Watching (clip): “DIY Dinner N…

Watching (clip): “DIY Dinner NYC” by FromHeretoAwesome –

http://fromheretoawesome.blip.tv/#1457284

Reading: “Top Five Digital Str…

Reading: “Top Five Digital Strategies for Social Issue Filmmakers” -
http://tinyurl.com/3wh8zn

Listening to (podcast): “DIY F…

Listening to (podcast): “DIY Filmmaking in an Indie Apocalypse” -
http://tinyurl.com/9rtjcw

Reading: “…GFEM link funders…

Reading: “…GFEM link funders with filmmakers” -
http://tinyurl.com/8rc6vc

Create an Animated Film with Moviestorm (Free Software)

Moviestorm provides a complete animation movie-making package useful for the novice to the professional animator. It uses video-game-like Machinima 3-D animation technology first made famous by underground community of gamers. I see its minimal use for filmmakers as a free alternative to buying Frame Forge storyboarding software (retail costs: $100-400). You can create your scenes in a 3-D storyboard; save time & money in virtual test sets and get an idea if certain scenes will work on your actual shoot.

Moviestorm’s parent company is UK based Short Fuze – game design production consultancy house that produced the Machinima short demo film, titled, No Licence.  Here’s how they describe their movie-making tool:

Moviestorm is a fully integrated complete solution that takes the user all the way from initial concept to finished, distributed movies. Its ease of use makes it accessible for first time movie-makers, while its advanced features and compatibility with existing tools make it suitable for pro-am users. It allows individuals and groups to create many different types of movies; from comedies, music videos, video blogs, soaps, drama and documentaries, through to high-quality complex movies that traditionally have only been affordable to fully funded film-makers. Our goal is to make Moviestorm the ubiquitous platform of choice for animated movie production. ” [from Shortfuze]

They have basic tutorials to help you get started. The initial software suite is free and they constantly update their content packs – giving users new sets, characters and themes. More premium sets are also available for a fee.

Here’s a sample clip from one of its users:

Continue reading Create an Animated Film with Moviestorm (Free Software)…

DV Cameras Comparison Guides

Are you trying to decide what DV camera to use/buy/rent on your next film? Check out these valuable sources which sort numerous options for you.

+ Slash Cam has 83 models in a database with sort able filters for you to compare different camera models. It has every conceivable category for you to choose from.

+ HD Cinema: HD and Digital Cinema Camera Blog has another CHART. This is a straight up list from cameraman, Ben Cain which includes some of the higher end DV cameras like the VariCams, The Red One and the Genesis. He also adds another list from Fletcher Camera (PDF file).

And last but not least… Zacuto, the Chicago based camera house has a great ‘comparison’ video (via Vimeo) that compares all of the new HD cameras on the market to each other in a same scene, same lighting set-up comparison test. Check it out (below):

+ “Zacuto’s Great Camera Shootout ’08”

Continue reading DV Cameras Comparison Guides…