iPad for Directors | Part 3 | Organising References

Previous: iPad for Directors | Part 2 | The Apps

So, we’ve found some useful apps to do a variety of things during pre and production… but what’s the best way or organising images and references that you may want to take into meeting or onto set for quick reference?

I’m currently in early pre-production of my next feature CRASHING WALL STREET which is a period film set in 1929. I’m up to my neck in reference books, images, archive videos and style references. Wouldn’t it be great to have all of these in one place? I’ve had a look at few different apps but none beat the beautifully designed Photos and Videos app built into the iPad. I’ve messed around and come up with a few ways to bring these consumer applications onto our way of thinking.

Images

I’m using the iPad purely as a tool for work. If you’re using it to show off your latest holiday photos as well as store those location pics then you’re going to have a bit more trouble. This method of using Images on iPad as a place to store and organise references takes a little setting up but it’s very easy.

Create a new directory (lets call it ‘References’) on your computer. Anywhere, it doesn’t matter. Now, within the ‘References’ folder, create a few sub folders that you want to organise your images in. For example, I have sub-folders called ‘Recce Photos’, ‘Costume References’, ‘Style/Mood Refs’ etc. Now, drag all of your reference images that you want store onto the iPad into these folders. Organise it how you want… however, as I’ve come to realise, this method only supports one sub-folder eg. you can’t have a folder within ‘Costumes’ for the different characters. Create separate folders for them eg. ‘Costume Refs - Mary’, ‘Costume Ref - Steve’

Still with me? Great…

Now, you don’t want iPad to sync with iPhoto. Steer clear of that… especially if you’ve got all of those drunken iPhone pics synced to it. Keep your iPhone for showing these off. The iPad is for work.

Plug in the iPad to your computer. In iTunes, go to the PHOTOS tab for your iPad. Make sure the tickbox is clicked next to “Sync Photos From:”. In the drop down menu, select “Choose Folder” and then find your References folder. Once that’s done, check that ALL FOLDERS is selected and also INCLUDE VIDEOS.

Yep, that’s right. The Photos app on iPad can also play video! Feel free to save some video references right alongside your images.

Now, hit SYNC/APPLY in the bottom right. Once it’s done, open up your Photos app on the iPad… and look! All your references, organised into clusters and read to use on set at the touch of a button. Video also plays well… just click on the PLAY icon on the image.

Video

“But, the images app plays video!” I hear you cry. Yes, it does… but what if you want to keep them separate or organise them differently? Here’s a few things I figured out.

No doubt, as a director, your showreel or latest bit of work was the first video to go onto your iPad (and doesn’t it look glorious on the screen?). In VIDEOS on the iPad these should have all happily appeared under the Videos tab at the top. If you’ve got a few podcasts on the iPad already you’ll see that this tab has appeared too.

If you’re like me and you shoot music videos and TV shows, why not make use of iTunes’ “Media Kind” function to organise the video properly? This is the way a video tells iTunes where to store it. At present the only Media Kind’s you can select are Movie, Music Video, TV Show, Podcast and iTunesU. These options are what relate to the taps at the top of the Videos app on iPad. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could create your own custom tabs for your reference videos? Unfortunately, you can’t. I’ve looked.

But, don’t cry. You might as well make use of the Music Video tab to store your toe-tapping videos here. I’ve also got a clever way of organising video references using the TV Shows tap but I’ll get to that…

If you don’t know how to convert a video to optimize one for iPad, there are many sites on it. Have a read of this one for compressor. Don’t have Compressor? (Call yourself a Mac Geek!) Download this tool to convert video.

So, you have a music video. Convert it and drag it to the Movies tab in iTunes. Now, CTRL/(ugh)Right click on the video and select GET INFO. Click on the OPTIONS tab. Under MEDIA KIND select MUSIC VIDEO. Hit OK and sync. On the iPad, check your Videos app - lookie there! Your Music Video is under the correct tab. If you’re as OCD as me (you should be, you’re a director) that will excite you greatly.

Another tip: if you have a load of videos you’d like to change the ‘Media Kind’ of, you can just select them all and then CTRL/Right click on them, select GET INFO and you’ll have a Multiple Item box appear. Change it once and all will be changed.

Lets get back to the references. So, you have a load of video references. I know I do. A couple are stored in the Images app but what about others?  Well, you can trick iTunes to think that your references are TV Shows. Why? Because iTunes will automatically sort multiple episodes (reference videos) under one TV Show (category). It means, in the end, you can have a custom made list of related videos in one place instead of just all over the Videos tab.

To do this, drag a load of references into the Movies tab on iTunes. Select them all, CTRL/Right click, GET INFO, go to OPTIONS, under MEDIA KIND select TV SHOW. Now, go to the VIDEO tab. Next to SHOW, type what kind of reference video these are. For example, Lighting References. Now, click OK.

Ping! Your videos have disappeared. Don’t worry, click on the TV SHOWS link under your Library in iTunes. You’ll see there’s now an icon called your category. Double click on this to see what’s in this category. You’ll find all of your videos there.

Repeat these steps to create your different categories of references. When you’ve done, sync your iPad.

Go to VIDEOS app on the iPad, hit the TV SHOWS tab and look… there are icons relating to the different categories. Tap on one of the images… and look! All of your references organised under the relevant category in a great playlist format. A note: I have no idea why the name of the category doesn’t show up under the TV Shows tab - I’m working on finding that out.

Enjoy! You don’t have to thank me… well do, post a comment. :) Also, don’t forget to share what you’ve found useful on your iPad.

