Okay, I haven't even started but thought I'd start a thread where each of us can share our ongoing experiences during the DVC3 process. When the deadline hits next Friday at midnight PST, no more posting to this thread.

My Experience to Date

* I called my team from the last DVC2 and told them game on. I hadn't even told them I signed up for DVC3 until today.
* Fortunately, they were all excited. If they were not, it would be a very, very long week indeed!
* Ideas are coming out my ears. And yes, that does hurt

Threw the theme open to the guys at work (not in the filming team, just people and work) and got some good, bad and down right weird ideas. Funny enough, the weird ones where the best ones. I think I have the approach I`m gonna take, but then again maybe not, ahhhhhhh.

This is my first DVC, and I haven't shot a live action short in about 8 years. Luckily my brother is teaming up with me and taking care of finding equipment and bodies, warm and cold.

So far I got the script done, got some of the props together, and I think we have our cast and crew. The script calls for an animated character in about 3 or 4 shots, so I'm modeling and rigging away until we shoot on Saturday.

I shouldn't be posting here, I should be working. That's what I tell myself, anyway. Got the first draft of the script done, nothing fancy, but doable. Now I just need to make the ending funnier. I know the contest isn't limited to comedy, but the script I've got is supposed to be funny, and it's only halfway there. Dammit.

So far I called my usual good partners from my last shorts, we met together in a restaurant, I had a rough idea before the meeting. After the meeting, the idea was rock solid, the casting was done, one people will be scouting for the locatings tomorrow, and I will write the final script during the night.

I am really happy that the thing goes so well tonight, because I have a shooting saturday not related with the contest. So I only have sunday to shoot...

...so far, i have given some consideration to digging a few things out of my basement.

Well its nows 8:23pm Friday... bout 15hours since the Theme was posted and i have still have a blank screen :(

I'm starting to dislike this theme heh

Good news is that i have actors confirmed for shooting tomorrow :)

Heh well the idea my team have come up with involves violence, injokes and attempting to offend or confuse the majority who watch it. Argh!

Only concept I've thought about would be 1min or shorter.. i'd like to do something longer than this if possible, but maybe they can expand on it with me...

Well,
I had one of those lightening bolt things happen and by lunch yesterday I had a pretty gelled idea of where this was going. As you may have been able to tell from my first short, "Secrets", I have a dark way of looking at things. Not quite Steven King like but sort of a Rod Serling meets David Lynch thing going on in my head all the time. I think it comes from playing so much Quake all those years ago.

I would gladly post the script but I don't want to give it away, or help the competition, at least not until it's posted on my site.

I will give you the working title: "Chemical Development of Silver Halide Cyrstals". Totally 180 degress off the technical sounding nature of the title however.

So, the genesis of the project so far. I was sitting at work in the Engineering department of the post house where I work as an Engineer and the theme was announced, "Cameras". I sat and looked at the screen and thought to myself, interesting, this is a plural noun, now what? I was thinking it would be a verb or adjuctive or something with feeling or action. Oh well.

I ignored it and went back to work after scratching a few messages on the DVInfo.net boards.

By lunch I had a spark and an hour later, from my seat at Panera, in Hilliard, Ohio, I had a nearly finished dark idea on my laptop and even have the credits music picked out. Acting will be another of my daughters and probably me or her boyfriend. Most of my ideas involve one primary character and plot line with little else.

By this afternoon, around 3pm I will have the timeline setup in my laptop on Avid HD and have the opening and closing credits in place with music bed.

Sunday we shoot the primary scenes. Must buy DVCam tapes.

Sean McHenry
9:23am, 9/9/2005

Sean, watch out for long titles! I think that my title for the last challenge almost cost me the laser print. Dylan only mentioned it once, but I think he has something against long titles. "CDSHC" sounds a lot more sinister anyway ;').

I have an idea, but like last time, I don't have a lot of time because of as job. So the shoot on Sunday and ultimatly my entry will be seriously effected by the mood my daughter is in.

This is kind of what I figure stage diving is like - only there are a lot less bruises and broken bones when the crowed parts.

