fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Overview: How We Got Here
By: Lauren Dachille
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Race, Racial Justice, Racism, American History

As recently as 2016, the net worth of a typical white family in America was nearly 10 times that of the average Black family. African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate more than 5 times the imprisonment rate of whites. Black people in America have higher death rates for all causes of death than whites, including in pregnancy-related deaths, where Black women are two to three times more likely to die than white women. The disparities are many and span all aspects of everyday life.

When asked whether these gaps result mostly from racism or something else, three quarters of Americans and more than 80% of white Americans say “something else.” It is obvious that many of us don’t know how history explains this inequality, so we’ve filled in the blanks with our own assumptions.

How We Got Here is a three-part discussion and learning guide that invites you to better understand the history of how racism has shaped today’s unequal America. It can be used for personal learning, but also as a framework for a discussion group or book club.

Each of the three parts has the following components:

Introduction : written by me, a white woman, summarizing my own learnings in this area, and the key facts that I think other white people (and Americans generally) need to know but may not; it provides the context to better understand the core materials.

: written by me, a white woman, summarizing my own learnings in this area, and the key facts that I think other white people (and Americans generally) need to know but may not; it provides the context to better understand the core materials. Core Materials: written or created by Black authors and historians, these materials include articles, podcasts, movies and readings that give voice to critical issues and events.

written or created by Black authors and historians, these materials include articles, podcasts, movies and readings that give voice to critical issues and events. Reflection Questions: questions to help you digest the materials privately or in a group setting if you are using this guide as part of a book club or discussion group.

For those seeking to use this in discussion groups, you can find resources on white caucus groups here, or purchase Ijeoma Oluo’s “So You Want to Talk About Race” here or from one of these Black-owned bookstores.

If you have feedback, suggestions, or fact checks, feel free to send them to HWGHfeedback@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to incorporate them.

A disclaimer: some posts in this series directly quote offensive racist language and they all describe upsetting historical realities that may be triggering to readers.

Get started:
The Republican Party
By: Danielle Gibson
Tags: Government, History, Poetry, Poem, American History

Note:

The modern Republican Party was founded on March 20, 1854. The Republican Party was formed by a coalition of mostly Whigs, along with some Free-Soilers and Democrats, who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act sought to extend slavery into Western territories, a concept that the newly formed Republican party opposed.

Abraham Lincoln and his good friend Amos Tuck, a representative from New Hampshire, were the leaders of the newly formed Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln ran for president on the Republican ticket during the 1860 election. Lincoln secured a victory in this election, becoming the 16th U.S. President and the first Republican President in U.S. History.

The original Republican party was made up of liberal-leaning leftists who supported big government and abolition. During his presidency, Lincoln was able to abolish legal slavery following the Civil War and the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Lincoln administration also brought the nation economic reform by means of big government. Under Lincoln, the first personal income tax, the first national banking system, and the Department of Agriculture were introduced. The Lincoln administration also brought the nation the Pacific Railroad Act, which allowed for a federally funded intercontinental railroad, and the Morrill Act, which allowed for federally-funded higher education or land grant universities.

The Republican Party maintained most of its liberal ideology until President Theodore Roosevelt left the Republican party in 1912, taking the majority of the left-leaning Republicans with him. Following the Great Depression of the 1930s and then the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the Republican Party became increasingly more conservative-minded and has continued to swing to the right ever since. Today’s Republican Party has evolved to look quite different than the Party of Lincoln. The Republican Party of today supports conservative ideals, free-market capitalism, restrictions on immigration, increased military spending, gun rights, restrictions on abortion, and small government.
I see red
By: Bhakti Issa Urra
Tags: Thanksgiving, Myths And Lies, Indigenous Loss, Truth And Consequence, American History

Take your broken heart and make it art. ~ Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia

“Not Forgotten” by Maxine Noel

It is Thanksgiving and I have much to be grateful for even if this is the worst year I have experienced since I relocated to the US in 2006.

“Still Dancing” by Jon Labillois

Since I have made America my homeland I have come to love Thanksgiving even more than Christmas as a holiday of observation.

MMIW protesters

As a practitioner of shamanism it is a tradition that is fraught with conflicting stories and sentiments.

Art Heals: The Jingle Dance Project

How the holiday is enshrined in US history — how it commemorates the pilgrim and puritan settlers tales of arrival in their New World versus the atrocities committed on Native American tribes already living here, how they treated the people then and now — is a sad and sorry tale, an open wound that has yet to heal.

Sarah Ortegon in Times Square on March 7/Maria Baranova

As with all things American, the history of the Americas is a brutal tale of greed and gore that has never been fully or truthfully acknowledged by our government and its leadership.

I have therefore decided to raise my red flag on Thanksgiving 2020 to focus on the plight of indigenous women and girls, abused and killed, missing and gone.

