Michael Landon Jr.

"Creating wholesome entertainment in Hollywood isn't always easy. Neither is following in the footsteps of one of the most beloved, recognizable father figures in TV history. But that's just what director Michael Landon Jr. has done, crafting a career out of telling stories that parents can feel good about watching with their kids—like the new family-friendly movie The Velveteen Rabbit" ~Guideposts article

Someone sent me a link to this article from Guideposts and I must say that if you are interested in Christian Film this article about a Christian director is worth reading.

"Like his father, Landon has had success producing wholesome entertainment—much of it set in bygone eras—including Jeannette Oak's Love Comes Softly TV-movies for the Hallmark Channel. "

Michael Landon Jr. has a heart for God, a heart for his family and reaching other families with clean films. In this article he gives his life testimony and the reasons for making the kind of films that he does. Read the article here.

 

SAICFF on National Public Radio!

Millions of viewers tuned into the 81st Academy Awards where they watched Sean Penn receive the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of homosexual activist Harvey Milk, and Kate Winslet receive the Best Female Actor Oscar for her performance in The Reader, a pornographic story about a female Nazi war criminal seducing a 15-year-old boy. They also watched award-winners use their platform to push homosexual political activism and to encourage teenagers to pursue a homosexual lifestyle.

NPR Religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported on the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in her feature report “Christian Filmmakers Creating an Industry of Faith.”

Click here to listen to the report which includes interviews with Kirk Cameron, Steven Kendrick, and some of the more than 2,400 people in attendance at the event.

This is a 8 minute interview worth hearing! Thanks to Doug's Blog for the info.

 

Editor's ToolBox

NEW FROM DIGITAL JUICE!
see details here

 

Pendragon Soundtrack

The musical soundtrack of a film is very important and has the potential to make or break a film. It tells the audience what to feel and when. Personally I'm a big fan of movie soundtracks and the soundtrack for Pendragon is coming! You can read the blog post with all the details - here

 

2009 SAICFF AUDIO

"These two albums contain collections of both messages and testimonies from the 2009 Film Festival, and training lectures from the Christian Filmmakers Academy, provide a cross-section from this historic week-long event hosted in San Antonio."

If you were unable to attend the Academy or Festival, these would be a great resource for anyone interested in film making! Even if you did attend, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have these sessions on hand for a periodic "refresh" - and the Academy set also includes "A bonus DVD of lecture slides from the event." I bought a couple of the sessions after I got back from the week, I didn't know they were coming out with this!

Click here for more information!

 

Praise Pictures

"Praise Pictures was created in May 2007 by Kyle Prohaska & Kevin Michael for one purpose...to reach others for Jesus Christ through film."

FILMS
They are currently working on the film Standing Firm, "a story of forgiveness and finding peace in times of suffering."

ARTICLES
If you are involved in Christian film making, I would encourage you to take some time to read some of the articles on the their website about networking, money making, aspect ratios, shooting on a low budget and cinematography! I found them encouraging, challenging and very informative!

BLOG
Oh yea, they also have a blog! :)

 

Color Correction: Pendragon

Last year, while working on Pendragon one of my jobs was the color correction. Let me just say that I love doing color correction! Not much can compare to taking an "average" looking shot and turning it into something beautiful. Sometimes it takes a long time and sometimes its just a few tweaks.

Click on the pictures for a larger version

I'm planning to write an article for my blog about the process and some step-by-steps of the color correction process for Pendragon using Apple Color, but that is still in the works. For now, I've put together a 4 minute video of before-&-afters from Pendragon. You can view it here on my website.

 

Pendragon: Fan Club

"Want exclusive video clips, downloads, and a bunch of other cool Pendragon stuff? Then join the Pendragon Fan Club! It's free, and will give you access to all kinds of members-only Pendragon news and features. And by joining now, you can be one of the first to get all the exciting things we have planned - enter your email address to join the Fan Club and get notified as soon as we officially open the Clubhouse doors!"

 

Faith Like Potatoes Movie

"Faith Like Potatoes tells the incredible true story of a farmer, Angus Buchan, who leaves his farm and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Faced with ever mounting challenges, hardships and personal turmoil, Angus quickly spirals down into a life consumed by anger, fear and destruction. Angus soon gives his life to God and starts the journey of a man who, like his potatoes, grows his faith, unseen until the harvest."

I stumbled onto this film and after watching the trailer I'm rather anxious to see it! A farmer from Scotland goes to be a missionary to Africa and discovers the power of God, seriously how much better could it get!

Visit the movie website here and be sure to read the "Story and Inspiration" and "Leaving a Legacy."
This link has info for the USA release and where to see the USA trailer.

 

The Velveteen Rabbit

Michael Landon Jr. (Love Comes Softly movie series, The Last Sin Eater) has a new film coming up "The Velveteen Rabbit." It will be a mix of live action and animation. Check out the website to see a trailer!

"In this brand new feature film, inspired by Margery Williams’ classic novel, one of the most beloved family tales of all time comes to life. It’s the story of a young boy named Toby who is sent by his busy father to spend the holiday season in the home of his stern grandmother. Toby’s world instantly changes when he discovers the house’s ‘magic attic’ where three forgotten toys – including a special stuffed rabbit – unlock a world of imagination that will change all their lives forever."

I don't know if it will be a movie worth seeing, just thought I'd pass along the info :)

 

Come What May - NEW WEBSITE

They have a new website and official DVD release date!
I found out about this from Kyle Prohaska's blog.

 

GodTube - renamed

Why the name change? Find out. You can check out the new website here.

 

Quick Silver

"Quicksilver is, on the surface, an application and file launcher. Should you choose to dig a little deeper you will quickly find it is significantly more than just a launcher."

I first heard of this program from Isaac Botkin and just never took time to check it out...till the other day. I watched a short beginners tutorial video, installed the program and now I'm hooked on it. This program creates a catalog of your files and folders and is quick searchable...and I mean quick! I use it all the time now to open programs, find documents and open folders.

You can download the program here - I think there is a version for PC and Mac. You can go here to see more tutorials on how to use Quicksilver.

 

A Collection of Fortunate Happenings

I saw this movie at SAICFF and LOVED it!!! It is finally up for sale on Behemoth! It's a 15min movie for $2...can't beat that. Watch the trailer here :)

"Hello. My name is Montgomery Pickett. Too many writers have an agenda. I’m here to write a story that doesn’t have a message, just a good story. Most writers also write about a bunch of unfortunate happenings, but I’ll write a story about a series of good events. Let’s start with three orphans and a treasure map left to them by their parents. When a sinister bank agent informs them that they must make their land payment in 24 hours or lose their home, the orphans set off on an exciting and perilous adventure."

Download the movie here!

 

The Penny - rough cut

The movie I worked on in Nov/Dec is coming together!!

"The editor has crawled out of his dark cave (a.k.a. "office") to make an exciting announcement. After many long hours spent staring at a screen filled with take upon take and shot upon shot, the first rough assembly edit of "The Penny" is now complete!"

Click here to read the full article.

 

New Blog Poll

I'm taking a poll to see why people read my blog and if the information that I post is useful, relevant and important. Please take time to vote! If your answer isn't listed in the poll options please leave a comment with your answer.

I want to hear from my readers :)

 

Interview with Aaron Burns

New Man eMagazine did an interview with Aaron Burns about the making of Pendragon. Having worked on the project I already knew most of the information, but it is rather informative! You can read the full article here.

Backyard ‘Braveheart’: How a family created a full-length epic film:
"When Aaron Burns and his family decided to make a family-friendly action movie as an alternative to the “junk” they found in Hollywood, they decided to dream big and trust God. Despite having almost no film experience, the Burns family finished their movie four years late. They call it Pendragon; and it’s an epic action film with a Christian heart, set in Britain’s Dark Ages. Imagine Braveheart crossed with Facing the Giants. We sat down with lead actor/co-writer/co-composer/co-set designer Aaron Burns to find out how one family could accomplish such a huge task."

 

Pendragon VFX

"Pendragon: Sword of His Father had over 270 effects shots in it. They were completed in about 56 days so there was certainly a lot of shots that were rushed through the process significantly. However, the majority of the shots turned out pretty decent and go fairly unnoticed. Since this kind of effects work fascinates me to no end I thought I would post just a little bit of a look into one of the shots that was in the film and how it was completed. The example shot I'll use is labeled B23 in the shots sequence." ~Ethan Ledden (VFX supervisor)

Read the full article here!

 

Change is coming...

"Liberals are asking conservative lawmakers to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. But in his Stoplight® commentary, Stuart Shepard explains it's really not about the popular talk-show host — it's about ideas." - Watch the video

"Just a couple of nights ago, we heaped praise on the new president for announcing what he called a new era of openness, where in his administration, transparency would rule the day." - Is it working? Watch this video to find out!