Sean, watch out for long titles! I think that my title for the last challenge almost cost me the laser print. Dylan only mentioned it once, but I think he has something against long titles.


I think long titles are cool outside this competition, but when I have to type a short sentence of a title a dozen or more times, I get cranky. :)
I won't tell you how to name your film but anything you guys do to make my job easier is much appreciated!

No matter what though, please do not submit an untitled film, or a film with the title "Camera", "Cameras", "A Camera", "The Cameras" or any short variation thereof.

Alright, I'm still at the "think about it and get it down on paper" stage. Fortunately, my cast and crew are getting together tonight to bring clarity and focus to the process. We'll be shooting on Sunday--which is good, since it gives me time to wash and iron my green screen.

For those of you who did not read my thread about rules clarification, I'm shooting part two of the story I started in DVC2. Part II will explore Thomas Brin's (the main character) past--he worked at a video production company maintaining their cameras...Sorry, Dylan. I couldn't resist.

There'll be more animation, surreal background mattes, and a continuation of the 50's scifi meets Silent Running aesthetic.

Well, I'm driving from Omaha, Nebraska back to Florida. Sitting in a motel room now racking my brain for a good story. Only thing I'm finding is that I am tired and sick of the gas prices!!! Great timing for a 3,500 mile road trip huh!?!?

Stopping in Atlanta on the way, and will try to put something together there. Will be no winner, but no wall for me! Writing, shooting, editing and posting on the road---good challenge!

Best of luck to all.


Mike

I have a few ideas I wrote down that I'll shoot today. But I am unsure how it will look on video. Looks great in my mind.

What dialogue is that Plato quote from?

Well we shot ummm something today.... just about to capture ready for editing tomorrow morning.

And as usual the weather decided to be cold windy and rainny :( and complaining actors

Hopefully i can pull off something worth watching when i edit it :)

This is kind of what I figure stage diving is like - only there are a lot less bruises and broken bones when the crowed parts.

Oh if only the theme was stagediving, I caught a shot of my housemate taking out some unsuspecting kids at a gig last week... he thought they could take his weight, he was wrong.

I came up with my theme and wrote a treatment that would set it at 7-10 minutes, over 6 locations, with me playing 5 different parts (yes, I'm doing it solo again). Then I slapped myself, cut it down to one location, three pages, and me only playing two parts.

Did you film you slapping yourself?

I can't wait to see your entry.

Argh... I had this really nice idea which involved some wonderful outdoors in Maastricht, Netherlands (where I currently live), but the weekend presented itself in thunders and rain, so I spent the whole day polishing a new concept.

Just hope it holds and that when I wake up tomorrow I don´t find it too dull. Will be shooting tomorrow, and post-producing during the week.

Must... finish... script... Must... finish... script.

Cheers,

Hugo

Well i'm done..... Just finished rendering the Quicktime.

Is 13mb ok for the small version?

Ooh.. last time I was basically finished at this time.. now I have only like half... I keep thinking that I can do it tomorrow... but there are like 5 days left.. and that's like... an eternity... anyway.. I will deliver "something". To my surprise there sprung up a lot of ideas about cameras. I thought it would be hopeless but it's not. This is gonna be real fun and exciting. And yes, you are gonna be the first one to experience my first speaking role in a movie. Yesterday I did my first acting out on the street. Even though it was empty it was "scary". Today went a lot better cause most was inside and it was non speaking scenes outside. Next time I think I am gonna attach some actors...

My update:
OK, it's 9 minutes away from being Monday morning and I have to say I am pretty happy with todays shooting. The second daughter turned out to be pretty good and seemed to actually enjoy it once she got into it and found out nobody was going to laugh at her during shooting.

She did some damage to her left knee a few weeks back but hobbled her way through it and I think I have enough to work with without limping.

I have some minor shots and the final shot to shoot tomorrow as well as some sound effects. So far I have edited everything I have shot and have my titles and the music laid in. Tomorrow night I should be done and on the way to final color correction and any other effects.

Should even have a sample WMV file by this time tomorrow. I will probably wait to post it until later, toward the deadline so I canmake any corrections if needed.

