Filmmaking Focus

2012-09-17T21:07:00.002-06:00

We've been featured on Sci-Fi Storm! I wrote a guest article for them. Check it out below.

KICKSTARTING THE TUNING: A SCI-FI INDY ABOUT MIND READING GONE WRONG

from Sci-Fi Storm by Doc

Writer and director Wayne Brandenburg, who created the award winning short Blue Haired Girls and has also worked on The Guild, and The Chicago 8, is working on a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the creation of his next film, The Tuning, a feature-length sci-fi film about mind reading gone wrong. Wayne, a long time reader of Sci-Fi Storm, sent in this great article not just about the film he is trying to make, but also about the experience of using Kickstarter to fund it.

KICKSTARTING THE TUNING: A SCI-FI INDY ABOUT MIND READING GONE WRONG

by Wayne Brandenburg

This is a brief account of my experiences with crowdfunding an independent sci-fi movie with Kickstarter.com.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Wayne Brandenburg. I’m a writer and director of short movies and commercials. Notice how I said I’m a writer first and a director second? I started my journey into filmmaking when I was a kid coming up with clever stories. I didn’t have a camera or a crew, just an imagination. When I went to film school I focused on screenwriting first. That’s where I learned the importance of characters that the audience want to watch and follow through to the end of a story. It’s also where I learned the script is the first step in the filmmaking process. Without the script there is no map for all the other departments to follow.

Later I focused on directing and soon learned that directing is more about social skills and an understanding of what the audience will eventually see. I found that the director is actually the first audience member, but they have the power to influence and interact with the product to meet their vision.

Now I’m shooting my first full length movie and I’ve decided to make it in my favorite genre: sci-fi. I’ve always loved sci-fi. It always gives me hope in humanity’s future and a sense of wonder in the possibilities before us.

THE TUNING: a short description
The Tuning is an independent sci-fi feature length movie about mind reading gone wrong. It follows the story of a guy named Mars, which is short for Marshall. He’s an engineering student who invents a mind reading machine (based partly on actual research at MIT). He does this so he can telepathically communicate with one other person. One of his project teammates alters the machine so he can communicate with the rest of the world, but he soon dominates everyone on Earth into his version of world peace. It’s a sci-fi story that addresses some tough issues like: In a world where telepathy is common can you keep your thoughts private? Could telepathy be the original language in the Tower of Babel story? And how can world peace be possible if mankind has a hand in it?

STORY DETAILS
The reason Mars makes the mind reading machine goes hand in hand with why I wrote the movie to begin with. When I wrote The Tuning I was living in Hollywood pursuing a career in filmmaking. My wife and kids were in Texas. I was incomplete and struggled everyday with a feeling of being stranded and alone.

These are the reasons I gave Mars for inventing the mind reading machine. He has a twin brother that’s always been in his life. So Mars’ biggest fear is of being left behind and alone. He believes that if you were telepathic, then even if you were physically alone, you wouldn’t be alone in your mind and in your heart.

When proposing the mind reading machine to his teammates, Mars theorizes that everyone already has the ability to read each others minds, it’s just an innate ability that has been forgotten over time. He continues the theory by proposing that the original language that the builders of the Tower of Babel used was telepathy.

But, once the machine is built and the first subjects undergo the procedure, there are immediate drawbacks. One subject is almost driven insane when the machine malfunctions and she is exposed to all the minds of the world at once. Another side effect comes in the form of the two subjects not being able to keep their intimate thoughts private.

One of the teammates has his own ideas though. He believes world peace is possible. At first he believes the only thing keeping the world from peace is the lack of communication and finding common ground. Soon he realizes people will never find common ground even with communication. The problem is there are too many different kinds of personalities in the world. But, with a few alterations to the mind reading machine, he can force everyone on Earth into his version of world peace.

It’s up to Mars to find a way to stop the madness his machine has created and put everything back the way it was. But, he’s just one man against the entire world… literally.

FUNDRAISING
Every movie I’ve ever made was funded out of my own threadbare pockets. However, when I decided to shoot The Tuning I knew its budget would be well outside what I could afford alone. So the only way to get money to make the movie would be to ask someone else for their money. But, how does one go about asking, and more importantly getting, someone else’s money?

