In his 35-minute film DICKS, director Max Joseph tackles that age-old question: do you need to be a d*ck to be a good leader – and consequently a good director? In his noble quest to find out what really makes a good leader, Max Joseph travels across the US to talk to some big names in the industry who can shed some light on whether you really do have to be a d*ck to be respected on set. Like most people starting a new job, new directors may feel the need to make friends with everyone on set, be buddies with the actors, chum along with the crew. But could this undermine the crew’s need to have more than a friend, but a boss to look up to, and whose vision is the very reason everyone is there? On the other end of the spectrum, Hancock director Peter Berg is said to have recommended firing somebody within the first two hours of your first day on set to make people respect you. Too far, perhaps? Director Peter Berg: “I think being too nice is a problem.” Image Credit: Max Joseph. Max’s quest also takes him to leadership expert Michael Maccoby, who thinks the cause of the phenomenon is narcissism – something he considers a common trait among all great leaders. On the other hand, Aaron James, the man who literally wrote the book on being an a-hole, chalks the behaviour down to an inherent sense of entitlement. Of course, other points of view are also required in order to really challenge the perception of the d*ckish, alpha-male, socially unadapted director. Karyn Kusama, director of indie-thriller The Invitation and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, explains the problem of double standards in the industry when this same trope is seen in women directors. Other opinions include just having an honest personality: be true to who you are, and people will gravitate to that. Or, as John Hamburg puts it, be an open-minded control freak, who aims to provide the best energy on set for people to feed off of, but isn’t afraid to channel his inner a-hole when the going gets tough. DICKS is certainly an enjoyable watch that will give you something to think about for the next time you get to sit on that director’s chair. Make sure to visit Max Joseph’s YouTube channel for more. Have you worked with d*ck directors? Share your experiences in the comments below!

In this Vlog series of almost 30 episodes and counting, production company COMV takes you behind the scenes each week in their journey of making their first feature film, the ambitious sci-fi flick Navigator. The folks from Salt Lake City-based production company COMV have embarked upon the adventure of shooting their first feature film, Navigator, and they want you to be along them every step of the way. They are documenting their progress with their weekly Vlog series BEHIND THE FILM, in which they face the various challenges that arise during the different stages of production. BEHIND THE FILM tackles general production aspects such as their preferred lighting techniques, setting up challenging shots, and finding motivation in camera movement, in addition to pre-production topics such as scene blocking, auditions and casting decisions and script considerations. However, it is not only about the technical challenges — they also share some of their more conceptual insights, such as how to stay creative (Dungeons & Dragons alert!) and how a first script read-through can become a bonding experience for the cast and crew. COMV Director Weston takes you behind the scenes of Navigator in their weekly Vlog series. Of course, being a sci-fi, there are plenty of more specific videos on creating convincing props and practical effects, as well as costume design, all from a very DIY and indie point of view that I’m sure many will find entertaining and educational.  Following such a close group of friends doing something they love makes it really easy to identify with director Weston and the rest of the COMV gang, especially during those gut-wrenching moments on their very first shoot day. It’s really interesting to follow how the team deals with different situations, making the BEHIND THE FILM Vlog series not only a didactic resource, but also a truly inspiring watch for anyone considering making their first film. You can find more about COMV on their website, and you can find the ongoing BEHIND THE FILM playlist HERE. You can also subscribe to their YouTube channel, and can help fund the film by contributing to their Patreon account. We wish you good luck, COMV, and look forward to watching Navigator!

