Shoot your film with an iPhone?
Filmmakers the world over are working their ways around technical limitations imposed with low budgets by adopting iPhone and DSLR tech to shoot long-format films.
Despite the recent unraveling of the sneaky stuff Steve Job’s & Co. might have/ might not have been up to (like keeping tabs on the whereabouts of several million iPhone users), there is still something cool to do with it before tossing it into the sea to protect your geo privates…
Bourne Legacy: Explosive Transmedia Opp?
I’m a big fan of the Bourne films, and when Tony Gilroy grabbed the wheel to direct The Bourne Legacy, I got excited. Gilroy seeks to expand the Bourne universe in a big way; add to this the wide-open potential of a transmedia push and things get really interesting…
Holding my Breath for Bourne
I’m waiting in eager anticipation for what Tony Gilroy has in store for we mere mortals in late summer 2012 when The Bourne Legacy drops. Hopefully, it’ll drop in a big time ‘transmedial’ fashion. I’m fascinated with Transmedia storytelling and the Bourne franchise, so after immersing myself in Simon Pulman’s recent post on what Director Tony Gilroy’s got up his sleeve, I just had to share. I invite you to have a go, below.
Expanding the Bourne Story Universe with Tony Gilroy
(Origional article re-posted here with kind permission of Simon Pulman @ Transmythology.com)
“There were some minor updates in the trades this past week regarding the status of the fourth Bourne movie, tentatively titled Bourne Legacy. Actors including Jake Gyllenhaal, Garrett Hedlund and Michael Fassbender are reportedly in the mix for the film, to be helmed by Tony Gilroy. The interesting thing is that the actors are not reading for the recast role of Jason Bourne (previously played by Matt Damon). Instead, Bourne Legacy is intended to expand the story universe in a way that builds upon the existing trilogy of movies, as explained by Tony Gilroy last October:
Tony Gilroy; Taking the high road.
“The easiest way to think of it is an expansion or a reveal. Jason Bourne will not be in this film, but he’s very much alive. What happened in the first three films is the trigger for what happens. I’m building a legend and an environment and a wider conspiracy…the world we’re making enhances and advances and invites Jason Bourne’s return [down the road].
Everything you saw in the first three films actually happened, and everyone who got into [it] will be rewarded for paying attention. We’re going to show you the bigger picture, the bigger canvas. When you see what we’re going and see what we’re doing it’ll be pretty obvious….but Jason Bourne’s actvities in the first three films is the immediate trigger.”
Transmedia, Tony & The Really Big Picture
Amongst an increasingly reboot-friendly Hollywood paradigm, this is an incredibly ambitious and exciting approach to continuing a franchise. What Gilroy appears to be doing, of course, is consciously adopting a Transmedia approach to development – the notion of a “wider conspiracy,” a “bigger picture,” and rewards for the audience for paying attention to the bigger story (while presumably not alienating new viewers) are central tenants of Transmedia. Accordingly, I first want to touch upon why this is a good idea before discussing a few challenges Gilroy and Universal might face – and some techniques they might consider.
Continuing the story begun in the earlier films will actually benefit the franchise because it will necessitate the planning and expansion of the world around the story. Though Jason Bourne has proven to be an appealing, robust protagonist, he is still only a pawn in a much bigger political landscape within the world of the movies. By choosing to explore this bigger world – note that Gilroy talks about a “wider conspiracy” and a “bigger canvas” – the creative team will actually set themselves with the palette that will enable them to tell “Bourne” stories across multiple platforms and a large period of time. Audiences will tolerate reboots up to a point, but rebooting a franchise every time you need a new protagonist will ultimately kill it.
Which points to another boon of the strategy: the validation of audience trust. In the quotes above, Gilroy speaks of “rewarding” fans for paying attention to the story so far. Now, of course, the new movie will have to be totally coherent to new viewers. But by referring to the past movies, Universal is sending a message: the Bourne universe matters; it is meaningful. Every time you reboot a franchise, you have to discard the ground work put down beforehand. A reboot might bring in new fans, but it might also leave existing fans who have invested emotionally in the story feeling cheated.
Moreover, the strategy sends another message, this time to actors: the franchise is not about one person. As I’ve noted in the past, I have tremendous respect for (most) movie stars and I realize that they remain an enormous draw for audiences. However, it’s an unenviable situation for studios to be in when they have to negotiate a huge contract for a star with a massive first-dollar gross cut simply to get another story off the ground. To flip that around to the actor’s perspective, expanding the franchise beyond one protagonist permits the actor to avoid becoming typecast and, perhaps, “move upstairs” to a producer role (and keep benefitting financially).
