...given gifts!

Producer Vlog Dec 25 2010 from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

Apologies for the video quality, this weeks was filmed on an underwater Pentax P&S, ISO was not adjustable in video mode.

...gone back in time!

Hang onto your hats, this week's Producer Vlog takes a trip to the past with Magic Bullet aging tools. This 2 minute video took almost 6 hours to render.

Shot on a Canon 5D with Nikon 50mm f2.4

Producer Vlog Dec 17 2010 from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

...shot an indie short!

I was Director of Photography on an indie short last night, called "Real", directed by Ryan Moccia. Check out these production stills. We shot on a Canon 5D with only an LED Rotolight on the hotshoe. The streetlights did the rest of the work, thanks to the amazing Zeiss 35mm f2.0 lens we rented. The wicked F-stop combined with the 5D's phenomenal low-light capabilities allowed us to shoot any way we wanted, under a streetlamp, or in the midle of the street.

Pics are framegrabs from footage at 2500 ISO, shutter speed 30






"Real" is premiering at the Render This! film festival this January.
Follow Ryan Moccia on Twitter

...fallen in love with Zeiss glass

Producer Vlog Dec 3 2010 from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

Here's my weekly Producer Vlog for December 3, 2010

...watched the most beautiful video i've ever seen.

The only youtube video to ever make me cry. it's a bit on the longer side(15 min), but definitely worth it.

...taken a walk in the park

Ryan and I made a parody of the youtube sensation Frank L Sharp. See the original here.

A Walk in the Park from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

...pimped your dorm!

I spent an afternoon converting the BUSU graphics office into a dorm room for this promotional shoot. It turned out really well, but I got that stupid jingle stuck in everyone's head.

...shot some stop-frame!

Here's the first installment of MEME TEAM's "Sgt. Baker" series. I shot all three shorts in one day, and thanks to some FCP ingenuity, edited them in an afternoon. Still fine-tuning the transition between stills and video. Shot on a Canon 7D.

...honed my stop-frame skills!

Just completed the second installment of MEME TEAM's "Sgt. Baker" series. It's longer, better, and more action-packed, with a better soundtrack. Shot on a Canon 7D.

...watched a hockey game

Producer Vlog Nov 5 from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

My weekly producer vlog forNov 5, 2010.
Graded heavily with Magic Bullet Looks

...gone on a boat ride!

Producer Vlog Oct 30 from Spencer Johnston on Vimeo.

This week's Producer Vlog, shot at Henley Island during the annual Rowing Regatta.

...got in an art show!

no big deal. Supercool Niagara Artists Centre workshop featuring me.
More big of a deal is that I got my name on the same poster as Jonathan Culp, my indie-filmmaker idol. Come to the gallery opening this Friday!

...replaced the B with a V!

That's right y'all, my BLOG is now a VLOG!
Check out the extremely complicated first episode of my weekly VLOG!
I know the focus is off in the first shot, leave me alone, i was using a prime 50mm, not a lot of give there.

...finalized the Cougar Colt theatrical poster!

Cougar Colt is the honored guest at the upcoming Render This! film festival in St. Catharines this winter. Check out the theatrical poster, and keep checking back for more updates on festival info.

...a new film review show!

Ryan and I are tired of the boring couch-style review shows. We decided to do things a little different. We've been working on this verite-style review show concept for a while now; one take, unscripted, with a little DSLR class. Check out our pilot episode here.

...recieved new info about Render This!

News came down the wire today that the festival is being postponed to January. No official date yet, you'll know when I do.

...the inside scoop on the Render This Film Festival!

I know everyone that's paying attention has been waiting with baited breath for festival details. I probably won't get fired for leaking this, so here's all the info, copied from an internal memo(sorry Tracy):




EDIT: updated info as of Oct 1st 2010








Most recent tweaks to festival rules and regulations... and awards!

Rules and Regulations
• 2010 films
• 20seconds to 20minutes
• All genres
• Primary contributor must be either an enrolled Brock University student or recent Alumni OR Niagara College student or recent Alumni
• You may submit more than one film in accordance with the official Render This rules and regulations.
• Films, not in English language, should be submitted in their original version with English subtitles.
• Submission format must be a data DVD; Acceptable file formats:
- H.264 (*.mov) - Preferred***
- 720p High-res *.mpeg4
- *.avi
** Note: The file to which you hand in for submission, will be used for the premier.
If there is any file degradation in your submission, the quality of your file may adversely affect the outcome and/or decision of your piece, made by the panel of judges.

• DVD sent to the selection committee must be delivered before October 29, 2010
• BrockTV
• will reserve the right to refuse any entry at its own discretion.
• Submitted material must not contain obscene, unlawful or objectionable
• material.
• Film Selection will be based on overall quality of film submissions and time constraints.
• Content created to promote any product or service will not be accepted.
• Once a film has been selected it cannot be withdrawn from the Festival programme

AWARDS

Three awards will be given to the designated author outlined on submission.
• Juried Award:
• All films screening are eligible for the Juried Award. The Jury will
• consist of 3-4 relevant industry/academic individuals. The award will be
• granted to one film, following the Festival.
• Audience Award:
• All films screening are eligible for an Audience Award. Award winners
• are announced following the Festival. The Audience Award is based solely
• on audience voting at the film's screening.
• Honourable Mention:
• All films screening are eligible for an Honourable Mention Award. This
• award will be granted by the organizers to one film following the
• Festival.

I will keep you in the loop with anymore adjustments that may come -
though I do not expect any changes to be made to these details.