More often than not, it’s difficult for potential clients to understand that there’s a lot more to do in each location aside from just getting the gear and crew and start shooting. Read on for this post from Katharina Lichtenberg, a line producer with over 15 years of experience. Let’s take a look at the very important role of the line producer “Can you also arrange XYZ for us?” … Sound familiar? After more than 15 years of experience in the field as a line producer, I’ve developed a couple of tools to make sure I totally understand what I am getting myself into every time I accept a project. One of my methods – especially for small, short-term requests – is to go through an internal set of questions I ask myself, and a series of steps to take. What To Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Take out more than enough time to find out what your client wants to get done – the Full Monty, everything. Check if they are already working with a local service producer. If so, great! Go ahead and do your job. If not: After discussing the tasks regarding your own department, ask specifically how far along your client is in prep, and if there are any open questions regarding locations and logistics, even if they didn’t include this in your job description. Find out if all the issues are already being taken care of in order to gauge if some additional tasks might ultimately end up on your table. Estimate as good as you can if you need to work outside your department, and how much time to allocate to that. Check your timeline: how tight are your bookings, can you even make time for these additional efforts? Check with your client regarding charges for extra work, and make them aware of all additional costs. Offer a solution: take it upon you to complete the missing tasks or suggest a line producer or service producer to your client to get it done. Of course, this process is restricted to one single, isolated project. If you are planning on sticking around, then also: Reach out to your local media community as well as the community of where your shoot is going to be. Introduce yourself. Get in touch with media professionals who not only work in your field but also in neighbouring professions. Specifically look for a good production person you trust. Develop these relationships over the years. Be patient. No great team has ever just fallen from the sky onto your lap. While working on a specific prep, the following considerations may also help you: Be clear about what and who you need. If you are not clear about what or who you need, engage in discussions and interactions to find out what those things are. The more specifically you know who and what kind of qualifications you’re looking for to complement your own work, the better. A Scenario Your position: DoP, or any other position except producer. Shoot: 3 days in your base area, with no travel days and no travel time. 10-hour days. Mainly exterior shoots. Prep time: 0,5 day, typically not charged for. Wrap: 0,5 day, typically not charged for. Equipment: Taken care of by you (own equipment or rental) and charged to client. Enquiry comes in 10 days before the first shooting day. After finding out what is required of the DoP, asking the set of questions we established above gives us a better picture of the whole venture: There is no local service producer involved (yet). Open tasks in the production department: 1 location still needs to be found, and one driver + van are required for 5 days (pickup – shoot – return). Open tasks in the sound department: 1 sound recordist + equipment are required for 3 days. Estimating the time for completing the above Location scouting: Easy public EXT location; scouting, sending pictures and drawing the permit. Only 1 option is presented. Please keep in mind that if you need to present more than one option, you will most likely need more than a day to find a shooting location, unless you’re already drawing from an archive. Take application periods into consideration and communicate them! The field of location scouting and management within the context of line production is huge. Make sure you check out every aspect of the shooting requirements before settling on a place to shoot. If there is only enough time to make one suggestion, it has got to work out. Estimate: 1 day. Finding a driver and booking a car: Unless you already know someone personally, this might be the time to look for a producer or production company instead. You don’t want to get just anyone as a driver, but you should also be comfortable with the person and be certain that they know what they’re doing. They must also come with the appropriate language skills and a knowledge of the area where you will be moving around in order to make everyone on the team feel comfortable and safe. Booking a car is not a very demanding task, but getting the price and rental conditions right can become a bit nerve-wrecking, especially on short notice. Estimate: 0,5 day. Finding and booking a sound recordist: The same goes for the sound recordist: unless you already know a reliable person to do the job, this is the time to go to a producer. Remember, you are always responsible for the crew you bring with you. If they can’t deliver, then you can’t either. Depending on your pre-existing network, estimate: 0,5 day. Total extra time required: at least 2 days (depending on the exact circumstances). Further Considerations Time management: Can you do these extra tasks, and do you want to make time to take care of them? Is the schedule still compatible with your other obligations? A lack of time for the actual prep in your own field may not only affect this particular shoot, but also lead to you losing out on more shoots where your contributions in your core field(s) are appreciated. Money management: Is there actually more money in it for you? Consider the additional risk you are taking on. Is it worth it? You may need to pre-finance other parts of the production other than your fees. Can you afford this? Think “cashflow” and “financing costs”. Consider that if you’re charging an international client, you may need to prosecute the company for example in the US. If you take a step back and go through a local production company, you have a better position in terms of payment in case anything goes wrong. Especially when you’re new to the industry and in the process of finding your place, you might want to have an experienced professional handle money matters. They can accurately estimate a realistic budget range and communicate with the client on an even level. Sometimes this also means that certain shoots will not happen, usually for the benefit of everyone involved. Qualifications and experience: Will the quality of your work in your core field suffer? What will you potentially sacrifice? What will you potentially gain? Are you ready for this? A long read, I know. But this thought process is actually what you need to go through consciously or subconsciously every time you take a decision between accepting or passing on a project. Make it a routine to go through all the aspects before taking the next steps. I hope you enjoyed reading this rather lengthy post and you got something out of it. Let me know your thoughts – I’m happy to discuss different points of view!