The REDress Project — Jaime Black

Today I join Métis artist Jaime Black, creator of the installation piece “The REDress Project” and Tia Wood, champion jingle dancer/singer of 2017 Gathering of Nations fame, and all those in the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) movement.

MMIW performance by A Tribe Called Red

Thanksgiving is kind of like Columbus Day for Native people. Why would we celebrate people who tried to destroy us?

Thanksgiving stories were among the few appearances made by Native Americans in popular historical narratives, effectively erasing history-altering crimes, like the killing of tens of millions of buffalo, from the country’s consciousness. That massacre led to the mass starvation of Indigenous people.
The Democratic Party
By: Danielle Gibson
Tags: Government, History, Poetry, President, American History

Note:

The modern Democratic Party is the oldest existing political party in the United States. However, the liberal-leaning big government supporting political party we know today evolved from a very different origin.

The presidential election controversy of 1824 served as the catalyst for the creation of the Democratic Party. In the 1824 presidential election, four Democratic-Republicans ran against each other. The four candidates were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. In this election, none of the candidates secured a majority of the electoral votes, causing the U.S. House of Representatives to hold a contingent election. The House elected John Quincy Adams as the 6th President of the United States, even though Andrew Jackson had handily won the popular vote.

Andrew Jackson was furious with the result and decided to break away from the Democratic-Republican party altogether. Jackson, along with the New York Senator Martin Van Buren, created their own runoff political faction from the Democratic-Republicans following the result of the 1824 election. Jackson and Van Buren simply called their political faction the Democratic Party. The party was officially formed on January 8, 1828.

The Jacksonian Democrats would dominate the executive branch for the next thirty years. Democrats would win six of the next eight presidential elections from 1828 until 1856. The early Democrats ran on the platform of small government, with power being held in the states. The early Democratic party pushed the conservative values of the era and would continue to be a right-leaning political party until the late 1890s.

In the presidential election of 1896, the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, drew in votes from the left-wing Populist Party that he had previously been affiliated with. Bryan lost the election to William McKinley. Despite the loss, Bryan’s presidential bid with the Democratic Party served as the catalyst to a more liberal-leaning Democratic Party. The Democratic Party would move further to the left during the Great Depression under the leadership of the Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal reform measures.
El arte del tratamiento de dirección
By: Joel Pérez Irizarry
Tags: Music Video, Filmmaking, Publicidad, Cine, Advertising

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more

Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore
Through the Lens of Chinese Filmmakers
By: One In A Billion Productions
Tags: Filmmaking, Blog, Storytelling, Podcast, Asian American

By: Siyi Chen

Hello,

I’m Siyi Chen, an independent documentary filmmaker based in China and the US. Born and raised in Zhejiang, educated in New York, it is a natural choice for me to constantly move across borders for a documentary career in both countries.

A growing number of filmmakers like me are taking advantage of their access to multiple cultures, making never-seen-before films about China for the international audience or using their international experience to help develop a nascent documentary industry back home. There are enough of us to form a WeChat group called the “Chinese Doc Mafia.”

Some of us made films nominated for the Academy Award; others directed films that challenged stereotypes and achieved tangible social impact. We bump into each other at filmmaker panels, fundraising forums and prestigious film festivals across the globe.

While the future is exciting, Chinese filmmakers like me also face many challenges. We’re constantly asked by investors: “Can your documentary serve both Chinese and international audiences? “Or, “how do you deal with the ever worsening censorship of the Chinese documentary industry? What about the risks you bring to your characters and yourself? How can a film that cannot be watched in China achieve impact there?” Questions like these often discourage international co-productions and funders from providing essential support to our work.

We also often face questions from the Chinese audience: “Are you sensationalizing and stereotyping our stories for the world?” While nationalism plays a role in these doubts, we still have to ask ourselves: is there any truth to this argument? How do we challenge stereotypes with our work?

For this special edition of the Chinese Storytellers newsletter, we invite my fellow Chinese documentary filmmakers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of making films that cross geographical and cultural boundaries.

Thank you,

Siyi Chen

P.S. Don’t forget to RSVP to our upcoming event: a conversation with filmmaker Hao Wu about his film “76Days” on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Friday, October 30, at 9 p.m. EST. Register HERE. Attend a free screening of the film here.

What are some of the pros and cons of making documentaries about China from abroad?
What Do Horror and Comedy Have in Common?
By: The Pink Reaper
Tags: Directors, Horror Comedy, Suspense, Filmmaking, Horror Movies

True horror fans know certain horror-comedy classics like Shaun of the Dead, Evil Dead II, more comedic films with horror aspects like the Scary Movie franchise, or even newer horror-comedies like Netflix’ The Babysitter or Blumhouse’s Freaky. But what many are unaware of, are the similarities between the horror genre and the comedy genre.

Firstly, let’s have a look at suspense in general. A certain tension buildup before an event makes the audience participate in the scene. As Hitchcock once explained: If a bomb goes off under a table, it’s just “boom” and that’s all, but if the audience is aware that the bomb is there and will go off in 15 minutes, they will be invested in the scene and shouting at the characters to stop talking about trivial matters.

