Bright Shadow Films » Film Production

Nike 6.0 Stoked Tour-1

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:09:46 +0000

It might has nothing to do with the company but it’s still cool because it was did by me, I went to Beijing with the NIKE 6.0 BMX crew for two days, did some filming about it as well.

Beijing is called the center of film&art, most expats there enjoy the Chinese culture and old Beijing enviroment, with the Olympics, the government is trying to refresh this city with some new elements, it does make this city much cooler.

Here is a video made by me two days ago about the BMX trip.

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Server For Film Production?

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:33:07 +0000

As a film production company you might deal with many clients everyday, ever since film production turn into a industry, people start to think about the idea of making everything faster, in this way you will have more advantage than others who don’t care about the communication. Nowadays, people try to make this better by digital revolution, all the stuff you heard of: google calender, skype, gmail, etc.

When it comes to the solid solution, a proper server always comes first, you might heard of server as a IT term, it’s not as far as you think in film production, in the big company you heard of: icon film, dreamwork studio, HBO, etc, that’s where the big server boxes can be founded.

So what exactly does it help in a production company?

Today, I want to show you a little bit of what a server can do in film production company.

1) Files Back up: now if you think your harddrive is stable enough then you should google “harddrive broken” and find our how many people suffering from harddrive everyday, we are talking about keeping you and your employee’s document safe somewhere else out of the computer, same logic for the post-production, footage, project files, all needs to be saved somewhere else as a back up.

Most server can run the back up with your LAN connected computer, daily, weekly or according to your schedule. Moreover, if you are running a linux server, the harddrive partition works better than PC, no worries for the maintaince, linux will take care of it.

2) Printer sharing server: printing is such a basic office work, if you have a printer with a net adapter then good for you, but if you don’t, server will take care of that, with a printer sharing server, you can share the printer all over the LAN, even with the VPN while you are miles away from the office.

One other thing you should consider as a good thing, printer is not consider as a healthy thing in the office, it polluted air as much as a mine powered car does(I guess), so keep the printer away from the person is the best thing you can do when you hope the office air gets better.

3) USB nanny: USB and mobile harddrive is everywhere nowadays, same as the virus, you can’t really risk your post production computer to have it, nor does your production office PC, so having a server could make it easier, normally a server with anti-virus software could help you avoid those virus, same time some 64 bits OS(WIN 2008, Linux, Mac) doesn’t have trouble with virus since most of the virus are 32 bits.

When the virus scanning is done(usually less than 10 seconds by Kaspersky), you can copy the file through the LAN to anywhere you want safely.

One more thing you should remember, Anti-virus software is not recommanded to be installed in PC, so having a server can save you from that awkward situation.

4) Internet Routing: this is a function which server can offer nicely, the server can simply control the bandwidth of your internet, especially stop the Bit-torrent, over-speed download. Server will simply arrange the speed for each computer in a average way or the way you want it to be.

5) Communication: it’s not ancient time and people no longer shout to each other in the office, you need a platform to organize a office, you can find so many server based communication software out there, such like IBM lotus, Microsoft ERP, etc.

For a production company you can easily have a platform between pre-production, management, post-production, or even with the creative guys, by having this platform, people no longer need to stick post-it everywhere, share the info by a few mouse click. The idea is share the info in group, the software in server usually offer some function like task map, status update(like twitter), file sharing, calender sync.

It’s one of the key function people looking for, a good platform now could work not only with Computer, but also with your mobile phone.

6) Website: website runs on server somewhere you probably never been to, but it could be closer! If you have enough bandwidth and one static IP(in China it’s expensive), set up a website on your server is just cool. Even if you don’t have a website but you want to create one for the people in the company, you can do that, by creating a company wiki, you editor now could explain to most of people how to upload the footage from camera to the computer, and it’s only in your company.

Above are the 6 key functions I can think of how a server could help a film/video production company better, a little bit more:

A branded server usually cost you some money, to achieve the function, you might need:

XEON CPU*1, 2G Memory*1, Harddrive 2T to 10T or more, stable power supply with a UPS supply in case, a solid server tower case, a cool place to store it.

Usually it won’t cost you more than 2000USD for everything, depends on how big your server harddrive.

There are so many article out there introduce the server, but did you know you can set up a server with a old PC? We are going to show you how later this week how we did it.

If you have any comment or info want to share with us, feel free to leave them here, we really appreciate it.

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Green Screen Expo Project

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:05:52 +0000

Shooting Green Screen is always fun, lucky us have this client coming this month, they required a 3M*6M*3M green screen and needs everything to be done in one day.

