10 steps to make films on zero budget

1.Shoot something with anything (quality does not matter)

2.Ask your family, friends Dad or Mom even your grand parents for funding or make a ppt and upload your business plans on net to get funds
 

3.Once you get the funding after you beg, steal,borrow get a camera and ask your friends or family to act.

4. Find a editing software and edit it and add some sounds

5. Export it in best possible quality

6.Now Market it! upload it on you tube and other websites 

7.Tag your friends and family and ask them to like and share

8.Note the comments and reviews 

9. Now send it across film festival circuit on DVDs or to friends and circulate it.

10. Make a better film and re edit your previous film for funding.

Congratulations you are a film maker..! :)

R.I.P Steve

"Stay Hungry, Stay foolish" - Steve Paul Jobs (Founder of Apple and Pixar)

Color correction with Apple color

Recently,  I used Apple color for my mise-en-scene exercise at my film school at Whistling Woods International, India for color correction. As a student we were supposed to shoot a long shot and multi-cam with two cameras where two different formats on film and digital which was used on aweek long workshop which was a collaborative exercise with different departments in my film school.

The formats used for the long shot was shot with 16mm arriflex (with 500T 7219 Kodak - 400 foot) on single pref on a collapsible set which could be easily customized to suit the narrative and on day 2 we shot with Sony D50 on DVCAM tapes.

As editor,  I was expected to edit the film shot on 16 mm and the Sony D50 rushes on a 4 day shift in the Edit lab and sound to be designed by my dear friend Rahul B. I was shocked to find that the colors were extremely warm. The lighting had dominant reddish-orangish-yellow look which looked very bad on the Panasonic broadcast monitor. I edited the multi-shot exercise on final cut pro 7 gave it for the sound to my friend Rahul but I didn't feel right to just submit the assignment without proper visuals when as film student who has to show his work to the get jobs in future commercial projects.

Few months ago as a student of editing specialization in film school.  We learned to use apple color by my professor Vivian Sir and few months ago we also had learned to use 3 way color corrector on final cut pro from David Hover's editing workshop. To get the optimum visual quality I sent my video to apple color via round tripping and corrected the black and whites of the luminance and the selected portions of highly lit areas on the frames affected due to lighting exposure issues. First few hours was difficult as I was not familiar with the color software as we didn't give a seriousness to it but as the project progressed I was able to master apple color with tracking and manipulating the selected areas of frame with secondaries on apple color after doing the color correction by setting the hue, saturation of the shadows (Blacks) and highlights (whites). I was even able to remove the camera markers recorded on the frame accidentally on one of the clips. 

Only bug this software has is that I had to make new files to save color files to make sure that a new render files was to created with all the preferences of the render settings in the project set prior to the creation of apple file color project or sending it from final cut pro to apple color. The other bug is the codec preset and the pixel size always changes to NTSC setting so I had to do again and again reset the project setting of the color project file from original format to apple pro-res and back and then back to original format may be it has been fixed in the newer version. 

Apple color is a best starter tool as a editor and colorist which gives you basic touch up features on your frames for films and television and even for low budget film makers which even lets you highlight a specific character on screen to enhance narrative with the vignette.

External hard drive fix in mac or to format

The solution to fix your external hard drive in mac are as follow:

Formatting:
1.Make a backup of your data on a windows pc/mac. 

2. Format your drive with mac disk utility tool in Macintosh hd ->applications -> utilities -> disk utility. 

Now, select your hard drive and go to erase tab and select "Erase" and format it to your required file format system.

Self eject solution:

If you have problems with your external hard drives ejecting itself after few seconds which only gets fixed when you restart then make sure when you are running your hard drive on mac. 

Make sure you have unchecked "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" in the battery tab. (Make sure you recheck it after you done by ejecting your HDD)

Other Solutions:

1.Check the Finder's -> Preferences and General (Tab) -> put a check mark in "External disks" (on the desktop)

2. Go to Macintosh hd ->applications -> utilities -> disk utility if you see your your external hard drive. Then the drive is not dead.

Select the drive and unmount it so the external hard drive will disapear from desktop and side bar. 

Now to get it back the HDD drive on side bar and desktop select mount. But make sure to "EJECT" it before disconnecting.

If you still have problem please take it to a apple mac store or hard drive manufacturer service center.

If mac store doesn't help put the hard drive in a zipped locked air tight bag for 2-3 days and try copying the files by connecting it to your computer you may be able retrieve some data. 

