» Posts Tagged ‘diy’
NoFilmSchool is “a site for independent creatives,” and to that end I’d like to make it about independent creatives other than myself. If you’re a writer, director, producer, artist, designer, programmer, blogger — anything, really, as long as you are supporting yourself without a day job — I’d love to hear your story, and I think the NFS readership would too. More »
It hasn’t been easy writing a blog about filmmaking without having a project of my own to show since my 2007 fly-by-night production of The West Side. The main reason for this? I tried to get something made in the studio system. 200 pages of screenplay and twenty-something meetings later, I arrived at the conclusion that I should’ve stuck to the DIY route. However, there’s another reason you haven’t seen a new project from me in a while: I haven’t had access to a camera, to actors, or to much of anything, because I’ve been living out of a suitcase for ten months. Why did I decide to do this — and why do I recommend others do the same? More »
My forthcoming (at some point!) project 3rd Rail takes place in a snow-blanketed New York City. From a production standpoint this poses significant problems, perhaps not as challenging as depopulating New York City like we did in The West Side (see also: hanging a guy from a 40-foot lamp post), but while we could use visual effects to overcome those problems in The West Side, snow and rain are more of a special effect that requires a practical approach (or just good luck with the weather). Here are a couple of really cheap methods worth considering if you need snow and rain but don’t have a large budget (or a direct line to God). More »
Or not. Still, the idea of a twisting handle for the follow focus is great, as it allows one to use both hands to support the camera while pulling focus.
[via Engadget]
I’ve been needing to write something for the About page on this site, since it’s been devoid of a raison d’être since I relaunched in January. While brainstorming about the project I’m currently working on — as well as reflecting on what I’ve learned over the past year — I came up with this post. Given the About page lives outside the RSS feed and doesn’t allow comments, I wanted to post this “manifesto” here. And as the About page is open to change over time, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. More »
Barry Jenkins’ terrific DIY feature Medicine for Melancholy won awards at the Sarasota, Woodstock, and San Francisco International film festivals and garnered three Spirit Award nominations. A.O. Scott of the New York times called it an “exciting debut” and made it a NY Times Critic’s Pick. M4M was picked up for distribution by IFC Films and was released theatrically last January (VOD and DVD releases followed).
Barry and I attended the Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium together in 2002 and have run into each other a few times since on the festival circuit. Here we talk about DIY filmmaking, distribution deals, VOD, new media, brand integration, and film school.
This isn’t for anyone who works at a huge corporation or has a lot of money, but for the rest of us, I think the best guerilla solution for filmmaking in 2010 will be a PC. I’ve been a Mac guy for the past four years but I suspect things are about to change; here’s why. More »
The world of film distribution is changing so rapidly that it’s worrisome for many and exiting for the rest. Among the many advances in DIY distribution in the past few months are the announcement and launch of OpenIndie and Indie Screenings, both sites focused on allowing filmmakers to screen their films more easily. OpenIndie is an Arin Crumley project that aims to help filmmakers geotarget their audiences, whereas Indie Screenings allows anyone to put on an DIY screening of a film and share proceeds with the filmmaker; the latter site has been brought about by the Age of Stupid crew. More »
My three year-old MacBook Pro recently started emitting a constant racket from its left fan (which sounds something like this). Most people will tell you you need a new fan for $50, but I decided to try to fix it instead, and so far (it’s been two weeks nine months), the repair has worked great. As any google or youtube search for “noisy macbook pro fan” produces thousands of results, I hope this saves someone fifty of their hard-earned bucks during this, the winter of our hardships. More »
Ty: Like you stated though, all you need is a PC that runs iTunes (for now) With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
Ty: Ah. Good point. Ever since switching over to Apple I've kind of taken fo… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
William: What I want to see is a device that will bury the cable companies. Time Wa… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait
Koo: That's a good point -- all you need is another piece of Apple hardware tha… With the new Apple TV, Apple Decides the Living Room Can Wait