Next: iPad for Directors | Part 3 | More Apps (coming soon…)

New representation

I have a new manager! Sammy Montana at Trancas Management / International Films, based in LA, approached me (on Christmas Day - now that’s commitment!) wanting to represent my feature film career after seeing THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO. It’s now all signed and sealed so I’m looking forward to seeing where this new relationship takes us.

So, for any enquires about features and for all those that need to, you can contact Sammy on (LA) 310-477-6569.

pictures from the edge hill shoot

I’ve just shot the new commercial for Edge Hill University. Here are a few “twitpics” from the two day shoot.

DAY ONE

http://twitpic.com/mpphk - 1st shot - shooting on RED with the AR steadicam rig.

http://twitpic.com/mqbe7 - Shooting the sports exterior… No rain but very windy!

http://twitpic.com/mqu54 - On the final scene for today. Looking great!

http://twitpic.com/mr9pa - Pre rigging for day 2. Does anyone have any instructions? ;)

DAY TWO

http://twitpic.com/mv8u8 - Scene one of the day… And a blue sky!

the butterfly tattoo - press release

I’ve been getting a few emails from curious filmmakers on how to structure a press release for an independent film. Having done a quick search, the Raindance site has a good article on press releases.

Here’s the one for The Butterfly Tattoo. It also explains the story so far (I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about the making of the film… so here it is!)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award –winning independent film Philip Pullman’s
The Butterfly Tattoo gains support for a UK theatrical release.

(UK - 2nd September 2009) In contrast to Philip Pullman’s $180 million adaptation THE GOLDEN COMPASS which hit screens in 2007, a small Dutch production company – Dynamic Entertainment – armed with just €250,000, a British crew and a cast of unknown actors gained the rights to Pullman’s novel THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO (originally ‘The White Mercedes’) and made a film which has stunned audiences at international film festivals.

The film gained the support of Philip Pullman after the 21 year old producers approached him with the idea to make a film which had a strong educational approach to it’s making. Pullman gave away the rights to the book being a strong believer in education through practice. Pullman stated early on that he was “impressed with the enthusiasm and professionalism of the team at Dynamic Entertainment and happy to support their efforts to bring THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO to the screen.”

Shot on location in Oxford over five weeks, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was created mostly by people who were new to the film industry supported by professional heads of departments. The film also features unsigned bands from the Oxford area on its soundtrack.

The film was also funded in a unique way. Offering shares in the film for as little as €50 through the production’s website, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was fully funded in just two days.

The story is essentially a modern day Romeo and Juliet set in contemporary Oxford. When seventeen year old Chris (Duncan Stuart) and lovely lass Jenny (Jessica Blake) first met at an Oxford college ball, the ruffled latter was still in the run from her ex-boyfriend Piers (Dan Morgan) - a tyrannical aristocrat. But Chris’ past hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing either, and as the young couple enters tenuously into an innocent courtship, hidden secrets from Chris’ boss (Aidan Magrath) reveal why their romance may be headed for tragedy.

The film introduces a fresh new cast of upcoming UK talent. The performances of co-stars Jessica Blake (Jenny) and Duncan Stuart (Chris) have wowed audiences and critics alike. The film itself went onto win Best Director and Best Adaptation at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, The Silver Chris for Best Feature at the Columbus Film Festival and Best Film at the Beaufort International Film Festival. The film was also on the official selection for the Film By The Sea Festival (where it premiered to a packed out audience) and Netherlands Film Festival. This year THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

At twenty four years of age, THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO is director Phil Hawkins’ second feature film, the first being THE WOMEN OF TROY which gained him a Best Director award at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2006. In 2007, Hawkins was personally selected by Steven Spielberg to appear in the Fox/Dreamworks reality television show for filmmakers ON THE LOT. Spielberg called him “one of the best new and upcoming directors” and Hawkins was the only filmmaker from the UK to appear in the show.

THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO went onto have a small theatrical release in Los Angeles in April 2009 and has since gone on sale on DVD in the US. However, the UK was slow on the uptake in terms of theatrical distribution for the film.

“It amazed me,” says director Phil Hawkins “that there didn’t seem to be any support for us in terms of distribution in the country where the film was made. I personally contacted almost every distributor in the UK and heard every excuse possible but nobody said it was a bad film; it was just the ‘state of the industry’. It was frustrating”. After months of trying, the film gained the support of Showcase Cinemas who offered to release the film in multiple screens.

The film will go on theatrical release in selected Showcase cinemas from September 25^th 2009. The confirmed cities so far are Walsall, Kent, Teeside, Derby, Bristol and Leicester with more to be added. The production company is waiting on support from the UK Film Council to fund 35mm prints of the film to widen the release under their P&A fund. Showcase are also planning a charity gala premiere on September 24^th in Reading in which Philip Pullman may make an appearance and a screen will be dedicated to him.

THE BUTTERFLY TATTOO will also be screened a week before the release at the Cambridge Film Festival on 18^th September – followed by a Q&A with director and actors – and the 21^st.

“It was a head rush of relief!” Hawkins explains about when the release was confirmed, “The whole point of making a film is to get it to audiences and allow the new cast, bands and filmmakers the platform to show what they can do. It was one of the major reasons for making the film in the first place. Showcase Cinemas have been a massive help and I look forward to the release. We just have to get bums on seats now!”

Director Phil Hawkins, co-stars Jessica Blake and Duncan Stuart are available for print, television or radio interviews.

Film stills and screeners for review are available on request.

Official website www.thebutterflytattoo.co.uk / twitter.com/pullmanfilm