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Home » Nostalgia for the Present

Nostalgia for the Present

The Past Week in Review: June 21, 2011

Left: Hayley Mills in “Whistle Down the Wind” at BAMcinemaFest.

We find the more interesting and provocative news and views of the past week, just so you don’t have to.

This week we get the big picture on 3D movie production, feel nostalgia for the present, and get a film history lesson.



Charting 3D

We’ve written about 3D movies before, and some of the smart moves companies like Sony are taking in helping to educate DPs, editors and others about the complexities involved in adding a new dimension to filmmaking.

To give you a little scope on just how prevalent 3D has been—people have been fooling with it for over century—check out this timeline chart from Sony Professional on the Electricpig site, which details every single 3D movie Sony could find.


New iOS Film Apps

On his Studio Daily blog, Scott Simmons writes about some new iOS apps useful for postproduction. These include an NLE control, timecode calculator, and a color-grading tool. More information here.


Lloyd Tells Us What He Really Thinks

If you’ve ever heard him talk or had a chance to meet him, you’ll know that Troma Films founder Lloyd Kaufman is one live wire when it comes to discussing his opinions about the state of the film industry. Indiewire posted this excerpt from his book “Sell Your Own Damn Movie!” in which Kaufman makes the case for putting creative work in the public domain and not copyrighting it for years and years. One point he makes strikes high on the irony meter—the very movie studios who are so adamant about controlling copyright that they’re willing to throw just about anybody’s grandmother in jail to protect said properties–are nonetheless the companies who left New York in haste when Hollywood on the Hudson began to flourish. Seems there was one Thomas A. Edison who started to enforce his own patents and copyrights on film technology against these corporations. Read more on Indiewire by clicking here.


Film Linc Got It Wrong

In her post What’s Wrong With This Picture? Melissa Silverstein takes on the Film Society at Lincoln Center for including only one woman among the 10 young men in their panel “New Faces of Indie Film.” The panel was part of the celebrations for the opening of the Film Society’s new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

Is that reflective of the indie production scene or part of the institutional bias museums have been accused of having for decades (think Guerrilla Girls)? Decide after you’ve read her complete post by clicking here.


Nostalgia for the Present

In an article in the Times, A.O. Scott says that this is an idyllic time for fans of film in New York with the opening of new screening venues and the strength of festivals such as the Tribeca, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Read his article Ushering In Golden Age for Fans of Film if you’d like to feel some nostalgia for the present.


Short Films are Worthy

Reporter John Anderson has an article in the Times that reviews the recent Palm Springs International ShortFest. He uses that to launch into a look at the rising popularity of short films to either establish yourself as a director or to simply as the goal for fulfilling your creative desires. Click here to read it.


Pilots Fly

Showbusiness Weekly looks at the eight new TV series that have filmed on New York soundstages recently. Reporter Mikael Page claims it’s the expansion of New York’s Film Production Tax Credit last summer that should be credited for bringing these pilots to the city over the prior year’s total of zero. Page offers a little detail about the series that have been picked up including “Smash,” a Broadway-centric show about a new Marilyn Monroe musical that NBC has picked up for one season. More here.


Super 8’s Place in History

If you like learning a little bit about film history and found yourself wondering why J.J. Abrams would dedicate a film title to an amateur film format, the Smithsonian’s blog offers a look back at the Super 8 format. The blog paints Kodak as innovating the 16mm and 8mm formats—Super 8 followed in 1965–to open up more creative opportunities for amateurs via a lower tab for camera, film and processing.

Regular 8mm film, for example, was introduced in 1932 as the Depression was underway. Super 8, meanwhile, would also become indispensable for scientists and anthropologists for field documentation.

The Atlantic Monthly actually hosts this Smithsonian article here.

If you’d like to read it on the Smithsonian blog, click here and search for the June 17, 2011 posting.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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