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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Steven Soderberh’s State Of Cinema Talk

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Steven's speech had some profound parts to it. I really love the part where he said something like... "art is all about making sense of the chaos". It really made me think of how I could be approaching certain filmmaking decisions.
 
Jason, I had to go back to post #132 of this thread to find what Steven Spielberg said; http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-predicts-implosion-film-567604 “Steven Spielberg Predicts 'Implosion' of Film Industry” 2:55 PM PDT 6/12/2013 by Paul Bond

TO QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE; “Lucas and Spielberg told USC students that they are learning about the industry at an extraordinary time of upheaval, where even proven talents find it difficult to get movies into theaters. Some ideas from young filmmakers "are too fringe-y for the movies," Spielberg said. "That's the big danger, and there's eventually going to be an implosion — or a big meltdown. There's going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen mega-budget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that's going to change the paradigm." THEY ADDED; "The pathway to get into theaters is really getting smaller and smaller," Lucas said.” The Hollywood Reporter

Their words also appeared in Variety; http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/lucas-spielberg-on-future-of-entertainment-1200496241/ “George Lucas & Steven Spielberg: Studios Will Implode; VOD Is the Future” by David S. Cohen

TO QUOTE FROM VARIETY; “Speaking on a panel at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Spielberg and Lucas took a grim view of the future of the majors and predicted theatrical motion pictures will become a niche market. “They’re going for the gold,” said Lucas of the studios. “But that isn’t going to work forever. And as a result they’re getting narrower and narrower in their focus. People are going to get tired of it. They’re not going to know how to do anything else.” Spielberg noted that because so many forms of entertainment are competing for attention, they would rather spend $250 million on a single film than make several personal, quirky projects.” Variety

Jason, I would love to find a full transcript of what they said if you know of any, please post it! Like what you said; “art is all about making sense of the chaos"! I would add my personal opinion, in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in post production, I think it all applies, in all cases, including in everyday life.

I think that the IMAX Theater expansion give the outsider shooting in 3D a leg up in China and Russia; http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/imax-super-sizes-partnership-deals-amc-theaters-wanda/ and http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/imax-q2-earnings-2/

Like-it or not, the trend continues for film audiences in China is to prefer 3D projection on Large Screens. I think that shooting in 3D at 24 Fps is a good choice if you can put up with the added expense and the headache of 3D. I think that if you’re going to compete with the Big Boys you need all the help you can get.

David I agree with you; "leave the politics at home" I think that the adage; “if you want to send a message, send a telegram” I really don’t know who said that, but its good advice!

Humberto Rivera
 
I must confess that this thread has gone-on for much longer that I envision it! It’s that I keep on responding to others, and new things keep on appearing out nowhere! Sitting in Costa Rica with no-one to speak Cinema, or Pictures, or Movies (Depending on your age), well it does not help either. By the way Costa Rica is GREAT PLACE! I hope I’m not boring anyone!

Humberto Rivera
 
I want to make an observation; the US Dollar is an important Currency, no question about it! However we are seeing other Currencies from all over the world add up in value to more than a TENTPOLE FILM receives in US Dollars, that’s curious because at the end of the day, the Producer (or Copyright Owner) is going to translate that into his own currency, whatever it might be!

An example is the current X-Men Film, with “Hugh Jackman”, “The Wolverine” it did $55 M Domestically, but Global number are a huge $141.1 M, the Picture was on 15,152 Screens Worldwide and 101 Countries, does it really matter where it comes from? In this case some of the profits are going to end up in Australian Dollars! I’m not saying Hollywood has lost its influence, but it’s demising as time goes by, and if we do know something, is THAT TIME DOES GOES BY, pretty fast! Look 2005 - 2006 it’s really not that far ago the Red One was a wooden box with a lens, in 2013 Red Is about to release the Epic 6K Dragon Camera, that’s a short time! This is just the first week for the continuing saga of the X-Men, out of 10 years! Just saying!

http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/wolverine-23m-friday-61m-weekend/ “‘Wolverine’ Whimpers Weak $55M Domestic Weekend But Roars Big $141.1M Worldwide” By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday July 28, 2013 @ 7:06am PDT

Humberto Rivera
 
It seems that the Hollywood Studios have not been paid by China for 2012 and 2013 because of a dispute that they want to add a Value Added Tax to Monies that belong to the Distributors. Funny how the Second Largest Market behaves, I guess that good business practices don’t apply here, China doesn’t have a history of applying to business deals they make, too bad, you just have to watch them because of their size they cannot be ignored! So, it’s a major source of revenue, but at the same time they want a Value Added Tax, out of the twenty five percent profit participation, that’s what you get when you calculate all the siphoning that goes-on! Where does that leave the Independent Filmmaker? Big question!

