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Update

One-Time Online Festival Screenings of Carry My Heart to the Yellow River

by alexis April 22, 2020

written by alexis

If you’re stuck at home, and you’ve been wanting to see the Chinese-language short I directed, “Carry My Heart to the Yellow River” after me talking about it all this time, are you in luck! It’s having a pair of one-time-only scheduled online screenings in both France and the USA on Saturday, April 25th.

The ÉCU (European Independent Film Festival) is screening our French Premiere (w/French and English subtitles) in the Saturday Session 2 block of shorts (we’re no. 2), at 9:30 am Paris time. They even recorded a short segment with me to introduce it! Get schedule and ticket information here.

The Riverside International Film Festival is doing a Southern California screening (w/English subtitles) as part of Saturday Shorts Block 4 (we’re no. 5 at the end of the block), at 4:30 PST. Get schedule and ticket information here.

If you can make either of these screenings, do me a favor and come back to this blog post and leave me a comment, I’d love to hear what you think!

And don’t just watch my movie, there are lots of great movies on the festival circuit this year (I know, I’ve been watching them), and playing at these festivals, and this is a fantastic way to support truly independent movie-making from the comfort of your living room.

April 22, 2020 0 comment

Cocktails and Alexis, it's Happy Hour, with Alexis Van Hurkman

Training Update

Join Me For a Happy Hour Q&A Webinar Each Friday Until May 15th

by alexis March 24, 2020

written by alexis

When: Every Friday from Mar 27 through May 15, 2020, at 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join me for “Happy Hour, with Alexis Van Hurkman,” a free 8-week webinar series where I answer questions about Color Grading, Editing, Finishing, and DaVinci Resolve. Hosted via Zoom, registration is required to attend (you only need to register once). If you’re Zoom cautious (understandably) you can attend via browser without installing the application. And please attend! If you submit a question and attend the webinar, we can have a chat about it, which is always much more fun than sitting and listening to some trainer drone on and on.

If you miss it, each webinar is recorded and made available to the public on the Bog Simple Productions YouTube channel, in a special playlist. They’ve been going really well, and are a fun mix of interviews, recommendations, and tutorials. Come, join me on this adventure!

If You Haven’t Registered Yet

Click to register in advance for this webinar. You’ll have the option to ask a question during registration (you don’t have to). After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. You need only register once to attend every webinar in this series, simply use the link you’re given to attend every episode.

Ask More Questions

This show is only as interesting as the questions you submit, so keep ’em coming! Whenever you want to ask me another question, come back to this page and use the form below.

Sponsored By

Big thanks to Blackmagic Design for sponsoring this webinar; all opinions and statements are my own.

March 24, 2020 0 comment

DaVinci Resolve Update

Are You Interested in a Weekly DaVinci Resolve Q&A Webinar?

by alexis March 17, 2020

written by alexis

Current events being what they are, there are lots of people at home, some employed and some not, who are using their time to learn new skills. In particular, I’ve read plenty of posts on social media from folks who haven’t had the time to give DaVinci Resolve a try, who think that now may be the time.

To pitch in, I want to do a weekly Q&A webinar series, one hour (plus), to answer your various questions about DaVinci Resolve for grading and editing. Think of it as a coffee break chat with me to ask something you’ve been wondering about.

I want to keep it free so there’s no barrier to entry, and it will focus on my primary specialties as a colorist using the Color page, as an editor using the Edit page, and on real-world workflows I’ve experienced working on small and mid-budgeted projects (not giant Hollywood productions). This is not about tech support, this is about learning to use DaVinci Resolve to do creative things.

What I need to know is, how many of you out there would be interested, where you are, and what information do you want? The answers I get will dictate how I go about setting this up, when I schedule it, etcetera, so don’t be shy. If you’re interested, please answer the questionnaire below. I’m not putting together a mailing list, I don’t even want your email. I just want information to help guide me as I put this together.

If I can get just a few people to respond, then I’ll get things arranged, so keep your eye on whatever social media you follow me on for more information!

