Category Archives: The Mediascape

AI-assisted time travel

Posted on by
Reply

Open Culture invites us to See 21 Historic Films by Lumière Brothers, Colorized and Enhanced with Machine Learning (1895-1902).

They highlight a collection of films originally created by the Lumière Brothers and now digitally enhanced by Denis Shiryaev.

Shot and projected at 16 frames per second, this footage has had its original frame rate restored, stabilized, upscaled to 240 fps at 4K, colourized and the faces enhanced with AI and finally output at 60 fps.

Dennis details his process in the first four and a half minutes of the film and categorically states, “This is enhanced material and is not historically accurate.”

Nevertheless, the films are a fantastic view into the past. Travel back in time to France, England and Egypt, among other countries. The motion smoothing does impart a different feeling to the footage than the jerky black and white aesthetic we normally associate with old newsreels.

My take: for me, the best shot, at 13:44, is “Panorama of the Golden Horn, Turkey, Istanbul” because it’s one of the few shots that is truly “cinematic” imho. All the other shots are filmed from a tripod and therefore static. This shot is also on a tripod but because we’re on a boat the effect is to dolly to the right, resulting in magical movement with very pleasing foreground, middle ground and background action.

All the live action Wednesdays

Posted on by
Reply

Amanda Prahl lists on POPSUGAR: Every Actor Who’s Played Wednesday Addams Through the Years.

  1. Lisa Loring played Wednesday in the 1960s sitcom adaptation of The Addams Family.
  2. Christina Ricci played Wednesday in two 1990s movies: The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.
  3. Prahl says: “Nicole Fugere is probably the least-remembered of the live-action Wednesdays, taking on the role just a few years after Ricci’s version, and it also was Fugere’s last acting role. She appeared in the 1998 made-for-TV movie ‘Addams Family Reunion‘ and its one-season sitcom, ‘The New Addams Family.'”
  4. Krysta Rodriguez played Wednesday in a 2010 Broadway musical The Addams Family.
  5. Jenna Ortega stars in the 2022 8-episode streaming series Wednesday.
  6. And last but not least, Karina Varadi plays a childhood version of Wednesday in the same series.

Of course, the Addams Family was originally a cartoon drawn by Charles Addams.

My take: We loved Netflix’s Wednesday! I thought the colour grading was fantastic: the whites were tinged with blue and yet the skin tones and artificial light sources were a very warm yellow. Still trying to figure out how much was done on set and how much in post.

$1,000 for playing the lead in a feature film?

Posted on by
Reply

According to Gregory Robinson writing on UNILAD, Jon Heder was only paid $1,000 for Napoleon Dynamite.

The 2004 comedy was made for only $400,000 but went on to gross $46.1 million at the box office.

Gregory elaborates:

“Speaking to Stuff about his ‘dynamite’ career, Heder confirmed he was paid only $1,000 ‘initially’. As we all know, Napoleon Dynamite is firmly cemented in pop culture and has clearly raked in millions since it was unleashed into the universe. Heder was able to renegotiate his deal and got a cut of the profits. Heder explained: ‘They went a little bit higher.'”

The cult film was based on a film school assignment by Jarod Hess in 2022:

My take: if the budget was truly $400,000, I think $1,000 for the lead was very low. However, if the cash budget was, say, one quarter of that, $1,000 starts to look reasonable. Sometimes shorts do lead to bigger things.

The numbers behind Telefilm’s Talent to Watch 2022-23 projects

Posted on by
1

Telefilm Canada has selected 16 Talent to Watch projects to share $3.5 million.

It’s quite revealing to look at the numbers in detail.

Let’s start with Genre.

Drama 7
Documentary 5
Comedy 1
Horror 1
Magic Realism 1
Mystery 1

Province?

Ontario 8
Quebec 4
British Columbia 2
Manitoba 1
New Brunswick 1

Let’s look at Language next.

English 4
French 4
Arabic 1
English/Arabic 1
English/Bosnian 1
English/Bulgarian 1
English/Farsi 1
English/Persian 1
French/English 1
Tibetan/English 1

And let’s finish up with Stream.

Filmmaker Apply-Direct 7
Industry Partner 7
Festival Selection 1
Industry Partner — Indigenous Component 1

In addition, if Gender is assumed from names:

Female 23
Male 15

Some observations:

  • Documentary is almost as successful as Drama.
  • Half of the successful projects are from Ontario.
  • Almost half of the successful projects include world languages in addition or instead of English and/or French.
  • Only half of the successful projects are from Industry Partners.
  • Finally women far outnumber men.