You can also try using the NTFS3G (Free version) software if you are using a dos formatted hard drive to copy files from a mac to windows file formatted hard drive but it would still may give hiccups if you are copying files above 4 gb.

Bonus:

 You use Macdrive software to read and write mac formatted hard drives to be read on windows just like any ordinary pen drive. 

You can also use a 'HFS Explorer' which is a free read only software to read mac formatted hard drives on pc and also cdr and dmg files on windows. 

Hiding files or folders in spotlight and finder in Mac OSX 10.3

Sometimes you require to hide sensitive information in spotlight from unauthourized access.

You can change and disable the search for a particular folder or files ilke word documents, power points, images etc.

Follow the following steps:

A. Go to Spotlight

B. Type anything inside the text box

C. Click on Spotlight preferences

D. Select Privacy tab

E. Select the + sign

F. Now select the folder fom the folder destination with all contents in it or individual files

Select Choose

G. Close the browser

Important points to be noted

1. Its not full proof as you still see the name of the folder but not the contents inside the folder. (Make sure you make folder in folder)

2. - sign in privacy is to remove the exclusion of the file or folder from spotlight to make the file or folder to be enabled back to be searched in the spotlight.


3. Don't forget to clear recent items from the apple logo

How and why is Television the right medium of communication opportunity?

The technology is advancing day by day with a rapid growth. The technologies like 3g on cell phones platforms or the set boxes in form of DTH (Direct to home) or IPTV (Internet Protocol television) are reaching remote terrains which is now accessible, in form of television over such regions which plays a vital role in educating, informing and entertaining a wide population of audiences, who were hidden from the outer world for centuries through regional native languages channels. 

Television

 
I think Television is a right and an effective medium of communication in today’s time because it has a larger impact on the masses as there are more Television sets than multi theatre screens across the developing countries such as India and across South East Asia.

Today television is being considered as the mouth piece of the people in democracy and it is playing a major part to build democracy around the world giving end to dictatorship of the Army rule or the kingship. The oppressed are rising in form of you tube by making their voice heard, loud and clear. This is what we saw on CNN for a decade ranging from various issues and in recent times the television and youtube was effectively used to inform the world the `happenings in Iran’.

The television is not anymore an exclusive, government enterprise, many media houses and private channels are being launched ranging from various categories. It’s no more about game shows, melodramas or news it’s beyond what we thought a few generations ago, the television is packaged with content from kid’s shows to fashion to 24x7 shopping network.

The viewers are spoilt for choice as the television is bursting out with new channels around the world to the homes. Some cultures believe that the television is invading their culture and influencing western beliefs and ideologies.

Today on a single press of a button with our finger tips on a remote. We can access many important live events without us being physically present on location in 3 dimensional screens in high definition format without any interruption because of efforts by prominent people like media czar Rupert Murdoch and Media mogul Ted Tuner (CNN) shaped today’s scenario that we couldn’t imagine could be possible ever.

This popularity of television have brought in brands to advertise and make the glued audience know their presence via sit-com (`serials’ in India) through commercial breaks to reach the particular target audience through television creating an illusion in the minds of the prospective consumer to sell a product. But again, the long lost Radio is gaining popularity once again. In recent times, in India in form of Fm, but still television is a medium which is not fading in time but improving instead, television has now the capability to play radio on television sets through digital decoders.

The explosion of such vast information through electronic medium i.e. Television should be controlled and censored before reaching the general mass audiences by independent community moderators of individuals on local basis than a national censorship authorities, so that whenever required the general public can give their residuals and grievances in an open forum without any bureaucratic red tape where there is a boom of regional channels in India just like the news channels few years back to explore and enter the new markets.

Television in India have come long way. The television which was a luxury item of the rich and elite has become household basic necessities of the people from urban to rural population. May be the Doordarshan’s programming transition from black and white to colour in the 1982 Asian games improved the Indian broadcasting scenario. Today it is again taking a new leap and lease of life by broadcasting High definition format; telecast Common Wealth 2010 games live from on our new lcd, led and plasma television flat screen set by `Prasharbarti’.

Television can not be destroyed by cinema nor can cinema be destroyed by television. They both will co-exist together for many years to come. We will still cherish the television golden moments, in the history and break new paths in years to come.

I won't be ever silenced by you

I am worried to speak or write coz every thing I speak is termed nonsense and irritable and we call this democracy such a big lie. Living according to certain social norms of morality is too fake. Its better to live under fear of dictatorship and uncertainty. At least the hopes and dreams and the aspirations are only silenced not killed.

- Utsab Bandopadhyay

12th November, 2010