Kenny Tan’s Health blog

What About Investing In Film Making?

You need to practice caution when thinking of investing in film making. Many people who are quite financially successful, often loose their investment, when putting their money into film making. Investing in film making is exciting and glamourous, but not every film becomes a hit, and a flop can mean a huge loss for you. Never invest in anything, unless you can afford to lose the amount you have invested with minimal damage to your finances.

The winners in the film making business have proven that they are successful, and are already completely financed. These film makers have many years of experience in the film making field. While it is possible to invest in film making and make money, it isn’t very easy. There are several people out there who are waiting to give you poor advice and take your well earned cash.

A few quick tips to set you on the right track:

1. 30% to 40% in equity should be enough to make most films if others will agree with the idea.

2. Keep the budget low, foreign should cover at least 50%, 70% would be even better.

3. Search for a script carefully and take your time, don’t grab the first script that interests you. You need to make sure film makers will agree with the use of the script.

4. You will need to take care of distribution with your own money, distribution is where you can make a good deal of money from your investment.

5. If you invest more $5 million or more, you will be able to buy into more than one film.

6. Never put up more than 50% of the total amount it will take to make the film, the producer should be able to drum up the rest, if they can’t- withdraw now.

7. Do not look at hit movies made by major motion picture studios as a guide. You will be working with independent film makers, and there are big differences.

Do your homework and become knowledgeable about the workings of independent film making. Know the film trends that work and what is popular, and what trends will be expected to last for a year or more. Has the film maker worked in the industry at all, if so to what extent is his expertise?

While investing in film making can be quite lucrative, you should believe in the film project and the ability of the film makers before you invest a dime. Meet with them to see how professional they are and what their goal is when it comes to the film project at hand. How excited are they about the project? Do they seem like the go-getter type that will be able to see the film making project through to completion? Are they opposed to you visiting the set once in a while to quietly see how the film is progressing?

These are all things you should check out before you decide to invest in film making. There may be other issues you will be concerned with, make sure you write them down while they are fresh in your mind and bring them with you to the meeting. There is never a guarantee when it comes to investing in anything, but if you believe in the project and are satisfied with the film makers there is a good chance you will see a profit.

by
LOvenara

Finding a Location or Your Film

Being a location scout would seem to be the most fun out of all the jobs offered in the filmmaking industry. It seems that it would be a dream vacation to travel and see if a location checks out or not. Believe it or not, headaches abound in securing a location to shoot.

There are many more details involved in securing a location to shoot a film than simply finding the location. There are permission and releases to be obtained from everyone involved. Proof of liability insurance and authorizations of access to the location may need to be obtained. The scout will convince the owner that having a 150 person crew camped out on their front lawn it going to be good fun.

Previously it might have pacified the local authorities if you gave them some small compensation, like a good bottle of whiskey, but these arrangements are no longer available. Now you must have official permission from the local authorities to use certain locations for filming. These releases must be paid for and put on file so that they can be accessed during the shoot. Once the location scout has secured the location they become the location manager. This means they are responsible for parking access and accommodations for he cast and crew.

Sometimes unusual arrangements are made in order to use a location. Stephen King’s “Rose Red” was filmed at Thornwood castle in Lakewood, Washington. This castle was brought over from Europe, brick by brick, and rebuilt on she shore of American Lake by Chester Thorne. Chester Thorne was one of the founders of the Port of Tacoma. Initially while it was a good location, the castle needed to be returned to its old grandeur. The production and location managers struck a deal to refurbish the castle.

The result was that almost $800.000 of renovations were preformed on the castle. The restoration work done to the castle can be seen at Thornewood castle’s website. The work done was in exchange for the use of the location once it was finished. The owners of the castle in exchange for the use of the location received $800,000 in renovations. I am sure they thought it was good deal. This case exemplifies the lengths to which producers will go to in order to secure a good location.

Location scouting was previously done at a time when the digital technology was not available to the location scout. Scouts were required to travel to the actual location and they usually ended up using Polaroid shots for their reference. Now there are location agencies that can give you virtual tours of locations and the scouting can truly be done online. All you need to do is put in a request for locations on the Internet and you will find scads of listings for location scouting agencies.

Now for those of you that are producing your own independent films, you will have to use your wits to secure your locations. If you are using your own house or apartment it will be no problem but if you are using a location that doesn’t have general public access you will need to secure releases from the owners of the facilities you want to use.

by
LOvenara
xciting indie music

Editing HD Video

Working with the video of camcorders such as the Sony
HDR-HC1 can produce a serious business. HD video
contains four times the number of pixels that
standard definition offers, and it’s much more
heavily compressed.

Keep in mind that you need a powerful computer with
a lot of memory to deal with the extra data and
compression. Pinnacle for example, recommends a
minimum 512 MB of RAM and a graphics card with 128
MB of RAM for standard resolution video, although
that goes up to a GB of RAM and a 256 MB graphics
card when working with 1080i HD video.

You can find plenty of software available that
supports editing high definition videos. For example,
the latest versions of Pinnacle Studio and Ulead
Media Studio 8 can import and edit files in HDV
format.

Even though the high definition video with these
types of looks great when played back on an HDTV,
at the present time is there is no way store HD
video on a DVD. The only way you can store HD
video for playback is on your PC or the same type
of media you used in your HD camcorder.

