GHOTI: Trailer Pics 2

Here's the second set of pictures from my trailer for my feature film Ghoti. (There's a third set of pics coming later this week or next.) Click to enlarge all photos.


Here I simultaneously sip java and direct up my own personal SWAT Team to storm my house. I wish all Mondays could start like this.
Left to right: Brian Dahl, Mike Sheldon, Adam Neeley, Rob Thomas, Rick Mischke and me. Hey Mike, I need you to look more serious in this shot.


Poor Adam came unshaven to the set and—since no SWAT Team guy would look like that—we had to gave him a masked look. At end of day, he peeled off the mask and was crazy sweating. Never complained once. What a trooper!


These guys look so awesome. Hey... is that Cranium on the bookshelf back there?


Note the proper extended finger as per proper SWAT Team procedure. Never let it be said we don't have realism on my set, damn it.


Here my producer Max sets up a handheld whip pan from Rob in the window above to the storming SWAT team below him. To save time and blaze through our shot list, we used almost no lights, preview monitor or boom (most of the trailer was meant to be MOS or looped in post). And, since this was all video, there was no "cleaning of the gate" or any nonsense like that to slow us down. Max is using his Canon's XL-1 (which is so small, you barely even know he's holding it), the same camera Danny Boyle used for his zombie film, 28 Days Later. I really wanted to use Max's new Glidecam, too, but it hadn't arrived yet. It didn't matter—Max is gifted at holding a steady frame.


Lacie working her makeup magic on Rob. "Make it look like someone really clocked him good," I said. "This is meant to look like an interrogation scene, after all."


And wow, look at that shiner. Nice work, Lacie. By the way, that military coat has "MAXWELL" for the name badge... which is coincidentally my producer's name. Weird how that happens, huh?

Universal: If you can't beat them...

The best way to trump piracy is to adopt the same methods pirates use. Steven Soderbergh has tried something like this already with his latest film Bubble by releasing his film in theatres and DVDs simultaneously (which I blogged about here).

Now a major studio is leading the charge. If Universal is successful in offering films for immediate download until their DVD arrives, consumers could eventually see no need to incur risk by using illegal peer-to-peer networks like eDonkey and Limewire, especially if the quality of the download far supasseses most pirated copies. Universal has the right idea in trying to lure moochers back into spending money for entertainment, but their price point is still too high: $35 for a DVD??? WTF? Um, no thanks. I can buy an hour of Lost or Battlestar Galactica off of iTunes for $2. And new DVDs are only $25. Maybe DVDs are just studidly expensive in Britain. Most everything else is in Europe.

And, unlike Soderburgh, it seems as if Universal's films will only be available for download on the day the DVDs have been released, instead of the day that their films are released in theatres. So Universal isn't truly at the cutting edge here. Still, nice try. The wind is certainly changing.

Coming soon: Download-to-own films
Friday, March 24, 2006; Posted: 8:47 a.m. EST (13:47 GMT)

LONDON, England -- Universal Pictures and the online rental firm Lovefilm are launching what they say is the world's first download-to-own movie service in Britain next month.

Starting with "King Kong" on April 10, the companies say the new service will let people watch the latest movies on their laptops, home computers or hand-held devices while on the move.

Currently, films can be legally downloaded only for a short rental period, but this is the first legitimate means of downloading and owning a movie release, the UK's Press Association reported.

"Download-to-own has the potential to completely revolutionize the way people watch movies," PA quoted Peter Smith, president of Universal Pictures International, as saying.

Films will be available to download the same day the DVD is released. Consumers will get the film in three formats: two digital files available for instant download—one for a PC or laptop and one for a portable device—and a DVD copy sent by mail.

Initially, 35 Universal films will be available, including "Pride And Prejudice," "The Bourne Supremacy," "Love Actually," "Nanny McPhee" and "Bridget Jones."

They will be priced from £19.99 ($35) for the latest releases to £9.99 ($17.50) for older films. Downloading a film will take between 40 minutes and an hour.