Which brings me to something that I really like about Gilroy’s quotes: the distant mountains he presents in the form of Jason Bourne’s potential return. Now, I don’t know whether Matt Damon would want to return to the franchise in any capacity, or whether a deal could be struck to enable this. At any rate, it’s a wonderful tease for fans to think that the story could be leading to something big and exciting that would bring together – in some respect – the “old” and “new” generation of characters. As an aside, this is one reason why it doesn’t always make sense to kill your protagonists even if you feel their arc has concluded – there might just be an interesting way to reincorporate them in another story “epoch.”
What Universal and Gilroy Need to Do
So the intent to expand the story is admirable; how do the creatives behind Bourne Legacy actually pull it off? Here are a few ideas drawn from Transmedia development techniques.
Firstly, they need to understand why the first three movies worked – aside from the superficial answers of “Matt Damon” or “lots of cool action.” Those two factors were important, clearly, but the Bourne series must have resonated emotionally with audiences for reasons beyond them (otherwise, I would guess, Green Zone might have done better). Thus, the Bourne producers need to look at the deeper themes that motivated the action in those films and the inherent conflict in the story. Though the Jason Bourne character may not be present, the struggles that he represented should be articulated – though perhaps expressed differently – through the new protagonist.
Secondly, Universal needs to work out where the Bourne universe stands at the moment – including any potentially confusing elements of the films to date – and thoughtfully consider how to expand the story world. Gilroy is clearly already thinking bigger picture, but Universal needs to understand that it is necessary not only to set up the ninety minute arc of the next film but to robustly calibrate the story world in a way that will tolerate a further three films, plus multi-platform Transmedia elements. In the new paradigm, truly world-class franchises must be able to be artfully distributed across novels, mobile platforms, video games and so on. This can only occur with thoughtful planning and upfront investment. I’d guess that for $3-4 million, Universal could put together a 15 year game plan for Bourne that would generate upwards of $500m of additional revenue. It’s a worthwhile commitment.
Now we come to the issue of informing fans of the new plan. A director is attached who, from what I can gather, has a concrete plan. The time to think about the seeding of the new premise with fans is right now – not while the film is being shot, or according to traditional marketing models. Those models, based predominately on P&A expenditure, may not be sufficient to convincingly answer the two key questions that will be asked of Universal by the average moviegoer: “where is Matt Damon?” and “where is Jason Bourne?” Fans need to be educated that this is not a thoughtless cash-in or shoddy spin-off, but an exciting development in an expansive story.
Door #3- Transmedia
This is where Transmedia implementation can come in. Universal needs to construct a Transmedia plan that tastefully anticipates the coming film, introducing audiences to the shift in point of view in a way that fits into the story. The twenty year gap between Tron and Tron: Legacy was explained through an ARG and prequel comic that set up the story for the sequel quite well, and filled in a lot of gaps. Yet those stories, though relatively successful, reached a relatively small proportion of the mass audience that Disney wanted to attract to the film. Universal should begin strategizing now as regard to ways that the Bourne story can be set up so it reaches a large proportion of the movie going public. Some of that work can be covered by press and PR, admittedly, but that press still needs to point audiences back to story. How the project should be executed is up to debate – hence the need to invest time and money – but I would think that mobile technology would be a natural fit for the franchise.
A Final Note
Bourne Legacy is slated for an August 2012 release, so if Universal wishes to adopt Transmedia as it should, it ought to make a decision fairly promptly. It is important to stress, however, that this is not a light undertaking – it will require co-operation from the director, writers, producers, actors and various divisions of the studios. Yet, in my view, it’d be well worth it – there is the opportunity to redefine the way in which studios continue franchises and do something truly spectacular.
A big Thank You to Simon Pulman for allowing his kind permission to repost his article here.
(Original Post: Simon Pulman, Transmythology.com)
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, NYC
Have you been to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in NYC?
Brilliant place to drop in a for a while, an have a gander a the resplendent abundance of original comic art lining the walls, literally floor to ceiling. Amazing stuff to behold, whether you happen to be a hardcore comic and cartoon fan or no- the work begs for your eyeballs to wander.
I had the great pleasure of joining a panel of directors and animators as a ‘Spotlight Panelist’ following a screening of several stop-motion animation films, including my own award-winning short, The Pit and the Pendulum. The event was the brain-child of Aurelio Voltaire, a New York-based filmmaker and musician with a penchant for comically dark, mildly disturbing and always captivating stop-motion animated shorts, commercials and music videos, and a comic book creator in his own right.
