Avid Tutorial 04: Capturing

This tutorial takes you through capturing footage on the Avid and has many great timesaving tips and tricks.

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Avid Tutorial 03: Basic Editing

This tutorial takes you through through the basic editing on an Avid Media Composer: selecting footage, playing footage, and adding and removing shots from your sequence. It even also feature an advanced tip on the use of three point editing. Enjoy!

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SEA of emotion: tools for writers

Written By:
Christopher Rice

Norbit provides the audience with a trio-performance by Eddie Murphy as well as a great example of sympathy and antipathy. From a writer’s point of view, it’s you job to supply the audience with a character that presents empathy, sympathy, or antipathy or a combination of the three. This is how to get your readers invested with your characters and fuse together in an emotional bond. By doing this, you create a link where then readers can feel the conflict and worry about what’s at stake.

In case you’re not sure what sympathy is, lets look at an example from Norbit:
As a grown man, Norbit takes abuse and harassment like your car’s engine in Hollywood’s traffic. His wife, even goes as far as cheating on him then reprimands him for even thinking she would do such a thing. This is a great example of empathy: First it creates a situation everyone can identify with and second, it allows the reader to step into their shoes an imagine what they would do. This is empathy.

Sympathy on the other hand can be seen in Forrest Gump when Momma defends Forrest as they walk down the street for the first time with braces on his legs and are starred upon. The reader feels bad for the poor kid … but doesn’t imagine what they would do in that situation. That’s sympathy.

Antipathy should be reserved for your antagonist and for the rare occation that a character looses their grip in a situation and reveals their inner thoughts or motivations, as seen in “Meet the Fockers” when Gaylord is drugged to tell the truth and he spills his thoughts about his mother-in-law, his wife, and his past … and the audience hates him for that.
But for a broad example of antipathy, look at any major antagonist of a film. Lead Nazi in Schindler’s List, the Emperor in Star Wars, and Voldemort from the Harry Potter Series are all extreme examples of characters the audience feels antipathy while watching or reading.

Combining these emotionally pulls allows the reader to get involved, pick sides, and root for your antagonist. Remember, Captain Jack Sparrow? He’s another breed. Though the audience sees him as the coolest pirate of all time, some of his actions force the audience to feel antipathy instead of sympathy. This is a fine example of a trickster character getting the best of the characters and the audience – you never know which side he;s on, therefore, you question yourself and switch sides throughout the story until you realize what his true character is and where he stands in the big picture.

Try identifying these types of emotions next time you see a movie and define how a character makes you feel. One thing to watch out for when writing is to write a feel-sorry-for-me character whom mopes around and forces the audience into feeling bad for them … that’s cheap and ineffective because the only emotion you’ll inject into the reader with that character is frustration and anger. Take note of how family, co-workers, and friends make you feel as an audience, friend, and character in your story – it’s a great exercise.

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Avid Tutorial 02: Getting Started

Here's the second video in my Avid Tutorial series. This video goes over starting a project and working with your settings and bins.

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Avid Tutorial 01: Intro

At long last I've made a tutorial for Avid Media Composer. Here is the first of what I hope to be many tutorials.

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My Best Friend Murphy: Or How I Realized That Anything Can Happen

Every time I look over my shoulder, the newsstand attendant appears to be starring at me from his little chair, skinny legs crossed, his fragile little cigarette begging to be flicked of dead ash – kind of like when smokers’ cough tries to rid of the dead ash from their lungs … but can’t. Maybe it’s because he’s actually one of thousands of bipedal aliens here to observe the human race inhabiting overlooked employment positions such as newsstand tenants, gas station clerks, taxi drivers, even … Hollywood runners! Or, maybe it’s because I bought the daily trades twenty minutes ago and I’m still parked in front of his stand with a dead battery under the hood of my car. Whatever the reason, he’s starring at me from his little chair, it’s 101 degrees at nine O’clock in the morning, I have work in ten minutes, and my car won’t start. Great Monday.

As a film producer and director, I’m not a stranger to Murphy’s Law, in fact I’m more of a friend because we see each other so often, so I had jumper cables in my trunk as well as a friend at work. Working in Hollywood is like working for Murphy himself; and you have to learn to expect the unexpected, predict the unpredictable, and even fly … well, if you can consistently tell the future then you’re obviously super-human … or alien. It reminds me of the play I saw over the weekend, titled “Peter Pan”. The performers had to be on their feet at all times and improve in case something went unplanned or off-script.

