# Off-topic Rants

fcpx Ever since Apple announced Final Cut Pro X (pronounced “Final Cut Pro Ten”) back in April 2011 I have been keeping a very close eye on it. Like many people, as soon as it was released in June 2011, I instantly bought and downloaded it, and started playing. You could see it had potential – but it was so different to it’s predecessor and lacked so many important basic functions. Although I’ve always had it installed on my laptop, and opened it up after each update Apple pushed out – it never looked compelling enough to actually use for a job.

This Guest Blog has been written by our good friend, Joel Sharpe. Enjoy! In this post I’m going to explain my process working with translation on a recent film I did for NGO As Green As It Gets in Guatemala. Like most documentarians, having very little budget to deal with means creating a workflow that requires as little time with a paid translator as possible. Here is how I dealt with it.

Woody Allen’s possible “loose retelling” of A Streetcar Named Desire starring a perfect cast consisting of award worthy performances by Sally Hawkins and

There is no better place to learn about building a sustainable film and television industry than Denmark. Those clever Danish folk have continued to build

For the past couple of years, Chris and I have had the same conversation when the end of the year rolls around. It starts with me pacing back and forth, stressing that we haven’t done anything and that we’ve wasted our year, and it ends with Chris shaking his head, somehow sending me an email mid conversation whilst bouncing happily on a gym ball before reassuring me that we were in fact, pretty bloody busy.

001 Since our Spinning Dreams (in Timor-Leste) Film in 2010 – Ashwin and I have worked together tirelessly together to create important Documentaries which inspire others. Four massive projects later in 4 countries around Asia, and over SG$100,000 raised for our causes, we created our first community message specifically directed to speak to the heart of local Singaporeans.

Michael Shanks recently helped out with the Visual Effects on this impressive music video for Horrorshow, directed by the very talented Kess Broekman-Dattner. It was also colour graded by our wonderful friend Roslyn Di Sisto. Enjoy! You can read about the making of here.

Way back in March this year, I once again had the privilege of filming for the Swiss non-profit organisation myclimate. The more I work with this energetic team, the more respect and admiration I have for their projects. This time, the destination was Itacoatiara, which resides by the famous Amazon River. I was being sent to film another carbon-offset project, this time a biomass energy plant. The plant, BK Energia, is situated in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil.

drives I’ll be honest – I’m a bit of a hoarder and collector. I absolutely love film books, DVDs and all kinds of film gear. Our office, and my home (especially the garage!) is jam packed with all kinds of wonderful film related books, DVDs, BluRay’s, Lights, Grip Gear, Tripod’s, Magic Arm’s, etc.

drblake ( Or… My time on The Doctor Blake Mysteries ) So with my final day of shooting on The Doctor Blake Mysteries last Friday I thought I would write a short blog about my time on the high rating ABC murder mystery. Over the course of the last 6-7 weeks I have been lucky enough to be attached to director Ian Barry (who subsequently is celebrating 50 years in the Film & TV industry this year). I honestly couldn’t have been more fortunate as Ian is not only one of the most incredible directors but also human beings that I have ever met. Even after 50 years the man is still as passionate and energetic about making great film & television as I imagine he was when he first started all those years ago.