Going "radio silent"

I'm going "radio silent" for a while. No blogging, Twittering, or Facebooking.

During the "silent" period, I'm going to be looking critically at my website, social networking in general, and what it means to promote oneself and one's books and films.

If you bought one of my books, and have a question or comment, please email or send me a message via Facebook and I'll get back to you promptly.

Email address here.
Facebook contact here.

Thanks,
Tony

The 2009 Michael Wiese Productions Catalog is out.

Digital Video Secrets is front and center on the front page!

Cool.

Encounters at the end of the world -- What camera?

I've been trying to find out what camera Werner Herzog and his cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger used to shoot the stunning images in the new documentary Encounters at the End Of The World.

The cinematography in this movie is wonderful.

According to IMDB the format was HDV. On the commentary track Zeitlinger says only that the camera was one of the first Sony Blu Ray camcorders. Will keep checking...

What's Your Story

The odds-on favorite for Best Feature Documentary at the 81st Oscars awards is the wonderful film, "Man On Wire."

All five of the Oscar nominees for this category are great films, but Man On Wire's story makes the film unique.

In the film, 24 year old Philippe Petit and a youthful band of conspirators sneak into the World Trade Center in 1974. They then string a wire between the towers, and Petit then walks the wire between the towers. Not once but 8 times.

The director chose to tell the story as a caper film. The story of Petit overcoming obstacles, and ultimately succeeding, is absolutely riveting.

The lesson for filmmakers and writers is clear: if you want to capture an audience, tell a compelling story with a fascinating hero.

(Cross posted at my Amazon Connect blog for Digital Video Secrets.)

Errol Morris gets great interviews

On the commentary track of his recent documentary 'Standard Operating Procedure,' filmmaker Errol Morris talks about how he gets great interviews--interviews no one else is able to get.

He says that there's no 'secret sauce' (to getting great interviews) you just go talk to people. You listen to them, and let them know you are interested in what they say.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson and Errol Morris (right) on the set of Standard Operating Procedure.

There's also a great interview with Morris at Eye For Film.


(Cross posted at Amazon Connect blog for Digital Video Secrets.)

Seth Godin's 5 Pillars of Success

The five pillars of success, by Seth Godin

1. See (really see) what's possible
2. Know specifically what you want to achieve
3. Make good decisions
4. Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds
5. Earn the trust and respect of the people around you

It sure seems like we spend all our time on #4.

Cinematography nominees

The 81st Oscar nominees for cinematography in alphabetical order:

CHANGELING, Tom Stern.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, Claudio Miranda. Digital.
Claudio Miranda used a Thompson Grass Valley Viper/S.two with uncompressed data recording.

THE DARK KNIGHT, Wally Pfister.

THE READER, Chris Menges and Roger Deakins.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, Anthony Dod Mantle. Digital.
Jan 22 - Anthony Dod Mantle's cinematography is beyond perfect, it is inspired. He is able to evoke exactly the right emotional tone in every scene. I would hate to be a filmmaker in competition this year, in any category--Slumdog Millionaire is simply one of the best films I've ever seen. I was completely involved during the film, and emotionally exhausted at the end of the film. ADM shot the film in digital, using a Silicon Imaging S1-2K camera. Digital output was recorded direct to disk in cineform RAW.