Suit Up! the production blog

Up on YouTube: Le sous-terrain (Underground)

2007-04-07T10:51:00.000+09:30

Having okayed it with my actresses, Clementine and Nescha, I've uploaded my Kino film from this year's Kino Kabaret. From go to whoa (including rehearsal and shooting) this film took four ~~hours~~ days; I had some serious writer's block! I wanted to make a sci-fi film, set entirely in a single room, and in French, so that's what this is. Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Adelaide Punk finally on YouTube!

2007-03-28T22:37:00.000+09:30

In a move far bolder than I have made as yet, Alan Sheldon, my colleague and former classmate from Advanced MAPS 2006 has finally put his masterpiece, Adelaide Punk up on YouTube. The film centres around Jack and Sally, a young punk couple in love who run away from home only to find themselves caught in a spider's web when they stumble upon a madman's tea party. Director Alan Sheldon holds his tongue in cheek and his heart on his sleeve with references to David Lynch, John Waters, Michel Gondry and punk culture.

Adelaide Punk has many ties to Suit Up!; I was production designer and editor on the former and Alan was 2nd A.D. on the latter. Furthermore, two of Adelaide Punk's major characters, Sally, the young punkress, and Eddie Crackers, the mad tea enthusiast, are played by Lynda Ferguson and Trav Nash (respectively).

Do check it out, and of course you can read the now-defunct blog here (and Alan's new project, Mondo Insano, has a blog here.

EDIT: And you can watch the behind the scenes stuff, too!

Trav Nash pleads Plotless @ Adelaide Fringe

2007-03-28T07:07:00.001+09:30

Trav Nash
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Suit Up!'s own Trav Nash is performing his show "Trav Nash Has Lost The Plot" all this week at Rhino Room (downstairs, 6:30pm, 27-31 March 2007). Adelaideians and Fringe Festival attendees interested in some bizarre comedy, madcap animations and incredible guest stars should go check it out. Be warned: it's not for the faint of heart. I'm scarred for life, but I laughed my ass off.

And good luck to Lynda Ferguson, who this week headed off on an extended trip to Sydney.

AFF07, Kino Kabaret all done

2007-03-07T11:16:00.001+10:30

I was working in the Lab late one night...
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

The Adelaide Film Festival and the Kino Kabaret 2007 are now over. I'm very sad about it all - I'd been looking forward to it for so long, and it was over all too quickly. Still, I am definitely the richer for both events, having taken in about 12 films and 5 special events in the duration of the festival. Can't wait for next time, let's hope I'm around for it!

AFF & Kino Kabaret 07

2007-02-23T00:07:00.000+10:30

Something that I've been looking forward for the last two years is the Adelaide Film Festival 2007. This amazing biennial festival is always so enjoying and mind-blowing; I just hope I can afford the sort of experience that I managed last time as a volunteer.

A major part of this festival for me will be the Kino Kabaret 2007. Kino Kabarets involves rapid-fire film-making: scripting, shooting, cutting and screening short films in the space of 48 hrs. There are four screenings: an opening night, and then one at the end of each of the three 48 hour periods (if that made sense). Screening dates are as follows:
Sunday, 25th February
Tuesday, 27th February
Thursday, 1st March
Saturday, 3rd March
All screenings start at 9pm, all are being held at Electric Light Hotel & Producers Bar (235 Grenfell St, Adelaide SA) and all are FREE, baby! Come along, cheer us on, and let us know if you want to join in.

Pictures: Emily Smart EP launch

2007-02-11T03:45:00.001+10:30

Emily Smart
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

A few pictures from Emily Smart's EP launch last night are up now on flickr. Enjoy, and congratulations, Em, on a fantastic show!

Lance Campbell writes up Alan Sheldon, Adelaide Punk

2007-02-07T13:45:00.000+10:30

Great news for my friend and colleague, Alan Sheldon, who, along with his film, Adelaide Punk, has garnered a mention in the newest issue of SALife magazine (February 2007 Vol 4 No. 2, p94-95). In his article "Location, Location", Lance Campbell, the magazine's Arts Editor includes a side-article entitled "It Could Happen To You", wherein he discusses how Alan came to use his own Adelaide cottage for interiors and exteriors in Adelaide Punk.

...A dozen fledgling filmmakers descended on his place to make Adelaide Punk, a film fairytale by Alan Sheldon. The scenes were finished in a day in Lance's kitchen and living room, the film is 10 minutes long and out now on DVD.

Congrats, Alan, and good on you to Lance for being such a great sport - what a lovely house you have!

UPDATE: With further thanks to Lance and to Jacqui Williams, Editor of SALife, I can include this .pdf of the article for those non-South Australians out there. Thanks, guys!

Emily Smart EP launch & Trav Nash Fringe show!

2007-02-01T07:37:00.000+10:30

Suit Up!'s Emily Smart has another big show coming up, this time to launch her new solo EP. I've uploaded the poster, but keen eyes (like mine!) might already have spotted it around Adelaide. In any case, the details are as follows:
Jive (181 Hindley St, Adelaide)
8pm, 10th February 2007
featuring Cookie Baker and Nadjeska
Entry is $10

In other news of upcoming events, Suit Up!'s favourite Adelaide comedian, our very own Trav Nash, has a show coming up in Adelaide's 2007 Fringe Festival
Trav Nash has Lost The Plot
Rhino Room (downstairs)
6:30pm March 27th - 31st
Entry $15 ($10 conc.)
Tickets from FringeTIX

Oh, and...

2007-01-08T13:39:00.000+10:30

HAPPY 2007!
What's in store for Suit Up! in the New Year? Well, a release, hopefully. We'll get there eventually; thanks for your patience!

The Black Doves

2007-01-08T12:52:00.000+10:30

Adelaide live music scene nomad, Spoz, has posted some photos from The Black Doves' most recent gig (at the Rhino Room last Friday) on his blog, where I was finally able to catch the band in all their gothic glory (pics about halfway down the page). It was a great show, and I'm so glad that I finally got to catch their act; Illicit Eve and The / Emily Smart / Duo are still in my sights (including Em's EP launch in February)!

Raise 'em high

2006-12-18T06:11:00.001+10:30

Raise 'em high
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

So long, MAPS 2006. Love to you all.

The podcast's last hoorah...

2006-12-09T05:33:00.000+10:30

The Suit Up! podcast was a fun, experimental part of the Suit Up! project. I first heard about podcasts on an episode of ABC Radio National's Background Briefing, but, like so many people, it wasn't until the release of iTunes 4.9 that I actually started listening to them. The grass-roots nature of podcasting, the way it put power in the hands of people, and the way it was free from censorship was just... electric. I had a few early favorites, including The Dawn And Drew Show and Geek Speak Radio.

When the Suit Up! project began, I got excited: here at last was something possibly worth podcasting about. I had the facilities to record myself at my disposal at school, and had lots of stuff going on to discuss. But despite my enthusiasm, podcasting and me just didn't work out. For one, I'm dull; I'm not well-suited to talking to no-one, as I just end up running off at the mouth and making stupid comments that beg to be edited out, but never will be because I'm no sound editor.

Secondly, it can get exhausting, not to mention pointless, blogging about every bit of your project and then regurgitating it for your podcast. It does nothing for you, and it's just tacky.

Thirdly, and this remained the main reason there are no more podcasts, I had no online server space to which I could upload my podcasts as soon as they were recorded; they'd either hang around til I found a way to get it up online, or they'd have to be compressed to ridiculous quality levels to fit on my measly 10MB Optus webspace. You really need server space to make a successful podcast; it's the best way to set up a good RSS feed, crucial to the subscription model that makes podcasts different from downloadable sound-files. It's that RSS feed that makes it possible for iTunes or iPodderX or whatever podcatcher you use to retrieve new episodes once they become available.

I just found the never-before-released fourth enstallment of the podcast. I still don't have any server space to make a dedicated and clean link, but I've uploaded it to MediaFire: SUPodcast004. Enjoy my rambling one last time, because I don't plan on making more of these anytime soon. I'm also taking down the link to the podcast feed, even though I do love that icon. Anyways, it's all about video-blogging now.

