DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAND!

Norm_Li

Norm_Li

Well-known member
Hey!

This is a very short clip shot using my DVX from 2 weeks ago when I accidentally bumped into a full Hollywood crew with James Cameron downtown shooting some scenes here in little old St. John's, Newfoundland (Canada)! They were shooting some scenes for his next 3D IMAX documentary film on ship vessels and stuff! Anyway, I got some tourist to hold the camera for me to shoot me while I asked Cameron if I could shake his hand!  ;D

http://www.q-productions.net/temp/ShakeHands.WMV

I have no idea what the settings were because I just turned it on and asked the guy to shoot because I had no time to set up since he was about to board the ship!

The crazy 3D lens they had on their high-def camera loaded on a steadicam rig was super cool too!
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Very cool! I am so envious, to be able to watch these guys in action, even if only for a while and from a distance.

Best regards,
ScreechingHalt Productions
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

ha ha that is so cool. Do you guys get alot of film crews over there?
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

I heard he was a real dick in real life, nice to see him being nice to you
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Yeah, he seemed like a very genuinely nice guy.

If I didn't know what he looked like, I would have thought he was just a father of any local resident! :D

Nah, movies aren't shot here that often. That's why it was a treat to see JAMES CAMERON here in NF. The cool thing is, no one hardly knew he was here. Even the people standing around watching the crew shoot the scenes, they didn't know that James Cameron was here until I told him. It was definitely kept low key.

On a side note, I am attending the Vancouver Film School this coming October for the film production program. Any comments on this school? Does anyone know anyone from this school?

Thanks!

Norm Li
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

I am good friends with a VFS teacher and know many students that have gone to VFS, I have had some bad experiences with the events co-ordinator (another story), but if school is your thing, It is a good school to learn the technical aspects of making a film.

If you know who Kevin Smith is (clerks, mallrats, etc. http://us.imdb.com/Name?Smith) He is the one of the only ones that ever went anywhere that went to VFS, and VFS likes to brag about it, but the irony is that Kevin Dropped out of VFS because it sucked, took his tuition refund and made Clerks.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Yeah, I went to the campus to visit and they were constantly talking about Smith. I also thought that the only guy who "went" to VFS that got anywhere is Kevin Smith. Yeah, I read stuff about him dropping out and I saw his 4-5 hour university tour show and he mentioned that too.

I sort of feel that my money is being wasted now! $25,000 is a lot of money for one year's tuition. What are the best film schools in Canada? Simon Frasier? Ryerson? UofT? York? I know that ULCA and NYU are supposed to have great film programs but that's out of my league right now. I just finished my 4 year business program here at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and I don't want to spend another 4 years studying the history of film. I just need to learn more film lingo, industry, networks, and how to use film cameras, etc. (basically the technical side of things).

My main concern is that I want to get somewhere in life with film (in which we all do I know) but I really don't want to spend all that money to become a "No One". I guess it's not so much the school you go to, it's the person you are, your ideas, and how good you are. We all want to be directors but only 1/100000000000 actually get somewhere with it. I really hope I get somewhere.

Any advice?
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Hi Norm,

Congrats on meeting Cameron, btw! :)

Still relegated to the "no one" category (for the time being) I can only offer this rather generic advice. The people who consistently make the greatest impact in any given field are the ones who aggressively pursue that field; they create original works, they participate in open forums (such as this one), and they stay active and involved with their peers. In my experience, where someone went to school has, in practical terms, made little or no difference in their ultimate success.

From my perspective, I can tell you that whatever successes I've had in my 34 (dang near 35) years on Earth has been a direct result of fervent pursuit of knowledge in my chosen vocation(s). Mark Twain said it best: "never let school interfere with your education."

So grab your camera and go shoot some stuff. Tell stories with new twists and new approaches. Enter festivals. Learn and then contribute articles for your peers here on this website.

You'll make it, don't worry!

-John
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Personally, I would suggest you volunteering for a local film company, if there are any out there. Crews love free help and they will feed you, and you will learn just as much IMHO, and save your self enough money to start your first project. You will also get way better contacts than school.

But, that is just my personal opinion, if you really are a school guy I would say save your pennies and goto NY, as it gives you the most credibility.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

FILM SCHOOL IS THE BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY!

There is no reason to go to film school. Take Zoomforce's advice. With the money you don't spend on school and moving, you can buy more equipment you need and learn by reading, watching, and viewing boards like this. If you goto school, you are learning how your teacher makes movies, and obviously they don't do it well or they wouldn't be a teacher.

