Last night the Academy Awards held their annual Oscar’s ceremony and if one thing sticks out in my mind more than anything else it’s that digital filmmaking has arrived. The Artist came away as the big winner taking Best Picture, Best Directing for Michel Hazanavicius, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin along with a few others. However, digital filmmaking made a significant impact and its presence was well known. Hugo walked away with Best Cinematography which was shot digitally on an Arri Alexa, the same camera setup that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was shot on, which also had several nominations including Best Picture. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was shot on RED ONE MX and EPIC also had its name called in several categories last night. It received a nod for Best Cinematography and won Best Editing – no small feat considering the camera technology and resolution are nearly brand new. (To be fair, the same team won last year for The Social Network which was shot on RED ONE). These filmmakers are all breaking ground and setting the stage for the next 100 years of filmmaking. Digital cinematography is at a place where it’s not only acceptable for major studio productions, but also yields results good enough for the most prestigious voting academy in the world.

Another factor about digital cinematography is the numbers of camera manufacturers. In the days of film Panavision and Arri dominated the market. There were other manufactures but they were never really able to gained much ground, especially in the 35mm realm. In today’s market there are several manufacturers vying for market and competing with one another. This means that the filmmaker has several options to choose what suits his or her needs best, and because of the increased competition expect the technological advancements to increase and prices to drop. RED is one of the leading camera manufacturers and one of the most technologically advance and has only been in business for a number of years and selling cameras for less than 4 years. Canon and Nikon have brought their still technology to motion and are carving out their own niche, which has proved to be extremely popular among independent filmmakers. GoPro and Contour are revolutionizing small cameras and POV cinematography, allowing anyone to get incredible shots doing what they do everyday, and was even used in a Superbowl commercial this year. Vision Research is paving the way for high speed photography achieving 2,000 frames per second and incredibly clear imagery.

The trickle down effect is not something to overlook either. As camera and digital technology advances the barriers to entry are becoming scarce. Some pretty good short films are being shot on cell phones, edited on readily available computers or even mobile phones themselves. It’s easier for someone to become a filmmaker and have his or her film shine and gain attention online. If the shoe fits, it’s only a matter of time before someone notices and empowers this filmmaker to create something magical. It’s a promising world and industry, go make a film! -Tim

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Kirby Ferguson is at it again with his Everything is a Remix series. He’s just released part 4 and completed the series in a fantastic fashion. In what I’d say is the most entertaining and informative of the series, part 4 focuses on law. More specifically copyright, trademark and intellectual property. It’s pretty fascinating to see both points of views – for and against protection – from some major players, such as Disney and Steve Jobs, at different points in their career.
What’s also interesting is the summary of why these laws were originally written and how they’ve been interpreted over a couple hundred years. Hope you enjoy.

San Diego Video Production & Editing Company - TAR PRODUCTIONS - Film and Video Editing Production Company

One of the most interesting facets about production right now is the feasibility and accessibility of quality production equipment. One of our recent videos was partially shot on an iPhone 4S – and matched up pretty well, too, with a range of 3-chip cameras and DSLRs. The availability is only going to increase production value, whether is be to add a second (or third or forth) camera angle, the intimacy provided without holding a large camera setup, or the sheer number of people who can call themselves digital filmmakers. GoPro has been pushing the boundaries since their inception, along with a slew of others, such as camera phone makers Nokia (N8) and Apple (iPhone), Contour HD and various lipstick cameras.

Cody Caldwell has taken his GoPro and combined his cinema and surfing talents together around his home break and has recently caught the attention of some big outlets (both Vimeo and GoPro themselves). If GoPro’s reel, and Vimeo’s prestigious HD channel is anything to go off of, this is no small feat.

The other empowering facet is leveraging the marketing potential. While Cody and several others are simply recording their everyday life magic moments are being captured and potentially used in new marketing techniques that are in their infancy or have yet to be discovered. Somewhere, sometime, the right person will see a shot and contact the artist/owner directly to assist in the marketing creation. If the infamous Car Ollie and subsequent copycat campaigns provides any insight, then my guess is that it’s going to happen sooner rather than later, and at an increasing frequency.

Here’s Cody Caldwell’s Afternoon Delight.

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Bryce Frees sent over this logo doodle randomly one day. Apparently he was on the phone, bored, and TAR PRODUCTIONS came to his mind. Bryce is a creative thinker & web designer.

San Diego Video Production & Editing Company - TAR PRODUCTIONS - Film and Video Editing Production Company

San Diego Video Production & Editing Company - TAR PRODUCTIONS - Film and Video Editing Production Company

The Internet is about to break. Our privacy is about to be controlled. The Internet is about to grounded like a 13-year-old punk with a bad attitude. As you may have heard, the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA) threaten the many glorious freedoms of the web and the communities that have risen from it.
Both acts face serious opposition from all kinds of free-thinking people (including the President of the United States), but the fight isn’t over.
We need you to take action right now to make sure these censorship-enabling bills don’t pass.

Sign the petition here. Watch an informative video below.

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We had a great time at X-Dance 2012. Three days of screening some amazing films, along with good times and standard film festival events. SANDED was very well received by the audience and received a nod from Best Original Score by Adam Lathrum, the award went to Seth Morrison: The Original Skier, another great film. Check out all the winners here. Below is a photo gallery from the trip.

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Hello, and welcome to our new site! While it’s not a complete redesign, we rebuilt it from the ground up, keeping the same basic layout and style, but updating the design. The site now runs much faster, is sleeker, and more intuitive. We’ve simplified the overall feel, with less clutter, putting an emphasis on the projects themselves. Speaking of which, we’ve added a completely new player. The new player works across all browsers and mobile, too. It will run HTML5 if your browser supports it, with a built in Flash player as a backup. We’ve optimized our compression specs to bring you great quality videos in true High Definition. There are several other little things we spend days on to make your overall experience better on our site, like the new Contact Us form and slideshow on the About Us page.

Happy 2012, we hope this is the best year yet for you! Welcome to the new TAR PRODUCTIONS.

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This is our first collaboration with iDonate. Using kinetic typography to explain iDonate’s message and services in a creative manner, we were able to retain full creative control throughout the process. After three rounds of script revisions we went into production only to find ourselves needing a few more script revisions throughout the production process. The advantage of this was that we could remain on track to meet our deadline while providing the flexibility iDonate needed to make sure their message was presented optimally. The simple and clean design puts a focus on the message while the smooth, yet explosive, motion keeps the viewer intrigued via the peripheral movement.

• Credits:
• Project Title: iDonate Launch
• Project Length: 1:56
• Debut Date: TBD
• More Info: iDonate




• Client: iDonate
• Executive Producer: Kevin Myers
• Executive Producer: Ray Gary
• Associate Producer: Blair Myers
• Creative Direction: Type G Design
• Art Director: Mike Nelson
• Production House: TAR PRODUCTIONS
• Director: Timothy Ryan
• Writer: Alexander Kimball
• Motion Graphics: Jared Gray
• 3D Artist: Jared Gray
• Musician: Mark Petrie
• Song: New Light

San Diego Video Production & Editing Company - TAR PRODUCTIONS - Film and Video Editing Production Company

SANDED will be part of X-Dance 2012 along with many other great films. We’re very proud to be part of such a wonderful action sports based film festival. Along with X-Dance SANDED has been part of the California Surf Film Festival, Wavescape South Africa and the North Shore Surf Film Festival.

San Diego Video Production & Editing Company - TAR PRODUCTIONS - Film and Video Editing Production Company