Firefox 3.5

Faster, Safer, Smarter, Better! Download it here

 

ACTION ESSENTIALS 2 - NOW AVAILABLE

FEATURING:

• 500 Pre-Keyed High Definition Elements
• Available in 2 Versions: 2K and 720p
• 60 Minutes of After Effects Training
• 20 Bonus Action Sound FX
• Detailed Video Thumbnails
• Over 90% Live Action Footage

What is Action Essentials 2?

Action Essentials 2 is a collection of stock footage elements for compositing. Ideal for visual effects & motion graphics.

Learn more here!

 

Letter to God - UPDATE

"Well we're almost done. 4 days to go and we'll have the whole movie shot. Incredible! I can't believe it! Seems like just yesterday that we were planning it, now we're talking about finishing it! God has been so great! The footage is amazing...the actors performance is far better than I could have expected...the crew has been fabulous. God's fingerprints are all over this little movie! So many of the crew have come to me and said this is the first movie they've ever worked on, where they don't want it to end...even after 5 grueling weeks. It's amazing how many of the professional crew have said they appreciate working on a project like this. Even the cynics. And they're the first ones to go to the prayer warriors and ask for prayer for a loved one. It's been a wonderful mission field!! I can't wait to show you all the finished product. We will be heavy into post-production through September and the distributor is talking about a Spring 2010 release. Praise the Lord!"

 

Pendragon Press

"Don’t be surprised if you flip on your radio or TV in the next couple of weeks…and hear the host talking about Pendragon!The last month has been an exciting one for the Pendragon Team: they have had the opportunity to share Pendragon’s message and story with media outlets all over the country. “I always love sharing the stories of God’s faithfulness and provision,” Aaron will tell people. “We are also greatful for the opportunities to use the message of Pendragon to inspire families to trust God in bigger ways than they thought possible.”As the news about the film continues to spread, more and more people are supporting it. This afternoon, Aaron was a guest on Rich Buhler’s program Talk From the Heart, airing in Southern California. Earlier in the day, Chad was interviewed live on the American Family Radio show Today’s Issues.This Friday night, Chad and Aaron will be down in Alanta for a TV interview with WATC’s Atlanta Live program, airing 7-9pm."

Taken from the Pendragon blog.

 

NEW - Christian Film Festival

Join us for the first ever Brazos Valley Christian Film Festival.
-Win cash prizes for your movie.
-View films by other aspiring directors.
-The festival is open to anyone wishing to enter, children or adults.
-The deadline for submissions is August 3rd.
-Location: First Baptist Bryan (Texas)

For more information visit the website.

 

"Letters to God" ...hope is contagious

"An inspiring movie about how a young boy fighting cancer finds strength and hope through writing letters to God and in doing so changes the lives of those around him. A film filled with laughter, love, hope and triumph—the kind that is found in a friendship with God."

Michael Bolten as Ben, Bailee Madison as Sam, and Tanner Maguire as Tyler hugging at the soccer game.

The crew shooting over Brady's shoulders as he reads one of the letters.

This is a new movie that is currently in production and is being directed by David Nixon, the Assistant Director from Facing the Giants and Fireproof. You can sign up for updates at the movie website and more pictures are viewable on their Facebook page!

 

"Bros" The Movie

"‘Bros’ tells the story of a young man, Trey, who is challenged by his father to try to learn about and show love to his adopted brother, Johnson, whom he has rejected since his arrival into Trey’s family. What follows is a moving story of faith, discovery, and brotherly love."

Block One Studios and Us4Him Productions present a short Christian film, "Bros"

Bros Teaser from Block One Studios on Vimeo.

The film is currently in post production, you can check out their blog for pictures and BTS videos! I'm really excited to see this movie when its done, they have a great team working on it!

 

Apple iPhone OS 3.0

The latest update for the iPhone / iPod Touch operating system 3.0 is now available! This update allows "Quickly and easily cut, copy, and paste text from application to application." It allows you to "rotate the iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari." Also included in the update is Spotlight search across applications, voice messaging, improved calander and lots more!

Download and more info for iPhone and also for iPod Touch!

 

Pendragon on TBN!

FYI: Pendragon showed on TBN @ 9PM (Pacific Time)

(this post has been edited since the showing is now over)

 

Father's Day Films

Justinian the Pendragon: A Worthy Father Figure
"The opening scenes of Pendragon set the tone for the entire film. In the interactions between father and son, you see a father who lives up the God-given calling that all fathers have. He imparts vision, challenges his son to a heavenly calling, he gives an example of work ethic and courage, he trains his son to follow and glorify God and makes his love for his son clear.

