Can’t Attend NAB Show This Year? Here’s the Next Best Thing…

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Every year around springtime, gear-heads and camera geeks descend into a veritable melting pot of cinematic arts, industrialized equipment, and overall debauchery for the National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show.

I’ve never been, but I hear it’s quite the week — full of new products, demos, and the smells of machinery. You can bet that every manufacturer with a chip in the filmmaking game is saving up their biggest announcements for this week.

And while I won’t be at the show this year (I’ve never been, actually), I’m turning to the talented crews at NextWaveDV and FreshDV for their coverage of NAB 2012.

It’s basically the next best thing to holding each new camera yourself.

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RIP Steve Jobs: A Creative Legend for Filmmakers

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I don’t care that everyone else will be writing about this. Or that you’re tired of reading articles about it. And I don’t care whether you like Apple products.

Creativity is fleeting no matter how you apply it and no matter the capacity it encompasses.

But the transient nature of its existence makes it even more magnificent when captured. The raw creative power of a single vision, when focused with laser precision, is immeasurable.

It can build cities and break down their walls. Let us laugh, then force us to cry. And invent technologies most of us don’t realize we’ll need in a few years time.

Some of us are lucky enough to be creative in one facet while others will spend a lifetime searching for their muse.

But the thing about truly creative people is their creativity isn’t specialized. They could enter any field they want and profoundly change it.

Steve Jobs was one of those people.

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Natalie Portman Thanks Camera Operators in Best Actress Oscar Speech

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Natalie Portman Academy Award Oscar Speech 2011

Last night at the 83rd Academy Awards, Natalie Portman gave one of the more sincere speeches after winning Best Actress. In that speech she took the time to thank the camera operators of Black Swan among the usual “Thank You’s.” That kind of recognition is rare for below the line crew members and was a classy move on her part. You can watch/read her speech below.

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Oscar Odds for Best Cinematography

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The 83rd Academy Awards will be taking place tomorrow and it’s going to be a tight race for Best Cinematography. True Grit might be the favorite, but the Oscars are never a “sure thing.”  Luckily, the money-grubbers in Sin City have removed some of the guess work with odds they’ve set. So, who does Vegas have listed as the favorite to win and by how much?

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Arri Alexa Software 3.0 Loses Its Beta Tag

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ARRI has stripped the “beta” tag off the 3.0 Software Update Packet (SUP) for it’s flagship digital cinema camera, the Alexa. The update was originally released early because it enabled so many features that Alexa owners had been dying for such as in-camera playback, audio recording, and a false color exposure check. I don’t want to write too much about this since I went in depth about the 3.0 software previously.

To download the 3.0 SUP, release notes, or new user manual, visit the ARRI Digital site.

RED Epic Footage Roundup: Pics, Video, R3D

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UPDATE: Ongoing updates at the bottom of the post (2/14/2011 2:46 PM latest update)

RED, the company behind the lens of the RED Epic has been quietly shipping out Epic-M models to its first buyers. In turn, Epic footage, stills and R3D files have begun popping up on the REDuser forums from a variety of posters. I wanted to collect all of those recent forum posts and place it here as a chance to see what kind of images we can expect Epic to churn out once it goes into mass production, hopefully later this year.

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‘Below the Beltway’ Movie Trailer (Video) *UPDATE: 2nd Trailer*

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Below the Beltway, a film I worked on last summer, has recently released a trailer. The film stars Tate Donovan, Kip Pardue, Sarah Clarke, Annie Wersching and Xander Berkley and was directed by Dave Fraunces with cinematography by Adam Silver. Video after the jump… UPDATE: a 2nd – and in my opinion, better – trailer has been embedded

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‘Below the Beltway’ to Air on The Movie Channel, Showtime

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The DC-based production Below the Beltway is scheduled to air on The Movie Channel and Showtime early in December 2010. Independently financed and produced locally in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, the film has managed to garner attention through audience awards and a recent trailer release.

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My Experience at ‘Tron Night’ for Tron: Legacy

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Greetings Programs.

That ticket above allowed me entry into an IMAX 3D theater to get a sneak preview of 23+ minutes worth of Tron: Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 film, Tron. Legacy is shaping up to be a big blockbuster during the holiday season and Tron Night, as it was called, was part of Disney’s huge marketing campaign for the film. I was lucky enough to grab admission early on and attend with my brothers and a friend. Here was my experience, a detailed description of the footage shown, as well as my critique:

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5 Ways JJ Abrams is the new Steven Spielberg

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A couple months ago it was announced that JJ Abrams’ new ultra-secret project, Super 8, was going to be produced by Steven Spielberg. It was a bombshell of news that put two filmmakers of like minds, but separate generations, together. In his early days Spielberg invented the blockbuster. Nowadays JJ Abrams is redefining what that means. With Super 8, Abrams will be pairing up with the filmmaker that he has become most like. Here’s five reasons why Abrams’ is this generation’s Spielberg.

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