I didn't get to attend Sundance this year, although I really wanted to.  Several folks from the studio I work out of went to support several Texas-made films that were premiering in competition. 

Those films were David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints and Shane Carruth's Upstream Color.  

In an interesting coincidence, both of these films actually used our studio (Ideaman Studios in Dallas, Texas) during various stages of their production and/or post.

Lowery's film will be released in August by IFC Films and so I have not seen it, but Shane is distributing Upstream Color himself and last night in Dallas he held a preview screening before the film opens officially on Friday at the Angelika Theater.  And I was there.

Upstream Color has been reviewed a lot since it's Sundance premiere and so I'm not going to really do that here, plus I'm not a film critic... I'm a filmmaker who on occasion gets to watch films (I have two small children so I mainly watch Disney Channel).  I also don't consider myself a "cinephile". My taste vary wildly and I probably tend to prefer more commercial fare. 

Not Michael Bay commercial mind you... more like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese commercial.

As a frame of reference, some of my favorites films are...

Goodfellas
Shindler's List
Trainspotting
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
Pulp Fiction
Alien
Minority Report
Raging Bull
Narc
Star Wars
Shawshank Redemption
Raising Arizona

I could go on, but you get the idea. 

I'm not a film historian and really don't know much about French New Wave or the French for that matter.  I just like good movies.  

What's my definition of a good movie? Typically speaking, it's one that I will watch more than once.  And that doesn't happen very often.  And it's all very subjective of course.

So I guess what I'm saying here is this Upstream Color "review" is coming from someone who doesn't really watch many "art films".  

I actually had a debate on Facebook recently about that phrase... art films.  I posed the question, aren't all films art?  I think they are.  But with the caveat that not all art is created equal. As a Facebook friend of mine Lance Von Trachtenberg says, "A print that you can buy in the clearance bin at Ross is in fact art, but really doesn't carry with it the resonance of an oil by Monet".  

So, art then is delivered in degrees of complexity... And that brings us to Upstream Color (finally, right?)... :)

I actually didn't know what to expect seeing the film.  

I've followed it's progress pretty closely though since it was produced in Dallas - and actually I know Shane, Casey Gooden (the producer) and Tom Walker (the production designer).  And many of the cast members I've worked with and are friends with. But Shane kept the film pretty quiet.  Pretty secret.  

Until the Sundance premiere.

That's when the Twitterverse lit up after the premiere screening.  I was taken aback some reading the initial WTF responses.  Especially considering the film played to what is undeniably a friendly "art house" crowd. 



That's not to say the reaction was bad per se, it was just more of confusion.  But that was kind of expected, wasn't it? After all, if you saw Primer (Shane's first film that won Sundance in 2004) you were already primed (pun intended) for a puzzle of a story.

The tweets settled down though later in the Sundance week and slowly turned to high praise from many top critics.  But, as often happens, film critics are much more in tune with art house films than general movie goers.  So, I still wasn't really sure what to expect.

Lots of folks compared the work to Malick or Kubrick, which is setting the bar pretty high - although I am not a huge fan of Malick's recent efforts such as Tree of Life. That film tries way too hard and says very little (I know many disagree with me).  And actually, Malick's name gets tossed around a lot these days if a film has a "lyrical" quality to it. So I personally think his name is overused in describing work today.  But I digress...

Upstream Color does have elements of Kubrick (in many of the shot compositions) and a lyrical style reminiscent of Malick (yeah, I did just say that), but in the end it's all Shane Carruth.  And I liked it.

There, I finally said something about the film!

Now, let me say I'm not exactly sure why I liked it, but I did.  I really didn't connect with any of the characters.  I really didn't get consumed by the story (and yes, there is a story and a narrative albeit in the background).

And speaking of the story, it was actually pretty simple.  And pretty straightforward.  

The way it was told was fairly complex and enigmatic.  