The event was absolutely packed, with many of the fun-seeking folks standing thru the duration of the films & the panel discussion following. Voltaire was of course in fine form as usual, leading the way with numerous tales of comic mayhem in the industry. I got to share in some of the crazy fun, telling stories of days past at Broadcast Arts in New York, working with Voltaire on several insane commercial campaigns, and insight into the comedy and tragedy that consitutes the animation profession. Witness to the hijinks were several animation heavies from our salad days, including executive producer Russ Dube of Wowhouse Pictures, animation artist extraordinaire Ron Cole, and master puppet builder Sal Denaro. What a time! Too bad for me I was only around for a few days, I would have loved to jump down to the Tribeca Film Festival with Russ- maybe another year.
When in New York, do yourself a favour and check out The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art- wonderful, and they can always use your support. Many thanks to Voltaire for putting this thing together, the Museum curators and volunteers for making it a great night at their wonderful space, the filmmakers, and of course, the folks who showed to share some laughs, and inspiration- what a great time!
Director/ Stop Motion Guru Henry Selick spills the beans on making CORALINE, Tim Burton & working w/ Neil Gaiman
A very cool video interview with Coraline Director Henry Selick, where he discusses his approach to directing, stop motion animation, and film production from a creator/ director’s perspective. Enlightening, interesting, and educational! Have a look- click on the image below for linkage to the video;
For a bevvy of brilliant video interviews and Behind the Scenes exclusives, head on over to MakingOf.com- wonderful site for the low-down on films and series in production, with lots of info from the folks behind the camera. Definitely worth a few minutes to look around! Cheers, M.
In the digital age, how do we define ‘filmmaker’?
Wonderful post from Chris Dorr, Digital Media Strategist and Consultant on being a filmmaker in this burgeoning digital age in which we find ourselves. Have a read and please, feel free to share your thoughts – M.
Isn’t it curious in this age where more moving images get created and distributed digitally that there is this group of people who still call themselves “filmmakers”? It seems a term that is so archaic, so analogue, so yesterday’s news. But is it any of these?
I think filmmakers look for three opportunities that truly define them as filmmakers.
They are:
1. The ability to tell a visual story from beginning to end, without any interruption, as a complete, continuous experience. This is what separates them from people who create stories for TV as most TV series are produced with commercial interruptions or different viewings (episodes) in mind.
2. The chance to have an audience gather in a theater and watch this visual story together, as a shared experience in time and space. In the course of a film’s distribution it may be seen in a lot of different settings, public or private, but the filmmaker is making the film with this key audience in mind. This is the primary target of all his/her imaginings.
3. The opportunity to see his/her film with an audience. Filmmakers want to physically experience the film with an audience. The filmmaker wants to see if they laugh or cry when he/she intended, if the audience got the point–to see if their film really succeeded at reaching another human being. As every filmmaker knows who has done this–a genuinely scary moment.
So each of these opportunities really goes to the heart of what is most essential about calling yourself a filmmaker.
Think of them as a set of principles about the relationship between the creator of a film and the audience for which it is intended.
And here is what is most surprising as we move from the analogue past to the digital future.
These opportunities are not disappearing into the analogue past.
In fact, they are just beginning to open up.
(Post by Chris Dorr- digitaldorr.com)
Celtx Studio rocks indy film production
CeltX will Make Your Day.
Celtx is an awesome multi-media tool for the filmmaker. media production person looking for a great tool with lots to offer , on the cheap. I don’t mean mass- produced, “Made in Ch__a” cheap, but inexpensive, considering the armload of Awesome Celtx delivers, and with much aplomb.
Once I got Celtx onboard my machines, I was thoroughly impressed with the user-friendly interface, enabling me to conjure properly formatted scripts from the ether like the next wannabe writer/ director. That was an empowering moment. From there, things have only
gotten better, and here’s why; Celtx has expanded into a full-on production package (Celtx Studio), helping artists to produce all types of media; film, video, documentary, theatre, machinima, comics, advertising, video games, music video, radio, podcasts, and videocasts. Whatever way you choose to tell your story, Celtx Studio can help.
Here’s some info from the site:
“You can use Celtx for the entire production process – write scripts, storyboard scenes and sequences, sketch setups, develop characters, breakdown & tag elements, schedule productions, and prepare and circulate informative reports for cast and crew.