T

...produced Game Culture: Halo Reach Pre-Launch Party on BrockTV

Ryan Moccia and I went up to Toronto with Mike "The Birdman" Dodd from ScrewAttack to talk to Microsoft's Jeff Riviat about the new Xbox game. Check out the awesome lasertag guns!

...produced Game Culture: TRON Evolution on BrockTV

Anson Nater interviews lead designer Jamie Toghill to discuss the upcoming game for the Wii.

...produced O-Week: Day 7 on BrockTV

I hosted(and shot) the Residence Summer Games with Ryan Moccia.

...produced O-Week: Day 4 on BrockTV

Scott Kvasni of Scott Talk @ Brock was my host for the year's first Threesome Thursdays event at Isaac's Pub. Hilarity ensues.

...edited a segment for Screwattack

At Fan Expo 2010 this past weekend, a few other BrockTV producers and myself got the chance to work with Mike "The Birdman" Dodd, a highly respected gaming journalist for Screwattack.com. I edited an interview segment with a game designer for the upcoming TRON game. Check the video out here.

...become an American spy

WWII, Berlin, a German defector and an American spy.
Check out this leaked on-set photo of me as Robert Mitchell, and see Out Of Berlin at the Render This! film festival in St Catharines Oct. 1 2010.

EDIT: I also took this photo.

...geeked out my mac

The movie geeks in the crowd will appreciate this little program I picked up, called Blackout. It's billed as a screen brightness manager, giving the mac user more control than the simple brightness bar, like a spotlight that follows your cursor around, or a super-dimmer for low-light applications.
I love it for it's "soft edges" mode, presumably meant to reduce the ambient glare coming off the sides of your screen, unintentionally giving your mac the coolest vignette ever. Check it out.



The application is available here. The license costs $9, and there's definitely no way around the payment process. Definitely no information you might need in the screenshot.

Yes, the corners of the screen are completely black, and yes I do have to kind of feel around for the spotlight icon, but as I understand it, G-string bikinis are extremely uncomfortable. The link between those two non-sequiters?

there's a price to pay for looking amazing.

Duch Dillinger is a young female rapper out of Toronto. Last year she played at Scenefest '09 in St Catharines, which, as I understand it, is an impressive feat, as with a total 160 bands playing, there were only a handful of hip hop artists in attendance, and she was among them.

Recently, she's launched a new EP, Mrs. Anonymous. The lyrics are clever and the music is consistently driving and engaging.
But music aside, her marketing is fantastic.

Dillinger has released her new EP as a free download from her website. This is a bold move, unheard of since the latter days of Harvey Danger. In traditional economic thinking, this is suicide, literally giving your product away for free, but, as cases like this continue to prove, there are other factors at work here. Dillinger has chosen to waive ALL of her front-end profits in favor of the increased publicity, a much less tangible benefit than cash. The payoff comes from market saturation, as it is much more beneficial to have your song playing on as many different speakers as possible, than a small number that paid. The tangible benefits down the line will come in the form of increased attendance to her shows, increased internet buzz(hey, it's working!), and a much larger and more established fan base waiting for her next album to drop.

...described myself visually

I think it's pretty accurate. my arms are way more vein-y IRL though. Template below.

...outwitted a computer virus

This conversation began earlier today, and it almost had me fooled, until i realized that it wasn't really so much talking to me as at me. This is perhaps the smartest computer virus I've ever spoken with. Note its last line, there's actually a scripted response for when the virus's humanity is challenged.

...updated the list of animals I've caught with my bare hands

-Praying Mantis(new!)
-Bat(new!)
-Frog
-Goose
-Seagull
-Porcupine(next time, gloves)
-Catfish
-Mouse
-Garter snake
-Unidentified snake
-Robin
-Rabbit
-Duck

...fallen in love with Drive Angry

Check out this awesome trailer for Dracula 2000 director Patrick Lussier's new film, Drive Angry.
Refreshing to see a director that realizes the advantages of stereoscopic 3D over postconversion.

DRIVE ANGRY 3D: Movie Trailer.

For those that don't know the difference between stereoscopic 3D and postconversion 3D, look at the two Avatar movies. Cameron shot in 3D(stereoscopic) and won big. Shyamalan chose postconversion and embarrassed himself.

How do you tell the difference?
Watch the trailer for the title. It doesn't say "Shot in 3D" for no reason. that's the difference between stereoscopic 3D and postconversion. Stereoscopic means they captured the footage with a 3D camera, whereas postconversion is done in editing to give the flat image some imaginary depth. Postconversion is bad 3D. Do not watch it if you can avoid it. The characters will appear as flat, "cardboard cut-outs" and you will get a headache. Stereoscopic 3D, or "Shot in 3D", on the other hand, ensures that you get your money's worth at the theatre.

Watch for Drive Angry in 2011.

...upgraded 3D viewing!

No more shitty cardboard glasses for me! Just got in a fresh shipment of these hip developer glasses. They look so good, you could almost wear them around town. Don't wear them when you're driving, though, its hard to tell what color the stoplights are.

...blatantly defrauded a drive-in movie.

...been selected as the special guest at a film festival

The 1st Annual Render This film festival is Oct. 1st in St Catharines. Details later.

...built a scale model of the Hindenburg

Early compositing tests for one of Ryan's projects, we made a blimp land out in front of the university.

...written/directed/starred in a detective TV show pilot

Cougar Colt is a noir detective series set in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1943. A slick private eye must stop a madman from constructing a nuclear bomb.

Watch a teaser in the weekly Brock Brief here.

...built a blog listing my accomplishments