One might be tempted to conclude that Telefilm Canada is using the Talent to Watch program to over-correct its EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility) results, but that would be highly cynical.

My take: wow! This is quite a departure for Telefilm. This is the first year that filmmakers could apply directly and Telefilm has rewarded them handsomely!

Where the money goes on short films

Posted on by
1

Josh Jacobs invites everyone on No Film School to Learn all the behind-the-scenes secrets of [t]his $4,000 short.

He begins:

“Hi, I’m Josh, an LA-based filmmaker. I work as a writers’ assistant and script coordinator on TV shows, and I direct my own short films. By far, the most valuable thing I’ve learned about storytelling from big-budget shows and indie projects alike is that just two elements—the actors and the script—are way more important than everything else.”

Here’s my list of his important things to consider for indie filmmakers:

  1. The actors.
  2. The script.
  3. Don’t over-crew; have some crew do two jobs.
  4. No walkie talkies.
  5. Keep insurance costs in check.
  6. Be willing to walk away from too-expensive crew or locations.
  7. Some cities have cheaper gear than others.
  8. Join a writers group for feedback on your drafts.
  9. Devise films with locations that you have or can secure easily.
  10. Write for actors you personally know.
  11. Use costumes you have.
  12. Use equipment you have or can rent cheaply.
  13. Buy your crafty at Cosco.
  14. Save your costumes in case you need to shoot pickups.

Josh’s one day plus pickups shoot cost him $4,343.06 and he kindly shows the full breakdown.

My take: Thanks for sharing, Josh! One thing to note is that post-production actually cost more than double production. Oh, and nice short too!

Telefilm Canada releases new 18-month corporate plan

Posted on by
1

Telefilm Canada has just released its new 2022-2024 Corporate Plan.

“These strategic priorities are guided by Telefilm’s determination to provide a public service that reflects Canada in all its diversity. To this end, Telefilm will introduce nine initiatives in the coming months.”

The nine initiatives are:

  1. Evolve our funding allocation approach by delivering a continuum of success for filmmakers, by increasing access for underrepresented groups and by enabling eco-responsible productions.
  2. Act as a partner and ally on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and eco-responsibility by adopting an evidence-based approach to our funding and corporate decisions.
  3. Promote Canada’s unique creative voices and initiatives that set the example for a sustainable and inclusive screen-based industry.
  4. Empower Telefilm’s teams and encourage internal growth and development.
  5. Streamline our programs and processes to avoid red tape, ensure a simplified workflow, improve our services, and consolidate our partnership with the Canada Media Fund.
  6. Develop and maintain user-friendly tools and systems that optimize data management.
  7. Build on the trust achieved with the government to solidify the increase in our funding.
  8. Develop relationships with public and private partners to create synergy and attract additional sources of funding.
  9. Attract donations for the Talent Fund.

In the “Performance Indicators” section, Telefilm proposes to invest in:

  • 34 Projects with production budgets greater than $3.5 million (61% of funds)
  • 38 Projects with production budgets of less than $3.5 million (28% of funds)
  • 27 Theatrical Documentaries (6% of funds)
  • 15 Talent to Watch micro-budget features (4% of funds)

Telefilm also commits to:

  • 50% gender parity for women in the role of Producer, Director, Writer
  • At least 16 projects with “a Black or people of colour” key creative
  • $4 million to Indigenous stream projects
  • 33% French-language funding
  • 20 co-productions.

Read the PDF here.

My take: With a budget of $188 million, it works out to about $5 per person in Canada. Not a bad deal.

Titles and Thumbnail are Critical to Your Success

Posted on by
1

Kent Lamm of Standard Story Company warns that YouTube will BURY your films without this. The this? Your title and thumbnail.

He says:

“Getting your film SEEN in the Age of YouTube is a different game. Your title and thumbnail have a huge effect in how many people will watch your movie. Give your short film or feature its best shot by optimizing your title and thumbnail and planning ahead.”

The Title should be:

  1. meaningful for your film,
  2. unique,
  3. catchy,
  4. grammatically simple,
  5. seo-able, and
  6. have an available domain name.

He admires the way Omeleto titles their films: Logline sentence. | Film Title

He also thinks getting the genre into the title helps.

The Thumbnail should be:

  1. a compelling image that’s going to get people interested,
  2. most likely a frame-grabbed close up of the main character,
  3. but why not get some dedicated stills on set?

