Author Archives: kimba

Zacuto to give winner Z Finder EVF!

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THANKS, STEVE & JENS!!

Zacuto EVF is a 3.2” high resolution monitor that is used in conjunction with all the Z-Finder models. The EVF is compatible with all cameras that have an HDMI output including the Panasonic AF-100, Sony F3, RED ONE, RED Scarlet and RED Epic. The EVF allows you to operate the DSLR camera or any camera with an HDMI port, with the correct form factor for video with the camera “in-line” to your rod system (the most stable way) and your eye in the Z-Finder offset. This is the way all film cameras and ENG video cameras were operated and we, at Zacuto, believe this should be the way DSLR cameras should be operated. It will enhance the stability, give you better resolution, allow you to get your eye where it most comfortably needs to be, enable low mode shooting, shorten your camera package, have your EVF in the back of a dolly or crane, detached from the rig for car shots and more.

The Z-Finder EVF Pro is a complete EVF with diopter. It includes the EVF Flip model and an optical viewfinder which will snap onto the frame of the monitor and can flip up 180 degrees. The optical viewfinder contains high quality 2.5x optics with anti-fog shields and a diopter. The anti-fog is extremely important for reducing fog. It will also include extender frames. TheZ-Finder Extender Frames allow you to further adjust the focal point of the Z-Finder by semi-permanently stacking the frames via a snap fit onto the skirt of the Z-Finder until the LCD screen is in focus for you.

Now Available: Firmware Update 1.01.00
Updates include:
Audio meters that can be positioned in any of the four corners
Battery meter that can be positioned in any of the four corners
Audio loop through
Underscan
RED ONE & Sony FS100 scaling presets

Jared Levy talks again about coming to Chronos! Thanks, Jared!

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Chronos Film Festival, New Mexico Welcomes Jared Levy Fine Art
Posted by One on October 17, 2011 | No comments
Art • Events • Film • NM

Most definitely barreling toward New Mexico at the speed of light and sound is an elite group of filmmakers, equipment and technological innovators, artists and rabid film fans!

One of these breakthrough film makers is Jared Levy. Fresh from a two year stint in São Paulo Brazil, Levy is bringing his latest film, Graffiti Fine Art to be featured in New Mexico’s Own Chronos Film Festival.

A journalism and documentary film graduate out of Syracuse New York, Levy credits direct interface with his subjects such as the time spent quite literally camped-out on the streets of Brazil to capture the amazing visuals of the underground art scene there, as illustrated by international artists who flocked to the exhibition for the chance to be showcased. Moreover Levy names innovators in DSLR equipment, technology and his peer pioneers for pushing the envelope in the medium for his ever ongoing “education” in film.

Overly humbled and sweet when acknowledging his role at Chronos as a unique opportunity to represent the medium amongst and on panel with the artists, manufacturers and outlets that aim to support the creative arts, even naming Philip Bloom “a professor” in his field, Levy noted that the participation of Steve Weiss, Eric Kessler and the support of Vimeo as key elements to the excitement surrounding this first ever festival of its kind.

When I got a chance to catch-up with Jared, the versatile artist had just wrapped some visual shooting of Jay-Z and co. at the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation’s Carnival: Making The Ordinary Extraordinary, where the star raised over $1M in a matter of hours for college education funding for underprivileged youth.

Now after showings of his award winning, labor of love, Graffiti Fine Art at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Fest and Urban Media Filmmakers in Atlanta, Levy is headed our way.

Visit with Jared yourself now at JaredLevyMedia.com and be sure to meet-up with him at the Chronos Film Festival, presented by Vimeo in Albuquerque, New Mexico Nov. 3-5.

For the complete interview click here and for your viewing pleasure here is a preview of Jared Levy’s, Grafitti Fine Art:

Tags: Chronos Film Festival, Eric Kessler, Zacuto, Vimeo, Time-lapse, Stop Motion, Philip Bloom, Masters In Motion, Steve Weiss, Carlos Lascano, Albuquerque, NM

Zacuto blogs about Chronos!

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Zacuto is proud to be a sponsor of the first film festival entirely dedicated to time lapse, slow motion and stop motion films.  The Chronos Film Festival will take place November 3rd-5th at the KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  For the first time ever, time lapse and stop motion films are being taken out of the “other” category and given their own film festival.  That’s what makes the Chronos Film Festival different than all the other film festivals out there today.

“I believe time-lapse and stop motion are where art and technology meet,” says Chronos Film Festival Director/Creator, Kimberly McMichael.  “We are different because we will only give awards for altered time perception films.  I think we have the potential to be as big, or important as any other film festival.”

 

This will be the first year for the Chronos Film Festival but the goal is to make the festival an annual event.  It will be a great opportunity for people to have a great time, make connections with true masters of the craft and come back next year ready to learn and/or teach.  As the festival grows, McMichael hopes to be even more focused on technology and workshops in the future.  Chronos will also feature guests like filmmaker/DSLR expert, Philip Bloom, professional re-recording mixer/engineer, Greg P. Russell and Second City alumni/notable actor, John Kapelos.

“I think our guest list really speaks for itself,” says McMichael.   “I want to draw techies, artists, filmmakers, photographers and most importantly college kids involved in film programs to the event.  Here, they will have the opportunity to ask questions of experts from many different areas of filmmaking.  I realize not many people make a living creating time lapse.  Many film makers do it on the side and as a hobby.  That is why our guest panels will have people from all walks of entertainment.”

If you are interested in submitting a film to the Chronos Film Festival, please click here.  Films should be between two and seven minutes in length.  The cost of submission is $20 before October 15th and $40 between October 15th and the 25th.  Filmmakers submitting work to the award category will also receive a one-day pass to the event.  Zacuto andKessler Crane have donated gear to be given away to category winners.