In his YouTube video and blog post, young Polish filmmaker Tomasz Walczak explains how he turned his 3-axis gimbal stabilizer into a time lapse motion control system. The results are quite interesting, taking a creative advantage of the 3-axis capabilities to create unique dynamic “twisting” movements thanks to the gimbal’s stabilization. If you want to try this out, your gimbal stabilizer needs to be based on the Alexmos controller which is used in a wide variety of today’s stabilizers. If you can use the SimpleBGC desktop software or smartphone app to control and setup your gimbal, then congratulations: your gimbal has the right controller. You can check out a full list of gimbal manufacturers using the SimpleBGC software from BaseCam here. Some of the popular ones are: Easy Stab, Ikan Beholder, Pilotfly, CAME-TV, Kinematik or Letus.   Feeling motivated to further experiment with your gimbal after watching this video? Go ahead and check out Tomasz’s blog post where he explains the whole process in detail. I can imagine taking this concept to a next level by mounting this system to a motorized slider. The movement possibilities would then be almost limitless. Freefly Akira 5.0 Firmware Freefly also has a similar Timelapse feature in their MōVi stabilizers with the Akira 5.0 Firmware as we wrote about last year. You can check the demonstration video below: How do you like the “twisting” movement for timelapse motion control? Have you tried the timelapse feature on your stabilizer? Let us know in the comments below.

Werner Herzog – the legendary director of dozens of films in both the narrative and documentary genres – is the latest addition to the roster of big name tutorials over at Masterclass.com. Pre-enrolment for the Werner Herzog Filmmaking Masterclass opening in the summer is already available at a price of $90. If you’re a budding filmmaker looking for educational resources online, there is something coming very soon that could really be worth investing in. Masterclass.com, an educational site that offers insights from masters of various disciplines at a arguably affordable price, will be launching a filmmaking masterclass with no other than cinema legend Werner Herzog. Although the site already features two masterclasses on acting by Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey no less, this will be the first one on their site focusing on the art of filmmaking. With module names such as career strategy, interview techniques, editing, storytelling and working with actors, the 5 hours of video that the class will apparently offer an overarching view of the art of filmmaking. From abstract concepts down to practical examples and tips in both documentary and narrative, you will very likely find a few gems of wisdom that apply to your own work.  The course will also provide you with an online workbook to expand on the video lessons, as well as offering a community space to get feedback from your peers, with Werner Herzog himself providing feedback on selected student work. You can take the class at your own pace and access it online from anywhere. The Werner Herzog Filmmaking Masterclass will be available in summer 2016, so hopefully very soon, and you can already book a place for only $90. Other courses coming soon to the website are the Photography Masterclass by Annie Leibovitz, and the Scriptwriting Masterclass by Aaron Sorkin, writer of The West Wing and The Social Network, so definitely worth a look! Disclaimer: We haven’t had a chance to watch any of the workshop sessions beforehand so we can’t give a comment on the quality, but I think the choice of teachers alone is very promising. (We are also not affiliated with masterclass.com in any way.)

Yes, the source for the still above is a 1080p 14bit RAW shot with the 5D mark III with Magic Lantern!!! And here’s a test video showing you how that looks in motion with an article elaborating the work with the camera: LINK. The developers working on the Magic Lantern hack for the Canon 5D mark III have enabled continuous 14bit RAW recording last year. We tested it and it works great. The resulting images are totally breathtaking for a DSLR. The installation procedure has now been strongly simplified. Please follow our complete dummies guide to squeeze the RAW bits out of a Canon EOS 5D mark III. NOTE: We take no responsibility for what happens when you follow our guide. Do it at your own risk and research on your own if you want to make sure. NOTE: When installing Magic Lantern your camera will start up 2 seconds slower (this can now be undone by simply uninstalling Magic Lantern)