There are several ways to go about raising funds for a project. The most obvious way would be to beg your friends and family, but depending on your style of begging, I don’t think that would go over well. I chose to have someone else do my begging. Someone with a more professional face. Someone whose job is begging. I chose Kickstarter.com.

For those that don’t already know, Kickstarter is a website that crowdfunds for you. They put a professional face on your project with secure credit card transactions through Amazon.com. This gives your potential backers confidence in you and, in turn, more likely to throw money at you.

However, Kickstarter is an all or nothing fundraising system. You have to meet your fundraising goal by the deadline you set. If you don’t then you get no money and your backers are not charged.

And what does Kickstarter get out of this? They get 5% of your fundraising if you meet your goal.

I started up my Kickstarter campaign on September 12th. Since then I’ve learned some things I wish I knew before starting up.

1. Plan your Kickstarter campaign several days, even weeks before you actually launch so you can make your presentation look and sound as good as you can.

2. Before your project is ever launched, you must submit it to Kickstarter for review to make sure it isn’t indecent. That takes time. Up to 3 days in some cases. Plan for that.

3. You can still edit your project even after you’ve launched it. I couldn’t find anywhere on Kickstarter.com that says that, so I was going a little looney before finally clicking the launch button.

FIRST IMPRESSION
When you finally get your Kickstarter campaign going, you’ll probably be posting it on Facebook, Twitter and all manner of internet communications. The first visual most people will see of your project will be a little thumbnail. The average person, I believe, is less likely to click on that thumbnail if they don’t know what the picture is. What I’m saying is that your thumbnail is very very important. So what should your thumbnail be? I came up with some simple rules that I followed in my own thumbnail.

1. Put a face in it.
The human face is one of the most recognizable patterns. It’s ingrained in us. Babies will visually recognize a face before anything else in their lives. How does this apply to the thumbnail? Put a human face in your thumbnail. Remember the thumbnail will be small so make that a big human face.

2. Focus on eyes.
In film school I learned, when bringing a picture into focus, target the main person’s eye. That’s where people will focus their attention. You do it in your everyday life. When speaking to someone you will automatically focus on their eyes. The old saying “The eyes are the windows to the soul” should play a big part in your thumbnail. Focus on them.

3. Put a girl in it.
Before I ever went to film school I sold dental plans. Yeah… glamorous, right? I did learn something very important there though. Men can sell to women, but women can sell anything to both men and women. The theory was, salesmen could sell to a female customer by appealing to her feminine desires. I know, I know it’s corny. But, not only can a saleswoman appeal to a male customer’s masculine desires, they can appeal to a female customer’s ranking system. You see if the saleswoman comes off as confident and knowledgeable about what they are selling then the female customer unconsciously sees the saleswoman with higher regard. And a person tends to follow the advice of people they see with higher regard. Needless to say, there were some very successful female saleswomen selling dental plans. The weird thing was they had horrible teeth. So what am I trying to say? Put a woman in your thumbnail… with nice teeth.

4. Use color.
The human eye can see millions of colors, but the color the human eye can see easiest is green. That’s probably because early humans spent so much time in dense green vegetation. The next easiest to see is red. Probably because so many fruits are red when they are ripe. Another likely reason is because blood is red. Early humans probably wanted to know when someone in their group was injured. Don’t limit your thumbnail to a black and white picture when so much relies on a person clicking it. Give it color.

LASTING IMPRESSION
The folks at Kickstarter advise you to have a video and for good reason. Most successful campaigns have a video. It’s easy to do this, but it’s also easy to mess it up. Most potential backers will back you, not just the project. This piece of advice is more important for filmmakers than for product makers. Product makers usually have a working prototype that they can actually show in use in their video. That’s something a filmmaker can’t do because our product hasn’t been “built” yet. So what can the backer put money in? You. So what does this mean for your video? Put yourself into your video. And I don’t mean just shoot a video of you. Tell the backers who you are and how you’ve put your heart into your project. Backers want to know you’re dedicated to the project. They want to know you’re going to get the dang thing shot. They don’t want to put money into something that won’t get made. Seriously, who wants to be part of a failed project?

