For this blog post I will be talking about the new Red Epic and the 5D Mark II. I have provided a link to a Film Riot test shoot comparing both cameras side by side shooting the same scenes with the same lighting. It was very curious to how closely the images compared. I am an owner of the 5D Mark II. I love this camera and use it for both photography and for videographer. It is a great piece of equipment at a very affordable price to professional filmmakers. Unfortunately because of the design of this camera, there are many faults that come along with it. One huge problem is that the camera is shooting on a 21megapixel sensor. The Red camera is shooting on a 14-megapixel sensor. This may confuse some users. To the average person a 21 mp camera sounds better then a 14 mp camera. So I will break this down for you. The 5D shoots HD video. 1920 x 1080 that is around the resolution of maybe 8 megapixels… possibly less. This being the case, 21 mp at a resolution of well over 5000 would have to squeeze down to the size of an HD size image. This comes with aliasing, line skipping, slow refresh rates, and rolling shutter. All of these problems are a huge down fall for DSLR users. The Red epic camera offers a 14 mp sensor. This is much better because there is no squeeze factor. This camera doesn’t just shoot HD video. This camera also shoots 2K 4K and 5K. These resolutions surpass those of 35mm motion picture film. With that said, 14mp has the same amount of lines as a 5K image. This camera is the future of filmmaking. There have been several Hollywood films that have already begun shooting with this high quality digital camera. Films like the new Spiderman, and the New Pirates of the Caribbean. I am happy to say that I will be shooting a music video using the Red Epic camera in late September. I am very excited to be working with the Red jumpsuit apparatus again and being able to play with this amazing camera! Thanks for reading! New website! www.Ryansheehy.US http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZKIi4KfHec&feature=relmfu

Entertainment Law blog V2

Copyright or Censorship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sieMkGRcxuU
This first video I choose to watch dealt with Youtubes very strict Copyright infringement laws. The narrator Anthony Lawson had a tiff with Youtube stating that one of his videos was in violation of copyright infringement. Youtube did not give him any other detail about his violation. Youtube had taken his video down and then threatened to take down his account and all of his videos if it ever happens again. Anthony compares Youtube to the Soviet Union stating that according to Youtube you are Guilty until proven innocent. Youtube penalizes you and then threatens you before they even tell you exactly the crime you committed. Anthony’s video is somewhat comedic and witty and it lightens the situation a bit. His case stands that his videos are all spoken on topics that are very opinionated and controversial. He believes that someone made a claim, which only inconvenienced him.

Charlie Crist Official Apology to David Byrne for Copyright Infringement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4k13LmlcUE
This video was an Apology video sent to David Byrnes. Charlie who was running for a government position had an ad campaign that utilized David’s song with out his permission. Charlie got into a bit of trouble for this legally. This is a common law suit when it comes to film. People think that even if they purchase a song that they have licensing to it. I have already told myself that I will not be producing any promotional content with any songs that I do not have the rights to use. If I don’t have rights and the video doesn’t count as fair use, then the music should and will be left out.

Going out of business sales are a rip off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYcXa2rvHSo

This was a news bit from ABC news in 2008 that focused on liquidation sales from two closing companies Linen n things and Circuit city. There was a secret camera that they brought into the store that they used to uncover this conspiracy known as liquidation sales. This brings up lawsuits of misrepresentation, which can get their liquidators in a bit of trouble. The secret cameras revealed that the underneath the stickers that marked the new price, there were stickers that marked the old price. In most cases the old prices were 20-30 dollars cheaper on select items in the store. What the store did was boot all the prices up to the original retail price and then knocked them down 10-20%. The stores originally known for their deals would sell these same items on clearance for 30 to 50% cheaper. Misrepresentation can be a big factor in the advertising world that can potentially get you sued. As the filmmaker I would like to find out if misrepresentation would be targeted at the goods or services company or the filmmakers that create the advertisement.