We managed to finish the shoot earlier than we thought because of the experience crew we always work with.

Green Screen Shoot China Expo

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Shooting In HongKong?Let’s do it!

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:34:45 +0000

We had a shooting in Hongkong beginning of this year, the client requested the production support from us, the client didn’t know how would it go, they required location scouting, equipment rental, production support and expect everything to be finished in one week, with the great network and resource we have, we manage to arrange the shoot smoothly, the client were happy about the result.

Just in case you have to have a quick look:

There is a Bright Shadow Production assistant live in HK? Of course we do, JoJo is our hero in this shoot!

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CFPC’s project is on theatrical release

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:49:07 +0000

Directed by China’s young director Yang Shupeng, THE ROBBER, whose leading actors include Hu Jun and Jiang Wu, has been on theatrical release since Nov 20th, 2009.

THE ROBBER is one of the films going public screening among the projects of SIFF’s China Film Pitch and Catch. It is Yang’s second feature film after his maiden work THE COLD FLAME.

Since its debut in CFPC of SIFF 2007, THE ROBBER has been considered as market promising and won CFPC’s award for Most Promising Project to Invest. It was well evaluated by investors and received collaboration intentions from international distributors including AVIX of Japan when it started to shoot.

In addition to THE ROBBER, other CFPC’s projects such as ONCE UPON A TIME IN TIBET by DAI Wei and THE LAST RAINSTORM by Leste Chen are now almost finished and scheduled for theatrical release the coming year.

SIFF’s CFPC serves as a bridge for the connection between film projects and investors, the place in which the young film makes can benefit from the concept of investors as well as their insight to the market. This helps young film makers better understand the market and enlarge the possibility for their project’s success.

The China Film Pitch and Catch is one of SIFF’s efforts to explore, support and promote the young. During the past few years, SIFF integrated its resource to be an effective system consisting of pitching, co-production and competition. The China’s annual leading festival hopes these efforts could encourage directors’ brave innovation and practice in arts while at the same time provide them the chance for their development worldwide. Wanma Caidan, SIFF’s best director of Asian New Talent Award 2006 for his THE SILENT HOLY STONES, brought his project ON THE ROAD TO LHASA to CFPC. His latest THE SEARCH competed for the grand Jin Jue Award of SIFF and is selected by the jury panel head by Danny Boyle as the winner of Jury Grand Prix. It’s now going for the theatrical screening in France by the end this year.

Either Yang Shupeng or Wanma Caidan, or THE ROBBER or THE SEARCH, it’s just a start. The young generation of China’s Film Industry grows fast and shows their talent to the world. The Shanghai International Film Festival will continue to set up a international stage for them.

The 13th Shanghai International Film Festival is due to start on June 12, 2010.

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Confucius (Kong ze)

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:51:05 +0000

Well if you haven’t watch this movie, you should spend some time online reading about the review, sadly due to the current situation of the Avatar situation in China, the box office is not going very well, although it seems the DaDi Film Co is trying something in foreign land.

Here is a few things came from Screendaily:

Chow Yun-fat is the main attraction in Confucius, a ponderous and weakly-imagined attempt at repackaging the ancient sage for the blockbuster era. Hu Mei’s (For All Eternity) film includes both battle sequences and an attempted seduction of the legendary philosopher in hopes of drawing mainstream audiences, but a lack of narrative development results in a film that is neither entertaining nor enlightening.

From what you can see in the trailer actually the film images looks alright, although the main complain from the audience are focus on “story”, but it’s still worth most people and their pop-corn.

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The Insider’s Guide to Shooting in China

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:04:00 +0000

This article is originally from here

Photographers are heading to China in droves right now, whether for the coming Olympics in Beijing (August 8-24), to cover the aftermath of the tragic May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province — or just to shoot stock: China’s ferocious growth and rapidly changing economy have made it a perennially hot news property.

“It’s an unusual time of openness in China, which is traditionally a xenophobic country, thanks to the Olympics and the earthquake, ” says Jeff Greenwald, executive director of Ethical Traveler , a project of the Earth Island Institute. “That openness is a two-way street. People traveling to China, particularly Americans, can try to counteract some of the negative images that China has of us from its media.”