KICKSTART IT
That’s my experience with crowdfunding so far. We’re currently raising funds and only have a few weeks left. I do have to admit it is a stressful process. I hope the things I pointed out in this article help you in your own efforts and relieve some of your own stress. If a lack of funds is keeping your dream from moving towards reality, I suggest you kickstart it.

Help Kickstart our project by visiting:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wayneburg/the-tuning-a-film-about-telepathy-gone-wrong

THE TUNING KICKSTARING DAY 2

2012-09-13T19:42:00.002-06:00

Well, we're at day 2 of our Kickstarter campaign for The Tuning. I've been corresponding like crazy to get lots of eyes on our fundraising page. I've had more than one person tell me that when they watched the presentation video that I didn't guess their shape correctly. I've also been asked to add more info about our project. So it looks like I may have to redo those parts of the video.

Those things got my spirits down. But, my corresponding efforts started paying off. I've been asked to write guest articles on two sci-fi websites! I'll definitely link those articles back here. This means that all the readers of those websites will view our fundraising campaign and hopefully help us out.

And you, yes you. You can help us out too. Tell a bunch of people you know about our indy sci-fi flick please, If you haven't already told them.

UPDATE: Whoa as of 7:24 p.m. we are now on the sci-fi radar. Sci-Fi Storm (@scifistorm) tweeted about our Kickstarter page. Yippy! This is kind of a big deal since that is a major sci-fi site.

Okay I got to go. So much more corresponding to do.

THE TUNING GETS KICKSTARTED

2012-09-12T18:28:00.000-06:00

Hello Friends!

Yes I've been absent for some time, but I have good reason. I'm in the fundraising phase of filmmaking. The production is The Tuning. I hinted at it a few months back. Well, the time has come to Kickstart this baby. Tell a ton of people what we're doing, because as far as I'm concerned you're already part of the team.

Here's the link:
http://kck.st/RLOTmz

THE TUNING. A film about telepathy gone wrong.

"He can tune into your mind. What will he do in there?" THE TUNING is a film by award-winning writer/director Wayne Brandenburg

Launched: Sep 12, 2012
Funding ends: Oct 12, 2012

The Tuning website: http://thetuningmovie.wix.com/home

The Tuning is the story of Mars, short for Marshall, a shy but bright engineering student, who wants to finally show his teammates his scientific ingenuity by designing a machine that gives a person the ability to read the mind of another. However, when one of his teammates alters the machine so they can not only read the minds of the entire world, but control them, Mars must give up everything he loves in life to put right what his machine has put wrong.

EXTRA EXTRA

2012-08-13T22:27:00.005-06:00

I was once a paid extra (background talent) working in Hollywood. We were looked at as the least paid, most disposable, lowest on the totem pole nats. It was common for cast and crew alike to speak in demeaning tones to us and treat us like so much cattle. And this treatment wasn't isolated to just cast and crew. I found that even the average person that learned I was an extra regarded me the same way. But, soon after my first day as an extra, I adopted a philosophy.

I was doing what millions, even billions, of people could only wish they could do. I was in movies and tv. I was walking in worlds that only exist in the imaginations of audiences. I was working among movie stars and watching them deliver amazing performances. I was doing all this and getting paid too. I was doing all that... what the hell were those nay sayers doing? I'll tell you what they were doing... they were watching me from the other side of the screen.

Sorry for the rant, but I was watching a tv show recently and saw someone putting extras down.

AUDITIONS FOR LAUGHS

2012-08-11T22:29:00.001-06:00

We're holding auditions for our comedic commercial series. I'm pretty excited about our group of actors and actresses. Lots of talent in the area.

MEMORIES OF MY FIRST MOVIE

2012-08-10T22:34:00.001-06:00

Recently I was shown a movie I worked on in high school. It was a horror movie. I was really humbled to watch it because I made every mistake in the book. But, it was a lot of good fun to make.

The movie was called The Dark Cult. The movie was about a murdering cult leader that a pair of cops had to take down. Jeff was the cult leader, I played a cop and our good friend, Miled, played the other cop. We made the story up as we went along and you could tell.

There were many lessons to learn from seeing that movie. Lighting was very poor, so was sound. But, the biggest thing I learned was to have fun and keep shooting.