Sean (almost done) McHenry

Should even have a sample WMV file by this time tomorrow. I will probably wait to post it until later, toward the deadline so I canmake any corrections if needed.

Sean (almost done) McHenry

Sean, congratulations on being close to finished! That must be satisfying.

We just finished shooting yesterday evening. Today, sometime, I will capture all the video and lay a rough cut down on the timeline. Since the entire short was shot in front of a green screen this time, I have many a background mattes and a handful of animations yet to do. When is the deadline? :)

Guys I have an urgent question. Something I didnt think about while shooting yesterday. But in some of the shots you can the Kodak mark on a disposable camera used as a prop. Is it a problem? If this is a problem I think I am screwed
:(

Guys I have an urgent question. Something I didnt think about while shooting yesterday. But in some of the shots you can the Kodak mark on a disposable camera used as a prop. Is it a problem? If this is a problem I think I am screwed
:(
I doubt you have a problem. The book "Da Vinci code" mentioned Nivea Cream without being assoicated with/making a deal and it gave Nivea a lot of free publicity. I bet that Kodak will be greatful that you show up their trademark. :) A side note is that I think Nivea now sponsor the movie...

Ok good. Because I pretty much don't have a chance to reshoot. Especially since its already monday. Thanks for the quickbook. I shall now start editing
:D

Guys I have an urgent question. Something I didnt think about while shooting yesterday. But in some of the shots you can the Kodak mark on a disposable camera used as a prop. Is it a problem? If this is a problem I think I am screwed
:(

I agree with Fredrik. If you were extracting the Kodak logo and using that in someway separate from their product, that would be a problem. In this case, especially since this is a contest whose major purpose is simply to get out a shoot (and not to make money), your okay.

How many movies show cars with their logo, or the nike swoosh logo, or a pepsi in someone's hand. Yes, some of those are blatant product placements. But, in most Indy movies, those are simply props that the producer had available.

Guys I have an urgent question. Something I didnt think about while shooting yesterday. But in some of the shots you can the Kodak mark on a disposable camera used as a prop. Is it a problem? If this is a problem I think I am screwed
:(

From a moral/ethical standpoint? I agree with the other two guys, and think you've done nothing wrong. I also agree from a practical standpoint in that for THIS particular usage, I doubt there will be any issues, though Dylan would have to chime in to answer that one definitively.

However, I'd like to point everybody to a nice page I found a few days ago that dispels some common "knowledge" about copyright law: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Honestly, I'm not sure what qualifies the author of that site to offer those bulleted points, but I'd be careful nonetheless.

What he mentions on that site doesn't really apply to this case. Actually I am more certain that it's ok. A practical example. Say Coca-Cola is involved in a scandal. A news team goes to Coca-Cola HQ and tapes their logo and wants interview et c. IF Coca-Cola COULD sue that newsteam under copyright act they most definately would! I have never heard of such case. On the other hand if I use coca-cola logo to make fred-cola in the same font I will definately get a lawsuit for violating their trademark.

Of course this also applies to a country's law. Some countries don't care... another care too much...

All right, well, I just thought I'd offer what little information I have, in case something in there was pertinent to this situation. If you don't think it's something to worry about, then don't mind me.

Can't wait to see Jeff's film in any event!

Well not at the moment anyway... if someone gets a big lawsuit make sure we all get to know about it! :) Oh.. and btw... it's not legal to use someone elses music in your video without permission. I think someone did that in DVC #2...

OK, even closer now. I have 5 versions on the laptop at the moment. I think you guys are going to like this one. The music really makes this one work.

I will tell you guys my secret to finding music AFTER we are done with this one. It's too good to keep to myself, although I should. More later.

This will end up on the new web page but here is the list of the equipment I am using for this short. Rebuilt the main editing PC but am using the laptop so I can do some work at lunchitime at the Panera near work.

Camera is the tried and true Sony PDX-10. As always, 16:9 and DVCam.
Century .65 HR Wide Angle adapter lens for some shots.
Cinetactics MatteBlox soft Matte Box.
Bogen 3211BN Sticks and 501 head.
Varizoom VZRock zoom controller.
Longer life battery (forgot the model number) and AC.
Sony PVM-8022 color video monitor.
HP zv5340 Pavillion laptop (768MB RAM, 80GB HD, nVidia MX2 video, etc.
Shop light from Lowes. The flourescent type with 2 tubes at 5400K.

