Post-Production

It's all good, Solange. Life is learning.

I love how open and honest you are, Solange! It takes so much courage to be yourself. Please also know that what you described is very common. I've heard Meyrl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Jennifer Lopez all talk about their struggle with what is often called "the imposter syndrome." What I've personally come to understand is that we are NOT our minds, and intrusive thoughts are just that. So when one pops in my head, I simply refuse to let it rent space. Instead I send it packing and replace it with the polar opposite thought.

I hope it comforts you to know that everyone experiences this, even though most will never admit it, and instead will try to combat it by endlessly boasting about themselves. (They never stop, because it doesn't work.) So the only thing that matters is how you react. If you let a self-condemning thought in, it will bully you relentlessly, 'cuz that's just what it does. Which is why I now almost welcome the challenge they represent - as each time you turn one away, you strengthen the replacement positive thought. What we focus on expands, for better or worse. So it really is as simple as making another choice. But just because something is simple does not make it easy - it takes commitment and repetition - some say literally 21 straight days of effort - to replace a bad habit or rewire your brain. But it CAN be done, and I know you'll get there because it's clear to me that you're a badass, whether you realize it now or not. :)

BTW - Many people actually wear a rubber band on their wrist for 21 days when trying to replace a habit. So they can gently snap it as a physical reminder to replace said habit whenever they fall back into their old pattern.

Thanks Ruben L. Martinez ! Thanks Jean Buschmann for the advice and the encouragement (much needed) :).

I haven't met anyone who used the rubber band technique (does that really work), I have done the 21 days before however I think I will need a bit more than that to get over a lifetime of negative self talk. But I am here and I am committed to learning and growing and getting out of my comfort zone.

Cheers to the New Year and the amazing journeys it will bring! :)

Glad to hear it, Solange! Happy to help.

BTW - You may just have THE most marketable name, ever. You could easily brand yourself as a veritable plaza of creativity. Or it could simply be your freelance company name :)

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FYI - This will be my last visit to the Stage for awhile, so I thought I'd leave something useful behind for anyone that lands here.

::: POTENTIALLY HELPFUL, INTERESTING &/OR CREATIVELY INSPIRING INFO. -

The rubber band technique does help, because it momentarily frees us from the mental loops that actually create our negative emotions - by literally snapping us back into the physical realm and present moment. (Oh SNAP!) It's similar to counting to 10 when angry - in that it switches the "emotional brain" train back to the reason/logic track.

There's actual science and plenty of experiments behind this stuff, strange as it may seem, some even dark and twisted. (i.e Courtesy of The Tavistock Institute & RAND Corporation.) Which is why low-brow media uses such tactics all time. As triggering people's emotions gets them fired up - and that's great for ratings. In such states the human mind literally becomes incapable of reason - and so a circus of mud-slinging unfolds - drawing in massive spectators. Nothing can get resolved in such a state, which is precisely why pressing hot buttons is so common in politics - since it leaves little room for holding people accountable or resolving real issues. Of course, modern advertising is built on these same principles (first honed by Nazi propagandists during WW2). It's why we feel so compelled to buy products when an emotional response gets triggered by an ad. Often in spite of it being completely illogical due to our current circumstances (finances, etc...).

So the mind/emotion connection is extremely powerful and can be harnessed in positive and negative ways That's why someone very wise once suggested that we "take every thought captive" - lest they lead US, instead of the other way around. And that really is the key to setting ourselves free. Or, as the late great Bob Marley famously said/sang - "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds."

(I was a Human Comm major in NYC, but SJSU didn't have that same program when I transferred to CA, so I became a Media Comm major, splitting my minor between investigative journalism and advertising [I enjoyed creative copywriting, what can I say]. That's why I find this topic so fascinating - it deals with both internal and external communication.)

I hope knowing this proves helpful to a few folks. It definitely has inspired some recent hits that specifically deal with the MK Ultra Mind Program - like Stranger Things, Inherent Vice, and The Bourne Ultimatum, to name just a few.

Have a productive & creative 2020 everyone!

Cheers,

Jean

Thanks for the info Jean Buschmann . Really informative and appreciated. :)

You might save some money by backing up to regular spinning-platter HDDs. You don't need the read/write speed of SSDs for a backup, which by its nature is used infrequently.

I find that over the years using the platters they go bad. And STOP. Im using 4 SSDS 4TB Drives 2 which are backups, So what ever song i am working on i will can work on it on the SSD drive with no problem, or ill work on it on the main computer drive then i will bring it back to An SSD. And of course back it up to one of my back Drives.

I try not to think of the money issue regarding/ When you lose a track well BAD NEWS been there done that.

P.S. I still have an 2009 iMac that when idid the transfers of course all my Apps had to updated.

YMMV. I've never had this problem; some of my old backup drives are still going and I didn't buy them this century.

Yeah what are you up to these days

That is the usual way of making a movie.

Would love to see what you do.

Well most of the stuff me and my girlfriend shoot at the beginning was no budget and we did a couple of bigger projects.