It was also ambiguous. And ambiguity is great in my mind, but not confusion.  That is a fine line, but there is a difference.

After the screening at the Q&A Shane said something that I really thought was interesting... He said as a filmmaker he's not there to provide answers, he's there to ask questions.  I really like that.

So I think for me the attraction to the film was more about tone. It was also about sound design. And it was about music. 

These three main elements really made it work.  

Again, this is a lyrical film. You're not watching this to be engrossed in an action thriller storyline.  It's more of a sensorial experience.

I'll also say the performance of actress Amy Seimetz was really good, and the cinematography was very  intriguing in a shallow depth-of-field, out of focus kind of vibe.  It absolutely added to the experience in a very good way.  


One minor cinematography (and/or editing choice) caveat here for me was the use of the "hand shot" - it got a bit old.  It's a very cool shot - a close-up of a person's hand gliding along a leg, or a bed or grass - whatever.  It's been  done a lot and I really remember it in Ridley Scott's Gladiator, but also in other (yep) Malick work.  That's not to say others can't use it, you can, but it felt over done here - a lot like those damn sun flare shots in any (yep) Malick film. Those are beautiful the first 10 times you see them, but man, in almost every shot? Gets old.

So will fans of Primer like this film?  That's hard to say.

It's not really a puzzle of a story. It's also not sci-fi or really a genre film. It does have genre elements in it - especially at the beginning with the worms and then pigs. That has a horror vibe going, but only for a while. The pacing is good throughout, although it does meander a tad in the second act. But the third act is beautiful and virtually dialogue-free.  In the end the film is really a love story and actually has (all things considered) a rather sweet ending, too. All of course told in a very unique way.  

So yeah, Primer fans will for the most part like it I think, as long as they know what they're in for. But it is a different kind of film, and a much more mature film.

I really hope (art) film fans will go out and support this. Shane and co. are distributing this themselves and so every ticket sold really matters.  The film opens this Friday locally in Dallas and Plano at the Angelika, and across the country as well. So go see it! 

It will also be released on VOD and Blu-ray, etc. in early May in the U.S. and that will likely be where most of its business comes from... 

I know I'll be watching it again.

-Blake

P.S. I really loved the score. And you can buy it right now digitally or on vinyl (which is really cool), and as a matter of fact you can preview a track right here...

Recently I've really gotten into shooting with my GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition... I think the image (in good lighting conditions) is extremely usable now - even for broadcast projects.  Set the camera to record 2.7k in the ProTune mode and it looks remarkably good. It's very sharp and the codec holds up well to basic grading.

Here's a short test I shot before Christmas (with a baked in look though)...


GoPro Hero3 Black Edition 2.7k Footage from Blake Calhoun on Vimeo.

And then the time-lapse stuff looks great too when shot in the full 12 Megapixel mode. It's close to, if not, a 5k image - so you can easily pull a 16x9 2k video file (or larger) from it.  I'll post some samples I did in the near future.

On a job we just finished in Vegas we shot some synchronized swimming at Caesar's Palace by sticking the camera in the side of the pool (on a short Joby tripod) and the client loved the look. A really quick and easy way to add production value to a shoot with the underwater footage.

I'm really finding a lot of uses for this very portable and affordable rig.  What about you?

-Blake

I've recently had the opportunity to shoot with the elusive Blackmagic Cinema Camera.  I had read all the early reviews and seen all the early footage - but nothing is quite the same as using the camera yourself.

My first test was really simple and really quick and shot on a really gloomy day...



Blackmagic Cinema Camera Test Footage from Blake Calhoun on Vimeo.

In this test I shot ProRes HQ in camera and used the Film mode, which is very similar to Log mode on say an Alexa or a Canon C300.  I shot with a Canon 24-105mm L series lens. The resulting color graded footage looked remarkable good I thought, even with it being so overcast.