See the two articles in deadline.com and Variety; http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/china-box-office-payments-to-hollywood-studios-in-flux/ and http://variety.com/2013/film/news/h..._medium=email&utm_campaign=breakingnewsalert#

HERE IS A QUOTE FROM THE DEADLINE.COM ARTICLE; Back in March it was MPAA chief Chris Dodd tub-thumping China‘s box office prowess after the organization’s Theatrical Market Statistics report showed that China accounted for $2.7B in box office sales in 2012. That vaulted the country past Japan to become the world’s No. 2 movie market and justified the onslaught of U.S.-China co-productions geared toward gaining an extra foothold in the lucrative market. But it turns out there now may be a snag in that silver lining: Several studio sources are confirming that the CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT PAID STUDIOS for their hits in that country for films released in 2012 and 2013, and an insider says that the MPAA recently stepped in to work on a deal with governing body CHINA FILM GROUP to pay U.S. studios for their share of Chinese grosses. Sister publication Variety reports that at the heart of the dispute is a value-added tax that the Chinese government is looking to impose that CUTS INTO HOLLYWOOD’S 25% REVENUE SHARE, and that the U.S. Trade Representative has stepped in with the MPAA to broker a solution. So far, though, no studios are willing to accept the lower payments in fear that it would validate China’s VAT proposal. A source close to the matter says the situation is “IN FLUX AT PRESENT”. Local films have gained market share in China this year, but Hollywood studios still see nothing but dollar signs when they look at China, so expect this one to get resolved quietly so as not to rock the boat. Stay tuned. For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...” deadline.com

TO QUOTE FROM VARIETY; ‘Sony has not yet recouped from “Skyfall,” which opened in China earlier this year (Sony also opened “Django” earlier this year, but insiders say it’s too early for the studio to expect its share of the box office). Since January, Warner Bros. has released “Jack Reacher,” “The Hobbit,” “Jack the Giant Slayer” and “Man of Steel.” Paramount has opened “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “Jack Reacher.” Universal has unspooled “Oblivion” and “Les Miserables.” “Typically if it affects one studio it affects them all,” said former U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk of the problems affecting at least two of the studios.” Variety

Humberto Rivera
 
I got to thinking that’s time to REVISIT the Epic 6K Dragon Sensor information THAT WE KNOW AT THIS POINT, since we’re getting near its release, and soon we’ll have some images to look at from Mark Toia; I thought I would start with my preference 6000 (Horizontal) X 3000 (Vertical) is 29.98 (Horizontal) x 14.99 (Vertical) or 33.52 Ø (image circle) it’s 18,000,000 (18 Megapixels) -20% 14,400,000 (14.4 Megapixels) that’s a solid number for an Aspect Ratio of 2:1! It’s a nice fits with the Epic 6K Dragon sensor, and is well within the 8.8 Megapixels needed for “True 35mm Frame” at 2.40:1 for a “Theatrical Release” at a 4K DCI Container, and still has a slightly larger (2:1) Aspect Ratio for Television release, or IMAX Release.

At this size the Image Circle is better for the lenses coverage, however it’s actually a better fit at 5.5K Dragon which is essentially is the same as the 5K M-X sensor, 27.7 X 14.6 (5545 X 2924) 31.33 Ø (Image Circle), if you’re heavily invested in lenses is a God Send! The full Epic 6K Dragon Sensor is; 30.7mm (Horizontal) x 15.8 mm (Vertical) or 34.5 Ø mm (Image Circle) actually 34.5272 Ø (Image Circle) which according to Phil Holland both the Leica Summilux – C – Lens, and the 16 Master Primes Lenses, are possibly going to be good, but need to wait and see for sure, or at least past a certain “Focal Length” and up!

Given all that you still have an ISO/ASA of 2000, 16+ Stops of Dynamic Range, and 86 Fps or 120 Fps depending on the resolution, but always within the 8.8 Megapixels needed for a “Theatrical Release” at 4K! Not too shabby! You get all that for just $9,500 to $29,000 depending where you are on-line, that’s a bargain for what is probably the best Digital Cinema Camera of-our-times, without exception, still in the small package we’ve all too accustomed-too. Just imagine you’re getting a NEW CAMERA but it’s been CALLED AND UPGRADE BY JIM JANNARD, that’s a real bargain any way you look at it! Just saying!

