QLD Branch AGM - 12TH AUGUST
Please be advised that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Queensland Branch of the ACS will be held Tuesday August 12th 2014 Time: 6:30pm sharp
Date: Tuesday August 12th 2014
Location: LEMAC Brisbane, 5 Exhibition Street, Bowen Hills QLD All Committee and executive positions will be open to any current financial members of the QLD ACS community. These positions include (but not limited to) QLD PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENTS, SECRETARY, MEMBERSHIPS COORDINATOR, AWARDS COORDINATOR, MEDIA COORDINATORS and COMMITEE MEMBERS (12). You are invited to either NOMINATE yourself or another member for any of the positions and all positions will be available. Please ensure if you are nominating another member that 1) They are a current financial member; and, 2) You have discussed with them that they are willing to commit to the position. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL NOMINATIONS OR ENQUIRIES to acsqld@austcine.org.au If you feel strongly that you wish to vote but cannot attend the AGM then please contact Tony O'Loughlan for further information. The committee is run entirely by committed volunteers and comprises (usually) 11 monthly meetings. If you feel that you are unable to attend at least 9 of the 11 meetings (either because of distance to travel to the meetings or known work commitments) it is advisable not to nominate for a position. Aside from the meetings, the committee is actively involved in several events that require the dedication of the group to ensure the events success. And as an executive or committee member, you will have a say in the direction behind the scenes of the ACS in Qld and also a voice for the National agenda of the ACS - supporting the industry and the community. All age groups, membership categories and fields are encouraged to become involved. The closing date for nominations is MONDAY 11th August 2014 at midnight. Any nominations received after this time will be void - although those in attendance at the AGM will also have instant nomination grants if positions remain unfulfilled. But please advise us well beforehand if you wish to nominate yourself for a role but cannot attend the AGM. All current committee and executive members are advised that they will need to submit a nomination for themselves if they wish to continue with the committee over the next year. If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch with Tony O'Loughlan, Secretary. Ph: 0402 452 936
THE FUJINON 2014 ACS QUEENSLAND ANNUAL AWARDS FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY
Entries Open: 8th August 2014 (entry forms and details will be released via email on this date)
Entries Close: COB FRI 26 September 2014 QLD VENUE: Southport Sharks Event Centre, Cnr Musgrave & Olsen Aves, Southport Gold Coast
QLD DATE: 6:30pm SATURDAY 22nd NOVEMBER, 2014
Dress Code: Smart"
CineAlta Magazine Issue #3 Now Available
Issue number 3 of Sonys CineAlta online magazine is now and theres some great reading! Including Cinematographer Steve Gainer, ASC explaining how he shot his latest feature film EVERLY in anamorphic with F55s. This is the first feature film to shoot anamorphic with the F55! The publication is focused on production stories told directly by the filmmakers. It is intended to be an educational resource on how Sonys large sensor cameras are being used in the real world, incorporating all genres such as fashion, documentary, feature film, music video, commercials, episodic television and much more. All CineAlta magazine issues can be accessed from the ISSUU home page linked below.
ESSENTIAL CREW TRAINING LAUNCHES
Essential Crew, Queenslands leading crew booking agency have launched Essential Crew Training providing short courses for emerging crew looking to gain the practical knowledge required for working on a professional film set. These courses are designed to prepare new crew for the challenge of earning income as a professional crew member, including a valuable insight into how best to approach obtaining credits and increasing experience.
A Guide to Successful Freelancing for Film and Television from CV to Set is the first course to be rolled out this Saturday 9th of August in Brisbane - places still available. Online courses and a Gold Coast course, will be available in the future. Some of the topics covered include: formatting and presentation of a CV specifically targeted for the Film & Television industry, explanation of freelance requirements, and top tips for on set work. This vital course content will be presented by accomplished Producer and Assistant Director, Andrew McInally. Its a firsthand experience of the screen industry that will prepare emerging crew for exactly what is required to achieve a long and sustainable career in Film and Television. For more information and to book please use the below links to either visit the EC Training website or email contact.
