Forbidden Fruit

Why Is Apple so Secretive? "Actual product details are kept secret so that the first announcement of a product is the first anyone’s heard real details about it. If they can keep it entirely under wraps until it’s ready to sell, then there will be a guaranteed flurry of press right at the moment when people can go out and buy it.

n addition to the timing of announcements, it's also important to clearly present digestible chunks of news so that consumers, and reporters, get the right information, in the right amount, at the right time.

Regardless of whether the news is good or bad, it seems that news about Apple is nearly an obsession for consumers. If Apple doesn't constantly release good news, reporters will make up bad news just to fill the void."

iPod, Podcasts & iTunes

No, this is NOT another rant about amazing + awesome + alluring Apple products. But, yes I do have a confession to make.

I'm an iPod owner.

Whew. Yes, I joined the millions of other cool iPod owner as I acquired a refurbished iPod nano 4 gig black one on a whim. (No, I bought it because I cracked my PSP screen. Mucho Sob!)

I know Apple is working on new iPods, iPhones and what not, but I got nano because I don't think even Jobs can improve nano form factor beyond what it is now. (SNL sketch not withstanding.)

I'm plesantly surprised that I can easily move my mp3s with iTunes streamlined interface. Feverishly updating all songs to include cover arts, even though nano screen is barely bigger than a finger nail.

Most importantly, listening to Podcast is easy as pressing a button. Woot! So I'm trotting Podcast section on iTunes and I've noticed that many popular Podcasts are in video. Dang! Jobs you won. I surrender. I shall buy next iPod Video, with full screen mode and awesome touchscreen interface and bluetooth and other insanely great features. Sure iTune is going to launch movie download soon, but the point is nearly mute. iTune, like its music part, enhanced many of video selections, shorts & long forms, for people to enjoy. TV's influence is going to wane continuosly as people time-shift, started by TiVo, as well as place-shift, iPod Video & PSP & PMP. But iPod Video already won the first half of the war with numerous offerings that are unmatched. (Don't look for Sony to come to this little noticed battlefront as they bet their farm on Blu-Ray + PlayStation 3 combo.) Current iPod Video is definitely version 1.0, but when its 3rd iteration materialize, the possibiliy is simply dazzling.

In conclusion, Podcast video is the new frontier. Viable budding platfrom for the format as well as business model. That's why I want to get into the action as quickly as possible with an entertaining item, a series perferably, after I'm done with my current job.

Coming to your small screen everywhere, anytime. Stay tuned.

Best Opening Shots

Jim Emersons: Scanners features his choices for Best Opening Shots in cinema. I want to do Best Ending Shots in cinema, if I had time.

The Frank Caliendo Effect

I, Cringely: Sony's purchase of Grouper is about market research, not market share. "This video sharing business fascinates me because right now it is a shell game built on a shell game.

The opportunity, then, is for you and me to start a business that further leverages this financially risky double play. One such example is comedian/impressionist Frank Caliendo (it's in this week's links), who sells direct his own very funny DVDs using a simple web site stocked with video hosted for free on YouTube and others. This guy has to be making a killing and it costs him almost nothing. Who needs a studio or network deal with a system like that?

Sony is actually doing something a lot smarter than Murdoch: the studio is buying market research... The success of YouTube (and Grouper) scares the studios because it shows the market no longer values the slick production values of major films. This, along with global marketing, is the major strength the studios have long thought they brought to the film business. If some kid can get hundreds of thousands of views of a video showing him lighting farts, how can Sony compete with that? They can't.

The sad part, of course, is that we have to sit through so much crappy content, but that's yet another market opportunity for companies to harness technology to help us find the stuff we really want... Of course, the biggest challenge of all is finding a way to make money from this content business, but here Google is again rising to the task. Or at least appears to be doing so, as CEO Eric Schmidt revealed earlier this month that the search giant plans to bring targeted advertising sales to the $74 billion U.S. TV market."

Next Office Space

Esquire: Mike Judge is Getting Screwed (Again). "There's no reason why someone as brilliant as Mike Judge should be at the mercy of a bunch of marketing tools, or taking seven more years between movies. But there's also no reason he should have allowed himself to get trapped in this situation all over again—even down to working with the same studio. He should be mad as hell. He should be knocking down their cubicles. After all, isn't this what he taught us to do?"

New New Career Launch

Using iTunes, MySpace to launch a music career. "For a long time, the way you were discovered was through record labels. Now it's through the Internet, through blogs, through (News Corp.'s) MySpace... These technologies have changed everything. They put the means of production in the hands of the average person in the same way blogging has made the average American Joe into a journalist... The Internet is word of mouth on steroids, so these artists are building a real fan base... t seems that the artists which start with slow-building momentum are the ones that that end up sticking around for 30 years." That's how I want to breakout.

YouTube on the Go

TubeSock. Now the circle is complete.

Caught on Film

NYTimes: A Growing Unease in Hollywood. ”We went from making movies to making product and content. I didn’t want to make franchises. I wanted to make movies.”

If there is fear among some in Hollywood that brand managers are taking over, it is because two studios recently filled top creative jobs with executives whose expertise is movie marketing. At Disney, Nina Jacobson, the well-respected president of production, was fired and succeeded by Oren Aviv, the marketing chief. Ms. Snider, who joined DreamWorks, was succeeded in March by two executives, including Universal’s top movie marketer, Marc Shmuger.

“It reaches a point where it is hard to enjoy it,” said Ms. Parent, reflecting on being a studio executive. “Just the sheer volume of meetings between phone calls. You are trying to cut through the tide. It was grueling. You were at a test screening every night until midnight; you have scripts to read. You don’t want to be that person just scratching the surface.”" Increased options mean increase in anxiety to deliver and compete with everyone, and everything. This may be another dawn of Hollywood golden years after these tubulent time, because people want to be entertained around the globe.

Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane 4
Originally uploaded by Carmyarmyofme.

How much does a title weigh for a movie? For some it's everything, and for some it's almost nothing. But this is THE case where the title sells as well as tells the whole movie. This is a high-concept pitch Hollywood movie at its finest. Kudos for Samuel 'MoFo' Jackson who got it instantly when he saw the title.

The Internet buzz began when its denizens learned of its 'campy' title. The poster reflects it. The trailer reflects it. So you know what you can expect from this movie. But what I didn't expect was that this movie has pretty good twists on old horror/gore formula--your protagonist is caught in a desolate location, hunted by venemous villan(s). Who gets to live, and who gets to die? Because us humans share uneasy attitude towards snakes, the threats were immediately understood. That's why it got more screams than an average psycho-killer rampage horror flick. (Yes, I'm looking at you, new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.)

If you are ready to accept its premise after its shaky start, you'll have great time. Samuel Jackson didn't go that extreme, but he had such great lines like, "I've had it with these mother fucking snakes on this mother fucking plane!"-the fans demanded it, "Is that Xbox or Playstation?", and "All praise Playstation." The writers and the director knew how to play the audience to its genre's strengths and succeed admirably, IMHO. So go, and have fun at your theater, but prepare to indulge on some snake bite gores. (It is rated R for MATURE audience.)

MoFo Sam on the Daily Show. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Working on Hollywood trailers

LA Times: The art of crafting a trailer. "We are a brainstorming resource for the movie studios. Every project, every film is sort of different. Our client — the studio marketing executive — will call us and they'll have ideas and they'll want our ideas. It's usually people we have worked with for years. Sometimes they have very specific ideas, and sometimes they don't. It is our job to execute those things or come up with some of our own... A friend of mine was working at a trailer company. But it's like anything in Hollywood. You have to make them an offer you can't refuse, which is sort of do it for nothing until you prove you're valuable."

Interview Tips

Guy Kawasaki: Everything You Wanted to Know About Getting a Job in Silicon Valley But Didn't Know Who to Ask. Sure, it's different industry, but an interview is an interview is an interview.

Researching the National Archives for Fun & Profit!

I was fortunate enough to join a team of researchers to look for some old Korean War footag at the National Archives in DC. I felt like I was back in the college days, reasearching for term papers. Although we had a professional researcher on our group, it was no easy feat to search through the archives. Yes, there are reasons why people pay thousands of dollars for these professional researchers who seem to live in the building. But, I'm going to explain some of the details, or quirks, to pull footage from the archive so that you can save some money as well as time, before you hire a professional--which I highly recommend if you have the budget.

First of all, you should familiarize yourself with the online archives search page. It is no mean complete, but it should get you started and give you an idea what's available. Basically, all government footage, army footage, and some donated footage are free. However, there are some old footage that's still under copyrighted from individuals or media companies like Universal. It is your responsbility to get clearances for those copyrighted footage, not the archives.

Once you locate the footage, you should find out what kind of copys are avaiable. Some are dubbed to tapes for your preview at the archives research room. Unfortunately, many are not. There are film decks which you can pull films and watch for preview like the old days. The pull times are limited throughout the day, so you want to prioritize and schedule accordingly.