BACK FROM VACATION

2012-08-09T21:15:00.002-06:00

We got to go on vacation after all. We had a great time. But, it was one of those vacations that you have to recover from. I'll get back to blogging tomorrow.

VACATION POSTPONED

2012-08-04T01:37:00.003-06:00

Our plans for a housesitter fell through. Fingers crossed we can get someone before we have to cancel the trip. But, as of right now... no trip until we find someone to housesit.

I'M LEAVIN' ON A JET PLANE

2012-08-03T22:48:00.000-06:00

I'm going on vacation for the next few days starting tomorrow. Yippy!! My father in law wanted my wife and I to get out of town and have a ball. What a nice man huh?

image credit: Håkan Dahlström

You probably won't see any posts from me for the next few days... that's if I'm doing the vacation thing correctly.

DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY DUM DIDDY DO

2012-08-02T22:59:00.002-06:00

Music plays a huge part in motion pictures. There are too many different aspects to music to cover them all in one post, but I would like to focus on one form of music. Music with lyrics.

Music with lyrics, especially lyrics that are widely known, can be a significant advantage to a movie. Audiences that know a song in a movie are likely to remember certain emotions they experience when they usually sing that song. If a song like Don't Stop Believing by Journey comes on most people would think of the emotion of rocking out... yes there is an emotion called rocking out. This can add to a movie if the emotion is supposed to be... rocking out.

However, if the movie doesn't call for the same emotion the song instills, then the audience will be impacted negatively or at the very least they will be affected in a way the story does not call for. Imagine a scene in Toy Story where Andy plays with his toys, but you hear a song that starts off with "All right stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention." Not the same feeling huh? (BTW you get an ice cold Zima if you guessed what song that was)

Rollin'. In my five point oh.
image credit: The Consortium

When choosing music for a movie, I try to stay away from songs with lyrics because I have no way of knowing if the audience gets the same emotion I get from it and in turn I don't know if that emotion matches what's on screen. Better hope people don't start up the electric slide during a love scene huh? :P

AUDITION CONDITION

2012-08-01T18:24:00.002-06:00

We had to postpone the auditions for the comedic commercial. Part of it was me feeling ill and part was location. Sound familiar? Yeah... it's coming down to location again. (Edit: We're postponing to second weekend of August)

What I'd like one day is a place that we can use on a regular basis as an audition space and possibly as a filming location. Something about the size of a two or three car garage. Heck it could even be a garage. The beauty of film is we can dress up part or all of the room to be some other location.

Did you hear that Universe?... Maybe something will come up.

image credit: thebluewig

On the other hand, we do have several more actors and actresses that want to audition than our previous productions. I've reached out to neighboring cities for talent as well so that expands our pool of candidates.

THE ONE LOCATION, EVERY GENRE CHALLENGE

2012-07-31T20:39:00.000-06:00

A few years ago I thought about coming up with a challenge for myself and fellow filmmakers. It was a challenge to see if we could each make a short movie that only took place in one location. Movies like Hitchcock's Lifeboat and The Rear Window or Moon.

"Guess we draw straws."
"Who the hell would have straws in the middle of the ocean?!"
"Sit down, Stan."

image credit: !!!! scogle

I never issued the challenge because I couldn't settle on what I thought one location meant. Did it mean one physical place that could represent several places? For example: Cube. In the sci-fi thriller Cube, one set was built, but it was shot in a way to make that one set look like several locations within the movie.

One location could also mean just one building. For example: 12 Angry Men. In this movie, everybody seems to remember just the jury room, but there were a few scenes that took place in the adjacent bathroom.

One location could also mean just one campus. For example: The Thing. In this movie several buildings were part of a scientific outpost in the arctic.

As you can see, one location could be interpreted to mean several things.

That wasn't all the contest was supposed to be. I wanted each director to come up with one short movie from each genre that takes place in one location. That caused me to wonder if every short movie took place at the same location or could the location be changed with each movie.

I think I'll eventually take on this challenge myself. "The One Location, Every Genre Challenge."

It'll be a cool way to show off our talent and get a lot of practice in as we work towards shooting a feature length film. What do you think? Would you like to take on a film challenge like this?