Horror movies work with suspense to build up tension in the audience, to then release this tension with a good scare. In comedy, tension or awkwardness also builds up suspense which is then released through a joke. Though humor comforts, while horror confronts.

When it comes to the purpose of tackling current issues, which is something that both horror and comedy movies seem to be perfect genres for, horror is not afraid to take on the issue headfirst and humor makes the issue more approachable. A good horror-comedy will balance their approach between these two and use them together.

Thank you for reading this post, it means a lot to me. Please leave a clap if you enjoyed this post, share with friends, leave a follow and keep checking in for more similar content.

- The Pink Reaper
EXCELLENT SCRIPTS 2020
By: Filmarket Hub
Tags: TV Series, Movies, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Script

As a year-end wrap up, we are delighted to present this curated catalogue with the best scripts submitted to our platform in 2020. It includes TV pilots and feature film scripts that gained a certificate of excellence through our Script Analysis service. Scripts that stood out for their writing style and other elements such as premise, structure, characters, dialogues or originality.

Additionally, it showcases the finalists from our international screenwriting contests: fresh voices and emerging screenwriters that we want to recommend to the industry.

All of these scripts are available on our online marketplace to be matched with the right partners.
Firelight 2020 Year in Review: Program Highlights
By: Firelight Media
Tags: Documentary Film, Firelight Media, Filmmaking, Documentary, Bipoc

Firelight’s 2020 Year In Review Series concludes today with highlights from Firelight Media’s array of artist programs.

When the pandemic hit in the spring, followed closely by the national reckoning with questions of racial justice in the U.S., Firelight Media sprang into action. First, we surveyed our community of filmmakers to ask them what they needed, and then we did what we do best: provided our community of BIPOC filmmakers with resources, support, and solidarity to help them continue their work.

Below are a few highlights from Firelight Media’s 2020 programming, including a new cohort of our flagship Documentary Lab; new funds for emerging and mid-career filmmakers of color, including our first international fund; and a new digital event series launched in direct response to the pandemic.

These program offerings are thanks in part to generous contributions from our supporters. Please consider making a year-end gift to Firelight Media — contributions will directly support new work from BIPOC filmmakers in 2021 and beyond. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated.

We thank you for your support, and we look forward to the year ahead — may it be in all ways better than the year behind us.
Filming During a Global Pandemic. Our first day on site was…
By: Ashley M. Purvis
Tags: Female Filmmakers, Pandemic, Filmmaking, Documentary, Videographers

Our first day on site was nerve-wracking. I had spent all summer doing little passion projects in the safety of my home; I filmed videos of my mom cooking and I edited creative projects for my internship, but it had been a long time since I’d been around that many people since March. While it was nerve-wracking, it was also exciting. We had a new project to work on in IMA Practicum, and I was ready for the challenge.

And for once, things felt a little “normal” since the pandemic started.

Tatum Poirier, Ashley Purvis, and Hayley Purvis looking over interview footage and planning the EBT trailer.

The film team went on site to the East Broad Top Railroad several times over the semester and it got easier every time. We made sure we were being safe: we would have people masked until the interviews started, we’d place our cameras six feet or more away, and we’d use zoom lenses to get a tighter shot when needed.

While it was an unprecedented semester, I valued my peers who persevered and created great work for their community partners, and I saw them

all being incredible problem-solvers under the circumstances.

Even with the challenges of navigating a film during a pandemic, we still succeeded and had deliverables for our clients. We followed the rules and created guidelines on the safest and best ways to film, and we were able to produce and share a compelling trailer of our EBT documentary — a “taste of what’s to come” as one Facebook viewer wrote.

It created even more excitement about the project and organization. We were able to see our hard work pay off and see the trailer being shared throughout the community.

On top of all of that, I worked with the best female filmmakers around; Tatum Poirier, Hayley Purvis, and Professor Ryan Gibboney
Firelight 2020 Year in Review: Awards & Honors
By: Firelight Media
Tags: Documentary Film, Firelight Media, Filmmaking, Documentary, Bipoc

As Firelight marks the end of its 20th anniversary year, and as we bid farewell to 2020, we are pausing to highlight the incredible resilience of the Firelight community, even in a pandemic year.

In yesterday’s “Firelight 2020 Year In Review” post we highlighted new films by Firelight alumni that debuted at festivals, in theaters, and on broadcast television in 2020.

Today, we highlight of some of the many awards and honors garnered by our Firelight community this year.

The updating list includes awards and recognition for new film releases, funding support for works-in-progress, and industry leadership awards, and includes accolades for emerging filmmakers from our Documentary Lab as well as mid-career filmmakers from several of our artist programs.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the final post in the series, which will highlight news from Firelight Media’s programs in 2020.

