mike browne's blog

Really. How Much?

Thu, 1 May 2008 02:18:59 -0600

I had some thoughts regarding an age old quandry.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Seriously.

Perhaps thumb transplants would help us finally get to the bottom of this mystery. Big toes have been used to replace thumbs lost in accidents (ironically sometimes 'chucking' wood). However, I'm unsure of woodchucks having big toes to begin with, as I'm not versed in woodchuck-ology (or whatever the scientific term may be).

Even if they did have big toes to sacrifice, and the transplant were to be successful, they may not be able to stand properly as they were now big toe less thus lacking the balance necessary for an all out wood chucking experiment.

Regardless, forcing a big toe less woodchuck now sporting strangely fashioned thumbs to 'chuck wood' doesn't seem at all ethical.

My guess is that we will never be able to answer this question to anyone's satisfaction so I think it's time to stop asking it. It's just silly.

High Tech Noon

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:04:15 -0600

Check out the re-edit of the classic western High Noon by Darryl Gold now with killer cyborgs!

The Ascent of Man

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:17:21 -0600

MIA from Playoffs

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:52:04 -0600

Fail, originally uploaded by Retrocactus.

Enough said...

Happy Bunny Day

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:30:40 -0600

Solo Bunny, originally uploaded by MikeBrowne.

From the angriest rabbit on the planet.

"Stay away from my lettuce dammit!"

Film Marketing and Web 2.0

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:40:33 -0600

Last weekend I went to a course put on by the DGC. It was called Introduction to Internet Marketing for DGC Members and was facilitated by Film and TV Director, Creative Consultant, TV Producer and 1st A.D. Peter D. Marshall. You can subscribe to Peter's excellent filmmaking newsletter over at his site actioncutprint.com.

Peter talked about everything from the more technical such as meta tags and SEO to utilizing web 2.0 sites like faceook and LinkedIn

Basically what I have is all the weapons to market both myself and any of my films or other media products already in my arsenal, but have yet to focus them. It's like having the best power drill on the planet and drilling at thin air. I'll be making some changes to my online presence, not the least of which will be to this blog.

Colleen Nystedt came in to speak to us about her site, movieset.com. I was extremely impressed with Coleen and her pitch. Movieset.com is going to revolutionize film marketing and the back-end tools bringing productions truly online (and for free) are of huge interest to me as a filmmaker. I had ideas about doing what movieset.com is doing myself, so it's a very easy product to get behind.

Here's Colleen on In the Lab with Leo Laporte:

Go behind-the-scenes with MovieSet�
Colleen Nystedt, Founder & CEO, MovieSet�

MovieSet� represents a paradigm shift that advances the marketing of movies to the beginning of the production process.

Every movie has a core audience and the internet is the most sophisticated tool for identifying, targeting and engaging those fans.

MovieSet�s toolkit brings film production online creating efficiencies in scheduling and communications, and as a by-product allows fans a abbreviated view of the process.

As an aggregator, MovieSet� enables producers to earn advertising and other ecommerce revenue creating new business models.

MovieSet� is also developing its utilities for television, documentaries and games.

www.movieset.com

[source In the Lab with Leo: episode 79]

As well we hear from Trilby Jeeves who spoke about her experience with marketing film related services on the web, specifically her site buffooneryworkshops.com. I'm kind of a buffoon already, but I'm considering taking Trilby's next course:

"The Buffoonery Acting Workshop" will be two fun-filled days of discovering how to find authentic, believable and committed performances. It's going to be held in Vancouver, on April 26 & 27, 2008 at the Tooba Physical Theatre.

This workshop is available to no more than 10 actors. Registrations will be on a first come basis. As soon as 10 spots have been taken, this link will be closed.

Register Now.

Coming from the background and experience in this area that I already have I wasn't sure how much I'd learn, but I'm glad I went. I learned a lot in only a few hours. Thanks again Peter.

Wanted - the movie

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:29:30 -0600

Download and watch the HD trailer at Yahoo! Movies. This movie, due to be released on March 28, 2008, is going to look amazing.

I want to see Wanted, not just because it's an action movie and definitely not because of any of the actors or actresses in the film. Those things aren't really of much interest at all. In fact the dialog seems clich�, the storyline seems lame and the eye make up looks raccoonesque.

So why the post?

I want to see it because some of it, mostly the effects shots, were shot on RED cameras. No film, just super high definition video. Those big effects are going to look awesome being that clear.

Kodak and Fuji, you're going to have to rethink your business model. There are a few filmmakers (will that even be the correct word in a year?) who are taking full advantage of this new technology. These movies are stunning. As Hollywood directors play with this format and realize the versatility of it we're sure to see less film and more digital movies in our theatres. Jumper, already in theatres and doing well, used a RED One as its second unit camera and looks phenomenal.

Always up for an experiment Steven Soderbergh shot his movies The Argentine and Guerrilla both due out in 2008 and, The Informant, due in 2009 using only RED One cameras and lenses.

It's the wave of the future.

I'd love to get my grubby little paws on two full RED packages. Oh what a guy could do with a couple of those babies! All in all $17,500 isn't bad for a camera body. But, gear-head that I am we'd have to have all the lenses and accessories to go along with them.

Hey brother, can you spare $75,000?

Dramatic Lemur

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 23:22:25 -0700

Funny but I still like the gopher.

Why I won't vote Tory

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:59:32 -0700

"The Conservative government has drafted guidelines that would allow it to pull financial aid for any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the public's best interest � even if government agencies have invested in them.

The proposed changes to the Income Tax Act would allow the Heritage Minister to deny tax credits to projects deemed offensive, effectively killing the productions. Representatives from Heritage and the Department of Justice will determine which shows or films pass the test."

more at source: globeandmail.com: Tories plan to withhold funding for 'offensive' productions

Hey Stephen Harper, guess what? You just lost a whole ton of votes. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

That's it. Censor the film business rather than encouraging it. More shows will be off to the Czech Republic and the Canadian economy will suffer.

If you need more money I guess you shouldn't have cut that one per cent from the GST. *Sigh*

Let's call an election now... I know which way I'm voting.

Happy Leap Year

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:56:56 -0700

I thought I must post on leap day. But what? How about a humorous look at a couple of hot topics mashed together by theonion.com? Sure. Here's the video:

In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly?