Joe Taylor

Hello All, This is my reel, titled, "American Cantos." This short is comprised of footage shot through the great plains and the American Southwest. ENJOY!! http://vimeo.com/6857397

The beauty, mystique, and debasement of the American Landscape. Filmed throughout Iowa, prairies of Kansas, mountains of Colorado, and the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Hope you enjoy. http://vimeo.com/6461798 *Note. Can I move this to the more proper forum? Moderators, please remove this from Jobs, Resumes. Thank You

The beauty, mystique, and debasement of the American Landscape. Filmed throughout Iowa, prairies of Kansas, mountains of Colorado, and the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. Hope you enjoy. http://vimeo.com/6461798

I'm using the Dymo DiscPainter... sure, not the best resolution, but good enough for sending out professional looking demo-reels. However, I haven't had the best luck with printable discs. The glossy discs that the printer came with had the best resolution, but were/are tacky to the touch... months later. Not good. I bought some Verbatim semi-glossy that dried out nicely, but have a drab, dull look. Not good. I am hoping that somebody knows from experience if there is a brand out there who is inkjet printing like me and can have the best of both worlds.

Hey Andy, Nice work! It'd be cool to see you expand your nature portfolio beyond mostly botanical close-ups (did I see some lensbaby work in there?) I really like one "film" shot in particular. There's some beautiful color work there. Good stuff.

I've gone through two or three brands of blank Inkjet-Printable DVD's, and have mixed results. (One Generic brand that game with printer looks really good but remains tacky. Verbatim's dry well but are sort of bland and the colors run into the white areas several weeks later.) Can anybody recommend some of the best DVD's in terms of best print results? I've also looked around to see if I can find reviews or comparisons of some of the different brands with not much luck. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Could a DI have also been a factor because of all the sub-titles? I know in the old days subtitles meant another generation.

I'm familiar with Vimeo and places like that, but there are also sites like Reel-Exchange that are geared more towards the film and video industry. Has anybody worked with sites like this?

Can anybody recommend some of the better sites to post your demo reel? I have been searching and there seems to be numerous options. I'd also like to hear some of the pros and cons to possibly going this route. Thanks!

I had a damn fine experience at the Cine this afternoon. The opening scene was master work. I really hope Tarantino makes a western one day. My biggest problem, and this a problem with all of his movies, is that there are moments where he is so self-consciously hip that I feel uncomfortable. And I agree with John. The use German and French with a mixture of English was done in fine form, although the Italian was sketchy to the point of sucking. John, what's with the black bars through your last post?

Definitely meter the filter. I put my filters on an SLR to check exposure compensation. I have three sets of Antique Suedes. Two of my #3's rate at 2-stops and another at 1 2/3's stops. I have a set of Chocolates that rate the same way. There can be a visible difference sometimes.

Actually, Leandro's new site is quite informative. Sign me up.

Hello Anthony, Back in 2003 I was shooting 100' loads of 35mm color infrared through an Arri 435. Otto Nemenz out of La and Salt Lake City had modified a gate for both color but primarily B&W infrared films. To have the 100' loads processed was a big challenge since most labs only process their motion picture stock with machines that have infrared lights. I was able to get a lab in Colorado to do the processing. The results are quite stunning. If you've seen color infrared photos you can imagine what they look like with movement. About half of the 400' I shot was time-lapse. The results were not always perfect but the shots that do work have a magic of their own. However, I believe that Kodak quite making all infrared films. So even if you wanted to shoot stills, you'd have a tough time finding the film. Even people who are hoarding some stock have only a small amount of time to shoot since infrared stocks pretty much expire the moment they leave the shelf.

