Podcasts about red epic

on the passing of scholar and poet Joshua Clover, I read his essay "The Irreconcilable: Marx after Literature" and some poems from his collection RED EPIC (2015).

Credits Banner: Anandi Art Creations Cast: Sundeep Kishan, Rakul Preet Singh, Nagineedu, Brahmaji, Saptagiri, Tagubothu Ramesh, Pruthvi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, MS Narayana, Narsing Yadav etc Music: Ramana Gogula Lyrics: Bhaskarabhatla, Srimani, Kasarla Syam Art: Sahi Suresh Fights: King Salman, Venkat Choreography: Shekar VJ Camera: Chota K Naidu Editing: Gautham Raju Direction: Merlapaka Gandhi Producers: Gemini Kiran Release date: 29 November 2013 Interesting Facts Merlapaka Gandhi real name is Che Guevara. I am born and brought up in Vedullacheruvu near Renigunta. My relatives and friends started called me Chegu, Jaggu etc since they found it hard to pronounce Che Guevara. Then my father changed my name to Gandhi when I was 5 after watching Attenborough's Gandhi in his village.  My father Merlapaka Murali used to be a journalist and worked in Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy newspapers. He likes writing novels. 25 of his novels were published in Swathi magazine. He was interested in Communism I studied in Tirupathi till intermediate and then did my B.Tech. in Allagadda. I wanted to become a director since I was in 10th class. But my father wanted me to finish studies first. After completing B.Tech, I told my father that I would do a diploma course in cinematography so that even if I fail in movies, I can live by doing wedding photography. My father agreed and I have joined LV Prasad institute in Chennai for cinematography course. I was never interested in cinematography and I used to attend direction classes. Sujith (Run Raja Run director) was my senior in that film institute.  Then he after 1 year of Course felt I knew everything and made a short film called Karma Raa Devuda. It became popular and he started to get calls from the industry and one of them was Khayyum, brother of Ali in Super movie. Then they did a short film together.  The first line I thought about is that a guy who wants to go to Tirupati missed his train in Hyderabad and boards it at Tirupathi. Then I added father character who gives son a last chance to stay at house and it has added tension factor. Then there is a heroine who gets tagged along. And then I wrote characters of Saptagiri and Thagubothu Ramesh for entertainment aspect. I told my father the story but he wasn't impressed intitially and he likes romance so he actually wrote the love track in the movie between Sundeep and Rakul. Most of the characters I have written are taken from real life. Narrated it to Sundeep Kishan, then told it to Chota K Naidu and he felt very excited and introduced him to produce Kiran and after listening he immediately said lets go to shooting.  Producer actually gave suggestion for the title Venkatadri Express and it was fixed and it was also his suggestion to get Raman gogula for the Music after a long gap of 6 years after Yogi for a notable movie.  First combo of Sundeep and Chota K Naidu. This is his first film made entirely with digital cameras. He has used Arri Alexa and Red Epic cameras. He has used lights in an effective way. We have hired a train for 11 days and shot in real locations like Kachiguda Railway station.  For Saptagiri's role, Ali was actually the first choice and that point in time Prema Katha Chitram hadnt released when they were filming. Saptagiri's was fresh and Gandhi liked his innocence but Chota K Naidu didnt like him. He said let me call Ali garu right now but that character required Sundeep Kishan to yell at him, he didnt like Sundeep chiding (thittadam) didnt sit with well with him (ekkatle). So they continued with Saptagiri and he got very good name with it and rest is history.  Movie was a hit at the box office and honestly speaking this was the last movie of Sundeep Kishan that I actually liked. Completed 50 days. 

