Stephen Vitale, an alumnus of SHOOT’s 2015 New Directors Showcase, directed produced and edited this short titled Hoshino, a Star Wars fan film about blind Jedi Master Ko Hoshino portrayed by Anna Akana (Ant-Man, My Name is Doris). The story focuses on Hoshino training with her master and the final act in her becoming a Jedi,
The script was written by Eric Carrasco (Supergirl). The score was composed by Joey Newman (The Middle, Adam and Dog) and recorded with an orchestra to honor the incredible role music and musicians have played in the Star Wars universe.
Vitale noted, “The reason we made this short is not just because we love Star Wars–it’s because we love film. We love making movies and this story was something that excited us. It was a challenge to try something different. Many Star Wars shorts that feature Jedi are just lightsaber fight sequences. We wanted to focus on the force–to do something cinematic and designed, to create an original character with her own journey, to make something that feels like Star Wars.”
He added that “part of making it feel like Star Wars meant approaching the film like the original trilogy. We had custom props and wardrobe, filmed on location to give it scope and to create a world for our characters to inhabit, built a practical Mynock creature to puppeteer on set and against blue screen instead of relying only on VFX.”
CreditsProduction/Creative Stephen Vitale, director/producer/editor; Eric Carrasco, writer/executive producer; John Schick, Miguel Jiron, co-executive producers; Ryan Bromberg, Alyssa Brocato, cinematographers; Mark Robertson, Michael J. Wechsler, associate producers; Miguel Jiron, storyboard artist; Daniel Ajemian/ Andy Huynh, 1st assistant camera; Max Siegel, Laura Jansen, Steve Kan, 2nd assistant camera; Pascal Combes-Knoke, Chris Lom, Steadicam operators. Postproduction John Schick, Sean Ryan, colorists. VFX John Scheck, VFX supervisor; Mynock creature by Tom Spina Designs; David Server, Jackson Lanzing, Courtney Perdue, Mynock puppeteers; Mutant Mask by Immortal Masks; Jessica-Leigh Schwartz, special effects makeup artist. Music/Sound Joey Newman, composer; Jamie Hardt, MPSE, sound designer; Owen Shearer, ADR engineer. Music recorded and mixed by Oren Hadar; Seth Kaplan, music editor; Matt Hutchinson, score supervisor. Star Wars themes by John Williams; Music performed by Hollywood Chamber Orchestra; Music recorded at EastWest Studios, Los Angeles. Special Thanks to Tom Spina, David Bolen, Casey Wong, Jake Nordwind, Jenn O’Donnell, George Frangadakis, Marie Vitale, Paul Vitale, Greg Morris.
Top Spot of the Week: iPhone 16, Director David Shane “Write Smarter” With Apple Intelligence
Created by Apple’s in-house agency and directed by David Shane of production company O Positive, this commercial is one of two which continues the Apple Intelligence campaign for the iPhone 16.
Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that can make users look, feel and be smarter. In the case of this “Write smarter” ad, we meet an office worker who leverages Apple Intelligence on his iPhone 16 Pro to dramatically improve his barely literate email to one that is professional, concise and has a measure of eloquence--much to the surprise and amazement of his boss.
This slice of office life highlights the value of key Apple Intelligence upgrades, including Writing Tools which work wonders with the quality of how one communicates and connects with others.
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