"INVISIBLE ART, VISIBLE ARTISTS" Editors’ Seminar, Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood (Feb. 21, 2009, 10 AM)

If you guys are in the area, you should REALLY go. It's FREE and these guys are incredible editors! I went last year and it was fantastic.

Saturday, February 21 – 10:00 AM

"INVISIBLE ART, VISIBLE ARTISTS" Editors’ Seminar

Presented by the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E http://www.ace-filmeditors.org/)
150 min. You saw their names in the opening credits. Then you saw their names in Variety. Now discover how they went from dailies to Oscar-nominated films. An open discussion with all of this year's Oscar-nominated editors.

Achievement in Film Editing:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

*All nominees will appear in person subject to availability. Free Admission. Tickets available on day of seminar only at box office. No online ticketing. Doors open at 9:00 AM.

Jared Cook-Eat Your Heart Out

So I've got the best internship that TMA has ever given (yes, even better than shadowing Ron Howard). I'm working for Post Fifth Pictures and we just had a rad weekend at Luc Robatille's Celebrity Shootout. It was a hockey game full of celebrities. I got tackled by Cuba Gooding Jr. who told me that there are only two black things out on the ice and you can only slap one of them. I know that this won't improve anyones editing, but maybe it will give you a quick laugh.

LA Chapter Meeting Report

Hey Boys and Girls of the BYU Editors Group, Here's a summary of the weekend's festivities:

Matt Sweat was the only other attendant this time around. He is a BYU Grad from 2007, and was added to our Google Group by Bryce Randle. Some of you may know him, others, myself included, will become acquainted with him via this first interaction and subsequent post. Matt Sweat has been down here for a little over a year, and has been working regularly, mostly as a post-production PA, since he got down here. He is a very driven individual, and you should keep your eye on him.

We talked for a few minutes about the projects we're working on, and then I let him know that I am looking for work righ now. Matt shared some sage advice with me for working in the industry. I will only share the points that seemed very unique, since Jared just finished telling us about the proven core tips:

Get on unemployment so that you can quickly take the types of jobs you want, instead of having to take just any job*

Look seriously at temp agencies**

Do a lot of freelance, even freebies***

OK, some of this advice may cause you to have inner-conflict, I know it did for me. Here's a disclaimer specific to each of the three advices:

*A lot of people do this in the industry, but it could be emotionally draining, and damage your self-concept to be on unemployment of you do not feel honest about taking money from the government. Do what you need to (pray, fast, temple, etc.) in order to know whether or not this is a good option for you, regardless of the industry precedent.

** Temp agencies in LA get calls from studios of all shapes and sizes, for any number of temp jobs. It may be nerve-wracking to go from job to job, but that's how your life will be when you are working in live-action production or post, so it may be a good way to transition into how your 'real' jobs will be. At the very least, it will help you get cash while you are working on breaking in.

***Cream can't rise to the top if it's still in the cow: Get to work!

Yours Truly,
The Idiotic One

First Ever (In Recorded History) BYU Editors Group Meeting... in LA!

WHEN, WHERE, WHO, WHAT (see EXPLANATION for the WHY)
Bryce Randle has asked me to get the ball rolling (actually I think he said 'get the puck sliding') on a meeting down here in LA, so prepare to be amazed, awed, shocked, and dazzled beyond anything you've ever experienced before... Or just put the following date, time, location, host, and topic into your calendar:

10 AM Saturday, September 27th 2008

In-N-Out Burger
7009 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA (here's a map for your convenience)

This Month's Host:
Idiot Savant Productions

This Month's Topic:

"BYU Editors Group Rock Stars: Where Are They Now?"
A Group Reconnect/Light Resume and Demo Reel Triage event

EXPLANATION
Consider this meeting something like Jacob Hoene's CoNNECTiSSiMO group, only much smaller, and geared towards maintaining/growing the relationships we already have from BYU while we are in LA. This is an open invitation to BYU Editor's Group members, or their friends, family, and associates who would find this group beneficial. On a personal note, I am very excited to be done with school/internship and down here in this area, and especially excited to be sharing the 'just starting out' experience with y'all.

FAQ
"But In-N-Out doesn't open till 10:30!" you say. I know, I know, but we're not meeting up just to eat food, so let's get there a few minutes early to catch up, talk a little, and rejoice that we are still brethren (and sisters) in the Lord.

"But my job (internship/pro-bono projects/World of Warcraft group/wife) won't let me off the hook for that date/time/location/topic." That's ok, we'll be doing this every month, and you can pick the next date/time/location/topic if you volunteer to host the next one.

POST SCRIPT;
RSVP (that means give me an intelligible 'yes' or 'no', not 'respond if you plan on going') seth.estrada@gmail.com as soon as possible. Thank you.
-Le Idiot Savant

Darren Holmes Conference Call

Seth Estrada, aka the Idiot Savant, organized this conference call for us. Darren Holmes is an animation editor that has experience in live action, TV, and animation. He spoke with us on July 17, 2008. He was a great speaker. Thanks Darren! Thanks to Seth for organizing it for us.

David Broberg Conference Call

We spoke to our first alumni guest back in February of 2007. David has a great resume that includes Titanic, That Darn Cat, Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, and Father of the Bride II. He currently edits LDS themed films in his spare time while being a full time editor at Sony.

Ripping a DVD for a Project

Many times clients will come to me and say "Hey, I have this video. It just needs the sound changed and that's it. Well, I would like to change one or two things. I only have it on this DVD, but that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

No, it isn't a problem. But it is still something that I feel a little hesitant to do. I don't think anyone understands how compressed the project is when they give it to me. The real problem though is wondering if I am ripping, extracting, or un-compressing the best way possible. 

While there are my solutions to the problem, I would love to hear what other people have found to be effective. Here are a few different options I use. They are not in any particular order.

Option 1:

Programs needed: MacTheRipper & Toast (pretty much any version)

Approximate cost: MTR is free. Toast is roughly $80 I believe. 

Rip the DVD, either by title or chapter, in mac the ripper. It makes the file into another file, readable by Toast. Import the video into Toast and hit export. Choose the options you want. 

Option 2:

Programs needed: MPEG Streamclip
Approximate cost: Free. You may need to pay $20 to Apple to download an MPEG2 codec/reader though. 

Open MPEG Streamclip. Copy the video ts folder off of the DVD on to a hard drive. Open the recently copied file using mpeg streamclip. Convert to how you want it.

The nice thing about this program is that it repairs any timecode or other breaks in the media. It is also very easy to set up the file you are exporting to be what you want. I prefer using this method. 

Option 3:
Programs needed: Handbrake, Quicktime Pro. 
Approximate cost: $30 if you do not have FCP Studio. 
Convert your file on handbrake to be some sort of H264 item that will leave the piece at full resolution. Open the file in QT Pro and convert it to what you want it to be.

Maybe I am making this harder than it really is, but this is how I do it. I know there are not a lot of specifics here, but we can hit tutorials later. 

If I should change something, let me know.