Chris Jones's Blog, page 4

This time last year I had just begun directing splinter unit on Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1

The journey is circular, like seasons in a year and day into night. This time last year I had just begun directing splinter unit on Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1. I have been under an NDA or I would have been sharing so many extraordinary stories every single day. I have learned and grown so much during the experience, and in ways I could never have predicted.

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Help Shape The Next Decade For The London Screenwriters’ Festival… Prizes Too!

Every few years we reach out to our delegates and ask how we can best serve them through the festival and our related courses and projects. Now that we are in a post pandemic world, we have seen dramatic changes in the industry, in our writing community, and in the way that people want to connect. With the next London Screenwriters Festival just having been announced, I want to ask you what would...

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You will not believe how Adobe Podcast can clean up background sound

Voice recordings with excessive background noise or reverb, have always been a challenge if you don’t have the right kit in the heat of the moment, or the location is uncontrollable from a sound perspective. And bad sound makes ANY film or video less watchable. Adobe are now testing a new tool that replaces sound with an AI interpreted version, effectively cleaning the audio. Here’s an example...

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Why do we do what we do? Unlocking the genesis of the Creative Muscle, Mind and Heart

What drives me? What drives you? Why do we have these deep seated needs that often others cannot connect with, or they just plain think we are crazy? The need to create and share? The need to write that film? Scribe that novel? Paint that painting? Act? Make that movie? What is it? I have heard a nun once say ‘Christianity it not taught, it’s caught’. Creativity, which for me is primarily...

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What if Joker had been made in the 70’s? MidJourney AI Is Getting Out Of Control

We all know Skynet is coming, though if the digital revolution we just lived through is anything to go by, it’s gonna look less like Blade Runner and more like Zoom. Who knew. Meanwhile, MidJourney, an AI image creation tool is getting better and better every day. I don’t mean that in some overly used metaphor way, I mean quite literally. Rather, it’s getting better at creating unique images every...

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My Firewalk Experience by Laura Wyatt

I just ran a firewalk for Shine PND and one of the Warrior Mums was kind enough to write a post about her journey. Over to Laura Wyatt… During one of my first sessions at Shine there was a serious buzz of excitement from Lauraine! She’d just been part of a group of Shine mums who’d walked on fire!!! “Walked on fire” I thought, that’s absolutely crazy. I listened intently as she told us the story...

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Waiting for the phone to ring? How one screenwriter took action and their film has just been released.

By Mark MacNicol DREADED LIGHT is now available on Amazon UK & US more info HERE I’ve been a member of the Chris Jones/LSF tribe for several years and I’m grateful to all of the networking and peer support opportunities. I wanted to do a post that might add some insight. I’ve struggled a bit here as it’s such a complex process but I’ve highlighted my 5 key areas. Any of you have any additional...

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Can AI Topaz Labs SD to HD up-scaler significantly improve old video and film footage?

Well, both yes and no. The old adage used to be, ‘shit in, shit out’. And that’s still true. Kinda. I have been experimenting with a tool from Topaz Labs called Video Enhance AI. It takes in old footage, typically say Standard Definition video, and then up-scales it to HD, 2k, 4k, whatever you like. It can also double frame rates from say 25fps to 50fps as well as de-interlace rather well.

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What materials do you need to enter a film festival?

What materials do you need to enter a film festival?

Impact50 has been selected for its FIRST Major Festival… Details to follow soon…

I can’t say which festival yet as the line up has not been announced, but it’s in the early Autumn, it’s in Europe and it’s a BRILLIANT one.

Ahead of the announcement I thought I would share what I needed to supply for them, with some extras I would always add.

Here’s a fairly typical bullet point list of the items needed for most good festivals.

A DCP of the film – not always needed as some will show an MP4. Be clear about sound mix, stereo or 5.1.An MP4 of the film with low compression (so the file will be big, likely around 50gb)An MP4 of the trailer with low compression.Three clips from the film in MP4, again low compression.A press pack detailing how the film was made and why, and by who. You can see the one for Impact50 HERE. I would supply both PDF and Word documents for this.Press pack photo package in ZIP format (about 20 images, stills from the film, BTS. Director shot, poster etc. all hi res and ALL clearly named so they describe what the photo is of).Synopsis of the film. Short (200 characters), medium (600 characters) and long (one page).Bio / filmography of the director (usually a couple of paras)Photo of the director looking like a director please!Directors statement – what were you attempting to do and why? Be passionate! Usually about half a page.5 Stills from the film. NOT behind the scenes shots. All must be hi res.A few GOOD behind the scenes shots – even if not requested as they always need some. Again Hi Res.  The poster in HiRes – I usually supply both PDF and low compression JPG.SRT subtitle file in English. They will often handle translations if needed and you should ALWAYS ask for a copy if they do, so the work does not need to be done again and you can also add to your sales package. Not all festivals will give it to you. We used www.Rev.com.

Much of this will already be collated on sites like FilmFreeway, but always keep your own local copies also.  

It should be collated and saved on a cloud platform like Dropbox or Google drive for instant global sharing and access.

The film at about 50gb and the DCP at around 300gb will be your biggest storage overhead of course. Personally I found Google drive a bit flaky, but Dropbox has always been bulletproof.

Good luck with YOUR festival journey and I will keep you updated on ours.

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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The post What materials do you need to enter a film festival? appeared first on Chris Jones Filmmaker Blog.

Screen to Screen on Soho Radio with Chris Jones… A musical odyssey

Last week I recorded a fabulous Desert Island Disks inspired show for Screen To Screen on Soho Radio. It’s a great listen to play in the background with some personal favourite music to boot. Hosted by the dynamic duo of Liz McMullen and Steve Harcourt (Liz who I met through The Impact).

It’s a true odyssey through my life’s work, counterpointed by music that influenced each moment, era or project.

You can listen on their homepage HERE or with the player below…

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
 

 

The post Screen to Screen on Soho Radio with Chris Jones… A musical odyssey appeared first on Chris Jones Filmmaker Blog.