I am a fan of GenArts Sapphire, then again for good reason – I won the plugin set for Shake, here is a tutorial (Final Cut Pro) on how to make use of the zap plugin with which you can create lightning, static electricity discharge or those Star Wars hand lightning tricks that only the strongest Jedi can master …

As I detail on the Guest Posting Page: One of the purposes of SynapticLight is to connect with filmmakers across the board. It is the one thing that keeps me going; if I did not get any comments or improved much on my page views or Google ranking, then I would still say that SynapticLight was successful. It is tempting to forget such an intangible goal since it is not something that can be easily be measured. So I have decided that it is time to push forward with Guest Posting. Think of it as an open forum, a place to voice your thoughts, experiences, words of wisdom and technical know how; with the same connections and relationships that have been made here.

It is also a means to a start – I do not want this blog to end with me, it must be more than the posts and pages I put up, more than my own thoughts and limited experience.

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I love posting about competitions, especially for short film, so if you know of any send them to me. This one, for example is cool – it is something that does not need a mass of time, equipment and people. All that is needed is you (at the very least) and a creative imagination. If you win, I assume that the £5,000 to create an Electric Short film will be for your pitch.

The details from Talenthouse follow (now get cracking):

Submit your pitch to create a short film for Electric Cinema

• Win £5,000 to create an Electric Short film at a Soho House Property
• Host: Electric House/Mercedes-Benz

Pitch your film proposal themed on “Desire” in no more than 400 words, and win the opportunity to shoot it for real at a Soho House property.

This summer the Soho House Group will launch the Electric Shorts film competition, supported by Mercedes-Benz and in association with Empire Magazine. Electric Shorts will give both unknown and established filmmakers the opportunity to have their work championed by a group of film and media experts, plus the chance to win £5,000 to make a film which will be screened at the world famous Electric Cinema.

Before you Enter, Please read and understand the Rules and Terms located under the Detail Section

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1. Shoot video with a DSLR? You should be embarrassed. Line Skipping? No 100% what that means, but the DSLR certainly produce stunning pictures at a great price. RED can shout foal all they want because what they offer is really better but at a much higher price.
2. GoProHD in Spaaaaaaaaace!!! This is just plain cool. I put the video at the bottom of the post – you gotta that a look.
3. The State of Screenwriting Software Interesting – Scrivener looks very good at that price. Even against Final Draft.
4. Media Composer 5.0 I certainly am interested in trying out the demo, particularly to see those timeline changes.
5. Native QuickTime files with Media Composer Does this mean better interaction between Final Cut Pro and Media Composer?

Near Space Balloon Flight, shot with HD HERO cameras from GoPro from Kevin Macko on Vimeo.

Arm your vuvuzelas indeed, for WordPress 3.0 is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard).
I think that I might wait for the end of the 2010 Soccer FIFA World Cup before doing something about it.
But first – a good Strategy for a major platform upgrade:

First Offline Local:

• Mainly because I need to make sure that the Theme that I use does not have hicups.
• Secondly for all the plugins I have – to make sure that things run smoothly.

In both cases I need to see if there are any required updates

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Philips and Ridley Scott Tell it your way Competition

Philips Cinema have a very cool filmmaking competition.
All you have to do it watch the 5 shorts of the Parallel Lines Series then come up with your own 3 minute alternative using the same dialogue. So script is done, and the inspiration is there. And the best part of the Grand Prize: A week with Ridley Scott. Forget the Philip’s Cinema. The experience with such a great director far exceeds the rest of the prize. Awesome. Here are the prizes: Continue Reading…

With the FIFA Soccer World Cup (SWC) 2010 in full swing here is South Africa – here are some more WorldCup 2010 Music videos. The third video is that all interesting Simon Cowell song ‘Shout’ that he proposed to be the English Soccer anthem. It is certainly upbeat and fun but that is extreme to say the least. Maybe also a bit miss-timed and miss-placed with South Africa already using the song for Anti-Crime. If it gets used as the English Soccer Anthem then I am sure that Tears for Fears who originally sang the song will be swimming in the profits. Cool song by the way – all renditions.

YouTube Play has a nice creative video competition.
The question is: where is your submission?
Have you got a video that you think could be considered as seriously creative?
You have until the 31st of July; that a month and a half.
Only one submission per person.
The emphasis is on extreme creativity; so don’t think that something professional looking will get you in, that will help but it must be more than different.
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The Visual Impact Stolen Goods Portal aims to assist in stemming the tide of broadcast equipment thefts. We have created a world-wide resource for serial numbers of stolen equipment.

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Want to Learn Visual Effects Supervision & Stereoscopic 3D? Can get to Los Angeles between the 25 and 27 July? Here is a great opportunity that Lee Stranahan told me about. You even get to see a Red Camera 3D rig and the unreleased Panasonic 3D Camcorder. Nice. Here are the details quoted:

3D Boot Camp with Scott Squires, Steve Wright, Tammy Sutton-Walker, Matt Merkovich, Jason Goodman, and Lee Stranahan.

Learn Visual Effects Supervision & Stereoscopic 3D at VFX Boot Camp: June 25 – 27, Los Angeles Featuring the unreleased Panasonic 3D Camcorder AND a feature film quality Red Camera 3D Rig! Those who sign up early earn both resume-quality experience and $1,000 off the registration price. Visit our website at www.VFXBootCamp.com.
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