July 2019 Photos

Our July meeting gave us all an opportunity to see just some of the amazingly talented members that make up the Los Angeles Post Production Group. We were honored with a return visit from Vickie Sampson to share her most recent directorial work, the dark comedy thriller short film, “You Drive Me Crazy.” Vickie shared the green screen and plates she used in the VFX work for her film and gave us some insight into things she learned in the process. Then we had longtime LAPPG member Maurice Simmons share a clip from his most recent documentary, “DYMALLY: The First of His Kind” which chronicles the half century public service career of one of America’s most colorful and powerful elected officials, Mervyn M. Dymally.  Maurice strongly advised that you making sure your budget reflects the true cost of footage and images. He also reminded us to look more locally with the subject’s friends and neighbors for footage or images they may have buried in their garages. And finally, we had Jaswant Dev Shrethsa (aka Jaz) rounding out our member showcase with clips from two projects he is working on, Festival of Tihar and Journey’s with Jaz. Both are beautifully shot and investigate different cultures as well as the natural world. We were inspired by Jaz’s determination in creating these ambitious shows and getting them out into the world.

After our networking break we had a wonderful time with Foley Artist Tony Margulies as he took us through the whats and the hows of adding Foley to your soundtrack. It was fun and fascinating to see some of the unusual props Tony uses to make different sounds and it was especially entertaining hearing the different walking styles and patterns he is able to create. Tony made it an entertaining and interactive experience, even calling up an LAPPG member to try walking with him.

The night ended with another one of our awesome giveaways, thanks to our incredible partners who help make these meetings happen every month. A big thank you to our friends, partners and members for your ongoing support!

May 2019 Photos

 

It’s always a fun night when Blackmagic is in the house and for the 2nd year in a row we were lucky enough to have Blackmagic Design Night! The full evening dedicated to the inspiring gear and tools coming out of this amazing company. We began the night with a great demo from Product Specialist Shawn Carlson who took us on a tour of DaVinci Resolve 16 spending time on the revolutionary new Cut page specifically designed for editors that need to work quickly and on tight deadlines. Then after the networking break we had filmmaker Benjamin L. Brown shares an entertaining presentation discussing and comparing the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and the new URSA Mini Pro G2. It’s always a treat for us to have talented professionals who can advise us on which cameras will work best for various productions. The evening ended with a fantastic giveaway and the feeling that all is right with the world when Blackmagic Design keeps creating affordable, high quality products for filmmakers of all levels.

March 2019 Photos

March 2019’s LAPPG meeting was full of excitement as we had two three fantastic ladies sharing the spotlight for the evening. First up we had Andrea Chlebak, Senior Colorist from Deluxe speak about Color in Narratives. She shared her personal journey into the color space, how color enhances or creates atmosphere and how to add meaning by establishing a palette. She spoke on the process of coming to a final look for a film through color grading and discussed her use of experimentation, intuition and perception as a toolset to determine how cool, dark or saturated to make an image. She also spoke about and how she collaborates with directors and cinematographers to enhance the narrative through color. After the break we welcomed Moderator Monica Daniel who introduced us to “Captain Marvel” editor Debbie Berman and detailed Debbie’s 15 year journey to the US and how she worked her way to becoming one of Hollywood’s exciting new talents and in-demand editors.  Monica and Debbie discussed clips from various films including “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Black Panther”. The audience enjoyed Debbie’s story of how she wore a “Captain Marvel” t-shirt during her work on “Spider-Man: Homecoming” which may have helped send “the powers that be” a subliminal message to hire her for the new film! It was a great evening for women in film, filled with entertaining stories and valuable information and insights.