March 17, 2020 5 comments

Film Festival Laurels for Carry My Heart

Directing Filmmaking Update

40 Film Festival Acceptances and Counting

by alexis January 31, 2020

written by alexis

I’m extremely proud that “Carry My Heart to the Yellow River,” the short I directed and co-wrote in China in the summer of 2018, has found such a global audience on the 2019-2020 film festival circuit. So far, this uplifting story of a high school graduate’s epic journey on behalf of her sick friend has been accepted to 40 Film Festivals among nine countries and territories, including the USA, Guam, Italy, England, India, Ireland, Bhutan, Germany, and Australia, and we’ve been semi-finalists in an additional five festivals in three more countries.

On top of all that, we’ve won an astounding nine awards, including two best short awards, two audience choice awards, and specific awards for best drama, best director short film, and best cinematography.

In the United States, we’ve had screenings from coast to coast, including but not limited to New York (Syracuse and Williamsburg), Florida (Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Talahassee), California (Ojai, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles), Hawaii, Washington, and many states in-between (Mississippi, South Dakota, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin).

Most importantly to me, audience response has been terrific, and I’ve heard from more than one viewer who’s been deeply affected by our story. After all the hard work, it’s enormously gratifying to see the emotional payoff in the faces of viewers.

Film Festivals to which we’ve been accepted:

39th Breckinridge Film Festival
Great Lakes International Film Festival
Charlotte Film Festival
South Dakota Film Festival (Winner – Best Family Friendly Short)
Fayetteville Film Film Festival
Sioux City International Film Festival
Santa Cruz Film Festival
Syracuse International Film Festival (Winner – Short Film Fiction)
Orlando Film Festival
Guam International Film Festival
70th Montecatini International Short Film Festival
Liverpool Film Festival
20th Ojai Film Festival
East Lansing Film Festival
Alexandria Film Festival
34th Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
39th Hawaii International Film Festival
Goa Short Film Festival
Williamsburg Film Festival
Waterford Film Festival
Druk International Film Festival (Winner – Short Film: Outstanding Achievement)
IS Short Film Festival Pune India
42nd Big Muddy Film Festival
Snowdance Independent Film Festival
14th Beaufort International Film Festival
Green Bay Film Festival (Winner – Titletown Award for Best Short, Audience Choice Best Short)
Children’s Film Festival Seattle
20th FirstGlance Los Angeles (Winner – Best Drama, Audience Choice Short Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography)
14th Taos Shortz
Beeston Film Festival in Nottingham, UK
Cleveland International Film Festival (in the Filmslam program)
Australian Inspirational Film Festival
17th Tupelo Film Festival
Tallahassee Film Festival
Tiburon International Film Festival
39th Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival
Julien Dubuque International Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
15th European Independent Film Festival (ECU)
Riverside International Film Festival

Film festivals at which we’ve been shortlisted, but not accepted:

Sapporo International Short Film Festival & Market (Programmer’s Delight Shortlist)
Thessaloniki (Semi-finalist)
Short to the Point Awards (Semi-finalist)
Dublin International Film Festival (Shortlist)
Asia South East (Highest Commendation)

Additional Note – At this point, given the worldwide pandemic with which we’re faced, film festivals are either postponing screenings, or moving to one of several online exhibition models for limited time screenings. We fully support both decisions, and I’ll post updates for whenever online screenings are scheduled. However, I’m anticipating a premature end to our festival year. It’s been a fantastic run, and we’ll see it through to the very end. I’m hoping we can find a willing streaming distributor who can provide this project with a more permanent home!

January 31, 2020 0 comment

Alexis and Kaylynn dragging a Christmas tree through the snow

Update

Celebrating the Holidays and My 10th Blog Anniversary

by alexis December 21, 2019

written by alexis

It’s the holiday season here in the frozen north of Minnesota, and whatever basket of holidays you choose to celebrate (or not), I wish you well. We all find ourselves in the midst of those interesting times I keep hearing warnings about, but my fervent hope is we can survive them, in the spirit of Nietzsche’s famous quote.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been adding to this blog, off and on, for ten years now. As is the way with these things, the busier I get in my life and career, the less I tend to post, and the last two years have been so eventful it’s been easy to not post anything. This is particularly true because the things I like to post tend to be long.

