HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Watch Michael Jackson - Thriller (Full Length) in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Continued Browser Issues

FYI: If you are using Internet Explorer or Opera, please note that you may not see the links at the right side of this page. This is an issue with Google Blogspot. I am currently working on resolving this issue. In the mean time, please use Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari to view this blog. - Eve.

Interview with instructor John Woods

Many of you know John Woods from the AE workshops and intro courses. Now, get to know this underground music video director in an interview with Fruit Fly Life. John discusses one of his videos with musician Noel Heroux and the fact that he hates to be called a "director". Check out the interview at the link listed below.
Fruit Fly Life Interview with video artist John Woods

Runaway : Kanye West

So many of you remember my post regarding Jay-Z's take on the fine art world (CLICK HERE to see the original post, also see POWER) I've noticed that this approach to music videos has reached a popular period. Elaborate music video productions are nothing new (Pink Floyd's animated The Wall, Madonna's Documentary Truth or Dare). Trends like this reach peak and valley, however never fade into non-existance.
With Power and Runaway, Kanye West is next in like to merge both the music world and fine arts into an experimental collaboration. The link below is his latest 20 minute video piece that inclucdes fallen angels, ballet dancers, explosions, and subversive commentary on society as we know it. Enjoy!

http://kanyewest.com/runaway_normal/

Seth Donsky in the NY Press

Part-time instructor Seth Donsky had the feature article in this past week's New York Press newspaper. It's an entertaining article that takes a look at an organization called Debtors Anonymous. To check it out, click on the link below.

http://www.nypress.com/article-21756-free-at-la$t.html

Community Blog: Graf and Fischer

Check out the AINYC Community blog for posts about instructors Susi Graf and Ian Fischer - AINYC Community Blog

Parallel Lines: A new way to advertise

Advertising agencies have been dabbling into the film business ever since the beginning of commercials. Many of your favorite feature directors today got their start in music videos and commercial production. A smart filmmaker will approach every opportunity as an opportunity to tell a story.
Now with broadband access becoming more common place, advertisers have been using short films to create viral campaigns for their products. The most famous example of this is the 2001 and 2002 BMW series, The Hire. (This series actually made Clive Owen famous!) The Hire was originally available only through the BMW site. After a few months, the shorts were shown on cable TV and theatrically. They are no longer available, however I was able to find one on YouTube (of course). Take a look below for an example. 

Since the BMW series, many companies have followed their example, creating short films of their own to create a viral buzz. I wanted to introduce you to the latest player in this marketing technique: Philip's 3D TV. They have a fantastic series of short films titled: Parallel Lines. I would encourage you to take a look at these films. Notice that they do not differ from the films you are making today, as a student. This is an opportunity for you to see the types of films that are being made for commercial use. Who knows? Your film may lead to a commission from one of these companies.

Take a look at the Parallel Series by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/philipscinematv

NFFTY Submissions Call!

From NFFTY.org - "NFFTY is the largest and most influential film festival for young filmmakers (age 22 and under). NFFTY occurs each spring in Seattle, Washington and includes up to 200 film screenings, filmmaking panels, film contests, parties, and opportunities for young filmmakers to network with industry professionals and each other. Young filmmakers from around the world submit feature-length and short films in narrative, documentary, animation, music video, experimental, and action sport categories. More than 6,000 film fans attend. NFFTY 2011 is April 28-May 1."

EARLY DEADLINE - November 30, 2010 $25

LATE DEADLINE - January 31, 2011 $35

CLICK HERE for Festival Details 

Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship

From the Manhattan Editing Workshop Site:
DEADLINE : December 15th 2010
"The Fellowship is a year-long experience that encourages and champions the talent of an emerging editor. It creates opportunities to help cultivate an editor’s artistry and craft, and expand his or her professional and creative community. The Fellowship is designed to broaden an editor’s horizons, and includes:

• A mentorship with an ACE editor, tailored to the fellow's interests - in partnership with ACE
• A class at the Manhattan Edit Workshop - New York's premier Apple, Adobe & Avid authorized training center
• Full festival passes to ACE EditFest in New York and Los Angeles - weekend seminars with working experts in the field of editing
• SXSW Film Festival Film Badge - full access to films, panels, mentor sessions & more at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas
• Independent Film Festival of Boston Chrome Festival Pass - full access to films, panels & more
• Travel expenses to one of the aforementioned festivals or to the Manhattan Edit Workshop (airfare, 4 nights of hotel, per diems)
• $500 online gift certificate to Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon (Karen’s favorite)
• A year-long membership to DocuClub, Arts Engine's monthly screening series of documentaries in rough cut stage, in NY"

Click Below for Details
http://www.karenschmeer.com/

AIGA/NY Presents: Dark Design

"For those of you unfamiliar, The New York Chapter of AIGA is one of 57 chapters of AIGA, the professional association for design. There are more than 3,500 members of AIGA/NY and many more members of the community that regularly participate in AIGA/NY programming." - from AIGA site.
AIGA membership has been strongly suggested to Graphic Designers. However, there is a growing population of filmmakers and motion graphics artists that have been receiving membership. Their events are a great place to network and mingle with professionals in all types of design. This presentation looks particularly extraordinary because of the guest panel and tie into the Halloween season.

