Featured Project: You Could Be Happy

This week's featured project is a music video created for both DVA241 Digital Video Production and DVA274 Digital Video Editing by student Daniel Sontag during the September 2007 semester.



Direct YouTube link

Resource: HDFilmTools.com

Touting itself as "The Network for Digital Filmmakers," HDFilmTools.com offers video tutorials and interviews with some of Hollywood's most successful editors, DPs and other technical people. Featured on the site right now is a 5-part interview with Slumdog Millionaire editor Chris Dickens. Videos are playable on the site as Quicktimes, or can be downloaded in a variety of formats, including iPod-compatible.

BigStar.tv Student Film Contest - Win $1000!

Enter your 3-15 minute by March 31st to be eligible to win $1000 in BigStar.tv's Student Film Contest. There is no fee for entry, and no limit to the number of films you can submit. Winners are chosen based on audience votes - and there are only 41 entries as of this posting. Surely some UAT Digital Video student can take the top prize!

Win $10,000 for College

Upromise, the largest private source of college funding contributions in America, is offering a creative opportunity for future, current and even recent graduates to win $10,000 toward a higher education. As part of its mission to help make a college education more attainable, Upromise launched its Tuition Tales video contest on March 24.

Think you or someone you know deserves $10,000 for college? Tell us about it – in a 30-second video. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Make money for college. Three $10,000 winners will be chosen in this video contest. You could be one of them! Are you saving for college, in college now or paying back student loans? Tell us your Tuition Tales today.

Official Website

Innovation: Slumdog Millionaire's unique Silicon Imaging 2K camera rigs

Silicon Imaging, a leader in digital imaging and one of the companies on the forefront of the digital cinema revolution, has issued a press release detailing the unique SI-2K Digital Cinema Camera rigs created for Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire.

A customized camera support and recording package had to be built to meet the unique form factor demands of the Slumdog shoot. They enlisted Pille Film, of Wiesbaden Germany, to create a custom solution which included a gyro stabilizer for the base of the SI-2K Mini. Instead of using the traditional film-style camera body, they elected to use Apple Mac book Pro notebook, running Windows XP, for the recorders, and built them into ruggedized backpacks, to be worn inconspicuously. Stefan Ciupek, the show’s technical supervisor and additional camera operator, coordinated the design and modifications of the camera system with Wolfgang Damm of Pille, whose team worked around the clock to get the 2K Mini rigs built.

Read the complete press release here.

Featured Project: Healer

Here's a great example of a DVA101 final project from the Fall 2008 semester. "Healer" was created by students Luke DeSalvo, Chris Erickson, Hido Harada, and Arron Willoughby.



Direct YouTube link

New DVA101 projects posted to YouTube

The "Morning Routine" projects from this semester's crop of DVA101 students have been posted on YouTube. Here's one of 'em:

Direct YouTube link



Check out the rest here!

Great Idea for a Senior Innovation Project

If you're a UAT student searching for a concept for your SIP (Senior Innovation Project), how about this one, posited by none other than our DVA101 textbook author, Stu Maschwitz?

http://prolost.com/blog/2009/3/17/this-now-please.html

DV Jobs and Internships from StudioDaily.com

Here's a handful of jobs and intership opportunities cherry-picked from the copious listings on the StudioDaily.com Career Center:

Post Prod. Documentary Intern

Post Production Sound--Summer Credit Intern (at Fox Filmed Entertainment)

Production Assistant at Time Warner Cable (Ohio)

Editor / Motion Graphics Artist for RED Music Video

30-Second Spot Editor (Georgia)

Good luck!

UAT Showcase at 2009 Phoenix Film Festival - Lineup Announced!

A 45-minute program of projects created by UAT Digital Video students, alumni, and faculty will be part of the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival.

The "Arizona College Shorts Showcase" will also feature works by students from the ASU film school and will be shown on Saturday, April 4th at 9:20 am at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theatres. Tickets are $10 each.

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producerevent/59083?prod_id=2093

The complete line up of the first-ever UAT Digital Video Showcase at the Phoenix Film Festival:

"Making a Hit"
Dir: Associate Professor Steve Briscoe with the Alumni crew

Music Video: "This is Your Life"
Dir. Chris Sawiel and John Rhyne

"Fragile Things"
Dir: Susanna Morgan

"Harmonica Boy"
Dir: Raman Ravindran

"Chet vs. The Elevator"
Dir: Chris DeCicco

Music Video: "Place for My Head"
Dir: Nick Wassenberg and Justin Savino

"Dweeb"
Dir. Timothy Allen

"Clyde Cuts His Deal"
Dir: Johanna Arcand

Music Video: "Great Day"
Dir: Daniel Sontag

"Hit the Bowl"
Dir: Matt McElroy and Daniel Sontag

"Last Call"
Dir: Timothy Allen

"I Have Some News"
Dir: Professor Paul DeNigris with the Student crew

National College Funny Film Competition

RooftopComedy.com is hosting the "National College Funny Film Competition." They're looking for funny films, 15 seconds to 5 minutes in duration - and any college student is eligible to enter.

