Red Scarlet at CES

Ted from Red showed up at CES this year and stopped by some gadget geeks press suites to the show off the latest mock-up of the Red Scarlet. Red is the best at driving excitement for their upcoming cameras.....even when they continue to push release dates on these new products. The DV Film Making community has been buzzing about the upcoming Scarlet for almost 2 years. This is supposed to be the GAME CHANGER! A 3K Raw Camera at at $3000.00 base price. Doesn't seem even possible.....but Red has a track record. Their RED ONE Camera has changed both the professional and amateur DV camera market. Check out this clip of Ted showing of this Scarlet Prototype. Pretty Cool Stuff. I think I am gonna sell my Mother....so I can get on the waiting list.
Jarvy 02-11-2010

Is iPad the Winner?

Now that we finally have seen the Apple iPad, tablet, slate, or whatever we are calling it today.....do you think Apple has done it again. When I was at CES, tablets were all the buzz. The thing is....we had tablets 7 years ago. I was using a 10 inch Panasonic mini laptop/tablet computer back in 2004. And it really turned out to be a novelty.....and at $2200.00. Can you believe how much we used to pay for computers? Anyway, my point being I think Apple has done it again and here is why. It's not just about the hardware, it's about being able to purchase something that you can actually use and having the app store and book store is a game changer. Along with the fact that you know that the user experience will be better than all the others put together. I say this because I believe that the iPhone's phenomenal success is based mostly on the fact that it is just plain easy to use. I have an iTouch, but never got an iPhone because I have been a Verizon user for many years and when my contract was finally up this past December, I had been planning to switch over to AT&T so I could finally have an iPhone! But when the time came, they released the Droid and I decided to stick with Verizon, because even though I knew it was not an iPhone, it was the the talk of the Gadget world in last November and I figured with all the bad things I had heard about AT&T's service, I should just stick with the number one provider and get the Droid. In the mean time, I also received a brand new Sprint Hero for my work phone. And I must admit, I have been impressed with both phones over the last 2 months. I can really say that I like the Android OS and they both have their high points. So I was feeling pretting good about my choice, when I picked up my iTouch for the first time in 2 or 3 months and as I surfed the web on my wifi at home......I was amazed all over again. The user experience on the iTouch is still 100% better than either of my new phones. The best way that I can explain it is....."IT JUST WORKS LIKE IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK" The touch screen is so much better still....weather you are scrolling or swiping or zooming......it is waaaaaay better than any other touch screen that I have ever used. So if they can do the same thing with this new product, then I think they will have nailed it again!!! let me know what you think......Jarvy

CES 2010

CES 2010

We will be at CES 2010 next week and are very excited to bring you all the news which will reflect on the DV Film Makers need for new and inovative products. We are also going to be at the Screen Vault LLC booth on most days. So if you are out there, please stop by and see us.
Happy New Year.....
The Cineblax Team

Red Dawn Comes to the Motor City

The Red Dawn Remake is being filmed right here in Detroit...thanks to the 40% tax credit, Michigan is really starting to attract real Hollywood productions. They are shooting right outside my door for the next 3 days. This remake of the Patrick Swayze film (who just lost this past week) is cast with 5 new young hot Hollywood actors. Chris Hemsworth stars as a returning Iraq War Marine who gets into the thick of the action, with Josh Peck starring as his athlete little brother, and Adrianne Palicki as the love interest Isabel Lucas, who was in this year’s mega hit “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” will star as Erica (the Lea Thompson role), a high school head cheerleader and girlfriend of Peck’s character, who is locked up in an internment camp after the invasion.The other leads are Josh Hutcherson, Connor Cruise (Tom's adopted son) and Edwin Hodge. Hutcherson will play Robert (the C. Thomas Howell role), the group’s tech geek. Cruise is Daryl, the son of the town mayor and Robert’s best friend, while Hodge will play Danny, described as “the coolest kid in school” and star wide receiver who helps establish the resistance against the invaders — the Chinese and Russians this time around. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also will star. Although not a household name, I think Morgan is one of the best leading men in Hollywood today.....this guy has it all. I think he is going to be very very big in a very short time....you heard it here first and I don't like to brag, but when I see it....I am very rarely wrong. Former “Bourne” director Dan Bradley will direct from a script by Jeremy Passmore and Carl Ellsworth. Stay tuned for some on the set video. I will be out with my new Ipod Nano Spy video cam tomorrow.
Jarvy.....

Gone But Not Forgotten / A true American Icon Willy Deville

American Music has suffered a great loss and most don't even know it. Willy DeVille passed away on August 6th....on his website was this message:

"It is with heavy hearts that we let you know that Willy passed away peacefully last night, August 6, 2009. His music and spirit will always be with us."