Last summer a friend of ours asked if we were willing to make a promo video for their charity event and of course we wanted to help and he offered that they could pay for some food and costumes but not much more. So me, my girlfriend and her sister offered to shoot the promo video if it was a part of a short film we'd shoot since we already had the actors, props. So they gave us a couple of volunteers who helped and paid for the costumes and some food. They got a promo video and we got a 20 min short film out of it.

You can do a lot if the will is there and people are willing to help but it depends for what cause. In the end if it's a paid project you need to pay people that are involved at least something.

I always tell the client don't expect a Hollywood blockbuster if you've got a $100. So I always start with the budget and work my way down trough what we can make for that kind of budget.

For example we pitched a TV show to a network last year and the said that they like the concept and if we can bring them a rough pilot episode they'd pick it up. So my team and I are going to shoot a complete episode for the pilote on our own dime so that we have the proof of concept of the network executives and that's fine since it's an investment.

Can anyone in my network help out Gustavo Letelier ?

Adobe After Effects has a fantastic feature added called "Detail-Preserving Upscale". I use it a ton with my partnership with the Times Square Alliance. I have to take various digital artist's work, typically from sources such as you're working with, and upscale it to be shown on displays as huge as the NASDAQ building, as an example. So give it a try!

The best possible conversion would be something like a Teranex. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/teranex

Otherwise, you may want to learn ffmpeg. See Jan Ozer's training materials at:https://streaminglearningcenter.com

He has books and videos.

Robert

Thank you all for your suggestions,

Best

Gustavo

Do you still have the Super16 print? A higher-resolution scan will yield better results than uprezzing SD video.

-- Damian

Fire up Premiere Pro, load in the images a few images (3-5), do the zoom in and zoom out as required, export the timeline and check your results.

I second what Lindbergh H. says: experiment. Almost all photographs are greater than 1,920 x 1,080, so you've got pixels to spare when you downsize them.

-- Damian

When I first started with my writing, I had separate Facebook sites (still do) for each book. However, it soon becomes unmanageable so I now just post under my name and sometimes share to the others. I'd suggest one website, with tabs for each film (like my website - www.davidegates.com) You can then share your blog post / updates via social media buttons (I created my website via Wordpress but there's no reason why a reasonable website builder couldn't incorporate media share buttons into new posts for you).

Hope this helps.

HI Jaye, stick to one main website for the content, (you can create a sub-website within your main site if you really want to separate it out, but do that after you have gone past the 5-10 movies mark). Just bear in mind that social media should be used as supplements to the content you are creating on the website and content upload should be daily to drive in as much traffic. (create the social media handles and keep them aside)

the reason other than it becoming difficult to manage is having one location puts you at an advantage of being found. digital media requires consistent content (think of it like a pet that you need to keep alive and nurture it well) so if you want to have an audience that will know you and develop a meaningful relationship with your work then make it easy for them to find you

"oh looks like Jaye made another film lets go check it out" and then word of mouth will start spreading - if you want to gain more attention then try to run a social media advert.

Hope this helps

I always found movie websites to be strange, however, I can see the allure, as it tends to look more attractive to list a movie URL than your main filmmaker URL. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. My first thought is that if I’m going to a website for the movie, I want to find it right away, not have to look at your other 10 films (maybe later!). However, if I was a filmmaker, I would still probably just stick to your main URL and list everything off of it. When I create music albums, I put them all under my main page, or as subpages on there, not as an entirely new URL...

Have only one website. Buy title-specific domains and redirect them. Eg. www.MyFirstMovie.com redirects to www.MyProductionCompany.com/MyFirstMovie, www.MySecondMovie.com redirects to www.MyProductionCompany.com/MySecondMovie. Domains are cheap. And include a link on every movie's page to your homepage at www.MyProductionCompany.com, so every movie promotes every other movie.

-- Damian

That is really cool work. Very inspiring.

Thanks very much, Corey Piper I really appreciate that.

I haven't yet seen Bill in that show, but I'm keeping track of it. From what I have seen, he's doing a wonderful job! Great video, Christopher - always love BTW stuff!

I'm using Lynda and finding it very good.... big powerful program after effects, I think I'll have to go through it a couple of times. Some illustrator and photoshop knowledge is essential but that will come through use

I find everything I need on YouTube. There are so many great tutorials on absolutely every aspect of the Adobe suite of products. Best part is they're all free!

I agree with Chad. Youtube is an excellent source for free tutorials.

Lynda's always great. There's also Udemy - can't always rely on the content of material, but they offer some free classes, and you can preview most of the classes to see the quality you'd be getting if you purchase the video access: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?ref=home&q=after+effects

Anyone have any good links to tutorials for Red Giant other than Red Giant? My humble opinon their tuts are more of a info-commercial than a tutorial. :)

Also check into some local computer dealers in your area as they can provide recommendations. If you know a computer tech who can go with you to check computers you can get amazing systems off Craigslist (so have your computer friend go with you).

Thanks Lindbergh!

The iMac Pro will be great for you. The best part, you don't have to purchase another expensive 5K IPS monitor, it comes with the machine. A 1TB will be fine, you will edit on external drives anyway. For what you are doing I suggest 32 GB of RAM, the 8-Core will work great.

Thanks Stefan.

Howie, did you get one?