Michele Hjorleifsson's Lounge Discussions

Completely agree with Julie. Remarkably impressive.

Thanks, I actually started as an IT guy as graphics wasn't really there when i started in the field and most of the momentum was on the west coast and I am an east coast guy.. once the costs were inviting to go freelance i put my technical skills and my love and desire for the art form to work.. My favorite projects are Pre-Visualizations (architecture, products, theme parks etc) & Motion graphics the first where we are taking an idea and making it a virtual reality and the second where we are taking a marketing message and making it appealing :)

Thanks for the positive feedback it's appreciated

Very cool answer Michele - do you find yourself daydreaming a lot when you see things that inspire you? Meaning are you visualizing making things come to life all the time?

Pretty much.. have a nack for coming up with marketing approaches (visually) that way :)

I've used it before, takes a little getting used to node based compositing if you have never done it but well worth the time investment

Looks interesting. Anyone know if the particle system is as robust as maya effects particles

Michele - I'm going to take this post and move it over to the filmmaking lounge. This is an interesting idea if any of our filmmakers would want to be involved!

would love to take a look

Hi Michele, that's great, what is your email, I will send you the script.

what genre?

Science fiction.

would love to get more info, my email is mhjorleifsson@me.com

Sent you an e-mail.

This is awesome, Julie! Thank you for posting :)

Wes Ball did a short called RUIN that got him noticed, its legendary in the foundry (MODO) community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doteMqP6eSc

That looks expensive. Thought might be cheaper than the alternative but probably not if you need an army of animators. Thanks

that one was but take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doteMqP6eSc one guy did that piece, got discovered and now directed Maze Runner (name is Wes Ball)

Hmm, I'll do that - thanks

Wow, that's better than most action movies these days!!! Sweet

BTW it was done with MODO and NUKEx

You sounxd like a forward thinker. I will hang on your every thread.

thx

When you skip the distributor (middleman) then you become the distributor. You must contact each outlet and pitch your movie to them. It's a numbers game. You could hire an agent; also called a Sales (or Producers) rep. If you can find one who believes in your film as much as you do they will work on a percentage. If not, you can pay them to reach out to their contacts. They do the work so you don't have to. Then there's self-distribution. Using something like CreateSpace. Of course you then have to be the middleman - the advertising agency - to get the word out. Just because your movie is available doesn't mean people will find it. Think about how many movies made by people you don't know starring actors you have never heard of that you have paid to buy or watch. Then think back to how you found those movies. The cost of advertising is what distributors are talking about when they told you they don't have the money to put your movie on the screen. And it's not much less expensive to get a paying audience to a self-distributed movie.

Or you can distribute it through Amazon, iTunes etc and then just do promotion if you want a straight to buyer solution and skip the theaters

You can do it all yourself, it's called 4 walling. Now it's easier than ever with programs like http://www.tugg.com, it's sort of a kickstarted for getting your movie into theaters. A lot of filmmakers are doing self distribution including myself. Key is to have a methodically step by step approach to distribution and knowing your audience. Film festivals are a major part in your distribution strategy. Target film festivals that cater more specifically to your film's genre, attend as many as you can afford to build publicity and collect reviews. Start with the biggest Tier Festivals and work your way down to smaller ones. 4 weeks before attending any festival, write up a press release and email/mail to all the local press, radio, tv in the city you're attending. It's worth spending $500 for a professional publicist to do it for you simply because they have the relationship established with the media. The press release should include all information about the film, cast, crew, you, and request for radio, tv, print media interviews. Invest in printing 1000s of postcards, mini posters, business cards to distribute at the festivals, ideally you should have a team 2-3weeks before the festival 'working the city', going shop to shop distributing these postcards, posters, business cards and letting everyone know your film's playing. You should already have a slick website with everything on it including an awesome trailer. Of course social media is important, but I'm not going into that here. Yes all this is costly, therefore you do this for the biggest few festivals your attending. Narrow things down, start with 3 of the biggest festivals. If your want the biggest in the world, they are Cannes, Sundance and Toronto, with Tribeca a distance forth. You're going to be collecting all these print and video interviews that you do during the festival for your Film's Press Kit. There's too much to go into here, you'll need to research yourself. All the official film festivals selections you get into, and the reviews, your interviews will build up your film's press kit (very important). Here's a good example of a press kit: http://puttyhillmovie.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/PH_Press_Packe... It may not be obvious, but one of the most important aspect for a successful sale is your film's artwork, the movie poster that you'll use on all the press kits, posters, post cards that you send out. You must already have an entertainment attorney to call in case a distributor approaches you at one of the festivals. Best for indie filmmakers is MarkLitwak.com. Guaranteed, a distributor will always try to screw you if they're interested in your film. Key to making money in self distribution is splitting up all the rights and territories. You may decide to sell theatrical rights to a distributor, and keep DVD, VOD, TV, and other ancillary windows for yourself. Here again you'll need an experienced entertainment attorney to negotiate all these contracts for you. Theatrical release first is important for your other sales, because then your film becomes a 'Movie'. Anyone can do this and profit, it's not rocket science but real pain, and super hard work. Distribution is as hard as production. Sorry gotta stop now will add more later, don't want to rant on. or maybe I'll do a step by step at some point.

