This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 18th May 2012.

Breakthrough
5 Top Tips for Making Your Movie and Breaking into the Film Industry : (Media Match Blog)

Biopic
A Transcendent Film About A Forgotten Hero : (Media Match Blog)

Film Tax Credits
California TV/Film Tax Credit Lottery June 1 : (Deadline)

Revenge?
George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change : (Movies.com)

On Set
Breaking Bad Season 5 with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul : (AMC TV)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Building a Snorricam
Vimeo Video School enroll Justin Johnson and Erik Beck of The Indie Machines show us how to build a snorricam.

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 11th May 2012.

Rolling!
Bike Chicago Video Contest : (Media Match Blog)

Genre-fied
Disney Dark : (Media Match Blog)

Production
Amazon Studios Will Develop Comedy And Children’s Series : (Deadline)

Kerching!
‘Mad Men’ Paid $250K for Beatles Song : (Rolling Stone)

Sound Off
Do film schools do enough to promote good audio? : (Media Match Blog)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

the camera collection
animation – antonio vicentini // boobiesareawesome.tv
illustration – billy brown // robobilly.com
music – ben hantoot // benhantoot.com

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

Disney Dark
By Matthew S. Surprenant

Film has come a long way since the late eighties and early nineties. These days, though we see primarily the same genres in the market, more and more producers are willing to blend ideas in a way which treats intelligently caters to wider age groups. Perhaps my favorite spawning of the modern era is what I call “Disney Dark.”

In the nineties, aside from the Addams Family films, darker, frightening content almost inherently meant an R rating, regardless of the actual content of the film, especially if it wasn’t animated. Even one of my childhood favorites, 1984’s Gremlins, was threatened with an R. We can thank Spielberg for getting it a PG after an extensive appeal process which, along with Raiders of the Lost Ark, brought us into the era of the PG-13 rating, potentially depolarizing content and allowing for some middle ground. Prior to then, if it was scary and wasn’t Spielberg-made, it pretty much didn’t have a chance at a marketable rating.

Then there was another major change, and it’s one I’m eternally grateful for. In 1993, Disney decided to remove their logo from Tim Burton’s innovative The Nightmare Before Christmas, having deemed it too dark for children. Since its success, the logo has been reinstated and Disney has been willing to let some more disturbing themes into its movies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was the first PG-13 title to get mass distribution and theatrical release while openly retaining the Disney name.

For someone such as myself, I like getting some genuine scares in, but I don’t always feel like taking in a film that has the sole purpose of filling my eyes with carnage candy (or excessive nudity). For something to be “Disney Dark,” it doesn’t necessarily have to be made by Disney, but retain the fright without having to go overboard in any other area. It’s that little area allowing a babysitter to scare the tweens out of their wits without showing anything parents would patently disapprove of. I’m talking about works like Insidious (2011), Devil (2010), Drag Me to Hell (2009), The Invasion (2008), 1408 (2007), When a Stranger Calls (2006), Cry_Wolf (2005), Secret Window (2004), all the way back to 1998’s Tremors, which I dub as the unofficial first “real” PG-13 horror flick. It had guts, both figuratively and literally.

Of course, there has been some flak from die-hard horror fiends who prefer their horror hard. For me, all I care is the creators get a fair shot to show their visions to the markets they’re intended for. Sure, material does occasionally get trimmed for a PG-13 theatrical release, but we also live in the era of the unrated in-store copy. Even more, many retail releases include both rated and unrated versions, putting control over content where it belongs: in the hands of the consumer. Parents can choose if they want the carnage candy or Disney Dark, including for their kids.

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 4th May 2012.

