I bought my GoPro Hero3 Black Edition from Best Buy along with chest and head straps for the sole purpose of doing first-person action scenes. The FPS movie ("found footage") genre is one of my favorites, and I think it's criminally underused, especially in the action cross-genre, so my hopes have been to create solid action [...]
Production
Amazing Filmmaking Gadgets Being Made on Kickstarter
onThese are just awesome. If you're a filmmaker on a budget but want to achieve some slick camera angles, check out these kickstarter projects, which are looking for funds to complete their projects, and will reward donors with the equipment after the projects are complete. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/461078637/the-aviator-travel-jib?ref=category - A steal. I had no idea how valuable [...]
Navigating the Action Film Industry of the Future
onIn my last post I used Cannes and AFM to take a snapshot of the action industry and predict what the climate will be like in a couple years. Impossible? Maybe, but using some basic principles I think we can be pretty accurate, within fifty percent. So how does it relate to us as indie [...]
An Action Filmmaker in Cannes – Day 4
onDay 4 - Saturday May 19 Today was much more relaxed. I slept in until 7:10am for a change and spent the first two hours writing. Rebecca and I ate some of the fine, bagged 2€ madelines from the supermarket and set off to catch all the booths we may have missed. What we found [...]
An Introduction to The Action Kickback Movement
onIf you're reading this blog, "action fan" doesn't adequately describe you. You're an "action junkie." You like your action scene unprocessed and unrefined, no sugar added, preferably in a powdery form whose purity is demonstrated by its rapid solubility in a drink. When taken by the average film-goer, its potency separates his frontal lobe from [...]
Helicopter Camera Groupon – $60
onThis probably won't be up for much longer, but you can grab a remote controlled helicopter with a built-in camera for $60 from Groupon right now. http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-spy-camera-helicopter?dl=d47388
Improvisation Counts
onAt my first job as a computer programmer, my boss told me something that I didn't understand at the time but fully comprehend now: At some point, it's no longer about making the right decision, but making the decision right.
I talk economizing a shoot at Petaluma Museum – Death Grip Behind the Scenes
onHere's a video shot and edited by Alex Ng where yours truly talks about shot economy and other stuff at the Petaluma Museum while making Death Grip.
Pickup shots have a hidden benefit
onWe're shooting some pickups this weekend for Rise And Fail, including an entirely new fight scene in the beginning, and it occurred to me that this would be a good opportunity to set up any jokes or action that didn't "sell" later in the film. Now I can turn a random prop or martial arts [...]