Thanks Alle!

Tricaster is great but a bit pricey there are other options out there that are less expensive. Depending on what you are trying to accomplish

green screen.

I was going to say this is easy, as I did it many times when in video production. However I see that others have provided accurate information. Good luck!

The one issue nobody is addressing here - removing a chunk of body, such as be arm below the elbow, is only half of the issue. It's essentially distills down to a job like a wire removal. As people have indicated, removing the arm (or whatever part) isn't as big of a problem as replacing the background behind it. A locked off camera of course is easier, but depending on the complexity of the background, a moving camera might not be too big of a problem. What nobody has mentioned is the "stump" of the arm or whatever. If all you have is a clean matte edge moving with the lower arm (or whatever part) and the background is replaced, the resulting look is going to look like a weird fake broken puzzle. You're going to need something in there to nicely define the juncture with the body part that remains, whether it's biological, magical, etc. I worked on a sequence a while ago in which an actor had to appear as if had lost a hand years ago. Our pipeline was essentially: -track the camera -track the motion of the actor's forearm (we had tracking markers for this. he wore a greensleeve sock on his hand, but that wasn't really important - it was the tracking markers on his wrist that were essential) -create a 3D "wrist stump", textured it to match the actor's skin. create the lighting for the environment -move the 3D stump in with the tracking data of the forearm. -render passes of the stump -roto/key out the actor's hand, use 3D camera data to replace the background with cleanly-painted chunks of plate, comp over the stump render, color correct voila!

Beau Janzen described the necessary process, regardless of the stump being realistic or magical, it needs a camera track, lighting recovery, arm tracking, whatever geometry or effect laid in place, integrated texture and lighting, mattes for anything blocking the view during the sequence(s), and if possible a motion control camera so the specific frame to frame view can be recovered for background replacement of the missing hand. Lacking the motion control camera, compositing software often has background replacement features that pull frame data from nearby frames. Note that for such a shot, one may need as many as 7-8 digital artists: matchmover, modeler, rigger, animator or effects animator, lighter, and compositor. To pull off such an effect convincingly, a single person with such skill would be quite rare - each is its own specialty. This may sound like overkill, but this process allows for complete freedom of camera motion and the actor with the missing body part for as much of the film as you desire.

It depends on your budget, time frame and expertise.

Wow, you've have quite a bit of experience, I'd say! Great to have your talents here at Stage 32 Michele. We have some great discussions going on in our Editing and VFX lounges - hope you'll pop over there to meet and network with everyone :)

i'll do that. Spent the last 4-5 years teaching and consulting, looking forward to getting back to the art :)

When I get my own production company up and running, perhaps I can call on you for the logo? :)

Nice to meet you to, always good to meet another propeller head :)

Rebecca: Absolutely

What do you have in mind?

Bill, when I lived in South Beach, I was part of a very successful writing group. It was so terrific that we (4 people) ended up meeting every week for four years. Each of us went on to be successful in what we were doing. It was atypical. Although we critiqued each others work, we also helped with marketing, moral support, research, etc. So, first I want to see who's out there... and then determine if there is a way to meet the "groups" varied needs...

I live in Boca Raton, and belong to a smartl group winnowed down to four in the southwest, which includes the LA area. Not easy to pick up and meet. I wouldn't mind finding same closer to home. Should be a very professional and focused group though.

I am up for a meet up, some of the panera bread's have a lil meeting area so it can be somewhat private and inexpensive.

I agree with you Bill! Terrific Michele! I think your reel is terrific. Looking forward...

I am in Orlando from time to time as an educator in film. Let me know if a meeting happens, and if I am in town that week, I will try to swing in on a vine and give my best Tarzan holler. Okay... Nix the Tarzan bit.

I live about 1.5 hours away, i'd take a ride for a meet up :)

I just moved into the area but I am definitely down for a meetup. Did you guys ever organize one?

Yeah im in port st lucie and no gatherings down this way either

Orlando here, too!