Congratulations to the Firelight community for this much-deserved recognition!
Nepal America International Film Festival 2021 Announced
By: Nepal America Film Society
Tags: Film Festivals, Maryland, Filmmaking, Film, Culture

MARYLAND — Nepal America Film Society has announced the fourth edition of its Nepal America International Film Festival to be organized from 18 to 20th of June 2021. Submission for films from around the world is now open for this Washington DC area based international film festival.

The festival showcases all genres of films including feature lengths, documentaries, animations, experimental and shorts from Nepal, South Asia, USA, and all around the world. As in previous years, films from the Global Peace Film Festival Florida will be screened in the Special Sidebar Section. Films from Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia will be featured in the special DMV Close-up Section.

In 2020, the festival could not be held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Nepal America Film Society joined hands with 7 other South Asian film festivals in North America to organize Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals (CoSAFF) in October.

2021’s edition of the festival will also feature industry panels, critical conversations with filmmakers and other events, which will be announced in coming months.

NAIFF is an annual film event organized by Nepal America Film Society Inc, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization based in Prince George’s County. Every year, it brings together more than three thousand film enthusiasts from Maryland and the greater Washington DC region including filmmakers, volunteers, community leaders, film and community organizations and businesses.

NAIFF aims to bring together people from diverse cultures through the art of cinema. Since 2017 the Film Festival has built a unique reputation as an emerging platform for filmmakers with Nepali background along with American filmmakers and filmmakers from the international diaspora.
A Horror Film & A Cathartic Purge
By: Jess Costa
Tags: Filmmaking, Film, Horror, Horror Movies, Process

A Horror Film & A Cathartic Purge

I had a moment yesterday where it kicked in — this movie is happening. I have been writing this for a year and I’ve internally had my hand on the escape hatch until now. This is the biggest bet and investment in myself that I have ever taken. Unlike getting into college, this isn’t a one and done where I can hide in the back and do my own thing. Making this film is going to be for the next two years of my life.

I don’t have to make this film and I do.

It wasn’t until recently as I caught up with my close friend where we fall into this putty universe that is open and understanding, and I hear my dreams and fears fall out of my mouth.

Sleep Talking needs to be my first feature not because “horror films sell well,” but because it is this cathartic purge that I need. The films I have planned for after Sleep Talking are dreamier and whimsical — one is even a musical — but I can’t genuinely make those unless I tell this story first.

I need to deal with the reality that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot save everyone. I need to let myself off the hook, especially for when I was 13, that I couldn’t save my dad. Of course, I know this logically, but deep inside it’s still there.

I’m writing a horror film for those like me who try to take care of everyone, who try it have it all under control, and feel like we’re superheroes. We can certainly try, but we will lose ourselves in the process.

That’s what happens to Maya, my 12 year old protagonist, in Sleep Talking. She tries to save everyone from the demon in their family, but it leads to her demise.

I don’t want to try so hard (I say, making a feature film), but truthfully, I want to heal, process, and save myself and hopefully others through making this film.

Thank you for going on this journey with me; it’s not going to be easy, but it’ll be worth it. If you feel connected to this and want to learn more about Sleep Talking, visit our website and sign up for our newsletter.

This piece is for our Moth Monday to celebrate growth and transformation (there’s a moth or two in this movie as well). Follow us on Instagram and Twitter to join us in our Moth Monday, Crew Spotlight Tuesdays, Women Creator Wednesdays, and something for every day of the week related to our film, Sleep Talking.
Firelight 2020 Year in Review: Film Premieres
By: Firelight Media
Tags: Documentary Film, Firelight Media, Filmmaking, Documentary, Bipoc

2020 was an extraordinarily challenging year, between the dual crises of the global pandemic and the national reckoning with questions of racial justice in the U.S. As film festivals and film campaigns were forced to rapidly adapt their plans, our community displayed incredible resilience and ingenuity to ensure that their films reached their intended audiences.

Despite all of these many challenges, the Firelight Media and Firelight Films community managed to premiere a vast array of new documentary work — 32 titles and counting.

We surveyed our community of filmmakers — comprising current fellows and alumni of our Documentary Lab, recipients of our inaugural William Greaves Fund and Impact Campaign Fund, alumni of our Impact Producer Fellowship and FRONTLINE/Firelight Fellowship, as well as crew members from recent Firelight Films titles—to collect new works released this year. Below is an updating list of 2020 film premieres.

