Contests, Permits, Lego Vault, et al [Coffee Break]

Contests

Cinema Prosprite – $35,000 in Prizes Awarded to Top Videos Profiling Entrepreneurs

Riding on the waves of micro-loans, this short doc contest is for films profiling an entrepreneur (they don’t explicitly say, but it seems they want entrepreneurs that live in a poor society, not the next .com start-up). Films only need to be 2-5 minutes for YouTube posting for a shot at the grand prize of $20k.

Digital Filmmaking Blog – Various Competitions

Collection of three competitions, including a UK contest, screenwriting contest, and 24 short contest.

Coffee Break

The High-Wire Act of Getting Photo Permits by Scott Kelby

Good primer on photo permits, which has a lot of similarities to video/film. Hand held is generally fine but things get more complicated when you start putting stuff on the ground. Scott’s post also covers what’s fair game to film from public property, which goes for both stills and moving images. Especially with documentary work, it’s good to keep up on the rules when some rent-a-cop tries to kick you off a sidewalk.

25 Beautiful Fantasy Photoshop Tutorials

Even if you don’t like the final image, Photoshop tutorials are good for picking up techniques. This selection covers a lot of different styles, so the odds of finding something useful is in your favor.

Film of the Month Club

Kind of like a book club, but with movies! Each week someone picks a film and then the other members post their reactions. Cool idea.

iPresentee Keynote Objects

Nice collection of free icons. They advertise it as being for iWork and iLife products, but it’s just a collection of PNG images, so you can use them anywhere.

[Lifehacker]

Cinemacuteo Film School on Vimeo

DoF Demystified from Videopia on Vimeo.

This is a Film School group on Vimeo that offers a lot of video tutorials covering filmmaking, lighting, special effects, etc.

Entertainment Weekly’s The New Classics: Tech

EW offers their take on the 25 gadgets and innovations that have had the biggest effect on pop culture since 1983. At the top is the DVD Player, Napster, and TiVo.

Game Boy is 20, below Avid and Body Motion Capture. Shouldn’t that be higher? Doesn’t every kid have a hand held video game? Last I checked they weren’t walking around in green spandex surrounded by 20 cameras, cutting their film non-linearly.

[Editblog]

Lego Secret Vault: Contains All Sets In History

I’d need two of these – one to build and one to store. I’d also need a crash mat because I’d have fainted.

Can You Guess the 20 Soundtracks?