"The time is only 12–18 months away when you will be able to put the kettle on, get the kids ready and then have a great movie ready to watch," Lovefilm chief executive Mark Livingstone told PA.

Eventually all 6,500 movies in the Universal catalogue could be made available for downloading, PA reported.

The films will be available on the Lovefilm and AOL Web sites. AOL, like CNN, is owned by Time Warner.

New films will be available at midnight on the day of release—meaning consumers could be watching a DVD on a hand-held device on their train journey to work before stores have opened.

Security measures will make it impossible to e-mail the film to somebody else.

"Consumers are becoming more and more demanding. They want quality products and more accessibility," said Eddie Cunningham, chairman of Universal Pictures UK.

"This service offers instant access and flexibility for consumers to watch films wherever they like."

Universal's research showed that 12- to 18-year-olds in particular are keen to watch films on their laptops or portable devices.

The Superbowl in 3D... at the Cineplex?

The story below is exciting for two reasons: (1) 3D is finally starting take off as a viable medium and (2) movie theatres are starting to adapt their identity to survive the modern world.

The 3D thing is a little bit old news: James Cameron is already in production with his 3D animé Battle Angel (slated for release in 2009) and George Lucas has plans to re-release his two trilogies in 3D starting next year at the rate of one per year. Still, these directors are powerful players and they're leading the charge to establish 3D in the market—that's phase 1 of the takeover. Phase 2 happens when movie theatres step on the bandwagon, which is now happening. (Phase 3 is when the public embraces the new technology. Um, duh.)

As for (2), I've seen movie theatres pitch themselves as conference halls for big corporations and that's a clever way to make up for income lost to home theatre systems, but spotting a niche like 3D which the home consumer can't do and exploiting it? Genius! In fact, no one has ever gone to the cinemaplex to watch sports live before so this could quite possibly be the wave of the future.

Movie theaters aim for live 3D sports

Movie theater operators hope to be screening live 3D sports events by 2007 in a bid to lure sports fans away from their home theater systems and bolster sagging mid-week ticket sales.

Ticket sales at theater chains dropped 9 percent in 2005 from what analysts said was a combination of lackluster films, competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games, and the spread of large-screen, high-definition televisions and digital video recorders.

But while worldwide tickets sales are forecast to grow 12 percent over the next five years, exhibitors want to use new digital projection technology to change the way consumers think about movie theaters.

"We want to transition our theaters from being traditional movie theaters to being community entertainment destinations, and what better way to do this than sports?" said Shari Redstone, president of the National Amusements theater chain.

In 2004, during Boston Red Sox baseball fever—the year they won the World Series for the first time since 1918—National Amusements, the controlling shareholder in Viacom, began screening high-definition broadcasts of Red Sox games in its Showcase Cinemas in several New England cities on weekday nights.

The cinemas brought in vendors to stroll the aisles with hot dogs, peanuts and beer, sold team gear in the lobbies and encouraged fans to loosen up as they would in the ball park.

"We are not just putting the game up on the big screen but making the experience like being in Fenway Park," Redstone, a Red Sox fan, said. "The experience is more important, really, than what you are showing."

Other chains are looking to much-improved digital three-dimensional projection for an experience theatergoers can't get at home.

But while the projection has greatly advanced from the early 3D days, special glasses must still be worn to achieve the full effect.

Michael Lewis, chairman of privately held REAL D, which created 3D prints for the Disney's "Chicken Little," said 3D technology has tested successfully on National Football League games, but unwinding who owns the rights to screen games in theaters may be tricky.

"We think the concerts will be the first because they are easiest to do," Lewis said. "Sometime in 2007, our goal is to get live sports programming to theaters. Some of the (sports) rights holders see it as cannibalizing opportunities in other venues that they paid a lot of money for."

Brave new world
Three dimensional filming is achieved by using two digital cameras set apart the same distance as human eyes.

Lewis would not divulge which distributors Real D is working with on 3D sports broadcasts.

Peter Brown, chief executive of AMC Theatres, owned by privately held AMC Entertainment, said exhibitors are in the early stages of trying to drive more live content into their venues.