FILMMAKER ILL

2012-07-30T22:00:00.003-06:00

Still not 100% today. :(

Why don't you write a little something in the comments section. You all can make a guest post about film today.

UNDER THE WEATHER

2012-07-29T23:42:00.003-06:00

Short post today. I've been feeling under the weather today, but I won't let that stop me from at least posting something.

I wanted to let you all know that we have passed the 4,000 visitors to this blog milestone. :)

Wish I could write more for you, but my mind just isn't working right now. I promise to put something with more meat together tomorrow.

bleh

image credit: Martin Cathrae

FILM FEST

2012-07-28T15:46:00.004-06:00

I got a notice in the mail today for the local film festival. I plan to attend. Not the entire festival though. The festival is from August 2 to the 12. That's a long festival. Mr. Al Pacino is schedule to appear.

Maybe I'll dress up like Wolverine and yell "WhoWa!!!" at Pacino. Oh wait. That's Comic Con.

"Hey Pacino, HOOWA BUB!!!"
image credit: 5of7

I guess I'll just pass out a few business cards instead. Maybe I'll get some work for us. And find a few more recruits to join our team.

It would be cool if we had a few short films and a feature to show in next year's film festival. For now... one step at a time.

P.S. I soooo wanted to post a video of Al Pacino screaming in every movie he's ever made, but I thought it would be better left to the imagination.

ACTRESS HANNAH RISINGER

2012-07-27T12:09:00.001-06:00

I want to introduce you to the actress that portrayed Gina in our Aberrations series for the Be Serious For 30 Seconds project.

Gina was played by the lovely Hannah Risinger. She's an actress from Las Cruces, New Mexico that Jeff met while at another film production. It's a lucky thing he met her, because we wouldn't have been able to get one 30 second movie completed, let alone three.

Hannah Risinger
image credit: Ryan Valdez

The one thing that really stood out about Hannah was how professional she was. She took the role seriously from the start with the short notice we gave her. She stayed in character from the moment we started blocking the scene until she was wrapped for the day, even when the rest of the cast and crew were joking around. That's something not many actors can do.

By staying in character, she didn't have to take time to re-immerse herself into the role. This saves time for the entire production and gives a more consistent performance. It also gets a more consistent performance from the other actors that are performing with her. Those other actors don't have to adjust their performances to any changes in her performance since she is so consistent.

The second way Hannah displayed her professionalism was her ability to take direction and apply it to her performance. Many actors come to the set with a preconceived notion of what the character's personality is like and are not open to any kind of change to their notion. Hannah arrived with her interpretations of the character, but she was willing and able to alter it based on my direction.

Hannah displayed the hallmarks of a great actor. I expect to see her in tons more performances in the years to come. And I'm sure those performances will be longer than 30 seconds at a time. :)

You can see Hannah in a feature length movie directed by Johnny Tabor called Folklore.

I SEE YOU

2012-07-26T21:43:00.000-06:00

My Stoopid Clone

image credit: Wayne Brandenburg and Wayne Brandenburg

It is very very rare for me to have an actor look directly into the camera. It's a shot choice that has bothered me since before I ever became a director. As an audience member it was always something that made me uneasy. When an actor looks directly into the camera they are basically looking directly at the audience.

For years I couldn't figure out why something so simple could make me so uncomfortable. One day in filmschool I finally realized what was making me so uneasy. I have to explain how I watch a movie before I can explain the whole looking-at-the-camera thing.

When I watch a good movie I will become totally immersed in the story. The edges of the screen will disappear and I will become lost in the movie. I no longer exist... only the characters and their world do.

So when a character looks at the camera, they are looking at the audience. By "audience" I mean me in this case. Once this happens I am immediately drawn out of the world of the movie because I feel the character has just acknowledged my existence. And if I exist then that means I am not in the story. I am a separate entity from the story again.

I know this is all pretty existential and mind warping stuff, but it is something I consider when I'm making a motion picture.

