fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
The two areas writers need to master in order to handle rejection.
By: Hudson Phillips
Tags: Screenplay, Scriptblast, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing

Photo by Madison Lavern on Unsplash

Some weeks are full of good news and forward momentum, but other times it’s full of bad news and rejection. So goes the life of the screenwriter. How are you preparing for it?

Two areas that you’re going to have to figure out on your screenwriting journey that are in a constant battle and require a difficult balance:

Personal Development. Can you set goals? Can you break those goals down into a practical to-do list? Can you set up daily habits to help you reach those goals? Can you stay focused on a project in the face of constant rejection? Can you always finish what you start? Can you do all of this with one project only to see it go nowhere and be willing to put it behind you and start on the next one? It is hard and brutal, but this is what it takes. Mental Health. Can you remind yourself that your value doesn’t come from whether others accept your art or not? Can you take time to love yourself and be thankful for your journey? Can you draw boundaries from those who are trying to suck your energy away so you can retain that energy for your writing? Can you find the balance between taking time for yourself while still treating your writing like a job and hitting your deadlines?

The writers who make it are the ones who figure out these two areas. And then keep going. The job never gets easier. All that struggle and rejection you’re experiencing now only increases as you go. You gotta learn how to deal with it in a healthy way or the journey will beat you up and spit you out. It starts now. Figure out those habits to get it done and don’t forget to love yourself along the way.

Feel free to respond to this with your own personal development and mental health tips!
T2R
By: Stéphane Wharton
Tags: Street Photography, Filmmaking, Film, Océan, Beach

in Go Into The Story
A Great Movie Idea Isn’t Enough — Kenneth Castillo
Tags: Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing Tips, Writer, Writing

Film Courage: Let’s say someone has a great story idea, what do they do next?

Kenneth Castillo, Filmmaker/Author: Well the thing is there’s a lot of things they can do. I get people who come up to me with story ideas all the time and I say Well, write it. They have an idea and they think that’s enough and that’s not enough. If you have an idea and you manage to make it into a story and then turn that story into a script, now you have something and then you say Yeah well, that’s my script, it’s so big, it’s a 10 million dollar budget there’s nothing we can do about it. Well what can we shoot from it that isn’t going to cost you 10 million dollars? That’s what I’m doing right now. A script I’d been writing for 10 years that I want to get made I finally just said I’ve got to shoot something from this. The script is done, it’s done. It’s ready to go. I’m not going to get money to do this because they’re not going to understand…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
How To Direct A Great Scene — Frank Coraci
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Film, Television, Cinema

Film Courage: How do you direct a great scene? What are you looking for? What has to happen?

Frank Coraci, Writer/Director: How do I direct a great scene? That’s not a fair question [laughs]. You’ve got to direct a scene as best you can and then sometimes there are moments where you’re like Wow this could be the best scene in the movie. You just try to service the story the best you can. Some movies I feel like you want the hand of the director to push it around and move the camera. Other movies like a romantic comedy like THE WEDDING SINGER I wanted to just step back and not feel the director’s hand. On that movie I used colors to tell the story. Adam goes from when he’s happy to blue. When he gets his heart broken he camera dollies and you see red brick behind him from that point on he is in…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Enjoyment is defined as, “the state or process of taking pleasure in something.”
By: Austin Widmer
Tags: Goals, Filmmaking, Future

Enjoyment is defined as, “the state or process of taking pleasure in something.” Everyone in the world receives pleasure from various commodities and activities. Specifically, I enjoy entertaining people. My name is Austin Widmer and I am majoring in Filmmaking at Montclair State University. I truly love to bring a sense of a desired emotion to one. For instance, I enjoy making people laugh, while I also enjoy helping them out. However they wish to feel, I hope to portray through the use of entertainment. In addition, I enjoy traveling to new places and seeing how other people live. I really like picking up on people’s mannerisms and little motifs they carry out throughout their everyday lives. I attempt to replicate these mannerisms and use them in my own way throughout life.

I am good at coming up with unique stories and some voice over narrations. I have written a couple short films and other projects in the past. In those films, I like adding voice overs when appropriate and believe some of my voices are decent. I am also good at memorization; therefore, I like being placed in acting positions. I was always capable of memorizing all my notes the night before an exam, as well as lines in a script. I am not amazing at these listed attributes, but I hope to perfect them.

There are a plentiful amount of jobs I could get paid to do, yet obtaining those professions are sometimes difficult to do. I can get paid to become a script writer. If I was hired by a company or organization, I could possibly write for them. Also, writing my own movies would be ideal, but it’s a stretch. I can get paid as an actor, yet many actors do not make what they’re looking to receive. If I really worked on voice overs, I could get paid as a narrator or some profession with voices. I could audition for SNL and start there working on projects. Honestly right now, any of these options would be ideal.

The world is always needing more talent, entertainment, and storytellers. I could and wish to participate in all of these. I can give stories and write them for the world throughout a means of entertainment. I would want to be part of some of the films I write or help develop. I can give myself an empty role that needs to be filled. The world needs to open back up again once a vaccine is released. I hope that I can be a large part of this entertainment for the world. I will use my skills from the second paragraph to perform what I enjoy. Thus, getting paid to do what you love is all I am looking for. I believe the world needs all of us, we just have to give it our all.