My kingdom for a website... well, not my kingdom, obviously.

2006-12-07T04:06:00.000+10:30

I was looking at the recent traffic statistics for both this blog and Suit Up!'s website. Both have gone up a bit since last week, so hey to all you newcomers. Sorry that there's not much to look at on the ol' website at the moment. I can't honestly say when something will be up, but it's on my mind all the time. It just something that we didn't cover enough this year. I asked a mate of mine who works in this field if he could make a website for me. He said he could do it for $1000, mates rates. I lol'd.

I've been toying with the idea of just making a website based on a Blogger template. It's not such a crazy idea, really. I could have multiple pages. Link to whatever I want. I could easily update it. I'm yet to think about it fully, but it's an idea that I'm kicking around. If anyone has some advice on this matter, I'd love to hear it.

The Army Of The Five Monkeys

2006-12-01T16:25:00.001+10:30

The Army Of The Five Monkeys
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

We did it!

The DVDs have landed!

2006-12-01T15:54:00.000+10:30

They're here! The DVDs have arrived, and for the most part, they're looking lovely. Everyone's stuff is looking pretty schmick, from what I've seen; I've only snared myself a copy of Adam's Me And My Friends and Stan's Adelaide's St Peter's Cathedral and Let Me Tell You About It but they're both professional efforts. Mine are not right though, which sucks: the printers have not printed the discs properly, leaving a large circle and DVD logo where there should not be either. I know where the mistake has been made, but it's not my mistake, and I'm a wee bit incensed. Nevertheless, everything else about them seems cool. I'd take them back, but then I wouldn't have anything to give my lovely cast tonight.

Tonight? Why, haven't you heard? It's the screening tonight!
7pm, Friday, 1 December
Marion Cultural Centre
287 Diagonal Rd
Oaklands Park, SA
FREE ENTRY!

Hope to see anyone and everyone there!

Bottom's Up!

2006-12-01T13:38:00.000+10:30

Go see Suit Up!'s very own Guy O'Grady (Harris) when he treads the boards next week in Urban Myth's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The show runs from the 7th til the 9th of December; it's a short run but it should be fun!

Where: The Unley Village Green. Oxford Tce, Unley.
When: 7th, 8th and 9th December
Time: 6pm for pre-show entertainment, BBQ, stalls etc. This event is FREE.
8pm for A Midsummer Night's Dream
Price: $20 adults, $12 Concession. Various family tickets are also available. Call BASS on 131246 for further details. Tickets need to be purchased through BASS. Limited seating is available as picnic areas, so get in quick if you would like to book one of those.

Catch up...

2006-11-28T13:20:00.000+10:30

I've been catching up on a bit of Rocketboom. I was so behind on my viewing, but now I'm only a month behind. :\ There were some particularly good episodes, so I'm glad that I went back and covered them.

I went to see Mario Spate's band play the other night, but sadly missed them - again! I did however buy their CD, and it's really great, so look out for it: "Empty Out Your Heart" by The Black Doves.

Trav Nash's side-project Robots Kill Children also played that night, and were also missed by me. By all accounts it was a mind-exploding sensory overload of completely unrehearsed choons and ad-libbed acoustics. I'll have to catch the next one.

And it was a couple of weeks ago now, but Lynda Ferguson should be congratulated on her fantastic work in Pastiche, a play that was part of the Feast Festival. I saw the opening night performance, and Lynda was so good. Congrats, Lynda; hope the rest of the run went well!

A Fistful of MAPS...

2006-11-23T03:10:00.000+10:30

The screening is almost upon us, and with it comes our gorgeous poster! The graphic is shamelessly plundered from the original Italian poster for per un Pugno di Dollari so ssssshhutuuuup!

And MAPS is over! Much to tell, but I must now go to bed. More tomorrow, hopefully.

Thanks to Alan for starting the poster. He started, I finished. We stole.

Life Goggles | 4 easy steps to getting your videos online

2006-11-12T17:27:00.000+10:30

Here's a great blog post that compares four different online video sites with regard to their sign-up process, uploading time and other factors. This is an interesting experiment, and one that I would like to see extended to other sites like Revver and blip.tv.

At this stage I would like to make Suit Up! available to as many sites as possible - I just want it to be seen. Even so, I have often wondered which offers the best quality - the LonelyGirl15 videos, hosted by Revver, look really great - not to mention the best exposure. We shall see!

Commentary recording (Sorry, Trav!)

2006-11-10T04:52:00.000+10:30

I've been so busy the last little that I've barely blogged a single thing. That's why it's taken me a couple of days to get this pic up from our cast commentary recording on Tuesday night. Apologies to Trav Nash - I should've taken one more pic! :D Despite every recording issue under the sun, the commentary was lots of fun. Sadly, the levels were very very low, and the sound quality isn't as pristine as we like, but hey, in the end it's the content that counts, and my bad jokes are outweighed by the gold offered up by Nash, Guy and Lynda.

I am so excrutiatingly busy at the moment. The DVDs are due tomorrow afternoon. We're getting assessed next week. I'm working on two non-MAPS thingys to boot. It just never stops! It's almost over, but then again, I don't want it to end. :(

Nashember...

2006-11-06T01:09:00.000+10:30

Trav Nash, Suit Up!'s most mischievous monkey has just posted a pile of dates for upcoming shows on his blog, The Unstoppable Zombie Corpse Of Trav Nash

"November 17th TRAV NASH new show DIESPACE
@ Rhino Room doors open @ 8pm and it's $10 @ the door

November 22nd TRAV NASH hosts RHINO ROOM
woooo!!!! doors open 8pm and $8.00 entry!

I know what your thinking thats a lot of Nash...how can I get more!
WELL!

November 25th SUPER SHOW with
Colonel Kernel, Dr El Suavo and Robots Kill Children
with Dj Zoo Keeper!
@ Rhino Room Doors open 9pm with $10 door entering fee!

WOW! yay talk about NASHember!"

Get along to the shows to support Trav's various vices!

Belittling...

2006-11-03T10:17:00.000+10:30

Even before belittle league's excellent track "Rock And Roll Ombudsman" became the opening theme for Suit Up! it was used in the above film, The Headache, by fellow Adelaide Kino-ite, Kate George. This was revealed to me last night when I saw Kate and Justin at the gig. It was fantastic to catch belittle league again after so long. It also gave me the chance to square away a bit of film-making beauracracy; thank goodness that's out of the way. Morgan is an absolute gentleman; in addition to being completely cooperative with regard to my using his music, he also gave me a free CD! Thanks, Morgan!

Once that gig was done, I dashed to the Grace to catch Illicit Eve, but sadly only caught their last two tracks. Next time, next time. I did pick up some sexy new merch, though. Cool beans.

There is exactly one week left to get all things done for Suit Up!, including the DVD. Commentaries are happening this Tuesday! Menus are being drawn up as we speak! It's going to be hell, but we'll see how we go. Wish me much luck!

Illicit Eve or Belittle League... You Decide!

2006-10-29T21:54:00.002+10:30

There're a couple of Suit Up! related gigs coming up, on the same night, no less. Illicit Eve, featuring our very own Emily Smart will be making their triumphant post touring return to the Grace Emily, Waymouth St, Adelaide. They'll be playing with Rejusa, flogging their new t-shirts and generally being rocktastic.

At the same time, just a couple of blocks to the south, Belittle League will be shaking his booty for the masses in support of Home For The Def at The Prince Albert, Wright St, Adelaide. Belittle League is responsible for all the music that's heard in Suit Up!, including the wondrous squelching opening track, "Rock And Roll Ombudsman".

Both these awesome gigs will be happening this Thursday, November 2nd 2006 from 9pm. Get along and rock out!

SUITUPtv.com

2006-10-23T15:43:00.000+09:30

Our proper website is still under construction, and it'll be a few weeks yet before anything really cool is up there. You can visit there if you want, though, and maybe bookmark it for future reference. :)

SUITUPtv.com

Jump in...

2006-10-16T11:13:00.000+09:30

Well it's been a lovely and relaxing holiday. I just hope I'm ready for the next two months, which are sure to be blisteringly busy. I have secured myself a bit of work experience, which should be fantastic, but might get in the way of the end of my work on Suit Up! This project is so important to me. I'll do the best juggling I can to get things done on time.

