film production

CinemaCon Shines Again with Lots of Star Power

by admin on May 7, 2012

CinemaCon, the four day annual convention of NATO (National Association of Theater Owners), returned to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas from Monday, April 23rd through Thursday, April 26th bringing with it the latest word on films, lots of celebrities promoting their movies and receiving awards and the industry’s latest in technological advances.

As an added bonus this was the first time in more than a decade that every major film studio including: Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Universal, Disney and all of their partners Pixar, DreamWorks and Marvel Entertainment participated in the event. 

Formerly known as ShoWest, the convention gives theater owners previews of upcoming films being released by the studios and a chance to hear from the stars and filmmakers associated with them.  Some of the celebrities who appeared this year included industry icons Jerry Bruckheimer, Ang Lee, Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan,  and Martin Scorsese (who received the ‘RealD Innovation in 3D’ award), and actors Mila Kunis,  James Franco and Johnny Depp.

Just like last year Paramount Pictures kicked off the opening nigh festivities by teaming up with DreamWorks Animation and showing selections from their upcoming 2012 slate in “Paramount Pictures – Celebrating 100 Years of Outstanding Moviemaking”.  This was followed by an Opening Night Dinner Reception held in conjunction with Christie, Dolby Laboratories and IMAX.  Celebrities on hand for the presentation included D.J. Cotrona, Adrienne Palicki and Dwayne Johnson, director Jon Chu and producer Lorenzo de Bonaventura from “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” Chris Rock from Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” and Chris Pine and director Peter Ramsey from “Rise of the Guardians.”

Director Martin Scorsese was the third recipient to be honored with the ‘RealD Innovation in 3D Award’ by RealD Inc., one of the leading global licensors of 3D technologies, for his work on the five-time Academy Award winning film “Hugo,” which was based on Brian Selznick’s best-selling novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret and starred Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloe Grace Moretz and Jude Law.  RealD Chairman and CEO Michael V. Lewis presented the award to Scorcese during a special luncheon.  “’Hugo’ set a new bar for innovative use of 3D, representing a leap forward in 3D filmmaking by utilizing 3D techniques to draw audiences into the story in ways unobtainable in 2D,” said Lewis. “With his work on “Hugo” Mr. Scorsese has embraced 3D as a creative tool and demonstrated its true potential to bring a life-like and fully immersive world to the big screen,” he added. 

Some of Scorsese’s comments in response to receiving the award included, “I had a fascination with 3D that goes back to the View-Master. I’d always dreamed of making a film in 3D. It’s like a combination of theatre and film.  There’s something 3D gives to a movie that takes you to another land.”  

Past award honorees have included James Cameron and Jon Landau for their work on the top-grossing worldwide feature film of all-time, “Avatar,” as well as Henry Selick, Laika and Focus Features for their work on the feature film “Coraline,” the first stop-motion animated feature ever produced from inception in 3D.

Some of the other highlights during the event included the dinner honoring Jeffrey Katzenberg with the 2012 ‘Pioneer of the Year’ Award and the CinemaCon Final Night Talent awards where several stars were honored during the closing evening festivities. Jack Black served as the official master of ceremonies at the dinner accompanied by special guests Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas, who spoke on behalf of Katzenberg. 

For over a decade Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas lent their creative talent and voices to DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek franchise, the top-grossing animated film franchise of all time. With Diaz as Princess Fiona and Banderas as Puss in Boots, “Shrek,” “Shrek 2,” “Shrek the Third,” “Shrek Forever After,” and most recently the Academy-Award® nominated “Puss in Boots” have amassed over $3.5 billion worldwide. Jack Black has brought to life Po the panda in DreamWorks Animation’s Academy-Award® nominated films “Kung Fu Panda” and “Kung Fu Panda 2,” which have grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide. 

The Pioneer of the Year 2012 Honorary committee includes David Geffen (Founder/Owner of Geffen Pictures), Jim Gianopulos (Co-Chair / CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment), Brad Grey (Chairman/CEO of Paramount), Bob Iger (President & CEO OF Disney), Gerry Lopez (CEO of AMC Theatres), Michael Lynton (CEO of Sony Corporation of America), Barry Meyer (Chairman/CEO of Warner Bros), Ron Meyer (President and COO of Universal Pictures), Amy Miles (CEO of Regal Cinemas), Amy Pascal (Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment), David Passman (CEO of Carmike Theatres and current President of National Association of Theater Owners), Jeff Robinov (President of Warner Bros), Tom Rothman (Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment), Stacey Snider (Co-Chairman and CEO of Dreamworks), Steven Spielberg (Principal Partner of DreamWorks) and Alan Stock (CEO of Cinemark Theatres).