Bellow is the Graphic as posted by Phil Holland during NAB 2013, it seems like it was long, long time ago, but it was just this past April, Funny how time becomes relative! And of course the famous Dragon Sensor as it appears in the Red Survival Guide Spring 2013 Page 63 look-it-up! http://s3.amazonaws.com/red_3/downloads/manuals/RED_Survival_Guide_Complete_v1.pdf (66.36 MB).

Humberto Rivera
 

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Eric, you’re absolutely right, even on “Pacific Rim” they will not be able to collect their 25% of Gross Profits until they iron things out, which is less than they collect from US Distribution during the first or second week which is 50%, you’re right when you say; “Now the studios know how all the people feel who they have screwed over.” Eric M Hurt

I was right; Pacific Rim will go ahead with a Sequel. Why! I think the reason is that all that money spends at ILM was not only for this Film or Special Effects it was for a sequel, and the game they had in mind. And they’ve created a brand that has all the benefits for a sequel. The movie business sometimes seems rather complicated, but thinks about this way, was the movie a commercial for the game, or the game a commercial for the film. And if you take the chance it’s possible that Legendary Pictures has less money to make over its 10 year period than most anticipated. Just saying!

HERE IS THE ARTICLE FROM LONDON’S THE GUARDIAN; http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/aug/01/pacific-rim-hit-china-sequel “Pacific Rim is a hit in China: sequel could be on its way” The Guardian

It goes to what I’ve been saying all along, what counts it’s how well you do with whole World; “The film, which has performed poorly at the US box office, is currently at the top spot internationally. It is yet to be released in over half of global territories including Spain, Brazil and Japan. It's still unclear whether the film will turn a profit due to its budget, which reportedly lies somewhere between $180-220m (£118-145m).” The Guardian

I don’t know why they continue to ignore the Video Game side, but they do. HERE IS WHAT DEADLINE.COM HAD TO SAY; “‘Pacific Rim’ $9M Opening In China Biggest Ever For Warner Bros: Sequel Likely Now” By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief - Wednesday July 31, 2013 @ 4:48pm PDT http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/pac...er-for-warner-bros-sequel-likely/#more-553878

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER; “Box Office Report: Guillermo del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' Debuts Huge in China” 6:01 PM PDT 7/31/2013 by Pamela McClintock http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/guillermo-del-toros-pacific-rim-597310 “Pacific Rim has grossed roughly $240 million to date worldwide, a soft number considering its $200 production budget and likely $175 million global marketing spend. Legendary Pictures took the lead on the project, including putting up much of the money, and is still considering a sequel, although sources say WB won't be involved with a follow-up. (Legendary leaves the studio at the end of the year for its new co-financing and co-producing deal with Universal.)” The Hollywood Reporter

I guess what I’m trying to say-is; that certain Films cannot be categorize, they are on their own special niche! They will live and die by a different set of rules, and I keep on coming back to the fact that-do-have a Ten Year Life!

Humberto Rivera
 
I was reading deadline.com and came across this; http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/george-clooney-slams-sony-investor-daniel-loeb/ “George Clooney To Hedge Fund Honcho Daniel Loeb: Stop Spreading Fear At Sony” By MIKE FLEMING JR - Friday August 2, 2013 @ 9:16am PDT

I really don’t know what position to take on this, on first blush, I agree with George Clooney to a certain extent; Said Clooney: “I’ve been reading a lot about Daniel Loeb, a hedge fund guy who describes himself as an activist but who knows nothing about our business, and he is looking to take scalps at Sony because two movies in a row underperformed? When does the clock stop and start for him at Sony? Why didn’t he include Skyfall, the 007 movie that grossed a billion dollars, or Zero Dark Thirty or Django Unchained? And what about the rest of a year that includes Elysium, Captain Phillips, American Hustle and The Monuments Men? You can’t cherry pick a small time period and point to two films that didn’t do great. It makes me crazy. Fortunately, this business is run by people who understand that the movie business ebbs and flows and the good news is they are ignoring his calls to spin off the entertainment assets. How any hedge fund guy can call for responsibility is beyond me, because if you look at those guys, there is no conscience at work. IT IS A BUSINESS THAT IS ONLY ABOUT CREATING WEALTH, where when they fail, they get bailed out and where nobody gets fired. A guy from A HEDGE FUND ENTITY IS THE SINGLE LEAST QUALIFIED PERSON TO BE MAKING THESE KINDS OF JUDGMENTS, and he is dangerous to our industry.” George Clooney