Do you all know about the end of year screening? Whatever else happens, you'll get to see Suit Up! there, and on the big screen no less!

ADVANCED MAPS 2006 SCREENING
7pm, Friday December 1st
Marion Cultural Centre
287 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Park
South Australia

Hope to see you there!

Jeff Pulver and Network 2.0

2006-10-04T20:44:00.000+09:30

Welcome to to the future of TV on the Internet. Let Network2 be your guide to tv shows only available on the Internet.

I've been watching quite a bit of Internet video in the last couple of days. It probably would've been to my benefit to have better researched what was already out there in terms of applying a model to how things would turn out. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'll still be fine. But there really is a lot of cool stuff out there.

My hot favourite at the moment has to be Cerealized, a genuinely funny 24-part series about three flatmates and three breakfast table bickering. I've seen four episodes: all good. The show started in October last year, and seems to be on hiatus at the moment. I've still got plenty more to see, though, so it's cool.

I've been watching them on Network 2.0, an off-shoot of pulver.com that is a directory of Internet-only shows. Since Jeff Pulver mentioned me (and Suit Up!) on his blog the other day, we've had a bit of a discourse about Internet TV, and he's let me preview some of the stuff they have in store for Network 2.0.

Here's the Network 2.0 definition of Internet TV:

An Internet only TV Show should be a source of video content that is orginial, consistently updated, and entertaining. It should not be alternate viewing or portions of broadcast content, an aggregation of user submitted, user generated, or viral video with minimal original contribution, or purely personal vlog with a dearth of general interest or entertaining material.

I think Suit Up! makes the grade in this regard, but we're also going to have to set up a dedicated RSS feed. Easy enough with the feed, but as I've mentioned before, it's the hosting that I think's going to be the tricky part.

Further reading:
Jeff Pulver being interviewed on Rocketboom.

The Australian: Live narrative short films aren't so diverse.

2006-10-04T19:12:00.000+09:30

Creativity bypass | The Arts | The Australian

SHORT films aren't dying, only their relevance is. As Hollywood studios increasingly look towards the flashiest talent from the hottest new media -- the Zeitgeist-hitting, video-dominating YouTube or MySpace, for example -- the competent work of a film school graduate just doesn't look sexy any more.

Digital film-making has liberated the creative community and given it access to a medium once viewed as prohibitively expensive to work with. The internet has added accessibility to that low cost; but while the volume of such short films and videos has increased, they haven't exactly added to the greater good.

I don't think Adelaide Punk, for example, will have any problems setting itself apart from the mainstream, but I agree with a lot that is said in this article. I wouldn't say, though, that M.A.P.S. as an educational institution necessarily "encourage(s) social realism" as a rule.

somethingtobedesired.com and other Internet shows

2006-09-30T10:08:00.000+09:30

somethingtobedesired.com - An Unpredictable Web Series
I only heard about this show from the aforementioned BizPodcasting article, but this show is pretty darn cool, and they've been doing the Internet series thang a whole lot longer than I have.

I've only watched two episodes thus far, but I must say that I am impressed. What I like best about this show is that it's made entirely in Pittsburgh by people who are passionate about the city and the community they live in. The show is set in a community radio station, and as such they play lots of local Pittsburgh content. This was one of the things I wanted to do with my project this year: give exposure to local Adelaide musicians. As it turned out, only one or two of them are actually going to get exposure. Maybe next time, eh?

Anyways, I think it's fantastic what they are doing for their city with this show. And it looks like they have a lot of fun doing it. I look forward to watching more, and possibly getting some ideas for some Adelaide-centric material.

Now that I'm on holidays, I might get a chance to watch some of the other shows mentioned last month on The Jeff Pulver Blog (and here). In the last month, I've been watching lots of Ze Frank (which is excellent), lonelygirl15, and Rocketboom of course. Amanda Congdon has just started her new vlog, AmandaAcrossAmerica. It's only five weeks long, I'd better get started. But yeah, these people don't need my help, and neither do you! Get out there and start watching Internet video!

Holiday fun...

2006-09-30T07:47:00.000+09:30

It's holidays again for the Suit Up! team, and as such, it's time for Holiday Projects Mk II!

As far as Suit Up! is concerned, well... that's my main priority. I've got to draw up and design some DVD menus, design the website (with a nice, unifying theme, of course) and get that sucker up there on the web. Time I started making calls to people with tech know-how.

I'm also planning to go through the Suit Up! dailies and pick out the footage I want to use for our special features. It'll be fun to revisit, but I'm dreading finding "that one bit of footage we were looking for," etc.

Another thing that I want to do in the next couple of weeks is get my cast together so that we can sit down to watch the finished series. I'm a bit apprehensive about it, though. I have no idea how they're going to react. Nerves, yikes. The Internet's a big place.

Suit Up! gets a mention on BizPodcasting

2006-09-28T20:12:00.000+09:30

I'm going to have to go all unprofessional here, because I've just found a mention of Suit Up! on another blog, one that I have had nothing to do with prior to this; BizPodcasting.com is a blog/podcast that serves as "a discussion about corporate and business podcasting with tips and guidelines". I found the post using Google's Blog Search tool.

Blogger/podcaster Jon Watson writes (13 Sept. 2006):

Suit Up! is an Internet television program out of Australia that's almost ready. The show is in "fine fine editing" stage and given that the most recent blog posts deal with issues with the end credits, it sounds pretty close to me.

Shows made specifically for Internet distribution aren't exactly common these days, but they're gaining steam. I'm not speaking of the Rocketbooms and Ask a Ninjas of the world, rather the full-length serieses (serieses?) that are able to give any main stream tv show a run for its money.

Thanks, Jon, for your kind words. I'm flattered to think that Suit Up! might "give any main stream tv show a run for its money," but I don't think we're quite aiming to do that here. And we're probably not "at that level", though we are certainly awesome. :D

For one, we're film-school students making this on a very low budget. We've gots the skills, sure, but things might turn out a bit less polished than other productions. Secondly, our format, episode length and delivery are different; our episodes are short, ranging from 2 to 4 minutes in length, much like Rocketboom. There will be six of them, released one-by-one over a six week period. At this stage, once that's over, that's it, but I do hope that in future we could make more episodes, provided the cast and crew are still interested. Thirdly, we're targeting a different audience. The show is rich with internet and pop-culture references that may pare down our viewer base. It's my hope, though, that those that do get the show will like it a lot.

I will have to put together a "What is Suit Up! page to go in the sidebar: I'll get to that in the next few days. In any case, thanks to Jon, and hello to anyone else reading out there who I haven't met personally: don't be afraid to say hi!

For those of you in Adelaide...

2006-09-27T16:27:00.000+09:30

Check out p27 of today's Advertiser (Wednesday, 27 Semptember) to see a photo of one of our star's, Emily Smart, in her band Illicit Eve. Illicit Eve are widely regarded as one of Adelaide's most up-and-coming bands. I have to promise myself that I will get to one of their gigs soon. Their next one is Friday, 13th October 2006 @ Higher Ground.

Project Status: COMPLETED

2006-09-27T05:23:00.000+09:30

Done and dusted
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

And by "completed" I'm referring only to the piece itself. We've still got a looooong ways to go with regard to the DVD and web components of the project. But that said, I am overjoyed to say, nay, proclaim that the series, Suit Up!, is now complete!

It's been almost a week since the finish line came into view. With each day that passed, I was certain that "today will be the day" but things were just taking longer and longer to finish. Even today, after we got the project to tape, it turned out that some seperate footage that had been captured on a MiniDV deck had not rendered properly. We nailed the glitch in the end, though, and now we've got it, the whole thing. Done and dusted.

The Audio Philes

2006-09-20T13:09:00.000+09:30

What's big in your world? In the world of Suit Up!, it's all about audio. Good audio, bad audio, last-minute audio... the end-of-it-all audio. At some time today, Suit Up! will be declared complete, and whatever audio is there, stays.

I've had a couple of issues with the sound mix as it is. Jen's done a great job for the most part, but there are a couple of issues that still need fixing. And then there's the ADR. Oh, the ADR.

