Shoot and Edit a Short Film in 4 hours?

Yup, that's what we did for the Dances with Films - The Last Independent Film Festival.  We shot a 2 minute short called Toasted and had to edit simultaneously to finish on time.  Using Canon DLSRs and a hopped-up PC running Adobe Premiere CS5, the workflow was flawless and everything happened in real-time without conversions. 

The film debuted on the big screen the NEXT DAY at the Sunset 5 theater.  I was the Cinematographer and we had a great team led by Writers/Directors/Actors Kevin and Rebecca.  We had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again.  See the website for more info: www.2minutetoasted.com

Thanks to Canon, Adobe for Sponsoring the event. 
Thanks to Marshall, Beachtek, Canon and Zacuto for providing invaluable equipment.

Snehal Patel
DP for Toasted
www.FearlessProductions.tv

Outsourced Weekly: What went wrong with “Outsourced” pt. 1

From moniqueblog.net

 

Before I get to the huge review of “Charlie Curries a Favor from Todd”, I figure I should have a post where I analyze Outsourced as a whole, particularly becasue the show has been cancelled. Will NBC listen to what I have to say and use my suggestions as valid input on what to do or not do in their next culture shock office sitcom? No. In fact, I’d be shocked to pieces if someone from NBC even knows I, and Moniqueblog, exist. But at least my opinions will be here for the record.

I’ll tackle this in four parts, starting from the broadest to smallest of issues: 1) How the premise of the show was tackled,  2)How the characters were developed (with a subset on the sartorial choices the characters made, as the clothes also tell a bigger story-and perhaps one of the most egregious mistakes-of where the show veered the wrong way),  3)How relationships were handled, and 4) The character of Todd: how his characterization could’ve been saved mid-season. Let’s jump in, shall we?

Part One: The premise of the show

 

The main cast of the show. Credit: NBC

I’ll start the analysis by quoting  the official synopsis of the show from NBC:

“Outsourced” is NBC’s new workplace comedy series centered around a catalog-based company, Mid America Novelties, that sells American novelty goods including whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon, and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India.

After recently completing Mid America Novelties’ manager training program, Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway’s “The Gingerbread House”) learns that the call center is being outsourced to India, and he is asked to move there to be the manager. Having never ventured out of the country, he is unprepared for the culture shock. Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world.

The sales team Todd inherits includes Gupta (Parvesh Cheena, “Help Me Help You”), a socially awkward employee; Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan, BBC’s “Five Days II”), a young romantic who is enamored with America; Asha (Rebecca Hazlewood, BBC’s “Doctors”), a smart, striking woman who finds herself intrigued by Todd; Rajiv (Rizwan Manji, “Privileged”) the assistant manager who wants Todd’s job; and Madhuri (Anisha Nagarajan, Broadway’s “Bombay Dreams”), a wallflower who suffers from extreme shyness.

Todd also discovers other transplants working in his office building, including an American expatriate, Charlie Davies (Diedrich Bader, “The Drew Carey Show”), who runs the All-American Hunter call center, and Tonya (Pippa Black, “Neighbours”), a beautiful Australian who runs the call center for Koala Air.

On paper, this show seems not only like a sure bet, but an easy task. How can a show about an American transplanted in India not be good? The culture clash alone would be entertaining. So it would seem.

However, just like how some conversations between Todd and his Indian workers might have become convoluted from a language barrier, something got lost in translation when the show went from the pitch phase to the pilot/filming phase. Several elements rubbed the majority of people (and critics) the wrong way:

  1. Todd and other Western characters had an air of entitlement, while the Indian characters were secondary in an Indian/American comedy; the Western characters were the foreigners needing to learn about Indian society, but the native Indians were treated as sidekicks, or worse, like children needing to be educated in the Western ways.
  2. India was treated as a backwater country, whereas America was held on a slightly higher pedestal. Possibly, this is because many of the writers might be more familiar with America, and also, it be a tone that’s a carry-over from the film version of Outsourced. But still, it’s highly insulting to a country that has the tenth largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), fourth largest economy by purchasing power parity, has become a newly industrialized country and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, boasting such industries as automobiles, software, biotechnology, aeronautics, and other scientific areas,  aside from their fast-growing IT and business process outsourcing fields.In Mumbai alone (the place where I believe the tv show Outsourced is set), there are fast-paced IT, engineering, healthcare and  financial career fields. Mumbai is also the financial center of India due to being the location of both of the country’s major stock exchanges. Mumbai is also the home of Bollywood, so acting opportunities are also big. Many major ad agencies are also located in Mumbai. Sure, India has a very large group of people who are unskilled and still faces the upward challenges of eliminating poverty, illiteracy, and less-than-favorable public health conditions, but India is not as backwards and out-of-touch with Western society as Outsourced makes it out to be.
  3. The humor of the show–particularly the pilot–was crude to both countries involved. The humor made Americans look like self-absorbed idiots and the Indians look like simple-minded country folk. Neither of which is true. The joke that Indians no nothing of Western culture is null and void in the first place–does India not have India’s Got Talent, a show that is a spin-off of the original Britain’s Got Talent? Do they not have Indian Idol, a version of (again) the original British show Pop Idol? (Keep in mind America also borrowed the models for those two shows for America’s Got Talent and American Idol.) And what about the huge market they have for American television shows and films? The idea that the Indian characters in Outsourced have never seen an American movie is almost impossible to imagine. The reverse is also true for America. On the whole, we are intellectually and culturally-stimulated people, too–do we not have the Bollywood-esque Broadway show Bombay Dreams as well as a growing market for Bollywood films? And did we not have American made films like The Namesake? Each culture has their own set of jokes and idiosyncrasies, sure; not every expat knows everything to expect from a foreign culture. But that doesn’t mean that two countries’ popular cultures can’t overlap at any point. And lets not pretend that America doesn’t consume their fair share of Indian cuisine. For Todd not to have eaten an Indian dish or snack ever is almost preposterous in today’s society. The same holds true for the Indian characters on the show; there are McDonald’s restaurants in India.

 

These types of sight gags are supposed to remind us of the differences between India and America. Credit: world-trends-on.blogspot.com

There might be a few more issues in the pilot and the show as a whole, but these are the biggest ones I can think of. Am I holding the cast at fault? No. In all of the reviews I’ve done thus far, I haven’t held the cast at any fault because they aren’t the ones to be blamed. The main problems were created below the surface, during the show’s initial planning and writing stages.  Here’s how the people behind the show could have fixed said issues, though:

  1. Make sure to eliminate any part of the Western characters that would give the characters that odious air of entitlement. One of way of fixing this, aside from doing through characterization of Todd and co., would be to have more Indian writers on staff. Out of the 17 writers hired to work on Outsourced, a very small number are actually Indian. I think hiring more Indian writers would have helped even out some of the script problems. Also, the writers needed to make sure they were well-versed enough in Indian culture to make jokes about it. I’m not saying some weren’t well-versed, but if we’re speaking in generalities, the whole writing unit should have had not only the standard show bible, but an Indian bible–a book put together by the producing staff and head writer(s) that outlined both major and little-known facts about Indian culture, a list of contacts on Indian culture for research, and various movies, television shows, food items, and other forms of pop-culture in India. Also, if it could’ve been worked in the budget, the entire team should have gone to India as a research trip, similar to how Disney would pay for its team of animators to go to faraway locales to sketch, sight-see, and do background research in order to bring the local flavor back to their animated films such as  The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Paris, France), Mulan (China), and The Lion King (Kenya, Africa), to name a few. Pixar and Dreamworks also did this for Ratatouille (France) and The Prince of Egypt (Egypt, Africa), respectively. Also, Dreamworks head Jeffery Katzenberg utilized the minds of the top biblical scholars, Arab-American leaders, and Christian, Muslim, and Jewish theologians in order to create the best possible (and least-offensive) movie, since the film, much like Outsourced, had the potential to alienate several cultures, ethnic groups, and religions.
  2. Understand India fully. I touched on this with the suggestion of an Indian bible already. This is where such a book would come in handy for writers, as would that trip. In order to write about a certain group of people and their country, you have to have immersed yourself in it for quite a long time. In order for the show to really be both hilarious and hard-hitting, the writers could have not only used the lighthearted parts of India, such as Holi, but also the dark parts, such as the high poverty rate, the illiteracy, and the health issues. Other parts of Indian society, such as the latent colorism, the residual caste society, and the argument over arranged marriages could have been talked about, or, in the case of the arranged marriage issue, talked about more often and in much greater detail. Perhaps the writers were saving some of their Indian knowledge for later seasons, but if the show was to be a success, they should have put some of their heavy guns in the first season. Similarly, the same type of treatment could have been done for America, particularly Kansas, where Todd is from. While the lighter side of America was always talked about on the show, the darker issues could have made its way into the show as well. Issues like racism and discrimination against people from the Middle East and India due to the fear of terrorism, the theatricality and “horse-race” quality of our political system, race relations issues, our own healthcare issues, fear-mongering, etc. If the show seriously dealt with both sides of both countries, Outsourced could have been a very well-written, possibly controversial, but very successful dark comedy. Also, placing the show in a more believable setting than a soundstage (or perhaps, just a more believable soundstage) could have helped immensely.
  3. With the above research suggestions completed, the humor would have come naturally. There’s a bevy of things in both countries to choose from that would make compelling television. Such a rich bounty of harvestable material should have provided scores of ideas. And, coupled with the right amount of knowledge, the jokes could have had some substance other than something as simple as Jingle Jugs.

 

This could have been a prolific show; all of the components were there. Credit: NBC

Again, some of the tone of the show, might be from the film, but where the film stops, the tv show could have picked-up and become even better than the film. Clueless was a film, and the television show was, in many cases, much better and zanier than the film (which, if we’re being honest, was already fantastic, except for the squicky stepbrother-loving part. I know they’re not related, but it still grosses me out!) M.A.S.H. was a film, and whereas the film was a gritty take on life as a medical officer in Korea, M.A.S.H. the television show was serious, funny, tinged in Vietnam-era sensibilities (so much so that I thought it was about Vietnam) and engrossing that it became much more popular than the film ever was. Hogan’s Heroes was based on Stalag 17, a classic Billy Wilder film based on a play about American soldiers in a German POW camp, but the show, also showing a more contemporary sensibility than its film counterpart (though not as much as M.A.S.H.), became much more popular than the film because of the humor involved.

In short, stuff could’ve been done to make the easy premise work and develop the show into a hard, scathing, slightly satirical, funny comedy, the comedy I think it was supposed to be, instead of the slightly-unfocused, soft-hitting show it turned out to be.

NEXT–An analysis of the characters (and their clothing choices!) Stay tuned…

via moniqueblog.net

Thank Goodness it's cancelled. It was insulting and stupid. NBC and the whole television industry in America can do better. I can't believe it's the same network that has an awesome brown male character like Tom Haverford!

Snehal Patel
A real Indian person and not a dick-less clown.

Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) screening at Hollywood DI

I was really happy to get an email from Neil Smith of Hollywood DI announcing a screening of Zacuto's camera shootout between 11 digital cinema cameras available on the market and 2 Kodak film stocks.  I missed the NAB screening and looked forward to seeing the video in a controlled calibrated environment with a 2K projector. 

The Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) is a 26 minute film of tests administered by Robert Primes ASC, between these cameras:  Arri Alexa, Sony F35, RED ONE MX, Sony PMW-F3, Panasonic AF-100, Weisscam HS2 Mk2, Phantom FLEX, Canon 5D MkII, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 7D, Nikon D7000; and film stock: Kodak 5219 and Kodak 5213.

I have to admit, there were a lot of surprises for me after seeing the cameras in a dozen or so tests that pit them side by side using the same setups and conditions.  The evaluations varied from shooting spinning disks of white lines which showed how rolling shutters create distortion to filming of scenes under various light conditions and skin tones.