My next test was a bit on the brave side, and I say this because it was for a paying gig. I work in the commercial business (as well as the film and TV business), and one of my agency clients needed some Subaru footage... so, I decided to use the BMCC on the job.  In the end I'm glad I did it as it was a very good "real world" test - and it showed some glaring issues with the camera that I'll list at the end of this post.

For this job we shot Avid DNxHD in camera using the Video mode, which has a baked in Rec 709 look. Btw, it's VERY nice that you can shoot ProRes or DNxHD IN CAMERA with the BMCC.  I don't think any other camera on the market does this (besides Alexa?). A huge advantage for quick turnaround post regardless of your NLE of choice. And these files playback on pretty much any computer.

We shot again with the Canon 24-105mm L series lens (pictured above) along with a Rokinon 16mm prime for our wider stuff.  We also used a small 4 ft. jib (also pictured) that really worked well for this size camera adding just enough production value to the footage.  Lastly, we (luckily) had a top of the line Flanders Scientific 17" monitor, this is key too, as the BMCC LCD is okay - but the colors are not true AND it's a mirror outside (especially in the sun) - and if you don't have a large crew and the ability to get a courtesy flag over the monitor it's pretty much unusable.

The other thing I did a bit differently on this was shoot 29.97fps at a 144 degree shutter. I normally would shoot (as I did in the first test) at 23.98fps at a 180 degree shutter.  But, this was for broadcast (and we didn't want to add pulldown to the 24p footage) and more importantly it was going into a preexisting edit with other 29.97 footage.

The final test I did was probably my favorite though, even if it wasn't "real world", because I shot in the camera's highest resolution (and best quality) at 2.5k Raw.  This was shot at 23.98fps in Film mode (the only mode btw you can shoot in raw) and I used the same Canon L series lens for part of it and a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 for the other part (really most of it).

I was hesitant to use the Tamron at first though... it's a pretty good lens, but not as sharp as L glass (although as a side note it's the main lens we used to shoot the entire two seasons of my web series Continuum on a Canon 7D). But in the end I was pleasantly surprised at the results. Would L glass or a prime be sharper?  Yes, almost certainly, but this looks pretty darn good...



Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5k Raw Test from Blake Calhoun on Vimeo.

It's worth noting on this test that I shot all of it either hand-held or on a monopod, so the footage needed some stabilizing, which I did in Davinci Resolve and FCP7.  I also did the color grading in Davinci and I did use Magic Bullet Looks on two shots (can you guess which ones?).

Overall I'm VERY impressed with this camera, as are most people who have reviewed it.  It does however have LOTS of issues that make it hard to use... some of these can/will be fixed with firmware updates and others can't be.

Here's my list of pros and cons (not in any order):

CONS:

1. Ergonomics are really quirky for hand-held (definitely need 3rd party support gear to really do it right)
2. The LCD screen doesn't articulate and is a mirror outside
3. The double tap function on the LCD to zoom in and check focus works fine, but over half the time a menu pops up instead of the focus zoom (the menu comes on with a single tap)
4. The Iris control is very basic, you hit the button and it "auto" finds the exposure. That's it.  You can't adjust it up or down by a stop or partial stops (UNLESS you're using a manual lens)
5. The version of the firmware I used did NOT display the aperture - this has since been added I'm told
6. There is no time remaining indicator for the SSD. It just stops recording and several times I didn't realize this - NOT good!
7. There are no VU meters for audio - so if you're recording it I guess a mixer is needed?  I'd suggest doing double system sound. I'm not sure if it has an auto function enabled either?
8. The internal battery doesn't last very long - an external battery is a must have. Oh, and the internal battery can't be replaced - it's built in.
9. The menu is VERY basic. It's really too basic for professional shooters.  It needs more functionality. For example, color bars would be great. Although that's pretty basic too, isn't it? :)
10. I found that the LCD is not very color accurate, it's okay, but not great (this doesn't matter as much if you're shooting raw or in Film mode - but ProRes or DNxHD in Video mode it concerns me some)
11. Quirky thing, but I found you can't playback ProRes or DNxHD off the SSD in camera IF you've recorded Raw on the same SSD.  
12. BIG ISSUE HERE... You can NOT format the SSD in camera. And you cannot delete clips in camera.  You have to connect it to your computer to delete the clips!!!!!!  Really needs to be fixed.