Animator
TV/Film Industry Career Profile : (Media Match Blog)

Submissions
Lifetime Unscripted Development Pipeline : (NYTVF)

Finale
Mick Jagger to Host Saturday Night Live : (Vulture)

Kerching!
‘Avengers’ nabs $18.7 mil midnight take : (Variety)

R.I.P.
Joel Goldsmith (1957-2012) : (Ain’t It Cool)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Venice in a Day
A day in Venice (Venezia) in Italy, from daybreak to sunset in timelapse. It’s really a great place and I hope I can share some of its magic with this short video. Some technical specs: Shot mainly with my trusty Canon G10 (and not a G12, like I wrote here first). Post in Motion, After Effects and Final Cut Pro X. Music: Heart of Champions, Chris Haigh, premiumbeat.com

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

Do film schools do enough to promote good audio?
By Peter Santana

I recently had the pleasure of viewing a number of film school productions and I was astounded at the high level of work being created. The majority of student I recently had the pleasure of viewing a number of film school productions and I was astounded at the high level of work being created. The majority of student films displayed keen attention to filmic detail and were very well produced, however despite all that hard work, some still seemed unprofessional and incomplete. The simple reason being that the sound was often completely neglected.

Avoiding the crucial last step of editing the sound in a film can have very deleterious effects on the viewers’ perception of the quality of the production. For example, although the verite style of shooting eschews conventional steady camera movements, the audience can still watch a ‘shaky’ film and regard it has high caliber (having said that, it does take great skill to shoot that way). The same cannot be said of shaky audio though, and the tolerance level for bad sound is much lower than that for bad shooting. As such, the sound needs to be as level and balanced as possible and in film and television this requires not only good recording, but also good audio editing.

Unfortunately, there are no NLEs that are capable of performing the kind of audio editing tasks that are required for a professional sounding mix. Audio specific editing software (DAWs) can make adjustments down to a microsecond, whereas video-editing software is limited to the length of a frame and usually the editing tools are not tailored to audio making the mixing process extremely frustrating.

Although it is useful for student filmmakers to learn about audio editing, it is not necessary to become proficient. There are up-and-coming audio editors who do just this work and would love the opportunity for real world experience for their own demo reels. I would urge film students to create ties with their local audio engineering schools so that complementary relationships between student filmmakers and student audio engineers can blossom from an early stage. The result would be that otherwise thoughtfully produced films would get a professional sheen and it could form the basis for long-lasting professional networks.

displayed keen attention to filmic detail and were very well produced, however despite all that hard work, some still seemed unprofessional and incomplete. The simple reason being that the sound was often completely neglected.

Avoiding the crucial last step of editing the sound in a film can have very deleterious effects on the viewers’ perception of the quality of the production. For example, although the verite style of shooting eschews conventional steady camera movements, the audience can still watch a ‘shaky’ film and regard it has high caliber (having said that, it does take great skill to shoot that way). The same cannot be said of shaky audio though, and the tolerance level for bad sound is much lower than that for bad shooting. As such, the sound needs to be as level and balanced as possible and in film and television this requires not only good recording, but also good audio editing.

Unfortunately, there are no NLEs that are capable of performing the kind of audio editing tasks that are required for a professional sounding mix. Audio specific editing software (DAWs) can make adjustments down to a microsecond, whereas video-editing software is limited to the length of a frame and usually the editing tools are not tailored to audio making the mixing process extremely frustrating.

Although it is useful for student filmmakers to learn about audio editing, it is not necessary to become proficient. There are up-and-coming audio editors who do just this work and would love the opportunity for real world experience for their own demo reels. I would urge film students to create ties with their local audio engineering schools so that complementary relationships between student filmmakers and student audio engineers can blossom from an early stage. The result would be that otherwise thoughtfully produced films would get a professional sheen and it could form the basis for long-lasting professional networks.

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 27th April 2012.

Yikes!
Top 15 Most Controversial Music Videos : (Media Match Blog)

Grrr!
20 Most Annoying TV Characters Ever : (EW)

Wha…?!
David Lynch’s ten weirdest scenes, by film : (Westword)

Cut!
Alec Baldwin is once again pretty sure that 30 Rock is about to end : (A.V. Club)

Ahoy!
PBS Salutes Earth Day : (Ain’t It Cool)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Jaws Film Restoration
Academy Award Winner Steven Spielberg’s iconic summer classic comes to Blu-ray for the first time ever on August 14th, digitally remastered and fully restored in honor of Universal’s 100th Anniversary Celebration .