“I cannot pontificate about it, but by the time I'm done, I will have done one movie, and it's all the movies I want.People say, you know, "I like your Spanish movies more than I like your English-language movies because they are not as personal", and I go "Fuck, you're wrong!" Hellboy is as personal to me as Pan's Labyrinth. They're tonally different, and yes, of course you can like one more than the other – the other one may seem banal or whatever it is that you don't like. But it really is part of the same movie. You make one movie. Hitchcock did one movie, all his life.” —Guillermo del Toro, Twitch Film, January 15, 2013 Ok, passengers! First off, if you don’t know who Guermillo Del Toro is, press pause on this show, smack yourself in the mouth and then go watch Pan’s Labrynth, Hellboy or even Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and then come back to finish. Go on… git! We’ll wait! Del Toro was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, the son of Guadalupe Gómez and Federico del Toro Torres, an automotive entrepreneur. Both of whom are of Spanish descent. He was raised in a strict Catholic household. Del Toro studied at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, at the University of Guadalajara. Having a taste for the macabre at an early age, del Toro decorated his family home with decidedly spooky elements. Del Toro loves monsters. . He claims that monsters used to crowd into his room at night, and he made a pact with them: If they let him go to the washroom, he’d be their friend for life. It worked, and del Toro says, “To this day, monsters are the thing I love most.” Del Toro liked monsters so much as a child that his Catholic grandmother, fearing for his soul, performed a real-life exorcism on him, and when that didn’t work, she actually performed a second one. Del Toro considers himself a book-person first and foremost, and there were two books that shaped his universe as a child. One was an encyclopedia of health (which led to an obsession with anatomy), and the other an encyclopedia of art. When del Toro was about eight years old, he began experimenting with his father's Super 8 camera, making short films with Planet of the Apes toys and other objects. One short focused on a "serial killer potato" with ambitions of world domination; it murdered del Toro's mother and brothers before stepping outside and being crushed by a car.  Del Toro made about 10 short films before his first feature, including one titled Matilde, but only the last two, Doña Lupe and Geometria, have been made available.  He wrote four episodes and directed five episodes of the cult series La Hora Marcada, along with other Mexican filmmakers such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón.Del Toro got his first big break when he made Cronos in 1993.The movie, about the effects of a device that confers immortality, won nine Ariel Awards from the Mexican Academy of Film—including best picture, best director, best screenplay, and best original story—and also received the International Critics’ Week grand prize at the Cannes film festival.  Del Toro studied special effects and make-up with special-effects artist Dick Smith. Dick Smith had been a huge influence on del Toro throughout his life. He bought Smith’s make-up kit when The Exorcist came out in 1973, and applied for his make-up course in New York in 1987.  He spent 10 years as a special-effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Later in his directing career, he formed his own production company, the Tequila Gang. In 1997, at the age of 33, Guillermo was given a $30 million budget from Miramax Films to shoot another film, Mimic. After turning in a draft of his screenplay for Mimic to Miramax, the studio was not happy with how little was explained about the creatures at the centre of the story, and decided to commission a number of rewrites. One of these drafts was written by none other than Steven Soderbergh, but almost none of his work ended up in the film. Del Toro is not a fan of second unit work, and for his director’s cut of Mimic he managed to excise the majority of the second unit footage. Robert Rodriguez was one of the second unit directors on the film. Mimic was a very troubled production, and del Toro claims that his experience butting heads with studio execs at Miramax was actually more traumatic than his father’s kidnapping( which we'll discuss in a bit): “What was happening to me and the movie was far more illogical than kidnapping, which is brutal, but at least there are rules.” He was ultimately unhappy with the way Miramax had treated him during production, which led to his friend James Cameron almost coming to blows with Miramax co-founder and owner Harvey Weinstein during the 70th Academy Awards. In 2001 Del toro made The Devil's backbone. The Devil’s Backbone, was produced by renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Almodovar afforded del Toro a level of creative freedom that he’d never experienced up to that point, and the eternally grateful del Toro has tried to pay this gesture forward as a producer for many directors’ films. The film was an international co-production between Spain and Mexico. Del Toro wrote the first draft before writing his debut film Cronos. This "very different" version was set in the Mexican Revolution and focused not on a child's ghost but a "Christ with three arms". According to del Toro, and as drawn in his notebooks, there were many iterations of the story, some of which included antagonists who were a "doddering ... old man with a needle," a "desiccated" ghost with black eyes as a caretaker (instead of the living Jacinto who terrorizes the orphans), and "beings who are red from head to foot." As to motivation for the villain, according to the actor who portrayed him (Eduardo Noriega), Jacinto "suffered a lot when he was a child at this orphanage. Somebody probably treated him wickedly: this is his heritage. And then there is the brutalizing effect of the War." Noriega further notes that "What Guillermo did was to write a biography of Jacinto (which went into Jacinto's parents, what they did in life, and more) and gave it to me." DDT Studios in Barcelona created the final version of the crying ghost (victim and avenger) Santi, with his temple that resembled cracked, aged porcelain. The response was overwhelmingly positive, though it did not receive the critical success that Pan's Labyrinth would in 2006. Del Toro considers The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth to be companion pieces, and claims that they reveal “symmetries and reflections” if watched together. His next film was on 2002, Blade 2. directed by Guillermo Del Toro and written by David S. Goyer, it is a sequel to the first film and the second part of the Blade film series, followed by Blade: Trinity. Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct Blade II by New Line production president Michael De Luca after Stephen Norrington turned down the offer to direct the sequel. Del Toro chose not to alter the script too much from the ideas created by Goyer and Snipes. "I wanted the movie to have a feeling of both a comic book and Japanese animation", said the director. "I resurrected those sources and viewed them again. I dissected most of the dailies from the first movie; I literally grabbed about four boxes of tapes and one by one saw every single tape from beginning to end until I perfectly understood where the language of the first film came from. I studied the style of the first one and I think Norrington used a tremendous narrative style. His work is very elegant". Blade II was released on March 22, 2002. This was during a period of the year (months March and April) considered to be a bad time for sequels to be released. Despite this, the film became the highest-grossing film of the Blade series, making $80 million in the United States and $150 million worldwide.  Hellboy is a 2004 supernatural superhero film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro from a story by Del Toro and Peter Briggs. It is based on the Dark Horse Comics graphic novel Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola. Del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola envisioned the film as a Ray Harryhausen film. The film was shopped and rejected by various studios for years due to studios disliking the title, script, and the fact that Perlman was cast as Hellboy.[7][8] Del Toro invited Harryhausen to teach the film's animators what made his effects techniques unique but he declined, feeling that modern films were too violent. While writing the script, Del Toro researched occult Nazi philosophies and used them as a reference for the film's opening scene. In an early version of the script, the gyroscope portal was described being made out of rails that formed into pentagrams, hexagrams, and inverted stars to illustrate the film's magic and occult elements. Del Toro chose to alter the origin from the comic to give main characters interconnected origins. Aside from working with Perlman before, Del Toro chose him for the title role because he felt Perlman can deliver subtlety and nuance with makeup.[23] Del Toro assigned his real life friend, Santiago Segura, to play the train driver who assaults Hellboy. The film was shot 6 days a week for 130 days, Mondays through Saturdays without a second unit. Sundays were reserved for editing.  Del Toro noted that the film could have commenced filming in 1998, however, the film had difficulty finding a committed studio due to the stigma Hollywood associated superhero and comic book films with, at the time. The action scenes were staged after Harryhausen films with little to no camera movement using wide shots. The cemetery sequence was filmed in a real cemetery in Prague. Pan's labyrinth is a  2006 dark fantasy film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is  a Spanish-Mexican co-production. Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it addresses and continues themes related to his earlier film The Devil's Backbone, to which Pan's Labyrinth is a spiritual successor, according to del Toro in his director's DVD commentary. The idea for Pan's Labyrinth came from Guillermo del Toro's notebooks, which he says are filled with "doodles, ideas, drawings and plot bits". He had been keeping these notebooks for twenty years. At one point during production, he left the notebook in a taxi in London and was distraught, but the cabbie returned it to him two days later. Though he originally wrote a story about a pregnant woman who falls in love with a faun,[12] Sergi López said that del Toro described the final version of the plot a year and a half before filming. Lopez said that "for two hours and a half he explained to me all the movie, but with all the details, it was incredible, and when he finished I said, 'You have a script?' He said, 'No, nothing is written'". López agreed to act in the movie and received the script one year later; he said that "it was exactly the same, it was incredible. In his little head he had all the history with a lot of little detail, a lot of characters, like now when you look at the movie, it was exactly what he had in his head".  Del Toro got the idea of the faun from childhood experiences with "lucid dreaming". He stated on The Charlie Rose Show that every midnight, he would wake up, and a faun would gradually step out from behind the grandfather's clock. Originally, the faun was supposed to be a classic half-man, half-goat faun fraught with beauty. But in the end, the faun was altered into a goat-faced creature almost completely made out of earth, moss, vines, and tree bark. Some of the  works he drew on for inspiration include Lewis Carroll's Alice books, Jorge Luis Borges' Ficciones, Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan and The White People, Lord Dunsany's The Blessing of Pan, Algernon Blackwood's Pan's Garden and Francisco Goya's works. In 2004, del Toro said: "Pan is an original story. Some of my favourite writers (Borges, Blackwood, Machen, Dunsany) have explored the figure of the god Pan and the symbol of the labyrinth. These are things that I find very compelling and I am trying to mix them and play with them." It was also influenced by the illustrations of Arthur Rackham.There are differing ideas about the film's religious influences. Del Toro himself has said that he considers Pan's Labyrinth "a truly profane film, a layman's riff on Catholic dogma", but that his friend Alejandro González Iñárritu described it as "a truly Catholic film". Del Toro's explanation is "once a Catholic, always a Catholic," however he also admits that the Pale Man's preference for children rather than the feast in front of him is intended as a criticism of the Catholic Church. Additionally, the priest's words during the torture scene were taken as a direct quote from a priest who offered communion to political prisoners during the Spanish Civil War: "Remember my sons, you should confess what you know because God doesn't care what happens to your bodies; He already saved your souls." Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American superhero film based on the fictional character Hellboy created by Mike Mignola. The film was written and directed by  del Toro and is a sequel to the 2004 film Hellboy, which del Toro also directed. Ron Perlman reprises his starring role as the eponymous character. Hellboy II: The Golden Army was released by Universal Pictures.The director sought to create a film trilogy with the first sequel anticipated for release in 2006. Revolution Studios planned to produce the film and distribute it through a deal with Columbia Pictures, but by 2006, their distribution deal wasn't renewed and Revolution began refocusing on exploiting their film library. In August 2006, Universal Pictures acquired the project with the intent to finance and distribute the sequel, which was newly scheduled to be released in summer of 2008. Production was scheduled to begin in April 2007 in Etyek, Hungary (near Budapest) and London, England. del Toro explored several concepts for the sequel, initially planning to recreate the classic versions of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man. He and comic book creator Mike Mignola also spent a few days adapting the Almost Colossus story, featuring Roger the Homunculus. They then found it easier to create an original story based on folklore, because del Toro was planning Pan's Labyrinth, and Mignola's comics were becoming increasingly based on mythology. Later, del Toro pitched a premise to Revolution Studios that involved four Titans from the four corners of Earth—Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth—before he replaced the Titans with a Golden Army. Mignola described the theme of the sequel, "The focus is more on the folklore and fairy tale aspect of Hellboy. It's not Nazis, machines and mad scientists but the old gods and characters who have been kind of shoved out of our world." Pacific Rim is a 2013 science-fiction monster film directed by del Toro. In February 2006, it was reported that Guillermo del Toro would direct Travis Beacham's fantasy screenplay, Killing on Carnival Row, but the project never materialized.[48] Beacham conceived Pacific Rim the following year. While walking on the beach near Santa Monica Pier, the screenwriter imagined a giant robot and a giant monster fighting to the death. "They just sort of materialized out of the fog, these vast, godlike things." He later conceived the idea that each robot had two pilots, asking "what happens when one of those people dies?" Deciding this would be "a story about loss, moving on after loss, and dealing with survivor's guilt", Beacham commenced writing the film. On May 28, 2010, it was reported that Legendary Pictures had purchased Beacham's detailed 25-page film treatment, now titled Pacific Rim. On July 28, 2010, it was reported that del Toro would next direct an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness for Universal Studios, with James Cameron producing.[51] When del Toro met with Legendary Pictures to discuss the possibility of collaborating with them on a film, he was intrigued by Beacham's treatment—still a "very small pitch" at this point. Del Toro struck a deal with Legendary: while directing At the Mountains of Madness, he would produce and co-write Pacific Rim; because of the films' conflicting production schedules, he would direct Pacific Rim only if At the Mountains of Madness were cancelled. Tom Cruise was attached to star in the Lovecraft adaptation. On March 7, 2011, it was reported that Universal would not proceed with At the Mountains of Madness because del Toro was unwilling to compromise on the $150 million budget and R rating. The director later reflected, "When it happened, this has never happened to me, but I actually cried that weekend a lot. I don't want to sound like a puny soul, but I really was devastated. I was weeping for the movie." The project collapsed on a Friday, and del Toro signed to direct Pacific Rim the following Monday. Del Toro spent a year working with Beacham on the screenplay, and is credited as co-writer. He introduced ideas he had always wished to see in the genre, such as a Kaiju birth and a Kaiju attack seen from a child's perspective. The film was shot using Red Epic cameras.[65] At first Guillermo del Toro decided not to shoot or convert the film to 3D, as the effect would not work due to the sheer size of the film's robots and monsters, explaining I didn't want to make the movie 3D because when you have things that big ... the thing that happens naturally, you're looking at two buildings lets say at 300 feet [away], if you move there is no parallax. They're so big that, in 3D, you barely notice anything no matter how fast you move ... To force the 3D effects for robots and monsters that are supposed to be big you are making their [perspective] miniaturized, making them human scale. It was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D, with the conversion taking 40 weeks longer than most. Del Toro said: "What can I tell you? I changed my mind. I'm not running for office. I can do a Romney."  Del Toro envisioned Pacific Rim as an earnest, colorful adventure story, with an "incredibly airy and light feel", in contrast to the "super-brooding, super-dark, cynical summer movie". The director focused on "big, beautiful, sophisticated visuals" and action that would satisfy an adult audience, but has stated his "real hope" is to introduce the Kaiju and mecha genres to a generation of children. While the film draws heavily on these genres, it avoids direct references to previous works. Del Toro intended to create something original but "madly in love" with its influences, instilled with "epic beauty" and "operatic grandeur". The film was to honor the Kaiju and mecha genres while creating an original stand-alone film, something "conscious of the heritage, but not a pastiche or an homage or a greatest hits of everything". The director made a point of starting from scratch, without emulating or referencing any previous examples of those genres. He cautioned his designers not to turn to films like Gamera, Godzilla, or The War of the Gargantuas for inspiration, stating: "I didn't want to be postmodern, or referential, or just belong to a genre. I really wanted to create something new, something madly in love with those things. I tried to bring epic beauty to it, and drama and operatic grandeur." Crimson Peak is a 2015 gothic romance film directed by  del Toro and written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins. The story, set in Victorian era England, follows an aspiring author who travels to a remote Gothic mansion in the English hills with her new husband and his sister. There, she must decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt her new home. Del Toro and Robbins wrote the original spec script after the release of Pan's Labyrinth in 2006. It was sold quietly to Donna Langley at Universal. Del Toro planned to direct the film, but postponed the project to make Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and then again to work on The Hobbit films. Langley suggested that del Toro produce the film for another director, but he could not find one he deemed suitable. While directing Pacific Rim, del Toro developed a good working relationship with Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, who asked what he wanted to do next. Del Toro sent them his screenplays for a film adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, a Western adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, and Crimson Peak. The producers deemed the last of these "the best project for us, just the right size". Universal allowed del Toro to move the project to Legendary, with the caveat that they could put up money for a stake in the film. Del Toro called the film a "ghost story and gothic romance". He has described it as "a very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story", and said that it would allow him to play with the genres' conventions while subverting their rules. He stated, "I think people are getting used to horror subjects done as found footage or B-value budgets. I wanted this to feel like a throwback." Del Toro wanted the film to honor the "grand dames" of the haunted house genre, namely Robert Wise's The Haunting and Jack Clayton's The Innocents. The director intended to make a large-scale horror film in the tradition of those he grew up watching, such as The Omen, The Exorcist, and The Shining. He cited the latter as "another Mount Everest of the haunted house movie", praising the high production values and Stanley Kubrick's control over the large sets. British playwright Lucinda Coxon was enlisted to rewrite the script with del Toro, in hopes of bringing it a "proper degree of perversity and intelligence", but she is not credited on the finished film. The Shape of Water is a 2017 romantic fantasy drama film directed del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962, the story follows a mute cleaner at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. Filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, between August and November 2016.  