Isobel & The Witch Queen - Movie Poster

Genshi Media Group is proud to announce the completion and premier of our short film Isobel & The Witch Queen. This film will be premiering exclusively on January 27th, 2012 at the Macworld | iWorld event as part of the iPhone Filmmakers discussion panel.

Written and Directed by Genshi Media Group’s founder Craig Anthony Perkins, this 13 minute short film tells the story of Isobel, an 11 year old girl, dealing with the pain of her parent’s break up. She finds herself led into a magical dream realm, where its fantastic inhabitants mirror her earthly plight; pushing her forward on her quest to help her mother. After an encounter with the Witch Queen, Izzy returns eager to support her mother with the knowledge that her mother has had the power all along to start her new life…

The film was shot entirely on the iPhone 4S using the FiLMiC Pro and iSupr8 apps. Despite the fact that we received no funding or sponsorship for this short film, leaving us with a zero budget, we were still able to pull together and shoot a story as an example of what can be done with such limited resources.

Craig would like to thank the cast and crew for all of their time and help in the making of this film, to Ruben Kazantsev and Renata Rinyu of the iPhone Film Festival for their continued support and encouragement, to Maurice C. Baxter and Herma Rae Baxter for their hospitality and patience while we filmed in their home, and a very special thank you to Producer, Actress and Costume Designer Debora Jo Myers, for her tremendous support, hard work and boundless energy which proved to be invaluable to the production of this film.

Isobel And The Witch Queen

A huge opportunity has recently landed in my lap and I’m hoping it will inspire others to join me in this exciting opportunity!

I have been asked to be part of a panel discussion of iPhone Filmmakers at the upcoming 2012 Macworld. They will be showing the past winning films from the iPhone Film Festival (including my previous ghost story short film) followed by a question and answer period. In addition, I’ve also been asked to shoot a new short film to World Premier exclusively at Macworld! 600 media outlets will be in attendance along with 25,000 attendees!

The story for this approximately 12 minute fantasy/fairy tale short film, entitled Isobel And The Witch Queen, has already been written and I’ve recently acquired four of the main actresses as well as an art director and costume designer for the film. I will be casting shortly for additional supporting actors, performance artists and puppeteers (to play the various forest creatures and fairy folk.) I will be shooting this up in Portland Oregon, primarily at the Witch’s Castle in Forest Park and at a couple of other secret locations.

This will take some small funding and sponsorship so I am looking for Executive Producers who would be willing to invest in this project. I will also be needing a Visual Effects Artist/Supervisor (L.A. or Portland) a Sound Mixer/Boom Operator (Portland) and Gaffer/Lighting Technician (Portland). I will of course be Writing, Directing and Editing this, but may be looking for a composer this time around (normally I do the score myself, but I got too much to do as it is!)

Macworld will be announcing this in October. This will be an amazing opportunity for all involved as this will be getting more exposure than most film festivals. Any Investor/Executive Producer invloved with this project should see the huge potential in having their name attached to something that will be getting this much media coverage (with the extra benefit of not having to compete with thousands of other entries like at a typical film festival.) There are also a couple of other surprises regarding all of this which I can’t mention quite yet, but needless to say, this is a huge opportunity for anyone associated with this project.

More details coming soon… for additional inquiries or to contribute or become a sponsor, please contact: production@genshi.com

Pixels: The Art of iPhone Photography

This group exhibition showcases the best iPhoneographers from around the world and will run from March 31st through April 30th 2011. The exhibition will then move to the Arty Gallery in downtown Los Angeles during the months of May and June 2011.

The curator of the exhibition is Knox Bronson who runs the leading iPhoneography gallery site Pixels At An Exhibition and is also co-curated by Jeff T. Alu, Daniel Berman and Maia Panos. The entire iPhoneography community owes them a great deal of thanks for supporting and promoting this emerging form of photography. Thank you!

A big thank you to actress Hanna Hedin Hillberg for her excellent work on the film, and to Stylist/Hair & Makeup artist extraordinaire Pauline Noriega for going above and beyond the call of duty (she was also the “behind the scenes” ghost in the movie!) And a special thank you to Alex K. Cheng for finding the perfect location for us to shoot at!

UPDATE: The official announcements have been made and my film took Second Place Grand Prize for Best Film Overall at the first annual 2011 iPhone Film Festival. The overall consideration was for Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Story, Technical Difficulty and Creativity. Considering the amount of excellent entries in this film festival and my own very limited resources, I am very pleased with the outcome!

Here is some feedback I am getting for my short film:

“It’s difficult portraying a “scary” short film within a few minutes. You must bring the audience into the scene, make them part of the film and instill fear within a matter of minutes. This film does that exactly. We initially felt the main character was not dressed properly for the part, but within a few seconds the director shoots chills immediately up your spine. And the actress does such a good job that she makes sure you go back and watch it a few times.” – iPhone Film Festival Judge Miguel Johnson

“[Craig Anthony Perkins' Remembrance] again showed what an iPhone is capable of in the right hands. The atmospheric mini horror featured sublime editing and overall quality production.” – Tony @ iphone-productions.com

“The sound design and editing are masterful and make excellent co-conspirators to the superb visual composition.” – shAmii @ iPhone Film Festival

“… the video was pretty terrific even if I hadn’t known it was shot on an iPhone. I’ve seen people with camera gear costing 10 or more times as much that couldn’t touch the work you did.” – musique @ Macrumors Forum

(Best when listened to on good headphones or speakers as there are low frequency rumblings and ghostly voices which cannot be heard on computer speakers. Best when watched with the lights out… if you dare!)