PROS:

1. The image quality is unmatched in this class of camera - although LOTS of competition is on the horizon from the Digital Bolex to the KineRAW Mini (all in the $3000 range).
2. Did I mention the image quality?  It really does look like a "Baby Alexa" as some folks have called it... It's very cinematic right out of the camera!
3. The cost - the camera is under $3000 - although to really make it work in a pro setting I'd recommend buying a cage, rails and mattebox system, along with an external monitor, and you'll also need an external battery (like a V-mount, etc.).... so you're looking at another $2k-$5k depending on what you get - but that's STILL AMAZING. Anyone remember the $90k DigitBetacams???
4. SSDs are great, affordable and hold lots of footage... and you'll need the space if shooting raw. The drives we had were only 120GB and they held about 90 mins of ProRes or DNxHD and only 15 minutes of Cinema DNG Raw files!  But the drives are so nice - and not proprietary like RED's.
5. HD-SDI output is really nice and unseen at a price point like this!  You can connect a variety of very high-end monitors and/or external recorders (for ProRes or DNxHD, not Raw).  Some might find this a Con as they have HDMI monitors, but they would be wrong. :)
6. Built in microphone - very basic and simple, but great for doing double system sound. The RED cameras do not have this and it makes it more challenging hooking up an external mic.  Understand, I'm talking about using this mic for reference only to sync sound recorded on another device (using Pluraleyes or similar).
7. Simplicity - it's very easy to use. I grabbed it and shot something literally 2 minutes later without reading a manual. They have definitely taken the Apple approach to minimalistic design. This could also be a Con though (see #9 above), but overall it does make it great for novices and even pros to jump in and start shooting.
8. Editing workflow is great - super easy and obvious if you're using ProRes or DNxHD, but even with Cinema DNG files it's really easy IF you use Davinci Resolve.  A LOT of folks are going the Lightroom to After Effects route and it's taking hours and hours to do this. The results do look great, but man, what a lot of work. In Davinci they have Blackmagic Camera LUTs already in the program!  And the Raw files come right in instantly even with the audio, this is a big deal.  Now, you do need a really powerful machine to play the files in realtime (not sure if this is completely possible or not?), but my iMac (just over a year old) plays them back at about 12fps and scrubs through them great, so it's really not a huge issue.  Grading is relatively easy (coming from Apple Color for me) and the exporting to a useable codec like ProRes HQ or ProRes4444 is a breeze.
9. EF mount - there's lots of people who'll disagree with this, but for me it's great. I already own lots of Canon glass and it's also very cheap to rent.  Zeiss even makes the CP.2 primes that fit EF. Oh, btw, I did NOT have any issue with the crop factor, none whatsoever!  I just used wider lenses and it all worked out fine. This was a big "fear" when the camera specs were announced and has really become a non-issue.
10. It doesn't look like a pro video camera - this is in the same vein as with HDSLRs... it's great to be more incognito when shooting, especially in public. People think you're just shooting stills. A lot of my test footage was shot at the Dallas Arboretum and no one blinked an eye as to what I was doing.
11. Btw, did I mention the image quality? :)

So as you can see, there are lots of pros and cons... I could have gone on with more on both.

Luckily a lot of the Cons can be fixed with firmware updates.  Some can't though like the LCD screen and the audio jacks (I didn't mention these, but they are 1/4" which is a bit odd, but useable).

And a lot of the Pros are subjective and probably actually Cons to some people...

So should you buy one?  I'd simply say, YES. (if you can find one that is!)