This image is the title of a film I am currently working on:
A Distributor Told Me What Movie To Make Next — Geoff Ryan
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Film, Entertainment, Cinema

Film Courage: Did your distributor Indie Rights give you the idea for a vampire movie or it’s something you came up with and pitched it to them?

Geoff Ryan, Writer/Director: I met Michael and Linda through Fray [movie] and Indie Rights was just phenomenal for the film. As anyone who has ever gone through distribution knows it’s a nightmare process. When you find a good distributor, cling to them, become good friends. We were at dinner one night and I was talking with them and had recently come across a note pad that had some notes of this film. I was telling them about it, just the initial ideas for it and the next day Michael texted me and basically said This should be your next film. This is something that could…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).

Related videos:

5 Things Filmmakers Should Know About Self-Distribution — Josh Folan

What Nobody Is Going To Tell You About Film Distributors — Mark Harris

How To Distribute An Independent Movie

Red Flags Of A Movie Distribution Deal by Mark Heidelberger

How AFM Helped A Filmmaker Find Distribution by Keith Sutliff
Video: “Give a Shit”
By: Scott Myers
Tags: Movies, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Documentary, Television

A 12-minute documentary by film school students about what they have learned being part of a live-event crew featuring notable filmmaking guests.

The DePaul University Visiting Artists Series crew with guest Bo Burnham

Since 2016, I have had the privilege of being an assistant professor of screenwriting at The Film School at DePaul University. I say privilege for many reasons, not the least of which is the students. Our 1,100+ film school students in 11 areas of concentration, both undergraduate and graduate, are both talented and industrious. It is common they not only take a full load of classes, but also one, even two jobs. As a result, they take their education seriously and carry that passion and work ethos with them into the film and television business resulting in countless successful careers.

One of the programs which benefits DePaul students is the Visiting Artists Series. Over the years under its auspices, the school has hosted a who’s who of creatives involved in the world of film and TV including Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project), John Musker (Aladdin, Moana), Rainn Wilson (Juno, The Office), Stephen Merchant (Extras, The Ricky Gervais Show), Steve Levitan (Modern Family), Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade), Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man), Bob Gale (Back to the Future), the Wachowskis (The Matrix, V for Vendetta), Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking, The Shawshank Redemption), and many more.

Here’s the thing: Under the guidance of one of my faculty colleagues Wendy Roderweiss, these live events are produced entirely by students. As part of the program, they not only learn skills which they can translate into the real world, they also learn invaluable life lessons.

One such student who participated in the VAS program during their time at DePaul is Jackie Sparrow. I was pleased to work with Jackie in the MFA in Screenwriting program for three quarters and somehow they managed to be involved in dozens of live VAS events. From 2017–2020, they captured footage of various members of the production team as well as interviewing some of them with a vision to put together a documentary highlighting some of those life lessons. Take a look and be inspired by young people exuberant about what they do.

Give a shit. Whatever it is you do in life, you have to care about it. You have to want to do a good job. You have to strive to excel. This is nowhere more true than with any job in the entertainment business.

So thanks, Jackie, for this documentary which reminds us of a basic truism for anyone hoping to succeed in the film and television business.

You may check out dozens of DePaul Visiting Artists Series videos and subscribe to their YouTube channel here.
Designing Your Film’s Artwork for Streaming Services & Social Media
By: Fireship Marketing
Tags: Marketing, Filmmaking, Filmmaker, Independent Film, Streaming Video

Wow! Your film’s poster is gorgeous.

It captures the essence of your film while simultaneously capturing the eyes of your audience. It will look great hanging on the walls of theaters and painted on the sides of billboards. Congratulations!

One small issue…. It doesn’t look good small. Which is actually a big issue.

In today’s world, your film will live on the small screen much, much longer than it will ever live in theaters (if it goes to theaters at all). Which means your larger-than-life poster may not be attracting it’s true audience. We at FireShip encourage you to consider the following when designing your artwork for streaming services.

SIZE & SCOPE

On streaming platforms, your film’s artwork will be small and lined up with several others. The size will completely vary depending on which platform your film is located and what device it’s being viewed on.

We recommend designing with the smallest streaming capable device in mind; the phone. The best way to make your film stand out when it’s no bigger than an app is to choose a simple, minimalist design with pops of color.

TEXT

Make your title as big as your design will allow and keep credits, loglines, and any other text that you would see on a traditional poster to a minimum, if any at all. Choose simple, clear fonts that are easy to read. You may be a fan of Curlz and WingDings, but this is definitely not the place to use them! (Is there ever really a reason to use Curlz or WingDings?)

BE INSPIRED

Be sure to scope out your competition! Look at other films in similar genres and with similar names. Look at the films yours will be placed next to, and think of ways you can stand out. And of course, our team at FireShip are experts on the subject and are here to help!