Nobody has ever accused me of brevity.

However, I find that even after all this time, I still have things I want to share, and I’m finding it more vital to engage with the creative community out there in the world than ever. The work I do as a director, a writer, and still as a colorist and software consultant continually requires me to learn new strategies and technologies, and there’s no better way to cement one’s knowledge than to try and explain it to other people.

However, after all this time, this old site’s gotten a bit crufty, a little out of date, and so I’ve spent part of December 2019 troubleshooting the issues and cleaning things up. All this has culminated in the installation of a brand new template, in an effort to get modern and make things a little more readable and organized on different devices. In particular, now that I’ve got such a pile of content, I wanted to find ways of making some of the older articles that are still relevant a bit easier to find. What you see today is the first part of a longer evolution, so don’t be surprised if new features start appearing here and there as I evolve the experience into something more akin to a reference library of my various screeds.

So, stick around. I’ve got a huge article about one of the movies I directed in China that I just posted, and some other interesting bits in draft form that will soon follow. I’ve got a lot on my mind, and my use of this site will likely evolve a bit as well as my focus continues to swing towards narrative storytelling for visual mediums, and directing. However, I promise to keep it interesting.

If you’ve been a long time reader, I appreciate your traffic, and I always look forward to comments and correspondence, even if it takes me a year or two to reply. I hope this note finds you well, and offer my best wishes for the coming roller coaster of a year.

-Alexis

December 21, 2019 0 comment

Directing Grading Update

A Bit of Training With My Postproduction

by alexis January 26, 2015

written by alexis

Yes, I edited log-encoded material, but I’m a Colorist, so that’s allowed…

The scene I shot in December, “An Unwanted Job,” is coming along nicely. In an effort to eat my own dog food, I’m doing as much of the postproduction as I can inside of Resolve, from syncing the timecoded dual-source audio and making offline dailies from the original 4K CinemaDNG media, to editing both picture and sound, editing music and doing simple sound design, through adding visual finishing effects and doing the grade. Eventually, I’ll be sending the audio I edit to someone else for sweetening and mixing, probably in ProTools, probably via exporting xml to Final Cut Pro 7, and out to OMF from there, unless I find a more contemporary workflow.

I used the Metadata Editor in the Media page to annotate the Description, Shot, and Scene for each clip, and then I sorted the Media Pool in list view and organized the clips into logical bins for my use. Overall, the new Media Pool columns and bin organization features have made wading through material much, much nicer then in previous versions. For the smoothest overall experience I created a set of transcoded 1080p ProRes LT media with cloned file names and timecode to work with, making it easy for me to reconform to the original 4K once I start with the grading; I have separate bin hierarchies for the camera original and proxy media, and I can switch back and forth using the “Reconform from bin” command (after turning off “Force Conform Enabled” for each clip in the Timeline).

Assembling my timeline went swiftly. As I edited, I definitely found things that could be improved, particularly in the realm of audio, but I was easily able to accomplish what I wanted, and as I got into the details of the edit I’m happy to say that I like the trimming tools in Resolve as much as an end user as I did when demoing them in front of audiences. There are idiosyncrasies in Resolve 11.1.3 such as audio not playing in reverse (you can hear audio playback scrubbing or moving a frame at a time in reverse, just not at speed), or double-clicking to open a clip into the Source Viewer for trimming not working when the Trim tool is selected (you have to choose the selection tool first), but nothing stopped me, and I’ve passed these tidbits along to the Resolve team. One thing I’ll add is that easy access to Roll edits in selection mode make split edits in dialog ridiculously easy to perform.

After cutting a few different versions of the scene, I “soft-locked” my primary edit a few weeks ago. At the moment, I’m going back and forth on the music cues with composer John Rake. I’ve been deliberately having him compose longer pieces of music that I can cut into the timeline in different ways, which has been forcing me to do a bit of music editing in Resolve. Given that audio cutting isn’t necessarily what Resolve is designed to do at the moment, it’s actually been going nearly as well as it ever did back in FCP 7. I often try to avoid locking the edit until the music is finished, as great cues always make me want to push and pull things around. In this case, it’s a great excuse to push Resolve a little out of its comfort zone.