I've always been so against ADR in films. Bad ADR is so easy to pick, and I've always held a "why didn't they just get it right the first time?" attitude. making films, though, I've learnt that sometimes, it's something that you just have to do. For Suit Up, we've had to do extensive amounts of ADR, for many and various reasons. This has worked in many cases by filling in a lot of blanks in the action, aiding the viewer, punctuating a scene, etc. For the most part, I'm pretty positive about the ADR. But it's also raised it's own set of problems, like the fact that it was done with a different mike, in a different room, without a camera to freak people out and give them a higher pitched voice, etc (I've learnt a lot about audio doing this stuff, which is cool). The stuff that we've got sticks out like a gangrenous thumb.

Not to worry. For the most part, the sound is fine. It's great. There'll be hiccups, but in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter all that much. Nevertheless, I'm going to wring every last bit of time out of today to try and iron out those last few creases. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, may I express my great thanks to our sound engineer, Jen, for her work on the audio. She was met with every kind of hardship, with software, bad audio, changing visuals, absent director, etc. and yet she somehow perservered. Good on you, Jen!

Thanks also to Tim Whitt for coming here to MAPS on several occasions to help with all things audio. You're a legend.

So ronery...

2006-09-14T17:28:00.000+09:30

It was Jessica Rose all along!

Podcasting and Viral Marketing seminar

2006-09-13T18:21:00.000+09:30

Today I attended the AFTRS Podcasting and Viral Marketing Seminar that I mentioned a few weeks ago. The speaker/instructor was Keren Flavell, a producer/podcaster who realy knew her stuff when it came to the world of the podcast and viral marketing. Barring a gauntlet of technical issues, it was a fun day. I already knew a lot of the stuff that she talked about (initially, at least), but I definitely learnt a lot on top of that. I was able to have a good chat with her about Suit Up! during the lunch break, and she had some good insights into how best to deliver the product. I also had the chance to talk quite a bit with Ashlee about what she was there to learn and the stuff that she has planned for the future: sounds great, Ash!

Update: Keren strongly suggested that I get my domain name out there, to get it seen! Thankfully, I was able to tell that I had just bought my domain name last night.

Coming soon...

Feedback (more to come)...

2006-09-13T17:50:00.000+09:30

Man alive, it's been a busy couple of days, and I haven't blogged about any of it! My apologies. It's been good, though. I'll give you the run down, but rest assured that there's more than just text to come.

Software issues keep blocking me at every turn, so it was an end-credit-less Suit Up! that was watched by the assembled Advanced MAPS class yesterday (Tuesday). I am extremely happy to report that the reception for the show was very good. Everyone seemed very satisfied with the end result, and the show got its fair share of laughs. There's more on this to follow, but the main thing to say is that I was very happy with how it went. Thanks to all who were in attendance for your great feedback and kind words.

Credits where credits are due (aka list-less-ness)...

2006-09-11T11:55:00.001+09:30

I've come in to MAPS today to work on the end credits for Suit Up!, that is to say, the final end credits. We have a short version at the end of each episode, and a final extended credits at the end of the final episode. Let's hope for all our sakes that people make it to the last episode.

Before I can start doing anything in LiveType, I have to make sure that I've remembered everyone. I've gone through the whole of my notebook, trying to pick out the names of the people that have helped along the way, but I'm fairly certain I'm also going to have to trawl though my email inbox and my flickr account, not to mention this 'ere blog. It's going to be a loooong list.

I'm not sure whether or not I should credit my influences. Probably not necessary. Murali Thalluri thanks Gus Van Sant in the credits for 2:37, but then he also thanks Michael Jackson. I think you'll be able to check out all the influences/references on the MySpace page. I'm yet to write the definitive list. Lists, lists, lists.

In other news, I'm helping out on the MAPS film Blake Stone, which sounds like it's going to kick ass. And the lonelygirl15 mystery just keeps getting better and better.

Everything but the end credits!

2006-09-08T18:18:00.000+09:30

Dance, bilby, dance
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

The (visual) editing of Suit Up! was finally completed on Thursday. Des worked like a dog, but the finsihed piece looks really good. I'm so much happier about things at the moment.

The one thing that wasn't finished was the end credits due to an issue with the LiveType software, but barring that, we're in the clear. Onward to audio! Whoo! (add echo here)

Goonies screening, fundraising, more Des...

2006-09-07T00:53:00.000+09:30

Goonies screening
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Tuesday night a whole lot of Mappies tramped into the Mercury Cinema to watch The Goonies. It was a great film, and I hadn't seen it before, but sadly the kids who were putting it on (Mark and Michael) were unable to recoup their losses. Strange, seeing how we packed the cinema out last year with Labyrinth.

I'm yet to organise anything fundraisery for Suit Up, but I really should do that.

Final day of editing the visual tomorrow. At least, that's the plan. I'll be in there from 9 til 9 at least; wish me luck!

Small-time news...

2006-09-05T18:45:00.000+09:30

Today I made further enquiries about the use of Halo and Halo 2 in Suit Up! My efforts have, thus far, proved fruitless, but watch this space for developments on this important matter.

In other news, publicity photos of Lynda Ferguson (Siri) are finally up on flickr! It took a little longer due to her differing schedule, but we got there in the end.

I'm off to the MAPS The Goonies fundraiser! Shit, I'm late! Get gone!

Lonely Times...

2006-09-05T17:15:00.000+09:30

LATimes.com is hot on the trail of lonelygirl15, trying to unravel the mystery of this Internet soap-opera star.

While at first glance indistinguishable from the vast debris fields of similar video blogs, the lonelygirl15 cycle has proven the uber-online confessional. Whether it is the superior production values of the video, or the endearing/irritating (depending whom you ask) traits of its star or the gradually unfolding soap opera between the leads, Bree's is the face that has launched a thousand replies, with imitators, satirists, critics and debunkers falling over themselves in a mad frenzy to comment on the videos. Adding to the madness is a heated, nearly violent debate over whether the videos are authentically the work of a lonely teenage girl living miles from civilization ("three hours from a mall" she claims) or a stage-managed Internet fraud.

I was first made aware of lonelygirl15 by Maxx (who also told me about geriatric1927. I am very interested to see where this will go, cause it sure as hell ain't the diary of a 16-year-old naif.

Further reading
Wikipedia entry (back up after having been taken down for some time.)
New York Magazine article: Hey There, Lonelygirl
ARGN article: LonelyGirl15 - Is She or Isn't She?

Alan approbates, Steve succumbs...

2006-09-04T20:02:00.000+09:30

Despite some LiveTypical frustrations, some tempermental sound issues and constant whining about lack of food, the director has signed off on the project: Adelaide Punk ("the cult film of 2006!" - Stan Halejko) has today been declared complete.

Sadly, today marks the day that Steve Irwin finally pushed off. So long, Steve.

It's Your Show - Create. Submit. Win!

2006-09-04T10:20:00.000+09:30

"1. Pick a challenge or create your own category.
2. Submit your brilliant video
3. Hope you win the weekly $1,000 or the ultimate $100,000 prize!"

Brooke's back with an all new website. Her collaboration with Carson Daly looks like an interesting one. Let's see what this yields when there's cash up for grabs. I get the feeling that offensive material will be overlooked, so keep it clean to start rolling in the green.

We should do this. Alan? Maxx? Anyone?
_{Thanks to Maxx for the link.}

They call him Cleland (well, actually, they don't)...

2006-09-01T05:33:00.000+09:30

Is it? It is!
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Suit Up! was first up for our designated "freak out!" period today at school, whereby free-lance editor and former Advanced MAPS student Des goes through our project with us to give it a really good spit and polish. Having been plagued with audio problems, we weren't really at the level of completion expected of the project today, but we went ahead anyway.

Peter and Leigh sat down and we went through each episode one-by-one, stopping at the end of each to go through again and find what worked and what needed re-working (a lot more of the latter, as you can imagine). Peter and Leigh suggested some dramatic changes that we have already started to implement.

The rest of the day was spent with Des on the computer, making frame-specific adjustments and major revisions, fine-tuning this, tweaking that and pulling that shitty bit right out, etc. It was an amazing experience to work with Des on this project, and I can only hope that I'll get another chance to do so.

