Documentary “The Scroll” to air at the American Black Film Festival

The Scroll will be shown at 2011 American Black Film Festival.  The companion website looks great and has lots of great clips and information.

“Parrish Smith the son of a preacher always fell asleep in church when he was a child

… until his father started telling stories.

It was the storytelling that engaged him and those stories made the Word relevant to him in his every day life. The story of “The Scroll: Evidence of Life Unseen” some might say has been in the works for over 30 years.

With so much calamity and uncertainty in today’s world, insights from our faith based leaders is needed more today than ever. “The Scroll: Evidence of Life Unseen” is a collection of stories told by the most prolific religious leaders of the 21st century. This movie is an intimate portrait of the hearts of pastors and ministers out of their robes and pulpits. They share inspiring life stories and commentary on their global societal outlook. There are moments where you will split your sides with laughter and other moments where you will want to fall to your knees in tears. This is their living and breathing testimonies. These are the stories that will make you sit up and listen. These stories will give you amazing history lessons and subtly prepare you to answer your own life journey questions.”

Interviews include:

T.D.Jakes, Eddie L. Long, A.R. Bernard, Al Sharpton Jr., Alyn E. Waller, Bernice A. King, Charles

E. Blake, Noel Jones, Marvin L. Sapp, Shirley Caesar, Kenneth Ulmer, Hezekiah Walker, Floyd

H. Flake, Paul S. Morton, Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Frederick K.C. Price, Calvin O. Butts III, Dale C.

Bronner, DeForest T B. Soaries Jr., Della Reese Lett, Vashti M. McKenzie, Jamal Bryant, Johnny

Ray Youngblood, David Jefferson Sr., Joseph Garlington, Tudor Bismark, Donald Hilliard Jr., E.

Dewey Smith Jr., Gardner C. Taylor, John K. Jenkins Sr., John L. McCoy, Keith W. Reed Sr.,

Lawrence Powell, Beverly Crawford, Mark Tyler, Don Johnson, Perry Simmons Jr., Stanley

Dumornay, Stephen Hurd, Wess Morgan

Click here for more info.

Review: Capitalism – A Love Story

First let me say that I agree with Michael Moore’s general premise in his documentary Capitalism: A Love Story that corporate greed is out of hand and that average citizens are paying the price.  I think many people do.  What I was hoping to see was informative examples and enlightening arguments to support his point of view. 

What I got was a depressing visual essay in which Moore used loads of stock footage to illustrate his feelings.  That is not to say that there were no good points made or that the archival material wasn’t effective at times.  The best use of classic footage was the opening montage – a black and white reenactment about the fall of Rome intercut with recent American political figures.  But the old clips used to demonstrate the ideals of capitalism, the weaknesses of capitalism, the promise of the American dream, the failure of the American dream, and everything leading up to them was very heavy handed.  Perhaps Moore was trying to lighten the mood but instead gave the film a cartoon-like feel.

Moore is always strong when he hits the road in search of help for the common man.  Demanding money back from the banks with a burlap sack and attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of bank managers are funny reminders of how badly the banks have ripped off the people of this country.  There are also some salient examples of ripping off tactics.  Moore shared some now all too familiar touching stories of foreclosure victims duped by unethical mortgage loans.  And, I was surprised to learn that corporations take out million dollar life insurance policies on their workers.

The movie needed more interviews from the opposing side or people who used to work for the opposing side.  We all know what the problem is. But WHY do bigwigs think they are justified in hurting the little guy?

The movie ends with Moore inviting viewers to join him in putting a stop to capitalism and corporate greed.  He didn’t give examples in the film but you can find some on the Capitalism: A Love Story website.  Overall, the movie made good points but lacked depth.  It was terribly depressing yet slightly inspiring at the same time.  After paying to see the movie, I am left with this question: how much of my $9 goes to the mega-media giant Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Vantage who is one of the producers of this film?

Navigating the HD Revolution

High Definition has arrived in full force.  Most major American networks and distributors (and many in countries around the world) require that projects be shot and delivered in HD.  Many production companies, crews and editors are racing to figure out what is the best way to make the change over to HD.  Amateur documentarians are facing the realities of up converting or adjusting their budgets.

It is a bold and exciting new world out there… but also confusing.  As an established television producer, I often have a hard time sorting through the maze of HD options.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when deciding what type of HD format to shoot on.

1. What type of editing intake system will you be using?  There are many types of HD record options (HDCam, HDV-HD, XDcam, etc.) and there are decks to go with each.  It is important to know how your edit system will acquire the footage.  You don’t want to show up to your edit session with tapes that don’t match the tape deck in use. This is a waste of time and money.  If you don’t know where you will edit or what type of system you are using, you can consider using a camera that records onto a disk.  Later, you can then transfer the footage onto a hard drive or straight into the appropriate editing program.  Or, you can choose one type of tape format and rent the appropriate type of deck when the time comes to digitize.  This will cost a little more but it happens a lot.
2. Super important – what type of footage does your network, client or distributor accept?  Some networks won’t accept some formats or minimal footage must come from it.  For example, they may allow a given HD project to have up to 15% standard definition footage.
3. Will you be required to deliver all of the raw footage and if so, in what format?  With many cable projects, producers are must hand over the raw footage… often in duplicate.  If the client wants that footage in a certain format like HDCam, it makes sense to go ahead and shoot with that format.  If you don’t have to turn over your raw footage, consider how you will archive the footage once your project is complete.
4. What are resolution and frame rate requirements.  Most of the projects that I work on are shot at  1080i or 720p.  Will your final project been show full screen?  Do you have to down convert to standard definition and if so, will it be center cut, anamorphic or letter boxed?  You’ll want to make sure that the camera being used has the proper settings available and that the tapes and edit system can accommodate your needs.
5. Will you buy or rent a camera?  This is a big question because a lot of money will be spent either way.  It will be helpful to have an idea of what types of HD needs you may have in the future.  If you rent a camera, or hire a cameraman with his own gear, ask to see a footage test to get clear understanding of what your footage will look like.

You’ll notice that I have not listed specific types of cameras or tapes.  I don’t want to make detailed suggestions when every situation is so different and there are so many options.  It is important to talk to as many people as possible about your project until you feel comfortable making choice.  Talk to shooters, editors and distributers/networks/clients.  Sometimes there may be more than one solution to your HD needs.  But armed with the right information, you can make the best decision for your project.  Good luck and let me know if you have any other helpful hints.