Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Stella Artois Short Film Project’s Top Ten Finalists have been announced. As per the Official Rules, these were chosen by the TriggerStreet.com community. The Grand Prize winner will be selected from this group of finalists by a distinguished panel of judges: Kevin Spacey, Dame Judy Dench, Laurence Fishburne, James Blunt and Sacha Baron Cohen. Watch the finalist’s films. Oh yeah, just in case you’re wondering, the Grand Prize is $50,000 CASH!
About the Contest:
As a global supporter of independent film, Stella Artois appreciates your dedication and understands the many sacrifices you make to achieve your vision. From hours spent setting up each shot and capturing every nuance to investing every penny you have — you create the stories that move us most. Stories so good no one could possibly tell them better. Stories that are worth the price of perfection.
To help you in your quest, we’re sponsoring a project through TriggerStreet.com offers a $50,000 cash award. Submit your short film that exemplifies the theme of Sacrifice and/or Perfection:
I. Sacrifice: Choosing what is right over what is convenient. Pursuing one’s goals to the fullest despite peer pressure to give up. Putting others’ needs before one’s own.
II. Perfection: The pursuit of excellence against all odds. Completely exceeding all expectations. Being the very best you can be in your field and living up to those responsibilities.
Friday, July 10, 2009
With almost 150 entries, the competition for a place on the new Blender movie project was fierce, but the selection for the Durian team is now complete.
Angela Guenette of Canada (modeling, rigging, animation), Ben Dansie of Australia (3D generalist), Nathan Vegdahl of the USA (rigging, animation), Lee Salvemini of Australia (animation), Soenke Maeter of Germany (shading, light, compositing) join previously-discussed creatives and returning technical support staff, Brecht van Lommel and Campbell Barton.
Jan Morgenstern of Wavemage - a premium sponsor (10,000+ euro) - will be doing the music, sfx, sound edit and mix. Blender has also announced that DivX Inc. will be a major sponsor (2500+ euro). The DVD fund-raising pre-sale will start fairly soon, in a week or two.
The 3D animated film project is also still looking for: voice actors with “actors with international star quality” (attention Ricky, Phil & Sisch!)
concept art by David Revoy
Thursday, July 9, 2009
This little gem of a film by Steve Ellington (previous post) is believed to be the first music video shot on an iPhone 3Gs, although other are laying claim to the crown.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that Apple has a new-new gen iPhone aka iPhone 3Gs with the “s” standing for speed (features, tech specs).
When it comes to mobile devices of this variety, I’m a hardcore Windows Mobile girl - they don’t call me the ‘Pocket PC Princess’ for no reason - BUT I’m a journalist and filmmaker, so the new video features really have me paying attention to the 3Gs, and I was delighted to find a detailed post by someone who actually is a serious filmmaker.
Yesterday, indie helmer Steve Ellington posted a great article called: “Everything You Wanted to Know About iPhone 3GS Video” in which he does a terrific rundown of the video shooting capabilities of this new iPhone. He shot the following video to illustrate his points, and he also wrote a comparison to his Flip MinoHD, and follows that up with a iPhone 3Gs ‘wish list’ - one very important feature missing from the 3Gs is HD.
On a side note, I’ve been hearing a lot about user frustrations over the lack of battery life of iPhones. Here’s a helpful review of an interesting product called Mophie Juice Pack Air, ‘an add-on battery pack that doubles as a case’ (PDF manual). Currently it’s available in white, black, and purple, but sadly, not a bright blue. Maybe that colour will be available by the time i get an iPhone, or a next-gen video-capable iPod Touch.