Not only do you get a remarkable image from this quirky camera, but it comes with Davinci Resolve and UltraScope (which is a really interesting way to tether your camera to a computer and get a Live View, along with Waveform and Vectorscopes and a VU meter for your audio monitoring).

But, I wouldn't make this my only camera.  Especially if you're a filmmaker like me who works in a variety of genres.

I own a 7D too and never made that my sole camera.  I also have a traditional Sony NXCAM rig for corporate and some commercial work... I own two GoPros... I still have a Canon XH-A1... And I often rent other cameras depending on the gig (lots of RED Scarlet or Epic recently), etc.

You need to use the right camera for each job. And while the BMCC will work in a lot of situations, it wouldn't be ideal in others. I personally feel it's a great fit for medium to low budget commercial work and narrative indie films.  It'll also probably get a lot of work as a B Camera to Alexas on bigger shoots. Documentary or run and gun stuff? Not ideal.

In the end, this is a truly amazing camera for an unheard of price. And just think, this is a Version 1 model... where will this be in just a few short years?  And some people will wait for that, and that's fine (maybe it will have a Super 35mm chip next round?). But I want to make films today.

So right now, even with all of its quirks, you can't get a better bang for your buck.

-Blake

Just over a week ago we (the production team on Continuum) won two IAWTV tropies during CES in Las Vegas... Best Editing and Best Art Design.

See the entire list of winners here.

I took the editing award and Eric Whitney won the Art Design trophy. Next up are the Streamy Awards where I'm nominated in the Best Editing category. That event is in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Paladium. I've never been to the Paladium, so I'm excited to attend.

Here's a goofy picture of me holding a trophy (not THE trophy though, there was a mix up and they're having to mail it to me - along with Eric's).  :)

-Blake

The Streamy Awards announced their nominations today and I received one nom for Best Editing on Continuum. Very excited about this and the show's 7 IAWTV Award nominations too.

What a great way to start off 2013... The IAWTV Awards are on January 8th in Las Vegas and the Streamy Awards are in Hollywood on February 17th.

One really cool trend at the Streamy Award was there are LOTS of sci-fi shows being recognized.... Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Drone, H+, Cybergeddon and of course Continuum. :) Great company to be in, especially because we're an ultra low budget show. These other series are multi-million dollar productions. The rumor is Halo was $10 million to produce!!

Be sure to check out the complete list of nominees here.

-Blake

Most of you who follow indie film probably know that Sundance announced its 2013 slate this week. What you might not know is that two of the films in the dramatic competition, yes TWO, were produced in Dallas.

The films are David Lowry's AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS and Shane Carruth's UPSTREAM COLOR.

Only a handful of films get accepted into Sundance, and from those only a handful get picked to be in the competition, so this is a pretty big deal for David and Shane, and for Dallas. (Btw, Shane's film PRIMER won Sundance in 2004).

But what's even more interesting to me is that BOTH of these films shared a studio space for portions of their pre-pro, production and post.  That studio is IDEAMAN STUDIOS in Dallas, where I office out of along with owner David Maddox and several other producer/director/editors. And this was largely due to Toby Halbrooks who produced David's movie and also co-produced (among other duties) Shane's movie (Casey Gooden produced it). Oh, and did I mention that David edited Shane's film?  And that Tom Walker worked on both in art direction. A lot going on around Ideaman this past year.

So this post is not to brag about this per se, but to congratulate the filmmakers on these very cool accomplishments and to recognize the flourishing indie film scene in the great state of Texas - and specifically Dallas - who I feel is often left off the "best" indie film scene lists compiled by the "experts" each year.

See you in Park City...

-Blake

Season 1 of my sci-fi series Continuum has been available to rent for several months now via our VOD partner Distrify, and now it's available as a download-to-own in HD. 

The HD download-to-own is only $9.99 and the streaming rental is $3.99.