Congratulations to the Firelight family on all of this great work!
Time & Space Continuity in Film
By: Xxii Consultancy
Tags: Filmmaking, Film Directing Courses, Film, Directing, Direction

Directional Continuity

permanent movement in one direction

do not cross plans

you can use a panoramic -travelling

2. Reverse Shots

3. Raccord

keep continuity

4. Action Axis

generic direction of movement

movement trajectory

visual continuity

5. Action Axis applied to the triangle principle

position of the actors

6. Continuity accordingly to the direction of the eyes

7. Time continuity

8. Fusions

starts with a black image

9. Threaded

combination of close fusion with opening fusion

10. Synthesis Sequence

short plans series
S&T Success Story: Finding the Perfect Partners
By: Show Tell
Tags: Filmmaking, Documentary, Film, Film Distribution, Film Distribution Company

THE BOWMAKERS director Ward Serrill premiered his film in 2019 and was looking forward to a theatrical release in 2020…and then Covid hit. Using Show&Tell’s Partner-Driven Distribution approach, Ward and his team offered nonprofit organizations in the classical music world virtual screenings of the film. By giving these entities a valuable way to raise money and engage donors and supporters during a time when live events weren’t possible, the team was able to drum up significant revenue and ignite interest in the film.

“Show&Tell helped me reimagine how to get my work out directly to my film’s core audience during these unprecedented times.” Ward Serrill, director of THE BOWMAKERS

After premiering THE BOWMAKERS in 2019, director Ward Serrill was looking forward to a healthy promotional schedule for the film in 2020, between festival appearances and theatrical release. And then the global pandemic came along.

Faced with the necessity of completely reworking his film’s distribution strategy, Ward and team decided to use Show&Tell’s Partner-Driven Distribution approach. Because his core audience was made up of organizations in the classical music world, he appealed to them with an easy way to host virtual screenings, citing them as a mutually-beneficial option for engaging their audiences during a time when live events were impossible.

The virtual approach to screenings has proven to be a hit. Partners have been excited to offer relevant, curated content to their audiences, and appreciative of the revenue possible from ticket sales. (The first screening of THE BOWMAKERS alone generated $7,000 in revenue.) Additionally, Serrill and team have found that they are continuing to drum up interest in screenings of the film long after the relatively short promotional window they’d anticipated.

THE BOWMAKERS team plans to continue their classical music virtual event tour throughout 2012. They’ll undoubtedly continue to add to their audience and get paid along the way.

“Virtual screenings enable me to connect directly with my target audience and to bring in cash flow,” said Serril. “They have also given me a special opportunity to meaningfully interact with viewers remotely.”

For a deep dive into the success of THE BOWMAKERS, please read the recent bulletin by our friend, distribution strategist Peter Broderick.
Art Director and Parent: Stanford James.
By: Jess Artcube Nation
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Architecture, Design, Film

When Lion TV, a production company that produces re-create crime shows, asked him to AD, he told them he was looking for more art department gigs, “and that’s when I met you and Callen [Golden]!” Since then, I, Jess, have worked my summers with Stanford and Lion TV!

“I find this department far more rewarding and we work with our hands a lot and, if not, you’re designing it — and it comes together in the end and then you think, ‘Wow we did this’ and then we take it all down.”

Since Stanford has an architectural background, he started looking for Art Director jobs, but there isn’t a true thread for that title on non-union jobs. One day he can be preparing drafts, making a lookbook, or simply picking things up and putting them down — but that’s what he loves about our department.

“We’re the department of life hacks, we’re resourceful and we’re the big kids who never grew up.”

Recently, he has gotten more into props, “I love finding or making unique props, and it’s definitely stood out to me.” He has been collecting over the years and like many of us “I’m a hoarder with all of my toys and because I think ‘maybe I’ll need it in the next two years.’” He changes the design of his bearded dragon’s terrarium with new props. I secretly hope Stanford will one day make a set design Instagram where he changes the set weekly for his dragon (it’s the little things in life).

In addition to his growing love for props, Stanford and his partner had a daughter, Miles, who is 2 years grown. It’s because of our industry he can integrate being a present parent and a part of the art department.

“There are ways to manage it. Now I feel like I’m on set 24/7 and I’m critical now of time management.”

As a freelancer, we usually work back to back, but Stanford has learned that he can work gigs that last 2 months tops and then take some downtime to see his daughter grow up. Once we were in lockdown and Stanford was home, Miles took her first step as if she’s aware of the family-time schedule! It’s not uncommon for folx in our industry to use our skill sets and weird schedules to be involved with their family and, even Quinn Stone created her studio when she was had a 4 month-year-old.

If you would like advice and to connect with artists who are doing it all, join ArtCube Nation, the Social Professional Network of the Art Department!

Michael Stanford

Michael Stanford, as Stanford James LLC, is a crafty and creative Philadelphia native.

Driven by the artistry of television, studying the science of film production and business were essential in his path to success in the industry.

Now as an experienced Art Director, Lead, and Prop Master, he takes pride in the challenges of bringing unique stories to life.

Driven by an interest in architecture his goals are to better his craft and move towards set design.
How do you find YOUR way into Hollywood?
By: Hudson Phillips
Tags: Screenplay, Scriptblast, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing

Photo by Neil Soni on Unsplash

I want to share an analogy I heard but didn’t realize how real it was until further along in my writing journey:

There is a castle that has many doors, but if one peasant finds a door and makes their way in, the King orders that door to be closed and cemented off, never to be used again. So the next peasant has to find another door and that cycle continues.