Drive to NY and volunteer. You will have no problems getting free work on low budget sets.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I was thinking the exact same thing as well with regards to film school and it's professors. They all obviously wanted to be big-time directors but they somehow ended up teaching at film school.

Actually, what's kind of interesting is that the Senior Technical Director of CTV in Toronto (Shawn) emailed me about 3 months ago to request me to shoot a wedding video for his sister in December here in St. John's, NF. The bride is from St. John's but currently lives in Vancouver and the groom (John) is from Vancouver and is also in the film industry there. Both Shawn and John found my company website and were impressed with my online portfolio so they wanted me to shoot the wedding as opposed to the other local production companies in Newfoundland. I had to turn them down since I am moving away to Vancouver October 1st and I won't be here to film it. Fortunately, we still keep in touch (especially with the groom in Vancouver) and he is looking forward to meeting me. What's even more COOL, is that he works at RAINMAKER DIGITAL PICTURES (http://www.rainmaker.com). He said he will try to get me a job with them after I graduate! I asked him a few months ago if I could volunteer there for free but he said the company doesn't allow for volunteers there. Unfortunate.

The only thing is, if I end up working there, I won't end up doing what I ultimately want to do, directing feature films. I'll end up just being a "techie" that is bossed around and told what to do all the time working from 9-5. I'm sure it would be a cool job but I'm not sure how I would excel and prove myself. I obviously have alot to learn before I can make it "big" but I REALLY hope that one day, I will meet the right person at the right time, and strike lucky.

I definitely know I have to go where the business and money is. Vancouver if growing in the film industry but it will never compare to NY or LA. Millions of people around the world want to be big directors, so little make it, and it is often so discouraging! Anyway, I won't blab on about but I'm just voicing my personal thoughts that I think most of us have also pondered about at least once in our lives, especially if we are all interested in video/film production.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Yeah dude, dont waste your money on that. You will find that self-teaching, hard work, and volunteering will get you much farther. I went to Art school for 3D animation & special FX and wasted close to $80,000 of my own money. The very first semester I taught myself more than I ever learned the whole time I was there. I even taught myself another 3D package because 3Dmax sucked for animating and Softimage was for grad students only. The really bad thing about that was that everyone and there bald-headed granny came looking for me for help with this or that. I even started to correct/help the professors on certain things. I think if you are going to go to school, take classes in light, color, and design. Thats the one class that really opened my eyes to many things even though it didnt set in until 2 years after I got out. It was weird, all of a sudden I was like " oh $hit!! I get it now!!" and its helped me with many designs.
OPp..LOB
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Norm Li,

Ok. Just stop. Stop right now. Don't you dare go to VFS. You are talking to a former student, Class 70. Everyone who has posted here and told you to not waste your money and time is absolutley right. Your better off taking that money and putting it into equipment and learn from experience.

VFS is a joke and a scam. Here is this school that has a system setup to make the most money! They rotate new classes in every two months, overlapping all their programs in film, it's absurd.

Everything you learn in editing class, you can learn from watching movies.

Everything you learn in Sound class you can learn from a book.

Everything you learn in the cinematography class, you could also learn from a book and EXPERIENCE.

Everything they teach you in producing class can only be applied to Canada (I'm from the states, this is the class I skipped most.)

And the class that wins the big POOPOO award is Directing. Jonathan Tammuz is an idiot, he has no desires to teach you anything helpful, just pass on his pre-set ideals, and if you disagree with him, he tells you your wrong.
He singled me out several times to ridicule me, just because I saw things differently than he did (which people tend to do)

I will say this. I met great people there. I met a great DP, we have yet to work together since VFS cause he's still in Vancouver and I'm in NY, be he will always be my top pick for DP if I can get him on a plane.

The most rewarding aspect of the program is the 2weeks you get to do your personal project, and use all their equipment. That's the time that you bust your ass, don't sleep for 3 days straight, etc. So you can produce something to take with you, other than the 10min documentary and 2 10min dramas.

I was camera operator on the documentary "Chocolate" which won the award that year. I was DP and snd designer on a short called "Depths" and gaffer/grip, locations manager on "Oatmeal."

I also did my own stunts for my personal project, and ended up getting 15 stitches in my face, which pleased me, but didn't please them.

Just take the $20,000canadian or $27,000US and buy yourself more equipment, put it into a production.....