The idea for The Shape of Water formed during del Toro's breakfast with Daniel Kraus in 2011, with whom he later co-wrote the novel Trollhunters. It shows similarities to the 2015 short film The Space Between Us. It was also primarily inspired by del Toro's childhood memories of seeing Creature from the Black Lagoon and wanting to see the Gill-man and Kay Lawrence (played by Julie Adams) succeed in their romance. When del Toro was in talks with Universal to direct a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, he tried pitching a version focused more on the creature's perspective, where the Creature ended up together with the female lead, but the studio executives rejected the concept. Del Toro set the film during the 1960s Cold War era to counteract today's heightened tensions: "if I say once upon a time in 1962, it becomes a fairy tale for troubled times. People can lower their guard a little bit more and listen to the story and listen to the characters and talk about the issues, rather than the circumstances of the issues".  In an interview with IndieWire about the film, del Toro said: This movie is a healing movie for me. ... For nine movies I rephrased the fears of my childhood, the dreams of my childhood, and this is the first time I speak as an adult, about something that worries me as an adult. I speak about trust, otherness, sex, love, where we're going. These are not concerns that I had when I was nine or seven." The Shape of Water grossed $63.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $131.4 million in other countries, for a total of $195.2 million. The film had received a universally favorable response from critics and audiences.  Pinocchio is an upcoming stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film co-written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, based on Gris Grimly’s design from his 2002 edition of the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It was written from a screenplay by del Toro, Gris Grimly, Patrick McHale and Matthew Robbins and a story by del Toro and Robbins. The film marks the animated feature film directorial debut of Guillermo del Toro. In 2008, Guillermo del Toro announced that his next project, a darker adaptation of the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, was in development. He has called Pinocchio his passion project, stating that: "no art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio", and "I've wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember". On February 17, 2011, it was announced that Gris Grimly and Mark Gustafson would co-direct a stop motion animated Pinocchio film written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins based by Grimly's designs, with del Toro producing along with The Jim Henson Company and Pathé. On May 17, 2012, del Toro took over for Grimly. On February 2012, Del Toro released some concept arts with the designs of Pinocchio, Geppetto, the Talking Cricket, Mangiafuoco and the Fox and the Cat. On July 30, 2012, it was announced that the film would be produced and animated by ShadowMachine. On January 23, 2017, Patrick McHale was announced to co-write the script with del Toro. On August 31, 2017, del Toro told IndieWire and at the 74th Venice International Film Festival that the film need a budget increase of $35 million more dollars or it would be cancelled. On November 8, 2017, he reported that the project was not happening, because no studios were willing to finance it.[9] At one point, Matthew Robbins considered making the movie as a 2D-animated film with French artist Joann Sfar to bring the costs down, but del Toro eventually decided that it had to be stop-motion, even if the higher budget made it harder get greenlighted. However, on October 22, 2018, it was announced that the film had been revived, with Netflix acquiring it.  So that's his  film history as a director let's get into some other aspects of his life!!He was married to Lorenza Newton, cousin of Mexican singer Guadalupe Pineda. They have two children. He started dating Lorenza when both were studying at the Instituto de Ciencias in Guadalajara. Del Toro and Newton separated in early 2017, and divorced in September of the same year. He maintains residences in Toronto and Los Angeles, and returns to Guadalajara every six weeks to visit his family. He also owns two houses devoted exclusively to his collection of books, poster artwork and other belongings pertaining to his work. He explains, "As a kid, I dreamed of having a house with secret passages and a room where it rained 24 hours a day. The point of being over 40 is to fulfill the desires you've been harboring since you were 7." Politics EditIn a 2007 interview, del Toro described his political position as "a little too liberal". He pointed out that the villains in most of his films, such as the industrialist in Cronos, the Nazis in Hellboy, and the Francoists in Pan's Labyrinth, are united by the common attribute of authoritarianism. "I hate structure. I'm completely anti-structural in terms of believing in institutions. I hate them. I hate any institutionalised social, religious, or economic holding." Religion EditDel Toro was raised Roman Catholic. In a 2009 interview with Charlie Rose, he described his upbringing as excessively "morbid," saying, "I mercifully lapsed as a Catholic ... but as Buñuel used to say, 'I'm an atheist, thank God.'" Though insisting that he is spiritually "not with Buñuel" and that "once a Catholic, always a Catholic, in a way." He concluded, "I believe in Man. I believe in mankind, as the worst and the best that has happened to this world." He has also responded to the observation that he views his art as his religion by saying, "It is. To me, art and storytelling serve primal, spiritual functions in my daily life. Whether I'm telling a bedtime story to my kids or trying to mount a movie or write a short story or a novel, I take it very seriously." Nevertheless, he became a "raging atheist" after seeing a pile of human fetuses while volunteering at a Mexican hospital. He has claimed to be horrified by the way the Catholic Church complied with Francoist Spain, down to having a character in his film quote what actual priests would say to Republican faction members in concentration camps.[66] Upon discovering the religious beliefs of C.S. Lewis, Del Toro has stated that he no longer feels comfortable enjoying his work, despite having done so beforehand. He describes Lewis as "too Catholic" for him, despite the fact that Lewis was never a Catholic. However, Del Toro isn't entirely disparaging of Catholicism, and his background continues to influence his work. While discussing The Shape of Water, Del Toro discussed the Catholic influence on the film, stating, "A very Catholic notion is the humble force, or the force of humility, that gets revealed as a god-like figure toward the end. It's also used in fairy tales. In fairy tales, in fact, there is an entire strand of tales that would be encompassed by the title 'The Magical Fish.' And [it's] not exactly a secret that a fish is a Christian symbol." In the same interview, he still maintained that he does not believe in an afterlife, stating "I don't think there is life beyond death, I don't. But I do believe that we get this clarity in the last minute of our life. The titles we achieved, the honors we managed, they all vanish. You are left alone with you and your deeds and the things you didn't do. And that moment of clarity gives you either peace or the most tremendous fear, because you finally have no cover, and you finally realize exactly who you are." In 2010, del Toro revealed that he was a fan of video games, describing them as "the comic books of our time" and "a medium that gains no respect among the intelligentsia". He has stated that he considers Ico and Shadow of the Colossus to be masterpieces. He has cited Gadget Invention, Travel, & Adventure, Cosmology of Kyoto, Asteroids and Galaga as his favorite games. Del Toro's favorite film monsters are Frankenstein's monster, the Alien, Gill-man, Godzilla, and the Thing. Frankenstein in particular has a special meaning for him, in both film and literature, as he claims he has a "Frankenstein fetish to a degree that is unhealthy", and that it's "the most important book of my life, so you know if I get to it, whenever I get to it, it will be the right way". He has Brazil, Nosferatu, Freaks and Bram Stoker's Dracula listed among his favourite films. Del Toro is also highly interested in Victorian culture. He said: "I have a room of my library at home called 'The Dickens room'. It has every work by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and many other Victorian novelists, plus hundreds of works about Victorian London and its customs, etiquette, architecture. I'm a Jack the Ripper aficionado, too. My museum-slash-home has a huge amount of Ripperology in it". Father's 1997 kidnapping EditAround 1997, del Toro's father, Federico del Toro Torres, was kidnapped in Guadalajara. Del Toro's family had to pay twice the amount originally asked for as a ransom; immediately after learning of the kidnapping, fellow filmmaker James Cameron, a friend of Del Toro since they met during the production of 1993's Cronos, withdrew over $1 million in cash from his bank account and gave it to Del Toro to help pay the ransom. After the ransom was paid, Federico was released, having spent 72 days kidnapped; the culprits were never apprehended, and the money of both Cameron and Del Toro's family was never recovered. The event prompted del Toro, his parents, and his siblings to move abroad. In a 2008 interview with Time magazine, he said this about the kidnapping of his father: "Every day, every week, something happens that reminds me that I am in involuntary exile [from my country]." Del Toro has directed a wide variety of films, from comic book adaptations (Blade II, Hellboy) to historical fantasy and horror films, two of which are set in Spain in the context of the Spanish Civil War under the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco. These two films, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, are among his most critically acclaimed works. They share similar settings, protagonists and themes with the 1973 Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive, widely considered to be the finest Spanish film of the 1970s. Del Toro views the horror genre as inherently political, explaining, "Much like fairy tales, there are two facets of horror. One is pro-institution, which is the most reprehensible type of fairy tale: Don't wander into the woods, and always obey your parents. The other type of fairy tale is completely anarchic and antiestablishment." He is close friends with two other prominent and critically praised Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. The three often influence each other's directorial decisions, and have been interviewed together by Charlie Rose. Cuarón was one of the producers of Pan's Labyrinth, while Iñárritu assisted in editing the film. The three filmmakers, referred to as the "Three Amigos" founded the production company Cha Cha Cha Films, whose first release was 2008's Rudo y Cursi. Del Toro has also contributed to the web series Trailers from Hell. In April 2008, del Toro was hired by Peter Jackson to direct the live-action film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. On May 30, 2010, del Toro left the project due to extended delays brought on by MGM's financial troubles. Although he did not direct the films, he is credited as co-writer in An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. On December 1, 2008, del Toro expressed interest in a stop-motion remake to Roald Dahl's novel The Witches, collaborating with Alfonso Cuarón. On June 19, 2018 it was announced that Del Toro and Cuarón would instead be attached as Executive Producers on the remake with Robert Zemeckis helming the project as Director and Screenwriter. On June 2, 2009, del Toro's first novel, The Strain, was released. It is the first part of an apocalyptic vampire trilogy co-authored by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The second volume, The Fall, was released on September 21, 2010. The final installment, The Night Eternal, followed in October 2011. Del Toro cites writings of Antoine Augustin Calmet, Montague Summers and Bernhardt J. Hurwood among his favourites in the non-literary form about vampires. On December 9, 2010, del Toro launched Mirada Studios with his long-time cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, director Mathew Cullen and executive producer Javier Jimenez. Mirada was formed in Los Angeles, California to be a collaborative space where they and other filmmakers can work with Mirada's artists to create and produce projects that span digital production and content for film, television, advertising, interactive and other media. Mirada launched as a sister company to production company Motion Theory. Del Toro directed Pacific Rim, a science fiction film based on a screenplay by del Toro and Travis Beacham. In the film, giant monsters rise from the Pacific Ocean and attack major cities, leading humans to retaliate with gigantic mecha suits called Jaegers. Del Toro commented, "This is my most un-modest film, this has everything. The scale is enormous and I'm just a big kid having fun." The film was released on July 12, 2013 and grossed $411 million at the box office. Del Toro directed "Night Zero", the pilot episode of The Strain, a vampire horror television series based on the novel trilogy of the same name by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. FX has commissioned the pilot episode, which del Toro scripted with Hogan and was filmed in Toronto in September 2013. FX ordered a thirteen-episode first season for the series on November 19, 2013, and series premiered on July 13, 2014. After The Strain's pilot episode, del Toro directed Crimson Peak, a gothic horror film he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins and Lucinda Cox. Del Toro has described the film as "a very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story", citing The Omen, The Exorcist and The Shining as influences. Del Toro also stated, "I think people are getting used to horror subjects done as found footage or B-value budgets. I wanted this to feel like a throwback." Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Charlie Hunnam starred in the film. Production began February 2014 in Toronto, with an April 2015 release date initially planned. The studio later pushed the date back to October 2015, to coincide with the Halloween season. He was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Del Toro directed the Cold War drama film The Shape of Water, starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon. Filming began on August 15, 2016 in Toronto, and wrapped twelve weeks later. On August 31, 2017, the film premiered in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion for best film, making Del Toro the first Mexican director to win the award. The film became a critical and commercial success and would go on to win multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, with del Toro winning the Academy Award for Best Director. Del Toro collaborated with Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima to produce P.T., a video game intended to be a "playable trailer" for the ninth Silent Hill game, which was cancelled. The demo was also removed from the PlayStation Network. At the D23 Expo in 2009, his Double Dare You production company and Disney announced a production deal for a line of darker animated films. The label was announced with one original animated project, Trollhunters. However, del Toro moved his deal to DreamWorks in late 2010. From 2016 to 2018, Trollhunters was released to great acclaim on Netflix and "is tracking to be its most-watched kids original ever". In 2017, Del Toro had an exhibition of work at the Minneapolis Institute of Art titled Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters, featuring his collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art. The exhibition ran from March 5, 2017, to May 28, 2017. In 2019, del Toro appeared in Hideo Kojima's video game Death Stranding, providing his likeness for the character Deadman. Upcoming projects EditIn 2008, del Toro announced Pinocchio, a dark stop-motion film based on the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, co-directed by Adam Parrish King, with The Jim Henson Company as production company, and music by Nick Cave. The project had been in development for over a decade. The pre-production was begun by the studio ShadowMachine. In 2017, del Toro announced that Patrick McHale is co-writing the script of the film. In the same year, del Toro revealed at the 74th Venice International Film Festival that the film will be reimagined during the rise of Benito Mussolini, and that he would need $35 million to make it. In November 2017, it was reported that del Toro had cancelled the project because no studios were willing to finance it. In October 2018, it was announced that the film had been revived, with Netflix backing the project. Netflix had previously collaborated with del Toro on Trollhunters. Many of the same details of the project remain the same, but with Mark Gustafson now co-directing rather than Adam Parrish King. In December 2017, Searchlight Pictures announced that del Toro would direct a new adaptation of the 1946 novel Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham, the screenplay of which he co-wrote with Kim Morgan. In 2019, it was reported that Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Rooney Mara had closed deals to star in the film, which went into production in January 2020. https://aznmodern.com/2017/10/10/13-facts-guillermo-del-toro-may-not-know/ https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/all-guillermo-del-toro-movies-ranked-by-tomatometer/ The Midnight Train Podcast is sponsored by VOUDOUX VODKA.www.voudoux.com Ace’s Depothttp://www.aces-depot.com BECOME A PRODUCER!http://www.patreon.com/themidnighttrainpodcast Find The Midnight Train Podcast:www.themidnighttrainpodcast.comwww.facebook.com/themidnighttrainpodcastwww.twitter.com/themidnighttrainpcwww.instagram.com/themidnighttrainpodcastwww.discord.com/themidnighttrainpodcastwww.tiktok.com/themidnighttrainp And wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Subscribe to our official YouTube channel:OUR YOUTUBE

