The P3 Update Magazine Blog

By Richard D. Lewis

According to Strada, size does matter. The company offers the world’s longest camera crane, the Strada 100. Extending to 100 feet, this giant can reach out and grab those shots like no other crane in the industry. The crane features a motorized dolly for quick and easy placement; and according to the company, this monster offers the fastest set-up of any crane in its class. The Strada 100 reaches 15 feet longer and 22 feet higher than any other camera crane in the world. The crane has credits on some of the largest projects in the industry such as Titanic, Sea Biscuit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars Episode 2, Spider Man, ESPN X-Games, The Olympics and more. According to Strada, their cranes offer the ability to achieve an aerial perspective without a the trouble of a dome or a blimp. Get maximum shot angle and smooth motion. Excited yet? Request their complimentary 10 minute demo video. The Strada 100 is available for rental right now. Call Panavision Remote Systems at 1-818-316-1080 or visit their website at www.stradacranes.com .

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by Frank & Margie Barron

As the skeletons and pumpkins start popping up around town, so do the horror movies at the neighborhood cineplex. It’s a reminder that Halloween is a great time for independent filmmakers, because many have gotten their start in the horror genre.

Low-budget indie films have always been a breeding ground for creative types who want to get their foot in the Hollywood door. And scary movies have been a great way to crash through that door and get noticed in the industry. Among the big names who went that route were Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and James Cameron, all of whom worked for the godfather of indies and the master of low-budget horror films– Roger Corman.

Decades ago, the “B” movies told their stories with monsters in rubber masks and killers with ketchup on their knives. Nowadays, with CGI as available as your nearest laptop, the fright-films have gone crazy with effects.

But our friend Mick Garris (producer-director-screenwriter on many Stephen King productions), feels that technology has taken away some of the heart-pounding thrills and chills. Garris points out that if a digital creature is attacking a character, it may not scare audiences like it used to– when you know that the arm that was just ripped off was removed digitally.

So Garris warns young filmmakers that they have to take more care with their storytelling and character development to make the audiences really care about your characters, and feel a sense of danger. Technology should never over shadow a good scary story.

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by Iain Blair

HD technology isn’t just for glossy big budget projects anymore. Now thanks to smaller and smaller equipment, such as Sony’s palm-sized HC1 and HC5 HD cameras, indie filmmakers in particular are really benefiting. And documentary teams, especially ones covering dodgy, often illegal areas such as human & drug trafficking in Third World countries,are now able to boldly go where no one else dared to before and shoot stuff never before seen. Military and surveillance hardware is also impacting the indie business. Director Michael Kaliski of Omniquest recently spent two weeksin Thailand shooting coverage for a film about child slavery in Asia, and used the Sony HD cams as well as a button cam and a backpack cam. It takes practice,he says, and zoom shots are terrible when you’re bouncing around a dirt road shooting hand held. But the upside is you can sneak in places and get stuff no one else can.

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