This is a great way to support our efforts in creating this 100% independent show. All proceeds go to financing Season 2 and paying down our debt from Season 1. :) 



And speaking of Season 2.... we'll announce a premiere date soon!  (Hint: It will be in early 2013)

Thanks!
Blake

My series Continuum received 7 nominations at the IAWTV Awards! 

They are:

Best Lead Actress, Mel Merkosky
Best Lead Actor, Brad Hawkins
Best Writing in a Drama, Blake Calhoun
Best Set Design, Eric Whitney
Best VFX, Chad Briggs and Element X Creative
Best Editing, Blake Calhoun
Best Score, Damon Criswell

The award's ceremony is at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas on January 8, 2013 during CES.

The entire cast & crew are very honored and humbled to be in such great company with all the other nominees.

If you haven't seen the show please check it out and help spread the word! :)

-Blake

I didn't see this coming... Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4 billion from George Lucas.

That's everything from the film franchise to future films and including Skywalker Sound, ILM, etc. I HOPE they don't stop supporting indie film at Skywalker... Skywalker Sound especially has helped many indie filmmakers finish their projects at indie rates.

Vimeo now allows people to "tip" (ie. give money) to video creators via their new Tip Jar... kind of like a mini Kickstarter way of raising money and/or supporting independent work.

I've enabled the feature on a few a my Vimeo videos as a test and might try using it in the future as another fundraising tool. Vimeo is also going to do full on PPV (pay-per-view) in the future too. Lots of interesting things happening now in online distribution...



Continuum Season 1 Trailer from Blake Calhoun on Vimeo.

Btw, it appears the only way to use the Tip Jar feature is actually ON Vimeo's site. Would be nice if it carried over into the embeds. I have to believe for this to be successful that will happen on a future update, similar to what you can currently do with Distrify (although there you either rent or buy the show).

Check it out and let me know what you think of this new option. Oh, and if you want to leave a tip as a test that would be fine by me. :)

-Blake

Seems almost every week or so a new camera is released these days... Just this week there are new offerings from Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and Blackmagic.

I'm exaggerating a tad bit of course on the weekly release, but it's not far from the truth.  And this is a good thing... no, GREAT thing for filmmakers everywhere.

Since the release of the Canon 5D three or four odd years ago filmmakers have had the ability to create very cinematic images at previously unheard of low prices.

But it wasn't always like this...

When I started making films in the mid to late 1990s we used 16mm film.... and it was very expensive to shoot. Not necessarily because of the camera rentals (very few folks owned their own rigs then) but because of the purchase of the film, the processing and then the transfer to video (DigiBeta or Beta SP back then, no HD!).

Before the rush of affordable video cameras began (in the late 90s and early 2000s), we were all in awe of an affordable Russian made 16mm camera called the K-3 (Krasnogorsk-3).  At the time it was revolutionary for it's functionality and price (around $700) - I bought one and used it a lot. It of course wasn't a sync sound camera - way too noisy and wasn't blimped.  So we'd shoot a scene and then have the actors do the scene again - right after we shot - to record the audio (with no camera running). Yes, seriously, that's what we did.  But again, never before had we been able to afford such a "professional" camera (we had used 30 year old Bolex cameras prior to that).



In 1997-ish (as I recall) the Sony VX1000 was released and it took the indie film world (along with the corporate video world) by storm.  It was a sub $5000 camera that shot to Mini DV tape but only in the NTSC interlaced format.  It was revolutionary at the time.  And I put my K-3 on the shelf (for the most part).



The big rage then was finding software that would make your interlaced video "look like film". Of course it never really did, although we thought at the time it looked pretty good and compared to the footage directly out of the camera, it did.  Wow, were these the dark ages, huh?

The Next Big Thing didn't happen for several years.

