Preview: “Social Change, Social Media & Social Filmmaking”

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March 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm


#DocChange

Interested in learning how to raise awareness for your organization by using video? If so, the panel, “Social Change, Social Media & Social Filmmaking” presented by Dorothy Engelman, Rob Dyer, Sherien Barsoum and Meghan Warby might be of interest to you.

Presenter Dorothy Engelman, executive director of q media solutions and one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women according to the Women’s Executive Network (WXM), was gracious enough to give her input on the benefits of documentary-style online video for organizations.

When asked how video impacts the nonprofit sector and the media industry, Engelman responds, “Huge — video and our ability to share through social media connects new audiences to far broader audiences…”— “it (video) connects you to like-minded people and engages you beyond a traditional observational-journalistic view.”

Engelman explains that current technology is affordable and easy to access. She suggests purchasing a video editing software (i.e. final cut), an SLR camera (i.e. Canon 5 or 7D), a Zoom recorder, and a microphone to begin shooting. Engelman also advises people to film short movies in order to learn the craft and arrangement of a story. When asked what type of strategies a person might use to effectively produce a video, she replies, “Research, research and more research.  Then “casting,” finding the right subjects who can articulate the story is the most important ingredient.”

“Real stories are powerful forces for change—but today, a short film or even a feature length film needs an engagement strategy. Ultimately, if you want to make change you have to engage people to find their way into the story. Education and awareness are the first steps—but “transmedia storytelling” approaches also give your audience a way to engage in…”

Engelman’s panel is set to bring together an innovative set of top filmmakers, communicators, and change agents to discuss the various ways of incorporating documentary-style online video to your organization. The group will share their knowledge through tips, tools, and tactics that can best benefit organizations like non-profits.

“It (video) raises awareness, often it can be a powerful fundraising tool for an organization— it can also help NPR’s (not for profits) that are aligned with your cause…”

Overall, Engelman’s session seems like a promising panel for those seeking additional resources to promote and make awareness of a social change via video. Thus, if you want more information regarding tips for documentary-style online video, make sure to attend this panel.

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From No Budget to Low Budget

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March 15, 2009 at 8:07 pm


This excellent indie film related panel consisted of the following people:

Tips to go from no budget to low/high budget?

  • Nigro-There’s no paradigm on how to get money. Networking is extremely important.  There is money to be had, but you have to pound the pavement.  Know the value of a good trailer, people want to see something that pops, they don’t want to listen, they want to see.
  • Day-work begets work.  People were willing to donate to her sho via a pay pal link, and eventually got approached by people who were willing to pay her to do the show
  • Nunes-We have day jobs that make us money, but we do passion projects on the side.  This is the reality of indie filmmaking,
  • Day-You need sound people.  Get a boom and someone who knows how to use it.

More tips on how to go from no budget to low budget?

  • Sullivan-Get someone who knows how to frame a camera
  • Nigro-Figure out what your weakest point is and find someone to fill that
  • Nunes-be willing to let go and allow people to be part of the process, can be scary for auteurs
  • Day-Kill the auteur, everyone’s contribution is important.

What’s a waste of money?

  • Sullivan-Not planning, money will go flying out of your pocket.
  • Nunes-If you’re not willing to put up with working in a different style.
  • Day-Makeup artists. A dolly-no one knows how to set it up, no one knows how to do the shots.

Do you guys write for what you have?

  • Nunes-If i’m actually gonna produce something you have to take into account what you have.  Add that into your writing process.
  • Sullivan-write the best story you wanna write and try to go find it.

Felicia Day, how did you get your show sponsored by Microsoft?

  • Day-Its like building a community, tell people about show, soft sell, think as an audience member.

When do you turn down money?