The camera footage was "hardly" color corrected as Neil pointed out and the best system for recording was used when possible.  Scott Lynch, from Zacuto, said this meant the higher end cameras were coupled with a Codex or something comparable using 444 when possible (dual HD-SDI required).  The DSLR cameras were all recorded using in-camera technology since none provided a clean output HD signal without some sort of overlay.

We watched the film twice, once all the way through and then we watched a second time, pausing so that the tests could be discussed.  I found the detailed discussion about the SCCE led by Neil and Scott to be of immense value plus Zacuto was recording our thoughts for a SCCE documentary.  There were a lot of talented DPs in the room that had their opinions and Aaron Peak, Hollywood DI's resident colorist was on hand to answer post-production queries. 

Gale Tattersall, DP of House, was in the audience as well and had more than a few things to say about Alexa and Canon DSLRs.  Apparently House is going with Alexa for it's main camera next season, recording in ProRes using Log-C.  It's the same workflow that Rodney Charters told me he was using on another show right now.  For the TV guys, its really important to have a straight-forward, solid workflow that is easy to use and doesn't require high-end colorists to finish correctly.  The Canon DSLRs have become ubiquitous for a lot of TV DPs and they carry this little around from job to job.  As Gale pointed out, it's the only camera he uses for in-car shots since it's easy to position in tight spaces and can quickly be Velcro-ed to the hood if needed.

So the surprises???  ...well let me just give you a quick rundown of my reaction to each camera based only on these tests.  Mind you, this was by no means a scientific endeavor since a lot of variables were uncontrolled, but it was a good way to see how the cameras behaved in basic working conditions.  The price point of the cameras ranged from $1000 to $250,000 for the body only, no lenses or accessories.

Alexa - this was a class leader in many ways.  It has a very pretty image that is clean even under magnification.  It's not contrasty, there are no artifacts to speak of and the dynamic range is incredible.  It's a lot more sensitive to light both above and below the "sweet spot" than film can ever be.  The rolling shutter artifacts mimics that of Arri's own film cameras so it doesn't bother me in the least.  The only test where the Alexa came up a bit short was color rendition but the SCCE was not done using ArriRaw so I would be interested to see what those results would look like with the latest iteration of Alexa at 2K ArriRaw.  BTW - The lower resolution does not hinder the test camera in least.  The image under every lighting condition was beautiful, surpassing the look of film in my opinion - yeah that's right, I said it!  Pricepoint - mid-range.

Sony F35 - very very good camera.  Image quality is fantastic.  Sony really understands HD video and this camera does the company justice.  Sony has some of the best color rendering technology on the market and this shows in the F3 as well, the little brother to the F35.  Skin tones were nice, the camera was one of the better one when it came to rolling shutter artifacts, and it has a good dynamic range with nice low-light performance.  It does OK in the highlights but is very good in the mid-range.  Expose it well and this camera rocks. The only drawback to this camera is the incredibly high price point - 250K! 

RED MX - It's OK.  Aaron reminded us about something important when dealing with RED cameras; they require a lot of massaging in post.  You basically have to color the footage no matter what.  It's great for filmmakers because if given the time, you can make RED footage look awesome.  There is a ton of resolution and REDCODE has a lot of latitude in both color and exposure.  That being said, basic imagery coming out of the MX looked sharp and not all that sensitive in the low or high end of exposure.  It does great in the middle but so so with skin tones.  I know a lot of people are interested in pushing the resolution equation, but I'm not sure if the tradeoff is worth it.  More resolution means tiny pixels, which means less sensitive pixels that have less color choices.  That's a reality no matter how you slice it.  Sure you can go back and paint the pixels all you want in post, but that is time consuming and not always affordable.  I foresee a lot of TV shows going with Alexa or even the F3 over RED MX in the near future.  EPIC might be a different story.  I need to use it a few times to draw my own conclusions.
 
