Maëlys McArdle

Category: Life

Every other post.

  • Docks Update!

    Saturday’s shoot went really well, all told. That niggle I spoke of in the previous entry got resolved in the nick of time (yay for Craigslist!) On the negative side: It started to rain, which meant that I couldn’t do two of the main shots I had intended to take care of. On the positive side: everyone showed up, they were all wonderful actors, and we finished on time. Even the most difficult scenes went off without a hitch.

    Interesting Story: I had actually scheduled 3 backups to come in for Saturday. None of them showed up. But all the main actors did, safe for one. Screwed was I? Nope – because one of the actors, who’s a buddy of mine, brought a common friend of ours to come see. So he took on the role!

    Despite these good news, I’m not out of the woods yet – there’s still lots more footage to be taken. But at least now I can breathe a little easier.

    I’d update this entry with photos, but unfortunately I still don’t have Internet at my new place (which makes organizing shoots a royal pain in the %##$!) This Internet-outage is brought to you by Rogers.

  • September 15th looms closer…

    September 15th looms closer. Everything is organized. There’s one minor (alright major) niggle in the way (missing actor), but that should get resolved by the 15th (hopefully.) (Yay for parentheses.)

    Meanwhile, the deadline for “Major Combat Operations”, that is to say, the filming involving the major film set – the boat and the kiosk – has to wrap up by October 7th. It’ll be a challenge, to say the least!

    Can I get this done? Well… September 15th will determine that.

  • September 15th – Day of Truth

    Simply said: September 15th is incredibly important in the filming of Docks. This is the day when all the actors are supposed to show up – together – for a scene. Actors who aren’t being paid for what they’re doing.

    And they’re expected to show up on a Saturday morning, at 9AM. There’s a 2 hour shooting window. If one actor doesn’t show up, I can’t just reschedule everyone. It’s not that easy. It’s already asking them alot simply to show up. Plus there’s the fact that this particular date was chosen because it works around everyone’s work schedules. Not that I could shoot later on anyways: the set I’m using is literally packing up shop in 3 weeks – and all the filming has to be done by then.

    But back to September 15th – the day of truth. This is the day when I’ll learn whether the $1,500 I spent on this project went to waste.  I’m planning like all hell to make sure that the day goes smooth. Whatever the end: it will be a day that will live in infamy. For better, or worse.

  • HMV Cuts CD Prices; Piracy Blamed

    HMV have slashed their CD prices. The article’s author somehow manages to blame it on piracy. However, as Slashdot’s InvalidError notes:

    It is really funny to read about a media outlet slashing prices to counter piracy after so many years of media outlets using piracy as an excuse for inflating prices.

    Where many movies can be had for about $20, it is pretty hard to accept so many audio CDs being listed around $25. Knocking 33% off these only brings them back down to a level that seems more natural – though still on the high side.

    Right now, music outlets have to compete on convenience, added value and price to generate sales and counter piracy. At ~$20 per disc, CDs look like a pretty bad proposition considering that very few of the tracks on most discs are worth listening to and getting them off iTunes/whatever would cost less than $10. Filler tracks provide practically no value and in the face of a-la-carte DRM-free music download services, the $20 price tags are simply unsustainable.

    HMV is simply using piracy as an excuse to hide the real reason behind the price adjustments: the fact that download services currently offer much better value. Being honest and stating this up-front would be like promoting the online competitors.

  • Filming Docks…

    The filming for Docks has begun. The Canon HV20 I’m currently borrowing to film is rather an incredible little bugger. It’s HD (1080i, 720p), and shoots at ~24p (ie. same framerate as in cinemas… and yes – it matters.) It also sports an optical stabilization feature that’s very, very, good. Panning around the camera on a tripod has never looked so smooth.

    The HV20 also uses regular MiniDV tapes. The camera uses the same amount of bandwidth of my standard-definition DV videocam (25Mbit/s.) This is due to a different compression algorithm, which in itself has some pros/cons. Nevertheless, it’s a relief I won’t have to be spending tons of money on special tapes for HD content – regular ($8/pop) MiniDV tapes will be exactly as reliable as they are for 480i cameras.

    Yet another plus of this little gem. Most impressive is the budget price for such a piece of machinery ($1,300), and the fact that it’s low-price isn’t standing in the way of the incredible reviews it’s getting. Without further adieu, here is the initial footage I captured:

     

     

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