Music Video

True Films

If you want to see some great documentaries but don't know where to begin, check out this site: True Films.
Kevin Kelly has self-published a book on 100 great "documentaries, educational films, instructional how-to's, and what the British call factuals - a non-fiction visual account."
You can buy a pdf download of the book for $3, but I think all of the film write-ups in the book are on the website, you just have to click through the categories or check the monthly archives.

Lone Wolf

After meeting with the other 2 unpaired students, I've decided to stick to my guns (so to speak) and make my movie on my own. Am I crazy? Probably. Can I pull it off? Definitely. A three person film could have been great and probably would have meant a better distribution of labor, but could also have been too many influences.

It will mean a lot more work for myself: research, pitch and proposal, shooting script, schedules and budgets (not to mention all the regular coursework that isn't a part of the final film) . . .All on my own. But I love this stuff, so bring it on.

In other news, I finally figured out what my music video is going to be: Thom Yorke's "Analyse" over black and white footage from a metal casting foundry (which I happen to live next to. I'm not entirely sure what they make there, other than a lot of noise and strange smells . . .) I get to do that tomorrow morning. I'll try to put the video up on YouTube when I'm done.

Today's the Day [. . . Or Not]

UPDATE:Due to unforeseen circumstances there are now only 3 students including myself who have not committed to a partnership. So it comes downs to doing a 3-person film or having one pair and someone going alone.

By the end of class today we will all know who we are working with and what our final film topics will be.
Most of the class (as far as I know) have already found their film buddies. I think I'm one of the few who hasn't paired up with someone. I'll let you know how it all turns out. . .

Music Video Assignment

I wanted to write a phoney rap song about wildlife filmmaking, but I could only think of one good line:

Those animals are fast, whatcha gonna do?
That penguin's on the move like Mannequin 2

Pitch

Yesterday we had to pitch our film ideas to the class and our professors and a development executive from NHNZ. Pretty intimidating stuff, but it went well.

I've written about my idea before, so I don't need to go over it again here, but I did want to include a copy of the handout I made:

Photos were taken from Prohunt.co.nz.
Prohunt NZ Ltd is not associated with this project.
The images are used for visual reference only.

Just to prove that I'm not all about killing and guns, I've thrown in a couple pictures of the cutest little seal you ever did see. I took these in Kaikoura last week.

awwwwww

Steve Irwin

The man known around the world as The Crocodile Hunter died today. He was filming sequence with a Sting Ray for television.

It seems uncouth to write about it in a blog, but I was really struck and saddened by the news of his death. He always seemed like a good man, enthusiastic and entertaining. After seeing him in so many dangerous situations, it doesn't seem possible that he is gone.

He died doing what he loved, but he was only 44 and had a wife and kids.

Steve Irwin, you will be missed.