If there is a digital tape copy, then you can dub from one of the approved venders at the archive. If not, you will have to pay to dub a copy for you AND the archives. The later option is very time-consuming, as the archives hates to lend anything out of their vault. Expect at least four to 12 weeks, depending on their whim. The digital dub will be faster, which you can expect within a couple of days. However, if you can live with VHS quality footage, just to show to your producer or director, you can bring your own camcorder and hook up the machines to dub. You can also bring your own laptop and flatbed scanner to copy documents and pictures.

If you didn't bring your own camcorder, you can signup to rent one of two dub decks that are available. You can only copy to SVHS or VHS tapes. (Yes they will sell you these tapes at the archive.)

All in all, it was really fun and educational experience. We were fortunate enough to find a digital copy that had all the necessary footages in it. However, depending on your subject, it will be much harder and time consuming. I suggest you start your research very early so that you don't have to wait for the archive beaurocracy, even if you are hiring a researcher. If you have the time and live in the proximity of Washington DC, it is a great place to visit and spend some time for your favorite topic. The archive holds some of the great stories that has yet to be told.

Top 50 Movies Never to Go Into Wide Release

The List. It should give you a ball-park figure of what you can expect from your indie movie that doesn't get a wide-release. This, of course, doesn't include any auxiliary money like DVD sales or TV sales. Therefore, budget and plan accordingly.

Movit Pitch

Pitch Your Movie Here!!! He's legit as far as featured in the Entertainment Weekly recently. Who knows, your pitch idea may worth some money to some studios, as long as they are not keen on rehashing old movies, if not old ideas.

Who's the Prince of Planet B-Boys?

B-boy Crossing
Originally uploaded by BitBoy.

I finally found a gig and landed on an editor position for a documentary that is bound for Sundance next year. Hoot!

I see great potential for the project and I hope to make a great creative contribution to its success as an editor.

I'll come back with some exciting progress report later, but not the frequency I've been posting for last few weeks.

'Everyday I'm hustlin.' True dat.

Cutting the Middle Man

CNN: Big musicians flex their muscle with record labels. "The record business will shortly be extinct. But the music business, the business of creating music, will not be - because people love music." I'm not sure the film business will follow the same path because it has different bussiness models in larger scales, but it's not hard to see ALL media business will go down this path sooner than later.

Blur

Blur animation studio. Feast your eyes on gorgeous short CG animations.

Apple Rant

Obligatory Apple/Mac rant now that I've just finished with Job's WWDC Keynote Address.

1. No new iPod, no iPhone, but they finally revealed Mac Pro, a desktop version with two Intel Xeon chips. They moved up video cards, which is always plus. However the performance gain is only twice compare to G5, which leaves me with some relief due to my posession of G5 machine. Xserve got upgrades as well since they are the unsung heroes of Apple hardware division. Very cool Xserve room named "Aquarium" in the presentation just boggles my geek mind.
2. Jobs relegated many parts of presentations to his lieutenants but took the best parts to himself. He looked thinner and older than last time I saw him in January. I hope his health is in good shape.
3. Leopard, next Mac OS X, is loaded with tons of new features that will please the casual users, more than the developers. I especially loved their backup utility called "Time Machine", new Core Animation interface that allows all sorts of cool iTunes artwork screensaver effects, new presentation features for iChat, and new development tools for Widgets that is capable of grabbing only portion of your favorite webpages, bypassing littered ads in the webpages these days.

All in all, Apple managed to entertain and thrill people with just two hardware updates and some new features on OS. It's not the finest Jobs' presentation, but it has managed to beat the pants off Microsoft Vista presentations. This company knows how to innovate AND have fun with their innovations at the same time. Only Nintendo can do that with their Nintendo DS, Wii, and big library of hit games.

Calvin's Short Screenplays

As I've promised, I uploaded two of my short scripts that I've refined over this weekend. I couldn't work on the G-Unit City trailer because I had set time for a farewell party of one of my roommates.

I also wrote some loglines for the scripts as well. I know people hate to read scripts but please read them at your convenience and let me know what you think of them. Rip my heart out. Thanks!

Avid Express Pro Upgrade

I didn't realize this fact until today but Avid Express Pro 4.x and 5.x won't run on Mac OS X 10.4.7 (Tiger) unless you upgrade to 5.5 ($49 for software upgrade and more for physical upgrade.)

Not only that, I will have to get new dongle for it. Great.