With all our reshuffling, it might send Jen back to the drawing board with the audio. Don't know what she'll have to say about that. Eep

Minority Ants

2006-09-01T03:07:00.000+09:30

the brood
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

I snapped a few photos on the set of the MAPS film Minority Ants the other day while I was waiting for the computer to free up. I know Rowan'll get a kick out of my putting a few of them up here on the blog. I'm giving the rest of them to him tomorrow at school, but you can see the all the photos I put up on flickr tagged "minority ants" here.

I wasn't around for much of the day, but shooting seemed pretty tight. Hope they get all the coverage they need. Rowan seemed pleased; he's already logged and captured, all ready for the edit.

The Jeff Pulver Blog: Jeff's Guide to "TV Shows Only Available on the Internet"

2006-08-30T07:16:00.000+09:30

Somewhere between the world of professionally "produced" TV shows and personal video blogs lies the world of what can be best described as "TV Shows Only Available on the Internet."

_{As posted by Robert Scoble}.
Now's not the time, but I hope to get a chance to have a look at some of these on the weekend. Feel free to check them out yourself. If you see something cool, then let me know.

In the thick of it...

2006-08-29T09:49:00.000+09:30

If anyone ever finds that I have written wanky lines like "a nuanced performance" ever again, please shoot me.

All this sync-ing and re-recording is doing my head in.

Title Card

2006-08-29T04:30:00.000+09:30

Title Card
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Here's a sneak peek at the opening credits for all you boffins out there.

Today involved a lot of waiting while Stan and Adam worked on the audio for TRiBE. They're all done now, but I didn't get into the room until about 7:30. This bottle-necking of resources and continuing software dramas has me shaking in my boots at the prospect of not finishing the project in time.

The fucking sound edit. It's Delete all over again.

Belated Norwegian lessons!

2006-08-28T04:34:00.000+09:30

Belated Norwegian lessons! 3
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Sunday afternoon involved catching up with Lynda Ferguson who plays Siri. We got some coffee, then headed to Saxon's house for some rather late lessons in the Norse tongue. We'll see how things go with her re-record tomorrow.

I need sleep. Goodnight!

Trav Nash @ Rhino

2006-08-28T04:31:00.000+09:30

Trav Nash @ Rhino
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Plenty of lovely and/or hideous photos from Trav Nash's appearance at Rhino Room over the weekend can be found on the Suit Up! flickr. Go to.

AFTRS Seminar: Podcasting And Viral Marketing

2006-08-28T02:46:00.000+09:30

Peter sent out an email about this tonight, but I had actually already applied. (And not just because they mention Rocketboom in the blurb, thankyou very much.) Obviously this could be very interesting for someone like myself with a project like Suit Up!

Anyone else planning on registering?

Too focused on the task at hand...

2006-08-26T20:38:00.000+09:30

I was too busy all week to take photos of my actors as they were re-recording. Why must I be so damn dedicated to the task at hand? I need special features, damn it!

You can, at least, see one of our stars, Trav Nash, during his re-record here.

Will post more soon folks, but for now, it's Saturday!

A comedy tonight...

2006-08-24T02:33:00.000+09:30

A comedy tonight...
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Sorry not to have updated earlier, but I was without the Internet last night. Furthermore, I'm completely knackered.

The last two days have been spent putting the last few bits of Suit Up! together, ready for the audio edit which begins tomorrow. Things are looking far more complete now with the inclusion of some additional footage that we didn't have a few days ago, but I still am worried.

I think the addition of music and some off-screen audio elements will help things greatly. Time will tell.

Windows Live Writer

2006-08-22T03:29:00.000+09:30

I'm giving Windows Live Writer (Beta) a bit of a crack today. If it does anything particularly awesome, I'll talk more on the matter. Anyways, I can't stay to chat; the format doesn't allow it. Furthermore, we have the last scheduled day of Suit Up! editing tomorrow. I should try and get at least some sleep. I'm terrified.

In the end, this is an ad for triple j

2006-08-21T19:42:00.000+09:30

When it comes to the Internet and new media, triple j are worthy heroes of mine. Having maintained a large Internet presence for years now, beginning with the ability to listen to triple j from anywhere in the world via their Internet stream, and they just keep getting bigger and better. About two years ago they started their gig guide, an impressively well-informed guide to gigs and tours happening around the country. Last year, with the podcast revolution, triple j was right there amongst it, with podcast highlights for their major shows and entire episodes of Hack to download. Now they've branched out into television with JTV, which in addition to the half-hour standard format, also embraces digital television with an extended version broadcast on ABC2, and also a short-form vodcast.

The new Unearthed website is another example of a new spin on a triple j mainstay. For years the Unearthed event has been about exposing unsigned to new, nation-wide audiences. Initially going city-by-city, then state-by-state; the new website embraces the ability for artists to upload their own content and for users to find them this way. They've also expanded into the world of publishing with J-Mag.

Peter's always said that the ABC are pretty-much leading the way in terms of cross-platform media in Australia. All this stuff that's happening with triple j just backs that up. I didn't mean for this to turn into such a loveletter, but there you go. What can I say; new media excites me.

Web 2.0

2006-08-21T04:23:00.000+09:30

Make your own Web 2.0 Logo
All week, I've been meaning to write a post about how exciting I think "Web 2.0" is. Blogging to the extent that I have this year has opened me up to a whole new world on the Internet. I've been able to syndicate my podcast through iTunes. I've been able to stay on top of my favourite news with RSS. I've been able to share and tag my photos through flickr. I can create word documents in my browser with Writely. I've been able to watch videos through YouTube, and remix them through JumpCut.

Web 2.0 for me is all about putting the power back in the hands of the people. An idealistic view, most certainly, but I love the idea that we have the power to communicate in ways that were once so completely out of reach. It makes me want to get my grandmothers into blogging, so they can be my own versions of Ol Grandma Hardcore, Millie Garfield and Geriatric1927. :D

::further reading::
Web 2.0 Bullshit Generator

YouTubers beware!!1!

2006-08-18T18:51:00.000+09:30

The Midnight Court :: You Tube and Copyright in Consumer-Created Media:

Via the stupendously superb Ze Frank comes the news that You Tube has updated its terms of use to the effect that anyone using its service to upload video provides You Tube and any successor company (News International, anyone?) with a licence to exploit the images and make derivative works therefrom. As Ze says, they get to make money out of your work, You Tubers.

_{via the blog of Amanda Congdon on the topic of Geriatric1927}.

Fine editin'...

2006-08-16T01:26:00.000+09:30

Editing 1
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Maxx and I have had two days of fine ediitng. The time has not been without it's interruptions and setbacks, and we've been put on hold til next Tuesday as Maxx has work commitments. Thankfully, he's sacrificed a day of Blind Portrait audio for the cause; he's doubtful that the BP music'll be composed in time.

Plenty more to be done. Stay tuned.

SALife Magazine: Club Characters

2006-08-14T02:56:00.000+09:30

The current issue of SA Life has an article about people who work as mascots in Adelaide's two AFL teams.

Club characters
Karen Phillips unmasks the Crows and Power mascots to find our just who’s in the costumes. These young people are having a ball in disguise but remain mindful of the responsibility which comes with the suit.

Maybe I should've interviewed these guys when I was doing my research; then again, they sound a bit too chirpy and into it for my liking. How dare they enjoy what they do! I needed disgruntled!

This is a test...

2006-08-11T16:01:00.000+09:30

Just a quick post before I get kicked out of the building. I had written a longer post, but Firefox crashed, dagnabbit.

Had a test screening of sorts this morning. About half the projects are through their fine edits now, but Suit Up! doesn't hit fine edit until this Monday. Nevertheless, we showed what we had so far to the assembled class plus a handful of first-years. It was a useful session with some good feedback.