Andy Chen a Cinematographer/partner in CinePacks. We talk about his recent move to LA and his search for work. We also cover how we started CinePacks and our upcoming Short Film Contest. We speak on creating assets for filmmakers and releasing free effects for music video editors.

The story of the first project that the AVT crew did with one writer, poet and musician Youssef Aloui. SACRED AND PROFANE FACELESS JACKS was a film the AVT crew did on a trip to Vegas. Contrary to popular belief what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas… it gets shot on Red Epic and […]

Episode 4 - Cinematography with Karl Jenner Check out Karl's work here http://www.digitalrealm.com.au/Give Karl a follow https://www.instagram.com/karljenner66/ Transcript for our hard of hearing/deaf listeners Gareth Carr:Hey everyone, welcome to Action Cut and Everything in Between, episode number four. Today on the show, I've got Karl Jenner he was the director of photography on my film, my 50 man. And he's also just completed his own feature film called guilt. So we're going to jump right in and we're going to listen to the power of cinematography and the impact that it has on your movie. Gareth Carr:All right, so Karl Jenner, welcome to the show.Karl Jenner:Yeah, thanks for having me.Gareth Carr:That's all right. So you've just shot my film, Life After Man and your own feature film, Guilt. But how did you get to the point where you are now? Tell us about your journey over the years.Karl Jenner:For me, I actually started photography, underwater photography back in the day and always had a fascination with photography and cinema and anything creative, graphics and things like that. But my passion for diving led me into photography and I taught underwater photography. And through my diving, I worked on films and TV commercials, mainly doing a lot of underwater safety work, but some shooting as well. And I met up with an old character who shot documentaries on 16 mil. He used to build his own underwater housings and being working in the dive shop, we just chatted and I used to go out with him and we'd test all these housings and shoot all this underwater footage and things like that. And we ended up doing quite a bit. And then I just got hooked into filming and that kind of led me into where I am now.Karl Jenner:So just you know, an interest of anything creative in the photography field. And I worked on TV shows and did some big camera operating and shooting and eventually people asked me to shoot stuff for them, mainly corporate videos and corporate training and lots of this stuff. And I decided one day I'll just branch out on my own. And I had a very primitive set up back in the day with an older Amiga computer and an old video camera and an old VHS deck and a very primitive gen lock, which enable me to overlay graphics onto tape and just glue all this stuff together. So I had a very kind of early technical background in filmmaking. So this kind of led me from there. And just as the technology grew, I just grew with the tech. But I have to say, I got a bit disappointed with cameras, especially video cameras of how terrible quality they were.Karl Jenner:So I actually stopped shooting for quite a number of years and just got myself heavily into post production. And always had a fascination with visual effects, so I taught myself visual effects. I've done 3D animation ever since the very early days where you could do it on a home computer and actually wrote software out of a book, a Ray tracer that's how nerdy I was, and learned computer graphics that way. And then starting with my post production editing and graphics and visual effects work, I just spent years helping other people make their films and eventually the 5D Mark III came out. And so my interest then was piqued to get back into shooting. And so I bought a 5D Mark II and shot that with that.Karl Jenner:And then my passion just ignited from there and I've just been full steam ahead ever since, the shooting, shooting, shooting. Because now I can actually, what I have in my head or had in my head, I could actually get on screen. And so that's, I'm a bit of a perfectionist in a way. So I always hated those cameras and the look was horrible and everything was horrible about them. But the modern tech enabled me to get my creative vision that I had in my head across and we launched from there. So I just hung around with cameras and lenses and things like that and just became creative. So that's my journey in a nutshell.Gareth Carr:Yeah, that's awesome. So it was pretty much the DSLR revolution and the 5D Mark II that got you to where you are today?Karl Jenner:Yeah, pretty much. Probably, maybe a little bit earlier with the mini DV. I had a, I can't remember what it was, it was Panasonic FS 90 or something like that. And then I shot some, I actually shot a series for Fox Sports on old sports stars and where you actually use that little camera. And that kind of got me there, but I never used it to shoot really any kind of anything of significance. You know, I did my corporate work and stuff on that. But even when the price of cameras, like Digi beaters were astronomical and then they're crappy. So it wasn't until the 5D Mark III came out that I thought, "Nah, I can now get some focus separation and do all that fancy stuff that what kind of gives it that cinematic look." And it was at an affordable price, so there you go.Gareth Carr:Yeah. So since since the 5D, what cameras have you used or owned from that point to get to where you are now and tell everyone what camera that you're using now?Karl Jenner:Okay, well I bought a second hand 5D Mark II and then I had a 70 as well, and I was shooting quite a lot with that. And then the thing that made me kind of migrate up was the audio. The audio was always a challenge and post syncing though it was achievable, it was always fraught with danger. And so I built out a rig and it was like a big Franken monster just to get audio out, proper professional kind of audio with XLRs. And I had pre-amps and all these sort of things stuck in there. And it was just so many points of failure and always that fear in the back of your mind when you're on a big job that something was going to go really wrong. And then you'll get back to the studio and someone hadn't hit record or some, there was a hiss or a hum or something would just destroy it.Karl Jenner:So it was just this fear. So that's when Canon C100 came out so I was very interested in that camera. And then working with other DPs, I know a good DP friend of mine, Tom [Gleason 00:06:58] Had a RED Epic at the time and he also had a RED One and we did a lot of early testing on just some VFX and we shot some stuff on his RED One. So I was very familiar with the RED format and the difficulties in the early days of the R3D Kodak. But you know, being a bit of a tech head, I could get around all that. And I helped a lot of other companies deal with their workflows with the RED camera. But the C100 was in my price range, but it was only 1080p had Canon log on the camera, which is again it was interesting but I could see that the world was moving to 4K pretty quickly and then you could get 4K out the C100 I think, but you had to buy an extra module. And that price-wise, that pushed it up into the RED Scarlet range.Karl Jenner:So I started to look at the Scarlet as my next camera. And I, being familiar with the Red Epic of Tom's camera, I just thought the Scarlet is probably the way to go. It had 4K native, it had R3D, which is really the major selling point of the RED camera. So I jumped into that and I bought a Scarlet and I had, all my lenses went with it. Because I had a lot of Canon lenses. So I just bought a camera mount for it and for about the same price as the fully kitted out C100, I bought a RED Scarlet at the time. But it was based on the MX sensor, it was a great sensor, at the time it was probably the best one around, but it aged pretty quickly.Karl Jenner:And so I shot with that camera for about two years and it's enabled me to get on bigger projects, bigger, more high end stuff, shooting more high end projects. So that enabled me to basically, that camera paid for itself. And once you're in the RED ecosystem, you can actually, RED will buy your camera back and offer an upgrade path. And I think their mantra is obsolete, obsoletion, obsolete or something like that. And so I jumped and bought the Epic, which still was an MX sensor, but enabled me to shoot 6K and had all the goodies on that. And it wasn't compromised in any way. So I jumped to that. And then about probably 18 months, I had that camera and then they had the Dragon sensor come out and that was a beautiful sensor and still probably one of my favorite kind of looks in the RED line as sensors go.Karl Jenner:And so I used a lot of my money from that camera to buy that sensor. So I've got a sensor upgrade on that, which wasn't cheap, it was about $20,000 I think Australian. So it was serious money. But the camera was paying for itself. So I was kind of at a break even point by then. And I had the dragon for a good two and a half years I think. And that was a work horse, that was a real workhorse. Loved the look of it, that was just a tank. It was a bomb proof camera. Went through everything with me. And then, I then jumped to Epic W, which is then based on the HELIUM sensor. Again, I would've probably stuck with the Dragon for a lot longer.Karl Jenner:But the new form factor and all the new goodies that we're going in. And that's where they were going. And they offered a very good upgrade path. So I jumped on that. And so currently I shoot with the HELIUM 8K, which is basically the 8K Weapon. And that's my current camera. I don't know if I'm a RED fan boy or anything, but I'd be pretty camera agnostic if someone shoved a good camera under my face, I would use it, and that. But you use what you can afford. And fortunately I worked my way up into that camera over about five years. And that's the tool I've got. And it's, for somebody starting out, it's way out of most people's price range. But if you did what I did, you just start small and just build up and build up. But my God, the iPhone now shoots amazing pictures. So you know you can have a good camera. It's in your pocket.Gareth Carr:Yeah. Now we, well you shot both our films in 8K. Do you think that that's the way the industry is going and where will this resolution battle or war, where will it end and you know, what's the advantages that you found with shooting 8K?Karl Jenner:Okay. 8K yeah. I think 8K is where it's all going to go because TV manufacturers need to sell TVs. From a broadcast point of view, 8K is probably a long, long way away from a lot of broadcasts, especially in the country like Australia where some of the cable channels are still on standard def. Because it's cost prohibitive just to get in to HD. But as an acquisition format and a future proof your work, 8K is probably a good place to be. The reason I chose to shoot 8K for our projects was two fold, one is, it maximizes the full width of the sensor on the camera without having to go to [inaudible 00:12:30]. Because the way that the RED camera works is that you can have multiple resolutions but it's a sensor crop when you start to lower the resolution.Karl Jenner:So if you got down to 6K or 4K, it crops in on the sensor so you lose a little bit of the width of the sensor. Potentially compromising ... You got all those pixels that you paid for so you might as well use them. So I shoot 8K 2:1 which on the RED camera it's Super 35 but it's actually a little bit larger than a super 35 sensor. So on any of my lenses, I just want to maximize the width of that sensor. And 8K 2:1 gives me the full sensor across, because we shot the films with looking at doing a 235 output because you know, more cinematic. I just put up the frame guys for 235 and we just shot and framed everything within those guides.Karl Jenner:And it gives us the ability then to in post, just to do reframes and move, give people more head room if you feel like it, or lower the head room and that. But I'm not frightened of the 8K workflow and that. In fact my system here that I use, is not particularly powerful. I've got a five year old iMac Pro, 5K iMac. And I've just got a normal spinning backup drives but with a fast rate because I use Final Cut Pro just use their proxy workflow. And I barely touched the actual full res files which just sit on my drive and I've just got the proxy files sitting on my hard drive and I don't really have any slow kind of paid playback or anything like that. I've never had a glitch.Karl Jenner:I get perfect editing speed and I've got effects and layers and all that sorta stuff that all plays back in real time. So the workflow is not an issue with these computers, even a five year old iMac. But the ability to reframe, maximize the width of the sensor just gives you more possibilities and stuff. And I love the RED R3D which is really its signature selling point to have that, to have the ability to go in and when you're on set just to ... Because we're moving so quickly, we don't have a lot of lights or equipment, so difficult lighting situations or shooting in very low light, I can just, I know how to use the tools on the camera. So I just look at my histogram on the camera. I can look at the, I've got a little, a short cut to look at the raw sensor data so I can see what the sensor's seeing and if I can see detail in there and I can double check that across with my histogram and my tools, I'm pretty confident that I've got exposure I can work with in post.Karl Jenner:So when it comes back to post I can with the R3D I'm not locked into ISO or any of that stuff, so I can change that to do shot matching from shot to shot. Because I'm flying around the ISOs all the time just to try and get exposure as I need. I don't kind of lock myself into an ISO like some DPS will just say, we'll shoot 800 and that's it, the whole. But once you're so quickly and I need to get a stop or two stops and I don't have time to change an ND or anything like that, all right. And I do want to shoot fairly wide open most of the time one, five to two, eight is usually where I'm living.Karl Jenner:Sometimes I have to use an ISO change just to get those extra stops of light that I need. And I know that I can go in back into the R3D and change all that data if I need to. And you know, it's worked so far, so I'm pretty happy with that. That's why I think I liked the RED camera, just that flexibility and that bit of a safety net.Gareth Carr:Yeah, that's awesome. And Guilt and Life After Man both looking incredible. And I'd say, do you have a favorite shot now that you've edited Guilt and it's almost at it's kind of screener stage, do you look back through and you've got like a favorite shot from the film?Karl Jenner:For me I like all when the camera's moving. I don't think I've got a particularly favorite shot because the nature of the films that we've made, we're just moving so quickly. So I kind of have an idea of how I want the shot to go. But usually it's almost like shooting cinema verite in like you're making a documentary, you've got your actors all kind of lined up And as a DP you're looking for, trying to create some three dimensionality in your shot with a bit of separation and not having a large crew or a truck with any real light control and stuff. So it's really just kind of placing your actors very quickly, looking through my viewfinder and trying to find the best kind of composition and how to move and how to move the lighting that we've got into position and then snap that shot and then moving onto the next.Karl Jenner:So every shot was in a way a little bit challenging because a lot of the locations we would just walk in and we've got to figure it out on the fly. And so I think overall I'm pleased with pretty much all the shots because thinking back on how we got them, there's always kind of a pleasure. And at the time when you're shooting it, you're thinking, oh, I hope this works. And then you get back in the edit suite and you look at and think, "Okay, that's pretty good, I'm really happy with the results." But anytime I can get the camera moving, especially on the gimbals or little cheats or whatever, like we did sitting on the back of your truck, driving at 60 kilometers an hour hanging out the window, and those shots kind of worked.Karl Jenner:They are kind of like, wow, that's actually, yeah, that actually is really good. We got away with something and a lot of people will never know how it was done and think, wow you must have had a techno crane or some weird piece of gear. But it was really just gaffer tape and muscle power that gets the shot. So, yeah. So, yeah, no particular shot, but I'm pleased with how all the shots kind of come out. In Life After Man, I think probably my favorite shot is the horse shot with the sunset. You know, bomb it along with a gimbal that's at that breaking point, hanging out the window with the sun dropping and looking in the viewfinder, I could barely see thinking, I hope this is in frame and everything just lined up at the right time and it works.Gareth Carr:That's good. That's an awesome shot. I love it. So what