And I just spent 2 hours reinstalling programs wondering WHY or WHY my Avid won't boot up. No error message. No info. Nothing, nada, ziltch. This exact thing happened two years ago before I was toiling in Avid Express Pro 3.x.

I'm glad they are updating the program, but shouldn't this be FREE considering I paid 2 grand for it already? This also means you'll cough up more money when Mac OS X moves to next version, v10.5 aka Leopard in the immediate horizon.

No wonder FCP is eating Avid's lunch.

Monster House

A surprisingly solid CG animation that's not from Pixar nor Dreamworks Animations. And advertised with no BIG star name attachment. I went to see it after reading a solid review, and I must concur that it's one of most entertaining movie of this summer.

The animation is well-executed, and I'm impressed with characters' facial reactions that helped me to get more engrossed into the story. (It doesn't walk uncanny valley like it did with the previous the Polar Express.) There's great showdown between 3 principal kids and the Monster House at the climax that puts many of current Hollywood blockbusters to shame. (See, you don't have to risk whole planet to get the audience root for the Super--heros.)

I'm glad that CG technology is maturing all around the industry to tell good stories without breaking the bank or bleeding on the edge of technology.

Miami Vice

Michael Mann is back in another action vehicle with two hot stars, continuing his experiment with digital cinematography he started with "Collateral." The look is more refined, but I found the pacing to be monotonous, and the story and the characters are too cool for their own good. The picture never invites the audience to its own world, the characters care less about making a connection.

There's surprisingly less action than it implies, although Michael Mann uses guns very effectively. When the shit goes down, the whole house goes down.

Although I love Gong Li as an actress, she doesn't really belong in this flick, with her forced English and much-more forced romance with Colin Farrell.

There were some news of troubled production and the picture getting longer and longer, and I could see why. Even in assured hands of Mr. Mann's direction, the story and the characters never took its flight off from the original TV premise. Miami Vice may have been a gimmick license to wrap an action flick Michael Mann may have wanted to make, but I don't think he really got inspired beyond a buddy-cop flick in drug war premise.

Weekend 2 Do

1. Finish 2 short scripts and update my script page. 1st draft of Angelic Karma which I'm hoping to produce with a SVA student, and refine 1st draft of SR-75 which is gaining some traction into pre-pro.

2. Edit and upload G-Unit City trailer.

3. Read The Indie Filmmakers: The Directors, My First Movie and finally Story by Rober McKee. (I know, this will be the LAST book on screenplay writing unless there's another book with a cute kitten on the cover. :D )

4. Watch two movies. :-)

Have a nice weekend everyone.

HD Nerd TV

I, Cringely: I Want My NerdTV. "So now we're settled on DVCPRO HD, but we still want to record at 24 frames per second, as we did for Season 1. Recording in Panasonic's 24p Advanced mode was the one technical risk from Season 1 that really paid off. By recording at 24 frames per second we eliminate 20 percent of the bandwidth that would have been required for 30 frames per second BEFORE going on to compression. The result isn't necessarily greater bandwidth savings, but better bandwidth UTILIZATION, allowing our 208 kbps video to look, frankly, pretty darned good--easily the equivalent of someone else's 300-400 kbps video. Another part of this better look is compressing for playback at the full 24 frames per second, thus avoiding that herky-jerky look of many Internet videos. If we want HD in 24p Advanced, there are really only two choices, both from Panasonic--the AG-HVX200 or the VariCam. We chose the AG-HVX200 for the simple reason that the VariCam costs almost 10 times more." I don't really understand this rising popularity of HDV camcorders in the market place, but yeah, AG-HVX200 is my choice of camera to shoot anything HD at affordable price..

HD Blues

Ars Technica: In the high definition horse race, it's HD DVD by a nose. "The unfortunate cropping of the Blu-ray image, coupled with more noticeable compression artifacts and an overall darker cast, can't compete with the more consistently pleasing presentation of the HD DVD." This race gets more interesting every passing month. But all bets are off until Playstation 3 launches this winter.

Dead Mansion

"Live Mansion is the first social network where the members are going to make a movie. The first social network where only the members have the chance to star in a feature film, direct a feature film, cast a feature film, and even own a piece of it!" Someone got addicted to MySpace and never left, yeah, I can see that one-sheet.

Hollywood Jock

Rob Ryder, self-proclaimed Hollywood Jock writes an invigorating first-hand account of his struggle to keep his promise to his wife while time slips away chasing his dream of becoming a hit script writer. The first part of the book is the collection of his columns that appeared on ESPN site whilte the rest is his struggle to sell his script while life and Hollywood keeps him down.