I agree with George Clooney that there are a lot people in the "Motion Picture Industry" that need jobs, and have jobs, and they are quite good-at-what-they-do, that’s the other side of the “Art of Movie Making” part of the “Making of Pictures”! I would also say there are enough people that are making movies at the Studios that know more that a Hedge Fund guy. Now from my view George Clooney has made some very good films as a Filmmaker, and I’m sure he will continue to do so. So is good to listen to him on what he has to say!

HE ADDS; “Even though Clooney acknowledges that $75 million is generous for a STUDIO-MADE FILM THAT ISN’T BASED ON A COMIC BOOK, he feels they got a lot of bang for the buck with star power and staging a period film in Europe. PART OF THAT IS BECAUSE HE HASN’T TAKEN AN UPFRONT SALARY FOREVER, something that has become commonplace in the business and is evidence that Loeb’s criticism of fiscal irresponsibility at Sony isn’t recognizing the whole picture.” George Clooney

It’s an interesting article, even if I DON’T AGREE WITH IT ALL! More power to George Clooney!

TO END; “Clooney noted how well that strategy worked for his pal STEVEN SODERBERGH, who teamed with Channing Tatum to personally underwrite the budget of Magic Mike. The film was a big hit, a sequel is in the works, and so is a Broadway musical. SODERBERGH told me at Cannes that his wager should result in the biggest payday of his career. “What a way for Steven to go out, at the end of his movie career he hits the jackpot,” Clooney said. “I WATCHED SO MANY TIMES AS HE GAVE BACK MONEY AND PERCENTAGES TO GET ACTORS. I APPLAUD BOTH STEVEN AND CHANNING.” George Clooney

Humberto Rivera
 
The Daniel Loeb thing at Sony is getting complicated; http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/daniel-loeb-sony-5-things-598819 “Daniel Loeb Vs. Sony: 5 Things to Expect Next” 4:06 PM PDT 8/2/2013 by Paul Bond

There are five things on his notes; 1) More Missives; 2) Deep Research; 3) New Executive Title; 4) Private Time Won’t Be Private; and 5) The Battle Will Be Public; those are the five things on his on-coming conflict with Sony!

I guess the Jury is still out on what is about to happen to Sony, but it won’t be pretty whatever it is, I personally don’t have an opinion, I’M NOT A DEFENDER OF THE STUDIO SYSTEM, that’s for sure, but at the same time I'M EVEN LESS OF SUPPORTER OF A HEDGE FUND GUY MAKING MOVIE MAKING DECISIONS. The STUDIOS “Failed to Pay People”, they use “Hollywood Accounting”, they hide behind secret “Conventions of the Movie Business”, they “Never Make a Profit”, and they are not without fault, not by a Long Shot! But to have that replace by a Hedge Fund guy, I think it will be worst, anyhow it will not be pretty, and we’re at the beginning. So let’s see what happens!

Humberto Rivera
 
Here is an interesting article that caught my eye, it may be one of the ways “The Studios” are losing money in what is ESSENTIALLY A CASH BUSINESS, the renting of “Movie Seat” during a Picture, after all that’s what happens when you go to “The Movies”, you rent your seat from the “Theater Owners” for a specific period of time, that use to happen often in the USA before “Computerize Movie Seat Sales”. I’M NOT SAYING THAT’S WHAT GOING ON HERE only that it could in a culture of “Receipts! Receipts!” or as they call it in their own colloquialism; “Fapiao”!

I’m sure with the new IMAX Theaters in China you do-have computers, but there is always the “Fapiao”, it’s a huge country! Just saying! That’s before the 2% VAT which the Studios are fighting so hard! In Costa Rica you get the “Factura” for just about anything you buy, you need it for returning the item to the store, and after all Costa Rica is a primarily a “Cash Society”. However there are computers for all the “Movie Theaters” in Costa Rica, so much so that you can actually pick your theater seat before going-in!

