VISUAL EFFECTS WINNER: WARREN EIG FOR F5 When a filmmaker scoops two awards for very different work, you know he’s a star creative. And Warren Eig, winner of our best lighting gong for his dramatic drama short, is also the victor in the visual effects class thanks to his promotional commercial for tech company F5. In other words, totally different to his drama short but equally polished. Eig explains: “It was a shoot to simulate a cyberattack on the internet. Originally, the company wanted to shoot in a network operations centre (NOC), but that proved too costly to rent and light. The project dynamics were changed and we filmed the NOC scenes on a green-screen stage in Burbank, California.” It’s hard to believe, but the whole high-tech set was digitally added using 3D animation. The
boardroom scene was filmed conventionally in a high-rise in Century City. “It was shot in two days for a budget of $12,000 including the 3D animation for the sets,” says Eig who wrote, directed, produced and edited the work. And it looks like it was made by an army of people for a much bigger budget.
DOCUMENTARY WINNER: KERMIT EVANS FOR HIP HOP SAVED MY LIFE: THE ROCKETS
The Rockets consisted of four young dance music fans as well as an ambitious rapper named Trey, now known as The DOC. He went on to launch Death Row Records with Dr Dre and was awarded a Grammy lifetime achievement award as a member of rap superstars NWA. But it all came from The Rockets, a professional dance group that launched several entertainers into public stardom, including The DOC and the Fila Fresh Crew back in the late eighties. Hip Hop Saved My Life: The Rockets is the director’s first short film and mixes interviews with historic footage and lots of super-cool music.
This was the most hotly contested class for 2024, but only the best rise to the surface where storytelling and visuals combine to tell a compelling story and make something very special. The winning film is a stylish and engaging story told superbly. And it’s of such high quality and importance that it could easily be aired on any international streaming channel. Directed by Kermit Evans, the winning movie shows how hip hop saved the lives of six young men from the tough streets of West Dallas, Texas, who formed a pop- locking dance group called The Rockets back in the eighties.
Nikon took high-quality image making onto the front lines when the Nikon F DSLR was introduced back in 1959 – and it has remained synonymous with reportage and documentary ever since. And thanks to its range of incredible high-precision cameras and stunning selection of lenses, Nikon is one of the world’s biggest camera brands. For filmmaking with compact cameras that allow you to get up close to the action, mirrorless now dominates. Nikon’s award- winning full-frame Z 9 and Z 8 models are the ideal choice for this. These Z models offer high resolution, stacked sensors for speed and Raw video capture for the ultimate video quality, and continue to have a huge impact.
43
PROMOVIEMAKER.NET
Powered by FlippingBook