Unfortunately, the runner is somewhat like the editor of a picture; they’re unseen and unheard when they do their job well; like every entry level position in the industry but when they make a mistake, they have to answer to the big cheese with an explanation.
Such as the time I was sitting in for the Big Cheese’s assistant and he asked, with a playful smile upon his face I might add,
“Is there a runner around? Can I get a yoo-hoo.” you might know it as the chocolate drink with the yellow wrapper. The came as a non-pleasant surprise because he usually had juice or soda with a cup of ice in the morning, which was neatly arranged by the assistant’s desk. The other runner is out so I grab my keys and hit the road to the closest gas station imagining what I would do if I didn’t know that gas stations carry yoo-hoos. Thanks to Murphy, the station only carried the Starbucks’ frapaccino drinks. So I drive to the drug store. Thanks to Starbucks, the drug store only carries Starbucks … it’s true, Starbucks is taking over the world – at least we know now. As if struggling to check under a rock on the bottom of the ocean for a spare scuba tank while slowly suffocating, I sped to another gas station and to my surprise, I found the scuba tank! I bought two yoo-hoos for security because for all I knew, a combination of earthquake and a freak-lightening strike could send the yoo-hoo out of the open window and into the opening ravine previously known as Sunset Boulevard and into molten hot lava or send it into an open sewer top where it would break upon it’s impact with the sewer floor … and create four teenage mutant ninja turtles and sensei rat – Hey, it may not be green or glowing but it’s still very potent. So even after all that hard work of getting Murphy’s yoo-hoo, I approach the big cheese with his bottle of chocolate ooze and he expresses a puzzled look on his face. What he said was short and sharp … like the knife in Psycho plummeting into my ears as if following the beat of a metronome. “I didn’t mean go buy one. I have them in my fridge. I just wanted a glass of ice.” Hence, hard work gets overlooked.

On the bright side, he laughed about the incident and to my surprise, I survived another day and became closer to Murphy. After a few bumps with Murphy’s Law, you grow to enjoy the challenges he reveals. Which brings me back to the incident that inspired me to write this article in the first place … my dead car.

After a quick jumpstart, I was headed toward the dealership near downtown … or at least I thought I was. I was heading down Fairfax Ave from Sunset in hopes of banging a left on Olympic but found myself in Venice soon after. I should have known to turn around earlier when I passed Pico because it was the first major street after Olympic. By this time, I know that Murphy and I must be best of friends. After a while of blind navigation, as usual when you don’t have a clue where you’re going, I found the dealership.
“You have to go to 444 Vernon for servicing” or Victor or some street with a V. After a quick trek to the service center, and four hours later, I was driving with a new battery under the hood and 90 dollars less from my wallet. So much for warrantee. Today is another day and surprises lurk and lay around every corner.

I’ve got to run to the bank but as a final thanks to Murphy, I remind everyone pursuing a career in the entertainment industry that Murphy’s Law is a very powerful element in the business. Not only because it can bog you down with unexpected circumstances but also because it can present you with unforeseen opportunity. Murphy’s Law can be a best friend to those flying blind into this crazy business because, after all, Murphy reminds us all that anything can happen.

Christopher Rice
President
BackPocket Entertainment
http://www.ScriptDig.com

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World Trade Center

Because the story is based on true events and people, it required a gentle and respectable approach of direction not only for the people the story it portrayed but for the audiences that remember September 11th. Oliver Stone directed the story and subject matter with a sensitive eye creating a brilliant story of true heroism while respecting audiences’ memory of the incident by being unobtrusive and inoffensive.

The sparse morning streets of New York City resemble your memory of driving to the airport way to early but for others, such as cabbies, bus drivers, business people, and police officers, the cold blue color of the morning is the only peaceful moment of their day. The film’s beginning wraps up everyone’s recollection of how the day started … normal.

The film is one of the great stories where a couple characters are the center of the story amongst a national disaster. The relationships are genuine, heart-touching, and identifiable just as the characters are merely your next door neighbors ... that rise to the level of heroism at the right place and right time.

Oliver Stone deserves a round of applause for his unobtrusive approach to the story, for the audience never feels that visuals of the actual incident are jammed down their throats. The story is truly told from the officers’ points of view, therefore, creating an easier story to take part with. The best way to put it is that the story is told from, ironically yet realistically, distant point of view even though the characters are literally under the incident.

As the credits roll and the curtains close, the audience can’t help but look to one another with a loving eye and smile with patriotic love and friendship.

Christopher Rice
President
BackPocketEntertainment

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BackPocket's 48 hour Deadline

BackPocket Entertainment is an organization that produces short films for exhibition in film festivals. Recently, “A La Carte”, the first short for the company, was wrapped after a year-long battle of persistence and determination. “The footage is fantastic,” I would say, “Hughes is doing a great job lighting this picture and it simply wouldn’t come together with out Katie.” But I found myself overwhelmed with exhaustion from lack of communication between key players in the production. One example that really stumped the production was when the main security contact at the location broke his cell phone and I no longer had direct contact with him. Because of these technical difficulties, I ended up wrapping the shoot early and ultimately cutting the short together as an experimental film. Hopefully it will be up on the site shortly. Lesson learned … shoot as fast as possible!

Today BackPocket is doing just that; with the 48 hour film project. The 48 hour competition is an international film challenge and travels to Los Angeles this June where it will meet with the registered film producers and begin the drawing of the elements. The elements will consist of a certain character, prop, genre, and line of dialogue that will be the make-up of every team’s entry. Members of the BackPocket team, including Actress, Katie Christiansen – who’s represented by AdAstra Management and the Dangerfield Agency, from “A La Carte”, and myself started brainstorming ideas for the competition the other night and came up with some strong leads. Although details can’t be revealed, the team has a crime drama in its sights for the competition and we're keeping our fingers crossed for an adaptable genre.