IT’S AN INTERESTING ARTICLE; http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/b...d=1&adxnnlx=1375639238-NpP8q6BOj5iVFmKS3bvmmA “Coin of Realm in China Graft: Phony Receipts” NY Times

Humberto Rivera
 
I’m slowly following “Pacific Rim” because what this Film it represents for an International (the World minus the USA and Canada) or Worldwide (it includes the USA) audience can-do for a Picture, that are multiple products! Motion Picture Film, and a Video Game, and they have an Ancillary Market Afterwards. It also has Legendary Picture paying for most of the “Heavy Load”! Of course there is the China Problem that continues to plague the Studios Projections, and that’s what they are projecting at this point! And we’re not taking into account that Gross Numbers are not the same as Net Numbers, big difference. Some people say that it takes “TWO AND A HALF TIMES” the amount of the Original Cost of the Movie, Plus Promotion and Advertising to reach a “BREAK EVEN POINT”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-report-pacific-rim-599329 “Box Office Report: 'Pacific Rim' Scores Massive $45.2 Million China Debut” 11:18 AM PDT 8/4/2013 by Pamela McClintock

TO QUOTE FROM THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER; “Legendary Pictures' tentpole PACIFIC RIM soared to a $45.2 million debut in China, marking the biggest opening of all time for a Warner Bros. title and the sixth-biggest debut of all time for any Hollywood movie. The strong showing at the Chinese box office pushed the film's international total to $200.4 million and worldwide cume to $293.4 million.” The Hollywood Reporter

Humberto Rivera
 
One thing that has “dogged” my mind is something that I saw in Wikipedia some time back, and I’ve tried to fiend it! I found it! It was; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting “Film Budgeting” it takes a rare look at an actual Top Page of a Studio Budget! There are three other Tops Pages on the Wikipedia web site; “Unbreakable”; “Laura Croft Tomb: The Cradle of Life”; and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines!

This kind of “stuck-in-my-mind” because I recall the salaries for some of the Above-the-Line people for “Spider Man 2”; like the Producer $15 M; Story Rights $20 M; Screenplay $10 M; Director $10 M; Tobey Maguire $17 M; Kristen Dunst $7 M; Alfred Molina $3 M; Rest of the cast $3 M; Visual effects $65 M; Music $5 M; Composer $2 M!

There would be an additional $45 M for Production; for a grand total of $200 M!! That seem excessive since the “rule-of-thumb” is “Two and Half Times” the cost of Production to break-even in “Box Office Revenues”, that would be $500 M for just the Basics! There are-the-cost for Distribution, Promotion, and Advertising, who know what that was, but is got to be high! Worldwide: $783,766,341 I guess it got close to Break Even!

According to Box Office Mojo; http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman2.htm The Domestic Total Gross was $373,585,825 Dollars, that’s a far cry from the $500 M (not including Distribution, Promotion, and Advertising), it was distributed by Sony/Columbia on June 30, 2004! The film is near its Ten Year exploitation period, having been released Nine Years ago!

I guess that’s what Daniel Loeb was referring too, but he seems to backing up from his previous position; http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/dan...rai-and-george-clooney-but-can-he-be-trusted/ “Daniel Loeb In Retreat: Backs Off Sony For Now With Praise For CEO Kazuo Hirai And George Clooney; But Can He Be Trusted?” By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief - Tuesday August 6, 2013 @ 6:20pm PDT I Guess it just got to-hot for him, George Clooney got to him? But the question still persist, he is just not right person to raise the Question! Just saying!

Humberto Rivera
 
Humberto, I'm curious about these "break-even" points... in all movies. There are a lot of people, as you have mentioned, above and below the line whose enormous salaries certainly exempt them from losing money on a film. Plus, a movie in loss is a tax lawyer's delight.

But disregarding that, if a movie theoretically breaks even, the studio still owns it. And as Turner Classic Movies has shown us, there is a life for movies long after they have been released. Future revenue can't be accurately anticipated, it's true... but when it arrives, it can certainly add to the bottom line.

And another way I look at this is like a non-profit organization. They never make a profit but a lot of individuals make nice livings off of non-profits, be it as employees or as recipients of distributed collections.

I think it rests on the Indie models to bring truth to the idea of profit/loss in the movie business.
 
Elsie, you’re absolutely correct, that’s why I chose to illustrated the case with “Spider Man 2”, it has been Nine Years since its release, a Picture generally has a Ten Year exploitation life! I’m sure in this case by now the Copyright belongs to Sony. They are continuing to charge on the interest on the “dept”, there are payments due to actors as they cross certain line of exploitation, and of course there are continuing SMALLER exploitation markets, but the always present “INTEREST ON THE LOAN” (from wherever it comes, nobody knows).

