Thursday, November 15, 2007

Wallpapers

Here are some more goodies from the DigitAll Movement creatives. Here, you'll find some wallpapers. Both for widescreen and fullscreen format. Click to download!!






Saturday, November 10, 2007

Screencapping

A few days back an interested participant asked me this question...

Q. Is it compulsory to submit the stills from the film? Will my film be disqualified if I don't submit them?

A. Well, no. the film will not be disqualified, I said. But there is a possibility that selection committee might not give preference to a film without an accompanying picture. The committee will be given a catalogue with the pictures that will aid them to decide upon the final selection. So, yes, it will be profitable for all participants to submit pictures from their film.

I then went on to tell him that all he had to do was send us some high quality screencaps and the problem will be solved.

Q. But what IS a screen cap?

A. A screen shot (sometimes called a screen capture) is a copy of the screen's contents that can be saved as a graphics file or copied into a document or graphics editor. Various programs are available for creating screen shots, but it is easy to do without any special program.

To take a screen shot on a Windows platform, you press the Print Screen button (usually on the top row of the keyboard) to get a shot of the entire screen. To get a shot of the active window only, you press the Alt key and the Print Screen key at the same time. The screen shot is copied to the clipboard (the memory area that temporarily stores information to be copied to another location ) and can then be pasted into a document in a word processing program such as Word or WordPerfect, or into an image editor, such as Adobe Photo Shop, Paint Shop Pro, or Microsoft Paint if you want to alter the image.

On a Macintosh platform, you press the Command, Shift, and 3 keys to create an image file (called a PICT file). If you press 4 instead of 3, the cursor changes to allow you to select an area of the screen to save. Command, Shift, and 4 with the Caps Lock pressed allows you to create a circular image. Any of the commands with the Control key pressed copies the image to the clipboard.

On a Unix platform, there are different methods for the various interfaces. A common one is the command xwd -out filename.xwd, which allows you to click a screen to make an image file.


Try these links for more info about how to make screen caps:

http://irreproachable.livejournal.com/738.html
http://www.any-capture.com/
http://www.killermovies.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-14607-dvd-screencaps-how-do-you-make-them.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=464148


For the purposes of the Festival, we request the participants to send a soft copy as well as a hard copy of the screen caps.
1. A generation of quality will not be lost if you send soft copies and not printouts of the pics.
2. It's obviously easier to get soft copies printed.
3. A hardcopy along with your entry will ensure there is no mix up and confusion regarding the pictures.


Cheers
Madhura

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Announcing...!

bsiteI suppose there is some relief in being able to say that we are finally open.

Announcing the birth of the DigitAll Movement...


Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication is organising a South East Asian Digital Film Festival called the ‘DAM fest or the DigitALL Movement Festival’ from the 18th of January 2008 to 20th of January 2008.

This is an exclusively digital film festival. This means that only films that have been made digitally (digital video and animation) would be screened and highlighted on this forum. The Festival would include both screenings and workshops/seminars conducted by experts in this field. Some of the experts we are in contact are: Mr. Ram Madhwani, Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Mr. Anand Patwardhan, Mr. Mike Pandey, Mr. Govind Nihalani and the likes.

The films showcased in the festival are divided in two categories:

Competitive: The category would be open to all amateur and professional film makers. The films would be categorized on the basis of their duration.
Non Competitive: Films made by guest filmmakers and other major films being made in the digital medium would be included here.


These would be further divided as :

  • Fiction
  • Non Fiction
  • Animation and Special Effects


The seminars being organized would thus help amateur and student filmmakers to understand the medium and how to go about making digital films. So everyone's invited to participate fully and whole heartedly and hence strengthen the ‘DigitALL Movement’.

Monday, November 5, 2007

But what IS Digital Filmmaking

Ah, here's something for those a little green about the knowledge of making films digitally:

Digital film making is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. Digital capture may occur on tape, hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record digital data.
Digital film making captures motion pictures digitally, in a process analogous to digital photography. While there is no clear technical distinction that separates the images captured in digital cinematography from video, the term "digital cinematography" is usually applied only in cases where digital acquisition is substituting for film acquisition, such as when shooting a feature film. The term is not generally applied when digital acquisition is substituting for analog video acquisition, as with live broadcast television programs.