I haven't mentioned too much about the edit of Suit Up! thus far, and i doubt that I'll have the time to do so at the moment, but I thought I might offer a few of my thoughts on the project as it stands. It needs a lot of tightening up; so much of comedy is timing, and at the moment the timing needs a lot of tweaking. The character of Saul is originally bisexual, but this is lost on most people, and somewhat mystifying to those that do pick up on it, as neither the script nor the performance clearly show this side of Saul's character. As such, we're probably going to be cutting that aspect right out; Craven will be single after all. A shame, because I liked our Brokeback reference.

Some of my colleagues suggested some fairly large cuts where they felt the joke had gone too far. One felt that the Croyt(sp?) reference especially would just offend people, and should probably be taken out. We also need to bookend the episodes with at least a title and short credits to show where each episode begins and ends.

There were several other notes, most of which I have written down, and we shall review them accordingly.

Another topic of discussion was how the episodes should be viewed at the end of year screening. I have thought for a while now that it would be in my best interest to show just one episode and to entice the audience into visiting the website to see more. I thought that this might suit better than watching the eps back-to-back. One suggestion made today, though, was that we screen the episodes between all the other films, such that it would go episode, film, episode, film, episode and so on. This idea could really work, and I'm excited to see how it works when we get to this stage of planning.

I might write some more as I think of it. Anyway, it's closing time. I'm off to SAFC industry drinks at Garage.

Happy... 102nd?

2006-08-08T02:15:00.000+09:30

And I thought I was keeping an eye on things. Well, no, I wasn't - not eye enough, anyway - since I must now celebrate this as being my 102nd post, as opposed to my 100th as planned. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog! I can't wait to take it to the next step as we move on to the fine edit next week and on to new and exciting terrains.

HAPPY 102nd POST!!!

Crossover Australia 2007

2006-08-07T15:51:00.000+09:30

All my Advanced MAPS peeps might be interested in registering for Crossover Australia 2007, to be held as part of the Adelaide Film Festival.

Crossover Australia is a creative think tank that brings together independent artists, writers, filmmakers and new media producers with the aim of developing innovative digital and interactive projects. With the growth of broadband access and a plethora of emerging distribution platforms as a backdrop, Crossover Australia is a creative incubator devoted to building new forms of interactivity, such as true interactive television applications, IP and mobile TV content or even story-telling and programming inspired by RPGs (role playing games).

Sounds cool, but I'm hell-bent on getting me a pass to see every damn movie that's on. Maybe I'll see if I can do both... and Kino Kabaret as well!

I can't get a break... ooh, there's one.

2006-08-04T14:11:00.000+09:30

Anyways, I've been frittering my time away elsewhere, catching up on a little bit of viewing and waiting for the weekend to roll around. I really should make a start on our project for the week.

The project involves us working out how much our films would have cost to make had we made them to industry standards. It's a somewhat fuzzy project requiring somewhat fuzzy figures and such, but I'll try and be as accurate as I can to get my undoubtedly fuzzy response. It was cool having Sonya Humphries in to M.A.P.S. to take us through it all; she seemed to know her stuff. We went through Suit Up! on the projector, which was helpful, but there's still much work to be done.

The soup gets cold...

2006-08-04T11:33:00.000+09:30

Well, it has indeed been a quiet few days on the Suit Up! front. As it is near impossible to run anyone to ground with regard to my work, I have sat at home for the whole week doing not a whole lot. I have, however, finally finished watching Soup Of The Day. A crap ending, sad to say. That Brandon's an asshole. Not everything about that show worked, but there was some great improv from the actors and some really gold moments.

"Good luck making lieutenant with a bag of heroin in your hand, Supercop!"

Soup was a fun thing to watch every now and again, and was inspirational in terms of its scope and methods of delivery. Re-runs are "airing" on ZabberBox.com.

Yeah, punk!

2006-07-31T00:45:00.000+09:30

Sorry for the lack of posts of late. I have been holed up in the editing room at school completing the edit for Adelaide Punk. I am happy to report that the film looks great, and even better in reverse! I am going to miss editing it; it was fun. Click the link to read more about it, and to download our fantastic porn groove, "Rick's Sex Mix"!

I am away from school for two weeks as of tomorrow, as I am due to be doing a wee bit of industry work. At least, that's the schedule I was given about seven weeks ago, but I've been unable to reach anyone in the last week to confirm this! If the worst comes to worst, I'll just go hang out at school for the day.

Lots of work still to be done on the film, and there'll be stuff happening even when I'm working: stay tuned!

Put it down to the 'Tube...

2006-07-25T23:14:00.000+09:30

Following a discussion in class today about the role that YouTube might play in some or all of our projects (though I suspect it's going to be just some), I chanced upon this:
BuzzMachine: NBCUTube

Aha. Somebody in Hollywood has discovered that the internet is a way to find talent and creativity, not just distribution and “interactivity.” NBC has signed a show whose pilot was rejected by Warner Brothers but is a hit on YouTube. This came from Hollywood pros, including people behind Scrubs. So they’re not exactly citizen programmers. But that cannot be far behind. First, the internet is a way to find your audience. Next, it will be the way to find talent.

The Buzz Machine blog also linked to this excellent article from the New York Times.

...Mr. Kirn insisted that the medium would leave a deep imprint on any entertainment that it generates. “The Net is a self-consciously anti-authoritarian audience,” he said. “They are spit-ballers, defacers, vandals, skeptics. It’s a class without a teacher. The movies that will succeed on it will have those properties.”

_{I initially found this BuzzMachine story linked from Amanda Unboomed, who's busy doing stuff}.

Biggup Maxx!

2006-07-25T19:20:00.000+09:30

It was great to get back in to the classroom today, despite the broken heater and the resulting cold. I brought in a disc with the photos thus far, and some episodes of The Venture Brothers to fill in the blanks. The show was well received.

Maxx was done editing Stan's film and had a little bit of time on his hands before heading off to work; using a bit of initative, he suggested we take a quick look at Suit Up! In the short time that we had, we managed to cobble together the end of Episode 5. This is a huge relief in that when we go in to do our fine edit, we will now have all 5 completed episodes, as opposed to the only four-and-a-half we managed to complete after the various difficulties and delays during our edit time.

Just before we began, we watched the edit thus far; I am happy to report that I was able to laugh in quite a few bits. It was a relief.

I'm beginning to think about options with regard to music for the show and special features on the DVD. If you would like to suggest a special feature, please leave a comment.

I'm currently doing a bit of editing on The Holiday Project (or Untitled Holiday Project as I've named it on the iMac) but I think I might go home. I want a good night's sleep before we tackle AP's fine edit tomorrow. Yeah, punk!

Things

2006-07-25T06:36:00.000+09:30

Didn't get to school yesterday. I was going to head in then something major came up and I couldn't come in at all. Tomorrow's another day, though; I can't wait to get back in the classroom. And Wednesday is soon upon us, when we're going to finish off Adelaide Punk's editing. Excitement!

Look! This post has tags! The Flock browser strikes again.

technorati tags:adelaide punk, Back to school

Robustness is next to godliness..

2006-07-24T09:36:00.000+09:30

I have spent quite a bit of time over the holidays checking out new web services, sites and programs. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time on the computer, and I've got ass-callouses to prove it.

I've now got four web browsers installed on my computer, and I know what my blog looks like in all of them - quite similar, really, though Firefox doesn't always get the colours right. To think that just over a year ago (I think that's right) I had only Internet Explorer installed. Ha!

Still using Firefox 1.5 as my main browser, but have also now got:

Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 (just downloading beta 3 now)
Opera 9.0
Flock 0.7.1 (beta)

Flock is probably the one that I'm the least impressed with, namely because of it's strange and frustrating method of organising my bookmarks. It does, however, have some cool blogging tools. In fact, I'm using its blog-post function to write this very post. Besides, it's beta: things might get better soon. There's a beta available for Firefox 2.0, but I'm a bit hesitant to download it. Maybe I'll do that later.

Now I'm off to school to edit The Holiday Project, and to maybe get a start on some credits for Adelaide Punk.

Edit: Just found this cool article on the differences between the several major browsers, including a new one to me, Maxthon, now downloaded and ready to roll out.

Blogged with Flock

Just a funny little thing...

2006-07-24T06:00:00.000+09:30

Some cheeky little scamp has registered the domain name ie7.com and used for something other than Internet Explorer.

And a cool bit of publicity on the streets of Japan.

