Just a quick video on my weekend with the kids at the Comic Con. I was extremely proud of my 9 year old son who shot and edited much of the above video on his own. I am hoping to spark his desire to become an indie filmmaker. We picked up a bunch of collectible action figures Continue reading “2010 NYC Comic Con”
Go Trek Yourself
This is either one of the funniest, or the creepiest, things I have seen on the web in awhile. You got a black vulcan spitting the lyrics of Rakim in an offbeat monotone fashion. Yes I realize that I am a major nerd but the use of flash in this application is pretty original. You can upload a picture of yourself, type in some text and boom. You have just Trek’ed yourself. Continue reading “Go Trek Yourself”
The NYC Comic Con 2009: Attack of the Nerds
This weekend I took the kids and the wifey to their first NYC Comiccon. I figured that it was time to help them cultivate their inner nerds. It was a big deal for me since I remember my own father taking me to Comic and Sci-Fi conventions like this when I was a little kid. Back then it was pretty much a bunch of kids dragging their parents around to see all of these cool sci-fi and comic items. Fast forward nearly 30 years later and Continue reading “The NYC Comic Con 2009: Attack of the Nerds”
New Years Day: The Star Trek Experience
It is the first day of the New Year so so what could be better than a trip to the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton? Since I don’t gamble at all, and the Bunny Ranch would probably get me shot by my wife, I had to find something to do in Vegas. This was gonna be my third time at the exhibit. However it was my first time with the kids. Believe it or not, Ski and I came here a few years back as we were on a belated Honeymoon. She enjoyed it, which is odd because she usually hates anything having to do with Sci-fi.
British TV ain’t half bad
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I have gotten hooked on British TV over the last few years. I always loved Ab Fab and Benny Hill, but then again who in their right minds doesn’t love Benny and Eddy. It is just that the rest of the TV shows from the UK seemed so….British. I just didn’t get the point. Even Monty Python, with the exception of a few skits, always left me cold. That kind of changed for me about 3 years back when the BBC relaunched the new Doctor Who.
There can be only one!
As I was shopping with the kids to pick out their Halloween costumes I came across some props that were perfect for the Highlander fan film that I have been planning for years. For all of the non-geeks reading this, Highlander is the story of a race of immortal beings that are forced to face off against one another in sword battles to the death until only one of them remains. The problem with shooting a Highlander fan film is that you have to use swords.
While finding real samurai swords is a fairly simple process in NYC, you are extremely likely to maim or kill your actors if you aren’t careful. That is why I got positively giddy about finding a set of realistic looking plastic swords that should look good on film.
Star Wars Fan Film: Jedi costuming pre-production
In order to combat my post European vacation and 9/11 anniversary blues, I figured that I should move straight ahead and start the preparation for filming my Star Wars fan film, Dark Vengeance. The film takes place during the time before the events in Episode I (The Phantom Menace) and tells the story of a Jedi Knight by the name of Jonas Xavier. I won’t go into all the details now. Suffice it to say that the story is a basic “Jedi meets Sith and they battle to the death” type of story. Continue reading “Star Wars Fan Film: Jedi costuming pre-production”
Star Wars Fan film: Dark Vengeance Lightsaber test
This is an effects shot that I worked on to test some new software that we are using in New Media Technology program. I shot this test video on the roof of the LaGuardia computer building. I am planning on shooting a Sci-Fi fan film with some of the students in our program so I figured that I would try out my Jedi skills. I think the shot turned out pretty good for my first attempt.
The software I am using in this test shot is called EffectsLab Lite and it was developed by FXHome.com. The program is a visual effects tool that is in many ways very similar to After Effects, but with not as steep of a learning curve. The entry level package is pretty affordable at about 110 bucks. The more advanced versions, Effectslab Pro and Visionlab Studio, run from about 150 to 500 bucks.
My main problem with the software is that there is no current intel-mac version. As a result Winona, my Macbook Pro, runs Effectslab slowly. The company says an intel version is on the way but I think they won’t release a universal binary until the next full release. They software currently is available for Windows XP and Power PC based macs. I am not sure if a Windows Vista software version is ready. I haven’t paid much attention to that because if someone is using Vista chances are that they have more pressing issues.
The Best Superhero Fanfilms
Here is a list of some of the best superhero fanfilms that I have come across on the web. I qualify best as in excellent production values and not in acting ability. That is not to say that the acting is bad in some of these productions. It is just that the genres of movies that I prefer don’t generally lend themselves to creating the next academy award winner Continue reading “The Best Superhero Fanfilms”