I’m a big fan of putting tools into the hands of people eager to tell a story. At Multo.com, I work with the philosophy that everyone should be able to produce their own film, demo reel, vodcasting site or online portfolio. EPKs (Electronic Press Kits) shouldn’t be a mystery or over-priced. Once a client is stepped through the production process, they are able to reproduce the work process and manage the online portion of their project with ease.

Film and video production, from documentary and narrative features, to music video and vodcasting shorts, is the main purpose at Multo.com, and I’m good at it. Inspired would be the best way to describe the Multo.com production output. I share my working knowledge, from production planning to shooting and post, putting methods into hands of people with often only a bag of tapes and a dream.

Once production is complete, now what? Multo.com’s clientele benefit from my pioneering career in both video production for the web and internet technologies. With my design, coding and marketing skills, I can create a online presence that includes beautifully streamed video, a blog, a pod/vodcast, event mass mailings and newsletters, all run by the client. How? Even the most novice of internet users can be trained and successfully utilize the web site’s back end content management system. Constant updates can be done on the fly, from any internet access point.

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Checklists are an organized filmmaker’s best friend. From pre-production to marketing, there are many different kinds of checklists used to make the production run smoothly. It is a good idea to create your own checklists, based on your own methods. I’ll share my checklist types and you can fill in the body with your own items of importance.

Pre-Production:

During pre-production, a Director, Producer or DP (director of photography) will be generating lists of what needs to be done, acquired and planned for before loading the cameras up. Producers often hire everyone and acquire the script, unless its a low budget production, and the producer is hired on to secure investors or do fundraising. A Producer will be looking for locations, contacting talent agencies or casting directors, contacting potential documentary subjects, from experts to man-on-the-street types, hiring a staff and a crew, and working on the legal documents required to secure content. Budgets, completely under the domain of the Producers, are the most complex and most revised part of the checklist process on a film.

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B-roll is secondary footage, used to help illustrate the story in a visual manner. B-roll consists of scenic footage, extreme close-ups of objects or faces, action pans and still images animated in post. We all, in production, love b-roll.

However, there is an issue with excessive b-roll, especially shot on location. If you have a production that needs to be turned around rather quickly, shooting a lot of b-roll can take up tape space, battery life, capture time and hard drive space. A filmmaker must balance the need for images with real time production scheduling. (more…)

I love what I do - writing, directing, editing, producing, design, shooting video and photography. All of it is related to how I approach filmmaking, and the methods and practices of my craft that I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve been doing this for years now, so I’ve learned, by observation or experience, what works and what doesn’t.

I’m really good at what I do, but I’m only as good as the people I’m working with. So I’m going to share my methods here, as a guideline to how I work. Perhaps I’ll help someone in their struggle to create, perhaps I’ll find out a better method to one of my Macguyver work-arounds.

Today, I’m going to specifically write about what a good editor expects of their director before starting the editing process. Lots of people out there know how to use the software, (Final Cut Pro, Avid, Pinnacle, Premiere, iMovie, etc), but they don’t know how to structure the process, the workflow or the storymaking aspects of editing. Before software, editing was a pain-staking process, that required a lot of forethought and consideration. Planning was crucial and on-going.

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Please check out the trailer for the documentary “The Mighty Humble Blueberry” below.

This is a little “herstory”, illustrating Elizabeth White’s massive contribution to our modern diet, by giving birth to the blueberry industry. With pure determination, ingenuity and incredible bravery, Elizabeth put her vision into action. She is New Jersey’s most famous unknown woman, and director Nancy O’Mallon is making sure that changes.

I’m editing Nancy’s documentary with her and its a fantastic tale of one woman’s vision and her struggle to make it reality. Editing the trailer yesterday was fast and inspired. The rest of the edit will go swiftly, as we really feel Elizabeth White speaking to us through her words, her work and her untold legacy. She was an amazing woman. We plan to have the full documentary done by October latest, and would like to find festivals and other support for this film.

Please check out Nancy’s site for the film:

http://www.aboutblueberries.com/

*** BLUEBERRY NOTE TO FILMMAKERS, EDITORS & PHOTOGRAPHERS ***
Did you know that recent studies show a diet including half a cup of blueberries a day increased blood flow to the eye, which aided in better vision? Just passing the good word on…

Peace,
Melissa

 

 The Might Humble Blueberry [3:08m]: Play Now | Download (507)

For its third year, DJ Mag is running its Top 20 poll for VJs.
Please go to http://www.djmag.com/djtech043, look for the top 20 link
and vote online for VJ Miixxy, as one of your favorite VJs of 2006!

To check out some of VJ Miixxy’s content:

http://www.miixxy.com

The voting is very simple - you don’t even have to put your email address in the survey, but you will need to vote for 5 VJs in total to make your vote count.

Of course, I’m hoping I’m your top choice. Here’s a list of other fantastic VJs to include:

Holly Daggers
VJ Moto
VJ Sputnik
VJ Anyone
Suez
Stefan G
Brad Swindell
Benton C Bainbridge
Berkoy
Feedbuck Galore
Peter Kirn
Joshua Goldberg
Missy Galore
Vanessa & Ray

Thanks in advance for your time and vote!

Peace,
Melissa

I was recently profiled on CineWomen NY’s montly publication by Kathleen Harty. Read the interveiw below and here:

You are a photographer, a filmmaker, a fine artist and a video performance artist. How did you become all of these things and how do you keep developing yourself?

I am completely self-taught, though at times I sought out specialized training courses. I came to all these disciplines through experience and a need to create. I started shooting photography as a child, starting working in film and video in my early twenties, and each format required that I learn more about computers. Through all of this, I’ve been an artist, using each medium to communicate.

How does your knowledge of fine art affect your work in film and video?

I understand the visual medium differently than someone who is strictly a photographer or filmmaker. I use all of my understanding and creativity to explore and experiment with the filmmaking medium. Always, each frame should be a piece of art, a fine work of visual storytelling, on its own. There should never be “throw-away” moments on the screen. Each moment, whether a transition, a title or a moving shot, should be part of the direct narrative or subtext of the story. Unfortunately, we have a medium now that is over-flowing with throwaways and dangling story images.

How does your film and video work differ from the arts you can pursue on your own?

Film requires collaboration. You can’t do it all, even if, theoretically, you could, given enough time and money. I shoot photography on my own, paint and draw on my own, even animate and VJ on my own, but when it comes to full-on production, many hands and many minds make light work. Input for an artist is a delicate thing, but for a filmmaker, its a necessity. From the development stage to post - ideas need to be exchanged, broadened, edited, explained, tested and re-worked. Production is a crucible that tests your ideas and abilities as a filmmaker EVERY TIME. It never gets easier - it just gets easier to do and live through.

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Check out the trailer I edited for the documentary Death Before Dishonor, (which I co-edited, with Gabe Zappata), being released this fall by RuffNation Films.
Peace,
Melissa

 

 Death Before Dishonor [2:21m]: Play Now | Download (343)

I will be doing the final edit on “The Mighty Humble Blueberry” - a documentary about the birth of cultivated blueberries and the people who made it happen.

Look for it soon at Sundance!

Peace,
Melissa