All over the shop...

2006-07-24T05:06:00.000+09:30

I've spent the last few hours checking out/researching a couple of Internet sites and services that are used by hundreds of thousands of people the world over, but that I have not yet got around to, namely Technorati, del.icio.us, Feedster; it's not all good stuff. Basically, I'm just trying to work out what these services can do for Suit Up!

Back to school tomorrow.

Rowan: Still Life

2006-07-20T16:47:00.000+09:30

CIMG2960
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Cheers to the lovely people that made it down to BOHO on Wednesday night. It was great to see you (all too brief for some) and I had lots of fun.

Cheers to Rowan, who was a very willing model for my amateur photography.

42 Below - Britain

2006-07-20T05:40:00.000+09:30

42 Below - Britain

Some classic viral flash animations from New Zealand's 42 Below Vodka that my dad showed me last year; simply inspired stuff.

Now she has their attention - Los Angeles Times

2006-07-20T05:02:00.000+09:30

Article:

When Brooke Brodack, a 20-year-old receptionist who lives in western Massachusetts with her mom and younger sister, started getting fan mail from Carson Daly's people, she figured it was all a joke, that somehow she'd been punked.

But strange things can happen when you post goofy homemade videos of yourself on YouTube.com, the website that the TV industry can't decide whether it should embrace or dread.

Brooke Brodack signed a deal with Carson Daly based on content he'd seen on her YouTube account. Wow.

O, for schwag!

2006-07-19T10:23:00.000+09:30

I've got a bit of a fascination for merchandise. being a geeky guy, I love buying little bits (or big bits) of official merchandise from my favourite bands, TV shows or movies. I don't get to do it as much as I'd like - which is defintitely a good thing, because who needs more crap? - but it got me to thinking again how much I'd love to put together some merchandise for Suit Up!

I'm getting ahead of myself as usual, but I'm gonna start mulling things over. There's always the Cafe Press option, but if I got something done locally - stickers, say - then I'd have something to put up for consideration to the folks at ValleySchwag.com (who I stumbled upon while searching in vain for flickr merch).

Action figures'll always be the dream, but.

Thoughts?

Fun with flickr...

2006-07-15T18:27:00.000+09:30

I've been playing around with / exploring / researching flickr all day. For information about your flickr account that you didn't even know, check out the flickr inspector.

Publicity!

2006-07-13T18:46:00.000+09:30

CIMG2456
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

High quality publicity stills are now up on the flickr account. If anyone wishes to use them, they may, but please credit the photographer.

Currently, the photos are mostly stills of each character, though there are a few action stills thrown in for good measure. I didn't take many of them, though. Oops, I did it again.

Unboomed...

2006-07-13T05:47:00.000+09:30

For anyone who pays a bit more attention to the blogosphere than myself, this'll be old news, but this has been interesting me for the last hour or so:

Amanda Congdon, host of the Rocketboom video blog that I have mentioned here before, has recently left the program, a move that has been met with rather wide-spread media coverage. I had just figured they were on holidays when they stopped making shows on July 4th, but as it turns out, she's gone. Her Rocketboom partner, Andrew Baron, has stated that she left to pursue her dreams in L.A.; Amanda has since retaliated saying that she was fired from the show.

I love that this has garnered such a mass of media interest. Not surprising, I suppose, for a show that gets at least 300,000 complete downloads per day, but I like when blogs make the news. It echoes what Peter was saying the week before last about the growing importance of blogs in society. I love it.

As Amanda was the co-writer (and co-owner) of the show, it's hard to speculate as to what the show will be like post-Amanda, but if it's still cool, I'll keep watching. And I'll keep my eye out for whatever she's doing too. She's a cool chick; she likes Dr. Katz.

Mo' $$$$!!

2006-07-12T12:26:00.000+09:30

I've been wanting to do it all year, and it's finally happened! The Suit Up! flickr account has just gone ! Yay me!

Quixotic!

2006-07-11T03:05:00.000+09:30

To stem my holiday boredom, I have given myself a new project... a project so clandestine that the NSA have got Will Hunting on the case.

But I guess my having told you about it immediately negates its "clandestiny" (no, not a real word).

You can follow the initial stages of the project at it's very own blog, the aptly-titled "Holiday Project" blog.

Halo and headbutts...

2006-07-10T09:25:00.000+09:30

So, what's happening with the project over the next two weeks of holidays?

Not a whole lot, really. I do intend to start designing my website, and perhaps to increase my Internet presence in other areas, though that's been a bit of a dead-end thus far. I'm also still chasing the rights to use footage of Halo 2 in the show. The next step after that, I suppose, would be figuring out how to capture some HDV Halo footage!

I've been up all night. This morning my friend Tim and I watched France's heartbreak at the Alliance Francaise. It was an exciting match, but I was disappointed with the result. What was the deal with that head-butt, Zidane? What did he expect to happen after that?

Hope you all had a fun World Cup final.

Let Me Tell You About It

2006-07-10T09:19:00.000+09:30

Let Me Tell You About It
Originally uploaded by kitcarson.

Some great photos are up on Stan's blog from the Let Me Tell You About It shoot. Here, Adam and I reminisce about the Suit Up! shoot. Good times.

Maps Photo Exhibition 2006

2006-07-06T04:27:00.000+09:30

Maps Photo Exhibition 2006
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Last week, the Cert IV's had their photography exhibition opening. Wine was drunk, prints were sold, and there was a chick there that looked just like Karen O. All in all, great stuff, guys!

Editing

2006-07-06T04:23:00.000+09:30

Editing 2
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Well, our three days of rough editing is over... but the rough edit ain't!

In the end, we got four and a half of the five episodes assembled. And we would've got the lot done too, if weren't for that ruddy slow computer, the problematic capture... oh, yeah, and those pesky kids. :-\

Lazy director
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

YouTube: The Office ‘Make Your Own Promo’ Contest

2006-07-04T03:53:00.000+09:30

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
YouTube have teamed up with NBC to offer a contest allowing fans of the show to make their own 20-second promo for the US Office.

iLounge.com and NYtimes.com: Clerks II director commentary track to be offered on iTMS

2006-06-27T00:27:00.000+09:30

Clerks II director commentary track to be offered on iTMS

From ilounge:

Director Kevin Smith has recorded a commentary track for the upcoming Clerks II movie, which he says will be available as a free download from the iTunes Music Store. Smith said the commentary download will allow fans of the movie to take their iPods to the theater and hear the directors thoughts in sync with the scenes in the movie.

From The New York Times:

He has been cultivating fans on the Web for years, using his production company's site and his own online diary. In an ingenious new ploy, he has recorded a commentary for "Clerks II" that will be available for free download on iTunes, encouraging viewers to take their iPods to the theater for a second viewing.

Just another example of Kevin Smith's cutting-edge approach to filmmaker-audience interaction; if you haven't already, check out the film's awesome video-blog, Train Wreck.

As I'm sure I've said before, I think we would be well-advised to harness the power of the iPod when it comes to getting our stuff out there.

By the by, this reminds me of a similar tack that Wonderfalls creators took when they released this internet-only commentary for the original pilot episode of that show, featuring co-creator Todd Holland and cast member Katie Finnernan. [Link from JossIsAHottie.com/wonderfalls]

How to be an awesome blogger

2006-06-26T17:11:00.000+09:30

How to be an awesome blogger
Originally uploaded by dreadfuldan.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but since I'm a more frequent blogger than some, I thought I'd post this pic (from someone else's flickr) that I thought might help some of you that are stuck. This is stolen from Dan Murphy, but I think it more than applies to our situation.

"You'll be more inclinded to update regularly if it doesn't feel like a school assignment!"

Have fun with your blogs, people: they don't have to be work!

We start editing tomorrow, w00t!

And Keagan danced on...

2006-06-22T12:14:00.000+09:30

Let Me Tell You About It... wrapped yesterday following a fairly successful shoot. Many lights went bust and were irreplacable, but I think we managed to pull it off. Then we had a wonderful night last night as we celebrated various things, including the departure of Laura and the general fun we've all been having. Drinks were had, stories were shared with chips... good times. And no, Keagan wasn't there.

