February 23, 2012

Filmflashe#11: Power To The Pixel

Power To The Pixel (great name!)  is a company helping international filmmakers and the film industry make the transition to a cross-media digital age. Its services include consultancy, training and events as well as information and analysis of the changing international market.

It is run and supported by some of the most experienced cross-media pioneers, professionals and filmmakers in the world.

It’s a an essential resource for anyone working in transmedia.  Click the following links to access to:

Power To The Pixel news

Power To The Pixel events and training

Power To The Pixel consulting

Power To The Pixel videos

Filmflashe#10: Film Shot & Edited On The iPhone 4

The iPhone is now not just a distribution channel for films, it’s a mechanism for shooting them too.  Have a look at this film, which was the first to be shot and edited on the iPhone 4.  The shots are elegantly framed and the colours are beautiful.

The process is described by Edmund Mullins in article from BlackBook:

Francis Ford Coppola once famously opined that the next cinematic Mozart would probably be “a little fat girl in Ohio” making movies with her daddy’s video camera. He didn’t anticipate that said fat girl might just as easily be making minor masterworks on her daddy’s phone. Now it’s been done with the 88-second short, “Apple of My Eye.” Equipped not just with video but also editing capabilities, the new iPhone 4 was fairly begging for someone to try to make a film with it and it alone.

The film is a cutesy little number about model trains, and it doesn’t look terrible. As The Wrap reports, “Filmmakers Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James filmed scenes by mounting the iPhone on the front of a remote-controlled model train, on a makeshift dolly, a tripod and a small crane. James did the editing using Apple’s iMovie software, which is included on the new iPhones.”

Apparently the whole thing took all of 48 hours to accomplish. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the ease and availability afforded by the iPhone will actually result in the “Mozart” Coppola imagines—it’ll just be a little simpler for people to make the same junk they always have.

 

 

What do you all think of it?   How do you think shooting on low-res formats impact on distribution?

Please post your thoughts below!

Filmflashe#9: Transmedia Storytelling & New Media Convergence

Here’s a terrific article about how new media gives more power to storytellers e.g. filmmakers: Transmedia Storytelling and the New Media Convergence

 

 

Filmflashe#8: RADAR – Storytelling & Creativity

RADAR is a series produced by WBPLabs – a division of the WorkBook Project.

The series is a timely, insider’s view into the cutting edge of storytelling and creativity, and the attendant tools, technology, models and community.

 

 

 

 

For further information, click the following link to access Workbook Project\’s RADAR

Filmflashe#7: Hybrid Distribution

So, you’ve fed your film habit and the result is a completed feature film.  Well done!  Now how will you ensure that your target audience sees it?  And how will you generate revenue from it?

Here’s an excellent article from Indiewire with film distribution tips from Peter Broderick, President of Paradigm Consulting, a company that helps filmmakers and media companies develop strategies to maximize distribution, audience and revenue.

Filmflashe 7: Peter Broderick of Paradigm Consulting re Hybrid Film Distribution

What is your preferred method of film distribution?  Have you had any success with new media distribution?  Please share your opinions in the comments section below.

Filmflashe#6: Theatrical vs New Media Distribution

All filmmakers dream of walking down the red carpet to premiere their feature film on the big screen.  Films are the culmination of a lot of hard work and why wouldn’t we want to screen our work in style?

But is this eliminating opportunities to distribute our work more cost effectively to a wider audience through new media channels?

Filmflashe 6: Theatrical vs New Media Distribution

Steve Pond explores this issue in The Wrap: you can read his blog post here

It’s a fascinating debate.  Check out the comments in response to his article.