It's Not Quite Coppola Talking About the Fat Girl and Mozart, But...

Lots of people remember this sorta bizarre prediction from Francis Ford Coppola about the democratization of film, when he says that cheap video cameras will allow just about anyone to make movies: "Some fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart, you know, and make a beautiful film with her little father's camera."

Peter Jackson has his own riff on democratization in an interview published today by Reuters to promote "District 9," which he produced.:

You know, in the old days it was very difficult to make movies 'cause you had to have 35 millimeter cameras, which were phenomenally expensive. Or you had to have rich parents that could send you to film school. Nowadays, anybody, any kid or young person with a desire to make films ... (has) access to this equipment. You have great video cameras and the quality's fantastic. You can make soundtracks and do visual effects. You can do very competent computer effects quite easily."

..."There are no excuses anymore. If people really want to make movies, they can go out and do it. And I think we're going see in the next 20 or 30 years a real influx of creativity to the world of entertainment because I believe a lot in the young generation coming along ... the pop culture generation who now can grab these cameras and go make films with them.

No Flash for iPhone Users ... Peter Jackson Bids Farewell to the Original Alamo Drafthouse ... Ken Burns Wants You ... And More

- For some reason, that fancy new iPhone won't play video in Adobe's popular Flash format. (All of the YouTube videos that you can watch on the phone have been re-encoded into h.264, the video format Apple prefers.)

- Courtesy of Anne Thompson's blog, here's a video farewell from Peter Jackson and Edgar Wright to the original Alamo Drafthouse, in Austin, TX. An "improved" Drafthouse will open in September, in a different location.

- Ken Burns is asking citizen documentarians to go out and interview World War II vets for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. Here's how you can participate.

- The Wall Street Journal makes note of 'Four Eyed Monsters' on YouTube; the full film remains there until August 15th.

Cine Gear Expo: Next Week in LA

Just back from another one-day round-trip to LA (yes, I've sworn those off before).... sorry I won't be in town next week, too, when Cine Gear Expo happens. There's always an interesting mix of cinematographers hanging around...and a series of seminars and master classes. If you didn't go to NAB, at Cine Gear you'll get a chance to see the 4K Peter Jackson short, 'Crossing the Line' that he shot with the Red Digital Cinema camera.

On Saturday, June 23rd, according to an e-mail I got from the Digital Cinema Society, there's another event at Cine Gear focusing on 4K production, post, and projection. From that message:

DCS members are encouraged to attend an exploration of 4K for Production, Post, and Projection. Various samples acquired in 4K RAW with Dalsa cameras, edited in HD with Apple's Final Cut Pro, then conformed using EDL into the final project for color correction and creation of the DCP will be projected in 4K via the Sony SXRD Projector. Following the screening, James Mathers will moderate a panel made up of Cinematographer David Stump, ASC, Dalsa's Rob Hummel, Sony's Andrew Stucker, Denis Leconte of Pacific Title, as well as Directors Anurag Mehta and Joe DiGennaro. Find out the benefits and challenges of Digital Filmmaking at 4K resolution.

The time slot is 10-10:45 AM on Saturday, the 23rd at the Wadsworth Theatre. Note: You must be registered for the Cine Gear Expo - Free of Charge Until June 15: http://www.cinegearexpo.com/click here.

If you go, please *blog about it!*