DIMENSIONS GUIDE

VIMEO

Icon: 600 x 600

Cover Video: crops to 1920 x 540 max

Details from Vimeo here.

YOUTUBE

Icon: 800 x 800

Banner: Maximum: 2560 x 1440

Minimum recommended: 2048 x 1152

Due to cropping on various devices, safe area for text and logos on all devices: 1546 x 423

TWITTER

Icon: 400 x 400

Banner: 1500 x 500

Video size: 720 x 720 (square), 1280 x 720 (landscape), 720 x 1280 (portrait) 1024 x 512

INSTAGRAM

Icon: 110 x 110

Story: 1080 x 1920

Image post: 1080 x 1080 (square), 1080 x 566 (landscape), 1080 x 1350 (portrait)

Video post: 600 x 600 (square), 600 x 315 (landscape), 600 x 750 (portrait), 600 x 700 (Carousel video dimensions)

Ad: 1080 x 566 (landscape), 1080 x 1080 (square)

FACEBOOK

Icon: 170x170 (crops to circle)

Banner: 820 x 462

Displays at 820 x 312 on computers, 640 x 360 on smartphones.

Event image 1920 x 1080

Post image: 1200 x 630

Link image: 1200 x 630

Ad image: 1200 x 628

Ad video: 1280 x 720

Have questions? We’re here to help!

Visit us: fireshipmarketing.com

Contact us: fireship@vanishingangle.com
~»Sex and Zen ‘2020’ ONLINE. [Unlimited-Download] »»HD_Streaming.Free
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Full, Film, Film Reviews

❖Sex and Zen Online Free 2020

DOWNLOAD!! Sex and Zen Online Free ‘2020’

Title : Sex and Zen Full Movie Online Free

Release : 1991–11–30

Runtime : 99 min.

Genre : Drama, Adventure, Comedy, Romance

Country : Hong Kong

Stars : Lawrence Ng, Kent Cheng, Elvis Tsui, Amy Yip, Isabelle Chow Wang, Rena Murakami

Overview : A recently married scholar goes on a quest for knowledge of other people’s wives, based on his philosophical differences with the Sack Monk. He encounters the Flying Thief, who agrees to help him find women, but only if he attains a penis as big as a horse’s. The scholar has a surgeon attach said unit, and he’s off and running on his mission, only to find that there are obstacles to his new lifestyle, such as jealous husbands and treacherous females.
The Cinematography in “A Clockwork Orange”
By: Victoria A. Da Silveira
Tags: Stanley Kubrick, Filmmaking, A Clockwork Orange, Film, Cinematography

The Cinematography in “A Clockwork Orange”

Video-Analysis — The Cinematography in A Clockwork Orange

by Victoria Silveira

I. Introduction

Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, released in 1971, depicted the lifestyle of a British gang in a near future, based on a same-named book by Anthony Burgess. Alex and his trio of droogs engaged in fights, muggings, rapes and other assorted viciousness; all this offered a new zeitgeist-decade of violence, anger and misogyny that relied completely on the participation of this internal society that saw these acts as everyday events.

Not different from other Kubrick’s productions, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980), the cinematography plays a very important role in A Clockwork Orange. The color palettes, frames and camera movements were used in such a way that they became extremely necessary for the full comprehension of the plot and the characters’ personalities traits. In some way, it is possible to infer that, when talking about such troubled characters being portrayed without any taboo, the cinematography presents itself as a form of storyteller without the actual needs of words:

When you think of the greatest moments of film, I think you are almost always involved with images rather than scenes, and certainly never dialogue. — Stanley Kubrick

When talking about the cinematography in this film, it is worth pointing out the great occurrence of zoom-out shots. They are mainly used to place the characters in the space realm of the story and to outline their personality features. This happens not only with Alex, but also with other characters such as the drunk man, Mr. Alexander and the guys from the rival gang. Let us illustrate the above considerations with the two first scenes of the film, which outlines two different, and even opposite, positions in this dystopian society:
NEED FOR TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION IN THE FILM INDUSTRY
By: Artha Application
Tags: Platform, Entertainment Industry, Communication, Filmmaking, Film

Communication is the basis of every function, and transparent communication is the road to have clear running. In the film industry, where a large number of people- artists, vendors, producers, production houses, and sponsors are involved and to manage the communication between all is what makes the film a success.

Often, a lot of important information gets misplaced and leads to miscommunication in the grapevine that occurs due to too many points of communication. The entire process of filmmaking is highly complex and requires a lot of props and resources but, when the transmission is clear and transparent, it becomes quick to obtain the right resources at the right time, saving both money and time.

The film industry often needs to hold backups in case of sudden requirements, but with the right communication platform, the requirements can be met, and with prior preparation of schedules known to everybody,

Such kind of communication not only creates a sense of trust but also enhances the productivity of the entire chain of the filmmaking process. Regular communication and easy flow of information between the team builds trust and relationships that lead to them continuing to do work with you.

The right level of communication gets you the talent and offers better understanding, and creates a greater focus on the task at hand. A platform that can make coordination and communication flow at ease, and the conversation is not lost is the best way for a conversation that requires documentation and clear understanding.

