Benjamin Reece // Director, Entrepreneur, & Filmmaker

iPhone 4 filmmaking roundup

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:13:42 +0000

In our quest to create a cinematic, narrative film (click to see how you can help) with Philip Bloom using the iPhone 4, we are excited to see all the other videos, tests, and interest in the filmmaking and creative community.

Here are some exciting updates regarding the iPhone as a filmmaking tool:

1. iPhone 4 vs Canon 7D

What’s interesting here is how close on small resolution the iPhone 4 resolves color and dynamic range. On a couple of shots (especially the basketball court) it can fall apart. But again, to me this a mind-blowing example of how far mobile video has come.

2. “Apple of My Eye” short film

What’s exciting about this is that it’s more than just a test- it has a nice storyline/vignette and shows a glimpse power of a as a storytelling tool.

3. iPhone Exposure App

One of the challenges that is often cited by the filmmakers is the lack of exposure control. We have contacted a couple of major app develops to find out the viability of developing an app that controls the exposure. For more detail on this and the camera, check out this article.

4. iPhone 4 Music Video

Honestly I am surprised how little views this has received- wow this is incredible.

Why we are making an iPhone film

admin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:32:47 +0000

Everyone has a pen, but can you write?

With the announcement of our collaboration with Philip Bloom to produce the first iPhone cinematic/narrative film we have received questions as to the reason for doing it and why we need funding.

// Why we are doing this

With the release iPhone 4, it is another step in the democratization of film-making and story telling tools. Yes, content is king. Yes execution is important. Yes, the tools still matter. But we see that increasingly, filmmaking tools are equating to a writers toolset.

Everyone has a pen, but can you write? And more importantly, what do you have to say?

// Why we need funding (and this is more for the filmmaking community)

Paid work leads to quality content, experiences, communities, and ultimately a better world.

Here is the breakdown:
- to pay for music master and sync licenses (we believe in paying musicians and artists for their work)
- to pay crew, we have production manager, two production assistants, a dp, director(s) an AC,
- to pay for travel and accommodations, food, production transportation, etc
- to pay for insurance and permits
- to pay for editing, color grading, and sound design.

This will also pay for the printing of DVDs, stickers, posters, and the event space for the release.

In summary the 12k will cover the time and work of multiple pre-pro, production, and post crew, artists, and creatives. This is a slim budget to pull off what we are doing. The 12k is to cover hard costs- this film WILL NOT happen without everyones support. It’s up to the world to decide if they want this to happen.

We are professionals and this is what we do to pay our bills, so while the iphone allows for essentially zero hardware cost (if you are one of the millions set to own one) the musicians, crew, editors, and people involved still need to get paid for their time.

With all that said- we hope that this film will inspire a new generation of filmmakers around the world with the tools they have in their pocket. If you were on of thousands who were inspired by your first 35mm footage, or HDSLR films…..

Join us in presenting the revolution: http://tiny.cc/iFilm

- benjamin reece

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Perils of Introspection and What That Means for Content Producers

nate — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:41:29 +0000

Perils of Introspection

Over the past few days the folks here at Deltree have been passing around this short blog post entitled the Perils of Introspection. It’s absolutely worth the read, but if you don’t have the time I’ll sum it up as saying the post basically argues that when people are given time to think about why they appreciate art they will immediately over-think and eventually change what strikes them as moving or powerful. He cites an example where people are shown two posters and asked to pick one to take home with them. Some of the people are just asked to immediately pick one, and others are asked to think about why they would pick one, write down their reasoning for picking one, and then pick one.

As you could guess, the people who just went with their gut were much happier with their decision than the people who were asked to explain why they picked one. The reason for this is that our appreciation of art is rooted somewhere different than where our brain makes logical decisions.

The author of the article then makes the tacit argument that this proves that any critical analysis of art is stupid and pointless. I don’t quite agree with him there, but what this study does show me some huge problems in the world of advertising and content production—the ideas of “feedback”, “choices”, and of the “Focus Group.”

What Hits and What Doesn’t

Before I get there, let me offer up the admittedly hard-to-prove argument that works of art produced by a single vision are usually the works that have a lasting impact. It’s difficult to explain this to people who are presenting you with money, but I’ve found in my process at least that when ideas are moved back and forth, tossed around, tampered back, thought about, changed-so-as-not-to-offend this group or that group, etc. content will lose any vitality it once had.