I’ll post a work in progress probably later in February, but for now I’ve started using examples off of my timeline in a couple of free tutorials that are now available on the web.

I’ve done the first in what is to be a series of “Resolve in Under 5 Minutes” videos for Ripple Training (you can subscribe to their YouTube channel), in which I’ll be showing a different technique or tip in every video. This first one covers image stabilization, which is a useful tool whether you’re an editor, colorist, or finishing specialist. For this, I used one of the first shots in the scene, a 20 foot remote-operated jib shot that was being buffeted by wind on a wintery day. Exactly the kind of shot this tool shines at improving.

I also did a webinar for Imagineer Systems and Boris Effects about how to use Mocha and Boris OFX plugins with DaVinci Resolve to do corner pinned match moving, motion-tracked lens flare addition, lens correction and dead pixel/wire removal, and other techniques that you either can’t do or that are otherwise difficult in Resolve by itself.

January 26, 2015 1 comment

Directing Update

New Project, New Camera

by alexis December 5, 2014

written by alexis

Anyone who knows me knows I’ve got two main opinions about gear. First, don’t buy gear, rent it. Today’s awesome stuff turns into tomorrow’s laughably obsolete curiosities. Second, I could care less about cameras. I’m a director, not a DP, and as long as the DP likes whatever camera we can afford to use, and the resulting image data is gradable, then I’m happy.

So it’s with some reluctance that I admit I’ve started buying camera accessories to have in reserve for the increasing number of small projects I seem to be directing. Starting with my next directorial excursion, a scene rather then a fully realized movie, designed to create some nicer material to use for my next book, video training, and presentation projects, and in the process work with another great local Minneapolis crew to create something very different from my previous two movies for my director’s reel, which by god I’ll actually put together one of these days.

Today was all about prepping the aforementioned camera equipment. DP Michael Handley, AC Brian Suerth (pictured later), and I poured over the three Blackmagic Design cameras we’ll be using, a brand new Ursa for most of the coverage, a Production 4K that we’ll be using with a Ronin gimbal stabilizer to fly around one of the day’s two locations, and a Pocket Cinema Camera for POV shots in tight spaces. I’ve been wondering if I’d find utility in the three different form factors of cameras that Blackmagic now offers, and I now appreciate that it’s really nice to have different sized camera bodies for different tasks, each of which can be prepped simultaneously with different rigs. A far cry from my days of having a single CP 16 film camera to work with.

The Ursa itself is a beefy camera, but resultantly quick to set up thanks to an attached battery mount plate (extra), built-in rails mounts, and a built-in handle; I really, really liked the speed of setup. The editor in me wants as many angles of coverage as I can shoot in a day, and I hate feeling like I’m waiting for a camera to be rebuilt from setup to setup.

Since I usually prefer to have the camera on support rather then handheld, given the type of coverage I tend to go after, the Ursa’s weight (16.5 lbs without lens/etcetera) doesn’t really bother me—we’ll be using a jib, dolly, and slider to move things around when necessary. Of course, that’s easy for the director to say, I don’t have to move the camera from setup to setup, but nobody on the camera crew has had any complaints so far.

Incidentally, the 10″ swing-out screen is pretty awesome. As are the two other touch-screens on either side of the body that switch between UI and monitoring for the assistant. Brian mentioned he still may use his own display for working the focus, but more because it’s the display he’s used to, which makes sense to me.

We toured the menu system, and were pleased to find it pretty straightforward. So, at least so far as setup goes, the Ursa seems to be a no-drama camera. And, pointing the camera at random things at Tasty Lighting’s Acme stage, the EF mount Rokinon cinema lenses I’m using coupled with the Ursa’s Super35 sensor made the kitchen area and random lighting instruments positioned here and there look delightfully dramatic framed in 2.35.

So far so good. I’m looking forward to seeing how it performs on location.