There are many ways to break in, but you have to find YOUR way in. You wouldn’t be able to do it the way I’m doing it and I wasn’t able to do it the way the writers I look up to have done it.

Okay, so what are SOME ways that might end up being YOUR way?

· Make stuff. Make short films. Do a 48 hour film fest. Make your own tiny budget movies.

· Write. Write shorts. Write MULTIPLE features. Write novels. Write comic books. Write commercials for local businesses.

· Get your work out there. Self-publish. Get work in anthologies. Post your work online. Have a social media presence and don’t be shy about it. People love hearing about others who chase their dreams.

· Enter contests. Enter fellowships. Enter film fests. Upload your script to script-hosting sites.

· Meet people. Go to film festivals or screenwriting events. Set up lunches / coffees with local filmmakers. Email or DM those you look up to. Don’t ask for favors, but see what you can offer of value.

· Explore other interests. Be a well-rounded human being. Experience life. Have interesting stories. Be the person who everyone wants to work with.

I know you might look at this list and think it’s exhausting, especially for my fellow introverts. And it is. Especially when you consider just how long all this stuff takes. But if it were easy, I wouldn’t have to be writing this post. My advice would be to try every door you can and try them multiple times. You never know… that door you’re most afraid to try just might be the one that opens.
Point of View and Movement in Film
By: Xxii Consultancy
Tags: Point Of View, Filmmaking, Movement, Directing, Direction

Watchmen

Normal Point of View

less dramatic

the height of the camera at the level of the eyes of the actor

for an objective vision the height must be at the direction of the look of the actor.

2. Inclination of the camera -vertical axis

bidimensional

3. Inclination of the camera -horizontal axis

diagonal over the screen

4. Emphasis

for violent scenes or action

5. Panoramic

descriptive panoramic and panoramic conductor of attention

6. Long-shot

décor

7. Close-up

actors expression
I did not like Tenet in the first viewing. The second time, I nearly lost it. Here’s why?
By: Ajay Pokharel
Tags: Tenet 2020, Filmmaking, Cinema, Film

Denzel Washington in Tenet

“Today, I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not at all interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse.” ― Francois Truffaut

The first time I watched Tenet by Christopher Nolan, the visionary director’s latest extravaganza that surrounds around time inversion and a character literally named The Protagonist on his mission to prevent a nuclear holocaust, I did not quite like the film.

The gorgeous cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema was breathtaking to look at; the extremely catchy score by Ludwig Göransson, who has won the Best Score Oscar for his work on the Black Panther, filled my ears with its unique tone; the editing was on point, and the concept was phenomenal. But I did not quite fall over the film as I have fallen over past Christopher Nolan movies, especially Dunkirk, which I consider to be his grand opus.

The reason: I was not viewing the film collectively. I was looking at the bits and pieces and trying to make some sense out of it. It seemed Nolan was presenting a simple story in a rather complex way. As a result, the story felt scattered, the characters emotionless, the director directionless.

However, the second time I watched it, I nearly lost it. The joy of the cinema, the filmmaking, the unknown territory that Nolan was asking me to enter, the mise-en-scene beautifully composed, the choreography―everything started exciting my blood, exciting me, heating my chest. I realized that the film is supposed to be complex so that both the joy and agony of making a cinema can be reflected. It was like watching Jean Luc Goddard’s Breathless, where the jump cuts initially do not make much sense in terms of story, but boy if they do not add to the technical and aesthetic beauty. It was also like watching Jacques Rivette’s La Belle Noiseuse; the long brush strokes are not necessary, but how it adds exceptional beauty to the film.

As the movie says, “Don’t try to understand it; feel it!” This movie, like women, is to be felt, not understood.
Agile Film Production
By: Ali Akhavan
Tags: Film Production, Production, Software, Filmmaking, Agile

I come from a software engineering background into filmmaking. In engineering companies, teams constantly try to improve their process. Most of my recent teams have used an agile process to develop the product.

In agile, the product is constantly iterated on. Big features are broken down into smaller tasks that can be accomplished in a sprint, typically a two week period. Team members pick these smaller tasks when they become free and execute on them. The secret sauce of agile is the iterations and the smaller size of the tasks. The obsessive breaking down of bigger problems encourages team collaboration.

I’ve been experimenting with this process for making short films. This is actually more realistic than a full time production schedule given that most indie filmmakers these days have day jobs. Let’s call this incremental filmmaking, where a piece of the film is produced each week (sprint). This process is nothing new. Chris Nolan made Following, his first feature by shooting on Saturdays.

As you can imagine or perhaps experienced yourself, continuity becomes an issue. Although it can be mitigated by careful planning between production days, e.g. actors having the same costume and haircut.

