docs.

I'll be there, screening "12th and 3rd in Brooklyn." Bought my tickets today.