December 5, 2014 0 comment

Update

About My Web Site

by alexis November 30, 2014

written by alexis

Alas, my web site was hacked while I was away in Florida for the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival screening of “The Place Where You Live.” In fact, my whole family of web sites were hacked, and a week passed wherein I could do nothing. Happily, I’ve fixed the issue and taken steps to secure the help I’ll need to prevent this from happening again.

From the very beginning of this blog, I’ve resisted placing ads for anything other then the fruits of my own activities (my books, training videos, and soon my films), and the perennial Amazon ad for books I have on my shelf. I figure if you’re here, you’re probably interested in what I’m doing and what I’ve created, but you’re not particularly interested in ads for colleges, cars, or whatever other random adverts might pop up. Despite the increased cost of running this site in a world requiring hardening from hacking, I’m determined to continue to offer this site as a free resource. It’s fun, and I can continue to justify my occasional and eclectic posting habits.

If you like the content and feel motivated to support my efforts with filthy lucre, consider picking up a copy of one of my books or training videos (through Ripple Training). You’ll support my extra-curricular activities, and learn something to boot! And if you’ve already done so, then thank you! I very much appreciate it.

November 30, 2014 0 comment

Directing Filmmaking Update

Finally, I’ve Made an Award Winning Film

by alexis November 10, 2014

written by alexis

I’ve been having an enormous amount of fun flying out to some of the film festivals we’ve gotten into, and meeting other truly independent filmmakers who are tilting at the windmills of this crazy industry of ours. While I’m generally just happy to have the opportunity to screen my work in front of actual human beings, I’m thrilled to announce that “The Place Where You Live” won distinctive achievement awards for Editing, Visual Effects, and Production Design at Des Moines Iowa’s Wild Rose International Film Festival.

It was my second festival in two weeks, and while audience response continues to be really positive, this kind of additional recognition is icing on the cake, and a nice bit of validation for all the folks who’ve worked so hard to make this impossibly ambitious project come to life. This is especially true as the Wild Rose International had an impressively strong lineup of films to show, including a pleasingly high number from other Minnesota filmmakers (shout-out to the Twin Cities!).

VFX

Huge congratulations to everyone who pitched in with me on the VFX, most of whom were tragically left off of the certificate (for reasons solely of length). However, I can amend that here by giving a huge shout out to Brian Mulligan, Aaron Vasquez, Joel Osis, Christopher Benitah, B.J. West, Brian Olson, Patrick Burke, and Marc-André Ferguson for his organizational talents putting the original Smoke-based VFX crew together. I couldn’t have done this without this incredibly talented team of artists, and if I were you I’d hire all of them.

Production Design

I’m also excited that Kaylynn Raschke’s contribution as Production Designer has been recognized. An industry veteran stylist with over two decades of experience in commercial styling for print and broadcast, set dressing, and wardrobe, she went above and beyond with limited resources to design and assemble a fantastic pair of environments for the movie, each of which had a lot going on. Production design is all too often neglected in smaller productions, and I’m proud to say that’s not a problem we had.

Editing

Lastly, I’m very pleased to be recognized for the editing of this piece. While I’ve not had my shingle out professionally as an editor for clients since the late nineties, I’ve continued practicing the craft through cutting my own work, that of my wife Kaylynn (a filmmaker in her own right), and in doing the occasional bit of surgery on projects requiring finishing in addition to grading. It’s nice to see that I’ve still got it.

More festival screenings are coming up; go on over to whereyoulivethemovie.com for the latest listings and updates!

November 10, 2014 0 comment

Opinion Update

A Film is Never Finished

by alexis August 12, 2014

written by alexis

I completed my science fiction short, “The Place Where You Live,” about a month ago. I would have spent more time crowing about it, but I almost immediately launched into the final work I had to do for the pending Resolve 11 release. However, since then I’ve been doing all those other things you need to do once you finish a film; entering festivals, creating press materials, writing blurbs, building a web site, making postcards and business cards, budgeting for screeners and deliverables, choosing a shirt to wear to the premiere, etcetera, etcetera.

