An October contest for Filmmakers to make $10,000. Use this prize to make your next Movie!

A link via the West Virginia Film Office tells of a contest put on by Verisign and ".TV" to help Filmmakers win $10,000 by constructing a winning 30- 60 second commercial expressing to the world the benefits and pleasures of using a ".TV" web domain extension for their videos and playable content. A ".TV" has been a option to filmmakers for quite some time, and they are looking for help with promoting the online video experience. By using ".TV " an audience immediately knows that they are about to engage in video and the like- essentially pushing forward the video revolution into the future - and I know media artist of all kinds can get behind this noble agenda. So get out your cameras and break out the pen and paper, and get moving the deadline announced is October 23, 2011. Not much time- but the benefits of a job well done and chance at being hand picked could just finance your next picture. And we all know how hard financing is to come by for art these days. So have at it , have fun and tell them TJPARSONS sent you. Oh and one more thing - here is the link to the contest to get you going.

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What is Chromadepth?
With 3D being used so much in movies now, its natural for artists and Filmmakers alike to want to experiment with this audience interface. Chromadepth is an alternative to polarized, analglyph, and the LCD shutter glasses used in modern home theaters. Chromadepth works by the programmer or artist using color tones to display to the audience objects in different variances of depth. Usually, black and blue are related to background of the image, while warmer colors and lime green  categorizing sequentially in distance from the viewer, red being closest to the viewer. In my personal experiments I have found that the farther one is away from the screen, within reason, creates more depth. While chromadepth in some ways is limiting with degrees of color that may be used, it is very easy to get a desired effect while adhering to a very simple rule-set. The limitations often yield some inventive solutions and creative discoveries.

What materials can I use to make chromadepth creations?
Chromadepth images can be made with just about any materials that can support solid colors: crayons, inks, markers, print materials, chalk, digital images, video, construction paper, colored paper, fabric and paints are just a few...

Modest Short Film "REVENGE OF A MONKEY'S UNCLE" gets
rebooted, amped, wired and ready for Special Edition release

It's no secret if you have been following TJPARSONS is that there is an insane amount of things in the works. One thing that was scheduled for the end of summer was the "Special Edition Revenge of a Monkey's Uncle ". We have unearthed tons of fun things, extras, and more material than the actual short film itself almost two fold. This short film has achieved an underground cult status that registers on the WTF meter since its premiere at the Donen Indy Grits Film Festival -  It may be just a little bit later than expected, but one thing is for sure some questions will be answered and the feature is going to be packed with more fun than a barrel of .. well.. you know. Good things will come to those who support Uddershiet Films and buy this DVD when it comes out.

"Its the first time I've really gone this far in terms of a DVD before, I'm liking the idea of being able to load it up with features. It's a situation where Uddershiet is getting to the point where if we think it, we can do it...

Unless you've been living under a rock, or possibly leaving that rock to go on vacation under the rock next door, I'm sure you have seen articles, posts, trends, and shares on both Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor "Schweddy Balls", and Nike's new Air Mag shoe that is a retro-future style accessory from the "Back to the Future II" movie.  In film it is always good to know how to market yourself appropriately, and these are two of the best examples of viral marketing that I've seen in recent times- Including the quickest trend "spread" with possibly the largest coverage. Nike Air Mag is being sold in limited quantities for a good cause , namely Michael J. Foxes foundation for Parkinson's. I commend the foundation's efforts to reach this epic awareness scale. I commend both products for proving twice within the span of a week that life does in fact imitate art - all the time- more often than we might be aware of.

  I can remember a short time ago when I saw a very modest  Youtube video with a young lady that fashioned a prototype of the "Back to the Future II" self lacing Air Mag shoe...

     Some food for thought: I promise not to get too technical-This general themed piece goes over color correction which  applies to both film and still images- so think of film and video as just a series of still images for the purposes of illustration.

     Skills you may use to strive for that that perfect look in your still images and moving images (Film or Video) employ many of the same concepts of composition and basic ground rules for general still photography. Now higher quality cameras of both the still and video variety are getting more accessible to consumers (below a $1000). With this comes a great amount of disappointment when pictures do not turn out to be "magazine" or "pro quality" and videos are grainy with with an amateurish feel. Lots of disappointment, and lots of sad eyes when people realize that after years of scoffing at many photographers shows and  saying things like "It's a tree! I could take a picture just like that" -  they get the camera know nothing beyond the automatic features, nothing about lighting,Fstop, shutter speed, ISO, frame rate, or general good composting -   and they are bummed or feel cheated out of $1000 or whatever the price of their new SLR. 

      Its suffice to say that many people starting out in film or photography do not understand the work and thought that goes into getting the desired image in the end, and just look at it as a matter of spending more money for something shiny and running around clicking away...