advice would you give to people who want to shoot their first feature film? I know you said about starting small with your cameras and working their way up, but what about conditions to avoid? Like what's the most difficult conditions you'd say to shoot in and to avoid writing them into your script?Karl Jenner:Probably would be like shooting in the rain because rain has it's own kind of problems. Not for the fact that you don't want to get your camera wet, but you can be shooting in the rain in one direction and you can't even see it. Because you have to backlight rain to really see it. And then you turn it around to get your other coverage and suddenly it's bombing down with rain and you can see it. And then so when you go back to the edit suite and you're cutting, it's raining in one shot and not in another, even though it was raining. So I think above all, I think the biggest advice for anybody starting out in making a feature is control. You know, keeping control, having control of your set. Especially if you're using outdoor locations.Karl Jenner:And making sure you get the permissions and all that sort of stuff to shoot because there's nothing worse and we've experienced it, you know, when your guerrilla-ing and stuff that someone's going to kick you out and you've spent half a day getting all these shots and suddenly you can't even finish it, the work that you set out because you can't get access again and stuff. So having control and knowing that you can go in and you can block, you can work with your actors and get the shots and walk away at the end of the day. So above all it's control. And that control might have to spend money to get that by hiring a location and stuff. But the other things is just preparation.Karl Jenner:I think the thing with Guilt, even though we've managed to make a film, we were so time poor and we were always racing and that, because we had constraints before going in. We had a script and the script could have done with a few more revisions and stuff because we couldn't get the actors together to give them the words and then you want to hear those words by actors and then you can make those little changes. And if you get that script down and then you get on set, everybody knows what they got and you're not sitting there debating a bunch of dialogue. Because all that stuff's been done and then so you can get on set and everybody's on the same page. But if you try to make it up, that's always fraught with danger because then you end up with big continuity problems. So proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. So we weren't particularly prepared and we really paid for it at the end.Karl Jenner:And we were as prepared as we could with the time that we would given. But I would have love a bit more prep. And the thing with guilt is that was only myself and the main lead, Janet finding locations before we shot. So literally we spent two weeks finding all the locations for the film. So by the time we even got to the film where we're already knackered just by that sheer workload. So having people that can find your locations and do all of that paperwork and get all those permissions. And it was really myself, Janet and Lindsey doing a lion's share of the work even before we got to the shoot. And Lindsey, you know, she was based in Melbourne so she couldn't help out in that department. So she was doing as much of the prep work, getting on the phone, giving us permissions, doing all that sort of stuff.Karl Jenner:And then I was doing, up here, doing all the leg work, finding locations, negotiating with people, things like that. So by the time you get to that first day of shooting, you're completely knackered and you need to be fresh as a daisy because once those cameras roll, it's if you're shooting a big block, it's ... For us we shot for 15 days pretty much straight and after 15 days you are completely floored. And so yeah, script. Get the script right and be properly prepared. Cameras are irrelevant at that point. Get a good camera obviously to shoot your piece. But that's, you get a good DP, actually, he should come with his camera and not worry about all of that stuff. So look at your script to break it down, work out your scenes, get your actors together, do a script read, then get to set and everybody is on the same page and prepared to work. Because I think a lot of people in with short films start out on that adventure of making a film and it just gets bogged down in detail and everybody loses sight of what the end goal is and everybody loses direction and it only becomes too hard.Karl Jenner:And you end up, people walk away and I think a lot of films are never finished because it does get hard. And that can all be eliminated in the beginning if you're prepared. And for anybody out there who's going to be a director or the writer, producer, director, you just got to have tenacity and you got to fight every day to get your script done and stuff. But at the end of the day, it's worth it because I forget about all the pain now. I remember from your film, how many days we spend freezing cold on that farm. And it's worth it at the end of the day. It's like, you look at the fruits of your labor and you look it up on screen and you forget how you did it. In fact, I think I look at 80 and 90% of it thinking, I don't remember shooting that stuff. And that's what makes it worthwhile because then you just become an audience member and you can watch it.Gareth Carr:That's it. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Yeah.Karl Jenner:That's it. And knowing that you've done it, it's just that sense of accomplishment because I think a lot of people want to go make a movie, but a lot of people don't even try because one, because a lot of people tell them it's too hard and you'll never succeed. And the other is that they do try, but they don't realize the burden or the amount of work that they're going to have to do. And that puts them off and stuff. But if you really want to do it, you'll do it and you'll do anything to do it. but it is worthwhile at the end of the day, even though you'd probably be poor at the end of it.Gareth Carr:That's it. You'll have no money but it's worth it. No, it's great. Such good advice. So where do you see now the future of cinema heading? I know we had 3D a couple of years back that seems to have died its death now, and then you've got kind of your 360 and AR now. Do you think that's going to take over or do you think the way cinema is, is it's here to stay?Karl Jenner:I think, personally I don't think you can beat the current cinema experience. I think 360 has its place, but I don't think it's an entertainment platform. I was involved not so long ago in doing some 360 tests for narrative with some good friends of mine. I was actually a little bit cranky and stuff because we've been talking about making films for so long and then 360 comes up and it's, oh we'll do 360 and I'm like kind of saying we just spent five years solving all the other problems. So now we've got all the cameras, I've got all the gear, we've got everything, we should be making a film and now you want to go solve a whole another set of problems, you know?Karl Jenner:And I said, let someone else figure that out. And I can't, personally don't want to sit in a room with a big headset on to have watch this movie. I think it'd be great as an experience. Just to go in, especially if it's like a good ghost story, a short film or whatever. But I don't think as a filmmaker I want to have people sit in a cinema and then look all around the room. As a filmmaker you want to ... But I've put something over there, there's the clue and then you've got somebody's looking at the back of the room because, that looks interesting. But I did read some statistics with 360 and it was like the first, and these were videos that were on YouTube and you can look at the analytics and this is why I'm always having these big discussions about doing 360. And it kind of transpired that it was usually the first 30 seconds people would look around, and then their vision would be usually where we watch movies because the experience was over and stuff.Karl Jenner:So they started to watch the movie where it was supposed to be. So it's like, but you went to all this effort to make this 360 movie. But the other issue with 360 movies are, where do you put the lights? Where do you put the crew? Everybody has to hide behind trees or duck behind cars. And you know, it's just like, no, no. 3D's again interesting, again an experience kind of movie. I think it's great for animation and things like that. 3D movies don't make me sick at all so I can put the goggles on and watch it and it doesn't bother me. So I can enjoy a good 3D movie and that. But going for, that's for high end productions. You got to have the dollars to do it.Karl Jenner:And most movies now aren't shot in 3D, they shoot with just one camera and they just dimensionalize them after the fact and stuff. I have been involved in doing some early 3D testing and things like that. And I've got some very good friends, Alpha geeks that worked on that stuff. And Yeah. But again, died a death, because I think people just want to go to the movies, pay their 10 bucks or 15 bucks, have that popcorn and just enjoy something and just be transported somewhere else and stuff. So yeah, putting on the headset and it kind of isolates you from the person next to you as well if you're wearing a big headset. So.Gareth Carr:Yeah, you might as well just sit at home-Karl Jenner:Sit at home.Gareth Carr:... and do that.Karl Jenner:Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I think the way we're shooting movies now, even high frame rates, I don't like high frame rates. I think 24 looks really nice. There's a big push to have all those TVs, the DPS from Hollywood all want those TV's to come with the default off of that super smooth motion they stick on the TVs because it makes your work look like a soap opera. So, yeah. So anyway, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but-Gareth Carr:No, no, I'm with you on this one. I like it, yeah. I like what you're saying. [crosstalk 00:30:52].Karl Jenner:... But also from a post side of view, I don't want to rendering out 24 frames at high res it takes a long time, I don't want to do 48.Gareth Carr:I know. Right? Listen, this has been awesome Karl. Like I hope this has inspired people to just get out there and make their feature and you don't have to have a RED, do you, to shoot a movie.Karl Jenner:No, right. There's some amazing, very cheap cameras out there that just cut your teeth on something that's achievable and eventually all that stuff will become available as you progress as a filmmaker. People want to work with you and all that high end gear will naturally kind of come with it. But at the end of the day, you can give someone a RED camera or an Arial or something like that and they can still make it look bad. So the camera doesn't mean a thing. I know it's cliche and when you own a camera, big camera and saying, Oh, you've just got to use the camera because everybody craving for that new, big toy. But yeah, essentially at the end of the day most of these lower end cameras, sub $5,000 cameras and make amazing images like your little black magic pocket cinema cameras, just that's an amazing camera .for less than $2,000 you can shoot a feature on that no problem. RED cameras and Alexis and things, they come with a whole life support team because you're just going to have so much stuff on them. You can make them lightweight, but you know when we're shooting, you so often, I don't have a big set up, but that was still heavy and to lug that around all day. So yeah, shoot with what you have, make good films. That's the way to do it.Gareth Carr:So listen, where can people see more of your work and see your back catalog of stuff that's brought you to this point?Karl Jenner:I don't really have a big social media presence, but just go to karljenner.net and that's my DP site. You can see some of the stuff and some of the shorts on there. A lot of my stuff is client work never really ever sees the light of day. And I'm on a Instagram as @karljenner66, @karljenner66. That's how much I use it.Gareth Carr:Well there you go. Check all those out and hopefully-Karl Jenner:I'm getting better.Gareth Carr:Yeah, you're getting followers. Well, after this you never know, you might get a couple more followers. We'll see.Karl Jenner:I might get 10.Gareth Carr:But no, this has been awesome. Like I've loved hearing about your story and the process that you go through to shoot and like I'm just blown away with how Life After Man looks and I think it's probably going to be like one of the best looking zombie movies of all time and I can't wait to see how Guilt goes and the journey.Karl Jenner:Yeah. I've basically just got the screener ready and the Looking really good. I spent the afternoon painting out logos. The tedious work that you end up doing. That's why I always say to people, you always start out with like two people, three people with an idea and then you ramp up to your shooting and you might have 20 or 30 people and then eventually one day it's you in a room by yourself. And it becomes a labor of love. And I'm a perfectionist and bit of a pixel peeper. So I'll go in there and fix stuff that I probably don't even need to fix, but it annoys me. So I want to fix it. But yeah. But the film's looking really, really good and the story-wise and everything came together and I haven't even done the grade yet or we haven't got a sound mix or anything like that.Karl Jenner:And I'm really, really happy and super proud of everybody that worked on it. And it was a bit of a journey to get there, but we got there in the end and I think when people see it, they'll actually be quite surprised because when you're shooting a film, it doesn't look like a film, you know? And I've always said that's one of the reasons I love to operate as a DP because when I look through the lens, I actually get to see the movie. It's extraneous of all the other things that are around, you don't see any lights stands, you don't see any other people standing around. And that I just look at the lens and look at the actors and once you get a good performance and you know it in your eye that you can see it happening and you know, you've got some good stuff and you'd just piece together the film in your head.Karl Jenner:And that's the same with Guilt. And same with Life After Man. I could see everything as I'm shooting it and stuff. So I knew when the edit came together exactly how it would look and how it would feel. And it's once you get into the grade and you start to really craft it and that's a bit I like as well is just crafting your movie and eventually you can sit back and it looks amazing and sounds amazing and you're chuffed to bits that you've actually gone ahead and done it and stuff. So. But yeah, I'm super happy. With your crew, I think life After Man, it felt like a little family, when we were tucked away on the farms and all the right remote areas and things like that we were filming in. And we had all these animals and horses and all those things and you really bond as filmmakers and I always think in my mind, it's just a bunch of crazy, crazy filmmakers in the middle of nowhere trying to make this film, and everybody else would be laughing at you for doing it, but you get a kick out of doing it because it's fun. And it's fun and it's tough, but it's well worth it. And that sense of camaraderie and everybody on the same trajectory and it's inspiring to see.Gareth Carr:Yeah. I feel like it's not just the movie, it's the journey that the people that you go on the journey with that makes it, makes the experience what it is.Karl Jenner:I always find, yeah, that first day that everybody meets, no one really knows each other and by the end of the journey you're all like best buddies. Or people that, they'd ring you up and say, "Hey, can you come and help me on my thing?" And you go, "Yeah, absolutely. I'll be there in a heartbeat," because they've shed blood for you kind of thing and then so you're willing to go to bat for them and they need you. And that this kind of level, where you do rely on a lot of favors and people giving up time and going out of their way and stuff. And you could use that going back to preparation for other people's films, just be mindful of people's time and try and schedule around that and stuff.Karl Jenner:Because the last thing you want is to piss your people off and just be mindful of all of that. Yeah, and you'll find the end of that journey you'll end up with some good relationships and then those people might get a really good gig and then bring you along with them. And that's how it all works. So, you never know. So the industry's too small to really piss people off.Gareth Carr:Yeah, definitely.Karl Jenner:Yeah.Gareth Carr:Well Karl, listen, this has been so good. And I hope everybody's taken a lot of information out of it and yeah, hopefully you all go on and just have the confidence to shoot your own films. So Karl, thank you very much.Karl Jenner:No worries. Pleasure.Gareth Carr:All right. Cheers mate.Karl Jenner:All right. See you.

