Kerry Beyer

HEADSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUSTON

Castle of the Damned

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FILM IS DEAD

The last of the film cameras from the major manufacturers have rolled off the production line. Panavision, Arri, and Aaton are digital only from here on out. I’m sure there are some pretty upset purists out there.

In 2001, I was shooting all film… I said I’d never give it up. Then I was a purist. There was something special about the film stocks, like Ilford XP2, Kodak’s Ti-X pan… Back then photography was like a sacred art, full of closely guarded secrets about how to achieve a certain look.

Photographers would never share trade secrets.

Then digital came along. In 2002, I borrowed a friends Nikon D1x while in Paris shooting models for the then powerhouse agency IMG. I had brought about a $1000 worth of film over… lets just say I still have those rolls in my freezer.

I’ve been all digital ever since, both for stills and movie making. Today’s cameras have and equal or greater resolution and exposure latitude. And the manipulation that can be done in post can mimic almost any film stock – if you know what you are doing.

Back in the day, I had to lobby magazines heavily to take digital submission – they were skeptical. Now, it’s all they want.

It is always sad to see the passing of such a once great technology, but this life is about embracing change,   and making the most of new opportunities. So many things are possible now that weren’t before. I would never have been able to make my feature film Spirit Camp the old fashioned way. And certainly would not be able to attempt a sci-fi epic like Code of Evil, or even my short Castle of the Damned.

Read more here http://www.salon.com/2011/10/13/r_i_p_the_movie_camera_1888_2011/

Thanks to Alan Cerny of Aintitcoolnews.com – I got the idea for this post from his facebook status.

Leave your comments below.  Will you miss film?

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Million Dollar Visual FX on a Indie Budget

Visual FX extravaganzas dominate the box office, but independent filmmakers can play in the same arena, at a fraction of the cost. A recent debate of Facebook stirred controversy over whether or not indie filmmakers should attempt to compete with Hollywood in genres like action and sci fi – The gist of the debate was that indie filmmakers shouldn’t attempt it…

Proper visual FX takes time and planning to integrate and composite correctly, but it’s not out of reach for the indie filmmaker. Almost anything is possible with After FX… but subtly is the key. FX should be transparent… and by that I mean, the audience should never go “oh, cool effect.” They should be completely immersed in the story, and not notice that it was an effect.
I recently shot and edited a short film over the course of one weekend. As co-founder of SplatterFest, I wanted to make a film to screen at the event, even though I couldn’t compete. The result is CASTLE OF THE DAMNED – a dark fairy tale where a lone Knight must battle and army of the damned to save the Princess from an Evil Queen.
The entire 4 minute short was shot on green screen, and composited over the weekend. The backgrounds were generated in a 3D modeling program, and exported as still frames.
One of the most important things to make your composites look real is to match lighting between your live action elements and your computer generated backgrounds. For this reason, I try to light and generate my backgrounds before I shoot live action elements, so I know where to place the lights.
Castle of the Damned is currently in consideration at Slamdance. Check out the IMDB page, and look for it on the festival circuit and online afterwards.