Chris Jones Blog

Indiana Jones and the Theatre Of Doom!

A few days ago I finally saw Indiana Jones. My expectations were very low as I heard nothing but bad things about it, and so I was pleasantly rewarded with a mediocre blast from the past. Nothing great for sure.

I must admit that having a home cinema, albeit a modest one, I have not been to the pictures to often, choosing to wait a few months for the DVD, or better, BluRay. And that pattern was part of the reason why it took me so long to see Indiana Jones. In fact, I only went because a good friend dragged me there.

Anyway, my worst fears were realised. The theatre had a few noisy customers (grrr!), but when the movie started, there was a serious fault with the sound. I ran out and told the projectionist. They came in and clearly couldn’t hear what I was talking about. So they did nothing claiming no-one can hear it.

Add to that the fact that the print was weaving, covered in dirt and scratched, and I realised that I had been spoiled at home with my crisp clear image and perfectly balance 5.1 sound system. The sad, but also very exciting truth is, my home cinema (on BluRay) presents better sound and better picture than your average multiplex screening 35mm. It’s astonishing I know, but it’s true. And there are no idiots munching popcorn or ASBO kids to deal with.

My setup is nearly complete at home and I will reveal how I managed to get over light spillage and sound proofing very soon.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Documentary masterclass success!

We are all just recovering from an awesome Documentary Film Makers Masterclass that we hosted this weekend, run by Andrew ‘Zee’ Zinnes, and co-author of The Documentary Film Makers Handbook with Genevieve. We had a packed class of 15 and everyone had a great time, especially on the Sunday afternoon, when ideas are work-shopped.

Having spent a little time over the last few months teaching young film makers in a longer and structured curriculum, it was really GREAT to be in a room with a bunch of people who really wanted to be there, had paid for it, made time in busy lives, and so damn it, they were going to get everything they can out of it! It really confirms in my mind that for some people, the best way to approach education in a vocational career like film, is through short, intense and stimulating short courses. The difference in the group is quite astonishing and really great to be involved with as a teacher.

It was so successful that Zee has now committed to bringing it back again next Summer. Anyway, here are a few comments from the seminar, I am sure more will follow…

‘Motivating… I now have an energy battery bunny burning in my brain to do it!!!’
Maria, TV Presenter and Doc Film Maker

‘High energy and a great sharing of knowledge by experts in thief field’
Romilla Ready, Doc Film Maker and Author of NLP for Dummies

‘It was really inspirational and refreshing to be around people who were saying that things were possible, and offering encouragement as well as practical advice. It was full-on…!’
Harriet Shawcross, Lecturer in Film and TV

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Oscars Eligibility Screening Is Booked

It’s Oscars time baby! There are two ways to get into the race for the Oscars (for short films). First you win an Oscars accredited festival (which we are still putting in for, but we can’t risk waiting on a win). Second is to screen commercially in LA, which is actually easier than you would imagine. When we wrote the Hollywood Handbook, we interviewed the guys who do it – namely Laemmle theatres in LA. Their website is here. And for those interested, the Oscars rules are here.

Here’s how it works in brief. You book their theatre, you pay the fee, and they screen it for you for a week, in a program of other shorts that are also vying for the Oscar. It’s up to you if you want to get punters in to see your film, but from what I can gather, these are largely audience free screenings. Once I have exact dates and times I will put them up so that if you just happen to be in LA, you can go and see the film.

Luckily for me, Genevieve is over here in the UK right now as I am running the Documentary Masterclass with her this weekend. So I can get her to put the print in her bag and take it back to LA with her next week which will save on an expensive FedEx.

UPDATE - We now have confirmed dates, Fri-Sun 11-13 July at 12-12.20pm - but I still need the exact theatre confirming!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

DVD covers at the printers being printed... RIGHT NOW!

I have just got word that I will be getting the DVD covers for ‘Gone Fishing’ tomorrow. They have been printed by a company that specialises in DVD covers and the like, called Kellmat (link here). Matt, my contact there, did us a great deal with 500 covers for £129 (double sided). If you want to see the cover now, here is a low res PDF. If you do get in contact about a cover for your film, let Matt know it’s through this blog.

So everything is now pretty much in place, DVD’s, press packs, banners, post cards folders etc (though I still don’t have full sized posters so if you have any tips I would welcome a heads up). We have a plan for getting into the race for the Oscars and I hope to be able to reveal that in the next few days (once it is in place).

We are also working on a number of UK screenings too, and again, I hope to announce dates very soon… So much is teetering on the edge…

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Screening the prmeiere stock print at Pinewood

I just had a real ‘kid inside’ dream experience at Pinewood studios.

I met up with a producer friend who wanted to see Gone Fishing. He collected my at the gatehouse and took me over to theatre 7 on his golf cart – so there I was, zooming by the James Bond 007 stage, on a golf cart, 35mm print under my arm, about to screen in one of the best private cinemas in the UK! I had to smile.

Aside form screening the print for my friend, it was a chance to see for the first time, Gone Fishing printed onto Kodak Premiere 35mm film stock – and I can tell you that it does what it says on the tin – colours are richer, blacks denser, it looked gorgeous. Very happy.