Entertainment Law

For my 8 followers,

I will be repeating a previous blog with all new information. This blog will focus on Entertainment Law and ways you can get sued. So listen up and do the opposite of everything you read here!

I read an article about one of Brittany Spears’s latest music videos “Hold it against me”. It is well known that this video is filled with product placement. That is because Sony is one of her largest endorsers. One thing that she could have gotten the filmmakers sued was the lack of advertising in the videos. I am sure that Brittany’s record label had a requirement of screen time that the Sony labels had to be in the video. If the Filmmakers did not provide enough advertising in the video then Sony would not be happy and probably try to sue the filmmakers.

http://www.billboard.com/news/britney-spears-hold-it-against-me-video-1005042232.story

While searching for lawsuits I stumbled upon a pretty good site that explains how to avoid sticky situations with the law. Always get the proper right for the music that you play in your films. There is more then one kind. You will need “Synchronization rights, a master use license, soundtrack rights, and performing rights…” This article also discusses rights and Licenses; also control of the project. Everyone behind the scenes must be on the same page for story as well as business and distribution.

http://entertainment-law.lawyers.com/blogs/archives/7811-Filmmakers-How-to-Avoid-Lawsuits,-Part-I-of-II.html

Probably one of the most recent law cases in Film would have to be the use Mike Tyson’s facial tattoo created by Victor Whitman. Mr. Whitman stated that Warner Brother’s did not attempt to contact him to gain rights to use his artwork to promote their film. This was a bad decision on Warner brother’s part. Victor had the ability to stunt the release date. Instead Warner bothers bought out Victors tattoo and now has the rights to the artwork for life. Warner brothers learned their lesson. Get rights or don’t use someone else’s material.

http://jathomaslaw.com/blog/?cat=8

Blogs (photography)

So today I will be focusing more on photography then video. I recently started doing photography about a year ago. Since spring 2010 I have made a pretty large name for myself. Starting out I wanted my work to do the talking for me. I believe that with amazing content, amazing work will find you. And that’s exactly how it worked in my case.
I do many free TF photo shoots to get my foot in the door. TF is Time for photos… It is an agreement between you and a model that states that the shoot is strictly to enhance both of your portfolios. I love fashion so I decided to follow many fashion websites and blogs. These websites have a pretty large following. This is what I’m going to talk about today. A good way of getting your work seen is to email blogging sites to ask if they will post your work. If your work is truly good enough they will post it.
I have been published to sites such as Flickrista.com for photography. And YouTube’s Vimeo’s best filmmakers, YouTube channel. If your work is shown on highly viewed websites you are more likely to be viewed by a potential customer. It is a well known fact that people who have a large following have the ability to sell themselves or whatever they happen to be good at.
From my portfolio alone I have been able to big several-paid photo shoots and even my first publication via billboard shoot coming up in early July 2011.

In conclusion if you are a new or even amateur photographer looking to get your name out there I recommend contacting popular blogging sites. These sites will help people find you. I will list below a few fashion sites that are popular and can help build you a following.

http://fashiongonerogue.com/

http://www.flickrista.com/

http://fashionography.net/

http://auxiliarymagazine.com

Internet based Self Distribution - Distrify

Distrify's Internet based self distribution is a new break though that will largely affect the indie film market. In the past indie filmmakers who did not have distributors or publishers would submit their films to festivals hoping for the best. If these films did not win these festivals, the filmmakers wouldn’t be making any money from their work. Getting a distributor that can make you money is not an easy thing to do in the film industry. Distributors that make the money in the film industry have names such as Disney and Universal.

Distrify is changing the game. Distrify is the new form of Internet based self-distribution. The best thing about this is anybody can do it. Anyone with a completed film can submit to this website to make their films available for consumers to purchase. Distrify is acting similar to I tunes. You are able to view trailers on this website for free. After viewing the trailer it gives options to watch right away by purchasing a digital download or you can Order a hard copy DVD or blu-ray; whichever you supply to Distrify for distribution.