Episode 70 - Ash Thorp Interview Allan McKay interviews Ash Thorp, a graphic designer, illustrator, artist, and creative director for a multitude of media, including feature films, commercial enterprises, and print.   Ash has worked on graphics for Ender's Game and Total Recall, as well as contributed to the design concepts for Spectre, Prometheus, X-Men First Class, Call of Duty and others. His first directorial debut started with the assembly of an international team for his Ghost in the Shell tribute, as well as the main title for OFFF Barcelona 2014. In 2015, he was requested to assemble an international team of designers and create the title sequence for FITC Tokyo. Later that year, Ash co-directed “Ares -- Our Greatest Adventure”, a promotional trailer for the feature film The Martian. Alongside with co-director Anthony Scott Burns, Ash created a concept short film Lost Boy, based on Ash's graphic drawings. In this podcast, Ash and Allan about the entire process -- from pre- to post-production -- “step by step, frame by frame”.   Show Notes: Visit http://www.allanmckay.com/70/     Links: Lost Boy: https://vimeo.com/188650521 Ash Thorp's Website: http://ashthorp.com/info Ash Thorp's IMDb Page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4500808/ Ash Thorp's Company Learn Squared, Inc.: https://www.learnsquared.com/   [-1:40:29] Allan: The origins of Lost Boy. It's been a long journey. Do you want to talk about how it actually began? Ash: It started about 3 years ago. ImagineFX Magazine reached out to me to do a piece in their magazine. I was flattered. It was reassuring that I was on the right course. I asked them what I should draw. The theme was superheroes. I wanted to do my own Punisher but my wife advised me to do my own idea. She is always pushing me. [-1:39:01] I created the name Lost Boy because there were only so few windows on the sign inside the drawing [for the length of the title]. I didn't attach a story at that time. [-1:38:21] I like to work organically and use the muse and the inspiration from the things that I love. I'll binge on all kinds of things -- comics, novels -- until my own thing comes out, and then I twist it. [-1:37:38] My career was becoming more successful by that time. I loved helping other people with their projects, but I felt that I was missing out on what I really wanted to do: which is make my own stuff. So I decided to make my own thing. [-1:37:10] I started drawing every night. I shared those drawings with [my friend] Anthony Scott Burns [who is a director and visual effects artist]. He thought it was awesome, so we started forming a narrative. It went crazy from there. [-1:34:34] Anthony suggested we make our own comic book. [-1:34:21] Then I started developing another film called Spiral. I was having my own artistic Renaissance. Then Mischa Rozema and Jules Tervoort (from PostPanic Pictures, in Amsterdam) reached out to me to help them with the title sequence for their short film Sundays. They asked if I was developing anything at that time. I said I was. [-1:33:20] They asked me to put something together and pitch it to them. Anthony and I put together a pitch packet for Lost Boy. Mischa and Jules basically signed the dotted line right there and became our partners.   [-1:32:15] Allan: As artists, we're always intrigued about how people work, what kind of pitfalls they fall into. Ash: I'll do my best to paint an honest picture. [-1:31:37] We had to get the legal involved. I'm very keen on keeping the rights to the IP (Intellectual Property). Amsterdam has a different legal ramifications, and this is an American property. We needed to make sure we spoke the same language. Anthony and I own the rights and are co-creators of Lost Boy together. [-1:31:01] For me, it's important for us to retain the creative on everything! Not that anybody would have bad intentions. Even Anthony and I have a contract together.   [-1:29:50] Allan: I agree, it's such a critical thing. No one thinks of the legal stuff until shit hits the fan. The more prepared you are in the beginning (even when you're an artists and you don't want to think about the business stuff), the better. I've seen so many friendships go to shit. You partner up but if you don't have that comfortable conversation in the beginning, that means there are no bounds set. By having those discussions and setting the responsibilities between you, you'll be very clear and feel good moving forward. [-1:27:49] Ash: I grew up studying George Lucas and all those guys. When you make your own world, you have to share it. But those boundaries are really important. It was very important that Anthony and I retained the artistic rights. PostPanic was going to produce and help facilitate all the things that are needed (and they did an amazing job!) and Anthony and I would work to get the film to the level it needed to be. [-1:26:05] “If I can give any advice to anyone that's listening, make sure that you have a lawyer or someone who understands contracts and you be clear about what you want. But lawyers create their own work, and you've got to be very careful about that.” [-1:25:18] When you make these things, nobody knows the value of them. They're just an idea in the beginning and a bunch of drawings. But I value it. [-1:15:51] “You need to be very clear from the beginning. And that's just Business 101. Business is cut black and white.”   [-1:22:26] Ash: “What I want to do in life is do the things I enjoy, with the people I enjoy. Being good at business just facilitates the longevity of doing such a thing. As an artist, I'm not inspired by doing business; but business becomes the art.” [-1:22:04] When I was young, the business stuff would kill me. The legal stuff, if you're looking to create your own IP, you need to take it seriously. [-1:19:49] So, we finally got past the legal stuff. A lot of it is just talking, “You're human, I'm human.” We got to a great place. We all wanted the same goal. [-1:19:15] Anthony and I met up in New York, on a job. We spent a day to storyboard the sequence and took the previs to PostPanic. We started doing location scouts. We originally wanted to shoot in Scotland or Iceland but ended up shooting in Spain (where Sergio Leon shot a lot of his Spaghetti Westerns). [-1:16:43] Then we found our two of our actors, formed our crew. It was all hands on deck at that point. [-1:15:10] I've done a couple of smaller directing jobs by that point; but I felt, “Oh shit! This is getting real!” [-1:14:40] Allan: Did you have an AD? Did PostPanic bring on its own people? Ash: Yes, they brought their own people. Anthony and I are very controlling. We met the DOP and the AD. [-1:12:36] “It's all so multilayered. There is so much stuff that goes into this. Film productions are just intense.” [-1:10:32] Filmmaking is high stress, you have to be so ready. The level of madness on set is crazy. “Learning to work with DOP and [making sure] they're seeing what you're seeing and you are aligned.” Anthony and I had to live with the responsibility of it.   [-1:11:44] Allan: How long was preproduction? Ash: Oh, man, we lost a couple of months in legal, but that needed to be done. And then a month or so of writing and storyboarding. We spent quite a bit of time working with VFX on location (prosthetics, etc.) So 3 months, maybe?   [-1:07:07] Allan: What about production? How long were you shooting for, including pick-ups? Ash: We had no time for pick-ups, so we had to get it when we had to get it. I believe it was 4, maybe 5 nights. [-1:06:10] I think the tendency with our film is to say “This is like Mad Max or Sin City”. It's not that. Anthony and I put so many reference PDF's together: costumes, visual effects, VFX.   [-1:05:26] Allan: How long was the turnaround for doing post? And also, how much was you and how much was PostPanic? Ash: The way it works for PostPanic, this is a passion project for them. They constantly had their own work, so post-production for Lost Boy took quite a long time, a year, I think, from start to finish. [-1:04:37] We had a very defined thing. So in getting there and figuring out every small detail, PostPanic would have to do several simulations in Houdini, and render those, and that all takes a long time. Their staff is anywhere from 15 to 40 people, depending on what they had going on. [-1:03:32] I stayed more hands-off than I usually would because PostPanic did such a great job. “As an artist, I've learned so much through this filmmaking process: of making something out of nothing, step by step, frame by frame.” [-1:02:27] Toward the end, Anthony ended up putting the film together. We stayed in my studio studio for six days nonstop, finishing the grade (using DaVinci) and visual effects. We even did sound design editions ([some in my garage, to my wife's amusement]). But mostly, PostPanic cared for all of this stuff.   [-59:55] Allan: With casting, how easy or hard was it for you to find the right people? You're so passionate, trying to find the right person -- how did that go? Ash: We had two rounds of casting and we found both of our actors after the two rounds. We wrote this thing keeping in mind that it wouldn't require heavy acting because we knew we couldn't afford well known actors. You start writing dialogue in there -- it starts getting very difficult. We wanted to minimize all the risk. [-58:49] For the character of Lost Boy, we were looking for a face we could light: The way the nose line connects and the way the bottom jaw area works, the way the light cascades. We wanted him to feel like a predator, a monster, a Frankenstein. For Xeh, she had to be a very beautiful person that you could sympathize with. [-58:10] “Casting is so unique. You have to really step outside your body and look at it from multiple different angles.” [-57:45] We saw hundreds of faces and we asked them to do the action and send us their tape. We met the actors over Skype. The beauty of casting these days, you don't have to be there [in person]. They can send us videos and the proof is in the pudding. I know Ridley Scott has cast his films over Skype.   [-55:47] Allan: How did you typically break down each night on location? What shots were you doing on which particular night? Ash: We wanted to start with the harder stuff. It's really hard to do action, especially action slow mo. We tried to do the harder stuff in the beginning, just in case we ran out of time. We started with Xeh's running, which you get a bunch of flack for: “It's too slow!” Allan: These days, the attention span to capture someone is 8 seconds. You're making something that's a filter. You've weeded out the people who aren't your audience. Ash: Yeah, I don't want them. It's just about finding the tribe. [-53:00] We did the death scenes at the end.   [-52:07] Allan: Did you have any moment of self-doubt, those inner voices saying it wasn't going to work out? Ash: Yeah! The whole project. The whole time. When I'm sitting at home drawing, I don't have too much doubt because I can control it. But when I'm asking all these people to do this thing -- an image I have in my head -- it's quite complicated. [-51:29] “It's nerve wracking to make film. It's not easy. It's the hardest form of art because you're doing all the things, it's everything. It's all visceral.” I was constantly doubting it, I just wouldn't show it. [-43:05] You have to have a good crew to protect you and shield you. The process is so intense, it takes so much stamina. [-50:01] “Self-doubt is part of the art though. It keeps me grounded, it keeps me alert and aware.”   [-50:09] Allan: How do you deal with it? Ash: “You've got to let a little bit of it come in, deal with it but then move forward.” A director's job isn't being good at art: It's about communicating your ideas and having a good taste; and facilitate the best abilities in your teammates. [-49:21] You get personally attacked for the final product. I wouldn't have it any other way though. “I think great art comes from a freakout moment. That's when great work is being made.”   [45:19] It's a part of it. If you want to be a strong person, you've got to deal with both. “I love the idea of living a life that's filled with challenges so that I can understand what I'm made of and how far to push myself. The struggle is part of it. It's part of the journey I like the most, I think.”   [-43:20] Allan: “I truly believe you've got to get out of your comfort zone. If you're always comfortable, then how are you going to grow?” [-42:06] Ash: Going to from drawing in my office to being to Spain with a bunch of people I've never met or worked with and trusting them; the level of chaos and level of the unknown -- I would never change any of it! This is all coming from inspiration of all these comic book artists. I feel very privileged to do so.   [-40:07] Allan: Do you want to talk about what's happened since you've launched Lost Boy? Ash: Sure. At every stage, the film changes. The moment you release your film and release it to the world, it's no longer yours. It's a very sad time. You never know: You might think you have something special, but maybe you don't. [-39:13] The overall response has been amazing, super positive. I find it interesting about some artists though: They are so shitty to one another. If they only knew how difficult it is to make this stuff, instead of making some stupid comment. [-37:54] Since releasing the film, we've done a ton of meetings, met a lot of interesting people. We wrote a treatment for an episodic treatment version. But part of what Lost Boy is that it's about questioning our programming. It's interesting to see the repetitious programing of Hollywood. They don't know what to do with our film. [-36:06] “Trying to make something that's different and unique, it just takes a lot more risk.” And no one can buy something they can't see, so you have to sell it; and that takes a lot of money and effort. So, we'll see who wants to invest and make something bigger. [-34:33] The goal for me is that if we've gone this far, there is no reason we can't go further, especially with Netflix, and Amazon, [and even Kickstarter, for fundraising]. [-32:15] “What's the point of making something if you can't have creative control?” [-30:24] “If you want to do something, just go and do it! I'm so sick and tired of asking for, ‘Hey, can I go make my thing?' Fuck that! Go DO it!” “So many directors get caught up in how complex it is -- in their career -- and all the layers of social bullshit that have to comb through.” [-29:15] “Be real with yourself that fact that tomorrow isn't promised. The time that you have is the most amazing thing that you have and you can only enjoy it while you have it. So take that seriously. So, GO! Try it! Chase your dreams, don't ask for permission!” [-27:57] It's not easy but it is possible. [-25:41] When you say you're going to do something, it often feels like you've already done it. But talk is cheap. When you actually make something, you can talk about it -- but then you actually have to go do it. That's very difficult. [-25:08] “If at the end of the day, you don't have something to show for it, then what are you doing?” [-20:05] “If you want to go somewhere in life, a place or a destination, you have to ride it out, be about it, talk about -- and back it up with your actions. It's about triggering it and being action oriented.” [-22:09] [Also], Iron sharpens iron. I surround myself with people [who make me stronger]. I've been showing my friends Lost Boy -- for a year! -- and it's blown them away with the amount of work it takes. They also help me see things differently.   [-17:21] Allan: Were you strategic with the launch? I have friends who are feature film directors, and the success [of their films] usually comes down to the execution. Ash: This has been my own design. Months back, I talked to my friends about designing the countdown, get a newsletter, get people aware. Lost Boy got launched on Vimeo, nothing crazy. [-15:03] I have a huge list of friends and artists I admire, so I sent them the link. I've shared it with people. The news spread naturally. [-14:01] “Again, you have to be really cognizant, you have to wear many hats. You have to be a business person. You have to be aware of the IP laws.”   [-13:17] Allan: You were shooting on a RED camera? Was it the DRAGON? Ash: Yes, I believe it was the RED EPIC, shot 4K at 120. We wanted to shoot with Anamorphic Lens because it's the best. It just opens up everything. But as you know, it's a pain in the ass with visual effects.   [-11:47] Allan: Where you shooting on 50 millimeter? Ash: I'm not a huge wide lens fan. I love 45 to 80, that's my favorite range. I believe we used anywhere from 80 to 50 to 45-ish mil.   [-10:48] Allan: Any books that you could recommend that you've read? Ash: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Robert Greene's Mastery. I'm in need of some good fiction right now. I've finished Stephen King's Black House. I'm going to read No Country for Old Men next, by Cormac McCarthy. (It's my favorite Coen Brothers' film.) Oh, and Eat that Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating [by Brian Tracy] is great!   [-08:29] Ash: “It's easy for me to say all these things. I'm skipping over a lot of hardship and a lot of pissed off times and anger. The overall experience was quite good. It's easy to say, being done with it, “It's so easy.” It's not! It's going to be very hard! You know you're doing it right when it's really frustrating and you are filled self-doubt, but you have an inkling of hope.” “Go try something different. Don't do it for anyone else but yourself. Don't ask for permission!”    

