Hey everyone, its Friday! To ease in to the weekend, we post our favorite movie scenes from YouTube. This week we look at our favorite crime story reveals. These scenes may be NSFW so please be careful if you are at work. Enjoy!

David Graver, Business Development – Chinatown

“SHE”S MY SISTER AND MY DAUGHTER!” (To be honest folks, if you haven’t seen this one yet, I don’t feel bad at all about spoiling it.)

Sean Jaques, Producer – Se7en

The ending to this film threw me for a loop. Though it’s still fun to say “What’s in the box!” every time the delivery man comes by.

Lauren Musacchia, Production Coordinator – The Life of David Gale

Kasey Morrison, Intern - Memento

Please see this if you haven’t, you will fall in love with Chris Nolan and be confused beyond belief.

Will Torbett, Editor - Clue

Though not technically an ending (of which the film has plenty), this is one of the more dramatic crime discoveries. Do check out more of Clue for some great sleuthing and some delicious curry – Tim Curry. Mmmm…

And because we love this movie so much…

Corydon Wagner, Director - Clue

One of the many possible endings…

Please post your favorite crime reveals in the comments section. Have a great weekend!

In my last two blog posts, I discussed how the internet has become a battleground for both distribution and marketing of television shows. A growing part of issue is the use of unique web content to market television shows to new viewers or to develop deeper relationships with current viewers. Here are some examples of television shows that do this right.

The Office, Blackmail

The Office always does a great job bringing to life the mundane absurdity of the corporate workplace and this webisode focuses on exactly that. The webisode grants writers the opportunity to focus on minor characters that are not often featured in their own plot lines, in this example Creed. The storyline is a lot of fun and is an overall great watch.

Battlestar Galactica, Face of the Enemy (NSFW)

In other cases, webisodes can be used to give background on charecter’s history and motivations. Battlestar Galactica created three series of webisodes meant to run off season. Each series focus on upcoming storylines by presenting a deeper understndng of the world in which the charecters reside. The series, Face of the Enemy, foreshadows an important character arc that takes place in the fourth season. This clip is NSFW so please be cautious.

Rescue Me, Juiced

Because of the WGA strike, more than eighteen months passed between the airing of season 4 and 5 of Rescue Me. In order to bridge some of that time, a series of ten webisodes were produced. The episodes give us some insight in to the past of the characters. This episode, Juiced, takes one of the most significant events in the series and puts it in the context of the mundane.
What are your favorite television webisodes?

As I mentioned in my last post, SAG and AFTRA are now focusing on getting independent producers to use union contracts on all projects. In fact since January 1st of this year, both unions are enforcing Global Rule One on all internet projects. Global Rule One states that any union performer can not enter in to a contract with “any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement.” Until now, unions have allowed internet projects to slip under the radar.

So for independent internet producers, there are three choices: 1) Work strictly with non-union actors, 2) Convince union talent to perform without a contract, effectively asking them to violate their union responsibilities or 3) Sign a union contract. Using non-union talent is an unsavory prospect. I’ve found some great non-union actors but it often takes too much time to find these diamonds in the rough. Convincing union talent to work without a union contract is shady and may hurt your reputation. While non-union producers are not obligated to ensure performers meet their union responsibilities, any successful producer will have to use union talent at some point and this could come back to haunt you.

Both AFTRA and SAG offer generous new media contracts. We chose to go with an AFTRA contract for a few reasons. 1) We think the terms are better. As long as the product is under $25,000 per minute, everything is negotiable between the actor and the producer on consumer pay products. 2) AFTRA has always been helpful with finding out information. Calling a SAG office is like getting frisked in order to pick up your dry cleaning. They make it impossible to get information in a timely fashion and you are constantly being yelled at for asking questions. 3) SAG may or may not go on strike and I can’t deal with a work stoppage.

Check below the fold for a side by side comparison. Any producer looking in to creating media on the internet should consider becoming a signatory of one of the two contracts.

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Until recently, New Media production has been the Wild Wild West; a lawless new frontier allowing for the possibility of innovation and abuse. The acting unions (SAG and AFTRA) had, for the most part, made few attempts to govern New Media and allowed their performers to strike their own deals with producers. The money involved in New Media was so small and participation in contracts for every YouTube video would be a waste of resources.