In the film industry, often the focus is placed on the end film, but in the making of that film, every point of discussion and communication has to be clear and concise. There is never much time to explain and re-explain the flow, so when transparent communication flows through, everybody is a part of the conversation and can focus on the task accordingly.

We at Artha are building something amazing. Do follow on social media to stay updated.
The week when we finally posted new casting calls
Tags: Indie Filmmaking, Filmmaking, Indie Film, Independent Film, Independent Film Project

Reviewing the shot list on the set of “okay” / October 31, 2020

At the risk of beating a dead horse, another “COVID complication” we’ve been navigating is the audition process.

For our first #42SecondShorts series, we spent an afternoon curating a contact list of Delaware arts organizations, university theatre groups, school performing arts programs, music ensembles, etc. and mass emailed our first round of casting calls.

To be honest, I was afraid that no one would respond, finding the virtual audition process to be too impersonal and odd since we couldn’t hold in-person auditions. Fortunately, these worries were for nothing, and we were able to fill all of our roles (admittedly, with a few rewrites) in just a few days.

Now that we’re casting for our second series, I’d like to share a few details about how our virtual audition process works.

As you’ve probably seen from our first two projects, our microshorts are more camera led than character directed. When it comes to filling these roles, we’re more concerned about personality — Do you have a positive attitude? Will you be easy to work with? Can you be flexible in these weird, COVID-production times? — than resumes or headshots or prior on-camera/on-stage experience.

While we ask that you submit a headshot and resume/demo reel (if applicable) with your audition, it’s really the 30-second video introduction that we value the most. It’s not easy to talk about yourself on camera, but we’ve found it to be the best way to virtually “meet” you.

After the audition submission period closes, we schedule a one-on-one Zoom call with you to properly introduce ourselves, better get to know you, and to give you more details about what your day on set will look like. When we finish these meetings, we then place you in a role that we believe to best fit you.

While I look forward to the days when we can safely return to in-person auditions, I actually think these virtual auditions have given us an opportunity to meet and connect with more Delaware-area talent.

With all of that said, I hope you take a moment to check out our new casting calls. If you don’t see a listing that fits you, be sure to submit your information to our open talent call so we can contact you for future projects that might interest you.

Of course, if you have any questions or issues submitting your audition, please email me. Talk soon!

- J
So, what’s it really like being an artist?
By: Quincy G. Ledbetter
Tags: Art, Filmmaking, Artist

A comprehensive look at what it feels like to be a working creative.

Being an artist is akin to taking off all of your clothes to the skins and walking around Times Square presenting yourself to everyone, not only hoping that they like what they see, but that they’re also inspired by it.

When they tell you that they’re not impressed or inspired (and may even be offended) by your nakedness, you go home to do a few push ups so you can hurry back to Times Square to do it all again.

The beautifully tragic thing about this absolutely mental way of life is that you have no desire to do anything else.

That’s it.
Week 64 — Toothpaste and OJ. November 9 to November 15, 2020
By: Sarah Cole
Tags: Diary, Filmmaking, Daily Blog, Film, Film Reviews

Week 64 — Toothpaste and OJ

*no Week 63! Got really behind on my reviews so I stopped watching movies for a bit to stop the backlog (it didn’t work)

11/11/20

Still from Endings, Beginnings (2020)

Endings, Beginnings — Drake Doremus, 2020

When my mom and I found out this movie was “unrated” we jokingly said that we hoped we would get some Sebastian Stan butt, since he was the biggest reason we were watching this movie. Spoiler alert — there are a couple pretty graphic sex scenes that I do not recommend watching with your parents. And yes, for all of those wondering, we did get some solid Sebastian Stan butt. And also naked Shailene Woodley! This movie is equal-opportunity in terms of nudity. Much of the plot is based around sex, so that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. I think it was only unrated because it’s an indie film and there is a lot of swearing and smoking. The sex wasn’t too scandalizing.

Something really neat about this movie is that, supposedly, it was all improvised. That is really, really hard to do. I think that lends the movie an air of realism that is impossible to get from a script, and allows these talented actors to shine. Now, because of the improvised nature of the lines, conversations tend to be edited strangely, with shots cutting people off mid-sentence while the audio continues, seemingly uninterrupted. I understand why this editing was necessary to stitch two improvised audio takes together, but it made everything feel disjointed and totally undid any effects of “reality”. So that was a shame. The film in general is a meandering reflection on life as a woman in your early thirties, and criminally underuses one Matthew Gray Gubler.
November highlights
By: London Film School
Tags: Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Film, Cinema, Film Reviews

November highlights

Find out more about studying at London Film School: MA Filmmaking, Screenwriting, and International Film Business.

Still from Listen, directed by LFS alumna Ana Rocha de Sousa (2020)

Highlights

Alumna Ana Rocha de Sousa’s (MAF 173) Venice Biennale-award winning debut feature Listen has been selected as Portugal’s International Oscar selection for 2021.

Alumnus Alvaro Gago’s (MAF 175) short film 16 de Decembro has been selected to compete in the Short Film category of the 35th Goya Awards.