And what a great way to spend an hour.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Article on www.britishfilm.com

I just got news that we have a great feature on the website BritishFilm.com

The site is a great resource for film makes and is completely independently run, so you can be assured it’s not paying any political lip service. You can join and get regular emails from the site which will keep you up to speed on what’s happening in the UK film scene, And for now, it’s completely free, so it’s definitely worth it.

You can read the whole article here.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Music Cue Sheet

I have been working on compiling the Music Cue Sheet for ‘Gone Fishing’. This is a document that is legally required before the film can be publically screened. It details what music is used in the film, and who owns the various rights. The theory is that whenever the film is played (TV / Theatre / DVD etc.) musicians and composers receive royalties as their music is played, and without this document, no-one knows where the music came from. Royalties received can vary wildly from very little to amounts that you could retire on (depending on where and when and how many times a film is screened). Kind of makes you wish that you had come up with the music for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (remember that show is syndicated around the world with the same music playing every week!)

In Gone Fishing we have music from two main sources – first is Audio Networks, a kind of one stop shop for music production. They supplied the beginning and end music, and some of the tinkly bits in between. The great thing about Audio Networks is that it’s a one payment for all rights kind of deal, and one payment per production too (regardless of how much music is used). All their music is available online for previewing here.

The other music came from more traditional libraries and we are going to have to find some money to pay for this bigger license fee (which is collected and managed by the MCPS here in the UK).

It’s surprising how much time the Music Cue Sheet takes to produce, and it’s astonishing to me that there isn’t a simple and standard form that you can use – I have found maybe twenty variants on what I consider the basic format and data needed.

If you want to listen to the music in Gone Fishing, you can hear a mix of it here.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Folders and granite plinths arrive

Today, the paperwork folders (that I designed and uploaded last week) arrived in record time from Vistaprint, and I have to say they look terrific. I have wanted something like this for many years as I always felt that if you are going to send any kind of paperwork, it makes a big impression if it comes presented with some professional flare. And these folders are bright and glossy.

I also received my two large 3cm deep granite blocks for putting under my two main speakers in my home cinema system. The speakers are floor standing ones and mounted on floor spikes. So I did some tests. I listened to some rock music at around 70db, which to my ear, was loud without being too dominating or extremely antisocial. It sounded pretty good as expected.

Downstairs in the flat below, with no traffic on the street or planes overhead, I was getting around 30db – and it was definitely quiet and very pleasant. When the music was playing, I could hear it clearly and even understand the lyrics, though it was muffled. With the music it was hitting about 35db with the music – a 5db increase.

After I put the speakers on the granite bases, the first thing that struck me was that the music was much tighter. The bass was not booming as much and it had become much crisper. It definitely sounded better.

Downstairs, the bad news was that it made no impact on the sound at all - it was the same 35db and sounded to my ear about the same. This also indicates that much of the sound that leaks down is airborne, and therefore, soundproofing, will deal with it very well.

So for now, while mounting speakers on granite plinths will definitely improve the acoustic qualities of your speakers, it won’t do much at for the neighbours.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Printing the final DVD inserts

I am completing the DVD package for ‘Gone Fishing’. I already have a DVD mastered, which looks and sounds as good as any DVD I have ever seen (in both Dolby Digital and DTS). In my office I can duplicate DVD’s, four at a time, and I also have a colour robotic DVD face printer, so making disks is not a problem.

But, as anyone who has ever done it knows, making the paper inserts for the DVD boxes is a real pain in the butt. It never comes out the way you expect and trimming paper down to size usually ends up looking a bit wonky. So I have opted to get them printed professionally.

And I have a cunning plan too. One of the problems I have is that I would like to add any festival wins to the DVD cover (should we collect any awards), as well as press quotes and the like. Of course, once it’s printed, doing this is normally a problem. So I have opted for standard DVD cover (with the slimline case) and I will print a generic background on the reverse side. If I then use clear plastic cases, I can use my office laser printer to add any quotes or awards onto that reverse side - and that text will be visible inside the DVD case through the clear plastic. This means I get the convenience of full colour, professionally printed and trimmed covers, that I can modify and add to at a later date.

I am doing the layout myself and sending a PDF to a printers called Kellmatt, who can do 500 copies, double sided, for £120 (speak to a guy called Matt, who is very helpful), and a thousand for a few quid more. It's a a pretty good deal, but if you know any better, please drop me a line.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Building the ultimate (but still quite cheap!) Home Cinema Experience

I have recently moved flat and I am hell bent on building my own home cinema. So I thought I would periodically update you with what I am up to and how things are going. My aim is to produce a superb home cinema experience without costing too much, and without disrupting too far, a normal living room.

So what have I got so far? Because of the courses I run, I already own a video projector and screen. I also own a BluRay and HD DVD player, as I wanted to get Gone Fishing onto an HD format. I also have a Dolby Digital amp and speakers which are very well balanced (which is over ten years old now but still sounding amazing).