--- ► Subscribe to My Channel Here: http://bit.ly/2lZYHDP Some big things have come out in the camera world: RED EPIC-W and the Movi PRO. Would or should you buy something that expensive? How can you buy a RED EPIC-W camera package that costs $75,000+? Option 1) Cash money. Option 2) Borrow/Financing Options You'll need a down payment, factor in the interest rate, and calculate if you can make the monthly payments. A way to pay off that monthly payment is to rent out the gear to other filmmakers. A RED EPIC-W with the 8K sensor could easily rent for $600/day which could be your monthly payment! Having a professional cinema package could also spice up your Cinematography CV because now you are a Cinematographer/RED Camera Owner. Producers can hire just you and you bring along your gear. (The whole package, so to speak.) But what happens when you can't rent out your camera? You're basically staring at $75,000 worth of metal and plastic sitting on your desk. That can get scary if no one calls in. You have to weigh the benefits and risks of owning a RED Camera or any valuable piece of film equipment. What is your experience with big filmmaking purchases? Was it worth it? Did you get screwed over? I would love to hear your stories. --- WEBSITE- http://jordanpanderson.com INSTAGRAM- http://instagram.com/jordanpanderson FACEBOOK- http://facebook.com/jordanpandersonfilm TWITTER- http://twitter.com/jordanpanderson SNAPCHAT- http://snapchat.com/add/valley_films My Gear- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Canon 70D- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Canon 10-18mm- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D RODE VideoMic Pro- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D iPhone 6- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Adobe Premiere Pro CC- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D New to the Vlog? -- How to Start A Production Company- https://goo.gl/OA6MKq My Life Story (sort of)- https://goo.gl/U5b2Ja I can remember picking up my family's video camera as a teenager and being enthralled that I could make an impact in someone's life. The filmmaking process is complex but at the heart of it simple: tell a compelling story. What resonates the hardest is visual storytelling. The ability to create an emotion or convey an idea through an image is what drives my career as a filmmaker. My marathon mentality is focused on becoming the best cinematographer possible.