You can’t over-think what strikes you emotionally. Things hit or they don’t. Recently at Deltree we were working on a concept of a film a mother would speak directly to her child through the lens, offering up her hopes and dreams for the future. As soon as we had it written down, we didn’t need to think anymore. That’s it. We knew.

The Focus Group

But what we see so much now is this new idea of the “focus group”, which for some reason has taken over advertising, and led us to the sad, depressing state of the majority of advertising we see today. (Think of every infuriating beer ad on TV, where the hip, casual “dudes” treat women like shit, care more about their light beer choice than the relationships around them, etc. I mean, have you seen the ad where the guy is unable to find the words for his girlfriend, who has just told him she loves him, but he can say that he loves Miller Lite. We all laugh. Think about it for a second. A man, having just been told by his girlfriend that she loves him, can only think about light beer. We accept this. Does this not strike anyone else as totally and completely insane?)

The thing about these ads is that they are researched to death, focus-grouped, and what you get is repetitive, the same old shit, and it’s depressing. Because when something is focus-grouped, there is only one thing that can be settled on—the least common denominator. Beer ads appeal to the idiotic common denominator among males 18-34, the cross-the-board love (or at least like) of drinking with our friends. So the ads ignore any passions this demographic may have, any hopes or dreams or desires, any love of art or sophistication, and instead these ads choose to appeal to some basic agreed-upon concept that guys our age must like drinking beer and watching sports. It’s the least common denominator. And that’s all a focus group will ever give you.

(A good friend of mine read an early draft of this and pointed out that all this was discussed in great detail in the one Malcolm Gladwell book I haven’t found time to read yet, Blink. If it’s half as good as anything else Gladwell has written, I’m certain he does a much better job explaining this than I ever will.)

It Works

If you use focus groups, and if the ads I’ve described above are what you want to produce content-wise, more power to you. It works. It’s depressing, and soul-sucking, and makes me furious every time I try to watch TV, but it works. When I go to a bar, I drink a Bud Light. Why? I don’t know. I guess because I’ve been told on TV.

If you want to do something different, however, and make something that can maybe have some sort of impact, you need to remember one major thing—People our age have literally been advertised to since the day they were born. They know when they’re being sold to. We don’t have the naiveté of older generations; we didn’t grow up sans internet, sans TV, etc. From the moment we wake up to our radio alarm to the second we fall asleep to Letterman, we are being sold something. And we aren’t stupid. We know when we’re being sold something.

And we will leap at the chance for a moment, just a moment, when something on TV or the Internet stops the selling, if only for an instant, and gives us some semblance of humanity. Think of the ads or virals or whatever you’ve loved in your lifetime. My favorite example for this is an old VW ad with the song “Pink Moon” in it. Yeah, the ad advertises a car, but what it’s really sharing visually is an experience, an experience that–to a sixteen year old kid who’d just gotten his first car–struck as honest and real and beautiful. Even better is the recent Levi’s Go Forth commercial. Yeah, they butchered it in a second version with all the hot young Abercrombie models (focus-group alert!), but the first ad was so honest, so visually stunning, and so capturing of this feeling of pride in our country, that I didn’t even care that I was being sold something. I was moved. Can you imagine a focus group coming up with that ad?

“So, we’re going to show a bunch of racially diverse, economically disadvantaged young kids, a bi-racial couple making out, a creepy businessman, and some old guys sitting in a field of corn. And then we’ll put Levi’s at the end.” Does that fly? Does that not get laughed out of the room?

As content-producers, that is our only hope to achieve, to give our audience one real fucking honest moment, and they’ll be so relieved to get something real and true they won’t even be upset that they’re being sold something, if they even are. They’ll forgive you.

Presenting Clients with Choices

So what does this mean for choices for clients? You have to make your clients trust that you will produce a quality final product, because as soon as they are involved in the creative process, their fears and data and stats and relationships will muddle the process. By allowing a client into the creative process, you have essentially created a focus group. A highly-informed, deeply-personally-invested focus group, who will be so desperate not to offend, or mislead, or take chances that might backfire, that they will settle for the old Lowest Common Denominator. And thus you will have men choosing a Coors Light blue bottle over his girlfriend who is trying to sleep with him.