And I have some BIG challenges...

The living room is south facing with lots of big windows letting in a huge amount of light. I also don’t want to make the lives of the people downstairs a living hell, and so I am proposing some sound proofing (this is a Victorian conversion that, while being done well, is not adequately acoustically insulated). I consider sound pollution to be one of the biggest causes of unhappiness in our lives, and it’s often so very easy to deal with. I feel very strongly about this, and so I have invested in a sound meter (pictured) so that I can more accurately measure the improvements I make, as well as supply a more generalised ‘human’ estimation of the impact. First up will be 3cm granite bases on spikes for my speakers… I hope to get a result on that in the next few days…

Of course, this won’t all happen overnight, and I don’t want it to get in the way of the plans for the movie. It will have to be my hobby project. And I know this is a little off subject, but I guess anyone who is reading this blog will be interested in just how easy it will be to create a really cracking home theatre!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Gone Fishing Folders and Red One Report

The big PR push for ‘Gone Fishing’ is now starting. We have been to Cannes and now that is over, we are going to focus on première festivals and competitions.

One of my observations about short films that come to me (because of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook I get sent lots of shorts) is that often they are quite badly presented. There really is no excuse for a DVDr that is hand scrawled in marker pen as a cheap on-disk printer is only £50 now. The same is true for paperwork, and so I decided to go ahead and brand everything connected to both ‘Gone Fishing’ and Living Spirit Pictures - I am making an A4 full colour paperwork folder with Vistaprint, to hold loose papers, application forms, press packs and business cards. They will costs about £100 for 250, which is more than enough for now. And the DVD cover is hot on its heels, but more on that in due course.

On another note, editor Eddie Hamilton has just been doing a re-cut on my friend, Jonathan Newmans short film, ‘Meet The Finkels’. This reshoot was done using the Red One camera with prime lenses and here is what Eddie had to say about it…

‘Watching the "Wanted" trailer in the cinema, and how amazing it looked having been shot on the Red camera and transferred to 35mm, we tried using the camera on a short at the weekend. It's great to use, but most importantly for low budget filmmakers, you can take the Red camera data, run it through the free Red Cine software on a reasonably powerful PC, then create Quicktimes to import into Avid or FCP and start editing. No lab developing, no telecine, just convert the files and away you go. And the Time Code remains in the DV Quicktimes you create so you can easily reconform later, at full resolution. 

And there is a terrific free piece of software called MetaCheater that will read the data from your QT movies, and create an Avid ALE file which means importing into the Avid is really straightforward. I was astonished how easy it was.

The main bottleneck is how many hard disks you have, and how to backup all that data (which there will be TONS of)… On a low budget feature, this could quickly turn into a logistical nightmare…'

All very interesting…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Dust settling and super stands!

The last few weeks have been utterly exhausting.

I moved house, made a very dominating corporate video, went to Cannes, helped a friend whose business went bankrupt, ran the Hollywood Masterclass (including having Genevieve and Andrew stay in the new flat, with unopened boxes, along with their little girl Casey Mae!). Add to that the usual fight to get internet connection at then new flat, and the fact that my mobile has terrible reception now, and you can understand why my blog entries have been a little patchy. But I am back and still standing!

So. I just wanted to let you all know about these stands I got made up for Cannes. They are made of high quality plastic sheeting and the print quality is excellent - bright, colourful and very impacting. They roll up into a very well engineered aluminium casing and then slip into a rigid canvas carry case which you can easily sling over your shoulder. And how much do they cost? Just over £40! REALLY! That’s why I felt I had to share it with you. I bought two from a long standing eBay trader who specialises in these kind of signs. So if you need to make a big impression for a small outlay, I can’t recommend this guy highly enough. Check out his store here.

I did the artwork myself and sent it on CD - ten days later they came back and were ready to roll.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Hollywood Masterclass

We just ran the Making it in Hollywood Seminar with Genevieve and Andrew. It was a resounding success and we also video taped it, so at some point, if you are interested, you will be able to get a copy of the whole one day seminar. Here is some of the feedback from the event…

'A wealth of practical information and tales direct from the Hollywood trenches from people who have experienced both the highs and lows…'
Alan Brash, Screenwriter

'Excellent… packed with all the information you need to work in Hollywood…'
Desiree Densiti, Actress / Producer

'A fantastic course for anyone interested in making it in Hollywood. The practical information and personal experiences of the tutors provided great insight into the Hollywood industry…'
Vanessa Gibbes, Film Student

'An honest and holes barred insight into Hollywood…'
Leon Chambers, Director

' Lack of local knowledge can be a killer… This course has given me the the knowledge and insight to go to LA tomorrow…'
Stuart Fletcher, Writer / Director
Producer of ‘Infestation’

'Pearls of film wisdom that will boost your film career…'
Tim Stewart, Lawyer

'This was the kick up the arse I needed to finish my script and get it out there. Very inspirational.'
Aaron Webster, Writer / Director

'I now feel I have the tools and confidence to make working and living in LA a reality…'
Alexandra Denye, Screenwriter

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]