Producers, Directors, Actors, Screen Writers, Owners of Rights to a Story, Composers, they know the score with the Studios, they don’t want to invest in the Picture, they just want to be paid, so they do-it like this. But it also front loads the cost of making a movie, for ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY, let’s take the case of “Bruce Willis” in “Unbreakable”, he got $20 M, on some movies, that’s the whole budget of some Independent Films. Take a look again at the numbers at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting

Ancillary Markets can also be good for a Film, look at the bottom right of the Box Office Mojo report!

“Spider Man 2” ended up with a “Worldwide Gross Income” of $783,766,341, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman2.htm the term “Goss” is misleading, because it implies the wrong thing, it should be “Net Profits” from Theater Owners. The Distributor (be anyone) works on a downward “Sliding Scale”, with 50% of the funds during the first weeks of release, and then it goes down from there, the assumption is that most of the people are going to come in within the first two weeks. The “Theater Owner” gets the other half and all the “candy and pop-corn” sales, that’s why “candy and pop-corn” is so expensive when you go to the theater. In a good “pop-corn movie” they make killing! From time to time the Studio can be wrong, such as “Avatar” it kept on going and going that was good for the “Theater Owner”!

I’ll say it again; Two and Half times the cost of Production, Promotion, and Advertisement combined, that the “nut-to-crack”!

Humberto Rivera
 
I was just thinking about what “Bruce Willis” who got paid $20 M for doing “Untouchable”, and I have to repeat; I’M NOT FAULTING HIM FOR THAT, if can get-it from Disney more power to him, one of the studios that tries to keep budgets in line, however we do have “John Cater” and “The Lone Ranger” also from Disney to “kick-around” both performed disastrous at the Box Office, and both went way over budget!

Just looked up “Unbreakable” again on Box Office Mojo; http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=unbreakable.htm it had a Worldwide Box Office Revenues of $248,118,121. If that film had to make “Two and Half Times” it Production Budget, Promotion, and Advertising, well it has a lot more to go before it reaches its “Break Even Point”! Just its “Production Budget” was $73,243,106, Two and Half Times that is $183,197,765, what about its Promotion and Advertising Budgets. I think that just about get’s us there but not-quite! It was release by Buena Vista (Disney) on November 22, 2000, well beyond its Ten Year Exploitation Period, so there is no-more coin in-that-box. And then there is the “Interest” that just keeps on giving!

So what can we take from these glimpse that leaks out from time to time about Budgets, and other things from the Studios, well; “Anything you say in the “Movie Business” is “True”, no matter how outrageous it may be”!

Humberto Rivera
 
I was thinking about “Anamorphic Lenses” after I saw the pdf in Financial and Digital Times; http://www.filmanddigitaltimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Anamorphic-Math-FDTimes.pdf

I think I would stick with the “Master Prime” for these reasons; Wider Choice, 12 mm to 150 mm; Sixteen Lenses in all; Faster T – Stop, T1.3 for all the lenses; Bigger Image Circle Ø 34 mm at 16 mm, so you can comfortably shoot 6000 (horizontal) X 3000 (vertically) of “Real Estate” that’s much better that you can do with any other Lenses in any camera, and if Red ever incorporates the LDS System on the Epic 6K Dragon, well it’s ready. An Image Circle of Ø 33.5 mm on the red at 6000 X 3000 is much better that any “Anamorphic Lenses”!

OK but what about the “Anamorphic” look, you can’t get that, well you can get closer to it with the Epic 6K Dragon, because the sensor has a wider field of view, a 27 mm lens does not really look like a 27 mm lens, it looks much wider, so you can wipe out the background while using it, you still have the T1.3 Stop, the LDS, all of it.

There are lots of “Anamorphic Lenses” coming out in the next few years, they will have to incorporate more and move focal length as time goes-by, Zeiss has already done that with the “Mater Primes”, and they will probably be sharper than any “Anamorphic”. I guess “Anamorphic” worked when you could use all the “Real Estate” in the “Silent Full Frame” but the Red 6K Dragon has changed that along with the Resolution, and Dynamic Range. MY OPINION, this just-another-marketing tool by Arriflex, and they are Easting-it-up, its working! Before I get off lot of negative comments let me say, THIS IS JUST MY OPINON, and you have yours, and I know that there are a lot of “Anamorphic” aficionados out there! Anyhow the pdf is a “good read”, well thought-out! I like what “Paul Cameron” did on the second (2012) “Total Recall” it was a good film, and looked good. Red M-X, and “Anamorphic Lenses”.