Huge congratulations to MA Screenwriting alumna Kefi Chadwick (MAS 7), longlisted in the British Independent Film Awards Best Debut Screenwriter category for her work on Looted, which has picked up strong reviews all round, including 4 stars from The Guardian.

Longlisted in the BIFA Short Film category are two LFS graduation films, Summer Shade (dir. Shira Haimovici, DoP. Tamas Apor Meder, co-prod. Adam Robinson) and Filipiñana (dir. Rafael Manuel, prod. Naomi Pacifique, DoP. Xenia Patricia, prod. design Andrea Vigoni).

Alumna Dornaz Hajiha (MAF 180) won the Torino Film Lab Production Award for her project Diaphanous.

LFS alumnus and documentary filmmaker Ian Bonhôte’s (DF 135) latest film, Rising Phoenix, has been nominated for two Critics Choice Awards including Best Sports Documentary.
CONCURSO GUION DE LARGOMETRAJE 2020: GANADOR, FINALISTAS Y SEMIFINALISTAS
By: Filmarket Hub
Tags: Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing, Movies

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
What Made It: Connecting Vignettes
By: Mia Hagerty
Tags: Commercial, Profile Story, Filmmaking, Filmmaker, Storytelling

Director-duo TwinTaoers hits another one out of the park with their HIV anthem video.

The film is connected through a lush soundbed: a beautiful, echoing cover of “What A Wonderful World” with build-sucks and an orchestral backing play below seven meaningful character vignettes. It isn’t even until 29 seconds in — 10 seconds after the first lyric is sung — that we hear the voiceover of a woman introducing herself as an HIV advocate and learn the subject matter of the video.

Each one has a sort of micro-storyline. The first woman on-screen is also seen doing an everyday activity, washing her dog with her partner:

We also follow an astronomer/star enthusiast engaging in community events:

An athletic man doing a variety of sports and outdoor activities:

A dancer choreographing and rehearsing his upcoming piece:

An HIV support group leader taking his evening commute back to surprise his partner with dinner:

And finally, a woman mourning her positive test results as she prepares for and then has her wedding:

The video connects all of these characters at the end through moments of them flashed alone:

With loved ones:

And in moments of celebration or doing what they love:

All of these moments in summation allow us to step back at the end, 2 minutes and 40 seconds later, and ask ourselves: WTF, was this a commercial? Cause it was way better — and so much more — than just that.

Is it the epic shooting style? The sound effects? The ingenious story build? Each week, I deconstruct a favorite video of mine and explain What Made It. I’m Mia and I’m a freelance videographer. I make videos under Missing In Action Productions and I love to talk about, collaborate on, and make films.
CubeStory: Jess, The Community Manager’s Intro to ArtCube Nation
By: Jess Artcube Nation
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Art, Film, Community

For those of you who don’t know me, hello! I’m Jess Costa, the Community Manager of ArtCube Nation, The Professional Social Network of the Art Department. It’s wonderful if you’re just starting out in the film industry or you’re a well-seasoned pro. When I joined, I was more of the former.

My CubeStory started when I was working on my senior thesis at NYU and I ambitiously wanted to make a Victorian film. I was still figuring it out, working with a shoestring budget, and I had a dream to make this indie period piece come true. I had a producing teacher, Christina DeHaven, who is a wonderfully inspiring woman who always told us, “Say this to yourself, ‘The world would be a better place with my film in it because…’ because your story is worth telling.” She always told us we could figure out a way to make our films, there’s always a way. She heard my aspirations and told me the best community for me would be ArtCube Nation. She emailed me the link and from there I joined the network.

I received advice on how to sell this Victorian world with the small details: from Edison bulbs to types of flowers, and then where to find wholesale flowers in a week. Serendipitously, someone was selling a white, Victorian couch with a dark wood finish 20 minutes from where we were filming. Since my family lived locally, my mom jumped in the pickup and grabbed it for set. It’s that magical moment as one film set ends another begins, which isn’t uncommon on ArtCube. This couch needed to be saved from the dumpster and it became a pivotal piece to ground us in the era.
Week 62 — Happy Halloween!. October 26 to November 1
By: Sarah Cole
Tags: Diary, Filmmaking, Daily Blog, Film, Film Reviews

Week 62 — Happy Halloween!

10/27/20

Still from The Comeback Trail (2020)

The Comeback Trail — George Gallo, 2020

I was lucky enough to get to watch this movie as part of a special screener through the Boulder International Film Festival. At this point, it’s probably been released to the public, but I still get the special distinction of saying that I saw it first. It has a similar premise to The Producers (which I’ve never seen) in that it’s about a couple of producers making a movie that they want to fail. However, in this case, they want to kill the star actor and collect his life insurance money to pay off their crime-boss investor, played to perfection by Morgan Freeman. The casting in this is a lot of fun; Robert De Niro is a talented comedy actor, as is Tommy Lee Jones, surprisingly. Zach Braff is there too, and obviously he is also very funny.