As New Media has evolved, SAG and AFTRA’s position has changed. To some extent, this is largely due to television and film producers using online content to promote their programs and create new revenue streams. To the unions, this type of revenue should also be under their jurisdiction. They’re right. Thus, it’s no surprise that both union’s New Media deals focus on the reuse of programs in New Media and “Derivative New Media,” New Media based on an existing television or film.

But the unions’ New Media contracts also include provisions for original online content including every project from a studio backed web series like Gemini Division to a low budget YouTube video. The reason for this? Clearly not financial. A $3,000 YouTube video is not going to be able to pay union rates. The real reason is to bring creators of New Media, the future writers, directors and producers of film and television, into the process of using and paying for union actors. The biggest fear for these unions is not receiving a bad contract from the AMPTP. It is that, in an industry with low barriers of entry and a free distribution network, unions will no longer be necessary.

Fifth Column recently signed a New Media deal with AFTRA and I think the deal is a fair one. If you are an independent producer, I suggest you look at the New Media contracts offered by SAG and AFTRA.

Hey everyone, its Friday! To ease in to the weekend (especially this holiday weekend), we post our favorite movie scenes from YouTube. This week we look at our favorite death scenes. These scenes may be NSFW so please be careful if you are at work. Enjoy!

Corydon Wagner, Director – The Hurt Locker

Guns, EOD suits, and explosives! Sweet!!! This guy gets messed up!

David Graver, Business Development – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

This was a tough one: American History X effects me the most, Chinatown’s death offers an answer, all the death scenes in Kill Bill make me giggle. I selected One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, however, because Chief genuinely feels he is doing what’s best. He feels morally obligated to make this killing. As a death scene, it truly confuses.

Sean Jaques, Producer – Pulp Fiction

Poor Marvin. We wish we knew you better but instead you ended up being entertaining in death. Thanks for the memories!

Kasey Morrison, Intern – Bonnie and Clyde

This ending is epic.  You want Bonnie and Clyde to get away but you know that they won’t make it.  Bonnie’s and Clyde’s slow motion and almost artful deaths are both painful and beautiful to the viewer.  It is an ending that you never forget (and one that made history!).

Will couldn’t choose any one death scene so…

Will Torbett, Editor – Montage of Death Scenes

I have a lot of deaths.

The branding of cars has always been a steady balance between selling the features and selling a life. After all lifestyle branding has been a part of selling automobiles since the very beginning. Cars, as a part of American life are very important and make a statement about how we live our lives and in doing so, picking a car is like picking a life. Here are a few commercials that pull that off well.

Acura, “Drive”

So the intention with this commercial is to get the viewer to think: “Cool.” And it is very effective. Associate the car with a night on the town, beautiful people and luxury and people who want that or want that feeling will take notice.

Chevy Malibu, “Baby”

Going in a completely different direction, the message of this commercial is: safety, security, home. The ad convinces you that this is a car that people want to love and build there life around.

Honda, “Kick Out the Ladder”

This is something totally different. Instead of selling the car, these documentaries sell Honda as an innovative, interesting  company. The difficulty is getting viewers to watch these videos but Honda does a great job of making the docs about another topic and mentioning Honda more as an example than the focus. The tangential effect is a spread of good vibes towards Honda and their products.

Tell us about some car commercials that make you want a different life.

Fifth Column has produced films around the tri-state area as well as throughout the Midwest and West coast. We’ve had a vast amount of experience working with film offices from different towns and states, with experiences varying from pleasant to down right awful. The best situations are small towns that have never had a film crew before and let you have the run of the place. But barring that, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting in New York is one of the easier film offices to work with.

Permits with the MOFTB are free for shooting almost anywhere, which is a far cry from shooting in Los Angeles where you have to drop $200 to $300 to film regardless of how long of your filming time. Once you understand how the system works you can get a permit in less then two hours. The office is helpful when it comes to finding film resources from equipment to locations and they can arrange NYPD presence when necessary.

Here are a few helpful hints for anyone heading to the MOFTB before hand:

* Check out the permit forms that you are required to fill out a head of time and make sure you have all the information you need. You can find them here.

* If you are filming anywhere in New York (or anywhere at all really) you will need production/general liability insurance. If you are still in college, your school should have film insurance and you should investigate that. If you are out of school, I highly suggest that you purchase production/general liability insurance. You can find some for less then $2,000 per year that meet the MOFTB requirements.