"It's a bit of a brave new world," Brown said last week at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. "The folks that control those rights or owners have to sort that out. (The contracts) weren't created with that notion in mind."

National Amusements had no problem securing rights to screen games because the Red Sox organization controls the New England Sports Network that broadcasts the team's games in the region—a lucky break, Redstone said.

"I have talked to some of the other (Viacom) entities about getting some more programming ... but it is extremely difficult to get through the rights issues," Redstone said.

Nor is it clear whether in-theater games would feature commercials or function more like pay per view.

National CineMedia, a consortium of Regal Entertainment Group, AMC and Cinemark theaters, has been working on ideas and relationships with TV networks and cable programmers, NCM Chief Executive Kurt Hall said.

National CineMedia has broadcast the NASCAR Daytona 500, Major League Soccer and part of the Tour de France in some of its theaters in past years, but wants to expand into regular sports and concert programming, especially during the weekday attendance lull.

"The intent is to cross-market the theater event and network TV programming and even start including the theater audiences in the TV ratings calculations," Hall said.

GHOTI: Trailer Pics 1

I'll be posting more pics later from the trailer shoot, but I spotted these on Rob Granados' Myspace profile, so I thought I'd post a few now. As you can see, we had real assault rifles and gear. Neat.

Rob Thomas, our resident tactical expert on set, and Rick Mischke. Both of these guys were real pros. Thanks for coming, guys!

Rick Mishke and Rob Grandados. Rob is pictured here after I kicked his ass for talking too much during takes. No, just kidding... he had a scene in an interrogation room, so we got him bloodied up thanks to Lacie Oakley's amazing makeup skills. Note that Rick Mishke doubled up roles as a SWAT team member and a two star general.

Everyone should have this chair

Thanks to this wonderful site, I found the pic below. Here's what the blog owner has to say about it:

Disney invites people to climb up and "Feel like a Kid Again," in this guerrilla campaign for Disney DVD Classic series. I wouldn't mind climbing up for a nap myself. Done by FCB, Sao Paulo. It would be sweet if Disney created an oversized movie theater and all the seats were this big—they could screen all their movies there. And everyone would pay an oversized price.

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who walks around without smiling or talking to their work colleagues all day should have one of these chairs FedEx'd to them immediately.

When Good Supertankers Go Bad

These pictures are really just too amazing not to repost. Most people probably forget that ships exist out there so large that they make the mind boggle when we see them. This effect is doubly magnified when we see them in settings where they don't belong. Take the story of the APL Panama, a supertanker which ran aground on a California beach on Christmas Day 2005.

Witness but a few "Oh my god!" pics (click to enlarge):

Just another day at the—HOLY CHRIST! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT DOING THERE!?!?!?

Time to offload with an Evergreen Sikorsky S-64 Sky Crane. How long do you think that took?

Here you can actually see the tanker lurching to her port side under the tugboat's pull. Alas, it would take many tries...

In the end, it would take until March 10 (over 2 months) to insinuate this topheavy lady back into her native waters, all because the captain was too impatient for the local pilots to come aboard and navigate her into port.

Take home lesson: patience is a virtue.

Almost forgot... this story courtesy of Todd "Gabrito" Huss.

The Apple Strikes Back

Yep.

Apple slams France as 'pirate' state
By Macworld staff

Apple has slammed France's decision to force manufacturers to make their digital rights management systems interoperable.

In a statement given to Reuters, the company condemned the decision as "state-sponsored piracy", Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said.

Kerris warned that if the law passes through the French Senate (its last step before ratification): "Legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers."

The law demands that online music retailers furnish digital rights management tools to convert songs between different formats so that tracks from any service will play on any device. All manufacturers and music services will be affected.

Kerris said: "iPod sales will likely increase as users freely upload their iPods with 'interoperable' music which cannot be adequately protected. Free movies for iPods should not be far behind."

Meanwhile, the French government has begun a diplomatic push to have its proposals adopted across the European Union.