This is a great opportunity for indie filmmakers, but there are a few negative aspects that may be less appealing to the users. You are able to set your own price. Distrify expects 30% royalties of every download or purchase of your movie. This is equivalent to I tunes royalty rates with a few set backs. I tunes has millions and millions of users. Using I tunes you do need a popular movie, agent, or distributor to get your film onto I tunes. With Distrify anybody can submit which is great, but the site is new and does not have a strong following like I tunes does. A 30% royalty rate seems a bit high for a website that does not open your film up to many potential consumers.

All in all I think this is a great way for self-distribution. I would recommend it to any Indie filmmaker that is looking to sell their film.

Here is a link to the website.

http://distrify.com/Distrify

Entertainment law

This weeks post is about an attorney Jonathan Benezette. I decided to ask him a few questions about his practice, personal life, and some tips producing a film, commercial, music videos, etc.

I first asked Jon where he went to school and what types of law does he practice. He told me that he does all types of law from Personal injury, workers compensation, to social security. He has also worked with Entertainment attorneys and was very knowledgeable on the subject. I then asked him about his personal life. I was curious to see if his busy work life interfered with his personal life. He told me that you must be able to balance work with your personal life. John has been at the beach with his family and been called by one of his clients. He understands his responsibilities and knows that as a Lawyer he is always on call even at the most inconvenient times… (3am in the morning). Even though he has a very busy workload, he is happily married and has two awesome kids.

I then asked him some questions that I thought would help me with my future in film productions. My first question was how would I go about getting the rights to use public locations. Jon told me that every state had a film commission that I could visit and talk to. They would be able to give me contacts to receive permits. He told me to be very specific with what I was asking for in regards to the locations. Also ask for more then I need. It’s better to have more then less. He also recommended talking to the cities police station to hire off duty cops to monitor the shoot. With the police on your side you would not have any problems getting your production shut down.

Thank you for reading my latest blog post. If you would like to visits Jon Benezette’s website to use his services you can find him at the URL below

http://www.jonbenezettelaw.com/

Film Law

Greetings Bloggers,

For this post I will be talking about legal problems that can occur in the film and entertainment industries. There are several things that can go wrong on your side as the filmmaker or the opposing side being the client. Having a well thought out and written contract will lessen the chances of legal troubles with your business deals…

Steven Spielberg has a pretty famous case that is still yet to be settled. DreamWorks pictures decided to break off their distribution contract with Paramount. Spielberg is one of the owners of DreamWorks and Universal is tied to Paramount. This created an issue between Spielberg and Universal. There was a Noncompete agreement as well as a lifetime of royalties promised to Spielberg in his contract with Universal. This split will be negotiated until 2017!

A film production company “After Dark Films” has filed a lawsuit with the Iowa Film commission. The Reason behind this was that the state did not provide the amount of tax credits to the filmmakers as promised. Iowa’s taxpayers were not happy about spending their tax money on shooting movies.

Now I was checking out the video copilot blog and found some people talking about Noncompete agreements. Something I did not know was that they are illegal in California; where the majority of the film industry is located. That’s good to know if that is where I plan on working before I start my own business. The bloggers on this message board all were very against signing a Noncompete agreement. This contract can break you if you ever decide to leave a business. It creates commitment with the company but then you have nothing to fall back on if your relationship with your current job goes south.

Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you learned something about law and the film industry. If your interested in Music and Film follow me on twitter!

http://twitter.com/#!/GetRyanSheehy


Spielberg Consulting issues

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/spielberg-to-continue-consulting-with-universal-about-its-theme-parks/

DES MOINES, USA – Film Production

http://www.filmindustrynetwork.biz/state-forced-to-pay-434000-to-film-production-company-for-fraud/6540


Noncompete agreement
http://www.videocopilot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=57167