Coffee Break - Blue is the New Red Huge Roast of Links

Posted November 5th, 2008 at 2:16 pm by C47

So a while back I used to post cool links each Wednesday for a Coffee Break series. For many reasons (mainly time and laziness), I haven’t posted cool links in a while. But I still have a bunch saved up.

So in the spirit of new beginnings, I’m just going to offload everything I’ve had stored up and start fresh.

And just to recap why yesterday was one of the greatest days of my life: Voted in my first presidential election, free Starbucks, free Krispy Kreme, got an iPhone(!), ScottDobie thought my tweet “I feel like today is the day Frodo tosses the ring into Mount Doom” was wittier than both Leo Laporte and John Hodgman, watched the election results at the Democrat results party with all my friends, and the good guy finally won!

The best part - Obama robot at Disney’s Hall of Presidents!

Now enjoy the links.

The company now offers celebrity wannabe packages, including the A-List—Ariel’s choice—which gives clients four personal paparazzi for 30 minutes and a mock-up of a high-gloss tabloid magazine cover with their picture, for $730. The Superstar package ($990) lasts for an hour and the Megastar ($3,000) provides clients with six paparazzi for two hours, limo service, a publicist and a bodyguard. And for customers who hope to get into places like the Waverly Inn or La Esquina just because of the scene they’re setting, it’s priceless, says Drew Tinnin, Celeb 4 A Day’s New York manager. “We’ve gotten people past the velvet rope. Restaurants and clubs usually like the attention we get them when we show up with our clients.”

15 Minutes of Fame, On Sale Now | Page Six Magazine | The New York Post.

Objectified: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit - On seven years in the indie film business

From the director of my fav Helvetica on how he’s made a living doing small documentaries.

The Gentleman’s Guide to the Calling Card | The Art of Manliness (via Chic and Charming)

Documentary Club - If you like documentaries

Hi-Res Star Trek Comic-Con Posters - Movie News

Day 1, Chip Heath on Flickr - Very cool illustration explaining the must-read book ‘Made to Stick‘

Full List of Stuff White People Like « Stuff White People Like - Very funny. One of the fastest Blog-to-Book examples

indieWIRE: FIRST PERSON | Film Department’s Mark Gill: “Yes, The Sky Really Is Falling.” - I plan to write more about this, but if you haven’t read it - do so

Channel 4 recreates The Shining to promote its Kubrick season | Media | guardian.co.uk

2008 Design Trends - Very cool designs for inspiration

Metropolis « Finding Some Direction - The missing reels from Metropolis have been found. This is so amazing.

The Steady Approach Part 2 | B&H Photo Video Pro Audio (via Coudal) - Interview with Garrett Brown, inventor of the Steadicam

The Media Equation - Little Movies, Big Problems - NYTimes.com - Indie films not doing so hot

Filmmaker Magazine | Spring 2008: NO VACANCY - The Visitor, the only indie film that did pretty good this year

Typeface - Documentary on Typeface. I have a feeling I’ll like this film. Helvetica and Typeface box set coming soon? Wingdings as a special feature?

The Simple Dollar » How To Write an Effective Thank You Note for Any Occasion

The Ira Glass Guide to Link Bait | Copyblogger

Cat got your tongue, follow these tips — Young Go Getter

What Does A Stylish Man Look Like?

Grocery List: Never Forget an Item at the Supermarket - These two links good for craft service shopping

grocerylists.org | FREE DOWNLOADABLE GROCERY LIST

Mastering the Informational Interview - Shifting Careers - Small Business - New York Times Blog

russell davies: how to be interesting

the media artist: Are You Interesting?

Prepping for Warren Buffett: The Art of the Elevator Pitch (Videos) | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

johnaugust.com » Scripting a short film

johnaugust.com » Rethinking motivation

From the Heart Productions :: The Roy W. Dean Film and Writing Grants

Ultimate Video Relay | How it Works

south by southwest festivals + conferences

The Best Places to Watch Documentary Movies Online | MakeUseOf.com

2008 Animated Shorts Nominees — OZOUX.COM

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Posted in Budgeting, Cinematography, Coffee & Celluloid, Equipment, Pre-Production, Preparation, Production | No Comments

Five Sprockets - Film Production Tools Online

Posted October 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am by C47

Last month at TechCrunch 50 I was introduced to Five Sprockets. Their mission is to bring all the tools you’d need to write and manage a film online and for free. Good idea, yes, but I don’t think the execution is there yet.

The main tools of the beta site are an online script writer (vScripter) and production management application (vProduction Office). Through a production management program one that can break down a script and schedule a production. The industry standard for this is this is the few hundred dollar EP Scheduling.

When I talked to Randy Ullrich, the CEO and founder, he said they’ve been putting most of their effort into vScripter.

That’s nice and all, but why? You’re not going to convert any real screenwriter - they’ve either sided with Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter. Plus Celtx is a good free program.

I gave it a little whirl and it was good for free. It formats the script correctly, which is the main goal, and remembers all the good stuff such as locations and characters for easy typing. But there’s no settings, so I couldn’t change the little things that annoyed me, like customizing how the carriage return and tab affect going from one script element to another.

vProduction Office was also decent. You can only work on a script made in vScripter (though you can import outside scripts). It gives you the basic functions you’d need - breaking down locations, props, production elements - and scheduling them on a calendar. 

It’s no where near as functional as EP Scheduling, with production strips, breakdown sheets, and a variety of printing options. Also, every time you want to assign a crew member or actor to a role, they have to be a Five Sprockets member. I can’t imagine some computer illiterate older actor signing up for another web site for a backyard movie they’re doing for free.

But again, it’s all free. Though I’m not sure who the target market is. A little DIY film isn’t going to break down a script, while a larger production will probably stick with EP.

While vScripter and vProduction Office are the main parts of Five Sprockets, it does have some other cool, unique features.

There’s an idea management database, so you can write down stories, loglines, characters, or dialogue. There isn’t too much structure with this, and you can’t tag each idea or add categories. Personally, I’ve been using Google Notebooks and it’s working pretty well.

There’s also a networking area and job posting board, though there were about 4 jobs listed when I checked. There’s also a filmmaking resource with a glossary and how-to videos.

Randy said his goal was to provide the tools filmmakers need to make better movies. When I first heard this pitch, I asked if it was geared towards the YouTube type filmmaker. It isn’t, he says. He imagines it being used by both small and large productions.

I don’t see a large production using this, and if I had to write a feature screenplay in vScripter I’d probably go vCrazy, as in very crazy.

But I think there’s some good ideas here. They just need to find their niche in the filmmaking world, improve the tools and customize it for the audience that’s using it.

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Posted in Preparation, Screenwriting, Tools | 3 Comments