* If you are filming in a park, you need to get permission from the Parks Department. That process begins by filling out this form.

* When scouting a location, always right down the parking restrictions from the streets you intend to park on or shoot on.

* If you see any police officers in your area, introduce yourself, explain what you are doing and show them your permit. This should help to avoid confusion later on.

Permits can be received the day of a shoot if need be and three days in advance if you need parking but I would suggest that you begin planning at least a week in advance. This way the MOFTB can best help you reach your goals.

An interesting article in the London Financial Times last Friday discussed the growing trend of advertisers using user generated content to promote their product (Thanks @digprof). As a self described heretical and subversive organization, Fifth Column naturally embraces the increased use of fan produced content as a part of advertising strategy. While this won’t be the death nell of advertising or the modern advertising agency, there are a lot of positive results of this growing trend.

1) New Voices – UGC promotes content developers that don’t have other avenues to distribute their content to a mass audience. Allowing for the development of creatives in this manner promotes creative merit as well as allows new ideas and viewpoints to enter the creative advertising space.

2) Better Content – UGC forces traditional advertising agencies in to greater competition, not only with other agencies but potentially any content creator. This will result in better creative advertising.

3) Smaller Agencies – In order to compete with UGC, agencies are going to have to become smaller and leaner organizations, focusing on adapting quickly as the industry rapidly evolves.

Agencies have been rolling with the punches of new media for quite some time and I’m sure they will find a way to make UGC work for them (as many of them already have). But there certainly are some interesting effects to UGC proliferation. How do you think UGC will effect the advertising industry?

In 1936, Emilio Mola command of the Army of the North in the Spanish Civil War, led the effort to take Madrid from the Republican forces. In a radio address, he broadcast a message that the four columns of his forces outside the city would be supported by a “fifth column” of his supporters inside the city, intent on undermining the Republican government from within.

Since then this term has been used to mean “a separatist group working from within for change.” When Cordy and I began Fifth Column, we had the same aspiration of any recent college graduate: we wanted to change the world. Specifically the advertising world. We wanted to run our company differently from the companies that we had seen and worked at. Hopefully, our example would change the industry around us. That is why we use the name Fifth Column. After three years, while things have changed, I think we still endeavor to do the same things. Create a better business that is more effective for our clients and more beneficial for our employees.

Emilio’s “fifth column” was a great retorical flourish but for the most part had little effect on the outcome of the siege. Madrid held out until 1939 despite very heavy fighting. But we are hoping for a different outcome and, perhaps, we’ll change the world in the process.

To ease in to the weekend, every Friday we post our favorite movie scenes from YouTube. This week we look at our favorite action scenes. These scenes may be NSFW so please be careful if you are at work, Enjoy!

Corydon Wagner, Director – Casino Royale

“Nothing better to capture the spirit of our times than the raw, unrestrained, brute anger of the new Bond. Craig’s sense of movement and intention is nothing like previous Bonds.”

David Graver, Business Development – Snatch

“I’m not sure I’d ever argue that Guy Ritchie is a good filmmaker. He made a great film in “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,” then perfected his formula with “Snatch” – before making films that ceased to be worthwhile. (A one trick pony?) Snatch, however, from this very opening scene, had me eaten by the underground rhythms of unrealistic London – enjoyably so.”

Sean Jaques, Producer – Equilibrium

“Equilibrium’s plot is a Science Fiction cliché, its been done before and its been done better. But the action scenes in this movie are Matrix level cool mix of martial arts and gun play.”

Will Torbett, Editor – Metal Gear Solid 4

“To highlight the action we’ve got an impressive variety of angles with some very curious, deliberate camera movements. Watch as the camera realistically struggles to keep up with Raiden as he leaps into and out of frame, shaking and zooming as if held by some inexplicable camera operator. Rarely do we use slow motion, and the movements around the stage – the dolly in to meet Raiden after his last take down, the rotation around him as he dices kneecaps – strike a fine line between impossible artifice and commonplace film conventions.”

Kasey Morrison, Intern – Raiders of the Lost Ark

“Within the first ten minutes of the film you are already completely charmed by Harrison Ford. His anti-hero attitude makes him all the more lovable. As the floor begins to shake and the boulder comes rolling at him we hear John Williams at his best and your heart instantly races. It just gets better every time you watch it.”

What is your favorite action scene?