Cinematographer Style: Transforming Ideas Into Images

The cinematographers job is to paint the picture of the story.  With each new light, filter, and adjustment, they add another stroke to the picture.  I recently viewed a wonderful documentary on the art of cinematography titled Cinematographer Style.  Having worked with cinematographers but never as a cinematographer, this film expanded the knowledge and respect that I have for one of the most important jobs on the set.  Admitedly, Cinematographer Style lacks the specifics for which the experienced cinematographer is most likely looking.  However, Cinematographer Style is a great film for those wanting to get inside the minds of cinematographers and broadly understand how their choices affect the story being told.

AFM 2008: New Technologies and Low Budget Films

I know that most filmmakers prefer film to digital, but after leaving AFM’s New Technologies and Low Budget Films conference, I am amazed at the extent to which this is true.  The panel, sponsored by the American Society of Cinematographers, almost unanimously agreed on this point – though it is worth noting that not one of the panelists were under 35.

The overwhelming question at the conference was whether shooting digital is actually cheaper.  Though the medium is far more inexpensive for recording, the panel widely believed that after factoring in the costs of storage, post-production, and the long-roll factor, film is actually cheaper than digital.

The long-roll factor is particularly interesting to me.  The panelists believed that digital commands less discipline on set compared to film.  Because the cost of recording is so cheap, the cast and crew operate under the notion that they have an unlimited number of takes to complete a scene.  I believe like most that digital is here to stay.  It is the director’s job to ensure that the long-roll factor does not affect the costs of production.  Thoughts?

The panel was comprised of an international group of cinematographers including:

• Stephen Lighthill
• Daniel Pearl
• Richard Crudo
• Isidore Mankofsky
• Richard Kline
• Steven Fierberg
• Rodney Taylor
• Daryn Okada
• Michael Goi
• Dante Spinotti
• Ron Garcia
• George Spiro Dibie

The Customer Is Always Right!

My family often calls me “The Ultimate Consumer”. I have been known to become obsessed with certain companies’ products and services – I am a Costco nut and swear by Verizon’s wireless network. If you are like me, you never give companies the benefit of the doubt, and even when they have earned your respect you continue to judge them. But is it true that the widely used mantra The Customer is Always Right really puts companies on the best path to prosperity? For the companies that I obsess over, it could not be further from the truth. Good companies listen to their customers, great companies correctly adapt to their customers, bankrupt companies believe that the customer is always right. Don’t agree with me? Go ask Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors how their decision to shift production to trucks and SUV’s in order to meet customers’ growing demand is going.  The best companies succeed by continuously innovating, creating great products and providing valuable services. Yes, they listen intently to their customers, but is the customer always right? The short answer is no.

AFM 2008: Web Entrepreneurs Conference

The 2008 AFM Web Entrepreneurs conference was hosted by a panel of founders and executives involved with companies such as StrikeTV, BitterLawyer, and ElectricFarm. To be blunt, the event was a dud. The topics covered were highly generalized, lacking the specific examples and application knowledge that I expected. It is ironic given New Media’s “threat” to the motion picture industry (not to mention the event at which the conference took place) that topics were covered on such a surface level. Here are the broad takeaways:

• Knowing your audience it critical – niche is best.
• Sponsorships and brand integration are evolving as a viable revenue model for web shows.
• Seek partnerships with brands who can be organically weaved into the storyline.
• Utilize the wide reach of social networks to attract new viewers.
• Advertisers will continue to be hesitant without a standard metric to measure return on investment.

Though none of these points provides you any specific direction, I suppose it is always good to have them reinforced.

AFM 2008: Pitch Me!

AFM’s 2008 Pitch Me! seminar was a jam-packed three hour live pitch event conducted by a panel of experts including Shelby Stone, Caroline Baron, and Peggy Rajski.  Though the panels did disagree on some issues, there were a few resounding points:

1. Focus on the core concept and forget about extraneous details.
2. The first line of your pitch should paint a picture of the story – “Tell me what I’m watching.”
3. Explain what attracted you to the story and what compels you to tell it.
4. Don’t focus on staying on script, focus on staying present with the individual(s) that you are pitching – don’t talk at people, talk with people.
5. Keep it under 3 minutes.  Get rid of the extraneous and get to the essence – the audiences emotional attachment with the characters.  A pitch good pitch sparks conversation and keeps the individual(s) wanting to know more.

The three panelists also expressed some of their own opinions.

Shelby Stone:

• A pitch is like going on a date, you find out about them before hand and when you are in the room you engage in a conversation with them.
• When comparing your film, compare it to another film not another individual.  “My film has a Pulp Fiction feel” not “My film has a Tarentino feel”.
• Do not express a broad range of numbers for a films budget, say what you can make if for – “I can shoot it for 1.5″.
• Supporting characters: mention them only in relation to their role in the main character’s evolution.
• Focus on no more than 4 characters.

Caroline Baron:

• In many situations you are not pitching to the decision maker.  So, you need to get the support of the person you are pitching.
• Only use a name when you are describing a character in your film – “They have a gritty and warn look, like a Clint Eastwood.”

Peggy Rajski:

• Create a great opening line – bait the hook.  Tell the whole story in one line without telling the whole story.
• Know your own personal style and make it work for the benefit of your pitch.
• Set up the other people in the room who you are pitching with.
• Don’t use industry lingo.
• Talk about story, not structure.  Do not focus on why characters make choices, focus on how those choices effect the overall story.
• Generally, you shouldn’t have to address who the audience is in a pitch.  Good pitches make the audience clear without specifically addressing it.
• You are not going to make anyone buy something they don’t want – there is power to be drawn from that.

If you are having a difficult time coming up with a great pitch, try doing a free assiociation excercise.  Grab a pen and a paper and write down a buch of different words that pertain to your story.  When you are finished, pick three or four words that sum up your story and craft your pitch around them.

The 2008 American Film Market

The 2008 American Film Market kicks into high gear this week with a total of 1,022 films on offer – an AFM record.  Expectations for AFM have diminished due to the struggling global economy, and with the glut of films available this year, AFM is a definitive buyer’s market.  With slowing DVD sales, film investors and distributors are placing far more importance on theatrical releases.  The value proposition between good and great films wanes more heavily on the decision making process than it has in previous years.  Without a significant difference, decisions will be made based upon where film distribution companies can make the best deal.

Sceneclips will be covering the American Film Market all week.  We will recap AFM’s seminars and conferences, delivering the key points and important issues.  Stay tuned to Sceneclips!