In addition to producing the film incrementally, I am also intrigued by publishing the work gradually. So for our last short film, we have published episodes of the full film each week. With each episode running for less than two minutes, the challenge is to have each episode be self contained and not heavily depend on other episodes. This has been my main challenge in writing for an incremental production and publishing.

I am curious to hear about your experience with incremental filmmaking. You can watch the episodes we made for The Rent in our Youtube channel.

The Rent Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6p3FQ4oMHs

The Rent Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRr5hLBEynI

I am curious to hear your experience around production scheduling for short and longer form films.
Doing the (almost) impossible
By: Idunn Marthinsen
Tags: TV Series, Filmmaking, Film, Norwich, Creativity

Doing the (almost) impossible

Filmmaking is hard. Especially for students.

There are so many pieces needing to fit together.

How do you get money? Do everyone’s schedules line up? Will people drop out at the last minute?

We’ve been told by many that this is an impossible project… and they might be right. I leave every meeting slightly overwhelmed by the scope of what we have to do. We don’t have nearly enough money or people and a lot of us lack experience and skills.

The pieces won’t fit.

And that’s why it will all work out.

One of our many Zoom meetings

I joined the Relic workspace on Slack, which is where we do everything currently, in mid-July. It’s now nearing 2021, and this series (which I at first thought sounded kind of strange) has become a child.

I will do anything to take care of this baby.

Do I know how? No!

Do I have anyone to give me advice about it it? Not really!

But I’ll sacrifice a lot to keep it alive and healthy for long enough to see it interact with the world.

We all would.

And that’s why it can be done.

We’re not striving for perfection or professionalism. We’re just doing our best.

Two days after joining the project, I was asked to direct an episode for no reason other than having joined the Slack. Usually I would have said “no, I have no experience”. And I did. I told the people at the pre-production meeting I didn’t know if I was good enough, because that’s what we (women, especially) are taught to do.

But they — the two crewmembers who had the time to show up — convinced me it didn’t matter. And I try to bring that same attitude to the newcomers to the project. None of us really know what we’re doing, and that’s ok. That makes it fun and creative and different. That’s why we’ll do anything to make this series happen.

The project keeps growing and it feels a little bit like it’s getting ahead of us. But as our team is growing, we’re amazed at how willing people are to help. Our crew are all passionate and talented and lovely. We’ve also made nearly £300 on our crowdfunder. That’s 97 coffees. 97 people who are willing to give up their money to help us (If that’s you, thank you!). That’s hope — it brings us closer to making what we want, the way we want to make it.

Relic is our first shot. This is the chance we have, right now, to move one step closer to our dreams by making something we love.

So we’ll make it.

We’ll make it like our lives depend on it.

Idunn Marthinsen, Showrunner
A Filmmakers's Best Friend
By: Justin Rypma
Tags: Novap300c, Filmmaking, Lighting, Cinematography, Aputure

A Filmmaker’s Best Friend

Whether you work as a professional cinematographer or enjoy shooting videos as a hobby, you’re going to encounter a wide range of stories that require specific tools to visually bring them to life.

Despite an ever-expanding range of filmmaking gear offered to creatives to meet these demands, budgets and production timelines continue to shrink. In the world of lighting especially, every creative is forced to think critically before adding to their toolkit.

It certainly helps when one light can be adapted to take the place of many.

ABOVE: Cinematographer Nicholas Chin

Today we take a behind-the-scenes tour of three different projects recently shot by cinematographer Nicholas Chin.

As a full-time DP and rental house owner at 2117_Rentals, Nicholas takes pride in incorporating new technology into seemingly traditional workflows. He relies on the Aputure ecosystem for the bulk of his lighting arsenal and considers the built-in Sidus Link Bluetooth control app to be a game-changer for efficiency.

With the help of various optical and soft light modifiers, he adapts two styles of lights to cover the needs of most productions. First, Bowens mount point-source LEDs (LS 300D II, LS 300X) and second, color-mixing soft panel LEDs (Nova P300c).
Francis Ellis joins cast of indie comedy ‘The Rest of Your Life’
By: Four Three
Tags: New York City, Francis Ellis, Filmmaking, Comedy, Indie Movie

Comedian Francis Ellis joins cast of The Rest of Your Life

Comedian, actor and writer Francis Ellis has officially joined The Rest of Your Life, taking on the role of Steven… Amanda’s newest pal in New York City.

Francis Ellis hosts Oops the Podcast, alongside Giulio Gallarotti. Additionally, he has written for Barstool Sports, where he hosted the popular Sirius XM morning radio show Barstool Breakfast with Willie Colon and Large.

When there isn’t a global pandemic happening, he performs most nights in New York. Francis has also toured and performed in China, Australia, Sweden, British Columbia, and across the United States. In May 2019, Francis filmed his first stand-up special Bad Guy, which is available on Barstool Gold.

