Rick McCallum of Lucasfilm shows some 7D love

Rick McCallum, Star Wars producer, says some amazing things about the Canon DSLR's. Rather than quote him, I'll just let you watch the video. Note that the Sony F35, which Rick mentions, costs several hundred thousand dollars last time I checked.

Its Official- We are shooting Holodad on a Canon T2I

I have decided to not wait for the release of the Scarlet, but to film this summer with my DP's (the talented Ray Thomas) 7D, T2I, and possibly a Panasonic AG-HMC150. Why the switch? Rather than rewrite a long explanation, I will simply repost what I posted on ScarletUser.com

"Part of me cannot believe I am writing this, but here it is: I have decided to shoot HoloDad on a Canon 7D and a Canon T2I. Reason? Cost and Availability.

My DP already has the cameras, I just need to pick up some primes. Overall, its going to save the production over $4000. For a micro-budget feature of this scope, that's just too much money to ignore.

Last I heard, Scarlet is due out in summer, and we are shooting in July. That is just cutting it too close. This way, we can test, test, test to our hearts content and not have to reschedule the shoot or do some last minute nail biting when they finally start shipping.

I still plan on buying a Scarlet, just not for this movie. I plan on updating the blog more often, and I'll continue to post here about the movie's progress.

Funny thing is, the anticipation of Scarlet had a huge influence on me getting my butt in gear and writing the screenplay, and tackling the hundreds of other little details that come with making a feature, so I still feel more at home here than any of the other filmmaking forums.

Wish me luck!

Luke"

So there it is. EDIT> Thanks to Jason for posting his own T2I Movie that starts filming before ours. See below. And let me take this opportunity to claim that HOLODAD will be the 1st Feature Length Movie shot on the Canon T2I. I looked around the forums and couldn't find anyone who is doing a feature with the camera. If we are not the first, please let me know.

Choices, choices, choices

Red One, Canon 5D Mk II, and Panasonic Lumix GH1 Footage Comparison from Birns and Sawyer on Vimeo.

Ok, this video received quite a bit of buzz a few weeks back. Which seems to be ancient history at the speed that information is passed around via forums these days. But posting right away just isn't my style. I need time to absorb. To process. To analyze and compare. And frankly, to read other people's opinions who have a lot more knowledge than I do in this particular area.

But I digress. This video, the one with the former buzz, shows in no uncertain terms that great results can be achieved with both with a high-end camera like the RED One, costing tens of thousands of dollars, and with lesser quality cameras like the Canon 5D MkII and Panasonic GH-1. This video makes people think- Hey! I don't need a Red camera, let me just grab one of these DSLRs and I am in business. Well, yes and no.

Notice that they are not using the kit lens that ships with either the 5D MkII or the GH-1. Glass matters. A lot. And shooting footage in light this low would have been disasterous with the standard lens that shipped with either of these lesser cameras.

Another major factor to consider is audio input. No XLR inputs on either camera, just mini jack. With GH-1 giving "mud" on fast pans, and irritating moire patterns in Canon's offerings, whats a production hungry director to do? Its tough waiting, but Scarlet, I am waiting for you alone.

(Other potential usful cameras for the low to no budget indie filmmaker are; the Canon 7D, and the newly announced 1D Mk IV.)

The cost of education

fxphd.com October09 Term Overview from fxphd.com on Vimeo.

Someone once put on a bumper sticker- "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Ah, wit and wisdom, what a combination. In Dec of 2000, after several tries at college, at a few different institutions of higher learning, I finally finished my degree and graduated with a B.A. in Computer Animation. At the time, the total cost of my degree was a little less than $35,000. That same degree today costs in excess of $71,000 and next year will be over $75,000. Crazy huh? Who can afford this?

Although I am glad I received a formal degree, the options today for an education in animation for video games or TV/Movies are huge. FX Phd is the best in my opinion. Totally online, learn at your own pace, post questions in the forums, its great. All this for only $330 for a 10 week term.

The only downside is that you don't earn any college credits, but who cares? People in the industry don't, they care about your demo reel, and will hire you or pass almost exclusively on it's strength or weakness alone.

Save the Screenwriter!

So...here's the deal on screenwriting. Its hard. No, its really, really freakin' hard. Hard to do it well anyway. Holodad is the first screenplay I have "finished". I put the word "finished" in quotes because a screenplay isn't finished until the movie is shot. Directors commonly make last minute changes to dialogue, based on a glimmer of insight into that character's inner workings as the movie progresses, and I expect I will end up doing the same.

But "finished" in the sense that I have written 90 pages, 3 acts, I know my genre, I know my theme, my character arcs...finished. And I couldn't have done it without Save the Cat! Like many aspiring screenwriters, I bought books on how to write screenplays. And some of the authors are quite good- Syd Field, Robert McKee, Viki King, Christopher Vogler, and many, many more, as well as the obligatory "Adventures in the Screen Trade" and other books that are not so much about how to write a screenplay, but more about the business of writing screenplays.

As helpful and/or entertaining as these books are, none of them, and I mean none of them hold a candle to Save the Cat! It's that good. Why? One word. Structure. Huh? Structure. Structure is what makes a movie a movie, and not a novel. Currently, I am slogging through the bestselling book "Battlefield Earth". Not a book based on the horrible box office failure Battlefield Earth starring John Travolta, but the original bestselling (thanks to the church of scientology buying the book to boost sales figures) book.

Novels can meander here and there, letting the author take his or her sweet time to develop the plot and the characters, and you know what? We like it. It's great. A good book is a pleasure to read, and we don't want it to end in 90 minutes. We want it to last for days. Movies don't have that luxury. 2 hours tops. More important than length though, is the emotional roller coaster ride that we all hope to go on when we go see a movie. Emotional involvement is key, and Save the Cat's author Blake Snyder shows what works. I can't recommend it highly enough. Go buy a copy already!