......anything but feeding the VFS Beast more food.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Cool, but the real question is what was he saying to you in the video, hahaha...It looked like he was saying "shoo fly, don't bother me". Was he being nice? Just curious.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Cameron has the same birthday as me.
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Take your money, buy a bunch of DVD's (Critian collection), Invest in some reading material, maybe a few books about cinematography, lighting, film stocks, pre-production, then take the rest of your money and make a film. It is by far the best way to go.

I am in film school right now. It's been great. I know more than I thought I would ever learn about film, however, i think I would know just as much if I would have taken my $30000 and rented a Camera package and made my own film.

jsullie
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

I didn't think this thread would have come up again =)

I've heard lots of bad stuff about this place and a few good things but it seems that bad stuff outweights the good!

It's too bad that I already started at Vancouver Film School! It has been one week now and it has been okay. I already know most of the stuff they are doing and I know I can definitely find all this information in books. When you did the course it was only $20,000 CDN?! For me it's, $25,500 CDN and this year they have changed it to $26,000 CDN. For U.S and Int'l students, it has $26,000 USD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate how they charge so much. I calculated that this school makes around $30-50 million a year revenues. Definitely very commercial. A lot of my classmates are great so far. What I found kind of strange is that I had to send in my demo reel of 5 minutes but many people didn't send it in or have absolutely no experience in film or video production. It's cool that they made it in the program but that means that just about anyone can make it in if they have $26,000-$32,000 CDN to dish out! Some teachers are pretty good and seem pretty knowledgeable. But it has only been a week!

I think Harry Killas (the Doc teacher) is extremely rude and sarcastic. He has such a big ego and I think he enjoys making you feel like a fool. Not just me, but everyone. He's a very weird man too... *shiver*. I want criticism but this guy just places you on the floor and steps all over you, walks away and then decides to run back and jump on you a few more times.

All the other teachers seem pretty good so far. My teacher for Directing is a guy named Bruce. The first class was pretty cool. I actually liked it because he was realistic. He told us first thing how many people make it. He said that around 22,000 submissions are sent to the Sundance fest each year... 12 are chosen for screening, 3 are chosen for marketing and distribution, and out of those only 1 actually makes money while the rest either break even or often lose money. I liked how he said that and I don't want them to lie to me or tell me what I want to hear. Only had one class so far though of that one so I don't know what it will be like in the future.

I have quite a few books on everything from lighting, cine, directing, directors, etc etc. I will continue to buy them also. As for equipment, I also have quite a lot compared to the other students here. Actually, the other students either have nothing or the little consumer 1CCD digital handycams ($500-800). I will also continuously buy lots of books. But it's good to meet these people with the same passion as you to collaberate in the future hopefully. If I bought lots of HD equipment or whatever but I hardly new anyone or had any access to actors or producers or anything, what would be the point right?

Silverman, what school do you go to now?

Norm
 
Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Re: DVX100 FOOTAGE of JAMES CAMERON SHAKING MY HAN

Quote from the book School is Hell
By Matt Groening

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Those who can't teach, counsel. Those who can't counsel, administrate. Those who can't administrate, enter data into the computer.

Those who can't enter data into the computer, take dictation. Those who can't take dictation, alphabetize files. Those who can't alphabetize files, answer the phone.

Those who can't answer the phone, fry hamburgers. Those who can't fry hamburgers, fry the cash register. Those who can't run the cash register, wait on tables.

Those who can't wait on tables, carry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Those who can't carry dirty dishes to the kitchen, was the dishes. Those who can't wash dirty dishes, peel potatoes.

Those who can't peel potatoes, buff the floor. Those who can't buff the floor haul out the garbage. Those who can't haul out the garbage, write poetry.

Those who can't write poetry, write clever letters to the editor. Those who can't write clever letters to the editor, write angry letters to the editor.

Those who can't write angry letters to the editor, spraypaint graffiti. Those who can't spraypaint graffiti, write screenplays. Those who can't write screenplays, write TV scripts.

Those who can't write tv scripts, read scripts for the studios. Those who can't read scripts for the studios, act. Those who can't act, take acting classes. Those who can't take acting classes, sing.

Those who can't sing, sing rock 'n' roll. Those who can't sing roc 'n' roll, sing it anyway. Those who can't sing it anyway, become depressed. Those who can't become depressed, get bitter.

Those who can't get bitter, get confused. Those who get confused, stay confused. Those who stay confused, find it difficult to complete unfinished sentences. Those who find it difficult to complete unfinished sentences, ________."
 
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