The truth is, you’re never done, but you do manage to finish some things along the way, and today I completed the brand new home page of the film, located at www.whereyoulivethemovie.com (which was as close as I could get to the title with an available domain).

There’s lots of information about the movie, including a fantastic trailer edited by Monica Daniel (she of Shitting Sparkles). I’ll cheat and let you watch it here if you promise to check out the web site later…

There’s also (drum roll please) news about THE FIRST TWO FILM FESTIVALS THAT HAVE SELECTED TPWYL! Upper caps because I’m thrilled to have good news to share so soon. The Fort Lauterdale International Film Festival in Florida has selected us for their 2014 festival in November. And the South Dakota Film Festival has selected us for their upcoming September 25th-28th screenings in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

I’m delighted to be included in both, and hopeful that I’ll have more news along these lines to come, as I’ve been told that each additional laurel wreath of film festival acceptance brings a fairy back to life (zombie fairies being an as yet untapped corner of two genres, no less).

The current plan is to run TPWYL through the gauntlet of whichever festivals will have us through 2014 and part of 2015. Until that time, I can’t post it freely on the web as many festivals have prohibitions against that. However, once festival play concludes, I’ll be posting the movie for one and all to watch and enjoy. Until then, keep an eye on this and the movie page, as well as my twitter feed, for news of any possible big-screen experiences coming to a film festival near you.

August 12, 2014 1 comment

Grading Update Writing

Color Correction Handbook, 2nd Edition

by alexis November 13, 2013

written by alexis

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@hurkman) probably know that, among other things, I’ve been working on the second edition of my now three-year-old Color Correction Handbook, updating it to account for new developments in our industry, and expanding it to include topics that were not previously covered. What you didn’t know was that I added too much to be contained within a single volume. After a bit of reorganizing and even more writing, I’m proud to announce that Peachpit Press is now releasing TWO books, in both print and electronic form—

The now 672-page Color Correction Handbook 2nd Edition continues to cover basic, intermediate, and advanced topics spanning the breadth of color correction technique, and adds about 200 pages of brand new content alongside many updates to existing topics; this includes a new chapter on grading workflow, a completely updated and expanded chapter on displays, calibration, and room setup, new sections on log-encoded grading, a new section examining the intersection of fine art portraiture and color grading, additional skin-grading techniques, and many, many new and updated techniques spread throughout nearly every chapter.
The former 69-page “Creative Techniques” chapter from the first edition has been split off from the handbook, and greatly expanded into its own self-contained 216-page Color Correction Look Book, focused entirely on creative grading techniques. Previously discussed techniques have been updated to cover the latest generation of software, and expanded to include even more creative options then before. Furthermore, entirely new techniques have been added including film stock emulations, flat looks, greenscreen grading for compositing, flaring, light leaks and color bleeds, vibrance and targeted saturation, monochrome looks, grain/noise and texture, and more.

Together, these two books provide over 800 pages of grading workflow, theory, technique, and application spanning the entire process of color correction for any program, and I’ve expanded the examples that are presented in DaVinci Resolve, Adobe SpeedGrade, FilmLight Baselight, Assimilate Scratch, Autodesk Smoke, and SGO Mistika.

Additionally, I was lucky enough to have two industry heavyweights review the contents; Charles Poynton, digital imaging authority and author of “Digital Video and HD: Algorithms and Interfaces” kept me honest by reviewing my more technically oriented chapters, while Dave Hussey, senior colorist at Company 3 and colorist of “Constantine,” “500 Days of Summer,” and music videos, television shows, and commercial spots too numerous to list reviewed both volumes, contributing some key insights and generously writing a new forward to the Handbook. To quote one of Dave’s closing paragraphs from the forward:

I’m a huge fan of Alexis’s book. This is a great tool for anyone who has ever wondered, “How did they get it to look like that?” Whether you’re an aspiring colorist or a seasoned pro, you’ll find it an amazing learning tool or a great book of reference. For the novice, it’s organized in a way to make even fairly advanced ideas easy to understand and to emulate. For an experienced professional like me, some of the techniques discussed here inspired me to try things in a different way than I might have. I can’t think of any major color correction issue that this book does not cover.