Check it out!

Meeting with John Truby

Every UAT Digital Video student knows that the teachings of Hollywood script doctor John Truby are an integral part of how I teach screenwriting in my classes. The 24 hour news channel France 24 has recently posted video of Mr. Truby's appearance promoting his "Master Class" that he teaches all over the world.

Watch now!

Featured Project: Bad Whiskey

This week's featured project from the UAT Digital Video archives was produced for DVA441 Competition Shorts class and was the winner of the Screen Wars Western Film Challenge during the summer of 2005.

UAT Films to be Featured at 2009 Phoenix Film Festival

In addition to "Cowboy Dreams" - written and produced by Associate Professor Steve Briscoe and directed by Professor Paul DeNigris - a 45-minute program of projects created by UAT Digital Video students, alumni, and faculty will be part of the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival.

The "Arizona College Shorts Showcase" will also feature works by students from the ASU film school and will be shown on Saturday, April 4th at 9:20 am at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theatres. Tickets are $10 each.

Keep watching this space - the complete line up of the first-ever UAT Digital Video Showcase at the Phoenix Film Festival will be announced shortly!

Call for Volunteers: Phoenix Film Festival

The 2009 Phoenix Film Festival is coming up! Check out their call for volunteers, below. If you're currently enrolled in any UAT Digital Video classes, this is a great way to earn extra credit! See your instructor for details.

The 9th Annual Phoenix Film Festival is right around the corner! The festival takes place at the Harkins Scottsdale/101 from April 2 - April 9. We can’t pull this off without the help of our amazing volunteers. In exchange for a commitment of at least 24 hours, volunteers will receive a festival t-shirt and a full festival pass (excludes the opening night screening). In addition to the various positions you can help out with during the festival, there will be pre-festival volunteer opportunities for those of you who like to work most of your hours before the festival.

There are plenty of shifts still available for sign up. Many of you have volunteered with us many times before, however due to changes taking place this year, we’re asking everyone to attend an orientation. There is one remaining Volunteer Orientation scheduled to go over the specifics and answer any questions you may have. This is also an opportunity to sign up for the shifts you'd like to work. Orientation last about an hour and will take place at the

Phoenix Film Foundation Offices
1700 North 7th Avenue in the Metro Arts Institute building (top floor)
NW corner just north of the Circle K at McDowell.

Orientation will be held Saturday: March 21, 2009 at 1:00pm

Please email volunteer@phxfilm.com to reserve a space or if you have any questions. We’ll see you at orientation.

We look forward to working with all of you at the upcoming festival!

90+ Basic Avid Media Composer Tutorials

Here's a great resource I found on the Avid Community bulletin boards:

90+ Tutorials on Basic MC tips

One of the board's moderators has been producing short video tutorials on a number of Media Composer-related topics, and has now aggregated them all in one handy list. If you're struggling with Avid or just need a refresher, be sure to check them out.

(Just a word of warning, some of the tutorials are specifically about transitioning from Avid Liquid to Media Composer. If you've never used Liquid, these might be a tad confusing and are probably best skipped.)

Featured Project: Clyde Cuts His Deal

This week's featured student project comes from DVA241 Digital Video Production class and was created by students Johanna Arcand and Max Hollman back in Summer 2004.

Avid upgrades Media Composer

In yesterday's edition of the Studio Daily Blog, Scott Simmons writes that Avid is now "dongle free in 2009." That's right, the little purple dangly thing is going away for good. And while current UAT students might not realize that Avid even has a dongle (the dongles are locked inside the PCs in our Avid lab), students from just a few years ago will surely remember the nightmare of having to check a dongle out of the Library every time they wanted to use the Avid software. What a mess! But thankfully, that is all behind us now.

What's more, Avid Media Composer 3.5 features new, revolutionary tools for handling tapeless media like XDCAM and P2, adds stereoscopic (3D) support, and a host of other upgrades big and small. Check out Avid's press release for more info.

And... last and probably best for the Digital Video student... Media Composer is also available as a free, fully-functional, 14-day trial... here.