I wasn’t super in the mood to watch anything when we chose to put this on. We had to watch it before our ticket voucher expired, after all. Against my will, I found myself enjoying the ridiculousness of the movie. That’s something else that bears mentioning; it is much more farcical than I was expecting. Robert De Niro gets attacked by a bull. Tommy Lee Jones rides a horse through a burning covered wagon. Morgan Freeman is constantly flanked by hilariously dim cronies. I found it very enjoyable. I don’t mind a little silliness in my movies, especially when presented by very respectable actors. It seemed like this was a movie made just for the fun of it, and everyone involved was having a good time.
How To Get A Movie On Netflix — Jeff Deverett
Tags: Marketing, Filmmaking, Film, Netflix, Cinema

Jeff Deverett, Film Producer, Entrepreneur, Writer, Director: Here’s the big question, how does a new filmmaker even get the first appointment? How do you get the first time in there? Here is how I think you get in.

Film Courage: I believe you have three movies currently on Netflix? Did you pitch all of those movies yourself to Netflix?

Jeff: Okay, so the three movies first of all FULL OUT is the first movie (it’s a gymnastics movie). The second one is called KISS AND CRY (it’s a skating movie). And the third one is called FALL OUT 2: YOU GOT THIS (which is actually starting on January 1st). So it’s already sold and delivered to Netflix but they’re actually starting airing it on January 1st. It’s another gymnastics movie. We were supposed to start it during the Olympics last summer, but of course there were no Olympics so they held it until January. I say it’s on because it’s delivered and that’s when it’s going to start worldwide. Luckily back then when I pitched the first one they were open to hear pitches from independent producers. I got lucky because the timing. They were a big company but they weren’t what they are today. So they were still taking pitches from indie producers. I went in there and I pitched them myself and I learned a lot. It’s a whole different style. They get so many pitches. I didn’t know this back then, you’ve got to keep those pitches really short. Get to the point because they get so many of them that they get tired of hearing them…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).

Related videos:

Chris von Hoffmann On The Impact Netflix Can Have On A Filmmaker’s Life

This Platform Has Had The Biggest Impact On My Filmmaking Career — R.L. Scott

How To Distribute An Independent Movie
How to produce your first film. (A beginner’s guide)
By: Artha Application
Tags: Film, Filmmaking, Producer

This guide is for all aspiring producers who want to be efficient and effective.

Make a list

A script breakdown is a list of all the elements you have got to make the script come to life from props to characters to stunts to special camera equipment to form up. As you read through, you’ll list all the locations, props and personnel needed consistent with the script. Add all those elements into a budget. After you’ve broken your script down, you’ll want to use its elements to form decisions like the number of people you need in your cast and crew, what scenes will you shoot per day, and the way much time you’ll need in pre- and post-production.

Funding

Professional film production can get expensive. Since plenty of individuals are involved, to not mention equipment that has got to be sourced, people to be flown around, housed, dressed, fed, equipment rented, locations rented, film cut, soundtracks. Keep them into consideration while making the list. You’ll find more often than not, wanting to retrofit and modify scripts to satisfy budget.

Hiring

It’s time to hire the crew that you’ll make the movie with, Most of the hiring within the show business comes from word of mouth. Everyone has friends that they will recommend. Since most are trying to find work, that pays, normally it’s just a matter of asking around for recommendations to have your inbox overflowing with available people.

Procuring Equipment

If you’re on a budget, you’ll sometimes staff people up that own their audio, video, and sound equipment but normally you’ll be wanting to rent your equipment for your shoots from a knowledgeable rental company.

Register as corporation

If you’re running a production it’s usually a decent idea to register as a corporation for liability purposes so if you get sued or somebody gets injured it’s the corporate which is responsible and not you. Once it’s created, you’ll want to make sure that everyone signs the contract and the contract is between the corporate and the hired talent.

Production and Post-production

Creating your content involves many moving pieces and is more like running a logistics/accounting business than painting a painting. You will have to coordinate and collaborate with the crew as shooting & editing is a team activity that involves logistics and script execution that you planned in the beginning.

Your film is now ready for your audience.

Do you want to make your day one a breeze? with our service, you sure can! Here’s how.

Our script analysis tools digitize your paperwork to give you clarity in planning, while our marketplace platform helps you hire the right talent for the film and rentals for equipment. All of which comes together in our ERP platform that helps you manage project form the comfort of your desk.
Our Branding
By: Idunn Marthinsen
Tags: TV Series, Relic, Filmmaking, Design, Web Series

Hi, I’m Idunn!

I’m not a graphic design student.

I do, however, have a passion for it.

I also happened to be the only person to volunteer when we needed someone to make a logo for Relic.

As the head of social media for for this project, I take our branding very seriously.

Perhaps too seriously.

But as a student web-series, social media is the only marketing we can afford, and without it, nobody will see our work. The branding and marketing of a TV show or film is something that’s easy to overlook, yet vital to the project’s suuccess.

So, for some potentially interesting content, I though I’d walk you through the process of creating our branding for Relic.