UNCONVENTIONAL FILMMAKING TOOL: Freakin' Lasers

2012-07-25T21:37:00.001-06:00

Today I'd like to share with you all an unconventional tool I use while shooting. The Laser Pointer.

image credit: EverPet

I use one similar to the one above. It comes in handy when I'm trying to tell someone where the edge of the camera's viewing area is or when I'm trying to get someone to move an item somewhere in the camera's viewing area. It's especially helpful when I want to distract my actors between camera setups.

How does it keep slipping through my claws?
image credit: Drregor

CASTING PROCESS REVISITED

2012-07-24T22:22:00.003-06:00

I posted the casting call yesterday for the three actors we need in our next production. I've gotten a few responses from actors and actresses. I'll be contacting them later this week so we can meet with them.

image credit: thebluewig

This time we will have to audition the actors since we are doing comedy. No meetings at the local coffee shop again. I need to make sure they have good comedic timing and a quick sense of humor. A good intuitive sense of improv is something I'm looking for too. I trust my writing to be funny, but I'm sure a good team of comedic actors can come up with even more gags along the way.

I'm hoping to shoot all three 1 minute commercials on the same day. That day will be sometime in mid August. A lot of things can happen in that time, but I'm sure we can get through it.

Are you all still onboard for this adventure?

COMEDY COMMERCIAL CASTING

2012-07-23T21:31:00.001-06:00

Casting 2 Actors and 1 Actress For A Commercial

Casting call for 2 non-union actors and 1 non-union actor for 3 non-paying roles each with 5 or less speaking lines.

PRODUCTION TITLE: Natural Fruit Pops

A Portfolio Commercial

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION:

Two losers eat natural fruit popsicles outside the local convenience store when a hot woman drives up to them. She tries to seduce one of them out of their untouched natural fruit popsicles. She leans in to take a bite, but he yanks it out of her reach and she stumbles away foolishly. His friend argues with him for choosing the natural fruit popsicle over the woman.

This is a speculative commercial used for portfolios. We are a film production company new to the El Paso area. Our goal is to create a series of professionally produced speculative commercials to present our skills to El Paso businesses for hire.

CASTING FOR THE FOLLOWING SPEAKING ROLE:

Bromer

Ethnicity: Caucasian or Latin

Age: 20 to 30

Bromer is the straight-man in a comedy duo. He is more aware of the real world than his funny-man partner.

Jedidiah

Ethnicity: Caucasian or Latin

Age: 20 to 30

Jedidiah is the funny-man in a comedy duo. He is in his own world when it comes to anything.

Hot Lady Popsicle Thief

Ethnicity: Caucasian or Latina

Age: 20 to 30

Body Description: Similar to a mens magazine cover model

We are looking for an actress that can portray a Low Rider Magazine style model who can show her comedic side with a little silly slapstick.

These roles have under 5 lines.

The commercial shoots in mid-August.

Auditions for these roles will be held Sunday July 29th. Further details will be included in our reply to your submission to this casting call ad.

Compensation will be a DVD of the finished commercial, a speaking credit, retained contact for future productions, and meals.

These roles are unpaid at this time.

DRESSING FOR THE OCCASION

2012-07-22T23:37:00.004-06:00

Superman of the Justice Lords
image credit: JD Hancock

Costumes play a big part in many movies and tv shows. Can you imagine Superman in any costume other than the blue tights and red cape? How about Dorothy in anything other than her light blue dress and ruby slippers? You get the idea. A costume becomes part of the character.

Part of how a costume is chosen comes from the character's personality, part comes from the tone of the movie and part comes from the visual style of the movie. I'm sure I'm missing some other parts, but these are the ones I consider most important.

If a character has a no-nonsense personality, they'll probably have a very practical wardrobe. Clint Eastwood's character in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly wouldn't wear a top hat and tails. Those dandy formal garments may have been stylish in the era of that movie, but they weren't practical to a cowboy in the U.S. wild west (or Italy).

The tone of the movie will also affect a character's costume. Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Titanic could have gotten away with wearing a French infantry officer's coat he won in a poker game. It's totally fitting for his character. He would have worn it as a trophy with an amazing story behind it, but it wouldn't have fit within the tone of a romance movie. It may have fit in an adventure movie though.

Lastly, a movie's visual style will influence a character's costume. Sigourney Weaver's character in Aliens might have been poured into a skin-tight metallic unitard. It could be something worn in polite society of the future... It may be one of her character's wardrobe choices, if it had pockets...but, it wouldn't fit the gritty, dark reality of that movie.