Take a look at the extensive process that went into restoring this unforgettable film.

Jaws will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack with DVD, Digital Copy, UltraViolet and over 4 hours of bonus features including an all-new documentary “The Shark is Still Working.”

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 20th April 2012.


A week in the desert. With Gear. Lots of gear : (Media Match Blog)

Media Match Blog Promotion: Working with Maya Angelou : (Media Match Blog)

Matt Damon to Film “Anti-Fracking Blockbuster” : (Alternet)

New York City Is Getting The Alamo Drafthouse : (Ain’t It Cool)

A How I Met Your Mother Themed Party : (Media Match Blog)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Biotechnology was a collaborative art project shot by Jake Snider in Los Angeles, exploring the artistic relationship between modern technology and the natural world. Produced by Farida Amar and Gabriel-Bello Diaz / Architect: Gabriel-Bello Diaz / Writer: Sherry Youssef / Vocals: Caitlin MacKenzie / Flute, Bass, Guitar, Hopi UFO: Matt Piper / Percussion, Synthesizer: Zach D’Agostino / Sound Mix and Master: Sarah “Billie” Bearse / Chef: David McConnell / Photography: Will Van Beckum / Video: Jake Snider.

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 13th April 2012.

NAB 2012
A week in the desert. With Gear. Lots of gear : (Media Match Blog)

Storytelling
Media Match Blog Promotion: Working with Maya Angelou : (Media Match Blog)

Pre-production
Matt Damon to Film “Anti-Fracking Blockbuster” : (Alternet)

New Screens
New York City Is Getting The Alamo Drafthouse : (Ain’t It Cool)

Offbeat
A How I Met Your Mother Themed Party : (Media Match Blog)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Biotechnology by Jake Snider
Biotechnology was a collaborative art project shot by Jake Snider in Los Angeles, exploring the artistic relationship between modern technology and the natural world. Produced by Farida Amar and Gabriel-Bello Diaz / Architect: Gabriel-Bello Diaz / Writer: Sherry Youssef / Vocals: Caitlin MacKenzie / Flute, Bass, Guitar, Hopi UFO: Matt Piper / Percussion, Synthesizer: Zach D’Agostino / Sound Mix and Master: Sarah “Billie” Bearse / Chef: David McConnell / Photography: Will Van Beckum / Video: Jake Snider.

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 6th April 2012.

Producer
TV/Film Industry Career Profile : (Media Match Blog)

Advice
Media Match Blog Promotion: Rules for Making TV : (Media Match Blog)

Theater-life
The Death of the Cinematic Experience : (Moviedex)

Screenplay
Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks might become a movie, because, really, it’s sort of lacking as an album : (A.V. Club)

If Only…
The Star Wars Cast We Almost Saw : (Oscars)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

Sound in Film
Munch Monet discusses the importance of using an original score in a narrative film.

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs in the TV and film industry.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team

This week in Media Match’s world…

Welcome to our highlight of this week’s videos, news, views, and reviews, and also our Quick Tip of the Week for using the Media Match website. Week ending 30th March 2012.

Soundtracks
Using The Vimeo Music Store : (Media Match Blog)

Jobs
Media Match Blog Promotion: What Does a Colorist Do? : (Media Match Blog)

Event
Hammer Museum Open Projector Night : (Industry Happenings)

Talking Shop
Scripter Seth Grahame-Smith Discusses The new Beetlejuice Movie : (Aint It Cool)

Storytelling
Billy Wilder’s Tips for Writers : (The Uncool)

Quick Tip of the Week

Apply To Jobs:
Here we walk through the process of applying to a job from our jobs board, and give you some tips on the best was to organize your application.

Video of the Week

FilmTools 3025 Triangulation Kit Triple Test: Highway, Speed Bumps and Gravel Road
Filmtools Gripper 3025 Triangulation Kit Drive triple test. The rough road footage was impressive. Shooting wide is the key. The 3025 Gripper kit is well worth the money as well. Shot with Canon T2i, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.

TV and Film Jobs

Don’t forget to check our jobs board for the latest jobs and careers in TV and film production.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Media Match Team