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ATPM 6.01
January 2000

Remember the first time you saw a picture or a graphic via the World Wide Web? It was just too cool to believe. That old modem would slowly churn out the image, activity light blinking ferociously. Today, pictures are everywhere, and graphics are dancing around, just begging to be clicked on. Video is also being used more and more as prices for equipment go down and people learn how to produce with the Internet being a main outlet.

The Internet provides a forum for anyone to voice his opinion. The New York Times has a Web site, and so does my neighbor. Each spouts out different opinions, but the great thing is that both can be heard. The same applies to video—Paramount and 20th Century Fox are giants in movie making. They deal in big name stars. But I know several people 2,000 miles away from Hollywood that have produced short films and have distributed them over the Internet. They’re great films, professionally made with good scripts. What they didn’t have was the big corporate support and Golden Globish/Emmy Award winning actors. If it weren’t for the opportunity the Internet provides, these filmmakers would have a much harder time getting their works out into the public.

The sites this week reflect just a few of the places you can go to check out some great video streams. They range from independent films to the big-budget blockbusters we all know about. Some sites even give technical advice for aspiring directors—several accept submissions! So, if you’ve just bought that new iMac DV and have just shot the next great sci-fi epic in your backyard with your dog, edit it together and send it in! Now’s your chance to make it big!

I hope you enjoy this month’s selections of interesting Web sites. Of course, if you know of any interesting Web sites, e-mail the addresses to me at dspencer@atpm.com.

The Web sites mentioned here are not endorsed by ATPM, they are simply suggestions for your own browsing endeavors.

Atom Films

Web Address: http://www.atomfilms.com

Audience: Professional Filmmakers

This Web site features a number of short films and animations that are very professionally done. (Sorry, home movies with the kids will likely be rejected.) Many of the pieces here are of a higher quality than what you might find in other places. You may not like every video, but in most cases, they’re technically very good. Atom Films will accept individual pieces and truly can give you the exposure to make you a star (if the film is really good).

Internet Film Community

Web Address: http://www.inetfilm.com

Audience: Aspiring Professional Filmmakers

What I like most about IFC is that it’s much easier to have a piece accepted here. Of course it won’t accept junk, but it doesn’t have the professional standards that Atom Films does. Here you can browse through a wide range of genres—from love stories to horror flicks. Some are really pretty bad, but others are very good. You know those films that were so bad that they were good? You’ll find them everywhere on this site!

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the vicious gun battle inside Santa’s Workshop...

TROOPS

Web Address: http://www.theforce.net/troops

Audience: Star Wars and/or COPS Fans

Put together Imperial Storm Troopers and the TV show COPS and what do you get? TROOPS. This is an Imperial television show shot like the show COPS, except that these are Storm Troopers settling disputes on Tatooine.

TROOPS raises the standard of what a great short film should be like. The script is awesome, the camera work is great, and the graphics are excellent. The costumes are incredible—these outfits weren’t purchased at the local costume shop, they were custom-made. Kevin Rubio and his creative team took a lot of time in making this film. It is definitely worth a download!

(This site is actually part of a Star Wars Web site, but the film here was not made by them.)

Studio NEXT

Web Address: http://www.studionext.com

Audience: Professional Filmmakers and Aspiring Filmmakers

There’s a mixture of professional and amateur work at Studio NEXT. There’s are short movies, animated films, and some games available here. Here and there you’ll recognize a Hollywood name. The aim of Studio NEXT is to present a very diverse range of video work. As with the other sites, many are good, but some are pitiful.

One particularly bad film I watched was entitled 5 Ways to Kill Yourself. It must have been shot with a beat up camcorder. The lighting was ugly at best, and the plot was something out of a 5th grade mind. I know this because I thought of this kind of stuff back in 5th grade. It was all in fun of course (if you can call it fun), and there were no gruesome scenes.

DEN: Digital Entertainment Network

Web Address: http://www.den.net

Audience: An Alternative to Television

The ultimate aim of DEN is to break through the restrictions that TV puts on the viewer. It wants to take the place of TV, eliminating having to watch shows when the network schedules them. DEN has several regular shows that are produced just like a television series. Frat Ratz is its most popular series, with a regular cast and production crew. You can watch any episode at any time. There are other shows, like a documentary series and cartoon shows following in the footsteps of The Simpsons.

The idea is great, but the content and resources just don’t seem to be there at this time. Basically the shows are boring and the downloaded video needs to be much bigger. Many times the video is about as small as those tiny sized Post-It notes. For a site that wants to replace TV, the screen needs to be bigger. However you should stay tuned to DEN—with some development and time to mature, it could become a great site.

IFILM

Web Address: http://www.film.com

Audience: Aspiring Filmmakers

The biggest plus about this site is that there are fewer dancing graphics (aside from the intro) than with other sites. Otherwise, it provides another great forum for filmmakers trying to make it big. There are a wide range of resources for the filmmaker here. You can get advice from other people and can access a wide range of technical information on just about anything about making movies.

Quickflicks

Web Address: http://www.quickflicks.com

Audience: Movie Searchers

 

Looking for an obscure short film or even a big name movie? At Quickflicks you can access a Yahooish interface to find whatever movie you’re looking for. It looks like Yahoo, but it’s strictly a movie search engine. If your favorite search engine doesn’t find what you’re looking for, try Quickflicks!

Copyright © 2000 David Spencer. David Spencer has been a Mac advocate since 1991, when he traded in his IBM PC Jr. for a Mac Classic. He can be reached at dspencer@atpm.com.

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