DON BERRY LLC

We have all seen the flood of super hero films released into theaters over the past several years as well as a resurgence of super-hero TV shows. But I want to look at how the super hero premise has been used with very non-traditional and even unlikely subject matter, in two TV series, specifically. Firstly, I like to define the term super hero very broadly, not just someone with incredible strength or the ability to transform themselves physically, or even a being who harnesses science or technology to evolve themselves (whether intentionally or as is often the case, through some accident) but any individual who has a unique talent that can be used for good or ill and that involves great moral responsibility. Other traits include a nemesis, and often a mentor figure, as well as the necessity to hide his or her identity from the World at large. That said, I now want to point out how these traits can exist outside of the mainstream super hero world that we have come t...

I have just completed another video for International Education Services (IES) that focuses on the importance of understanding how to do busiess with other cultures , specifically China, South Africa, Brazil, and India. Mary Goetter, President and CEO of IES, has been quoted on many occasions as saying that “it is vital for U.S. companies doing business in other cultures to be able to not only understand the language BUT THE CULTURAL CUSTOMS, as well. American business people typically take the attitude that their way of communicating and of looking at the World is the only way. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. In fact, U.S. companies lose millions every year in lost opportunities because of their failure to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the cultures that they are trying to do business with.” In a few more days you will be able to check out the latest video at IES' two websites: FortuneCookiesLearn.com AND InternationalEducationServicesLLC.com

Elizabethan Drama (Shakespeare) Classical Drama (The Greeks) Panoramic: Many Places/Elastic Time Unified: One Place/Real-time Action: Onstage: Fights/Battles Action: Always Off-Stage (Described) Character: Monologue (break 4 th Wall) Confident Character: Dialogue w/Chorus Diction: Varies (Nobility vs. Commoner) "Common Man" Diction: High (Noble) Upper-Classes

Conventions : Film vs. Stage FILM STAGE Panoramic (Loose Time/Many Locations) Unified: One Place/Tight-Time/Real-time Visual (Camera expresses everything) Dialogue: Words=feelings, ideas, emotions Action: On-Screen Action (typically) off-stage Character: What they do Character: What we hear them tell us

It is well-known that since the earliest days of the motion picture industry most films have been based on novels or short stories. Still true more than ever in recent decades. However, despite this practice, it is also true that many books DO NOT adapt well into films. As someone who has worked in video production and studied film history and criticism for many years, I can say without question that there is no way to actually "film" a book. The motion picture medium and the written word are two entirely separate creative mechanisms and the best we can ever hope for is a rough translation. This is not to say that some books are not more adaptable than others though. Below, I have listed some of the most common traits that make a book (or short story) "filmable."  Let's take a look: Typically any novels or short stories that employ third person omniscient narration and that spend a lot of time "in the head" of the character (internal emphasis) DON...

This blog entry is intended for the film buffs, film historians, and cinematographers in my audience. I'd like to revisit Technicolor , or more specifically the Technicolor film process—while I'll start with a quick historical recap, I really want to talk about the visual legacy and inspiration that it has left us with and how even while rarely in actual use today, Technicolor is still very much alive, in spirit if not in fact. All of you will of course will be familiar at least to some extent with the Imbibition (or sometimes referred to as Dye Transfer ) Technicolor Process which was used on hundreds of films pretty much non-stop from the mid-1930s until the mid-70s. You'll probably also recall that the Technicolor process can be divided into three distinct "periods." The initial period, from the early 1930s until about 1953 or so, involved using a specially designed camera containing three separate film emulsions all layered and synchronized to...

I want to share with you some recent experiences I've had with Presentation Recording. This is not a new technology—its been around for quite a few years but has only started to come into its own in the past few years. I am constantly recommending it to my clients and I use it all of the time. With Presentation Recording software installed on your computer you can record, as a video ANYTHING that you do on your computer's desktop. Think of it as putting a video camera in front of your computer screen and recording whatever you do—only the quality is vastly better—and you can ADD audio narration—either in real-time or later on. Why use it? Two reasons for Presentation Recording: 1. Training: If you want to train someone in how to use a particular software application—MSExcel, let's say—while the traditional route would be to do one-on-one or group classroom training—OR if this wasn't possible then to create an instructional manual—Presentation Recording let's you SH...