Tickets to the Chronos Film Festival are only $12 for access to all of the films.  The event will kick off at 5pm at the KiMo Theater with a screening of “Koyaanisqatsi” by Godfrey Reggio.  All screenings and panels will be held at the KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, NM.  For more information or a full schedule of events, please visit www.chronosfilmfestival.com.

Kessler Crane donates BIG!

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Product Quantity
elektraDRIVE 500 Series Motor Pod (516:1) 1
elektraDRIVE BASIC Controller v2.0 1
elektraDRIVE Mount for Pocket Dolly 1
KC-Lite 8.0 Crane Only 1
KC-Lite Soft Case 1
Kessler Pocket Dolly™ V2 1
Pocket Dolly™ Soft Case (STANDARD) 1

John Paul Rice

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John Paul Rice was born the youngest of four children, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1978. His family moved to Alpharetta, Georgia (just north of Atlanta) and built a home there in 1980. After his parents’ divorce, his mother moved him to Louisville, Kentucky where he began performing theatre at the age of 7. The summer following his sophomore year of high school, John moved back to Atlanta where he finished high school and attended Georgia State University to pursue a degree in Business. In 1999, while at college, Rice was given a rare opportunity to work on Jerry Bruckheimer’s Remember the Titans (2000). Following three months on the film, John directed his studies toward learning the history of cinema. He gained hands-on production experience by working on a handful of micro-budget independent films between courses before moving to Los Angeles January 2001 to pursue a career in film production.

By mid-2001, John landed a position at the Los Angeles division of the German distribution company Senator International (which later became Mandate Pictures) led by industry veteran Joseph Drake. Under Joe’s mentoring, John developed an interest and dedication to producing feature films. In 2008, Mr. Rice formed No Restrictions Entertainment LLC with filmmaker Edgar Michael Bravo.

The duo has produced three films together. The critically acclaimed indie featureOne Hour Fantasy Girl, written and directed by Mr. Bravo. The following year, they teamed up with Ten Thirty One Pictures to produce The Magic Stone and returned as a duo for Mother’s Red Dress. All three films deal with challenging social issues while telling an entertaining and original narrative story. Mr. Rice and Mr. Bravo are currently preparing for their fourth feature in four years, Monster Killer, a supernatural, psychological thriller to shoot in 2012.

Edgar Michael Bravo

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Latino writer/director Edgar Bravo has explored the residual effects of the North American and Latino culture clash. During his studies at the UCLA graduate school of film (MFA), Mr. Bravo’s film “Mi Casa”, which dealt with Latino immigrants in L.A., won the grand prize at the A&E national film competition. This prestigious award helped launch his directorial career and Mr. Bravo took on his next challenge: “Mi Hermano” which was the first drama to deal with the ramifications of AIDS and Latino immigrants. This poignant, edgy film garnered Mr. Bravo a Cine Eagle award and was broadcast nationally on Univision and PBS.

After receiving his Masters of Fine Arts from UCLA with honors, Mr. Bravo wrote and directed the feature I’ll Love You Forever… Tonight (1992), which won national rave reviews including the L.A. & N.Y. Times. The project co-starred Thomas Jane (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, 61*, Dreamcatcher). Phaedra released the film nationally. Video distribution was handled by BlockBuster and Hollywood Video. Lumiere Films (producers of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’) saw I’ll Love You Forever tonight and hired him to complete Venus Rising (1995), a feature that required a re-write and re-shoots. They were so pleased with Mr. Bravo’s take on the material, that they hired him to write the feature “The Perfect Husband”. Mr. Bravo’s film “Mi Hermano” was viewed by Columbia-Tri-Star and Telemundo and led to his first directorial stint in television. Mr. Bravo shot an hour-long episode of “Reyes y Rey” (1998), a popular police drama based in a fictional Latino border town. The episode received such high ratings that he was contracted to direct two episodes of their other co-production “Angeles”, a Latino version of ‘Charlie’s Angels.

The award winning San Francisco writers Bob Vickery and Dale Chase granted Mr. Bravo rights to their stories after they reviewed his body of work. The result was the script “Lust, Love & Repetition”, which is currently in production with Mr. Bravo as director. Mr. Bravo’s script “The Closing Bell” has been selected by the Telluride Indie Fest as one of the top 25 indie scripts of 2002.
In 2008, Mr. Bravo and then first time producer John Paul Rice partnered to form No Restrictions Entertainment to produce the critically acclaimed indie featureOne Hour Fantasy Girl, written and directed by Edgar. The following year, they teamed up with Ten Thirty One Pictures to produce The Magic Stone and returned as a duo for Mother’s Red Dress. All three films deal with challenging social issues while telling an entertaining and original narrative story. Mr. Rice and Mr. Bravo are currently preparing for their fourth feature in four years, Monster Killer, a supernatural, psychological thriller to shoot in 2012.
Mr. Bravo’s great dream is to direct his script, “The Conquest Of Mexico”, which depicts the beauty of Mexico before the treachery of Cortez and European diseases he brought devastated a highly developed indigenous culture..

Old Friends, Current Affiliate, NEW IDEAS!

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Chronos is working on exciting new ideas for future categories within the film festival…. Masque Studios is going to be sponsoring a new category in 2012, Chronos Year 2. This category will be specific to military life  (for the Chronos Film Festival), altered time specific cinematography….In addition, Masque will have have multiple contests and categories available beyond Chronos with any military subject matter, any speed, (even stills) The only requirement is that it is shot in HD. Awards will be fabulous (I’ve heard mention of cash) and matching funds will be donated to the Wounded Warriors Fund.