That's it for this one.

Need a few sound effects, convert a few sections of an old VHS and get a roll of B&W film developed and I should be done.

Good luck everyone.

Sean

"Aaaaargh" just haven't been able to come up with anything "doable" in short space of time.... case of everyone being busy, and the concept being a pain to get our heads around.... like writing a song about music :)

I`ve put it all together on timeline and am rendering for the music guy to put it to music. Yipeeeee. This is my first challenge and although, brain blasting, wont be my last.

Hope you`re all keeping sane and enjoying yourselves :-), see you at the deadline.

We probably did the last shots today. I am really excited to cut it together and hand it in. This project went from something like "omg, camera, how the f-word can I do something about that" to "hmm.. this could work" and now "wow! this works". I can't wait to edit it... ooh.. i am so excited.. almost like x-mas... :-)

so im going to start today, i had lots of trouble with this topic, so i was sitting in class and was just like f-ck it im going to work on it right now so i did, and i got an idea, drew a storyboard, i think i have something that is maybe doable i will have it done by friday, might not be a winner but o well it will be fun!

ok i just got the funniest new video idea(i wont make it though and hopefully this doesnt spoil anyones ideas), so you show a guy working on fixing a camera. A canon xl2

then he gets black spray paint ;)
and paints it all up
then he gets an hdv sticker and puts it on. If i had an xl2 it would surly be a winner :>

8:45 pm tuesday, and i just e-mailed my link to dylan.

started this morning with only the vaguest idea of what i wanted to do. dug some more junk out of my basement. tore the house apart looking for appropriate backdrops. and i now have a complete 3+ minute film on the web. it's not bad at all for a one-day wonder.

this morning, i was all %#@$&$@*@ this @#$%$#@ thing, why did i sign up for it, anyway, as if i needed more challenges in my life.

and now i'm all purr, purr, purr. i'm so glad i did that.....

I am not in the Challenge this time, but it is so funny reading your posts about how everything is going. Ahaha, hang on you are almost there !

ok i just got the funniest new video idea(i wont make it though and hopefully this doesnt spoil anyones ideas), so you show a guy working on fixing a camera. A canon xl2

then he gets black spray paint ;)
and paints it all up
then he gets an hdv sticker and puts it on. If i had an xl2 it would surly be a winner :>

It could be called "One day at the Canon Lab". And afterwards they go drink coffee and play poker or surf the net... wonder if they need another employee... :) I guess you also heard of the mockup of the Canon HDV-camera at the IBC-convention...

That is an understatement...I'm exhausted! It is 10pm Mountain Time 9/14/2005. I too have just e-mailed Dylan the link to my movie.

What a great experience! Nothing like the fellow who is on a 3500 mile road trip but drove 180 miles to one location in the Big Horn Mountains, 75 to another (my friends house), was lucky enough to have a couple friends there that were very willing to be in this picture. My 3rd actor didn't pan out, so like Dylan, I threw myself into the role. My friend and star got a crash course on the camera and he was 2nd. That was cool.

Was packing around home made equipment that I'd been building for the last 35 days or so. The little truck was jammed...my entire life was in there (half of it is still in there...lol). Dirt and soot was everywhere. Weather was tricky. Had to shoot very early and very late in the mountains. Fortunately, the rains were intermittent. The day we wrapped, the rains came crashing down.

Equiptment used for this shoot:

Thank you Dan Selakovich for the Book: Killer Camera Rigs That you Can Build- I couldn't have got some of these shots without this great book. www.DVcameraRigs.com

A Canon XL1-S that I bought here from a member of DVinfo a few weeks ago
Bogen Tripod
Home made Crane
Home made Dolly
1 Britek 650W Light, 1 gel, 1 barndoor, 1 Britek 300W light
Macintosh Powerbook© and Final Cut Pro HD©
Apple's Garage Band© for writing the opening sequence of music
www.stockmusic.net where I paid $29 for the legal rights to one piece of music that plays in the film (I looked around and this was a good experience for me)
Various props (cameras and film of course)
A carton of cigs...lol
2 cans of chew...lol

and now I must sleep!

