Puoh Share See's List: OVA TRENDS

• Rule 1: Listen to the Voice Inside Your Head

   
• I think patiently, trying out sentences in my head,” he writes.
• He advises student writers to do the same, in contrast to school-writing, in which students are “asked repeatedly to write papers that are inherently insincere exercises in rearranging things they’ve read or been told.” (Or, we have to add, are school exercises masquerading as sincere personal essays, such as the one spoofed in this Onion classic.)
• “Before you learn to write well, to trust yourself as a writer, you will have to learn to be patient in the presence of your own thoughts.”

• Learn From the Masters

   
• A classic Times series, “Writers on Writing,” asked contemporary writers from André Aciman to Hilma Wolitzer to talk about their work.

• Glean insight from authors like Jamaica Kinkaid on why she writes; Allegra Goodman on calming the inner critic; and Carl Hiaasen on scrounging for material in newspaper headlines.

   

• What are your favorite bits of advice? Copy them out for future inspiration.

   

• Rule 3: Read Like Writers

   
• To learn “How to Write Great,” immerse yourself in great literature, which, according to writer Roger Rosenblatt, can be anything from “Harold and the Purple Crayon” (“the lessons of the ‘Odyssey,’ minus the sex”) to “The Great Gatsby” (“Jay Gatsby, who stood straight and sober in the drunken Twenties, and who, nutty as his yearnings may have been, really was great”).

8 more annotations...

• Fandango said Tuesday that it struck a deal with Veezi that will give thousands of independent theater operators the ability to offer customers online and mobile ticketing.
• The deal comes one day after Fandango said it extended an exclusive relationship with Cinemark USA for 4,400 screens, which will keep Fandango at about 22,000 screens across the country.
• Paul Yanover, president of Fandango, a division of NBCUniversal, said the Veezi deal will help independent theater owners increase their sales.
• "It's also a big win for movie fans across the country who, with the convenience of Fandango, can now buy local theater tickets in advance online or from their mobile devices," Yanover said

  .
• With Fandango, every U.S. exhibitor, regardless of size, will have the opportunity to sell tickets online and via mobile at the click of a button," said Matthew Preen, head of Veezi for Vista Entertainment Solutions.

3 more annotations...

• On Tuesday, the Chuck and Thor 2 star launches a 46-day crowd-funding campaign, "I Want My Nerd HQ," to help partially finance the popular fan event Nerd HQ, which is eyeing its fourth year at San Diego's Comic-Con this July
• Levi, who began Nerd HQ in 2011, is hoping to reach a target goal of $1 million through Indiegogo, a crowd-funding platform similar in vein to Kickstarter. Since Nerd HQ began three years ago, attendance has grown from 20,000 in its inaugural year to 32,000 in 2013, raising $215,000 for Operation Smile through celebrity panel series "Conversations for a Cause" in its most recent outing. So why turn to crowd-funding now?
• "Nerd HQ was this thing we started and believed in for three years, and we just found that the financial model for how we were doing it just wasn't working anymore," the 33-year-old actor tells The Hollywood Reporter.
• The plan was to keep Nerd HQ "as free and accessible as we could," which meant Levi and his counterparts relied on sponsorship dollars -- "that way we could put all the cost on that" for things such as securing the venue and paying production staff.
• While that strategy worked the first two years, "it didn't really work well at all" last summer, Levi admits, alluding to sponsors pulling out at the last moment, forcing him to pay out of his own pocket.
• "I got hit hard with it; that was a sign of 'I don't know if this really works anymore.' " That doesn't mean Nerd HQ will be solely financed by the fans; Levi insists sponsorships will still be on the docket -- he's just guaranteeing that last year won't happen again.
• Levi has high hopes that the crowd-funding campaign, his first, will pay off -- due in part to immense fan support on Twitter and the fact that they have a proven product -- though he's aware of the risks. "I feel like if they believe in it the way I believe in it, then we can all do this together," he says. "Who knows what's going to happen. But I really have a peace about it." If there's any hesitation or doubt, Levi isn't shy about verbalizing it. "Maybe I'm crazy -- it wouldn't be the first time," he says with a laugh. If "I Want My Nerd HQ" doesn't meet its $1 million goal, Levi still plans on moving forward with the event, hopefully with a return trip to Petco. "If this crowd-funding thing doesn't happen in the way that I think it will, I still have to take a long hard look at doing the event because I really do believe in it and the good that it brings," he says.
• The biggest difference from Levi's crowd-funding effort to others, such as the Veronica Mars and Zach Braff's Kickstarters, is the lack of a rewards structure, an intentional move on his part to keep donators on equal footing -- no matter the amount of money given, whether it's $5 or $100
• "The more that you can bring people together for a common good and a common goal and not disenfranchise them along the way, the more powerful it is," Levi says. And in an effort to recognize the donators, a "massive donor wall" will be resurrected at Nerd HQ with their names emblazoned for all to see. "It'll be a cool aesthetic thing, let alone a great way to thank everybody to say, 'Hey, you're awesome.' "
• Last year's Nerd HQ highlights from July 18-21, 2013, included film and television panels for Doctor Who, Sherlock, Hannibal, Orphan Black, Supernatural, Haven, Psych, 300: Rise of an Empire, Kick-Ass 2, I, Frankenstein and Riddick, with a celebrity guest lineup that featured Joss Whedon, Tom Hiddleston, Matt Smith, Richard Madden, Nathan Fillion, Steven Moffat, Joe Manganiello, Evangelline Lilly and Tatiana Maslany