Film Credits:

Remembrance (a ghost story)

A short, experimental film shot and processed on the iPhone 4. Edited with iMovie.

Written & Directed by: Craig Anthony Perkins
Starring: Hanna Hedin Hillberg
Cinematography, Editing, Music & Sound Design: Craig Anthony Perkins
Styling, Hair & Makeup: Pauline Noriega

Thank you to the following:

Alex K. Cheng
Francis Kortekaas
Linda Vista Community Hospital
OWLE Bubo
Vid-Atlantic
CowboyStudio

And a special thank you to Visnja Zelenika for her continued support.

Shot on location at the haunted and abandoned Linda Vista Community Hospital.

NO DISEMBODIED SPIRITS, GHOSTS OR OTHERWORLDLY ENTITIES
WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS MOTION PICTURE.

Broken Heart Robot - iPhone 4 & EnCinema 35mm Adapter Test

In this first, rough test, I have the iPhone 4 encased within the OWLE Bubo. Attached to the Bubo is the EnCinema 35mm Adapter which allows one to attach an SLR film lens (in this case, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens) to the adapter, which then projects an image onto a glass plate within the adapter. Using the Almost DSLR app for the iPhone, I then focus the iPhone 4 onto the glass plate (through a complex setup of 3 macro and one wide-angle lens) and the result, with any luck, is a film-like cinema experience recorded in HD on your iPhone 4!

iPhone 4 & EnCinema 35mm Adapter Test

jido-genshi "Shōuchū" album cover

Finally started work on the new jido-genshi album, tentatively titled Shōuchū. (小宇宙 – meaning “Microcosm”)

Though still electronic in nature – and experimental as always – I tend to be using more guitars on this release than I normally do on my jido-genshi project; though I do use guitars quite a bit on some of my other music projects.

This particular track has sort of a “Boards Of Canada” feel to it, except, as I mentioned, it is mostly guitars (with a synth thrown in here and there.) A good pair of headphones is recommened while listening to this; to pick up the subtle low frequency bass and kick drum. I happen to use the Sony MDR-7506, my favorite pair of headphones for well over a decade now.

Shouchu Preview 01 by genshi

As always, when the album is released, you will be able to find it on the iTunes Music Store as well as Amazon’s MP3 Store.

"GRIDSCAPE" by StarDotStar

… and for a quick sneak-peek preview of one of my other projects; this is my fun and bouncy, neo-electro-synth-pop project StarDotStar and a track from the forthcoming album “Gridscape”:

Gridscape Preview by genshi

(All album cover art/design © 2010 by Craig Anthony Perkins for Genshi Media Group.)

But this post is more of a plea for votes. Not only do the creators make a fantastic app or two, but they run contests in which you enter a photo, people vote and if you win, you sometimes win something cool. In this case, I really want to win because the “something cool” is the chance to win a trip to the grand opening of the new Salvador Dalí Museum in Florida and to have your photo exhibited in the museum! I’ve been in first place on and off (even though I’ve had the most votes the entire time; their voting system is clearly buggy) and there are only a couple of days left for voting on my Death Of A Broken Heart Robot photo, so I hope all those who are reading this, that have either a Twitter or Facebook account, will please vote for my photo… I greatly appreciate it! (and don’t worry, the Broken Heart Robot isn’t really dead, he’s just playing around.)

As for the latest update, Hipstamatic 180 introduces the new Dalí Museum GoodPak (hence the Dalí contest) which includes the Salvador 84 lens and the DreamCanvas film (as well as a Dalí inspired virtual case!) Here are some examples of what this film/lens combination can do:

Last night, however, was Halloween… and I was home alone, and in a creative mood, and strangely inspired by one of my all-time favorite artists ever, H.R. Giger. So I whipped out my iPhone 4, launched the Hipstamatic app and proceeded to take a series of Sci Fi/ Horror themed photos…

Self Portrait

I recently came across a site that asked writers to submit “flash” fiction; a complete story in 150 words or less! Very hard to do (at least, for me it is.) The idea is to write something quick, in a flash, which tells a story and can be read (and understood) in a flash. This was my submission; a near future, science fiction story… in a flash:

The Body Enhancement

The Body Enhancement

I lie here, breathing heavy, sweat pouring from my body, but cold. I can’t move. Why can’t I move!? Was it the drugs? No, I don’t do drugs. Wait, something was injected in me, I remember that much. I remember feeling the sharp sting of the needle, and the tiny nanobots swarming through my veins. They were supposed to do something… what was it? Cancer? No. Why can’t I move?

I can still feel them in me, but something is wrong. I’m supposed to feel stronger. That’s it! I’m an athlete! I was trying to enhance my performance (illegal these days… what year is it again, 2038? 39? Nanotech is the new Steroids.) Something went wrong… HORRIBLY WRONG! Every nerve, every tendon is being severed by these vicious little bots, but why? How!? I PAID for this enhancement… unless, I’ve been hacked!