People are desperate for anything other than the same old shit. As content producers we need to be progressive, we need to trust our instincts, and we can’t get stuck in the false promises of introspection.

What every aspiring filmmaker needs to know

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:44:52 +0000

You might be here as a aspiring filmmaker. Maybe you obsess over DSLR’s and Vimeo. Maybe you are my competition, and you are checking me out. Still, this post is for you.

This is the most critical piece of advice I have ever heard for an artist,musician, filmmaker, business owner, or anyone.

Why HDSLR Video is a Fad (& Five Tips To Avoid The Trap)

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:14:15 +0000

“What camera do you use?” - It’s the most common question I get. And it’s the WRONG question to ask. We love gadgets, but avoid hard work. Do you spend hours reading about DSLR Rig Reviews, DSLR VS. Film Shootouts, but find it difficult to peel yourself out the chair to create good work? Are we trying to be technology consultants or filmmakers?

But before we jump into HDSLR’s, let me tell you about a book. Every word page between it’s front and back is worth absorbing, implementing, and sharing. I had the urge to tear out pages to put on my wall, time and time again. Seth Godin put it the best “Ignore this book at your own peril.” The book is called “ReWork”. You should purchase it on Amazon.

And this chapter hit me like a ton of bricks:

Focus on what won’t change.

“A lot of companies focus on the next big thing…they follow the latest trends and technology…that’s a fool’s path…the core of your business should be built around things that won’t change. Things that people are going to want today and ten years from now.”

HDSLR video is a revolution, but in a way, it’s also a fad. And we’ve been caught up in it. Caught up in the revolutionary DVX100, RED One, 35MM adaptors, and now HDSLRs. Spending countless hours reading about the minutia of the technology instead of actually implementing what we are learning. And it’s easy to do with Cinema5d, Planet5d, and Phillip Bloom (who I have huge respect for) posting about the next juicy review and video after another.

But at the end of the day, the tools and technology will fade. However, the work will stand, and the talent people behind the work will sustain themselves and their businesses.

Having a background in web development, I’ve seen this with coding languages, social media networks, and countless tools, technologies, and platforms.

So let’s get practical…

What does that mean for me as a filmmaker? What do I invest in? (Invest = Time/Money)

1. DON’T over-invest in cameras. HDSLR a game changer? Yes. But this is just the start, stay on your toes, be ready to invest in a new lens line, or stick to PL mounts- be ready to jump back to RED, Nikon, or whomever. The race is just starting. Do you spend time figuring out which Mac to buy? No. You buy an iMac or Mac Pro, debate over. Don’t get too caught up figuring out what to buy and how it works, the technology changes too fast. Find the right piece of equipment, then move on.

2. DO Invest in quality glass. If you notice, quality lenses hold their resale value. Take the Nikon 28mm 2.0 AIS lens. This lens was built in the 70s, but you still have to pay upwards of $400-600 to purchase a used model. But according to Shane Hulburt, these lenses hold with the best of them. Plus, the build quality is incredible, the focus rings are large, and the pull is smooth like butter.

3. DO Invest in lighting. This is a technology that has not changed much over the past fifty years. LED lighting has emerged but the technology and basics of LED lighting (that’s a whole other blog post) are still in the nascent stages and HMI lighting is still the cinematographers weapon of choice.

4. DO invest in rigging, tripods, and. Gliders, dollies, grip tape, Redrock, Zacuto rigs change relativly slowly. Incremental changes are made, but the investment is solid as we are talking about metal, rubber, and gears here. If it has a good built quality and smart engineering, it will hold its resale value. However, be careful, realize that while camera sizes are shrinking, good lenses and rigging may not shrink very much. So that fluid head rated for 15 pounds may only be useful for a few applications.

5. DO invest in your knowledge of timeless technique and your body of work. Ten years from now, HDSLR video will be a blip on a wikipedia page, and more importantly, the audiences can relatively care less about what camera you shot with. They care about your ability to move them as a storyteller, as a designer, as a curator, as a connector of ideas. Spend time writing your script, fine tuning your knowledge of lighting, go shoot more video.

I liken HDSLRs to the printing press, or development of the papyrus/pen. Everyone has a pen. But can you write?

