One Sunday in May of 2003, three aspiring filmmakers decided to put their beers down and to pick up a video camera. Kirk, Greg, and Tony were tired of talking about making movies. It was time to just shoot one. The idea was to shoot short videos as an exercise. The films wouldn't be perfect but they would be finished.

With each exercise, we learn more about producing, directing, acting, editing, shooting, lighting, sound, writing, and more. Filmgeneration keeps us driven. It provides an outlet for the ideas that float around our heads. And hopefully, it motivates and entertains others.

QYNA (Questions you never asked...)

TECHNOLOGY:

Q: What kind of camera do you use?

A: We try to use the Sony TRV-900, Mini DV camera. On some occasions, it is not available and we will use the Sony TRV-320, Digital 8 camera.

Q: What do you use to edit?

A: We cut our films with Adobe Premiere 6.02, usually on an AMD 1.2 Ghz system with 512mb of RAM. We dump our footage onto a Western Digital 200GB SE firewire drive. (In March 2004, we'll begin testing Vegas Video 4 and Adobe Premiere Pro)

Q: How do you encode your video?

A: We start by exporting the timeline from Premiere to an MPEG 4 Quicktime file at 320x240. That file is used as the source in Helix Real Encoder (free from real.com). Target bandwidth settings for our RealVideo files are 256Kbps, optimized for "Sharper Image" and "Music".

We are still experimenting with QuickTime output. We use both Quicktime Pro 6.0 and Discreet's Cleaner 5. Different projects require a bit of tweaking but we usually encode using Sorenson 3 for video and IMA 4:1 for sound, also using the MPEG 4 as our source.

Q: Who hosts your videos on the Internet?

A: We use NearlyFreeSpeech.net where you only pay for what you use. These days, we're transferring an average of 2Gb per week.

THE FILMS

Q: How long does it take to make one of your amazing short videos?

A: It takes an average of six to seven hours to shoot our videos. Our shortest shoot was for Consume (four minutes) and our longest was for Out of Water (twelve hours). After shooting is complete, we try to edit on the same day. Editing takes another three to five hours.

Q: Why are the same people/locations always featured in your shorts?

A: You work with what's available.

Q: How do you choose what to shoot?

A: We pitch ideas to each other every week and go with the one we can shoot over the weekend. That usually depends on whether we can get actors.

Q: How much do the films cost to make? Do you make any money off of
them?

A: We try to never spend money on our shoots but every now and then, props are needed. Top budget was around $25 (Though a parking ticket once cost $35 in Pasadena). We do not make any money off of the films. They are for our own educational purposes and for your enjoyment. It actually costs us several dollars a month to host them on the internet. So please, download them to your hard drive if you're going to watch them again.

OUR AUDIENCE:

Q: I can't afford the luxury of broadband. Is there any way I can get a tape or DVD?

A: We can't afford a DVD Burner right now but Tony's been making VCDs that he forces people to watch sometimes. If you ask real nice, perhaps he'll burn you a VCD of your favorites.

Q: I've made a few of my own videos. Would you host them for me?

A: We can't afford the time and money to host other people's shorts right now. The videos featured in the FILMGEN REMOTE section of the site were produced exclusively for Filmgeneration. Once you've contributed an original piece, we open up a space for you in the "PAST FILMS" section of the video page.

Check out FilmGeneration