But this is a very politically sensitive country. Attempting to shoot certain subjects—anything to do with say, Tibet, religion, state executions, and disease—can get you in trouble with the authorities. Along with Greenwald, PDNOnline talked to ten photographers who have shot in mainland China to get their tips for those new to the country. Several living in or frequently working in China spoke on the condition of anonymity. Those who spoke to us on the record are:

Monte Isom, a commercial photographer who specializes in portraits of athletes
Catherine Karnow, photographer behind National Geographic Traveler: Beijing
Wayne Liu, a Taiwan-born fine-arts shooter
Mads Nissen, a freelance photojournalist based in Shanghai
Sara Remington, a food and travel photographer
James Whitlow Delano, a Tokyo-based photographer with Redux Pictures and author of Empire: Impressions from China

BEFORE YOU GO

Vaccines: Many photographers recommended getting the Hepatitis B vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control has a Web site for China with a full health briefing.

Visas: Note that your passport has to be valid for at least six more months. The visa situation has changed several times in the past few months. Check the Chinese Embassy’s Web site for the most up-to-date requirements.

Everyone had an opinion on getting a tourist or business visa versus an official journalist visa:

“We went in on a tourist visa to shoot a wedding and pick up stock. The photographer I went with and I had four camera bodies and 10 lenses. But she and I purposefully made ourselves look younger and separated ourselves.”—Remington

“When I was freelancing, I was on a business visa because I wanted to stay completely off the radar. Now, I am staff and on a J-1 (resident journalist) visa, as it is required by my company. There are benefits to being unregistered and registered. Unregistered allows more freedom to move and work on sensitive stories, but you run the risk of being deported, arrested, or having your contacts get arrested. Being registered allows you to do official events and work openly, but it is restricted. Registered journalists are not allowed to visit Tibet unless invited, and the invitation is difficult to obtain.”—Photojournalist based in China

“It depends on how much you have to lose. If you were going to come and shoot a big production with a lot of lights and models, you kind of need to get a proper visa. The police can close your operation down in a second.”—Beijing-based documentary photographer

“The business visa situation was changing constantly this year. Even my local Chinese producer couldn’t get it all put together. We needed a letter of invitation from the company hiring me, proof the airfare was confirmed and booked, hotel confirmed and booked, two passport photos, a letter from me to my assistants saying I was hiring them and they needed a visa, and an official invitation from the correct department. And that’s for one month. For a multiple-entry visa you need to prove why you need to come in and out.”–Isom

SHOOTING

Street/stock photography:

“The first thing to remember about China is that it’s not just one ethnic group. You can’t make assumptions about how people will feel about having their photo taken, or the courtesies involved. People in Beijing on the street might be OK with you shooting without asking, but Muslim Chinese people in the southern regions might react every differently.”— Greenwald

“As a woman, you just look a lot less threatening. Sometimes I wear little open-toed sandal with a pedicure. I wanted to shoot this massive demolition scene from above. There was a hotel nearby overlooking it, but there is no way in China you can just go up to the manager and explain you’re shooting for a National Geographic guidebook and get permission. I pretended I was checking in, looked at several rooms, and then I ended up sneaking in through the kitchen and shooting from the fire escape. I stuck my camera in my nice big Coach purse.”—Karnow

Photojournalism and sensitive topics

“Sometimes the political situation is dominant (anti-NATO riots 1999, the annual party congress), and sometimes it fades. But during the Olympics you can be sure it will be forefront. It’s not like there are cops everywhere telling you not to shoot, but subjects might get touchy about mildest things during times of political stress. Be subtle and act innocent. —Documentary photographer

“There is a saying in China that it is easier to ask forgiveness than for permission (read: access). Act first, and chances are if you are mild mannered, good natured, and wear a smile, even authorities will forgive a photograph of a bridge, soldier, or some other moderately sensitive subject in this often loosely controlled one-party state.”—Whitlow Delano

Commercial photography

“Chinese clients typically do not pay the agency and have them pay you. If they did, it would cost them about 12-15 percent more because of invoice taxes etc. So the client pays you directly—except the client does not want to pay anyone outside of China because that incurs a 15 percent tax; there is a loophole in Hong Kong. So the best way to go about doing a job there is to find a local production, hire them to produce your job, and then they pay you. They will charge a premium, but it makes the Chinese company more willing to hire you. Also, negotiating with Chinese clients is much different than in the United States. They want a deal. Doesn’t matter where the starting price was, they want it to be lower. “—Isom

LOGISTICS

“Skype is great for calling back home. With an unlocked cell phone, you can get a local SIM card, put $50 on it, and SMS back and forth to your local clients and back to the States. People in China text a lot and won’t like paying international fees to text you while you’re just across the city.”—Isom