Sony PMW-F3 - SURPRISE!  This is the one camera that continually made me sit up and take notice.  It's incrediblly affordable for the kind of ability it has.  I've seen earlier footage from the F3 which I thought was very "video-like" (it's a term I like to use which means that the image reminds me of NTSC-style interlaced video even when the camera is set to shoot like film in 24p, etc.)  But when I saw the SCCE, it got me hooked!  Like it's bigger brother the F35, the camera performs best in it's exposure sweet spot.  Not as good in the highlights as Alexa, AF-100 or even the Canon DSLRs, yet this does not stop the camera from looking amazing in almost every other lighting condition.  Built with a PL mount and costing around 17K, this beauty is a bargin.  Size-wise it's perfect for 3D, crash cams, rigging, handheld, steady-cam and a lot of other things.  Do not dismiss this camera!
Check out Vincent LaForet's reactions to this test and other cameras from NAB posted on his blog and be sure to watch the F3 S-log test he did with Next Level Pictures.

Panasonic AF-100 - Just OK.  Kinda sharp, with weird compression-type artifacts when the image is blown up.  It has strange yellowish tinge that appears when the highlights are overexposed, even though it can see into the white a lot compared to more expensive cameras.  The micro 4/3rds sensor size kind of makes it annoying to lens since it's a 20% zoom from Super35.  I do think that this camera does really well in the mid-range and there is a lot to be said for the gamma curves that are built into the menu system.  I've actually shot some great looking footage with the AF-100, but I wonder if it really is better than using a DSLR aside from the fact that the form factor makes sense for professionals.

Weisscam HS2 Mk2 - Didn't like it in just about every test.  Very "video-y" image for my tastes.  To be fair there were no high-speed tests done as a part of the SCCE so I don't know what it's true capabilities may be.  But in normal operation it is neither sensitive nor pretty. 

Phantom FLEX - Pretty cool.  For a camera designed for high-speed use, the FLEX looked really nice in most of the tests.  It might not have the dynamic range of Alexa, film, RED or some of the other cameras but it preforms well with the right exposure.  It's not overly sharp or contrasty and it was the winner in the rolling shutter artifact test - helped by it's Global shutter technology.  It's not so bad in low light either and would be perfect for a nighttime stunt car chase done in slow-mo.

Canon 5D MkII - The Canon DSLRs did suprisingly well in these tests including the papa of the bunch, the 5D MarkII.  I went in expecting the other cameras to blow away the Canons, but I was wrong.  The 5D does really well with exposure and overall picture quality.  It is strong in low light, more so than film under certain conditions. It does suffer from a softer image, but a lot of that has to do with the sensor size and short depth of field (making the 7D preferable to a lot of film/TV folk).  Of course the shutter artifact test where spinning white lines look like they are jazz trumpets made the audience giggle more than once, but so what - stop whipping the camera around and you won't notice it.  The colors were overly saturated in the tests but they were using a form of Neutral picture style (Shane's settings I believe) and Gale mentioned that using the new LUTs from Technicolor might change color behavior.

Canon 1D MkIV - wow, what a piece of crap compared to it's less expensive siblings the 5D and 7D.  Wow.  I mean every test except super low light.  Well, Darren did use it in Black Swan during the subway sequences and 99% of the people that saw that film had no idea.  So what do I know, right?

Canon 7D - Winning!  I love this camera and this test reinforced everything.  It's plenty sharp even when blown up but still looks pretty, it has a great dynamic range, it hold a LOT of info in the highlights, does pretty good in lower light and color is decent - just a little bit more saturated than reality.  I for one, know that this camera has a lot of possibilities and uses.  The lensing is easy, focus is not as much a problem like the 5D, the resulting picture is very film-like and the camera is tiny.  Pitted next to cameras that cost 150 times as much, I would say that picture is maybe 20% off in quality from cameras at the top of the heap.  1700 bucks for a camera that holds it's own.  That's saying a lot. 