My take: This stuff can’t be an afterthought. In fact, I think that after the film title, the film logo and one central image can really help you fine tune the script, narrow the audience and solidify the entertainment promise (probably because I worked as a graphic designer for many years.) Oh, as to the title, you might as well choose from the beginning of the alphabet rather than the bottom half.

BIFA replaces gendered acting awards

Posted on by
Reply

Annie Martin reports on UPI that the British Independent Film Awards introduce gender-neutral acting categories.

She says:

“BIFA will replace its gendered acting categories with five new awards: Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Joint Lead Performance — for two or three performances that are the joint focus of the film — and Best Ensemble. The new categories join Breakthrough Performance. Other organizations have also switched to gender-neutral categories, including the Berlin Film Festival, the MTV Movie Awards and the BRIT Awards.”

Meanwhile, John Norris argues on The Daily Beast Why the Oscars Should Do Away With Gender.

He says:

“It’s long past time for acting awards like the Oscars to be non-gendered. Whenever this, to my mind, sensible, modest proposal is brought up, the objections generally come down to three areas: (1) that if men and women competed against one another for Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, the result would be an XY tsunami, in which women would hardly stand a chance; (2) the inequality of acting opportunity in Hollywood and beyond is so skewed in favor of men that having separate female categories is necessary; and (3) that no one, from award show producers to networks to the public, wants to see any change that could potentially decrease the number of stars on stage or on a red carpet in a designer gown.“

He proposes that the two five-person categories should be combined into one ten-person category. Note that Best Picture is a ten film category.

My take: just to play Devil’s Advocate, I think we should acknowledge more excellence by female creators and therefore recognize male and female winners in every category. How about separate nights for each Academy Awards: one night the women can bask in their collective successes and the next the men can duke it out among each other for supremacy?

Netflix Approves Sony FX3 Cinema Camera

Posted on by
Reply

Alyssa Miller reports on No Film School that The Sony FX3 Gets the Netflix Stamp of Approval and Why You Should Care.

She says:

“Netflix has just approved the Sony FX3 to be used for its 4K Netflix Originals. This approval is a result of the latest Firmware 2.0 that constitutes a major upgrade to the FX3 capabilities regarding cinematography and workflow.”

She goes on to explain Netflix’s minimum camera standard:

“Not only does the camera need the ability to record in 4K, but it also has to have a bit depth of 10-bit or higher, a data rate with a minimum of 240Mbps at 24FPS, a screen-referred color space, a scene-referred transfer function, and a timecode written as metadata, and it has to be capable of jamming to an external source. And this is just the start of the list, as ergonomics, durability, and usability also come into play.”

And why you should care:

“Why? Standards. Not in the biblical sense, but in manufacturing. Most camera brands (save for maybe Sony) aren’t building their next camera with a specific exhibition in mind. Codecs are all over the place, not all sensors are the same, and sometimes you even have to worry about overheating. Those kinds of issues on a film set can break your film. So if an exhibitor sets some standards for camera manufacturers, we’re inclined to support it, whether or not we’re shooting for Netflix.”

Here’s Netflix’s “cheat sheet” for FX3 camera settings and the Sony firmware update.

My take: I haven’t checked the prices of all the cameras on the Netflix list but this is probably the cheapest. Just sayin’.

U.S. Cinema Chain Woos Indie Filmgoers

Posted on by
Reply

Jill Goldsmith writes on Deadline that Marcus Theatres Nudges Patrons Toward Indie Films With Loyalty Program.

Marcus Theatres of the Marcus Corporation is the fourth-largest cinema chain in the U.S. with over 1,000 screens.

The new monthly subscription plans are MovieFlex ($9.99) and MovieFlex+ ($14.99.)

Jill quotes Marcus CEO Greg Marcus as saying, “We can’t live off just blockbusters. We cannot just live off dinner. We need breakfast and lunch too.”

“The question is, is there enough demand in the market? We just don’t know that yet. But it’s promising. We are just going to continue watching, tweaking, working with content partners. But we are seeing positive signs. We want to be a very open book and share what’s happening with the studios, and get their feedback. There’s work to do on companion tickets, and families. And once we get through that, to figure out what the demand is. We want this to be a win-win-win for everyone.”

Marcus Theatres already showcases indie movies in their Spotlight Films series.

My take: I sincerely hope this experiment works. Diversifying the cinema experience beyond comic book movies at a reasonable price is truly a win-win-win for the audience, the theatre and indie filmmakers. It will also counter the rise of streaming and keep another distribution option open.