I’m incredibly proud of these books; they’re the best things I’ve written to date, and offer a definitive understanding of what it means to be a colorist for video and cinema. Whether you’re in film school exploring different disciplines in postproduction, already in postproduction and looking to add grading to your skill set, or you’re a producer or filmmaker who wants to understand the process of color grading in greater depth, the Color Correction Handbook and the Color Correction Look Book will expand your understanding of this highly interdisciplinary field, discussing how to analyze different images, how to methodically approach all manner of different situations, and showing you how to actually make each grade, with a heavy emphasis on the thought process that goes into each aspect of the work.

Additionally, each book is accompanied by an improved set of downloadable companion media, including many new clips, all in the ProRes 422 (HQ) format, so you can get better results as you use it to experiment with the techniques that are described.

It looks like the Handbook will be available late November/early December, and the Look Book will be available in late December (I just finished it). If you don’t yet own the color correction handbook, these two volumes are a huge step forward from the first edition, and should be worth the wait. If you’ve already read the previous edition, this update should provide enough new and updated material to make getting the new version worth your while. However, you also have the option to choose the book that has the most interesting new content for you.

For now, Color Correction Handbook 2nd Edition and Color Correction Look Book are available for pre-order through Amazon, either in print or for Kindle. The Handbook is also available for pre-order through Barnes & Noble in print. I’m assuming both books will eventually be available through the Apple book store as was the previous edition. Finally, I also understand the Color Correction Handbook will be translated into both Chinese and Japanese at some point in the near future, I’m not sure of any other translations that are planned at this time.

Color Correction Look Book

Added December 3rd

I just received my author copies, and I wanted to add that the print quality of the 2nd Edition is simply phenomenal; it’s the best looking book I’ve ever had published. To my eye, all of the subtle examples I was worried about being clear enough look fantastic, and illustrate their points beautifully. Also, Suzann Beck’s artwork in chapter 8’s comparison of fine art portraiture and video looks particularly lovely. Kudos to the production department at Peachpit Press and to the printer for doing such a great job. Everyone who buys this in print should be thrilled.

November 13, 2013 10 comments

Directing Filmmaking Update

“The Place Where You Live” Teaser

by alexis April 8, 2013

written by alexis

Nina Ashton, a professor of physics, is abducted by her counterpart from an alternate dimension—one in which her husband has died. As her doppleganger takes her place, Nina struggles to rebuild the machine and reopen the gateway between worlds in order to regain the life that should be hers.

I’m very pleased to present a preview of the first two minutes of “The Place Where You Live,” my new science fiction short that’s working its way through postproduction, shot by fantastical shot.

We’re aiming for a May release, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it’s turning out thanks to the fantastic cast and crew, as well as the incredible talents of designer and animator Brian Olson, compositors Brian Mulligan, Aaron Vasquez, Joel Osis, and Christopher Benitah, and 3D artist BJ West.

Kelly Pieklo has begun working on the sound design and mix, which can be heard along with John Rake’s wonderful score. I also need to thank Autodesk for their sponsorship of this project (the entire program is being edited and composited on Smoke 2013), as well as Splice in Minneapolis for their hands-on support.

If you want to learn more, I’ve blogged about the production, and I’ve also blogged about post.

And keep your eyes peeled for my next major announcement, once the whole 12 minute film is ready for viewing!

April 8, 2013 1 comment

Update

Winners of the Sieben the Cat Contest

by alexis December 26, 2012

written by alexis

Sieben the Cat

Here it is, the Final Contest Update

Here are the results of my #siebenthecat contest on Twitter: Sieben weighs 14.8 lbs. Consequently, @bellafaccie and @camera_stooge are the winners, guessing 14.9 and 14.5 lbs respectively! (please use the contact page to email me your addresses) Thanks so much to everyone for participating, it was fun.

As a consolation prize to all 43 entrants of #siebenthecat, I got Ripple Training to offer 30% off of my Resolve 9 title before Jan 5th (there’s a good use of the 12 days of Christmas for you).