Set the scene

2006-06-20T04:46:00.000+09:30

Set the scene
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Just a quickie to say that I am currently in the process of uploading some of Suzie's photos to flickr. It's so incredibly late, and I don't have time to add tags, descriptions, and all the stuff that I love to add. Not just yet, anyway. But the pics are up now, so go right ahead and check them out; they're better than any of the photos I took for the whole of the shoot.

More photos coming soon!

2006-06-18T17:15:00.000+09:30

I just recieved a disc chock-full of Suit Up! photos care of the lovely Suzie Lemmey. Quite simply, they put all my photos to shame. It's a real bummer she couldn't have come for the whole shoot, because she has a fantastic eye.

I've spent the weekend with many a Mappie, having nuded up for Adam's film and then gone out with others later that night. Fun was had, wine was consumed. All I want to do now is get these photos up for you all to admire; sadly, my little sister needs the computer now, so I must depart and post them later.

Tomorrow is Stan's shoot. I've got the necessary doctor's paraphernalia sitting in my car, at the ready. Cheers to Adam, Suzie, Stan, Alan and Paul who made this such a fantastically fun weekend.

Dub be good to me...

2006-06-15T16:30:00.000+09:30

I'm currently in the process of dubbing our footage to DVD. Alan's here too, keeping me company while we drop his footage onto VHS. You might say that with a DVD, I have technology on my side, but I actually have no idea how to work this damned DVD-burning machine. Let's hope we get it all on there without any issues. I so hate having to do three-and then-some-hour tasks twice.

suitupmyspace

2006-06-14T11:37:00.000+09:30

I've been playing around with MySpace the last few days. It's quite good fun, and yes, it's addicitve. Since MySpace is going to play a part in the distribution of the series, I thought it best to start vocalising its existing presence on the massive monster that is MySpace right now.

I've made it easy for you. Click here to go to the Suit Up! MySpace or (a more tempting option) click the picture below to add suitupmyspace as your friend on MySpace.

That's all there is... there isn't any more...

2006-06-13T03:54:00.000+09:30

In the end, everything went off without a hitch, and that's it; filming is finished.

From what I've seen of the footage (about 3 of the nearly 4 hours shot), it's going to be a massive task, wading through the crap to pick out those little nuggety bits of deliciousness. But I think the product is going to be good.

I've spent the last few days recovering from the shoot, putting the occaisonal foot up, and doing a relentless and totally unnecessary overhaul of my Flickr account and patching the subsequent holes in my Blogger account (an ongoing task). Other projects happening soon are the customisation of this very blog and the beginnings of the editing process for the show, not to mention the start of the show's dedicated website.

I'm getting up early tomorrow morning in order to start getting some of the furniture and other crap out of the set and back to their respective proper homes so that eager first-year mappies can scurry in and make my masterpiece their own. Vive la révolution. Vive la progrès. Vive le MAPS.

Day #4 - A tight squeeze, then an easy breeze...

2006-06-08T20:36:00.000+09:30

Things went well today, but I can't really comment at the moment as my brother is in desperate need of the computer. I will perhaps write an entry on our non-Internet computer and then post it later. For now, though, there are quite a few photos now up on Flickr. Check 'em out - I'll fill in the blanks later.

Day #2 - grooving along, with things running fairly smooth

2006-06-07T00:05:00.000+09:30

Another day down, and with very positive results. I'm very happy with how things went today; I'm apprehensive about tomorrow's shoot, because I keep thinking we've forgotten something, or that we're going to get to the edit and have forgotten shots. It's all baseless worry, really; Adam's doing an excellent job as 1st A.D., keeping me in line and on schedule. Maxx and Lisa had some problems today with bulbs that kept bursting and that, in Peter's absence, couldn't be replaced. Good on you guys for finding workarounds. The rest of the crew have been phenomenal in their efforts, and the cast are just wonderful. I think we're starting to find our groove.

Interesting happenings:

bulbs bursting with no replacement
getting locked out for 20 minutes of lunch with no teacher around to let us back in
Lynda braving the cold to do her underwear scene in the morning
trying to tune the TV unnneccessarily (Guy pointed out that the VCR was off).
not having a minder's costume prepared for Trav and changing the script to accomodate this
only having the two laundry bags
the fridge defrosting and possibly damaging one of the costumes
funny, last-minute set dressings

In spite these problems/occurences, they day went smooth and was lots of fun. We got through a lot of shots today, and we've got even less tomorrow. I think I'm a bit more prepared in terms of what we need on set tomorrow. I think. Eep. Tomorrow is the last day in our beautiful hand-made set, and I'm hoping that it goes well.

Like an idiot, I forgot to take any photos today, save for one of my odometer when it read 666 (I'll post it later). What a heel. There will be more photos tomorrow.

Day 1 - tardy director, tension, tap sawing and locker attacks

2006-06-05T18:47:00.000+09:30

Jesus. Long time no post.

Today we started filming on our completed set. We've had to do schedule re-shuffles on the fly and juggle actors up to the last minute. I was late on set to my own film; the feeling when I got on set, it might've been my own funeral. Once the camera started rolling, though, and tensions started to loosen, I think things started to get better.

My crew were fantastic. Everyone was helpful and willing to help me create what I've had in my mind for the last five months. It's a beautiful thing. Thanks to all of you for such a productive first day. My actors have been great too; we had some hilarious moments, and they've been very accomodating for their bumbling sophomore director. :D I do hope things stay that way. I'm still a young director, and I've still got a lot to learn. But that's what this is all about, and as long as people can appreciate that, I think we'll all get along fine.

I'll try and post later tonight with some pictures and such, but at the moment all I can think about doing is crashing. We'll see how we do.

Update:
Interesting occurences from Day #1

Arriving late
Sawing a tap in half in desperation to get it to stick on the wall
Last minute set dressings in general
Getting everyone in costume for the first time
Emily finding Lynda a very helpful website for her Norwegian accent
Managing to pare down Louise's call times so that she doesn't need to come in Wednesday
Trav kicking the shit out of the locker - it's in the show, but I had to mention it.

Set construction 101

2006-05-31T01:07:00.000+09:30

Set construction 1
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

Today was a massive day of cleaning out our location. I really should've been on-set with Alan for Adelaide Punk (which, from the sounds of things, had a very successful day), but my presence was clearly neccessary to ensure the go-ahead of the project. With some inspired construction methods and a dedicated work ethic, we achieved an amazing amount, thanks to the efforts of Sharyn, Ashlee, Peter and Lisa. Thanks, guys.

With things wrapped up at the set, I caught the tail end of Alan's shoot, just in time to daub some fake blood on the shirt of the charming Rowan Hopkins. It was all too short a tour, but fun was had all the same.

Tomorrow, I will play hookey from Alan's set once more, but not before flying in to dress his set and make sure that all is well. That done, I will zip over to where I have secured some discount paint: thanks, Staten!

I don't need this! I'm sick!

2006-05-30T04:18:00.000+09:30

Two steps forward and one step back. We're closer today to finally scheduling some rehearsals. I've also started to organise some dancers to come in as extras on the film. Unfortunately we had some bad news, though, with one of our actors pulling out. A replacement must be found... stat!

Loc Recce 9: Jubilee Annex 1

2006-05-29T04:36:00.000+09:30

Loc Recce 9: - Jubilee Annex 1
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

It was a disappointing location to miss out on, but the Wayville Showgrounds weren't willing to let this one go for free. A shame, as it was rather perfect.

Still, I had a lovely time being taken around the grounds by an aging groundskeeper called Dave. He was a character. Dave took me to about ten different spots around the place. I've put up three or four of the best on the flickr photostream. A bit pointless, knowing what I know. Ah, it's for posterity.

Stephen Prime workshop on directing actors

2006-05-29T04:32:00.000+09:30

Stephen Prime workshop on directing actors
Originally uploaded by JCriquet.

It was a few weeks ago now, but cinematographer/director Stephen Prime came in to class to show us how to workshop with actors in order to draw out their best and most convincing performances, using the techniques developed by David Mamet and William H. Macy.

An interesting way to do things. Let's hope I can use at least a bit of this knowledge in my directing this year.