If you have father who you’d like to honor this June, or if you know a young father who you’d like to inspire, I highly recommend Pendragon as a Father’s Day gift. You can watch the trailer or purchase the film here."

Read the full article here.

I'll Need You Dad

"Kids have many influences in their lives that often steer them off course from Christ. Many of their responses in life's situations will feel natural to them yet will leave them empty and alone. Dads, though, have a unique opportunity to model Christ's example to their children even when no one else will."

Click here for more info.

 

Pendragon Soundtrack AVAILABLE!

The Pendragon soundtrack is NOW AVAILABLE!! Scroll down on this page to purchase.

 

Pendragon takes home "Best of Show"

"Last week, the 2009 Indie Distribution Festival awarded prizes to one hundred and fifty of this year’s best independent pictures. Of the films recognized, Pendragon was one of five honored with a Best of Show.

“A tightly-crafted, action-filled epic set in Britain’s dark ages,” The Indie notes. “As the barbarian fleets descend on the coast, the people of Britain defend themselves and their faith. The film has stunning visuals and a powerful score.”"

If you haven't purchased the movie yet, you can do so at the Pendragon website!

 

Right.org Phase One ended June 18th

Thanks to everyone who participated and took the time to watch my commercial, I'm still waiting to hear the results of who moves on to Phase Two. If for some reason you still want to watch the video its still viewable - YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, MetaCafe, DailyMotion, Blip TV, Veoh and Break.

 

Pendragon - Rolling once again...

“Lighting good…checking audio levels. Ok, camera speed, and…Action!”

"After a period of inactivity, the Burns Family Studios film crew is back in action. Not as much action as say, an epic sword fight, but filming again all the same. Last weekend, Aaron traveled down to ‘Studio B’ in Saint Louis to work on an electronic press kit with Chad and Nick."

Read the full blog post here!

 

SkinIt Video Contest

A company that makes custom skins for laptops, cellphones, and other devices is holding a contest for a 60 sec commercial. Grand prize= $10,000. You can read more about the contest here.

Jeremiah Warren has submitted a contest entry here! It's quite good, I encourage you to check it out!

 

"The Penny" 4th Rough Cut

This is the film that I worked on for 6 weeks in '08 from Thanksgiving into December. Due to some scheduling conflicts I had to miss some of the extra shooting they did earlier this year, but I'm grateful that God allowed for me to go back and join the team for the last pickup shoot at the end of May. We endured through some rough filming, but it was great to see everyone again! With filming complete, post production is moving forward and according to the Filmweavers blog, the edit is really coming together!

"This past week the official fourth version of the rough edit was wrapped up. Included in this edit for the first time were the final scenes we just finished up shooting last week. All the production audio has now been synced up with the film as well (previous edits only included the camera sound) so we can here all the lines clear as a bell instead of having to turn our speakers way up."

Read the full article here.

 

Videomaker Magazine Goes Digital

For only $12/year you can receive 12 issues of this video magazine in a digital format! Read more here.

 

Pixar's UP

I have heard nothing but good reviews of this film and then to top it all off, I ran across this article by Isaac Botkin on Outside-Hollywood.

"Pixar is a film company that is redefining family movies, but they are also forcing the rest of us to redefine how we classify movies in general. Up is a perfect example of this. At first glance, it has all the tired clichés of almost every other animated movie: the grumpy old man, the spunky kid, the gravel-voiced Britishy villain, and the dopey comedy relief animal sidekicks. Fortunately, Up is really nothing like any other movie.

Up is their second post-Disney project, and I think it may reflect a more settled, hopeful position, and certainly a more mature storytelling style. Pete Docter and Bob Peterson have excelled themselves technically, and artistically, and in doing so, made one of the most pro-family, pro-children, pro-happiness films ever."

You can read the full review here.
Watch the movie trailer here.

 

Dramatic Audio from Lamplighter Theatre

Some of you may be familiar with Lamplighter Publishing, a company that publishes old and hard to find books that have a strong Christian worldview. Most of our all-time family favorite books are from this company, "The Hidden Hand" or "Prisoners of the Sea" anyone? Well anyway, they are currently working on creating dramatized audio versions of their books called Lamplighter Theatre! They have teamed up with some folks who used to work on Adventures in Odyssey... "After realizing the spiritual depth and rich history of Lamplighter stories, these gifted writers knew they had indeed found a treasure. Immediately a new relationship was forged and Lamplighter Theatre was birthed!"

