New GMD Site and Youtube Syndication

The news around here for the last six months has been all about 'Bigfoot' and 3D so it's nice to have something to say that doesn't involve a monster of some sort.

First up, the new GMD Films Website has just gone online. It's been offline for quite awhile, while we re-worked the business here and regrouped with a new slate of productions. You can find it at www.GMDFilms.com It's much easier to navigate, and provides you with links to the Official Sites of all our films, with info as to how to actually watch them.

If you're following me on Facebook, you heard that our sister station MaddyGTV was picked up for Syndication over at Youtube. What this essentially means, is our programming is available to be rebroadcast by other webcasters, available on Smartphones and on television thru SmartTV's and Game systems like PS3 and Xbox Live. Basically, if your TV or Phone is connected to the internet, you have access to our shows now.

As such, the shows in Syndication are paid for by advertisers who place ads within and around the video feed. It's how we're able to afford to produce the shows and offer them for free at the same time. For awhile now, there's been discussion about 'The Economy of Free'. A lot of people like to pretend this idea is new, or somehow revolutionary. 'Network TV' has been operating under this business model since the 30's when there was 1 or 2 channels. The internet has made it more complicated, but the idea is still the same. Your free programming draws the audience, which gathers together a group of people that the advertisers can make their sales pitch to, a priviledge the advertisers pay for.

Anything that gathers people is fair game for this form of advertising. Sporting events and Charity events. Heck, even the movie theater has their own TV channel running before the movies. It's not new, it's sort of how things have always been done. The internet just made the channel selection extremely vast.

If you've been following us here at GMD for the last few years, you know we take our 'Truly Independent' monicker seriously. We've refused the distribution 'deals' and we've insisted on controlling our release rights in every market. 'Self Distribution' is a long road but we've stayed on it, and thus - we've stayed in the game.

We're proud to have survived long enough to have buit a little bit of a catalog and picked up enough friends along the way to catch the interest of company's wanting to show their stuff. So moving forward, as we're able to present more and more of our shows and movies for free, please support the advertisers you see. Click on their links, and check them out. A few minutes of your time is all it takes to support what we do enough to keep it all free.  

Coming up, the release of "Blood of Ohma" at The Playhouse Theater in Erie, PA. 'Ohma' starts at 7pm and Snowdog Studio's "The Four" starts at 9pm. Both films shot in and around Erie, PA. It's been like 4 years since GMD / Snowdog threw a Premiere, so it's gonna be a throw down for the ages. You can preorder Tickets for $5 at www.SnowDogStudio.com  100% of the proceeds go to local animal charities.

- PG



Taking A Run at Picture Lock

For the 'un-initiated', the 'First Cut', is sometimes also called an 'Assembly Cut' - which means the movie is assembled, usually minus special effects, color correction and sound mixing. 

Following the assembly, is the 'Director's Cut'. This is my best version of the film from what I shot.

After that... it can be chopped up into a bunch of different versions from 'youtube' to cable tv and foreign markets. For "Blood of Ohma" to be marketable in the cable / broadcast market, I need it to come in at no longer than 1:40. An hour and fourty minutes.

The Assembly Edit - containing all the scenes we shot, came in at 1:57. Almost 2 hours.

I edit largely by feel. As I watch the film thru, I make a note of area's that seem to drag, are repetative, or just aren't neccessary to tell the story. I trimmed 10 minutes off the cut after my first screening. Now, I'm refining it, scene by scene to 'tighten' it up and I'll see where I'm at. I'm pretty confident I'll get there on my 'Director's Cut'.

Because I shot "Blood of Ohma" in 3D, the post production work is doubled. Every color correction and effect has to be duplicated for each 'eye' and then combined into the stereo image. All of it is essentially a 'special effect' and so every shot has to be rendered prior to me being able to proof it. The process has been painstaking. Watch, Render, Tweak, Render, Watch... 

Don't take that as a complaint. If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. We make micro-budget films here at GMD. Every film we do is an attempt at something we've never done at these budgets. This time, with "Blood of Ohma", we're setting out to see if you can make a real movie - in 3D - with gear you can buy at Best Buy. Total budget? $6,800.

With the exception of a special visual effect, the whole movie was shot on a pair of Sony HDRCX100's and the Sony Bloggie 3D. About half and half. The rig we built ourselves.

I'm editing with Sony Vegas 10, which is largely the reason shooting a 3D feature at this budget is even possible. While there's a lot of room for improvement, their Stereoscopic 3D Tools built into the new version makes it possible to get real 3D with camera gear you might already have.  

I know Sony isn't exactly at the top of everyone's list in the 'indie film' community. But I'll tell you, they had my back on this project the whole way. I had a myriad of technical questions going in, that they answered, including some they had to figure out answers to. They built a codec for the Bloggie 3D and updated my software to enable me to do things they probably didn't really intend with Vegas 10.

I'm at the very end of it now, I'll have the 'Director's Cut' of "Blood of Ohma" in the next few days.

It'll be premiering at the Erie Playhouse Theater November 5th in Erie. And we'll be showing it in 3D. After that, you'll be able to check it out on DVD, BluRay and Digital Download thru all the usual sources and you'll see it on MaddyGTV and BlackFlagTV on the web too.

- PG