Author: Jonny Eberle

Writer, podcaster, and filmmaker in the City of Destiny. You can find my blog at www.jweberle.com.

What I Learned Making a Short Film on an iPhone

Our very own Jonny Eberle on the development and production of our newest short film, “The Closet” and our first attempt to make a film with an iPhone.

Jonny Eberle's avatarJ.W. Eberle

Screenshot from the Closet. Photo by Jonny Eberle.

When I started making short films more than almost 15 years ago, a decent, mid-range consumer video camera was about the size of a brick and recorded either to miniDV tape or mini DVD, which was good for 60 minutes of recording. Tapes got chewed up during playback, DVDs got scratched, and in the general the process for making a film was tedious and technical.

In the time before YouTube, once you had finished your film — provided that you hadn’t lost footage to the magnetic tape gods — you had to connect to a tape deck to transfer your finished film to a format that could be easily shared, like VHS or DVD. Somewhere in a box, there’s a stack of old VHS tapes with handwritten labels documenting my early filmmaking efforts.

I bought my first digital camcorder when I was 18. It was a hot rod red Canon…

View original post 299 more words

by Categories: Filmmaking Leave a comment

Ten Years of Obscure Studios

It all started with a dream on a cold winters’ day 10 years ago. We were in high school then and we wanted to make a movie. An off-the-wall musical about a pirate, a blind woman, two Siamese twins, the Pope, a giant squid and some very angry Canadians. A script was written and then rewritten. Music was procured. The cast was selected. A few test scenes were filmed. And then nothing.

Gollandtsy! Gollandtsy! was never made, though rumors would stir up every few years that it had been glimpsed somewhere in the woods north of Flagstaff. But something was born. Something beautiful. Obscure Studios, founded to produce the musical in 2004, went on to make other projects a reality. From Reilly’s Dorm to the Big Night to Cold Read to Border Line to the one where Jonny narrated Will’s thoughts while he sat on an office chair. People grew to love the stories and the characters.

Fast forward a decade. On this 10th anniversary of Obscure Studios’ founding, the gang is scattered across the country. River and Katie are married with a daughter. So are Nathan and Danika. Jonny is off doing God knows what in the Pacific Northwest. He and the afro parted ways a few years ago — it now runs a record label in Nashville. Will and Yannick are still in Flagstaff. Sarah went off to seek her fortune somewhere near Alderaan. JACKson makes a living as a professional photobomber.

Obscure Studios’ video output has dwindled since the glory days. But don’t count us out yet. We may be separated by miles and years and new commitments, but the spark of our creativity has not gone out. No, Obscure Studios is a survivor. Don’t be surprised if you see something new from us in the future.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll celebrate us turning one-tenth of a century old. Check out our old videos, revel in the memories of the good old days and keep your eyes open for the biggest comeback since Star Trek II.

Hold on to your hats — the obscurity is on the move.

– Jonny, Will, Julio and the Whole Darn OS Family

by Categories: Obscure Studios NewsTags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Why We Do What We Do

VHS tapes
Photo by DS stories on Pexels.com

I recently watched the film, Be Kind Rewind. In the movie, the main character works for a small video rental business on the verge of losing everything. When all of the VHS tapes in the store are accidentally erased, they remake the films in a nearby junkyard and become local celebrities.

Watching this film reminded me of Obscure Studios. We’re small and the budgets of most of our films are less than $10 or $20. I know that we’re not the greatest filmmakers that ever lived. We have technical problems and time constraints that hold us back, but when you watch an Obscure Studios short film, you are watching a labor of love.

Hollywood is in the filmmaking business to make money off of you; to take 90 minutes of your time for the price of a movie ticket and go live in opulent mansions far from people like you and me. At Obscure Studios, we have yet to turn anything akin to a profit off of our work and that’s okay, because we don’t do this for our wallets or our egos. We do this because this is what we love.

I certainly don’t want to treat anyone like a dollar sign to be exploited. I want to remove you from reality for a few minutes and provide you with original entertainment. If only you could see the love and care that goes into everything we do here. People give up their time and energy, skipping out on leisurely activities and spending their precious free time making the little works of art that we feature on this site. Filmmaking is a passion, and as long as you’re enjoying it, we’re happy and we’ll continue to work hard to bring you more.

We’re far from perfect. We haven’t achieved the level of technical prowess as the big studios in Hollywood, but at Obscure Studios you’ll find more originality and more heart. We’re dreamers and storytellers, not corporate movie-making tycoons. If that makes the big studios better than us, that’s fine — but they can’t match our small studio where it counts.

I dare you to find a more talented and dedicated group of people than all of my friends who have bought into my crazy dream and turned Obscure Studios into a reality. I thank them for making this little business come to life and I thank you, our small band of viewers, for having fun with us. That’s what makes it worth the time and effort. It’s all for you.

– Jonny Eberle
Founder and CEO

Editor’s note: Originally posted on our old site on June 23, 2010

by Categories: FilmmakingTags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment