nofilmschool » kickstarter

This 12-Year-Old Girl Can Kick Your Butt (At Directing Movies)

Oakley Anderson-Moore — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:13 +0000

Trinity Anderson is barely 12 years old and she makes me feel like I’m slacking: she knows how to operate a steadicam, has been animating for years, and just finished a successful kickstarter for her short called Me and Ewe. Seriously? I’m pretty sure at 12 years old all I did was play tetherball and draw really awful stick figure cartoons. (Come to think of it, not much has changed.) Trinity was ever-so-kind enough to sit down for a video interview with NFS to talk about anything from her Dragonframe stop-motion software, to her thoughts on gender equality in the movie biz. (more…)

Eugene's Bijou Indie-Friendly Art Cinema Uses Kickstarter to Go Digital

V Renée — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:18:43 +0000

In my town, if you’re a cinephile and a lover of all things local, The Bijou Art Cinema is a home away from home. This former Spanish Mission style church turned mortuary turned art-house cinema is nestled in the University District in Eugene, OR, and has a 30 year history of supporting independent, foreign, and local film. In mid-2010, a handful of longtime employees pitched in each of their life savings to save The Bijou from bankruptcy, and now are calling on the community to help them make the jump to digital. And if crowdfunding wasn’t already an endeavor and a half, a second location is being opened downtown, which will help cater to local independent filmmakers. (more…)

Kickstarter + Hollywood = Everyone Wins: Why Zach Braff and 'Veronica Mars' Are Good for Indies

Joe Marine — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:10:30 +0000

Hollywood likes Kickstarter now, and it was only a matter of time before we started seeing projects from some of our favorite filmmakers show up on the crowdfunding website. There have been many opinions thrown around about whether or not these projects should be on the site given that many of these filmmakers should be able to find money elsewhere, and poor indie filmmakers don’t really have much of a choice. Many have talked about Kickstarter being a zero sum game, that Hollywood stars are taking good money away from projects that really need it. Well, turns out the numbers don’t support that in any way, and both Zach Braff and Kickstarter have responded to explain the situation, and give some hard numbers. (more…)

What Happens When a Hurricane Hits Your Indie Film? A Chat with 'Lily & Kat' Director Micael Preysler

Micah Van Hove — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:21:55 +0000

Director Micael Preysler had a unique set of circumstances for making his debut feature film, going from the creation of a simple teaser to the now nearly completed film. Hurricane Sandy proved to be a challenging obstacle, hitting the film’s 16 day shoot right in the middle, destroying key locations and making transportation impossible. Read on to get the full scoop, see how they rose to the challenges, and watch the new theatrical trailer for Lily & Kat: (more…)

12 Tips for Working with Non-Professional Teenage Actors

Guest Author — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:57:26 +0000

This is a guest post by filmmaker Jeremy Engle.

Many filmmakers are weary of casting real teenagers, particularly non-professional ones, in their movies. And for good reason: You can’t shoot long hours, if you film during the school year, you need to get them tutors, and there’s tons of extra paperwork. And I haven’t even mentioned the parents. For many, teenage actors just add up to too many headaches. (more…)

'Beyond the Bolex': a Kickstarter Documentary About Jacques Bolsey, Inventor of the Bolex Film Camera

Guest Author — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:25:42 +0000

This is a guest post by Alyssa Bolsey.

First things first, you want to make a movie and you need a camera, right? The options are endless and it feels like there is a new camera coming out every couple of months! What to do? After you’ve done all your research, you either buy one, rent one, or most likely (as in my case) you beg until someone will let you borrow theirs for a few days. Ahhh… Such is the life of an indie filmmaker. Now, imagine a time when there wasn’t an affordable camera to buy, borrow or rent because independent filmmaking didn’t exist and therefore, a camera for the independent filmmaker didn’t exist. This is Beyond the Bolex, the story of the man responsible for the beginning of independent filmmaking and the inventor of the Bolex motion picture film camera, Jacques Bolsey. (more…)

Don’t Blame Veronica Mars: How You May Be Sabotaging Your Film Through (Lack of) Marketing

Oakley Anderson-Moore — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:00:23 +0000

You’ve written the perfect breakout indie hit. First, the budget is small, which is great because you can easily raise it on Kickstarter from all those tastemakers who just can’t wait for a signed DVD. On top of that, you’ve got a story that is so universal, anybody and everybody would enjoy it. “FWACK!” That’s the sound of the cold brick of reality hitting you in the face. In the series of Film Courage interviews below, independent marketing strategist Sheri Candler breaks down how we screw up our films by unwittingly sabotaging our marketing, and just how little we have in common with Veronica Mars. (more…)

