Scriptnotes, the podcast from screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin that we’ve featured on nofilmschool a number of times (and also happens to be one of the most popular podcasts about that topic), is running a challenge for listeners to submit three pages of their original work, to be read and critiqued on an upcoming podcast. Click below for more details and learn how to enter! More »
How often do we think about the effect that light has on shaping the human face? It’s one of those questions that experienced cinematographers are always contemplating, but one that younger shooters tend to think less about as camera technology dominates most filmmaking discussions these days. Luckily for us, every now and again a profound example of how powerful light can be comes along that slaps us in the face and forces us to look back at one of the most fundamental aspects of cinematography: lighting the human face for emotional impact. Opale’s recent music video for their song Sparkles and Wine provides one such example. Check out both the teaser trailer and the video below: More »
Exclusive to nofilmschool: Get 'Filmmarketing on The Web' eBook Free from Ryan Gielen & Believe, LTD
This is a guest post by filmmaker Ryan Gielen.
In 2009, the digital options for film releasing were exploding, theatrical attendance was dipping, alternate screening venues were popping up everywhere, and audiences were just starting to explore and develop their new viewing habits — watching content when and where they wanted, on demand. My first feature, The Graduates, played in a few festivals and won a couple of awards, but we didn’t receive a single distribution offer. This is not unique. A tiny percentage of the thousands of feature films that are made every year receive distribution. My producers and I believed in the film, however, and were determined to see it both in theaters, and on the major digital platforms. More »
Intentional or not, Apple’s new software releases often hint at what may be coming down the line. When they revealed their newly redesigned Mac Pro and their new desktop release, OS X 10.9, which they are calling Mavericks (since they seem to be running out of feline-related names), they also posted a promotional wallpaper to their website which just so happens to be double the horizontal and vertical resolution of current Mac displays — leading to speculation that they are preparing Retina models. More »
Using a mouse to trim might be one of the most counterintuitive and time-wasting things that we as editors do on a day-to-day basis. Since that’s how many of us learned to edit — by clicking through the buttons and dragging things around in our favorite NLEs — editing with the mouse has become one of those unfortunate behaviors inherent in our processes. However, if speed and precision are something for which you strive for with your editing, the mouse is your arch nemesis. By learning a few simple keystrokes and committing them to memory, you can take your timeline trimming to another level. More »
Earlier this year whilst discussing Lomography’s announcement for LomoChrome Purple – which was inspired by the discontinued Aerochrome infrared stock — we touched on the work of photographer Richard Mosse and his striking use of the original Kodak stock in his images from the war ravaged Eastern Congo. Mosse’s work in the region has continued, culminating in The Enclave, a 39 minute, Arriflex-shot 16mm infrared shot documentary / multi-media installation. Follow the jump to watch an interview with Mosse about the project where he discusses the subjective judgements about the nature of truth in photography his ‘pink’ images have prompted. More »
While on the surface it might seem like Apple is making a huge mistake not at least offering NVIDIA on their new system, it looks look those dual AMD workstation FirePro GPUs have a few tricks up their sleeve, especially as it relates to OpenCL support on both Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 10 and Adobe’s new CC software suite. Both are major players right now in the video space, and there will be some serious hardware acceleration thanks to these processors. More »
On Story from PBS in Austin is a “new series which takes a look at the creative process of filmmaking through the eyes of some of the entertainment industry’s most prolific writers, directors, and producers.” Recently they had a great panel discussion with Danny Boyle, Jason Reitman, and Ed Burns at the Austin Film Festival where they discussed the challenges of finding the right story and writing to suit your budget. It’s a must-see for indie filmmakers and screenwriters. Check it out below! More »
Radically different, but powerful. Even though many video professionals would probably have preferred seeing NVIDIA GPUs, the new Mac Pro is the first professional computer from Apple to support workstation-class graphics cards (dual internal AMD GPUs to be exact). Many were expecting a smaller device with limited expandability, and Apple delivered — and then some. They are definitely going to be reliant on Thunderbolt 2 (which should be twice as fast as Thunderbolt 1) for any PCI-E devices, and the only part of the system that is definitely expandable internally is RAM. If that sounds appealing, click through for an introduction to the fancy new system. More »
Apple didn’t just take the wraps off their new revolutionary Mac Pro mini-tower – they also made some serious internal improvements to their Macbook Air line. While the Macbook Air has always fallen somewhere in the middle in terms of being a fully featured laptop and a beefier tablet, the new models certainly make a case for their existence based on battery life alone. More »