Starting a video production company can seem like a huge endeavor. My Gear- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Having the motivation and a clear sense of its importance can help ensure a launch to success. 1. Be Your Own Boss. It's time that you start blazing your own trail. Everything in life has been predetermined for you. It's always been safe. Starting a production company is a way to lead your pack. Take the risk of being an entrepreneur. I have always hated the “corporate ladder” of filmmaking. You have to start as a PA and work your way up to 1st Assistant, get to know the Execs and (maybe) you'll get to be the Director. 2. Get Legit! Almost immediately, starting a production company gives off a certain “legitness”. You've now taken your filmmaking from Mikey Peterson Productions into… Kick-Ass CineProductions (Trademark Pending). Now you won't have much to show for BUT this will get your foot in the door for your first few gigs. You are a professional business, doing professional work, under a professional company name. Sounds nice, doesn't it? 3. You Have the Tools All of those Christmases and birthdays have finally added up into a semi-pro stockpile of filmmaking equipment. It might not be a RED Epic but it's epic enough to get the job done. Put those tools to some good use, and start to see a return on your investment. Now get out there! --- ► Subscribe to My Channel Here: http://bit.ly/2lZYHDP --- WEBSITE- http://jordanpanderson.com INSTAGRAM- http://instagram.com/jordanpanderson FACEBOOK- http://facebook.com/jordanpandersonfilm SNAPCHAT- http://snapchat.com/add/valley_films Canon 70D- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Canon 10-18mm- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D RODE VideoMic Pro- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D iPhone 6- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D Adobe Premiere Pro CC- http://bit.ly/2mw6R4D New to the Vlog? -- How to Start A Production Company- https://goo.gl/OA6MKq My Life Story (sort of)- https://goo.gl/U5b2Ja I can remember picking up my family's video camera as a teenager and being enthralled that I could make an impact in someone's life. The filmmaking process is complex but at the heart of it simple: tell a compelling story. What resonates the hardest is visual storytelling. The ability to create an emotion or convey an idea through an image is what drives my career as a filmmaker. My marathon mentality is focused on becoming the best cinematographer possible.

The work of Joshua Clover blends the worlds of poetry and economic crisis. Poet, communist, cultural critic, translator, editor, and professor of literature and critical theory at the University of California Davis, Clover has published three acclaimed volumes of poetry: Madonna anno domini, The Totality for Kids and his most recent, Red Epic, published by …

Photo by Andy Buscemi. Episode 15 of Wedding Photographers Unite! In this episode: Studio space vs. working out of your home Drone photography with purpose Smugmugs new download all feature Red Epic and Scarlet firmware update geared toward stills Listener Question: portfolio edits vs general edits Dealing with “bad” weather on a wedding day Dream Weddings and […] The post WPU Episode 15: Chairs in our Head appeared first on Wedding Photographers Unite.

Wednesday Reading Series Joshua Clover is the author of two books of poetry and two of cultural history and theory. His new book of poetry, Red Epic, is forthcoming from Commune Editions (spring 2015) and a book on the political economy of struggle, Of Riot, will be published by Verso in spring 2016. His column “Pop & Circumstance” appears monthly in The Nation, and he has completed collaborative work including articles and essays, book manuscripts, and conference organization with Jasper Bernes, Aaron Benanav, Juliana Spahr, Chris Chen, Annie McClanahan, Louis-Georges Schwartz, Tatiana Sverjensky, and Chris Nealon. He is a founder of the 95¢ Skool and Durruti Free Skool, and recently co-organized the Poetry and/or Revolution conference. He is a professor of English Literature at the University of California Davis; in Spring, he will convene a Residential Research Group on culture and finance capital at the University of California Humanities Research Institute.

In the spring of 2012, a Director of Photography friend, Eythan Maidoff suggested to me to take advantage of his recently purchased Red EPIC.  Immediately I imagined a high wonderfully irresponsible video involving samurai swords and possibly a music video, but what band would I ask and more importantly where was I going to findContinue reading "Overboard – Music Video for Les Vinyl"

Ron Lagerlof's magnificent manta footage shot in high frame rate with a RED EPIC digital cinema camera in a Gates DEEP EPIC housing.

This week the guys discuss the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, the Canon Cinema EOS C500, the RED EPIC firmware update, Ikonoskop's A-Cam dII Panchromatic and RØDE Microphones' Rockumentary comp. Guests in the RED room are Brain Valente of Redrock Micro and Imageworks 3D VFX supe Rob Engle about The Amazing Spider-Man.

It's Summer 2012 — and that means your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is once again slinging webs on the big screen. But according to this month's guest, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' inhabits a gritty and realistic world the likes of which his movie going fans have never seen. We got to talk to the film's director of photography, and avid Spider-Man fan, John Schwartzman, ASC about his Amazing work on this much anticipated blockbuster. John has shot more blockbusters than many cinematographers have seen. He is known for the moving, dynamic camera style that made action films like director Michael Bay's 'The Rock', 'Armageddon' and 'Pearl Harbor' so memorable... but he is no one trick pony. He was nominated for an Oscar and won an ASC award for his thoughtful and classically beautiful work on 'Seabiscuit', and his other credits include 'The Rookie' and 'Benny & Joon'. He speaks to us today about shooting 'The Amazing Spider-Man', the state of the art Red Epic cameras John borrowed from Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit', and about his career in the movies. Thank you for downloading this episode of The Camera Report, produced by Brad Malone and Sean Malone. For more episodes of The Camera Report please visit waterfootfilms.com and click on the PODCAST link. Subscribing is easy and free. Also, search for Waterfoot Films on Facebook and then "Like" us to see updates. If you'd like to offer feedback about the show, Email us at podcast@waterfootfilms.com. Thanks for listening!

NAB 2010 episode including live from the Post Pit on NAB floor plus exclusive coverage of RED Epic, Arri Alexa, new DaVinci Resolve pricing, Red Rock Micro's cool microRemote... plus a whole lot more!