  • Nunes-Listen to your gut.
  • Nigro-When you’re making a low budget film your goal is to make your next film.
  • Nunes-You can do you’re passionate about

Define low budget

  • Sullivan-At my day job-under 2 million, personal-half mill.  Its all relative, $4,000 goes a lot farther in Austin than in LA or NYC.
  • Nigro-Anything outside the studio system is low budget.
  • Day-Web video is very low budget, its all about what story you want to tell.

On the new media landscape

  • Day-Studios aren’t making money on Hulu.  We’re in a weird transition phase, buts its also a very interesting time.  The ad dollars haven’t caught up yet.  Web video is growing because people want more control over their products.
  • Nunes-The old way of media production doesn’t work anymore.
  • Scibona-People approach me and say they’re creating just for the web
  • Day-I’m inventing as I go along, experiment, tell the best story.
  • Nunes-The internet now is like early tv was.

Marketing your film

  • Nigro-A huge mistake people make is not putting marketing into the budget, and film festivals, etc.
  • Scibona-Think of your film as a jar of spaghetti sauce
  • Nunes-Think of hooks that can become marketing stratagies

On lighting

  • Nigro-I shot a feature in black once.
  • Sullivan-If you can’t afford real lights, go to home depot.  Do whatever you can to add to your story.
  • Day-the gaffer is always my best friend on my shoots.

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My.sxsw.com: Making SX Social

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March 2, 2009 at 4:27 pm


mysxswlogo61If you have a few hours to kill and you’re already registered for SXSW 2009, you should defnitely check out my.sxsw.com. Filled to the brim with every official music, film and interactive event at the festival, you can create your own personalized schedule so you don’t miss a beat when the conference hits Austin in just a few days. After signing up for it this afternoon, I’ve already added my faves to my profile. And yes, it literally took me about 20 minutes to parouse the overwhelming list of bands and interactive events, many of which aren’t on the sxsw.com schedule. I haven’t even begun looking at the film list.

After attending SXSW Interactive last year, I understand the imporance of planning ahead. Sometimes panels and events can be overcrowded, cancelled (rarely), or it just isn’t all it was cracked up to be. In those cases, it’s always good to have a backup plan, and my.sxsw.com is perfect for that. In addition to making a schedule, the site is also a great way to get the buzz going on cutting edge topics. The “My Groups” feature allows users to get to know other attendees based on similar interests, covering everything from social networking to web development and design. And networking with other professionals is a huge feature of this festival.

Other features of My.sxsw.com include uploading badge photos, creating contact lists of people to “follow,” commenting on each event and sending/receiving messages to other attendees. While the site could stand to be a little more interactive, it provides a great forum for getting those conversations started early, and it’s a helpful resource for making this SX experience your very own.

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Preview: The Unholy Marriage of Video Games and Film

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February 17, 2009 at 8:14 pm


Mark Bristol of Id Software to speak

Id Software

Aside from being uber excited to hear Wired editor Chris Anderson‘s keynote, there are a million other panels I’m anxious to check out.  There are so many awesome panels this year that you can’t help but miss out on something interesting.

As a filmmaker and video game lover I’m looking forward to checking out From Framing Shots to Pushing Pixels: Crossing Between Film and Video Games .  The panel takes place on the last day of the interactive at 5 in room 12AB.

Rodney Gibbs, studio head at Fizz Factor and Mark Bristol, cinematics director at Id Software, will be presenting on the increasingly myopic line between film and games.  Gibbs oversees the development of both console and handheld games at Fizz Factor.  Id Software is responsible for giving the world the generous gifts of Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake and Mark Bristol worked as a storyboard artist on the Christopher Nolan film Memento, which is in my personal top ten films of all-time.  Its therefore imperative that I attend this panel and meet this guy.  I hope you are ready for a stalker Mark.

The focus of the panel will be on how to translate skills back and forth between the platforms.  In a climate where video game releases are larger than film openings and where games have incorporated many aspects of film this panel promises to deliver some serious bang.  Its almost a no-brainer that these two platorms will continue to converge, so get ready for “the way of the future.”

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