“For those of us who are accustomed to uploading and downloading via FTP, you will realize as soon as you get to China that FTP speeds are nowhere near where it once was.”—from Nissen’s handy posting on
Lightstalkers.org for using the Internet in China

“It’s easy to find cheap hostels; I used Lonely Planet. Don’t pay until you see the rooms. They might be sketchy, dirty, rat infested. I felt safe leaving my film and extra camera equipment in the hostels I stayed in.”—Liu

“The bathroom situation is interesting for women. Pack your own toilet paper —and hand sanitizer is good, too.”—Remington

FOOD

“I basically eat what the locals eat. But if I’m doing a pollution story on, for example, in a ‘cancer-village,’ I’ll bring my own food or eat instant noodles, though it can be pretty boring for a whole week. “—Nissen

“I always have antibiotics on hand because my experiences is that one gets sick at 2 a.m. not 2 p.m.”—Delano

“The person I was traveling with was allergic to gluten, which was impossible to explain to people. So if you have food sensitivities, bring plenty of protein bars, almonds, etc.”—Remington

PEOPLE

“If you don’t speak Chinese, find a hip and friendly bilingual local assistant. It’s pretty easy to chat young people up, but older folks feel more comfortable with a local person talking to them. Avoid the scams where English-speaking ‘art students’ try to show you ‘their works’ that you buy because they are so friendly, or take you to a tea shop where each cup is practically $50.”—Documentary photographer

“A good guide, a good ‘fixer,’ is absolutely critical. Smart, tireless, their English has to be good but not necessarily great. When I am shooting portraits, for me to be able to coax the expressions and gestures out of people, I need almost simultaneous translation.”—Karnow

ETHICS

“Be aware that your actions when uncovering sensitive issues may bring heavy consequences upon people who can not leave the country. Do not post names, photograph faces of people who are quoted commenting on sensitive topics that are contrary to government policy. The story is not worth ruining a good person’s life. Period.”—Delano

“If I were covering a sensitive story I would hire a translator who is not a Chinese national—who has a foreign passport, but who speaks Chinese fluently. I would try not to use a minority, like a Tibetan, to work on these issues. Because they’re already in a politically sensitive situation. As the photographer I do what I can do to protect the people I work with and who I photograph, but in the end it’s a really messed-up situation.”—Beijing-based documentary photographer

Freelance writer Bonnie Azab Powell lives in Oakland with her husband, portrait photographer Bart Nagel . She would like to go to China someday — but maybe after the Olympics.

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003815876

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The People of Republic Desire Update-20090925

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:29:48 +0000

Hey Guys, here is a quick update about our film “The people of Republic desire”

We are currently working on the audition, finalize the big roles in the film, it’s going quite well and we are hoping to finish everything soon, but we are also searching for the small role cast, if you have a Chinese face with fluent English, feel free to send us your bio with previous work, we would love to send you some info regarding the audition.

Crew: Same as the casting, we are finalize the main crew member these days, if you willing to join the production, here are the available position:

Intern: For both pre-prod and prod

Assistant for different department: Art, Location, Equipment, Logistic, Talent Management, etc

prdthemovie@brightshadowfilms.com

Pic From here

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People’s Republic of Desire

admin — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:34:52 +0000

The People’s Republic of Desire hits Shanghai

Local film production company Bright Shadow Films is preparing to start filming on their debut feature-length film, The People’s Republic of Desire, an adaptation of Annie Wang’s 2006 novel. The shoot is scheduled for the middle of next month.

The novel has been dubbed a “Sex in the City for Chinese women” – centering on four female friends, just as in the TV show. “It’s about single women and love, but that’s not the only thing,” says Lucy Brydon, who co-wrote the script with Jenny Hammond. “It’s not quite so directly about romance – the book has a lot to offer in terms of Chinese culture as well.”

Although the original story is set in modern day Beijing, the film adaptation will be set in Shanghai. “Shanghai’s just a sexier city, no offense to Beijing,” Brydon says with a laugh. Author Wang was on hand during the adaptation process, and has given her approval of the treatment. “[Wang] kept tabs, but she didn’t have any strict guidelines. She’s a ball of energy – very smart, very cool,” says Brydon, also mentioning the challenge of adapting the book, which was originally comprised of columns, into a cohesive film narrative. “We basically started by taking all the dialogue and went from there,” she says.

Bright Shadow’s managing director Charlie Moretti, who will also act as the film’s producer, reveals – without giving too much away – that the film will be shot on location, all over the city, including scenes at “the Hyatt, 1933, Chinatown – all the famous landmarks that Shanghai residents will recognize.” The shoot will last six weeks, he says, beginning at the end of September and lasting through the fall.