On Thursday the glitz and glamour continued with the presentation of the following awards prior to the closing night ceremonies.  They were as follows:

Career Achievement Award SYLVESTER STALLONE, Male Star of Tomorrow TAYLOR KITSCH, Female Star of Tomorrow CHLOE GRACE MORETZ, Rising Star of 2012 DIEGO BONETA, Comedy Star of the Year ANNA FARRIS, Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film CHARLIZE THERON, Award of Excellence in Film Making JUDD APATOW, Cinema Icon Award MICHELLE PFEIFFER, Female Star of the Year JENNIFER GARNER, Male Star of the Year JEREMY RENNER, Action Star of the Year DWAYNE JOHNSON and Breakthrough Performer of the Year JOSH HUTCHERSON.

Wrapping up here’s an overview of some of the upcoming films you’ll be able to see these award winners in: Chloe Grace Moretz and Michelle Pfeiffer star in Warner Bros. “Dark Shadows,”, which is being released on May 11th; Sylvester Stallone will be back igniting the screen in “The Expendables 2” on August 17th for Lionsgate; Universal Pictures has two upcoming films with Taylor Kitsch, “Battleship” on May 18th followed by “Savages” on July 6th; Diego Boneta will be appearing in New Line Cinema’s eagerly awaited “Rock of Ages,” which will be released by Warner Bros. on June 15th; comedy star Anna Farris will be seen next on May 16th in Paramount’s “The Dictator”; Charlize Theron graces the screen again in Universal Pictures “Snow White and the Huntsman” on June 1st; “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” will be released by Walt Disney Studios on August 15th showcasing Jennifer Garner’s talents; Jeremy Renner debuts in the Bourne franchise on August 3rd when “The Bourne Legacy” is released by Universal Pictures; the latest 2012 premiere Judd Apatow’s next film for Universal titled “This is 40” arrives in time for Christmas on December 21st; while CinemaCon’s Action Star of the Year Dwayne Johson will be seen soon in Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” on June 29th.  Breakthrough Performer Josh Hutcherson already drew audience attention in March when Lionsgate released the box office hit “The Hunger Games.”

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“The Hunger Games” Panel Sounds Off at The NAB SHOW

by admin on April 24, 2012

One of the most popular sessions among filmmakers attending the NAB Show featured Supervising Sound Editor Lon Bender and Sound Designer Bill Dean from the smash hit “The Hunger Games” on a panel moderated by Associate Features Editor David Cohen from Variety.  Both speakers are highly regarded in their field with Bender having received an Academy Award, British Academy Award and Golden Reel Award for his efforts on “Braveheart” and Dean recently co-supervising the action-packed “Abduction” for Lionsgate.   It was originally announced that director Gary Ross was to be the headliner at this Creative Master Series event, but unfortunately he didn’t attend. 

Even without Ross, however, the room was full as Bender and Dean shared clips from “The Hunger Games” and discussed their take on aspects of creating sound for the film.  Two familiar themes constantly resurfaced during the session.  One was the constant experimentation they tried in order to achieve the desired effects and the other was the need to keep it simple.  Dean said, “We tried different types of crazy resonances and all other kinds of overtones” and both gentlemen admitted trying everything in order to create sounds they were happy with especially when it came to developing bird noises such as the mockingjays and crackerjackers depicted in the film.  Bill believes that you find things through the experience and that with sound you discover what works in a certain type of moment and identify it.  He also feels sometimes you can use something similar from an earlier project that you’ve worked on which is helpful because then you can go right to that type of process and try to improve on it.  

Lon said that it comes down to constantly adding new ideas and often times beating the one that’s the current favorite.  However, he added that the sounds created for the crackerjackers and mockingjays were quickly embraced.  He thinks they made it believable having the same bird calls in the background and that since the audience heard those birds in their natural state and then later when they evolved it was very natural for them to come in and out of the background.  “That was a pretty key element in making the movie.  Often times taking a sound and integrating it and sort of getting it to become part of the bigger picture helps the suspension of belief,” he added explaining that they made the sounds for the mockingjays early on because they were needed for several sequences.  

There are a number of places where sound also plays an important role in conveying the film’s mood.  Lon said, “In District 12 they were all things that were alive and living.  When she’s (Katniss) in the forest there’s lots of detail.” He went on to explain, “When she goes hunting in the beginning she hunts with a spear.  They are all things that are all very specific.  In the capital we stayed away from all those types of things.”

Dean also addressed different types of techniques that were utilized particularly in scenes like the trackerjacker sequence. He talked enthusiastically about how equipment like the 7.1 surround sound speakers lend themselves to directionality in sequences like these thus enriching the audience’s theatrical experience.  “You’re in that moment.  You’re with Katniss and things are coming around and scaring you and that kind of thing.  So it’s okay to pull the ear so to speak away from the screen,” he explained although he warned against doing this constantly, which is why he likes the 7.1 not just for tight action sequences like this one, but for the background as well.  “We can put things in those side speakers and broaden the field or increase the reality of that space without pulling your face out of the movie,” he continued before warning that sometimes when the audience hears background sounds their heads tend to go back out of curiosity, which is something that needs to be addressed editorially when doing those types of sequences. At this juncture Lon stressed the need for monitoring during editing.  He said that at this point Bill was able to actually see how far back things worked in that space and put specific items into the sidewall.  Bill added that everybody working on the films liked those side speakers because of their discretion.  “You can just feel yourself open up and you’re completely absorbed in the movie,” he said.