Nikon D7000 - uh, no.  It's like the image from a PD-150 but in HD.  Big fail for Nikon.  I can't believe Canon still knocks it out of the park when it comes to still cameras that shoot video.  It's been a few years now guys, come on.  Sony has to get 24p in their Alphas and Nikon has to wake up.  Panasonic is the only one that is biting the heals of Canon with the GH2.

Kodak 5219 and Kodak 5213 - well, this is the hard part.  Considering we all questioned how the film stock was evaluated since even the exposure tests were controversial (was 500ASA stock rated at 800ASA?), it's hard to say exactly what I think of film in general compared to the digital technologies.  Kodak film stock is definitley more sensative in the highlights than in the darks.  Film is grainy and not as sharp as a lot of the digital cameras.  But at the same time, film is varied and diverse.  There is so much stock out there and all of it behaves differently.  I think it was wise to have film as part of the SCCE because it gave us a base to work from when comparing.  Film does have a look or feel that we are trying to achieve with all these other tools, but maybe we've gotten beyond it by now.  I was much more impressed with the Alexa, F35, F3, RED, AF-100 than I was with the shots done with film.  Plus in the back of my mind, I know just how much a high-quality digital video file can be manipulated to look the way I want.  Film is beautiful, but so is digital.

Alight, that's all folks.  Hope my notes help in some small way.  Do comment on this post, I would love your feedback and thoughts especially if you have seen the SCCE video.

Go to http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011 for more information on the SCCE and the Great Camera Shootout 2011.

Snehal Patel
Director/DP
www.FearlessProductions.tv


Zacuto mount on a RedRock handheld rig

Cinematographer Peter Holland needed a handheld setup for an energetic production.  I put together this handheld rig for him that uses some Zacuto pieces and some RedRock parts.  It's a fact that now-a-days, a lot of stuff is Frankensteined together whenever we're on set.  It's very common to see components from a dozen manufacturers on one rig.

I find the Zacuto 2.5x viewfinder to be the eaisest to use with really clean image and functioning diopter.  The viewfinder can be held in place by the quick-release top plate off the Zacuto Z-DSLR-B DSLR Base Plate.  This quick-relase plate can attach to the Redrock Micro DSLR Baseplate on a handheld rig like this modified Redrock Micro "Captain Stubling" With Follow Focus Unit.

Here's how this simple setup comes in handy when going from handheld to tripod mount.  Now the quick-release plate can be slipped onto the rest of the baseplate on your tripod.  Add a monitor, like the cool Marshall V-LCD50-HDMI 5 Inch LCD Video Monitor and you have a pretty nice studio-style setup.

Ain't it nice when all the manufacturers play nice?  Thank goodness for standarization and forward thinking!

At the Canon Boot Camp this Saturday, May 21st - We'll be giving away a Redrock Stealth nano DSLR Rig , a couple of BeachTek DXA-SLRs, Cam Caddies and demoing a lot of new lenses, equpiment and even shooting a scene with actress Laureen Trujillo.

Snehal Patel
FearlessProductions.tv

The Future is Here - Chromebook

This is a Fantastic Ad for a very cool product - the Google Chromebook.  No software updates, no virus attacks, no operating system.  What a Microsoft killer!  Also, threatens to win over a lot of people in the casual Mac market who only use their Macbooks to work on office docs, surf the web, upload photos and play music.  I already use Google Docs for almost everything Office related except PowerPoint presentations - it saves automatically as I type and the docs are shareable and available on any computer I'm using.  Google is repeatedly a market leader in ideas that make sense.  I'm looking forward to taking a Chromebook for a spin.

Snehal Patel
Office: 424-235-0579
www.FearlessProductions.tv

Flawless - A Crazy Stunt Short

We had a great time producing this action-packed short.  I got to work with some of the coolest stunt people in Hollywood and had a fantastic crew of dedicated peeps from the DSLR filmmaking world.  My actor friends Kavi and Roger continue to amaze me. 

