Bill Totolo

Awesome, I just placed several orders. Hey, the holidays are coming up! Previously I had to rely on a DVD that was a burn from an old VHS.

A few tips that might help get things cooking: Give your actors permission to make mistakes. Create a sense of play. Explore opposite intentions. Make your direction as simple and physical as possible. ALWAYS play the sub-text. Regarding pacing: If a scene plays slow, this usually means the actor has been given bland, generic direction. The actor and director need to explore specific choices in the performance such as the beats or emotional changes in a scene; intentions; goals, and obstacles. Once these items have been identified and explored you can make each of these items crisp. This is better direction than telling someone to perform "faster" or to pick up the pace. This enables you to give specific direction that an actor can perform. "Pick up the pace" is result direction. Always look for strong choices. Know what your movie is about and who your characters are, remember a character is defined by his choices under pressure. Character is also defined by action, by what a person does, not what he says. Good luck.

There's a lot of good, effective methods. My advice would be to check out the book: "Directing Actors" by Judith Weston.

Okay, so I tuned in for part one of the serial and kinda liked it. Very creepy, very weird, like "Twin Peaks" meets I don't know what. The strengths are in the editing and cinematography. The weakness is the dreadful acting of all the bit players. The protagonist isn't bad, could be better with some coaching. I'll have to tune in for part two when I've had some sleep (been a long day).

That was awesome, I love the tracking shot. Shame about the hair in the gait but whatta' ya gonna do? I like the shutter angle, how'd you simulate the effect of a 30 degree shutter (as posted on your website)?

A lot of older lenses develop a color bias over time. A tip that was passed down to me is: Isolate yourself and the lenses in a darkroom and shoot a scorpion (or any powerful, focusable source of light) through one end of your lens, fit a toilet paper roll over the narrow end (mount side) and use a color temperature meter to gage the color temp coming out of the lens. Now do this for all lenses in a specific line of lenses and correct the aberrant lenses to what the norm is by using gels fitted on the rear element.

Thanks for the info, Nathan. I've passed it on to the producers. It would be nice to pull this all together. Much appreciated,

Hey guys, It looks like I may have to run out for a gig in NY. I'm LA based so I don't know all the rental facilities in NY. I've heard a lot of people talk about Camera Service Center, we'll need approximately 5 Panasonic DVX 100a's, possibly a Jimmy Jib, a field mixer and some other various items (tripods, heads, microforce...). Any other recommendations for rental houses? Thanks, the sooner I get a few responses the sooner I can pass it along to the producers (this is their first live event).

I liked it a lot. I love the format. As for the story though it felt a bit one dimensional, the character speaks his desire and there isn't any insight gained at the end. I'm not saying it's bad at all, but I think this is where a few viewers indicate confusion. I would suggest some sort of turning point in there but that's just me.

I'm just curious if you tested the gels you chose on those flesh tones before the shoot. There are so many shades of every color. I'm not sure the one's you chose complimented the actor's faces. Even it's not meant to compliment, theres something about the way someone like Christopher Doyle can use gels and still find some kind of balance while enhancing the story. What were you going for or trying to accomplish? Did you acheive it in your opinion? Thanks.

I don't know man, looked pretty good to me. What I liked most was the use of anthithesis. The way the music sets up a "Big Chill" type of weekend before all goes to hell. Most people neglect that in their films. Their images correlate too strongly with their soundtrack. I liked the casting, lighting and the story seemed like it was being well told. I mean face it, what haven't we seen? All we can do is tell our stories in unique and personal ways. I felt sucked in. Good luck with it.

Stay strong in the times ahead, John. You're in our thoughts and prayers.

I day-played on this about a year ago, looks like they have a trailer up. I shot all the exteriors, minus the aging samurai. Some mature humor: selloutthe99centmovie

Looked real good to me. How did you capture audio?

Shot this last year over a period of several months. Would appreciate your feedback. Thanks,

Here's a link to the video on .

Specs: Kodak Vision2 200T 7217 Processed at Super8 Sound Transferred at Spectra Film and Video (unsupervised) Shot with Nikon R10 (18fps) I shot this at the park across the street from my apartment at sunset, caught a lot of sunflare, etc. I like to keep the 'mistakes' in. The music features an old friend of mine, Kevin Moore, who has a couple of projects. This song is called Standby (looks like rain). The band is O.S.I. and features Mike Portnoy (of Dream Theater) on drums. Kevin also was a member of Dream Theater. His other project is called "Chroma Key" which is very atmospheric. I think the flaws work with the music but I'll be interested to see what you guys think. This is not something being used by the band, I just wanted to fool around with my new camera. Thanks

Can't blame you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3qGhK4lTWQ I'm in the lower right hand section of the frame: Dark hair, white shirt, XD-Cam. I was shooting red carpet arrivals at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. I can't imagine what the odds are.

we can't find the iWeb page you've requested.

Awesome, Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know where they're renting their gear from? Wexler? Thanks, Bill

Does anyone have info on the technical spec's of the show? What cameras are they using, frame rate, lenses, shooting format, color correction etc...? Thanks, Bill

I think if you take a step back and look the movie as a whole you may be inclined to agree that the look of the movie suits the tone of the story being told, and the point of view of the characters inhabiting this world. Apparently Michael Mann felt a gritty, immediate look and docu feel would transport the audience into his urban sub-world effectively. I'm not a proponent of video but in this case I think it makes for a very visceral experience. Especially since what I'm seeing on the nightly news is competing for my attention in the movie theater. Anyone can turn on Anderson Cooper 360 and see rockets blowing up the sides of buildings in Lebanon. That's not fiction, that's reality. How does a Director compete with that? Quite frankly, I would rather see this approach taken with video rather than trying to emulate film emulsion. I'm often dissapointed by seeing video in the movie theater unless that equation is thrown out the window by someone obviously not concerned with the old film vs. video debate. He embraced the strengths of video and incorporated that into the style of the movie. Besides you don't use lofty language, lavish set design or ellaborate make up just because you think it's better. You choose the tools you feel are appropriate, right?

www.myspace.com/selloutfilm Shot this a couple years ago. The filmmakers just put this up. I was 2nd unit DP. I shot the footage outside around the pool, the "Ghetto Booty" segment and a few green screen inserts. All shot on a Canon XL-1, moslty reflected light with fill from a Lowel DP, 1K. Some adult humor*

Going to AFI doesn't guarantee you the employment you're looking for. What I think it will do, that a smaller school can't, is place you in a unique group of alumni that may or may not contribute to your career aspirations. Spending $50k on a film is rather meaningless in my opinion. Money doesn't make something good. I was in a film festival last year where I spent $50.00 on my project and the guy next to me spent $50,000 literally, and we both had the same exposure. If I could offer any advice it would be to find people who can put you in contact with talented writers and directors that are funding their own projects and need an up-and-comer, like you, to help them realize their goals. That puts you in a better light and limits the downside of investing your own money into a project. I don't know how old you are but you have to be prepared to put in a lot of time to make it in this biz. You have talent so be patient and keep doing whatever it is you're doing.