Make Canon DSLR Battery Changes Quick and Easy with the Rhino Battery Holster

Joe Marine — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:27:36 +0000

I’m sure some of you have been there before: that little red battery indicator has been blinking for quite some time, but for one reason or another, you’re nowhere near your DSLR batteries. Especially with live shooting, sometimes things happen fast, and you never want to be left wondering where your other batteries are. That’s where Rhino — maker of the successful Rhino Slider and Camera Stabilizer — comes in with a battery holster that is designed to take 2 Canon LP-E6 batteries and help ensure that you’ve got batteries easily and painlessly accessible. Check out the Kickstarter launch video: (more…)

Red Rocket Travel Slider Might Just Be the Most Portable and Versatile Slider You've Ever Seen

Robert Hardy — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:41:26 +0000

We’ve talked about travel sliders here at nofilmschool a couple of times before. However, even the smallest of sliders can be a hassle to get into your backpack, and most of them aren’t particularly useful if you want to slide any more than two or three feet (which, let’s face it, we all do). Enter Nice Industries, creator of the wildly popular Aviator Travel Jib, with a brand new product, the Red Rocket Travel Slider. This is no ordinary slider, however, as the components to get it all set up can be fit in a case the size of a shoe box. But that’s not all, with a track length of anywhere up to ten feet (yeah, you heard that correctly), the Red Rocket might just be one of the most versatile travel sliders ever. Check out the Kickstarter launch video below: (more…)

Ultra-Bright and Programmable Lumapad May Change the Way You Think About LED Lighting

Robert Hardy — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:58:14 +0000

LED lighting has come a long way in the past 10 years. While many professionals stayed away from LEDs when they were an emergent technology (despite the fact that LEDs offered some very distinct advantages over traditional lighting technologies), you would be hard-pressed to find a current set without at least a few battery-powered units being used as accent lights. However, LEDs still aren’t ubiquitous, and in most cases they haven’t supplanted more traditional sources such as tungsten fresnels and PARs due to the fact that they have relatively low output and are comparatively harsh in the quality of their light. The Lumapad, an open source LED Kickstarter project from inventor Richard Haberkern, looks to change all of that. Check out his Kickstarter video for the Lumapad below: (more…)

Indiegogo's Field Guide Breaks Down the Process of Crowdfunding to Help You Run a Successful Campaign

V Renée — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:33:29 +0000

Ready to get your project funded, but not exactly sure where to start? Well, you may want to check out Indiegogo‘s Field Guide for campaign owners, which contains almost everything you’d ever want to know about how to make your crowdfunding campaigns potentially more successful. It covers a large range of helpful topics that aren’t necessarily exclusive to Indiegogo: tips on how to write and film a pitch, generating buzz, essential social media sites, and marketing. However, the guide digs in and lays out the Indiegogo experience with helpful tools, like checklists, clickable links, and a clear and engaging design. As an added bonus, it’s really easy to understand! (more…)

Take Your GoPro HERO3 into Battle with the Wide Open Camera Combat Cage

Joe Marine — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:53:39 +0000

The GoPro HERO3 might be a relatively inexpensive camera that can be mounted anywhere, but a few more mounting points would make it infinitely easier to position and stand up to abuse over time. That’s why Jared and the team at Wide Open Camera have come up with a metal housing they are calling the Combat Cage. They’ve taken to Kickstarter to fund the project, so click through to learn more about it. (more…)

Bringing 'HENRi' to Life: a Filmmaker's Arduous Low-Budget Animated Journey

Robert Hardy — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:34:12 +0000

Do you love underdog stories? How about underdog stories about independent filmmaking? If the answer is yes, there’s a lot to love about HENRi, a low-budget science fiction short film, written and directed by Eli Sasich, starring Margot Kidder and Keir Dullea of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame. HENRi tells of the poetic journey of its titular character, a self-evolving robot who wishes for nothing more than to become human. The film is a unique blend of traditional miniature and puppetry effects alongside more modern motion-reference animation, and the results are simply stunning. Check out the trailer below. (more…)