From the Flawless Post:

The all-DSLR, Canon 5D Mark II production spanned four nights in Los Angeles and included the use of a process trailer and Porsche Cayenne with Gemini crane furnished by CameraCarIndustries.com. Amazingly realistic picture vehicles were provided by PictureCarWarehouse.net. Shooting a police chase on-location with world class stunt drivers under the supervision of stunt coordinator Gianni Biasetti was one of many highlights, as was staging a full-blown heist of the gorgeous StuartMoore.com in Fashion Island.


Pacific Pictures presents "FLAWLESS"
Starring Ravi Gandhi, Rekha Velisetty, Kavi Ladnier & Roger Narayan
Written & Directed by Kevin Shahinian
Produced by Kevin Shahinian & Snehal Patel
Director of Photography Kevin Shahinian
2nd Unit Director Snehal Patel
Gaffer Tom Myrdahl
Key Grip Jefferson Miller
Sound Recordist Christopher Wilson
Glidecam operator Alex Sax
Film Editor Kevin Shahinian
Stunt Coordinator Gianni Biasetti
Wardrobe Kristen Anthony
Makeup & Hair Kurumi Uchino
We had a fantastic crew too!

Cameras: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EOS L-series lenses

Additional equipment furnished by:

Cinevate.com, Glidecam.com, MarshallMonitors.com, RedRockMicro.com, Bronimaging.com, LitePanels.com

Snehal Patel
Producer & 2nd Unit Director of Flawless
www.FearlessProductions.tv

Indian Gangster semi-finalist in Microsoft TV Pilot Contest

This little concept film which was my pitch for a TV show has now made it to the semi-finals in a TV Pilot contest created by the New York Television Festival and Microsoft Bing in partnership with Ben Silverman of Electus.

Check out the list of finalists here: http://nytvf.com/2010_bing.htm#

"Indian Gangster" was the start of my involvement with the DSLR revolution when cinematographer Rodney Charters suggested we use if for our weekend action/drama shoot back in Fall 2009.  Not only did he wrangle Panavision lenses (something that can't be done anymore) but we got support from a lot of manufacturers like Slider, Canon, RedRock, Zacuto and others.  Plus everyone pitched in hardcore.  Janina (our lead actress) got us half of our locations, Sunil (one of the lead actors) edited the 8 min concept film and the 1 min trailer with me, both Bhindi Jewelers and Frontier Saris donated beautiful locations in Artesia.  Everyone in the cast and crew worked for free and they worked hard.  HdiRawWorks helped with color correction with Jeremy at the helm.

I'm really proud of the results and supper happy to see us getting some recognition for our efforts.  It's a timeless story that has its roots in Shakespeare's King Lear, but with a modern Indian-American twist.

Snehal Patel
Writer/Director
www.IndianGangster.com

The inventor of the Digital Camera

Steven Sasson is an amazing inventor that created the first digital still camera.  He stored the images on a cassette tape!  Things have definitely changed since then.  We're now using digital still cameras to make movies and I can't even begin to image what they will do next.  Holographic capture perhaps?

This video is part of the "Inventors Portraits" by David Friedman.

Thanks to one of my fav blogs for the story: Make Magazine Blog

Snehal Patel
www.FearlessProductions.tv

Training Zoe from Avatar on the Canon 5D & 7D

Zoe Saldana, the hot blue alien from Avatar, came in for a one-on-one training with her sister, Cisely.  They are preparing for a collaborative film project and will be utilizing DSLR cameras. 

The Saldana sisters are very smart and picked up the material quickly.  They will definitely be bringing their teachings into play very soon and we look forward to seeing their work.


Snehal Patel 

The Eggie Files at LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival

That's right!  The Eggie Files will be playing at the LA Comedy Shorts film festival this weekend.  I'm the technical director for the festival and I can assure you that we will be screening some HILARIOUS films

Here's the screening info for the film block on Sunday at Noon called "Mo' Money Mo' Ninjas".  The Eggie Files is a part of this block:
http://lacomedyshorts.slated.com/2011/films/theeggiefiles_snehalpatel_lacomedyshorts2011


Snehal Patel
www.FearlessProductions.tv