I don’t want to spam everyone, so if you entered my little contest and still want to get my Resolve 9 Core Training video title, go ahead and use my contact page to send me your email address and twitter name; if (and only if) you’re on my entrant’s list of 43 twitter names, I’ll email you the code so you can get the discount.

Happy Holidays!

December 26, 2012 0 comment

Update

Return of the Holiday Contest…

by alexis December 20, 2012

written by alexis

My Cat, Sieben

The Holiday Season is upon us once again, so merry merry, everyone. It’s certainly been an eventful year for me, and judging from the folks I keep track of on Twitter, it seems to have been so for a lot of folks.

To commemorate this year’s activities, I thought it would be fun to run another contest, this time offering one of two free Ripple Training USB memory sticks with my brand new DaVinci Resolve 9 Core Training on it (as seen below) to two lucky winners. I’ve been hearing lots of compliments from those of you who’ve already picked this up (and I thank you), but if you haven’t yet had the chance, this is your opportunity to learn more about how to use DaVinci Resolve 9 via 11 hours of show and tell, from me, for free. As in beer.

All you have to do is to be one of two people to guess how much my cat Sieben weighs, in either Kilograms or Pounds (international entries welcome) and tell me via Twitter using the appropriate hashtag (#siebenthecat). The two closest guesses by midnight CST, December 24th (Christmas Eve) will win. The weight and two winners will be announced by me on December 25th. Here are the rules–

All guesses must be submitted via Twitter (@hurkman) and must bear the hashtag #siebenthecat
I mean it, all guesses must be submitted via Twitter, with the hashtag #siebenthecat
No emails.
All guesses must be submitted by midnight CST December 24th. Weighing is on Xmas day. No appeals.
I’ll ship it to you for free, but no guarantees on how long it’ll take if you’re not in the US.
If you don’t tweet using the hashtag, I’m not obligated to include your entry as I may not find it, so don’t forget #siebenthecat

Good luck, and best wishes on a peaceful, happy holiday of your choosing!

-Alexis

Xmas Day Update—Well that’s a big oops. I was just informed that we do not actually own a scale in the Hurkman/Raschke co-prosperity sphere. Alas, the great #siebenthecat weigh-in will have to be postponed until December 26th, when stores open for me to buy a scale. Announcements of the two winners will commence at that time. My sincerest apologies for being such an inadvertent scrooge, although this gives me the chance to find a scale with two decimal places of precision to accommodate the great specificity of the guesses. Happy Merry Whatever, my friends.

December 20, 2012 0 comment

Directing Filmmaking Update

Back in the Saddle Again

by alexis December 4, 2012

written by alexis

Those of you who’ve been following me on Twitter have undoubtedly been noting my now constant stream of preproduction tweets, so I figured it was time to stop being such a tease and share a bit of what’s going on. I’m producing and directing a short subject I’ve written called “The Place Where You Live.” I’m not going to spoil the plot, as you’ll have an opportunity to see it soon enough, but here’s a clue…

The headshot shows our lead, Dawn Krosnowski, who’s heading up a cast of three in this tightly scripted “Twilight Zone-esque” excursion into speculative fiction. Kaylynn Raschke, art director extrordinaire, has been overseeing construction of our two sets for this project.

Building in the Office Set

We’re saving money by shooting in a non-traditional space, in this case, a pair of stages usually reserved for band rehearsals. The tradeoff is that they’re odd spaces, but the advantage is that Kaylynn has had more time to work on the sets, and we haven’t needed such a huge crew.

From This…

To This

The last time I had a set built was 1991, since then it’s been all on-location shooting for me. However, it’s nice to be back in a mode where things are more tightly controlled. While not a feature, this is easily the most ambitious project I’ve worked on, with dual set compositing, lots of VFX, and a terrific crew headed up by cinematographer Bo Hakela.

So that’s what all the fuss is about. After six years of being in development with two other projects, it’s nice to be shooting something again. I’ll be posting updates once principal photography is finished, and more as we shift from production into post, and the post specialist in me gets to rue decisions that the director in me just had to make on the set.

December 4, 2012 0 comment