There is however, a new generation of high definition
optical media format coming soon. Products that
are based on the HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc formats
are very expensive, and they will remain that way
for the near future.

HD-DVD players were announced a while back that
they will cost $500 and up, and will be available
very soon. You’ll also need one of the new HD-DVD
drives to write to the disc, which will cost as
much again. You can expect the same story with the
Blu-ray disc, as both the recorders and the players
are going to be expensive for a while to come.

There is one other option as well. There is a
DVD player from KISS, the DP-600, which can play
back high definition files that have been compressed
to Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 format. This can
at least provide a stop gap until the price of the
HD-DVD and Blue-ray disc players and writes come
down to an affordable price.

You can always play back the recorded video you
have through the camcorder itself, although you
shouldn’t expect to be able to write it out on a
disc with the current available equipment and
preserve its quality. If you wait it out, the new
generation of available media will be everything
you need for your HD video.

by
LOvenara
xciting indie music

Pioneer’s PDP-4280HD review

Pioneer’s PDP-4280HD looks like a very nice product when it comes to high quality HDTVs. It came out fourth during the tests on image quality. Although this is just a 720p model, it proved to be one of the best in its category by showing a great image with amazing details. Unfortunately, the price for this product is about $2700 dollars so it might turn out to be too pricey for a HDTV that hasn’t got 1080p resolution.

The features that come with this product are amazing: it has USB port that you can use to see photos or listen to your favorite Mp3 music, four HDMI ports, Cable Card slot which help your TV receive broadcasts that are scrambled without using a set-top box. Also, you can use your headphone if you like because it comes with a headphone jack, especially if you don’t want to scare your neighbors at night with your horror movies.

The picture-in-picture video option might prove to be a bit hard to use if you don’t read the manual first. Unfortunately, the PDP-4280HD doesn’t allow watching two programs at once but you can watch, for example, a movie on a DVD and a TV show.

Another wonderful aspect when talking about this device is the fact that it supports HDMI CEC; this option lets you control each of the components that are connected through the HDMI. Actually CEC means Costumer Electronics Control and can be easily accessed with your remote. Also, this amazing HDTV also has an option for TV Guide, so you can be sure that you don’t miss your next favorite show.

The TV guide has an on-screen option that will help you find whatever you wish to see. This guide has many options that you can use to plan and record your favorite television shows and movies. Other useful options include the Power Save which is very important if you care about your carbon footprint; this option will turn off your TV after 15 minutes without signal have passed.

When it comes to sound, Pioneer has it all: connections for an amplifier and external speakers. So if you really want to scare those neighbors, you can upgrade your audio system and make some noise without using an external receiver. Although you won’t obtain great sound quality because the terminals are only for speakers and a subwoofer, the noise you make can be pretty satisfactory.

The whole design complicates the setup because the coaxial and HDMI are facing down making things really hard to install. Also, you will find them at the back of the model, so you might need more time with the physical setup. When setting up things in the menu, you might find that they are a bit too complicated and it tends to keep your progress slow.

The text is tiny and the instructions will definitely make you ask for a second opinion because they are very confusing. It also comes with a manual, but it will rather make you tired than teach you anything because they made it too complicated. If you wish, you might like to get a copy of the online manual. At least there you can use the search option in the PDF. Keep in mind that you need to register on the site if you want to take a peak in that online manual.
Now on to the remotes: the Pioneer remote is one of the most comfortable you can get your hands on. It can be programmed and has large buttons that glow in the dark. With its great design, older buyers and those with problem eye sights can easily use this remote with a minimum of trouble.

The Pioneer PDP is a good option for people who can afford a $2700 HDTV with only 720p. Although, at first, it may seem a bit average, this HDTV is top quality, at least when it comes to the image.

by
LOvenara
exciting indie music

High Definition Video

HDTV or high definition television normally refers
to any video system of higher resolution than the
standard definition. The original HD specifications
date back to the early 1980s, when Japan first
experimented with a 1025 line television standard.

Japan presented their parameters at an international
meeting of television engineers in Algiers in 1981
and Japan’s NHK presented their analog HDTV system
at a Swiss conference in 1983. Except for these
early formats, HDTV is digital broadcast and
therefore it’s introduction will sometimes conincide
with the introduction of DTV, or digital television.

The signals for high definition require a high
definition television or a computer monitor in order
to be watched or viewed. High definition video
will normally have an aspect ratio of 16:9. The
aspect ratio of the regular widescreen film that is
shot today is normally 1:85:1 or 2:40:1. The
standard type of television has a 4:3 aspect ratio.

High definition television resolution is 1080 or
720 lines. With the contrast, regular digital
television is 480 lines or 576 lines. The current
quality with DVD is not high definition, although
high definition systems such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
are both expected to be and ship later on in 2006.

The most noted feature with high definition video
is the fact that it’s so life like. There is HDTV,
and HD video cameras. High definition is very
popular these days, with television being at the
top of the list.

High definition video cameras are getting just as
popular, as they offer you the chance to capture
memories like never before. HD offers you video
like never before, making you wonder if things are
this good now - just what will video in the future
actually be like?

by
LoveNara
exciting indie music