Humberto Rivera
 
I gave some more thought to the whole “Anamorphic Lenses” presentation; http://www.filmanddigitaltimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Anamorphic-Math-FDTimes.pdf

Looking at the “Scorpiolene 2X Anamorphic”, they have an Image Circle of Ø 31.14 mm, that’s quite a lateral extension, more than most! The height is never going to be a problem with the Epic 6K Dragon, that would give you full coverage, with little loss of sensor resolution, you’ll be closer to 5.5 K, but you can get all the benefits of shooting on “Anamorphic Lenses”, and you have a mostly T2 to T2.8 aperture! The range of the lenses is also pretty good, 20 mm to 300 mm, a lot better than most any other “Anamorphic Lenses” announced. I personally would use these because all the reasons stated, BUT I WOULD STILL PREFER THE “Master Primes” for all the reasons stated above, including their “sharpness”! I’m pretty sure that you can get a, 2:40.1 aspect ratio using the full height of the sensor; that’s a good thing! Just saying!

Humberto Rivera
 
You know the advertisement as you open the August issue of The American Cinematographer look pretty good, it say; “Pacific Rim is my first digital movie, I’m happy that I chose the EPIC camera to embrace it” – Guillermo Navarro, ASC, and then there is picture from the movie on a two page spread right at the beginning of the magazine.

The reason I’m quoting this magazine is Pacific Rim; Technical Specs, 1.85:1, Digital Capture, Red Epic, Zeiss Ultra Prime, Angenieux Optimo, STEREOSCOPIC CONVERSION!

TO QUOTE FROM THE AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER; “Because Del Toro initially PLANNED TO SHOOT NATIVE 3-D, Navarro began prep by testing digital cameras. “THE DISCUSSION OF 3-D IS WHAT DROVE US TO LOOK HARD AT DIGITAL, and after testing, we decided the Red Epic was the best fit for PACIFIC RIM,” says the cinematographer. “EVENTUALLY, THE 3-D OPTION FELL APART, but Del Toro wanted the movie to have an extreme color palette, and he liked the Red’s color reproduction so much that we went ahead and shot with that.”

“I wanted to experiment with very vibrant colors on PACIFIC RIM — I wanted a very graphic, painterly palette — and I was very happy with the way the Red reacted to those kinds of colors,” explains Del Toro. “Some of the story takes place in Hong Kong, and I love the look of that city, with all the incredible colored neon that creates halos of different colors at night. I felt it was essential to capture that. I also wanted very much to evoke a combination of comic books and animation, to utilize the vivid colors in adventure movies like Zoltan Korda’s JUNGLE BOOK [1942], which has an almost acid Technicolor look. And I wanted to use color to help tell the story, to orient the audience to where we are [at a given time].

He also used his own lenses on the show: Zeiss Ultra Primes and Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm, 17- 80mm, 24-290mm and 28-76mm zooms. Capturing in 5K, he framed in 16:9 for a final aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Footage was recorded to Red SSD cards.” The American Cinematographer

Del Toro intended to shoot in 3D, for whatever reason that felt apart, but in the process they discovered that the Epic M-X camera was for more than just shooting S3D, it was actually good for shooting everything, and when the Epic 6K Dragon arrives in September (we hope) it would be the camera to choose for anything, and I mean anything there is no camera that even comes close in-any-way. The film was eventually was released in STEREOSCOPIC CONVERSION, probably due to the huge amount of VFX. So as far as the public was concern, there was a 3D Picture, and imagine the conversions for the Video Game was also taken into consideration. Why do I continue to follow this movie, I’m not sure, but I do!

I noticed that the Zeiss Ultra Primes and Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm, 17- 80mm, 24-290mm and 28-76mm zooms are the lenses MOST COMMONLY used on big budget films, here is a nice 48 page pdf that appeared in today’s Film and Digital times; http://www.fdtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/FDTimes-Angenieux-Special-Aug2013.pdf I would only add that the “Master Prime” are a choice that I would preferred for all the reasons stated above.

Humberto Rivera
 
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