Why You Should Cut Ties With Companies Like TopSpin Media

Archives For Dan Baker

Why You Should Cut Ties With Companies Like TopSpin Media

Dan Baker — January 31, 2013 — 2 Comments

I’m a busy man, as all independent filmmakers are. I don’t have time to fiddle and fuss around with my website, which is why I rely on WordPress and DreamHost. They’re great. Set it and forget it! And if there’s ever a problem, there’s always somebody I can talk to.

When I had to settle on an e-commerce partner through which I could sell our films online, TopSpin came highly recommended. Many self-distributing artists I look up to use TopSpin, and their product, by far, seemed the most appropriate for what we wanted to do.

Turns out, that was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made (and I’ve made some bad ones).

In Filmmaking customer service, ecommerce, topspin

Does Pirating Music and Movies Make Me a Corporate Tool?

Dan Baker — December 10, 2012 — 4 Comments

We haven’t been shy in talking about our plans to self-distribute our next couple films. Successes like Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and recent Sundance winner Indie Game: The Movie have shown that technology + great idea = awesome. However, the naysayers are quick to bring up the bane of the modern artist: online piracy.

I have mixed feelings here. Part of me is terrified that taking on the enormous financial risk of making a film will lead to complete and utter ruin an account of piracy. The other part of me wants to give the internet the benefit of the doubt.

The online community has the power now to fuel all kinds of crazy awesome, or become the very thing it hates: a corporate tool. Allow me to explain…

In Technology corporate, Download, duck, Films, impaired, Music, piracy, technologically, tool

The Essence of a Filmmaker: Kubrick, Aronofsky, Tarantino, and Anderson

Dan Baker — October 2, 2012 — Leave a comment

I like Japanese food. I read once that one of its main tenants is to highlight a food’s natural texture and flavor in it’s most pure form. If a dish is to feature mushrooms, then it’s flavor must be unmistakably mushroom; all seasonings and garnishes must work to accentuate and compliment the mushroom.

I don’t know if anonymous Vimeo user kogonada is Japanese or not (British maybe?), but kogonada has done for film what Japan did for the mushroom. In the following four “supercut” video essays, kogonada boils down Stanley Kubrick, Darren Aronofsky, Quentin Tarantino, and Wes Anderson into their cinematic essence.

While the video essays are a work of art in their own right, they open up and explore the habits of these four directors in a way that leaves you pondering their choices.

In Filmmaking darren aronofsky, quentin tarantino, stanley, Wes Anderson

New Method for Simulating Cloth Sounds in Computer Animations

Dan Baker — September 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

The way of the future!

A couple of associate professors and a grad student at Cornell University have developed a clever way of simulating the sound of cloth moving within 3D software.

Foley artists normally record these necessary sounds separately in a sound booth and painstakingly line them up with an on-screen character’s movements. Having been knee-deep in this process on Avarice, I’d welcome a little computer help!

What do you think? Could this someday replace the need for foley artists? What about computer generated foot passes?