TIME AND PLACE Tuesday 26 October 2010 6:30–8:30PM

Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn
Event Charge: $26 for non AIGA members

CLICK HERE for details on the Dark Design Event

Screenwriter of Cocktail Lecture at NY Library

"The Art of Distraction: Using Red Herrings in Mysteries," with moderator, Jane K. Cleland and panelists, Annamaria Alfieri, Peggy Ehrhart, Heywood Gould, Roberta Isleib, Robert Quackenbush and Charles Salzberg of Mystery Writers of America"

"A red herring is a “false clue,” used by writers the way magicians use sleight of hand—the goal is to distract readers from what’s really going on. When done well, red herrings add complexity to plots and intrigue to stories. In this lively panel, you’ll hear how authors who write in various mystery genres, from hard boiled and noir, to traditional and children's, use red herrings into their plots. These distinguished writers will discuss which red herrings they use and how they weave them into their narratives to create engaging and ingenious puzzles." - From NY Public Library

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - 6:30 PM

This sounds like a great opportunity for those of you interested in becoming writers.

CLICK HERE for Offical NY Library Notice

LAST MINUTE! Time Warner/IFC Short Film Contest

"Each of the four winners will receive a trip for two to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, including hotel, air transportation and ground transportation. Additionally, the prize will include $500 in spending money, two tickets to a film screening at the festival, an invitation to an exclusive Sundance Channel VIP party, to be attended by select industry stars and executives, and also a one-year subscription to Time Warner Cable digital cable and Road Runner high speed internet services. Your time is running out, so get your camera and crew together, and start making some movie magic."- from Firstshowing.net

Contest Official Site CLICK HERE

DEADLINE: October 31st 2010

Fallbrook Film Festival

"The Fallbrook Film Festival exists to showcase creative, diverse and compelling works of cinematic art from features to shorts to documentaries. The number one, two and three scoring criteria are excellence in storytelling, technical execution, and meaningful purpose. That purpose can mean to entertain, to inform, to make you think, to make you laugh or to make you cry."
- Early Bird deadline is October 30, 2010
- Regular deadline is November 30, 2010
- Late deadline is December 31, 2010
Click HERE for festival website and details.

Student Documentry

Good Morning DF/VP Students!
Our PR director has a great post about one of our students, Jennifer Hahn. She is creating a documentary under the mentorship of Roz Sohnen. Click on the link below to read more about her project. I have also included a link to the trailer for her doc. Enjoy! - Eve.
http://ainycnews.blogspot.com/2010/10/as-her-final-project-outstanding.html

"M5 Rock" - Trailer 1 from Jennifer Hahn on Vimeo.

- PS : Please send me information regarding any outstanding projects you are working on!

Ghostbusters AD

This is going on, across the street, right now.
Watch this great ad supporting independent film. Enjoy your weekend! - Eve.

After Effects Workshops with John Woods

VFX Techniques in After Effects:
Tuesdays 12:15-1:15
In room 227 Week 3-9

We will be looking at simple and fast techniques for common vfx shots. Topics will include sky replacements, painting out rigs, greenscreen compositing, screen replacements, color correction, and more.
Students should commit to all weeks of the workshop, as they will be based on cumulative knowledge. The last few weeks will be focused on shots from the students' own projects.
A working knowledge of after effects is required; we will not be covering basic program operation.

W Magazine Fashion Film Contest

http://fashiononfilm.wmag.com/

"Have a passion for film and fashion? Submit a one-minute video inspired by your interpretation of the best style moment of the season.

An expert panel of judges from the film and fashion industries will narrow the hopefuls down to 20 finalists who will be featured in W Fashion on Film, our first-ever online film festival. W readers will decide who makes the final cut, and the winning video will receive $1,000 to feed even more unforgettable behind-the-lens fashion moments.

Submissions must be received by Friday, October 15. So, get your camera rolling."

Guest Lecture by comic artist Steve Rude

Click HERE for the AINYC Blog Post!

It's all about the characters

In the spirit of Halloween, I will be discussing horror films, alot.
As some of you know, this is my favorite genre. However, these days I am overwhelmingly disappointed when the market is over saturated with torture-porn (Hostle, Saw series) and badly made remakes (Texas Chainsaw Remake, Friday the 13th Remake). I could go into an entire masters dissertation about how the horror genre is inheriting a bad name, but that is for another post.
I wanted to address an even more pressing issue, character. Complex, human characters are being lost in the overtly shallow world that populates horror filmmaking. The reason that characters like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Freddy Kruger (yes I am comparing Freddy with Dracula) are facinating is because they had interesting, cripling back stories. These monsters originated from a human existence and were tragically overcome by their emotional faults. When we (the audience) discover their dark secret, a part of us sympathizes with them which makes their character endearing (this is why some of us cheer Darth Vader). Without this back story, our emotions do not resonate with the film and it is forgotten as soon as we leave the theater.
This is a serious problem in student horror films. Bad writers tend toward the horror genre because it is easy to put an axe murderer on screen to hack up attractive women only to have him killed, innocently by the virgin protagonist. Amateur writers often oversee the reason people love horror films is because they are dealing with serious, complex, tragic human issues that manifest themselves phantasmagoricaly.
Students: If you are interested in the horror genre, do your homework before committing to a story. Remember, well written characters will separate your film from the flood of forgotten films.
The video clip is an example of what I am talking about. Please enjoy this behind the scenes vignette for the AMC Series The Walking Dead: Based on the comic by Robert Kirtzman.

If you like this post, please read up on my post regarding Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. Click HERE.

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome to those of you who are visiting the first time.
Welcome back to those of you who frequent this site.

Additions to the site: The Academic Calender for this quarter has been added to the DEPARTMENT INFORMATION section. Check it out to see when we have days off this quarter.

More updates to follow. Just wanted to add in the HELLO! - Eve.