AOI Media

Post Shoot – Borba’s Magic Workshop

Jason — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 05:40:13 +0000

After two evenings of shoots with Dave Borba, we have a few photos to share. The cool thing is that those puppeteering rigs were also made by Dave. Check out his other work at daveborba.com.

Borba’s Magic Workshop

Jason — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:51:01 +0000

AOI has teamed up with local artist Dave Borba to shoot a short film based on Dave’s latest work made for Ballet West. Starting tomorrow, we will begin to shoot some motion picture, some stop animation and some ballet. Below is a shot of the set that Dave built with fake bricks. Look for more behind the scenes photos of the adventure we embark upon.

Dinner with Jonathan

Michaela — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 01:15:46 +0000

Last night, Jason and I had dinner with Jonathan Wysocki, a 2009 Fellow who attended the Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers Lab. After the six films premiering at Sundance (and one more to premiere soon elsewhere… “Beasts of a Southern Wild” by Ben Zeitlin), the percentage of Sundance lab films to be completed successfully seems to be on the rise. Jonathan Wysocki noted that even he is experiencing good karma and may be into production sooner than he thought with his film currently titled “We All Fall Down”.

And with Sundance wrapping up, Michelle Satter appeared on PCTV’s 9 am show, “In The Can”. There she spoke about the many ways the Sundance Institute supports independent filmmakers and their projects. Not only is there a writters workshop, a composers lab, a producers lab, the well known directors lab that Jason and I participate in… but there is a finishing funds grant and several other programs. Sundance as we know it, turning thirty this year, is truly something special. And thirty years is a great sign of the Institute’s longevity, always encouraging that story telling at its core is something that needs consistent exploration.

“It’s about the process.”

Sundance

Jason — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:54:44 +0000

Independent filmmakers gather in Park City for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

The question I have is how do we make art matter? After listening and learning for a week from those who are there just in front of me, it is on the promise and peril of technology.

Sundance T minus 2

Michaela — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:40:43 +0000

Two days away is one of the biggest events of the year here in Utah, the Sundance Film Festival. In 2011, we are lucky enough to see six films (and director/writers) who have participated as Fellows in the Sundance Filmmakers’ Lab which we donate our skills and time to. Jason has been a participant since 2000 and I have been one since 2008, so seeing our Fellows come to the end the process is a special event. The six films this year (which are many more than usual to play in a single festival when looking at the past few years) will be playing, including a 2010 Fellow. Here’s the Sundance “Full Circle” line up, which I’m proud to say I have seen their explorations and am looking forward to seeing their films!

‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ by writer/director Sean Durkin, 2010 Filmmakers Lab Fellow (photo above)

‘Little Birds’ by writer/director Elgin James, 2009 Filmmakers Lab Fellow (photo above)

‘On The Ice’ by writer/director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, 2009 Filmmakers Lab Fellow (photo above)

‘Pariah’ by writer/director Dee Rees, 2008 Filmmaker Lab Fellow (headline photo)

‘Circumstance’ by Maryam Keshavarz, 2007 Filmmakers Lab Fellow

‘Here’ by Braden King (2007 Filmmakers Lab Fellow

The New Year and the DABC

Michaela — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:15:59 +0000

So with the new year brings new tasks. At AOI, we’re still trudging along with our documentary. Next on our list to interview is the DABC, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. According to their website, “The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) is perhaps one of the most unique departments in State government.” They are responsible for the distribution and sale of all alcoholic beverages in Utah, with the exception of lower alcohol content 3.2 percent beer. Utah is also one of eighteen control states in the US, which many of us either don’t know for forget quickly. Let’s just be thankful that we’re not a completely dry state.

As for corporate work, we’ve gathered some new clients and some new technology. We have got our hands on the ultimate online tracking software, similar to that of Google Analytics but much more in depth. With this new tracking technology, we are able to work magic with the web media we produce. While we are still at the beginning of using this software to its fullest, we are currently exploring how it can help businesses target their audience and finding which online media the audience finds useful and interesting and what they do not. If you are curious to know more, talk to Stephen as he’s the one who knows the most about it… I’m learning as we go.

As far as gear (other new technology) goes, we also acquired a GoPro and are beginning to explore the possibilities. We took it out to a triathlon today where I got to play with it, but it has been out on other gigs. It is hard to get a bad shot with that little camera. The lens itself sees about 170 degrees… there is no where to hide. Actually, we tested it against the similar Drift HD170 and while there is no tiny monitor to see the shots like the Drist, the GoPro still has the much better image in post.

Apology for the Silence

admin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:08:00 +0000

So, it has been a while since we’ve updated our blog, obviously. But we’ve got a little treat for you. In the past months, we have been brewing a documentary. Yes, brewing. The brain child of mostly Stephen, we are now embarking on a new adventure which landed us in the office of previous Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson last Wednesday. Before asking Rocky about some policies and practices, he and Stephen kicked back a local brew.

Interview Date: October 20th, 2010

Most Interesting Topic: The evolution of serving liquor in Utah restaurants… you used to have to bring it in a brown bag.

Brew: Wasatch’s Full Suspension Pale Ale (2001 & 2002 Gold Medal Winner, Great American Beer Festival)

This two-time gold medal winning Northwest style pale ale has a great balance between the malty english barley and the aromatic hops from Washington’s Yakima Valley. Unfiltered, dry-hopped and very drinkable. 4.0% alcohol by volume.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:55:00 +0000

Hell Hole, The Series (episode 5 scene 6) for your viewing pleasure… since we have been talking about it so often. We are still working (when we are not really working) on tightening up the rest of the episode…

Enjoy!

Business Plan Update

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:53:00 +0000

Yesterday, we just finished a massive updated to our business plan for Hell Hole, The Series (as we are still on the search for funding). It sits as a beastly 47 pages thick… graphs, art, comics (oh yeah!) and data… coveted data. Our business plan also includes a very detailed budget… which is constantly changing as we move from gear purchases to gear rentals to different gear, etc. While the research we originally did on webseries success was initially the most challenging part of creating our business plan, it truly is the budget that keeps kicking our asses.

The things most filmmakers don’t initially consider when creating a budget:

1. Food is expensive in mass and you can’t skimp on that… it will mostly likely be one of the most expensive items on the list… other than gear.

2. SAG fees. Ug. And if a SAG actor is considered a creator or the content/film, then it can become cheaper but more complicated. Oh and there is sooooo much more to it than that…

3. Gear Gear Gear. At first we were going to purchase all our gear, then we were going to rent. Now we’re somewhere in the middle where that keeps changing. We have been making constant updates due to our progression with our own gear and who we meet and what their gear rental rates are. Pad yourself here if you don’t want to keep fidgeting with the numbers.

4. POST PRODUCTION! Yeah, this key item here seem to get left by the wayside in ultra-low budget films all the time. With a crappy sound design and a poor edit, a film is as good as dead. Doesn’t matter how good the content is. And what’s funny is that post has become relatively cheap, and it still gets left behind.

So… you want to know what is in our business plan???? Well, I can’t tell you specifically as those are our guarded secrets. But our budget is nine pages, our art/photos/comics is lumped into six pages, and the rest is our research and plan to make money back on the process. And even with such a detailed plan, we are still working on finding funding. It is quite a trick to find someone to say yes, but this is much more of a learning experience than shooting the series right now as weekend warriors. Plus, I’d rather be more than a weekend warrior… wouldn’t you?

Slate Games!

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:18:00 +0000

Who ever said that an old skool slate and the slate game are unprofessional?

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you shoot, it’s okay if work is fun!