Turn Your iPhone into an Incident Light Meter with Luxi

Joe Marine — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:46:07 +0000

We’ve seen some apps for iOS in the past that allow your phone to be used as a light meter, and even though some were very skeptical, there were some tests conducted by Ryan E. Walters showing they can work very well (especially considering their cost). What’s the catch though? Well, because of the design, you’re only ever getting a reflective reading, not an incident reading, which actually measures the light falling upon the object you’re shooting. Using the incident reading can usually be faster and give better and more consistent results, so that’s why a new Kickstarter project called Luxi is aiming to turn any iPhone into an incident light meter. (more…)

Shorts 'Paperman' and 'Curfew' Win Oscars, 'Inocente' is 1st Academy Award-Winning Kickstarter Film

Joe Marine — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 08:13:54 +0000

Another year, another Oscars, but this one was very special to the indie community for one major reason: the documentary short Inocente made history as the first Kickstarter film to win an Academy Award. Hollywood might have just started noticing the crowdfunding platform recently, but independent films have benefitted greatly over the last few years, and Kickstarter has been involved in a number of festival and award-winning films — including a few Oscar nods. Also, if you missed it previously, embedded below is Paperman, which took home the best animated short film Academy Award, and the trailer for Curfew, shot on the RED ONE, which received the live action short film award. (more…)

SnapTrack Cinerails: a Light, Portable, Easy-To-Assemble Curved Dolly Track System on Kickstarter

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:50:44 +0000

Danny Dodge is a cameraman and cinematographer who has devised what may be the most light-weight and portable curved dolly track system you’ve ever seen. Searching for a way to build the ultimate portable dolly setup, Dodge stumbled upon the fact that a draw string could be used to arch PVC track to any degree he wished. The SnapTrack Cinerails rig was the result. Combining a simple draw string device with seven Cinerails gives you up to eight feet of curvable dolly track that seems primed for low-impact DSLR shooting, weighs under ten pounds, and breaks down/sets up in about a minute. Check out the SnapTrack Cinerails below, and some pre-ordering info if you’re interested. (more…)

Is the First 'Instant' 3D Modeling and Motion Capture Camera the Future of CG Animation?

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:34:34 +0000

In creating computer generated imagery, reference photographs of real-life objects may assist modeling, texturing, and animating a 3D object. In animation, this practice translates into something called motion capture, or ‘performance capture’ when facial expressions are the focus (see: Avatar). Fixed reference points on an object or surface help artists recreate something virtually, but Microsoft XBox 360′s Kinect technology is actually able to recognize shape and motion on its own, turning you into a full-body video game controller in real-time. The new Lynx A Camera looks to take this a step further. Meet the world’s first ‘point-and-shoot’ camera that can model and capture the geometry, texture, and motion of anything you aim it at, right before your eyes. (more…)

Why Make a Short? Why Run a Kickstarter Campaign So Early? The MANCHILD Q&A

Ryan Koo — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:29:13 +0000

In the comments section of my more-contentious-than-I-expected post about making a short that ties into my forthcoming feature MANCHILD, there were a lot of questions about my project, as well as the overall wisdom of making a short in order to fundraise for a feature. Reading through the comments, I realized I could’ve delved deeper into the timeline of what’s happened since my Kickstarter campaign. So, to answer some of the questions posed in the comments — as well as to generally shoot the shit about filmmaking — I sat down (virtually) with NFS editor Joe Marine for an wide-ranging video chat. (more…)

Upcoming B&H Seminar: 'Making a Movie Without a Hollywood Budget and Big Crew'

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:00:58 +0000

Beginning in the summer of 2010, filmmaker Gail Mooney and her daughter took a 99-day journey all over the world to create “a film about people who were making a positive difference.” Opening Our Eyes was the result. The partially Kickstarter-funded film follows eleven subjects across six continents, and went on to achieve accolades such as Best Documentary at the 2012 Orlando Film Festival. Considering the scope and scale of the project, and the budget at which it was accomplished, Opening Our Eyes is a startling achievement — and, through an upcoming B&H seminar with Mooney herself, other filmmakers can learn exactly how it was accomplished. (more…)

Civil War Film 'Saving Lincoln' Uses Actual Historical Photographs as Background VFX Plates

Guest Author — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:05:07 +0000

Ever seen a period film shot entirely with backgrounds made from historical photographs? No? Well, me neither, but Salvador Litvak has done just that for his film Saving Lincoln, and he’s now looking to distribute this independent film with the help of Kickstarter. He’s taken to the crowdfunding website to sell the movie and help take it on a theatrical release, and today we’ve got a post explaining exactly what’s so special about Saving Lincoln and the process his team went through to accomplish this monumental task.

This is a guest post from Salvador Litvak. (more…)