Sticking to the Dream

Cinema sometimes feel like a dream. In reality it is a result of the screen play writers', directors' and producers' dreams composed and formulated and constructed for your entertainment.

There is always a formula being employed. Some work gloriously and others fail miserably at the box office. However our local cinema is dominated by Hollywood film formulas, Bollywood shines through but not as much as Hollywood while Nigerian films are gathering a local cult fanfare in the local DVD market in trinidad and tobago.

But local filmmakers are starting to come up. I may not see a local film take American or foriegn Cinemas by storm any time soon but it is a dream myself and almost all other local filmmakers share: to tell our stories on the world's silver screen. We just need the right formula.

Working a Film Concept

So I met some dudes who are enthusiastic about doing a low budget martial arts film. These guys are mixed martial artists capoiera, kick boxing, muay thai and whatever other styles in their arsenal. I'm excited. It's not everyday I have an opportunity to shoot an action feature length movie.

The first thing was that when we sat down to discuss the project we realised that there weren't a solid story line to work with. Everyone had their own concepts but nothing written. So we had to develop our concept some more. So now I'm writing a script with the help of one of my close brethrens.



I'm learning a lot and I may even start to train and learn some moves myself. We bounced many ideas. some where great others were shot down immediately, I'm the main writer but it seems I just can't do this by myself.


So the process so far is that I write only when I feel that "urge" and I completely forget about it during the week when I am about doing other stuff. Every sunday I travel to South Trinidad and add some more to the script after a brainstorming session. Two brainstorming sessions and it seems that we have quarter of a script.

It is only going to evolve even more and some parts may change completely before we are done with it. Wish us luck.

Colour Your World Part2

Earlier I spoke about the use of colour in film. I should be more specific and talk about colour palettes instead.
A colour palette, is the film colorist's basic guiding factor towards finishing a shot. Is the scene supposed to be dark and ominous? Is it supposed to radiate the golden hues and skin tones associated with a romantic stroll on the beach?
The number one priority for any colorist is the storyline. He is always asking himself how do these nuances in colour tones help to tell the story?
Although I am not a professional colourist using Da Vinci colour grading systems, as an independent producer, I find myself colour grading every single project in After Effects even those than don't require extensive graphics or special effects. The result? More control over my shots and a greater arsenal of tools in film imitation digital kit.

Sin City's Visual Effects Supervisor, Stu Maschwitz shares a few secrets using Magic Bullet's Colorista and Looks at the following link.
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/redgianttv/item/23/