Despite the experimentation needed for sound design both men felt they had ample time allotted for the project.  “No, we didn’t sacrifice anything on this movie.  We had more time than on any other movie that I’ve ever done before,” Lon said commenting that they started way back in pre-production and had their team recording all during the summertime.  When it came to doing the editorial they had a small team of three and adopted a long type of process.  “The three of us were on it for many, many months before we ever got to the mixing stage.  We also spent 2-3 weeks mixing it,” he continued.  Bender sat with the director blocking out the movie and getting it to where they understood what all of the segments and conditions were going to be.  He went on to say that another benefit was having other production staff such as special effects in close proximity making it easy for all of them to work together.  “We had a lot of interaction from the workflow standpoint with all the creative people,” he continued.  They made the movie for approximately two calendar months, but it could have been three months in actuality because the last 27 days they worked 7 days a week from 9am till 10pm without a day off.

Both men are very satisfied with the end result believing that while the sound may be overwhelming in some sequences it is also very tender when it needs to be and can also be very quiet.  Bill said, “We’re very, very happy with it.  It was a great process.” He believes it was great they began working so soon in the editorial process since they were working on the first cut while being given the first reel and were already doing sound as soon as the editor’s cut on the first reel was finished.  He also enjoyed being in close proximity to the other creative teams remarking on how easy it was to send things back and forth for editing and determine what was working.  “That’s the fabulous advantage of being in the same building cause when Gary had 15 or 20 minutes and wasn’t doing something he doesn’t have to get in a car and drive 20 minutes across town.  He gets in the elevator and he’s there in 5 minutes,” Bill said explaining that this made a huge difference in making decisions.

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3D & Visual Effects Featured at 2012 Nab Show

April 15, 2012

One topic that has taken center stage during earlier NAB events is 3D and once again there will be a few sessions focusing on this subject plus another panel concentrating on visual effects that I find interesting.  First of all, as part of the NAB’s Super Sessions director James Cameron and ASC Vincent Pace from [...]

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2012 NAB Show Creative Master Series Preview

April 2, 2012

It’s April in Las Vegas and that means that once again it’s time for the NAB Show, which this year will be held from the 14 through the 19th.  NAB, the world’s largest electronic media show covering filmed entertainment and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums, attracts over 90,000 attendees and [...]

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News from Doc U & the International Documentary Association (IDA)

March 16, 2012

Doc U, the International Documentary Association’s series of educational seminars and workshops for aspiring and experienced documentary filmmakers, is sponsoring another great event on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at The Cinefamily inLos Angeles.  This seminar is called The Business Side of Documentary Filmmaking and it features moderator Lisa Leeman (One Lucky Elephant, Crazy Wisdom: The [...]

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Are There Any Differences Between IndieGoGo & Kickstarter?

March 6, 2012

For many independent filmmakers trying to raise funds in order to turn their production dreams into a reality crowdfunding is becoming a way of life and IndieGoGo and Kickstarter friends of the family.  There has been discussion amongst people I know as to which of the two programs is the better choice and I would [...]

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065 The Indie Film Factory Grand Opening is Coming Soon

January 29, 2012

John Donovan and I celebrated the first Filmmakers Notebook radio show of 2012 by interviewing one of our favorite Las Vegas Filmmakers – Kelly Schwarze, who is perhaps best known for directing “You People” and now has a new feature called “Territory 8″ in the works.  Another one of the latest projects he has taken on along with [...]

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Oscar-Winning Producer Ed Saxon’s Seminar – Part 1

January 1, 2012

On December 3, 2010 Oscar-winning producer Edward Saxon (Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob, Adaptation, Beloved) launched his new all day seminar titled “How It Works – Practical Lessons from 25 Years in the Movie Business” at the Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas.  Convinced that aspiring filmmakers need access to accurate [...]

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064 Danette Tull Takes You Inside the Nevada Film Office

December 22, 2011

Many states have a film commission that helps movie makers find out information about permits, locations, local production crews and other necessessities needed in order to get a project made, but in the Silver State we have the Nevada Film Office.  One of the most helpful and energetic members on this team is Danette Tull, who was [...]

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Introducing Patrick Boivin – Openfilm’s 2nd “Get It Made” Winner

November 3, 2011

Patrick Boivin is the winner of Openfilm.com’s second “Get It Made” competition for his entry “Le Queloune”, which is a zombie film told from the perspective of the zombies.  Chosen from over 100 online entries this is a return to Boivin’s roots in the horror genre and the $500,000 prize will help him produce a feature film showcasing his unique script idea and talents.  Filmmakers [...]

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