http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/index.php the startup en http://backend.userland.com/rss092 Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:43:29 +0000 webmaster@optimistcreations.com webmaster@optimistcreations.com http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/13/locarno-calling Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:43:28 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/13/locarno-calling#cmt improve things. once things are on a great big screen with a great big sound system in front of an audience, that really isn't possible any longer. so here goes. what's curious is: i have no idea where i am now with this: i've seen the film so many times, it's impossible for me to tell whether it is in fact any good or not. of course, i like it. but then i would. and it's the film i wanted to make. so i'm happy about it. and i'm extremely happy about having made the film in the first place. everything else now, it seems, will more or less come as a bonus. but will anybody get it? that really remains to be seen. so the next couple of weeks will be taken up with getting the DVD ready - i've still got to cut the trailer, and i've decided to include optional subtitles in english, german and italian. because i've noticed that non-native english speakers, of which there'll be many who will get this DVD either as festival programmers or as framefunders and friends, struggle with the dialogue: the combination of scottish accents, contemporary speech delivery and some tricky sound environments make following what's happening something of a challenge if you're just not that familiar with the language. i particularly enjoy reading the italian dialogue (which my friend and erstwhile italian teacher alessia so generously has translated for me ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/12/and-onto-the-big-screen Sun, 28 Jan 2007 04:19:23 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/12/and-onto-the-big-screen#cmt undisturbedly concentrate just on the film i'm making, with the distractions kept at bay. meanwhile though: a first bit of good news came through last thursday, and that's also helped me focus my mind back on this project, and propel it forward to completion: we had submitted our final cut master - the version just before picture grading and sound post-mix - to the TCM classic shorts competition which is run in conjunction with the london film festival, and as the shortlist was announced i was thrilled to realise that bunkers & mounds has been "highly commended" by a jury which after all includes people like terry gilliam, stephen poliakoff and pierce brosnan!... now, obviously, being shortlisted for the award would have been even better, but i confess to being more relieved than disappointed that that didn't happen just on this particular occasion. not because i don't want to win any awards with this film (i do), but simply because it would have put us into something of a tight spot: the shortlisted films are being screened at the festival this coming thursday (it's tuesday as i write this) and though we would have got the film done in time somehow, this gives us a bit ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/11/nearly-there--and-a-first-result Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:54:41 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/11/nearly-there--and-a-first-result#cmt exactly what i had in mind." not all the way through yet, but then we're not done yet. and we'd set ourselves some challenges, if you forgive the slightly motivational-speak term here, which were really quite taxing. and somehow it worked out. i can't yet take a step back and say: "of course, this is how we did it ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/10/its-a-wrap Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:14:30 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/10/its-a-wrap#cmt http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/9/its-all-nonsense-anyway-so-i-shouldnt-worry-about-it Mon, 10 Apr 2006 18:26:05 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/9/its-all-nonsense-anyway-so-i-shouldnt-worry-about-it#cmt http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/8/and-action Sun, 02 Apr 2006 23:25:30 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/8/and-action#cmt http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/5/taking-shape Sun, 12 Mar 2006 13:13:11 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/5/taking-shape#cmt twenty-six takes on life without allen for the "last" time. (certainly for the time-being...). if you happen to be in london and would like to come along, let us know (just use the contact form on the website, or better still: go to http://www.fundaframe.org/ and fund a frame or a few and we'll make sure you'll get your invite). incidentally: we're still fine-tuning and making improvements to the fundaframe scheme: we'll be introducing a "linkbaq" feature soon, which will allow frame funders to have their credit on the website linked back to any url they like. it's called linkbaq because like the nasdaq, or newsnight's gordaq, our linkbaq index will be tied to external ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/4/counting-down-to-project-launch Sun, 26 Feb 2006 03:12:50 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/4/counting-down-to-project-launch#cmt the point of no return. miles and i are making our second short film. within the next few minutes everybody we know will have been told so, and not only that, we'll have invited everybody to come along to our launch party in march, and what's more: we'll have asked everybody to help us make the film by joining our fund a frame scheme. it's a good scheme, and i'm a bit proud of it, because as far as we know it's the first and only one of it's kind: you go to our website and in about three easy steps you can become the funder of a single frame in our new film. or of several. or if you feel particularly generous or excited about it, you can donate a full dozen, or even sponsor a whole second. i have no idea yet whether or not this is going to be a success, but the reason i hope it will be is pretty obvious: although it would be nothing short of a miracle if we actually managed to get every single frame of this film funded, every single frame that is funded gets us a little closer towards completion. and it's a truism in short-film-making that you don't work with a full budget. but even a fraction - we think about a quarter or a third - of our budget will allow us to make "bunkers & mounds". so every frame that gets funded by our friends and supporters is in fact worth about three or four to us. which is why if you haven't already done so, this is a brilliant time to fund a frame!... (there's a link in the bottom right hand corner that you can follow). so we're now technically in pre-pre-production. i don't think the term exists. which means we're probably in pre-production even though we're only "officially" launching the project itself on the 3rd march. so what's the film about? you know, this is my biggest problem right at the moment: the fact that it takes me longer to explain ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/3/phase-one--ready-to-go Fri, 03 Feb 2006 06:38:13 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/3/phase-one--ready-to-go#cmt twenty-six takes on life without allen, and as you will see when it's finished, our latest project has a definite water immersion theme to it... the last time i wrote a blog, it was called a webdiary, it ran under the title "dear dan" and it was in all honesty a fairly irrelevant ramble about nothing in particular, at a time when blogs hadn't even been properly invented yet. and unlike this one, there was no real point to it. the point of this one now is to keep you up to speed with our second short film, the study of bunkers & mounds in a temperate climate (relatively speaking). it's a ludicruous title, i know, but i like it. and i love the story behind it. i would, you might say, since it's my project, but that's not what i mean. it's not really for me to say whether this is a 'good' story (of course i think it is...), and the film hasn't been made yet, so i can't possibly say yet whether it's a good film or not (with a bit of luck and if everything goes according to plan it will be, but you'll be able to form your own opinion on that). what i do mean is the way the story has come about: it just had to. the sheer number of coincidences and fortunate circumstances that led to "bunkers & mounds" make it one of these projects that you can't turn your back on. and that's why we're now making this film. i'll be telling you the story of how "bunkers & mounds" came about here at some point, but for the moment let me just welcome you to my blog and thank you for taking an interest at all. we're hoping that this will be the first fully frame-by-frame funded film ever, and if you're helping us achieve that then the least you can expect ..]]> http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/2/welcome-to-the-optimist-blog Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:44:44 +0000 General http://sebastianmichael.net/bMachine/post/index/2/welcome-to-the-optimist-blog#cmt