"Midnight Rider" Videos

I don't have words today. This video is moments before the train ran into this crew. Director Randall Miller recently accepted a plea deal to serve 2 years in prison and 8 on probation. Executive Producer Jay Sedrish and 1st AD Hillary Schwartz received 10 years of probation each. Charges were dropped against Jody Savin.



This is the scene on the bridge.


Happy Filmmaking, and RIP, Sarah.

Know the Law: Face blurring available at YouTube

YouTube recently released a new feature that allows the uploader to "blur" faces in a similar manner to many reality or hidden camera shows. This feature is a huge advantage to both an amateur or professional videographer.You now have the option to censor faces of people you catch in your videos that you did not receive releases from. Hence, you can avoid lawsuits, or even more serious consequences, like possible retaliation for activist activities in places like Egypt and Syria.

In the good ol' days, when people stepped out in front of a camera and that image was displayed to the public, fair use could be argued. Especially if that artist or hobbyist did not expect to make money from the image. Nowadays, when Johnny-Come-Sue-You slaps you with a lawsuit, you will need all common usage laws at your disposal to fight the suit. Because of the invent of viral videos, memes, and the like, even a cat pretending to play the piano can make money. Blurring faces in your videos can save money and lives. If you are planning to promote your video and wish to not censor the background faces, it might be worthwhile to draft a standard release. If you neglect to do that, good luck....

Happy Filmmaking!

Do professionals who play themselves deserve SAG cards?

Act of Valor receives more and more press everyday. Real Navy SEALs, real combat tactics, real bullets, real action (well, quasi-real action). The narrative posing as a doc found its selling point among the most patriotic of us and took off faster than a Tuskegee airman. The movie was shot in cinéma vérité style on a Canon 5d Mark II.

So, because the movie is a box office success, it begs the question: should these SEALs receive SAG cards? They haven't.



Judge for yourself. Now, technically, they cannot receive compensation for this film. However, given the filmmakers are making beaucoup money (sorry, beaucoup was the only word that works here), is it fair that these "few and proud" are not receiving the compensation they would if they were actors?

They were given lines to speak. They performed “action” and “business”. That’s the basic definition of an actor. Even reality TV defines one as such. It’s a complicated, legal issue. These SEALs are active-duty. They are already receiving a stipend. But, what about actors who sing? Or design clothes? Or have endorsements stated elsewhere?

I say go ahead and give them a SAG card. The film is not classified as a documentary. There may be some true actors upset; there may be some military members upset. But in the end, they performed the task of actors and if they were in any other profession (President Regan, anyone?), they would still receive residuals.

Happy Filmmaking.