LA area lookin' for a good time

[Sterling Youngman]

Hey Everyone,

I'm in the LA area, Sherman Oaks, to be exact. I produce and work in animation and some live action stuff.

I have a pet project, that I just don't have enough time to do on my own, so I'm eager to meet other people with directing/editing/CGI skills.

We shoot on a HV20 and edit with Premiere, but some editors have taken it to Final Cut.

We are producing a short webcast comedy show. We have shot 7 episodes, and once we have 10 completed, we will go public with the site. The show is based on a character that was created at The Groundlings (famous improv group). It is shot in front of a greenscreen and then the set is created in 3DS MAX.

If you're interested in having a good time playing with your video toys, send me an email.

Cheers,

Sterling

sterling@sterlingyoungman.com

[Sterling Youngman]

I suppose that I should add that I like to tinker with things. I am making my own Canon Lens mount system for my HV20.

I was also one of the first to get the HV20 working with the BlackMagic Intensity card. You can see all the posts in this forum. Unfortunately, I could not participate directly because it took over two weeks to get my account validated.


-Sterling

[Chris Barcellos]

Sterling:

Welcome to DVInfo.

Title of this thread looks a bit, well....., er ..... like off a bathroom wall...:) Maybe why there is not a lot of response.

Is that a DIY 35mm adapter you are referring to by "Canon Lens mount system" ? If so, how is it constructed.

I was watching the thread on the Intensity card. Interesting...

Just used the HV20 in a shoot with the Letus 35a, and have wins and losses in that process.... going to see the 48 Hour contest version tonight. Problem with the 48Hour film fest is that they seem to limit everything to SD. Look forward to hearing a bit more about the Lens Mount set up and Intensity usage...

[Sterling Youngman]

RE: the canon lens system, this would be a complete product to replace systems like http://www.redrockmicro.com/micro35.html

One difference is that it will give you functionality over EOS lenses.

RE: the title of my thread. I can't help it if people don't like my sense of humor. But I can tell you a funny story. I was looking at a house to rent, and someone asked my what I do. I told them I was in the film business and they asked if they had seen anything I've done. I immediately thought of a film I produced and never liked, so I said, "I hope not." They started laughing, and then I realized they thought I was in the porn buisness. Actually, I have done quite the opposite.

I work mostly in animation. Currently, I have two family movies in the pipeline. The film I didn't like, however, was about human trafficing. I won't get into details, but the director was a real problem, and as a result, I'm not happy with the final film.

More about the tinkering. I have helped develop some of the leading technologies in film and animation, including 3DS MAX. As a result, millions have seen my work, and it is something I can be proud of. I suppose I should have told the owner, renting the house, about this, but somehow I tend to fixate on problematic projects.

-Sterling

[Bradley Mauro]

I think your heading is just fine. You gotta weed out the boring people somehow! And no, I've never done any of "those" films, either.

I work in live action and animation. I looked up Bucharest Express - I'd be curious to see what you're experience was on it. I'll drop you a line shortly -


bradley

[Sterling Youngman]

I probably shouldn't talk too much about B.E.

I worked on the film as a favor to the executive producer. Also, I had high hopes for the film and I thought it's subject matter, human traffiking, was something that needed more exposure. I'm not at liberty to say what really went wrong with the project, but it didn't turn out the way it should have. I will say that I almost jumped on a plane to fly back, but I was in charge of managing the money, and I stayed to to protect the investments of the people who put up money to have the film made.

One the other hand, it was a good experience and it put me in touch with good people and some of the most celebrated filmmakers in Eastern Europe.

Which brings up something else that I will share with everyone of this forum; a little insight into Hollywood business:

Way back in the 80's, I co-wrote an adaptation to a famous Soviet movie, "Ballad of a Soldier," and nothing became of it. While producing Bucharest Express, I thought I might try to track down the original director. So I had my assistant, who was formally an assistant to the head of the KGB in Moldova, make some calls. She came up with some private phone numbers and other contact info for the director and his son, Pavel Chukrai, who directed a 1997 movie, The Thief. This film was Oscar nominated for best foreign film. Now, in my opinnion, the foreign film category might as well be the Best Film category, because they are the best films from around the world, and the world produces some pretty amazing films (pretty bad ones too.)