That’s why HDSLR Video is a fad. What do you have to say?

Hello 2010! New Work, New Blog

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:52:19 +0000

My new blog is now live! I have archived all the old material in case anyone wants to peruse those posts as well.

2010 has been amazing for my company Deltree, everyday is getting crazier and crazier (in a good way).

We have been up in helicopters, interviewing celebrities, and court side filming NBA teams. And that is just one gig.

I will be reviewing equipment here, talking about our process and continuing to update everyone on the work we are doing.

For now enjoy this teaser from John Goodman in our studio:

John Goodman Teaser

Indie Music Video Filmmaking Course

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:31:35 +0000

Starting March 20th, I will be teaching a class on music video production, indie-style.

It will be a five day crash-course where we will cover everything from pre-production storyboarding to post-production color grading and rendering to the web.

As a part of this couse, I will also be uploading the materials and documenting our experience. This course is open to the public, and I invite you to join us. At the end of this course you or your band will have produced a music video for essentially the cost of the course.

You should sign up today, space is limited. For more details, visit: http://www.novacvideo.org/

Announcing Foburg Festival Collaboration

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:50:41 +0000

We are putting on an event at in New Orleans this weekend. If you have not heard about Foburg, this is what you need to know: 80 local/national bands + one weekend + frenchman

You should buy weekend passes at http://foburgneworleans.com

In partnership with the Foburg music festival, Deltree presents “RGB Showcase” featuring:

// JEFF The Brotherhood
// Pumpkin
// VOX and the Hound
// Craft Brothers

La Maison Upstairs, Frenchman
Doors open at 9PM – till
Sunday March 14th.
Cover $5

You should come to our audio/visual experience this Sunday.

// Band info
Jeff the brotherhood - http://www.myspace.com/jakeandjamin
Pumpkin- http://www.myspace.com/pumpkin
Vox & The Hound - http://www.myspace.com/liondejesus
Craft Brothers- http://www.myspace.com/glasgow

Deltree is Hiring.

breece — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:18:34 +0000

Deltree is hiring. Be a part of a film revolution. Make your own dent in the universe. Check out our internship program. We are looking to fill post, production, and marketing positions.

Check out http://thedeltree.org/internship for details.

Six Thoughts on Health Care and Social Justice

breece — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:07:41 +0000

I recently watched part of a four-hour series airing on PBS about the decline of American public health, specifically how economic and educational inequalities can lead to inequalities with the health and well being of our communities, states, and nation.

As part of a primer for this documentary, I was sent a couple of points which I wanted to share with my readers. I think it is important to understand not only these concepts, but the stories and facts that surround them. Definitely check out the series “Unnatural Causes”.

1. Health is more than health care. Fixing health care shouldn’t mean just giving equal hospital or doctor access. Its not just the hospital system, the medicine you take, or the doctors you see. It’s also the job you work at, the places you live, the schools you go to. Or even the sex, or race you are. All these things effect your health on a deep level. Social policies are just as important to change as health care policies. See wikipedia for “Social determinants of health”.

2. Health is tied to the distribution of resources. Believe it. This shouldn’t be hard to figure out. The people at the top, have the most power and resources and on average, live longer and healthier lives. On average, people with lower economic status are four times as likely to die early.

3. Health inequalities are not natural.
Humans were born with an innate sense of compassion. The systematizing and industrialization of our health care system (and society in general) has stripped away our awareness of our neighbors suffering. Every day we walk past people who may be in great pain, who simply can’t afford to go to the doctor to be treated.

4. **The choices we make are shaped by the choices we have.** Individual behaviors and choices- diet and exercise – matter for health. But living a healthy lifestyle isn’t always about self- discipline, or pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Its the neighborhood you live in, the enviroment- the fact your mother or father smoked. The same reason you may favor diet drinks, may be similar to why an individual smokes. Cultural pressures, education, availability, etc.

5. Inequality – economic and political – is bad for our health. The United States has by far the most inquality in the industrialized world – and the worst health. The top 1% now owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. Economic inquality in the U.S. is now greater than at any time since the 1920s.

6. We all pay the price for poor health.

This should explain itself.

Ask yourself is health care is not viewed as a capitalistic privilege for the rich? I’m simply preaching to myself here…