As a director I keep these things in mind when making the final decision on costume choices. Now if I could only figure out which high heels will take my outfit from frumpy to faaaaabulous.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND

2012-07-21T23:40:00.002-06:00

We've had sound issues with our last few projects. We've been using a Tascam DR-05 digital audio recorder, a homemade boom and a homemade shock mount. The Tascam works well, but we haven't always gotten good sound due to various reasons ranging from human error to uncontrollable sounds on set.

Tascam DR-05 Digital Audio Recorder
image credit: Tascam

Luckily my digital SLR camera records sound, but we shouldn't rely on it. It's mic is not as sensitive or as directional as the Tascam. The camera's mic has saved our productions more than once, but sooner or later we're going to run into a situation where we have no good audio at all.

There are a few things we can do to fix this. The first and most important way to fix this is by having one crew member dedicated to audio. On every production we are all taking on the responsibilities of multiple crew positions. Since we cannot concentrate on any one of these positions they all suffer. Having one person concentrate on audio should go towards fixing most of our audio issues.

That should apply to all of our crew positions. Ideally I would like each of our crew members to concentrate on only one crew position.

The next way we can improve sound is by getting a shotgun mic that connects to the Tascam. The Tascam is a great piece of equipment, but there is one thing that is hard to work around.

image credit: Addie Brandenburg

The Tascam is the device suspended by rubberbands between the rings in the picture above. It has two mics that are incorporated into the front of it. It also has a small screen that shows the audio levels. It is very difficult to watch those levels and point the mics at an actor when it is suspended at the end of a boom pole. The only way around this is by bringing the Tascam down to the end of the other end of the boom pole and suspending a shotgun mic in the rings. This allows the audio person to watch the audio levels and point the mic at the actors' mouths.

The third way to improve sound would be by getting a windsock. This will prevent the wind from buffeting the mic and allow us to record better audio when we are outside.

An example of a shotgun mic with a windsock at the end of a boom pole.
image credit: VideoVillain

All these fixes are doable. The most important one, having a dedicated audio person, will be the most challenging to remedy. But, I'm sure we'll find someone. The other remedies just require a few dollars. Sounds good to me :)

WE MADE 10,000!!!

2012-07-20T23:02:00.000-06:00

We made 10,000!!!

That's what I would be yelling if we got 10,000 views. ;)

Ah well. As you can guess we didn't get that many views. But, that's okay. That wasn't the original intention of these videos. They were really just for practice. I wanted to get more practice with the camera and Jeff wanted to work on acting. So we met those first two goals and I'm happy.

So it's on to our next production. Let me introduce you to two characters from our upcoming comedic commercials. Jedidiah and Bromer. They'll be spending a lot of time out by the local convenience store ala Silent Bob and Jay; or Beavis and Butthead uh huhuh. uh huhhhh. yeah!

Jedidiah and Bromer
image credit: Wayne Brandenburg

These guys will be in three commercials. So they'll become pretty familiar around here soon.

I'm actually looking forward to comedy. Every comedy I've been involved with was awesome. Everyone was always trying to make everyone else laugh all the time, even when the cameras weren't rolling. That's what I'm looking forward to. I hope to share some of that behind the scenes laughter with all of you too.

NEXT UP... COMEDY

2012-07-19T22:48:00.001-06:00

Today's post will be a short one. I'm still recovering from yesterday.

I'm restarting pre-production on our comedic commercial campaign. It will be a nice change of pace. It's been a little too serious around here lately :p

image credit: Blondy Toys

The good thing about our serious projects is we're getting people interested in our work. Some people are even contacting us to help out in various ways.

Scripts are all written up for this comedic campaign. I'm writing up casting call ads and drawing up storyboards.

We'll be shooting soon.

BE SERIOUS FOR 30 SECONDS: Go For Launch

2012-07-18T17:42:00.000-06:00

Here's our Be Serious For 30 Seconds submission. We're trying for 10,000 views in the first 24 hours. Why not watch it few times... it's only 30 seconds and tell your friends.

Watch for the surprise at the end.