It was around 2003-ish when the Panasonic DVX100 was released that shot 24p... now this really looked like film!  This was the go to camera for indie filmmakers for several years - and to think that it was originally only a 4x3 aspect ratio camera. I don't think it was every truly a wide screen camera, but a later version did have a 16x9 "mode". I say this because it's unfathomable to shoot anything but widescreen today.



And speaking of today... we're now all so very spoiled.

I mean seriously, you can get 1080 HD video out of an iPhone that rivals or is even better than full on video cameras from just a few years ago. It's really amazing if you think about it.

During my 16mm film time in the 90s the main kind of video camera was a Sony Beta SP camera. Those could easily cost $50,000 or more. And DigiBeta were $100k!  To that point, when I hear folks today complain about a $15,000 camera (like the Canon C300) I seriously have to roll my eyes. As I mentioned, we are all so very spoiled now.



But I guess in reality, that too is a good thing.

Filmmakers today really have NO excuses for not making great looking films. None.

The hard part of course is making good films. And that's really what it's all about these days (or should be).  The camera is no longer an obstacle.

In the past you were often commended for making a good looking film, even if it wasn't very good. It was very, very hard as an indie to make a "real" looking movie just a few years ago. I used to take it as a huge compliment when my friends or family would comment on my work and say, "wow, that looks like a real movie" (usually meaning it was shot on film).

But today, pretty much anyone can make a "real" looking movie with the help of all these great cameras at our (affordable) disposal.

To name just a few of these incredible devices:

1. RED Scarlet (4k/5k camera)
2. Canon C300 (and soon to be released C100)
3. Canon 5D MkIII
4. Panasonic GH3 (just announced)
5. Black Magic Cinema Camera (rolling out as we speak)
6. Sony FS100 or FS700 (amazing bang for the buck)



And there are a dozen more that are all within reach. These are all affordable cameras (purchase or rental) to every filmmaker out there. Like I said, no excuses for making good looking movies today.

Now if we could all just concentrate on making good movies (myself included).

Maybe that'll be the Next Big Thing.

-Blake

Continuum is an entirely indie effort. We have no publicist. No agency repping this project. And so getting press is not very easy in this crowded media landscape we find ourselves in today. 

But... recently we've had some good fortune, primarily on just the strength of the show (I'm told) garnering good word-of-mouth "press" (which is great of course) that has lead to some more traditional (digital) press from blogs and such.

The first new piece is from PlacevineStudios and writer Lance Trachtenberg. From the article... 

Contiuum’s effectiveness stems from its thoughtful usage of the emotional pitfalls of distrust, suspicion, and paranoia all blending together to create a palpable atmosphere of psychological intrigue in every episode. 

Read the entire write-up here.

And the second recent coverage is from a blog interview from a company called Jump Ship Productions. They were kind enough to contact us through our Facebook page and interview me about the production and release of the series.  From the interview...

Continuum is a fast paced, suspenseful science fiction series about a young woman who awakens on a space shuttle with no idea why she is there or even who she is. She relies on the ship’s computer to help her piece together her mission, but quickly becomes suspicious of the motives behind the mechanical voice. 

Read the entire interview here.

I really appreciate the coverage!  And if you missed my previous post, I also did a fun blog radio interview for Genre-tainment a few weeks back.

Who needs a publicist? :)

-Blake

I did an interview for Marx Pyle and his blog radio show Genre-tainment last week and the show aired this week. The show is live, but they prerecord the interviews and do some editing for time.

The interview was primarily about Continuum, but we touched a lot on Pink, Exposed and my other feature film work.  It's a fairly in-depth look at my work over the past 5 years... I actually (almost) sound like I know what I'm doing. :)

There are some technical glitches at the beginning of the show (aren't there always?), but once you get past that it goes pretty smoothly.  I've been pitching this on Facebook as me talking about "web series, assassins and sci-fi".... and that pretty much sums it up!

Check it out for yourself here.

And more news coming soon about Continuum Season 2, and some other interesting stuff too. As usual, please stay tuned...

-Blake