Best wishes to all...and to all a a great plight

I am uploaded and completely done. I kept it real simple and had fun. It was a joy to go through the steps of this creative process and see a complete short finished that quickly. Good luck to all!

11:06 pm

We have wrapped principle photography, My co-director/writer/lead actor has begun the rough cut of the movie. I'm writing (or attempting to write) the music. I have no idea if we'll finish in time, but we got out and shot something and learned a whole bunch, well at least I did. I think there should be an extension to the deadline when canon releases a new camera though.

Also strange event, lost a hard drive today. It was a seagate 146 scsi and is still (I believe) under warranty, fortunately we didn't have media on it, unfortunately it delayed some other wise worthwhile editing time. OH well.

good luck all hopefully I won't see you on the wall of shame.

I will tell you guys my secret to finding music AFTER we are done with this one. It's too good to keep to myself, although I should. More later.

Sean

I need MUSIC!

My kids really came through, but adding a little background music would be nice...

Hi Dick,

As mentioned above, I wrote the opening sequence of music on Garage Band© software but was too tired to do it for the rest of the film. Like you, I needed some music for the rest of the piece.

I found www.stockmusic.net and purchased the rights to one song. It was $29 and everything is legal.

Maybe that will help?

www.freeplay.com for free music. i can generally find something there. may not be perfect, but the price is right.

Friends... I just finished and handed in my contribution. Wow.. this was tougher than last time. So now I can sit down, relax, open a beer and ooh... wait! Now comes the time of nail-biting, nervousness... ohh my god.. well, I am looking forward to see all your contributions during the next week! :)

/Fredrik.

I used to use Freeplaymusic.com for a lot of simple stuff. I even downloaded the entire site and put it to DVD.

Now I have another great source. Requires a bit of searching but it's amazing. I'll spill my guts tomorrow about it.

I have another issue now that you guys might be able to help with. This one's legal. I have been advised both directions in this issue. Here goes.

In shooting this little short, I decided it would be perfect to use a bit of dialog from a 1960 Paramount movie and a quick glance by the lead actress to her TV screen where we see a short shot from the film. Overall it's less than 1 minute total of audio and less than 5 seconds of video. Would this be considered incidental, like a coffee canister on a counter top or a car logo if we were shooting out in the street?

Yes, it does help out the idea of the film significantly, at least to me but I could use a lot of clips from almost anything to get this effect. It just happens this clip is right on the money for this.

I actually called Paramount Licensing and left a Voice Mail for the head of the department explaining what I was attempting to do but have not heard anything back. On the Paramount site it says, in effect, they only consider licensing issues for on-air television. That being the case, I could say that they seem to not care about us little film contest entrants and our little productions so they won't even bother with us. The other side is they could be telling us, no way so don't even ask.

Is this a short enough clip and incidental enough to not worry about? At worst, I would have to act it out or a "similar" scene and fake it on the TV, etc. I could do that if time gets too tight.

What do you guys think? Dylan?

Sean

Is this a short enough clip and incidental enough to not worry about?

I have heard somewhere that it's okay. I can't verify it legally though. I have an idea where a guy is watching TV and I wondered if I had to pay a lot but I shortly read something afterwards that it was okay legally. It all depends on country of course.

To be safe however you can go to archive.org and download a public domain movie and show that instead. I found a real good Humphrey Bogart movie there.

The big problem there would be, I would need to cross referance all the dialog in a film and be able to search for key words, like "camera". I just happend to know there was a lot of talk of cameras in this particular film. That's why I am trying hard to justify using it here.

The Pelinger Archives are great for finding old stuff. I downloaded some of the stuff on the Atomic Bomb a while back, converted it to MPEG2 and made a DVD for my daughter to take to school for a project. Took a bit of doing and MP4 isn't an archival resource but it looked OK for what it was.

Duck and cover.

Sean