Celtx is designed to help your entire production team work together on a single, easy to share project file – eliminating the confusion of multiple project files, and the need for ‘paper and binder’. Together, Celtx and Celtx Studios give you the most complete media pre-production system available.
The free Celtx desktop software delivers the most fluid writing experience. You can always keep your fingers moving as fast as your thoughts and your creative flow is never interrupted. Low-cost Celtx Studios complete your system with an advanced tool set for collaboration, workflow management, and project storage. Celtx puts a choice of fully integrated development tools right at your fingertips, giving you total flexibility to determine how your story takes shape.”
How cool is that? I love this package! Pricing for 5 or more users in a ‘studio’ starts at a paltry $4.99 /month. That’s $1.00 per month/ per user for the full monty!
Here is an insightful interview with Celtx founder Mark Kennedy (courtesy of Filmmaker.com). Head on over to the Celtx site for a bevvy of great videos pertaining to the Celtx Studio, and some heavy hitters using Celtx in production.
Excelsior!
-M
The Pit and the Pendulum Comic Book Release to honor Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th Anniversary in ’09
SNEAK PREVIEW GALLERY!
On Shelves February 25th, 2009! Order yours today at your favorite comic shop or book retailer- from Bluewater Productions! See the preview pages at The Official Film Blog!
The success of the stop motion animated film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum has prompted the release of the comic book version of the film. Scheduled for a February 25th, 2009 release thru Bluewater Productions of Portland, Oregon, the stop-motion film to comic will be a first for production partners Bluewater Productions and Hand Made Heroes Film & Television, honoring Gothic horror maestro Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th anniversary.
Wrapping up production and starting on the DVD, Lougee got in contact with Darren Davis of Bluewater Productions, famous for their Ray Harryhausen Presents Signature line of comics, as well as the Vince Price Presents line. Lougee pitched the idea of producing the story as a one-off comic, using the film images and Davis enthusiastically jumped on board, rallying the crew at Bluewater to help get the pendulum swinging.
“While we were in the throes of production on the short, I had the idea of pursuing various media outlets for the film and the story itself”, explains the film’s director, Marc Lougee. “So much of what we’ve been doing over the last couple of years to promote the film has involved the internet, social media and ‘alternative ‘ means of promotion for the project, as I wanted to explore the options that were available to us in pushing the story a little further, outside of the traditional channels of film distribution. Doing a comic was something I’ve always been keen to try, so we utilized the still images from the stop motion film as ‘sequential art’ in comic form; the result is a sort of hybrid between the film, a graphic novel and a short story comic. I think it’s a very cool-looking way of telling the story with a fresh approach.”
Sequential art in comics is a familiar sight for most everyone, but utilizing the images used in the film itself and re-processing them for another type of ‘sequential art’ made sense to both Lougee and Producer Susan Ma.
” With the multitude of delivery systems available, be it print, online, broadcast, et al, there are so many way of supplying a film or story to your audience.” states Susan, “A short film, being what it is, faces limitations in the sense it has much less of a chance of being screened outside of niche markets and events, such as film festivals. There are few real options to see shorts outside the festival circuit (location-based and online), unless you feel inclined to send it off thru a distributor or post it online yourself.
Many times we’ve found the film would be sold as a package with a host of other films, which I felt would lessen the impact and the viewing experience. As filmmakers, it was important for us to explore the broader potential for our film thru comic book publishing, and sought out a smaller, indy film friendly publisher. Thankfully, we found just that combination in Darren Davis and Bluewater Productions, and now with the comic set for release in February, we feel we’ve got another opportunity to see a broader range of visibility for EA Poe’s wonderful story, and another means of getting the story into the hands of fans everywhere.
One of the great aspects of working with Darren and the gang at Bluewater is that we share the same ideas pertaining to use of comic art for educational purposes. In producing the film, and the comic, we very much would like to see the two included in classrooms as an aid in helping students visualize Poe’s writing, starting with The Pit and the Pendulum.”
Marc adds; “We’re all about making the story of The Pit and the Pendulum accessible to students, teachers and fans of the Gothic genre. The goal is to get folks to spend more time with Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tale, to help see the subtleties in the story and lay groundwork for discussion in class. In the case of students studying EA Poe’s work, I feel this sort of approach, the combination of films & comics in tandem, may help get kids interested in literature.This is especially relevant as we’re in the midst of Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th anniversary; what better time to get to know the man and his work than now?”
Ray Harryhausen Presents; The Pit and the Pendulum short film Official Website
Director Marc Lougee Website
Bluewater Productions, Comic Publishers