Digital vs. Film

1.When shooting on film, response to light is determined by what film stock is chosen. A cinematographer can choose a film stock he or she is familiar with, and expose film on set with a high degree of confidence about how it will turn out. Because the film stock is the main determining factor, results will be substantially similar regardless of what camera model is being used.In contrast, when shooting digitally, response to light is determined by the CMOS or CCD sensor(s) in the camera, and every camera is different. A cinematographer shooting digitally can at once measure and monitor the final result and outcome, without waiting for the result from the developed film.

2.Although very compact and inexpensive digital cameras are becoming more widely available, the image quality is not yet up to the level normally desired for theatrical release. High-end digital cinema cameras tend to be quite large, and some models require bulky external recording mechanisms (though in some cases only a small strand of optical fiber is necessary to connect the camera and the recording mechanism).
In contrast, there are compact 35mm film cameras that produce the full 35mm film resolution and accept standard 35mm lenses

3.Digital acquisition typically offers better performance than film in low-light conditions, allowing less lighting and in some cases completely natural or practical lighting to be used for shooting, even indoors. This low-light sensitivity also tends to bring out shadow detail. Some directors have tried a "best for the job" approach, using digital acquisition for indoor or night shoots, and traditional film for daylight exteriors.

4.Films are traditionally shot with dual-system recording, where picture is recorded on camera, and sync sound is recorded to a separate sound recoding device. In post-production, picture and sound are synced up.
Many cameras used for digital cinematography can record sound internally, already in sync with picture. This eliminates the need for syncing in post, which can lead to faster workflows.

Today, digital acquisition accounts for the vast majority of moving image acquisition, as most content for broadcast is shot on digital formats. Most movies destined for theatrical release are still shot on film, however, as are many dramatic TV series and some high-budget commercials. High-end digital cinematography cameras suitable for acquiring footage intended for theatrical release are on the market since 1999/2000, and have meanwhile gained widespread adoption.

Some notable high-profile directors that have shot with digital equipment include

Sidney Lumet - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski - Speed Racer
Bryan Singer - Superman Returns
Mel Gibson - Apocalypto
David Fincher - Zodiac
Michael Mann - Miami Vice, Collateral
Steven Soderbergh - Guerrilla
Francis Ford Coppola - Youth Without Youth
George Lucas - Star Wars Episode II and III,
Robert Altman - A Prairie Home Companion
Anthony Hopkins - Slipstream
Robert Rodriguez - Sin City, Grindhouse
Lars von Trier - Dogville, Manderlay
David Zucker - Scary Movie 4
Michael Moore - Bowling for Columbine
Sylvester Stallone - Rocky Balboa
Peter Jackson - Crossing the line
David Lynch - Inland Empire
Lee Tamahori - Next
James Cameron - Ghosts of the Abyss, Aliens of the Deep
Tony Scott - Déjà Vu
Jean-Jacques Annaud - Two Brothers
Tim Burton - Corpse Bride

Some of these directors are strong supporters of the change from film to digital, some of them declare that it depends on the particular movie.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Entry Form and Festival Info

Now you can directly download the festival entry form and detailed proposal for the DigitAll Movement from these links...

[EDIT] Apparently the download links are not working. A new link will be up soon please be patient.[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]Please reply to this post with your email id or email at thedamfest@gmail.com for these documents.

Peace All[/EDIT2]

Friday, November 2, 2007

Participate!

Participation in the festival is open to everyone!

Yes, whether you are a student, an amateur or a professional filmmaker, you can showcase your film at the film festival.

Our website is not up as of yet. When it does you can download the entry forms from there. For the time being, send an email to thedamfest@gmail.com and an entry form with more details about the DigitAll Movement will be sent to you.

Otherwise, just comment on this post and I'll email it to you directly.

Cheers!