Why is it that the great American Rock Performers are always recognized in Europe, but not in their homeland. It's not just rock, all the great American Jazz players went to live in Europe just to make a living. Thom Jurek wrote about him after his death, "Willy DeVille is America's loss even if America doesn’t know it yet. The reason is simple: Like the very best rock and roll writers and performers in our history, he’s one of the very few who got it right; he understood what made a three-minute song great, and why it mattered—because it mattered to him.

About my comment at the beginning of this post...."The American public doesn't even know they suffered this loss....Willy just recently made a comment about his legacy, where he told an interviewer, "I have a theory. I know that I'll sell much more records when I'm dead. It isn't very pleasant, but I have to get used to this idea.

Prolific... wouldn't you say?

R.I.P. Willy Deville

"What is Cineblax" Revisited

If you review the first post of this blog, you will find an amazing little trailer shot with a DVX100 and no depth of field adapters. Here is another great example of DYI film making and the heart of why "Cineblax" was establishished. This movie was also shot on a DVX100 by 2 brothers.
From DYI Footage:
"Shiro's Head" is an absolutely remarkable achievement with the DVX100. This DIY movie was produced, written and directed by brothers Don and Kel Muna. It was shot on location on the island of Guam USA in the Pacific.http://vimeo.com/2114783

The depth of field looks unbelievable for a first-generation DVX100. FIRST GENERATION! It's not even a DVX100A! According to an email from the Muna Bros., there were no 35 adapters used. They used the stock DVX lens and for a couple of shots used a homemade wide-angle lens. They shot the feature length movie for - get this - $6,000 (and that was mostly for living expenses). They made all of their big production equipment DIY-style. The homemade dolly track and fig rig were made from PVC pipes. The homemade camera jib was made out of aluminum tubing. Just brilliant.

According to the "Shiro's Head" official website, they've been officially selected by the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival as well as the 1st Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival and has had multiple sold-out shows in Guam and in Hawaii.

It's an amazing feat that was pulled off a la "Robert Rodriguez" style using just the resources they had, travelling thousands of miles on space-available flights to shoot on location, borrowing props, vehicles and establishements for the look of a big-budget production. All characters in "Shiro's Head" are non-actors and were casted "off the streets". After more research, I discovered that this was actually Guam's first ever feature-length film made strictly by their indigenous islanders.
It's a new age for the Indie Fim Maker and Cineblax is here to say "The Game is Changing". Look out old boys Hollywood Network!

Pro Video In the Palm of Your Hand

The GY-HM100 comes equipped with an integrated high-definition Fujinon 10:1 lens that allows for manual and automatic control of focus and aperture. The lens features three aspherical elements and a new Electronic Beam Coating that greatly reduces degradation caused by reflection off the lens surfaces. A flip-in cover is integrated into the lens hood, eliminating the need for an external cap. With the addition of JVC’s patented Focus Assist, achieving precise focus is fast and easy. The macro mode and user-adjustable depth of field supplement the wide array of manual controls available. From the The Luminous Landscape
A cool film blog...the praise is quite good.......

The JVC GY HM100 is currently the smallest and lightest "semi-pro" quality camcorder avalable. It is selling for about US $3,500. Announced in January, 2009 the HM100 became available in most markets in May. Hardly bigger than the larger consumer camcorders with built-in hard drives, it weighs just over 3lbs. From a size perspective, it needs to be noted that the carry-handle with attached shotgun mike and mixing panel is completely removable (as will be discussed shortly), making the HM100 a very low profile camera. Early reports are that this camera is quickly becoming appealing to pros needing the smallest and least conspicuous camera possible for discreet location work and for use as a "B" cam.

But, in addition to that constituency I believe that JVC has targeted the HM 100 at users who are relative newcomers to video making, yet who want near-broadcast-quality images combined with ease of use at an affordable price.

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Features and Foibles

Of particular note is that this is the first video camera to shoot directly to Apple's QuickTime movie format (.MOV). JVC has licensed the format from Apple and has also licensed the Sony XDCAM EX codec from Sony. Thus, shooting XDCAM EX wrapped in a .MOV envelope, all one needs to do is drag files off the card directly onto the Final Cut time line. No transcoding, no rendering, no format conversion. This is a first, and JVC is to be loudly applauded for it.

Parenthetically, JVC used to be part of the Panasonic family of companies, but separated to become completely independent last year. This type of cross-licensing activity clearly shows that JVC intends on now marching to the beat of its own drummer rather than that of its previous corporate parent.

If you are not a Mac user editing with Final Cut Pro (that doesn't make you a bad person) then you can choose to shoot to the MP4 codec for editing on any Mac or Windows PC with other non-linear editing software, such as Adobe Premiere or Sony's Vegas. These editing packages will see the JVC's files as XDCAM EX, just as if they'd come from a Sony EX1 or EX3 camera. How cool is that!?
If you have the CAKE for this little baby, BUY IT!
Jarvy'