Anyway, several months after finishing B.E., I flew to Moscow and had my assistant meet me there. We met with Pavel, and he was bending over backwards wanting to direct the adaptation.

Much later, I was in New York, where I lived at the time, and I went to the premiere of a Michael Douglas movie. I had heard that "Ballad of a Soldier" was his favorite movie, so I started up a conversation with him. We had a great conversation (very nice guy). He asked to have it sent to his people, and they liked it, but that led nowhere. So then I took it to several other major companies, and what I learned was that before anyone would even think about it, they wanted to strip the Russian director from the project. He was not bankable.

This is the lesson. Hollywood has a list of their "people" and if they aren't on the list of your project, then they aren't interested. I understand this to a large degree (mostly with actors), but I was shocked that this would be the case with an Oscar nominated director.

Well, years have passed, and I could tell many similar stories. This isn't new information, and it is focused on the Hollywood movie making machine, but if you're new to the biz and you get anything accomplished, congratulations!

-Sterling

[Matt Newcomb]

Hey Sterling,

I'd love to hear more about your webcast show. I'm considering doing one myself so it'd be nice to see someone else's take on it. I'm not too far away from you either, just over in North Hollywood.

[Jeff Anselmo]

Gosh, I miss the Valley!

Y'all remind me of days living, going to school, and working out there. (Nope, didn't work in "that" business neither, but working at the cable company on Oxnard, off of Sepulveda, I certainly was in direct proximity of it!)

Good luck with your webcast, Sterling! Hope to see it soon.

Best,

--JA

[Loren Simons]

I'm from WH side. Woodland Hills =D im very intrested in your Adaptor, particually how much you spent on it =D email or repost, i think this post may be a bit to old, oh and your title was acually the thing that drew me to this thread ;)

[Sterling Youngman]

We're still working on the adapter, but it is on the back burner at the moment. I'm trying to finish a music video, which ws shot on film and requires a lot of visual effects, and also a long-form documentary about a my journey up the Amazon River, with a car.

For certain, when we get the adapter finished, we'll be posting all over this forum.

Cheers,

Sterling

[Chris Barcellos]

Sterling. Missed your response to my post back in June.

Did another 48Hour directing this time with a Letus35a adapter and the HV20. Still a lot of issues..

So are you thinking static, spinning or vibrating for your adapter ground glass. I've built my own Redrock M2 version, using their plans and spinning ground glass. Did this about a year ago, but when I installed a new motor, every thing had to be resized and realigned because it was a different size, and I put it away when I bought the Letus and HV20 early this year. I damaged the Letus just recently in doing a repair, and so I got the old spinner out, and did mods to it, and dang if it didn't look pretty good HV20. I will be shooting that one in the near future.

Would love to hear more about your adapter project..

[Sterling Youngman]

Chris,

We're going with a vibrating version. Aside from looking good, it will be compatible with Canon EOS lenses. This is important to me because I own a lot of their high end toys. We will suppport rack focus and aperture.

I'd love to see some of the footage you shot with your device.

-S

[Chris Barcellos]

Sterling:

I was DP on this film shot with my Letus35a/HV20 combo:

http://www.argonaut-ent.com/Download...64-24p-WEB.mov

You will see that vignetting is an issue with the setup. HV20 needs to be able to zoom a little more, so a bit stronger achromat than is provided by Letus35a is probably required.

[Sterling Youngman]

Ahh, a 48 hour project! Well, those come with all sorts of problems, but I was wondering why the footage seems low contrast? Is this an issue with the setup? It could certainly be adjusted in post, providing you aren't creeping into the 49th hour.


-Sterling

P.S. I always wanted to do a 48 hour project, but never had the balls.

[Chris Barcellos]

Sterling:

Shot in Cine Mode with HV20, which provides a wider latitude lower contrast image.....don't know how...