Back...Finally

And I'm back.

Sorry it's taken so long for new posts but I'm been away in Bulgaria and in Toronto on a couple of different film sets all month.  

Back to production.  I know a lot of people in the Indy world that try to reach the unattainable and fall flat on there face.  I've done it myself.  When this happened a fellow film maker took me aside and pointed out all the mistakes I'd made and what I should do now.

The best part of his advice was to do something(a short film) that was simple.  Two characters in a room.   Learn to work with actors and the angles and then add complexity in another production.  Learn those skills and increase.

Here's my stepping stone video based on his advice.  It's simple, 3 minutes and I learned a lot on it.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes ( you will).  Although you should do your best to plan for them and avoid them!

Cameras, Cameras and more Cameras

So you've completed you're script, found you're cast and now you're getting ready to shoot. People always ask what's the best camera to use?

It depends. ( People hate that answer) No one camera is the king of everything. Some people say use a Red One, Epic, Alexa, FS100, F3, Canon 5D MII or III, 7D, 2Ti, 3Ti , C300 etc.

Is the Epic a better camera than a 7D? It has a better codec and resolution. That doesn't by default make it the right choice. If money and time are no concern then sure it'd be great to shoot on one.

If you're doing a short, you're not making any money from it. So a DSLR may make more sense. DSLR's are great to able to practice with and shoot with get to know lenses and framing. I think every Indie filmmaker should have a camera they can practice with whenever they want. And they should practice!

Once you're comfortable with the techniques it can be great to work with a more robust format. It also depends on the purpose of your short. Using an Epic on a short with the help of a tech who's familiar with it can be a great learning experience. I do recommend that if you're trying to learn such a camera that you concentrate on the camera work for that shoot, rather trying to direct and learn a new camera.

I have a friend who's a great director and who makes his living as a DOP and an Editor. A few years back I was directing a short. He offered to shoot it so he could “play” with a new Camera and field test it before using the same gear on a feature he was directing.

What am I shooting my new short on? A Canon 7D. I happen to own it and most of the gear needed to go with it. I've taken the 7D with me around the world and it's a good little camera. A 2ti, 3ti or newer 24p capable Canon DSLR would do just as well. I funding the project myself so cost is definetly a factor. I can make the Canon do what I need. Yes an Epic would be nice but it would certainly increase the cost of my project and I'd have to trim corners elsewhere. Now if I had a friend with an Epic willing to come in and shoot for 2 weekends for free I'd be happy to take them up on it.

And remember just because it was shot on a Red doesn't make it any good. It's just as easy to shoot crappy footage on a Red as on a DSLR.

And most importantly content is king. So make sure you have something to say and a good story before you start worrying about what camera you're going to shoot with.

Montreal Comiccon

Needless to say I had a great time at Montreal Comiccon.  It was great having my film in the Horrorfest. 

My favourite part of Comiccon?  The after meet and greet on the opening night.  I got to meet some great film makers and actors.  Looking forward to watching their stuff!

It was fun seeing all the cos-players and attending the events.  For me it was a little different seeing actors in this environment that's more carefree as opposed to in the working environment of a film set. 

Casting for Short Film Clean Up

Script's done and we're on to casting!  I've been very lucky to get a great cast for this project.

Aphra Williams - Best know for her leading role in "A Violent State" winner of the 2011, Ottawa International Film Festival.  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4452275/

Melodie Courval.   A great up and coming talent who's been appearing in many Canadian shorts and the feature 13 Downs.  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4272840/

Ken McDavitt.  Best known for the webseries "A Man of Principals"

I'm happy to welcome all of them aboard!

Montreal Comiccon Horrorfest

I'm happy to announce that my short film "Speak of the Devil" is playing at the opening screening of Montreal Comiccon at the Horrorfest!

Here's a link. 

http://montrealhorrorfest.com/2012/08/short-program-1/

It's my first Comiccon and needless to say I'm looking foward to it!

A New Production Dawns

It's been a little hectic lately but I'm back and finally starting a new production.  A short film.

The working title is Clean Up. 

"The Earth died.  We killed it with out contaminated filth and then ran away to live in tin can's on Mars. Most of us anyways."

Clean Up is the story of one man in exile above the earth alone for five years until he gets a distress call from a beautiful woman heading towards him being pursued by several warships.  It's a short romp with space battles and adventure. 

I've made a point of doing a different type of film each time.  And now it's sci fi's turn and I get to use everything I have from work and every trick I can muster for this project and I'll be sharing the whole process from start to finish here!

More to come this week.

A Sample of My Older Work

Just to start showing everyone some of my older work, here's a video I shot for XYZ RGB to help promote instant scanning technology about 4 years ago.  It was shot using an HVX 200 at 48 frames a second.

The Film Festival

I had a great time at the Ottawa International Film Festival.  This was more or less my first film festival and I had three things showing in it!  It was a great experience and I got to meet a lot of great people and make a lot of new contacts.

So thank you Nina Bains and all those at OIFF for giving me such a great opportunity!

I highly recommend sending your films to festivals.  You can learn a lot being at a festival plus the exposure it gives you.  Oh and the parties are great too!  If you get in one talk to as many of the people and fellow film makers as you can. 

Highlights of the festival included Thirteen Downs, Undercurrents and Marilyn. 

Thirteen Downs stars the great up and coming actress/singer Sophia Radisch.  I’ve had the pleasure to work with Sophia on a couple of projects. One was my aforementioned project Homecoming.  Another was a music video for her song “I can.”  It also played the festival.  If her movie, Thirteen Downs, comes to a festival near you I highly recommend you watch it.

Undercurrents is a thriller about a hitman played by the fantastic Jon Maclaren.  Matt Stefiuck was great in the flick as Jon’s coke sniffing buddy.

And Marilyn was a great bio pick about a robber starring Sancuary’s Ryan Robbins and Smallville’s Alison Mack.  Those two showed that they have some great acting chops!

And now it’s back to work on my next short and high past time I start following it here!

Countdown to OIFF

Two days until the Ottawa International Film Festival Begins!

I've already mentioned Speak of the Devil.  But I also have another film playing at the festival.

It's called Homecoming.  It's a heartwarming story of  13 year old girl meeting her biological father for the first time.  It won the viewers choice award at the Ottawa 72 Hour Film Challenge earlier this year.  I co-wrote and co-produced the film and I was the Director of Photography on it.

The star of Homecoming , Sophia Radisch,  is also staring in the feature film "13 Downs" which is opening the festival. 

Welcome to Mage Arts!

This is an Indy Film and Production blog. I'll be following the progress of some of my Indy films from beginning to end as well as discussing other topics such as tech and techniques.

First of all my name is Martin Rodriguez. I've worked extensively in the film industry and independent scene for more than a decade.  I travel to film sets to take photographs and 3D Scans of actors and props to create 3D models for Visual Effects. Movies I've worked on include:

The Matrix Sequels, Batman Begins, The Brave One, Jumper, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Shoot em up, 300, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Blades of Glory, Splice, Public Enemies, Whiteout, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, District 9, Percy Jackson, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Let Me In, I am Number Four, Three Musketeers, Source Code, Tower Heist, Immortals, Resident Evil: Retribution and many more!

On the Indy front, besides working on many short films as crew, I co-produced a feature film called “Dealer” for Seville Pictures. Sadly it has not been released. I also co-produced another feature that's in post currently. More about that one later...

I've also directed several shorts. One them, Speak of the Devil, a horror comedy, is playing at the Ottawa International Film Festival on August 18^th.