Initially, I used Powerpoint (yes, really) for some rough ideas. It actually works quite well for very simple type-based logos, but we needed more than this:

So, I bit the bullet and paid Adobe a hefty sum of money for a Creative Cloud subscription. While I had some experience in Photoshop and Premiere Pro, I was completely new to Illustrator.

This was definitely a learning-by-doing type process, but eventually I ended up with a large amount of potential logos, fonts, and colour schemes:

For me, selecting a logo was a case of balance.

Vintage or modern? Generic or plain?

We needed it to express the fantasy-elements of the series, but not seem outdated or old. It had to be unique and instantly recognisable, but also simple and accessible.

In addition, I received some feedback form the rest of the team, like wanting to keep the flame from some of the earlier Powerpoint designs. Eventually, we landed on our current logo:

For the colour scheme, I just made a bunch of different options, and made Henry choose one. Thanks Henry!

As for the social media content, I was very insistent on it being serious and professional. We want to seem proper and employable after all.

However, as you can probably sense if you’ve been following us, that qucikly changed!

We’re students! This is a passion project! We want to have fun, and we want our content to be fun.

It’s so important that we find a balance between appearing professional, yet friendly and approachable. This is something we’re trying to keep consistent from our social media, to our promo videos, and blog posts. Hopefully we’re succeeding!

Speaking of which, we’d love to hear from you! If you have feedback, questions, or just want to chat about filmmaking (we’re friendly, I promise!), please reach out on social media or at relicwebseries@gmail.com.

Idunn Marthinsen, Co-showrunner
Don’t forget the most important screenwriting lesson of all: Have fun.
By: Hudson Phillips
Tags: Screenplay, Scriptblast, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing

Photo by Austin Pacheco on Unsplash

"You know when you’re a kid and you get crayons and papers and just draw whatever you want and it’s just a bunch of messy lines, but to you it makes sense, and then they put it on the fridge? From that point on, you’re always trying to get back on the fridge, you start drawing things that look like something, like, the more it looks like a horse, the more chance you have of getting it on the fridge. We wanted to get back to that place before we were trying to make the fridge." - Ryan Gosling

This theme has been running through my life in multiple ways this week: this idea of getting back to being a kid, to re-discovering play, to getting back to the place before I was trying to "make the fridge."

What can you do this week just for the love of it? Not because of some potential outcome? What can you write this week that isn't influenced by all the "how-to" blogs and books and podcasts that have sucked the joy out of writing?

You can have a perfectly structured, perfectly formatted screenplay that checks all the boxes of what the industry is "looking for" and it will be dry and boring and dead on arrival if it is not drenched in your deep-seated passion.

Start with that passion. What is the movie you most wanna see right now that no one is making? What is the idea that you could disappear into for weeks without coming up for breath because you're so excited about it? A script that is fun to write is a script that is fun to read. Go play.
[REGARDER]™ Выкрутасы STREAMING VF GRATUIT | FILM COMPLET En Français~[2020]
Tags: Film Online Gratis, Filmmaking, Film, Film Complet En Français, Full Movie Streaming

in Go Into The Story
6 Most Common Types Of Documentaries — Elias Daughdrill
Tags: Movies, Journalism, Filmmaking, Documentary, Film

Film Courage: We may have touched on this earlier but I was hoping we can go over the modes of documentary film?

Long Beach City College Film Professor/Filmmaker, Elias Daughdrill: Okay, so these are not my modes, these are Bill Nichols modes — there is expository, the observational mode which is completely “objective,” right?…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Agenzia di comunicazione: realizzazione video — Backstage azienda agricola
By: Giorgio Grazioli
Tags: Video Spot, Communication Agency, Video Advertising, Filmmaking, Film

in Go Into The Story
Refleksi 10 Tahun Barkarir Sebagai Penulis Skenario
By: Getar Jagatraya
Tags: Movies, Screenplay, Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Writing

in Go Into The Story
Is It A Bad Idea For A 22 Year Old To Make A Feature Film? — Evan Kidd
Tags: Movies, Filmmaking, Film, College, Cinema

Is It A Bad Idea For A 22 Year Old To Make A Feature Film? — Evan Kidd FilmCourage.com Follow Dec 5, 2020 · 3 min read

Film Courage: Do you think you were too young to make your first feature film?

Evan Kidd, Filmmaker/Podcaster: That’s a great question. Should every 22-year-old make a feature film? Probably not because you’re definitely going to be learning a lot along the way and you’re going to be inexperienced. But I’m really damn glad that I did because for me it kind of set in motion the idea that I could do features films and filmmaking as a career here in North Carolina or elsewhere eventually, Louisiana or anywhere else I find myself in the future and it kind of opened the door to that. Right before that there was a lot of hesitation, there was some uncertainty on could this be possible? Is this even a thing that people do? And I don’t know that there is a magical age where you make a film any better than a different age or whatever but I do think that it’s just experience plus time. So I’d like to think that when I made my second feature last year and it didn’t feel as stressful to me. Certainly there was still stress but it felt probably like the most fun I’ve had in filmmaking where I think when you’re making your first one regardless of what age you were (and I was certainly very young when I did it) but I think that it was the understanding that Hey, the pressure is off a little bit and it’s not the first one, you’ve already set the tone and a lot of times too with the first feature you get really hung up on it as a creative and as a filmmaker because you say this is going to set the tone for everything I ever make. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t but…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).