Writer's life is never suspenseful but his hustle to sell his scripts and his dream can be identified immediately for every script writer out there, including myself. His account may seem a little extreme, but never far from the reality as all Hollywood players within this book try to gain an advantage over each other to chase that big dream, and hit big. His experience and qualification as a sports advisor for Hollywood filcks was quite engaging and seperates this book from other writer's accounts. This is the real deal, straight from Hollywood Jock, but remember that it's not the only game in town for all intrepid writers boxed in a small room.

The most memorable chapter in the book started with his script review from a professional studio reader that will stop any writer's beating heart in a second. :-)

This book is perfect summer read as another disappointing blockbuster season winds down.

How I Broke into Hollywood

Success Stories from the Trenches is another good collection of interviews of Hollywood players-directors, writers, actors, producers, etc. Many personal accounts in this book are engaging, luminating, and most of all, inspiring.

I found David Hayter's--Solid Snake personified!, account the most revealing because he got sole credit for X-Men script thanks to previous writers, Ed Solomon and Chris McQuarrie acknowledged Hayter's contribution to the script when they could've easily won WGA credit arbitration.

If you are yet to have a mentor in this competitive industry, this book could help you find the right path, make the right decisions, and motivate you to do the right things.

Best of YouTube 08/03/2006

The Big Lebowski - F_cking Short Version

Van Damm On the Dance floor.

Chad Vader Episode 1.

Who needs TV when you got YouTube?

Kung Fu Kids

Organize Letters! I wanna, I wanna write and direct a Kung Fu flick. Everybody wanna, everybody watch my Kung Fu flick.

The Man Who Heard Voices

Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale. Or, The Man Who Refused to Hear Voices would be my take on the subject after I was done with the book. Either the writer, and Night who obviously read the manuscript, intended or not, Night comes off as a pampered star writer/director who refused to listen to others about script problems, production problems, post production problems, etc, while he risked his reputation and career, if not his money as he originally planned. I would say that's the surest indicator of his gut instinct on his own material that he passed on the opportunity to finance this movie for more profit. Either that Warner Bros. who financed the film was too eager to work with Night that made sweeter deal than what Night got from Disney. Regardless of money, so-called The Valentine's Day Massacre, as Night tells his break-up with Disney, is the stuff of gossip that warrants the publication of this book.

First of all, I had a big problem with the writer's constant change of perspectives narrating this story. He kept switching 3rd person to 1st person perspective, especially when he was 2nd guessing Night's inner struggles. He either became too close to Night or rushing to publish this book from his notes for the movie's release. The lack of focused perspective made a jarring, disjointed episodes that almost resembles the chaos of making this film.

Therefore, the book is only enjoyable for some esoteric tales involved in this movie production. Wild crazy Christopher Doyle, Cindy Cheung's struggles to get the part and acting in her first studio gig, Paul Giamatti's heroic effort to stay grounded, and M. Night Shyamalan's bout with doubts of his story ever since he parted from Nina Jacobson over 'creative difference.' Obviously the breakup cast bigger shadow than Night expected over the course of the production and you now know who is finally proven 'right.'

The book does end odd way, perhaps trying to shake off the inevitable disappointment, despite the favorable scores from selected preview audience. The book does offer a glimpse into how Hollywood system works, how studio production works, and how even a prodigious writer/director wrestles with constant self-doubt. Its tale offers more insights as a cautionary tale rather than illuminating examples of a high-profile production that's gone awry.

Boffo!

The editor-in-chief of Variety Peter Bart collects some of behind-the-scene stories of blockbuster movies, TV shows, and muscials in his latest book, Boffo! If you are well-aware of movie stories, you might want to skip them and pick topics that interest you. Good, easy summer read for hot, hot dog days like today.

Sexy Sex Scenes

14 Truly Sexy Sex Scenes from the Onion AV Club. Quick! To my Netflix queue!

Quick Guide to TV on the Net

As a certain senator mentioned recently, the Net has a series of tubes.

Film blog

FilmDailies.com - A filmmaker’s blog. I ran into this site as I was looking for some camera reviews. Good layout with good infos abound.

Do you have a good film blog that you visit regularly? (Beside this humble one? :D) Yes, I do need another excuse to spend another hour on the net instead of procrastinating on writing scripts.

Top 50 Movie Endings

From Filmcritic.com. I don't agree with some of the endings, Fight Club is no. 2?!, but good endings can make up for the clumsy 2nd acts.