Filmmaking | Paul D

Paul D’s Filmmaking Daily

Today I am officially launching Paul D’s Filmmaking Daily.

Published daily at 4PM GMT / 11AM EST / 8AM PST, the magazine scours the web for all the latest news, reviews and features for filmmakers, so that you don’t have to. Do check it out!

Last Saturday I gave a talk, at Music Tech Fest, about the making of The Toadlickers. I explained how we achieved things with the Canon 5D Mark II that are supposedly impossible, such as green screen and perfect focus whilst both camera & subject are moving. I also talked about lighting, editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, using Adobe After Effects CS5 to comp live action and puppets, create night vision & security camera effects. After demonstrating how Magic Bullet Colorista II was used to grade footage, I showed The Toadlickers on the festival’s 66” plasmas, on which, from a technical perspective, it looked impressive, underlining the power of this technology.

Highlights of the three day event included Friday’s keynote by my friend, Martyn Ware, who talked about Heaven 17, B.E.F., The Illustrious Company – the 3D sound design company he runs with Vince Clarke, and the multitude of other projects upon which he is working; Daniel Jones’ and Peter Gregson’s ‘The Listening Machine‘ which sonifies Twitter feeds (and to which I could listen all day); Jason Singh, the Asian Tim Exile, who tore it up during his performance on Saturday night; and my friend Matt Black, who gave a presentation about ‘Ninja Jamm‘ the new Coldcut/Ninja Tune app that’s guaranteed to get everyone addicted to DJing and hosted a surprise jam session for hack camp attendees.

As I had a 5D Mark II with me, for my presentation, it would have been churlish not to have taken some pics…

Matt Black:

Jason Singh:

Hack camp:

This guy hacked the contents of his kitchen cupboard:

Matt Black’s jam session:

Focus on Imaging 2012

After last year’s disappearing act, Canon were back with a vengeance at this year’s Focus on Imaging expo at the NEC in Birmingham. Unsurprisingly, the EOS 5D Mark III, announced just two days before the event, was the star of their stand and of the show, with long queues to get up close and personal with one. Continue reading “Focus on Imaging 2012”

A Letter to Kodak

Dear Kodak,

In Act 1 you were the undisputed king of film. From Hollywood to Bollywood, some of the greatest movies ever made were captured on Kodak film. So too were some of the worst atrocities committed against humanity. You gave us the escape we needed during the worst of times, pricked our consciousnesses and changed the policies of governments during the best of times. Rock stars wrote songs about you. You shared our most cherished memories. Continue reading “A Letter to Kodak”

Do You Know Diddley Squot?

If you enjoyed the puppets in the award winning Toadlickers video I made for Thomas Dolby, then spare a thought for Evil Puppet Master, Mike Quinn. In fact, spare him a dime, back his IndieGoGo project and make his pioneering QZimation (which combines the best of puppetry and animation) a reality.

You’ll find more about Mike here, but long story short, he’s one of the best in the biz, having spent thirty years working for the likes of The Jim Henson Company, Lucas Film & Pixar, on films & television shows including The Muppets Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Return of The Jedi, Little Shop of Horrors, Who Framed Roger Rabbit…and, of course, The Toadlickers.

‘The Toadlickers’ wins a Davey Award! (paul-d.tv)
Toadlickers on the BBC! (paul-d.tv)
Paul D TV on Vimeo (paul-d.tv)
The Muppets (paul-d.tv)