Already attached to the project is UK actor Andrew Lincoln, who has previously appeared in 2003’s Love, Actually (which Moretti likens to PRD), Scenes of a Sexual Nature and numerous British TV shows. “It’s an ensemble piece – but Andrew is our male lead,” says Moretti, highlighting that the production will involve over 30 crew members. Also confirmed for the project is director Alexei Berteig and director of photography Mark Pugh. Bright Shadow is currently working to confirm several additional actors, including the film’s four female leads, who will be of Chinese descent.

The film will be shot in English, although Moretti confirms that there will be dubbing for a domestic Chinese release. Bright Shadow has big hopes for the film, with a multi-million RMB budget and plans for an international release. “We’re aiming for April 2010,” says Moretti. “[Coinciding with the Expo] is part of the point, but realistically, we always knew it would be in the second quarter April, and we want to release it as early as possible to get as many viewers as possible.”

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In need of cash, Hollywood looks to India, China

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:12:17 +0000

This Article Originally From:Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Disney’s $4 billion purchase of “Iron Man” moviemaker Marvel Entertainment signals a possible wave of media industry consolidation, but the cash to do deals may come from India or China, not Hollywood or Wall Street.

Even before Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and Marvel Entertainment Inc (MVL.N) made their announcement on Monday, Hollywood watchers said Indian firm Reliance ADA Group’s recent $325 million investment in Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks movie studio was a sign that opportunity exists for similar deals.

As the recession took hold in late 2007, Hollywood saw financing from U.S. hedge funds and banks dry up, and experts say Indian and Chinese firms are now in a better position to invest. For its part, Hollywood needs overseas cash to continue expanding globally where growth opportunities are strongest.

“If you have capital to invest, you can probably cut a better deal now than any time in the last ten years,” said Larry Gerbrandt, principal at consultancy Media Valuation Partners.

“A lot of Indian and Chinese companies have excess capital these days and Hollywood, aside from the fact there’s a certain glamour factor, those (Indian and Chinese) markets also need content, so there’s interesting deals to be made.”

Sky Moore, an attorney who worked with Reliance as it put together the DreamWorks financing package, said a bigger deal could be in the offing within two years.

“I think the bigger move is buying a studio, and I don’t know if it will be (a company from) India or China, but I think somebody is going to buy a studio,” Moore said.

STUDIO TARGETS

The Disney/Marvel deal fueled speculation DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (DWA.O), maker of the “Shrek” movies and a separate company from DreamWorks Studios, could be next on the acquisition target list because of its solid position in the marketplace and focus on the lucrative family market.

Moore and Gerbrandt also named Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc as a potential acquisition target, although they said they had no specific information of any deal in the works.

Rumors of MGM’s potential sale have surfaced for years. The storied Hollywood studio faces looming payments on $3.7 billion of debt from a 2005 buyout of the firm, and earlier this week it replaced its CEO and hired a turnaround expert.

Chinese film studios are strengthening ties with their peers across the Pacific. The Huayi group, which Morgan Stanley called “China’s Warner Bros for tomorrow,” has said it is seeking capital to expand and has developed movies with Hollywood majors such as Sony Pictures. Its larger rival, The China Film Group, is reportedly keen on developing projects in the United States as well.

India’s expanding reach into Hollywood has included Reliance’s purchase of about 50 U.S. theaters and Indian entertainment company UTV’s investment of tens of millions of dollars over the last three years in several movies, including “The Happening” and “The Namesake,” Moore said.

“It’s not about bringing Bollywood to Hollywood, it’s about mainstream worldwide English-language entertainment,” he said.

Hollywood studios have also made big investments in India. Warner Bros, a division of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N), has signed multi-picture deals with Indian companies People Tree Films and Ocher Studios.

Twentieth Century Fox, a division of News Corp (NWSA.O), has started a joint venture with Asian broadcaster Star to create films for India under the name Fox Star Studios.

Foreign investment in Hollywood is nothing new, of course. In the 1990s, German tax credits spurred production of U.S. movies, and before that Japan’s Sony Co (6758.T) in 1989 bought Columbia Pictures. Sony also has a stake in MGM.

David Molner, managing director of Screen Capital International, a media and entertainment financing firm, said that absent foreign investment, Hollywood could simply have to endure a slowdown due to lack of capital.

“Either the Asians lead the pack or we have a lull,” he said. “Mostly because they’re probably going to be the fastest out of the blocks as the economy recovers.”

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Tim Dobbyn, Phil Berlowitz)

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