Today at the WWDC, Apple took the wraps off the new Mac Pro they’ve been working on that will be released later this year. It’s certainly a departure from anything we’ve seen before at the professional level — so read on for more photos and details of the new machine. [Update]: Be sure to check out the newest post detailing more of the features. More »
Screenwriting by its very nature demands a visual writing style. The words on the page have to conjure up images in the reader’s mind if the script were turned into a film. Simultaneously, a screenplay must be economical with its language, using only the words necessary to tell the story. These two requirements, visual and economical, are two of the main reasons why storytelling in the screenplay format can be so difficult. Inevitably, production teams will need to visualize the screenplay, and that’s usually where storyboards come in (though plenty of us are inept at drawing). That’s why Amazon Studios has introduced a new tool to speed up the storyboarding process called Amazon Storyteller – and it’s “free,” but there’s a catch (or four or five). More »
No budget, no experience, and no Ryan Gosling — I’m not as cynical as Strong Bad, but this recipe rarely bakes into an “indie film” hit. And yet, Daniel Patrick Carbone’s first feature Hide Your Smiling Faces did just that, becoming the underdog knockout of the Tribeca Film Festival and being cited as one of the best films of 2013 so far! Daniel was kind enough to sit down with NFS for a video interview from his Brooklyn apartment about anything from working with kid actors, to color grading the New Jersey outdoors, to how 2001: A Space Odyssey pairs with Jeremy Piven in PCU. More »
[Update]: the new “R2D2″ Mac Pro is here. By the time some of you read this, we may already know whether we are getting a new Mac Pro at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Put aside for a moment if it even makes sense to keep investing in Apple on the pro end. A new Mac Pro, in whatever form it takes, is going to fill a specific need for specific people, whether you think people are crazy for being loyal to Apple or not. The Mac Pro has been a workhorse in the creative industries for some time now, but the lack of updates has sent many people in many different directions. There has been some information floating around that points towards a very different design with limited expandability. If Apple decides to go in that direction, however, will any professionals — the market Apple would target with this computer — actually want one? More »
Independent filmmakers are a bunch of rebels. We like to write stories that inspire us and film our movies our way. We like to keep our costs low and visions pure. However, even though many indie filmmakers are incredibly skilled and proficient creatively, we must remember one important side of filmmaking that often goes overlooked: the entrepreneurial side. Independent film producer Ted Hope shows us how to adapt to an ever-changing industry that requires great creativity as well as business savvy. More »
On-screen violence is a touchy and controversial topic — even for a veteran indie filmmaking maverick like Quentin Tarantino. However, 6 drama writer/creators, Alex Gansa, (Homeland), Aaron Sorkin (The Newsroom), D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones), Beau Willimon (House of Cards), Kevin Williamson (The Following), and Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) sit down for a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter to talk openly and candidly about the subject of TV violence, as well as what it’s like to run some of the most popular shows on television. More »
They are coming. Gyro-stabilized camera rigs, that is. Some of you are officially not impressed, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t about to be inundated with stabilizers. So what’s the big deal? Should you even care? The answer probably depends on the kind of work you do, but in the next 3-5 years, gyro camera stabilizers like Freefly’s MōVI are going to be as ubiquitous as sliders and jibs. Don’t think so? Read on for more and check out some exclusive footage from NAB 2013 using the MōVI. More »
I’m sure that when we all decided we wanted to become film directors it was a very serious and impassioned decision. We watched films made by the best directors in the industry, read the books that documented their entire life’s work, and waited for the day when we could pull off screaming into a bullhorn while wearing safari jackets and jodhpurs. However — it is the weekend, so why don’t we take a little break from the weightiness of our dreams and take a lighthearted look at what Vimeo’s Video School says about what it takes to be a good director. More »
Christopher Nolan’s Memento was a sleeper smash-hit in 2000: the smart indie used an ingenious backwards narrative structure and well-drawn but mysterious characters to draw us into the world of Leonard Shelby, the ‘ten minute man’ who suffers from anterograde amnesia, unable to make new memories. Now the film has been re-edited to run chronologically, and is available to watch online. Click below to see what an indie filmmaker can learn from the narrative structure of this indie classic! More »
There have been a few programs floating around to convert the .RAW files from Magic Lantern on the PC and Mac, but getting the files into a usable form takes a little bit of effort, as these programs were turning the files into DNG first, which aren’t compatible with programs like DaVinci Resolve (since DNG is a stills format). Now we have a better solution as Thomas Worth from Rarevision (who created 5DtoRGB) has created a program called RAWMagic to get After Effects and Resolve-supported CinemaDNG files straight from the .RAW camera originals. More »
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