ACS are proud to facilitate a discount for anyone looking to book this first course, just enter ACS as the coupon code in the booking window/shopping cart of the Essential Crew Training website.
The Filming of STAR WARS DOWNUNDER...A Nerds Journey
Article by Bryan Meakin
The word nerd immediately springs to mind when somebody in the room mentions fan films and that's perfectly correct and understandable. You'd need to be a complete nerd about something in order to think that going to the trouble of making a fan film about the thing that you're a nerd about, was a good idea. You can't make money off it. Depending on what it is based on, your audience is probably going to be very limited. Mainstream film festivals would more than likely pooh pooh it. It's never going to qualify for Cannes or the Oscars. What's the point? When we started talking about making what would eventually become Star Wars Downunder (SWDU), director Michael Cox and myself considered all these things and more. Then we decided to make it anyway. We just wanted to make something cool. With a hint of nerd. What is SWDU? Well, think of it as a Star Wars film, meets an Australian beer commercial, with a 30 minute runtime. If you require a more in depth explanation of what its all about, feel free to check out our website. www.swdufanfilm.com When we shot SWDU back in 2003, an affordable HD digital format was still but the fervered dream of mad men. So our choices, as we saw it, were either digi betacam or film. Guess what we went with. Beginning on 35mm and then changing to 16mm, after we ran out of generously donated 35mm short ends, our camera package consisted of an ARRI 535 A with a set of Ziess standards and a Zeiss 10mm. Then later, we swapped to an ARRI SR 3 with a Canon 7-63mm Super 16 zoom, sometimes a Ziess 11-110mm and occasionally a Century 6mm prime. Film stock was largely 200 T with a smattering on 100 T and 50 D for the exterior beach scenes. As good as most 3D software these days is at things like particle and smoke effects, Mike felt wed get much better results if we shot a lot of these elements ourselves instead of doing them procedurally.
When it came time for shooting VFX elements, unfortunately because of budget and time constraints, shooting these on film wasnt an option, so a number of video formats were employed. These included DV 25, HDV, DVC-PRO, P2 and whatever the hell DSRLs shoot. No preference was really given to what format was used. It was basically a case of what cameras were available and cheap (free) at the time of shooting. The mixing of 16 and 35mm film background plates with all of the above mentioned video formats might seem problematic from a compositing point of view. The differences in quality between formats wasnt an issue due to the fact that most of these video elements were things like smoke or steam effects that were shrunk down quite small in the final shot, so any apparent differences in quality werent very apparent, especially after some skilled colour grading. Pretty much from the get-go, the film was going to be ambitious in regards to VFX. Of the final 440 shots in the film, 430 had some degree of computer generated whizbangery done to them. On set, the dreaded blue screen made many, many appearances and much care was always taken in making sure it was uniformly exposed and uniformly smooth. At the time of shooting, this was a big pain in the bum trying to get it as perfect as we could. Especially at 3am, in some freezing cold quarry near Ipswich. At that point, you're not really thinking about making a compositors job easier by giving him/her a nice clean bit of blue to pull a key off, months or (in our case) even years in the future. But when you see how difficult it can be to composite a shot from a poorly lit or creased blue screen, you come to realise one thing. The extra half an hour of discomfort it took to get it right on set, has come and gone. The final shot, will be around for a lot longer. So it pays to get it right. SWDU was made for virtually no money by a dedicated and enthusiastic cast and crew who all wanted to be involved in something a bit different. We are all enormously proud of what we have managed to achieve with this dumb little film. To anyone and everyone who contributed in anyway at all, our most heartfelt thanks to you all.
Brad Francis exhibits at RAW
RAW:natural born artists is an international independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art. QLD member Brad Francis is exhibiting some of his photographic work as part of RAW: Allure, this Friday night 8TH AUGUST. Click the below link to find out more details, check out Brad's work (Single Sun Theory) and buy tickets to the event this Friday.
 Photo: Brad Francis |
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