8 more annotations...

• Karl Schodt has been working in the film industry for more than two decades as a director of photography on hundreds of feature films, commercials, documentaries, and corporate projects. His work has taken him to more than 50 countries worldwide.
• He is one of the pioneers of 3D technology in New Zealand, having filmed 3D in the US, New Zealand, Singapore, China, and Thailand, on many projects.
• His projects include one of the first 3D television programs for the Discovery/Sony channel 3Net, a 3D Museum attraction at the Auckland Museum, Kung Fu, Thai Kick Boxing, the first 3D music video ever filmed in New Zealand, and sports 3D.
• 3D filmmaking is something we should be getting involved with, or is it just a fad? This is what he had to say:

• The jury is still out on the answers to those questions at the moment. My view is yes, and no. I think that 3D filmmaking is coming, and yes, it is something I want to be involved in, and no, I don’t think it’s a fad. Why?

   
• Products evolve, and so do we. It's partly the work of the manufacturers, who are constantly upgrading their offerings. It keeps them in business, and it keeps us on our toes. It's not a bad thing, because the changes force us to evolve our skills—and suddenly the new thing becomes the norm.

• All new technology comes out with a bang and a roar, then calms down and goes silent before finding its way into our life. Look at your phones. Most of you will have a smart phone, yet when the 3G technology first came out more than 14 years ago, the handsets weren’t evolved enough to use the technology. Out came the iPhone, and now it’s a firm part of our digital lives. 3D will be the same.

   

• The biggest problem for all the television stations showing 3D worldwide now is the lack of content, so those who do decide to up-skill should find themselves at the forefront of work.

   

• For those who say they're not interested in 3D filmmaking, answer this question:
    How many camera operators are out there in the world?

   

    Millions, and they are all chasing the same ever-shrinking pot.  A consumer camera can now give as good an image as a professional camera gave only a few short years ago. More and more people are working for tiny budgets and producing great content, so how can you justify your prices? How can you make yourself "future-proof"?

   

• I choose to stay up to speed on future technologies, and 3D is one of those. But 3D is not something you can just go out and shoot. You need to understand the technology and how 3D works. But it’s not rocket science. Quite simply, 3D filmmaking has evolved. It's smaller, faster, and easier than it was.

   
• • We're no longer going out with huge crews and large rigs and massive budgets. When I was first filming in 3D, the equipment was bulky and hugely expensive. Now that equipment is affordable.
   
• The beam-splitter rigs are better than they ever were. Six years ago, beam-splitters were custom-built and not commercially available. Then four years ago, $40,000 in US dollars (USD) would get you one of the first commercially available 3D beam-splitters, and now in 2012, it's around $6,000 USD for great models.
• • Stereo processors have gone from being desktop fixtures to small and portable, starting at around $700 USD. Cameras are cheaper. If you already have a camera that can genlock, then you’re halfway there. So price barrier is no longer a consideration.
   
• 1. The post process is easier since 3D capability is already included in major edit systems. Anything you can do in 2D, you can do in 3D, so you’re not limiting your project. You just need to know what you're doing. Yes, it’s more expensive, but not by a great margin. And, an operator-stereographer can charge more, because you have a skill that not many others currently have.
   

• 3D is an evolving market. In 2008 the 3D display market was under 1 million units with revenue of  $902 million USD. By 2011 it had increased to 51 million units with a revenue of over $13 billion USD and is forecast to grow to 196 million units and $22 billion dollars USD in revenues by 2018.

   

13 more annotations...