Hmmmm, this is one of those movies I will have to see a second time. Certain scenes are quite masterful-- the prison breaks and the hyper-real shootouts were thrilling as anything I've seen. The death scene of Hamilton (the most interesting character in the movie) is really too disturbing. Check out this guys eyes as he goes out and then watch Johnny Depp-- I think he quite acting halfway through the scene. The photography was hit or miss. Most of the bright day-lit scenes really jumped out at me, particularly the opening scene outside the prison. Most of the darker scenes, the cameras seem to struggle. The one big esthetically problematic scene for me was when Dillinger is being trailed out the theatre before he is shot. The background just looked way off. Might this critical scene have been a re-shoot with Johnny Depp filmed in front of a green screen for this sequence?

I think those dots are a sort of digital ID to help prevent pirating. Some of the digital F/X were amazing. The sound design was also so well done that I found myself getting VERY ANGRY whenever the music score would swell up to cue some action and totally throw me out of the moment. This was especially the case when the giant machines where harvesting the humans at the gas station outpost. That was such a haunting moment with the eerie sounds the robots made, then they quickly ruined the moment with the canned music that slammed the audience into the action as it picked up. This happens all the time in other big blockbusters. It's about as stupid as canned laughter. Who makes these decisions? Producers need to take a page from Children of Men's example. The action is so much more involving when there isn't a cacophony of cheesy movie music.

Hello Chris, I've never seen you method done. I'm using DVD Studio Pro, perhaps they have a way to do this. I was just going to package a standard-def DVD as well as a DVD with a HD QT in a two disc case. I hear you David. I know that DVD is still very popular but I wish that HD sets would soon take over and everything is distributed in a HD format.

Does anybody know of a system of submitting or passing off high-def material for demo reels instead of standard-def DVD's? All of my recent work has been high-def or 35mm trasferred to high-def and would like to submit my work to prospective clients in the high-def medium. But only being familiar with passing out DVD's, I am wondering if there is a standardized way of doing this. My thoughts are burning 1080p Quicktimes to a DVD with short instructions for dumping the QT file to the clients hard drive. Does this seem acceptable?

Lucas, sounds like you're on the right track. There are various grades of each filter which will determine your exposure compensation. You might also want to experiment with a digital still camera to get a good idea of what you like. Tobacco filters tend to be fairly strong, even for the lowest grade being a 1. I'd suggest using a Fog filter if your going for a dreamy sort of look. You'll get much nicer soft halos off of highlights. If you're playing with warming filters, the Chocolate series. I think they give of more subtle and pleasing look. Hope this helps.

Chris & John, I'll check out the Cooke site and search around for info on Bausch & Lomb. Thanks for your help. Joe T

Does anybody have a link to that would give information, articles and/or pictures of lens' used back in the 20's, 30's, 40's. I am especially interested in seeing what Greg Toland had to work with when he made Citizen Kane.

I'd love to find some actual frames from Everlasting Moments. Went to IMDB but the production stills look like they were taken by the on-set photographer. Can anybody provide a link?

Yeah, but what did you think of the movie?? "Knowing" is the dumbest piece poop since "Every which way you can," not to be confused with "Every which way but loose," which was actually smarter. And at least you are supposed to laugh at the ape.

What if you have a short film that is not a comedy nor a thriller? Is not animated or a student film nor was it shot in High Def? In other words, can you submit a good ol' fashioned narrative or documentary shot on film or standard def video and produced independently?

Has anybody seen or in the know how "Days of Heaven" would have been blown up to 70mm back in the 70's? If I am not mistaken, this film was shot with spherical lens in 1.85. Would they have cropped the film down, to then blow up to 70mm?

I finally saw "Slumdog" last night. There are many remarkable shots throughout the film that seem to have been achieved with natural (available light) and more importantly "in-camera." One shot that I question, and I hope someone in-the-know can clarify, is during the big chase at the beginning of the film. It is an aerial shot looking straight down as the kids run through a small gap through the slums. The shot is repeated several more times in sequence with the final shot showing the magnitude of the slums. The sequence itself stops the show and if genuine deserves its just rewards. There are so many other stunning examples. The kids walking the pipelines. The train winding through India. Unlike many film lauded for their "cinematography" these shots were achieved in-camera.