Related videos:

Best Advice To 22 Year Olds Who Want To Be TV Writers by Jeffrey Davis & Peter Desberg

What A 21 Year Old Should Know About Hollywood by Bill Duke

How A 22-Year Old Found A Hollywood Agent And Sold His First Screenplay by Todd Berger

Advice To 22 Year Old Screenwriters — Wendy Kram
**Business of Film 301**
By: Can Türedi
Tags: Filmmaking, Syllabus

DIY Filmmaking/ Artist as a business person/ Convincing people/ Efficient & Elegant Filmmaking/ Pitfalls & Benefits of Collaborative Partnerships

Can Türedi

can@adafilm.co

**Course Description: **

Filmmaking is both a business and an art form. Filmmakers have the responsibility to get through their ideas in creative ways. We should express our intentions and our subject matter clearly. In this class, we will explore these ways and dive into the real hustle behind DIY filmmaking. We will prepare a detailed pitch document that’s visually impressive and ready to send to the producers!
S&T Success Story: Leveraging Virtual Conferences
By: Show Tell
Tags: Success Story, Filmmaking, Film, Case Study, Film Distribution

GET BUSY LIVING director Chris Burket had explored all the usual channels for getting the word out about his documentary without getting any significant traction. By adopting Partner-Driven Distribution, Show&Tell’s creative approach to distribution that prioritizes partnerships and virtual events, Chris and his team breathed new life into their film. By identifying and connecting with enthusiastic target audiences, they were able to expand the film’s reach and generate meaningful revenue.

“I had no idea these possibilities even existed before doing virtual events.” Chris Burket, director of GET BUSY LIVING

GET BUSY LIVING is a documentary about a professional skydiver’s tragic accident and 18-month road to recovery. After trying conventional approaches to distribution, director Chris Burket and team weren’t getting the traction they knew the film deserved, so they decided to change their strategy.

Using Show&Tell’s Partner Driven Distribution approach, the film team honed in on the film’s subject matter to identify prospective partner organizations in the world of medical rehabilitation. Targeting national conferences that attracted these audiences, the team then used Show&Tell’s virtual event platform to offer a free virtual event with a 15-minute preview version of the film to inspire attendees and drum up excitement for the film.

As a result, they were able to book three keynote presentations at national virtual conferences for nursing and physical therapy organizations. The team discovered that people in these caregiving professions were their target audience–their most enthusiastic fans. Building on the momentum of these national partnerships, Chris re-cut an hour-long version of the film and pitched it to PBS. Next summer, GET BUSY LIVING will screen nationally on PBS.

Show&Tell is a virtual screening and educational platform for filmmakers, by filmmakers.

If you’d like to learn more about our company check out our website and our How It Works Video.
Why Bots & Resellers Are Not The Problem
Tags: Scalpers, Reseller, Bots, Ps5

Estimation Calculation

Last month, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella,

“PlayStation 5 achieved the highest launch month unit and dollar sales for a video game hardware platform in U.S. history,” said Piscatella. “The records were previously held by the PlayStation 4, which debuted in November 2013.”

Sony revealed they sold 2.1 million PS4s during the month of November 2013. The PS4 in November 2013 was 1 console sold at $399. This represents a total of $837.9 million+ sales.

The PS5s currently sell at $499 for the BluRay Edition and $399 for the Digital Edition. Based on stock information obtained from one of the Best Buy stores by an anonymous source, we can predict that both editions of the PS5 are stocked at approximately the same level. While we can’t definitively say the same for all retailers and sales, we can reasonably assume an even amount of stock for both consoles in order to create the base case scenario for number of units sold in November and December.

We use our Best Buy source’s information to understand how much stock one store (online and in-store) received in both months in order to determine if the stock decreased, increased, or stayed the same when comparing November to December. We were also provided with an estimate of the ratio of Blu Ray to Digital consoles, which we found to be 1 to 1. So, that means that the amount they had on hand was about the same for both consoles.

Going off the NPD analyst and our Best Buy source’s information, we can predict that for both November and December this year there were at minimum 2.31 million units of PS5s sold, generating a revenue of approximately $1.037+ billion in sales, which lines up with the NPD analyst’s statement.

Keeping in mind that unit sales is based off of the total amount of units sold and dollar sales is the amount of money generated from PS5 sales, we can approximate that 1.15 million units of each console were sold. For the Blu Ray console, this would result in 1.15 million units times a price of $499 which gives us approximately $576.3 million sales. The same can be done for the Digital Edition but with a price of $399, which is approximately $460.8 million sales. Therefore, the total sales for both consoles combined is approximately $1.037 billion.

This number can vary significantly. Based on the PS4 initial release, 4.2 million units were sold through November and December.

Reports from a few months back suggest that Sony planned on producing as many as 5 to 6 million units for 2020. It is uncertain if they were able to meet these figures.