We wrapped "Exposed" this weekend. Shoot went great. I'll post details here soon, but right now I need to get some rest... :)
-Blake
Our PR company got PINK on the Reuters digital billboard in Times Square! It was up for about 12 hours on the premiere date 9/16...
Mike Maden and I are profiled in "Ad Age" under their "Web Video Report":
http://adage.com/webvideoreport/article?article_id=131238
They asked us mainly about PINK, but also about the new show EXPOSED and kinda got the two mixed up. Read the article and you'll see what I'm talking about. :)
Nice piece either way though, and hey, they even spelled our names right!
-Blake
The good folks at YouTube have featured the new Season 2 of "Pink" and we just want to say THANK YOU!
You can check out the new episode here.
You wanna watch "Friends", "The O.C.", "Roswell", "PINK"?!?
Very cool news... PINK is now on TheWB.com!
http://www.thewb.com/shows/pink/
Check it out when you can. They even cut a cool promo for the show! It is weird, but great, to see PINK along side these big network shows.
-Blake
PINK Season 2 premieres TODAY on Vuze.com and tomorrow everywhere else (including YouTube, Myspace, Revver, Blip, Metacafe, etc.). We have a cool agreement with Vuze where they get a 24 hour exclusive window - and there you can see the episodes in HD.
So please check out the first new episode!
Thanks!
Blake
Okay, so I was going to try and blog daily during production, but that was waaaay too ambitious a thought. What I'm now going to try and do is a weekly blog about production and post.
WEEK ONE went pretty smooth. We have a really great cast & crew. Most I've worked with before, but we do have several shiny new faces onboard too, and they have worked out well so far.
Only major issue is we somehow broke my Letus Extreme 35mm adaptor on the third day of the shoot. Didn't drop it. Didn't hit it. Not sure what happened. But the inside mirror cracked. Luckily, my filmmaker friend Russ Pond owns a Letus as well and so we're now using his until mine gets repaired (which is hopefully very soon).
This week was a six-day week, so today we're all resting (well, I'm actually working on "Pink" and a few other things), but this coming week is a five-day week. We're doing the typical 12 hour days and for the most part hitting that petty well.
One of the coolest things about this shoot is we're actually editing along the way. Cliff Richhart is on-set editor. This is the first time I've done this and I must say it is greatness. Having a rough cut of the scenes you shot in the morning THAT AFTERNOON is a huge help.
Until next week...
-Blake
So we start principle photography tomorrow on the new WB web series "Exposed". I'm going to try and post some blog entries along the way. But if you've ever worked on any film project you know that time is always short, so I'll do the best I can.
Today we're doing our last minute stuff after three weeks of pre-pro. I'm about to go home and watch the Cowboy game to clear my mind. But afterwards I have to work on my shot list and storyboards for tomorrow. So, no adult beverages during the game. We'll maybe one or two.
Anyway, we've got a great cast and crew onboard for this show so I am confident will have something really good for world to see in about three weeks. Now whether the world watches is another story! :)
-Blake
Interesting article on "web video" studios...
http://adage.com/webvideoreport/article?article_id=130448
From the piece:
Hollywood is gearing up to create what would be the first big Web hit. However, when an online show finally does break out into mainstream popularity, it may not come from traditional entertainment companies.
Rather, the most successful Internet television programs could emerge from a handful of online TV networks that already are producing high-quality episodic content for the Web, day in and day out.
IMHO, there have already been several "web hits" such as "Prom Queen", "Ask A Ninja", "Lonely Girl 15", etc... (and "Pink" hasn't done half bad either). :)
-Blake
Gearing up to shoot our new WB web series "Exposed" on 9/8/08. Here are two teasers promoting the new site...
Check it out TheWB.com.
-Blake
If you're an actor please do the following:
1. PUT A DEMO REEL ONLINE FOR PRODUCERS TO SEE
2. BE ABLE TO VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF FOR AN AUDITION
We live in the "Internet Age", yet I'm constantly surprised that actors do not have an online reel, or that they can't shoot video of themselves. I understand if you don't have footage for a reel - okay. But you should AT LEAST have a MySpace page with pictures, resume, etc. Yeah sure, if you have an agent they'll have this stuff too. But market YOURSELF.
And today with productions happening all over the map it is IMPERATIVE that you have a way to tape an audition. I use the word "tape", but today there are tons of "tapeless" options out there such as the Flip Mino. It is about the size of a phone and shoots excellent video - especially for online. Tons of YouTube folks use this camera. It's only $180. A small investment to be able to easily tape and upload or send auditions. If you don't have a Myspace page or a personal web site, then just upload audition to YouTube. You can easily pull it down afterwards.
If you're serious about acting, then you should be serious about getting acting jobs. And these two small things can greatly help.
-Blake
Nice mention of our new show "Exposed" in Variety today...
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990615.html
Check it out when you have a moment.
-Blake
Check out the latest teaser video from "88 Hits" right now on YouTube. Show premieres 09.09.08.
-Blake
Got this notice today from Revver...
We're featuring your video "88 Hits" on Wednesday, 8/13 on RevverLive, our new live web show produced in collaboration with LiveVideo.com. The hour-long show airs live daily at 1pm PST and features the best and most conversation-sparking Revver videos, with rotating hosts using LiveVideo's robust social video platform to interact with viewers in real-time via video and text chat.
The immediacy with which fans can participate in conversations about your videos makes this a unique opportunity for audiences to engage with your work and with each other, and is a great way to help you promote your work. Feel free to join in on the coversation or watch from the sidelines to see what viewers think by checking out the show here (if it's not live, check out the archived episodes):
http://www.livevideo.com/liveshow/Revverlive
Tell all your friends to log in and watch live and comment! ALSO, since the show is produced daily in Hollywood, we'd love to have any of you LA-based creators come in to the studio on the day of the show to introduce your video and talk about it a bit with the show's host and viewers.
If you're able to tune in, we recommend creating a LiveVideo account with the same username as your Revver account and then joining the chat so that host and viewer alike can interact with you.
Let us know if you have any questions about this, or want to get involved in the show!
So that's pretty cool. I hadn't heard of this kind of thing before, online anyway. I'll be tuning in, and if you can check it out or visit their show archive to listen later.
-Blake
Hulu is owned by FOX and NBC. So we're very happy to have "Pink" on the site. Later in September it will all be in HD too (and will eventually include our new Season 2 episodes).
Check it out:
http://www.hulu.com/pink-the-series
Thanks!
Blake
So this is not filmmaking per se, but it does deal with visual effects...
Some of the fireworks during the Olypics opening ceremony were evidently fake! Hmmm. I realize it's entertainment, but it's also a "news" event. So that is really close to crossing the line IMHO.
Read entire story here.
-Blake
UPDATE 8/12/08: So, another fake out by the Chinese! Now they're saying the little girl who sang during the opening ceremoney didn't really sing! They pulled a Milli-Vanilli on the entire world... read it here.
If you haven't checked out Vimeo yet, you should. It's another one of many web video sharing sites - but this one is different. Mainly because it is one of the first to allow users to upload HD video. And it also plays it back for viewers in a streaming flash player that looks really good.
I have a new page on the site:
www.vimeo.com/blakecalhoun
I currently have the first "DIY's Guys" episode up and the "88 Hits" teaser (this was shot in SD though).
Anyway, definitely check out the site when you have a moment. Oh, and also be sure to click the "full screen" option on the lower right hand side of the HD player, that way you'll get the full HD experience. :)
-Blake