Michael Pomeroy and Francis Ellis on the set of The Rest of Your Life

The Rest of Your Life is a coming-of-age story about Brian (Michael Pomeroy), a post-grad office drone in Ohio whose girlfriend Amanda (Brittany Brave) moves to New York City for medical school, forcing him to confront and shed the bonds of his family and suburban society’s expectations, with the help of his co-worker George (Matt Hardy).

Four by Three presents The Rest of Your Life a Michael Pomeroy film, coming Fall 2021. IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12980526/?ref_=pro_tt_visitcons
How A Movie Went From Production To Netflix In 4 Months — Shaun Paul Piccinino
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Film, Netflix, Cinema

How A Movie Went From Production To Netflix In 4 Months — Shaun Paul Piccinino FilmCourage.com Follow Dec 17, 2020 · 2 min read

Film Courage: When was the production for A CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS?

Shaun Paul Piccinino, Filmmaker: We started filming (I’m trying to remember the exact date) but it was it was in July.

Film Courage: Of 2020?

Shaun: July of 2020. It was a very quick turnaround from filming to release. We were working 24/7 to get it finished through post and delivered…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
2o2o.
By: Mv Srikanth
Tags: Photojournalism, Filmmaking, Documentary, Documentary Photography, Andhra Pradesh

2o2o.

Photo album.

One thing I shall hold dear in this unfortunate year 2020 is the experience of making my first documentary film all alone.

The following are some pictures during the process of filming.

Visakha Manyam. 2020.

Tagarapuvalasa, Andhra Pradesh, 2o2o.

Eastern Ghats, Paderu, Andhra Pradesh, 2020.

Turmeric farmer.

Cattle.

Coffee farm.

Harvest.

The End.
The Honest Truth about Filmmaking
By: Lance Aldreen Eugenio
Tags: Filmmaking, Filmmaker

You are pursuing filmmaking? You want to be a filmmaker and make a career out of it? I guess we’re in the same boat. But, first, let me introduce myself. I am Lance and currently studying Arts and Communication because I think it’s the best way to achieve my dreams in filmmaking.

Yes, you’re right it’s boring, why should we study in college or university in the first place when there’s a lot of free stuff online that you can learn from. Filmmaking is about expressing your emotions, your stories to tell the world at least for me because we only live once, it is a way for us filmmakers to be remembered, to leave something behind that can ignite that fire in future generations. Let me tell you the truth about filmmaking, it’s not about needing money or skills to create something incredible, because worrying about those things won’t make you a better creator either. You don’t need to believe everyone saying that “to become a good creator means you need an expensive camera or advanced editing software”, what you need is to take action. That’s the simple and hard truth. It doesn’t matter if you have the equipment or skills when you don’t take action on taking the first step.

Take action, now. Be consistent and something unique that they can’t help but notice you. A great looking film is useless without a good story. Never waste your time whining, remember we only live once, it’s up to us how we use our time wisely.
Episode 812: Stefanie Bloom
By: No Rest For The Weekend
Tags: Acting, Interview, Filmmaking, Podcast, Actors

Hosted by Jason Godbey, Creative Director, Behind the Rabbit Productions

On this episode actor Stefanie Bloom returns to the podcast to talk about her most recent projects and acting during the Covid era.

To see more with Stefanie Bloom, click here.

Follow us here for new episodes every Wednesday as well as updates and movie reviews or subscribe to our YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast app.
Creandum’s 100th backing: Kive — the next-generation asset platform for creators
By: Fredrik Cassel
Tags: Creative, Filmmaking, Early Stage, Venture Capital, Portfolio News

For those of you who work in the creative industries, you know the painful headache of messy digital libraries, siloed files, and manual workflows all too well. Current tools to manage digital creative assets lack functionality for collaboration, are labor-intensive, and demand countless hours that creatives should be using to actually create. More importantly, they are not built by the people who will use them.

Enter Kive — the next-generation asset platform for creators

Kive is a shareable, self-organizing content library located in the cloud that lets you interact with your assets from any device and recognizes specific elements, including human emotions, environments and lighting, but also actions, faces, types of shot (such as close-ups), time of day and thousands of others. Think Pinterest for professional creatives, but faster, multiplayer first, with fine-grained search and much nicer to use.

Our hypothesis: As some of you may know, a well-known Creandum first principle when evaluating early-stage companies is to simply consider user love as a proxy for the adaptation of the product by the market (think Spotify, Vivino, Kry, shapr3D, Depop, etc.).

Talking to some of the end-users of Kive’s beta product, we could quickly tick all the boxes:

✅ The platform creates real value by saving users “hours, if not days” of work.

✅ The product is carefully refined based on user feedback and engagement — a process that will help Kive offer its products to a broader market and segmented audiences in the future.

✅ The founder’s laser focus on early user delight already fuels word-of-mouth marketing among creative professionals.

✅ Users value the thorough understanding of the creative processes “that can only come from someone who has experienced the problem themselves”.