Among the creative team, Jacob Sparks, Mel Novak, and Kevin Nieman are all on board to provide their writing talent for the project and will meet around 8:00pm on June 23 to collaborate. Sparks and Nieman are currently working on “Colours”, a short animation film, for BackPocket that will start preproduction after the summer. Matt Sutphen, comedic actor/flight instructor, will star with Katie in the short and provide his ability of quick improvisation to fill the bulk of the dialogue. Rob Hashemi, associate producer, will direct the EPK and provide the secret location that will add tremendous production value. I have set a schedule for the 48 hour production so that the team is well-paced and on time. After the big brainstorm on June 23rd, the material will be written and finished by the early morning of the 24th. Later that morning, the shoot will begin and end that night. From there, I'll cut, score, and deliver the project to the producers of the competition.

I'm on a roll with this project and the one thing I suggest every producer out there does ... is set their own dead-lines. I know, I know, it's hard because you don't know how long things take but you HAVE to do it. Its something I didn't do on "A La Carte" and that shoot took a year! It may be overwhelming to look at the empty calendar and have to decide when to shoot - afterall, you need at least a week to prepare the script and pre- PICK ANY DATE and go with it. If it helps, tell everyone you know so that there's pressure to go through with your project. Close your eyes, point at the calendar, and call everyone that can help you.

BackPocket, like the team, is still growing. The organization plans to not only produce short films but also develop feature-length screenplays, host screenplay contests, and even supply industry news. BackPocket makes it a goal to strive on creative material while maintaining an artist-friendly environment where artists of all kinds can work on material together and see it come to life on the screen.

Reguards,
Christopher Rice
ScriptDig.com

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RED from NAB - Impression and more! (with Pics)

Well - I got to NAB on Thursday which happens to be the last day of the convention so presumably I missed the bulk of the crowd. For those of you who have never been - NAB is huge!

Of course Avid's and Apple's booths (more like cities) are easy to find. Avid is right in front of you when you walk in and Apple is conveniently to the right making as much counter noise as possible. But it was really really hard to find RED's booth! I must have walked 10 city blocks.

All I can say - whoever designed the showroom map should be shot. The booths aren't numbered in order - so there's no logical way to find anything. I basically had to study every square inch of the 5 foot map before I found the words RED.

But I found the booth:



There wasn't a lot of people there when I got there - there were more than the pic above but I though the above was more interesting to post. :) I did hear that on the first day or so that area was packed to the gills!

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Once you got inside you could take a look at the prototypes among other things and look at their schmancy brochure.


Above is what greeted you when you first walked into their booth. I asked a representative what it was and he said that it was a piece of "inspirational art" that inspired them when they designed the camera. I'm not joking.


Above is the working prototype for the camera. They said the case design is always changing and they are going through many many prototype case designs, as seen in the pics below:




All in all the RED seems pretty interesting. I'm really liking the idea that it will shoot 120fps. But my biggest concern is their storage medium and codec. I really really don't want to have to be tethered to a drive array when shooting. (they said that this would be necessary when shooting 4K) Hopefully they can get that worked out.

But it seems like so far it's mostly vaporware - hopefully for change sake they deliver. If only just to shake up the market! I'd be interested to see how much it gets used when it comes out. Hopefully it won't create too many post nightmares on my end. :) But the concept and idea is really neat. I wish them luck!

I then moved on upstairs to the Sony and Cannon cities - Sony's was even bigger than Avid's who definitely won the prize for the biggest city on the bottom floor of the convention.



They had these areas set up with models where you could shoot them with the many cameras they had on display. I thought it was pretty interesting. They also had tons of objects with different shapes and textures that you could test the cameras out on as well. It was the first time I've made it to Sony's area - usually I just stay down in Avid's and Apple's section because I'm a post-production nerd.


Above - Media Composer Software only in all it's glory running on a G5. It's fast - it's awesome. And at $295 for an academic version how can you go wrong.


Above: the Mojo with SDI support


Above: the breakout cables for SDI, AESEBU, sync, etc.

All in all it was a great show for Avid. Hopefully Media Composer Software only will turn the ship around for them in regards to FCP. Feedback at NAB was great - I was speaking to a lot of people from Avid and they said that they have been receiving a ton of positive feedback from people. A lot of people who had moved from Avid to Final Cut because of price are starting to think of coming back with this new version.

Arguing against Avid on price alone really is a moot point now - which is wonderful since Avid is such a powerful editing tool.

Apple had nothing to show that was new. I wanted to talk to them about my FCP DVCPROHD workflow but there actually wasn't too many people available. Maybe it was because it was towards the end of the show.

All in all, my trip to Vegas was great. Sorry for taking so long to post my thoughts. I can't wait until I get a copy of Media Composer Software only in June - and I'm looking forward to some real life impressions on the RED.

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