Next Meeting is Wed. March 26, 7PM, Town Hall

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 26, 7:00 pm, in Apple's Town Hall auditorium. Our presentation for February is "Everest: A Climb for Peace". Produced by Lance Trumbull (whom many of you will remember meeting at MacFilmmakers many moons ago) and narrated by Orlando Bloom (who, sadly, has not yet appeared at one of our meetings, but there's always hope), this brand-new one-hour documentary is being featured at film festivals around the globe. We are fortunate to be able to show it at MacFilmmakers in its entirety, followed by a very special "Actor's Studio" style interview and discussion with Lance.

This meeting is free and open to the public. Parking is plentiful and free as well. Town Hall is located at Apple's main campus inside Building 4. For a map, go to maps.google.com and search for:

1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014

The green arrow indicates the main six-building complex; Town Hall (and parking) is on the backside of that complex up towards the freeway. Note that to allow time for tonight's special presentation, Demo Reels will be held off until our April meeting.

Feb. Meeting: Visualizing Your Film

Our next meeting is Wednesday, February 27, 7:00 pm, in Apple's De Anza 3 auditorium. In addition to our usual Demo Reels and the ever-popular Fabulous Pizza Break, our major topic for February is:

Visualizing Your Film

Presented by MacFilmmakers' own Kevin Johnson, this full-length presentation will cover:

• The "Grammar" of Shot Composition

  basic blocking

  types of shots

  framing and composition

  what an actor MUST know

• The Line of Action

   finding the line of action

   the eyeline

   the 180 degree rule/crossing the line (and why you shouldn't)

• Camera Movement

   types of movement

   zoom vs. dolly, etc.

   using the eyeline to motivate camera placement

   POV and camera

   establishing a new action line in moving shots

• Previz: Barebones Storyboarding Technique

   yes, even you can draw simple stick figures

   software packages

• Resources

   including a nifty handout for all attendees

As always, our meeting is free and open to the public. Parking is plentiful and free as well. Note that the De Anza Three auditorium is at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino but is located across Mariani Ave. from our usual Town Hall location. If you are uncertain, simply go to maps.google.com and search for:

10500 N de Anza Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014

The green arrow indicates the building where we will be; DA3 auditorium (and parking) is on the backside of that building.

Remember, for Demo Reels, we ask that you please limit your reel to a maximum of 5 minutes. Thanks, and we hope to see you at our February meeting!

Looking Ahead to March...

Believe it or not, we already have our March program booked and ready to go!!! For Wednesday, March 26, we will be presenting "Everest: A Climb for Peace". Produced by Lance Trumbull (whom many of you will remember meeting at MacFilmmakers many moons ago) and narrated by Orlando Bloom (who, sadly, has not yet appeared at one of our meetings, but there's always hope), this brand-new one-hour documentary is being featured at film festivals around the globe. We are fortunate to be able to show it at MacFilmmakers in its entirety, followed by a very special "Actor's Studio" style interview and discussion with Lance. As always, more details will be posted later.

Next Meeting is Wed. Feb. 27, 7PM, De Anza 3 Auditorium

Just an ultra quick post to say that our next meeting is Wednesday, February 27, 7:00 pm, in De Anza Three auditorium. Note that we were originally scheduled for Town Hall, but Apple needed to move us over to DA3.

Speaker/topic TBA.

Next Meeting is Wed. Jan. 30, 7PM, Town Hall

The next meeting of MacFilmmakers is Wednesday, January 30, 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) in Apple's Town Hall. As always, the meeting is free and open to the public with plenty of free parking in the Apple lot.

Speakers will include our own Mark Calice presenting "CD/DVD Duplication vs. Replication  - What you don't know...", a followup to the engaging DVD discussion we had at a previous meeting. More info on topics/speakers will come later this week, as soon as I return from the Sundance Film Festival (and you can expect a micro report on the Festival as well).

--Kevin

Free and Uneasy: The First Year Out

In past meetings we have explored the idea of telling narrative stories as filmmakers, but without using film or video footage. Today I ran across just such a story, its title posted above as the title of this blog entry. This short film is an excellent example of compelling storytelling, yet it was created using only stills and audio. Running just under six minutes, I daresay it is a few minutes that can leave you, perhaps ever so slightly, a changed person.

To view "Free and Uneasy: The First Year Out", click the link below:
Free and Uneasy: The First Year Out

Or copy/paste the following text into your browser:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20071125_DNA_FEATURE/index.html

As always, feel free to add your comments as desired.

--Kevin

Planning meeting set for Wed., Dec. 5th

OK, here's the (revised) scoop. The next meeting of MacFilmmakers WILL be a planning and organizational meeting, but NOT tonight as previously announced. This planning meeting is now scheduled for one week from today, the evening of Wednesday, December 5th. This new date has been chosen to allow several people who voiced a desire to attend, but could not make a Nov. 28 gathering, the chance to plan accordingly. The agenda is simple: dinner and discussion. No guest speakers, no presentations, just planning for future meetings.

We will be gathering in Palo Alto at the Cheesecake Factory, 375 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, (650) 473-9622. We expect to be seated for dinner between 6:15 and 6:30; those who arrive earlier may wish to gather informally in the bar/lounge area. For this dinner-oriented gathering, your food and drink purchases are "dutch treat". To help you budget accordingly, the Cheesecake Factory features an extensive and varied menu with dinner entree prices ranging from $8 to $29, soft drinks at $3 and fancier drinks starting at $6 and up.

While all are welcome to attend, this will be a business-oriented meeting. If you do plan to join us, an RSVP in the affirmative is helpful (by simply leaving a comment attached to this entry or by communicating directly with me) but not required. I look forward to seeing you next week!

--Kevin

November meeting will be 11/28

Hi. Our November meeting will be on Wednesday, 11/28. No details at this time. It may (is likely to) turn out to be a planning/organizing meeting (I can hear the collective "yays" reverberating through the ether) at a local restaurant, TBA.

Note that the Apple campus is/has been closed this entire week, so no "third Wednesday" meeting was possible in our usual auditoriums.