"Having found the experienced and talented artists who could create world class redemptive stories, the stage is now set to provide years of life-transforming family drama for the next generation. While millions of children and adults have enjoyed reading Lamplighter’s gripping stories, we now have the opportunity to reach millions more through radio drama. Radio stations have expressed strong interest in Lamplighter Theatre; they believe there is a great need for fresh, exciting, spiritually rich material for family listening."

Check it out and listen to a demo here!

 

Christian Film Makers Workshop - Bryan, TX

This past weekend I had the opportunity to help teach at a film making workshop in Bryan, TX!

The Jones family who hosted the conference has been working on a 25 min. (approx) short film called Bessie about the story behind "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" - they used a lot of examples of location scouts, costumes, lighting and story boarding from their experience. I have to tell you, I am very impressed with the amount of work they are putting into this movie and I'm looking forward to seeing the final product! Visit their website to watch a trailer for the movie.

The goal of the training workshop was to encourage Christian young people who are interested in film making by providing a two day training course covering the basics of film making and then providing an incentive for them to actually make a film by hosting a film festival at the end of the summer with a $100 Grand Prize!

I got to teach about editing and color correction, and had an absolute BLAST!!

Quick review of my presentation

Stacie and I were the main presenters

"These are the basics of an editing program"

Me having fun :)

Doing some live editing for the group

My bro Caleb, me, Kayleen and Sarah (from DCFM) and Stacie Jones
I had a lot of fun working with this group!

You can see more pictures from trip on the ReelCast Facebook page!

 

Tune Society

"Tune Society is the first online, royalty free, consignment based music library for production and media. It is redefining how music production is handled all over the world."

They have some decent music on this site and once you buy it, you can use it over and over for any project you have! Visit Tune Society!

 

ABC News Covers Faith Based Films

The news has noticed that faith-based films are out there! On a recent ABC Nightline report they cover Fireproof as the top grossing independent film from 2008 and also talk about the unique marketing strategy for Secrets of Jonathan Sperry. ABC included interviews with Kirk Cameron, Alex Kendrick, Rich Christiano and Gavin McCloud.

Watch the video here!

 

Apple WWDC 2009 Keynote Announcements

Available Sept. 2009

16GB/$199 - 32GB/$299

Lots of new updates for the iPhone/iTouch software!

MORE INFO: www.apple.com

 

The Voyage that Shook the World

A new $1 million documentary from Creation Ministries International!

"Structured around Darwin’s famous HMS Beagle voyage³ , it features stunning wildlife photography, period re-enactments and interviews with leading authorities from around the world. We made this 52min. documentary to the highest production standards utilizing media professionals so that it could be broadcast on general TV. It is intended to be a thoughtful exploration, a crossover product to seek to influence the “mainstream” to ”think again” about Darwin. It is also a powerful tool that can “break down the barriers” of evolutionary prejudice, overcoming preconceived ideas about biblical creationists by its approach of being gentle and fair without compromising truth."


Read more here!

 

Evom - Convert & Transfer Movies From Your Computer and the Web

Ever wish for an easy way to convert a video for your iPod? Introducing: Evom!

With Evom converting a video is a two-step process: Select or drag movies, folders, or links into Evom, and then select your destination. If your destination is your iPod, Evom will automatically import the video into your iTunes library. Next time I sync my iPhone, my files are already there waiting for me, which is great because I usually load my iPhone with videos the night before traveling while I am trying to pack, so having my videos ready to go is a great time saver.
Another cool feature of Evom is the browser bookmarklet. Add the Evom bookmarklet to your browser, and you get one-click-downloading on flash video sites like YouTube.

Download Evom here! Requires Mac OS X 10.5 or greater - Version 0.94b

 

APA revises 'gay gene' theory

"The attempt to prove that homosexuality is determined biologically has been dealt a knockout punch. An American Psychological Association publication includes an admission that there's no homosexual "gene" -- meaning it's not likely that homosexuals are born that way."

Read the full article here.

 

"The Penny" Wraps up Shooting

"A website (and possibly a brand new title!) is also in the works for "The Penny" so you can look forward to those things being introduced over the next while. Some more still frames, updates on progress, and maybe even some new footage will pop up from time to time so stay tuned!"

As you may have noticed, my blog was quite silent last week. This was due to the fact that I was up in WI helping with the final pickup shots for "The Penny." It was a great opportunity to work with the team again and we got some really nice footage. Be sure to check out a few still frames from the recent shoot on the Filmweavers blog.

Another highlight from the week was being able to squeeze in a couple visits with the Burns family in IL during travel back and forth to WI.