Our first meeting of 2003 heralded the theme:
Independent Filmmaker’s Night.

Not only did Tony Cucci welcome us all for the first time since our successful gathering in December at The Wedding Menu, but it was also the first time that he hosted the meeting as president. Congratulations Tony.

The Big Hit, an 8-minute film, produced and edited by Tony Cucci led off the evening’s events.
We welcomed new members, Bill Alburgo, Mark Goodlet, Ken Jackson and guests, Kazzie Martin and Ben Zolnow.

David Pastor, an independent filmmaker, began by showing us Judgement Call, a film, which he produced while a graduate film student at Columbia. The film, based on a play, was shot on location on the campus sports fields. Shooting took three days. Editing was completed with Final Cut Pro. Our very own Tony Cucci acted in one of the roles. Working with one camera and from a shot list, it did mean that some scenes had to be shot over using different angles. With a production of five, including actors, short films can be made. Thank you David for an excellent insight in how a film is scripted and edited.

Keith Purdy, owner of Animated Production Services New York City, spoke about video to film transfers. Most of his work involves the transferring of advertising clips that we see in the cinemas. The equipment needed to produce this high end product, ranges from $100,000.00 to $400,000.00. Keith also mentioned that he worked on many of the Superman films as one of their technical directors. Keith recommends that a 30 sec test be produced from a video clip so that clients can visualize the end product. His company’s web site is www.digital2film.com.

Joe Bevilacqua showed us highlighted clips from Sharkskin. Produced and directed by Joe, it is in the process of finding a distributor. Shot on an Arie 16mm, and funded by friends and family, Sharkskin is a full-length movie. The advent of digital video has led many to abandon filmmaking in the truest sense but many, because of lower costs, have adopted the desktop digital domain as a primary source of creative filmmaking.

Thanks Joe for an excellent insight into how a full length can be produced.