» Posts Tagged ‘kickstarter’
Think about that for a second. Just a few years ago everyone was talking about how the bottom had fallen out of independent film funding. While that may be true to a certain extent, Kickstarter has completely changed the way smaller films are funded, and they’ve created a new golden age of film funding. Who knows if the funding on Kickstarter will ever dry up, but for now, it’s one of the best places to go if you’re trying to make a movie or web series. Check out some of the incredible statistics below: More »
Over the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of work on other people’s video projects, and this past spring I quit my day job and started freelancing. While this has all been great for my reel, my resume, learning new skills, and cementing already learned knowledge through hands on experience, it meant I had to put my own film projects on the back burner. But eventually I reached a point where I felt it had been far too long since I worked on one of my own films. It was time to utilize the abundant knowledge and resources on NoFilmSchool and other filmmaking sites and to collaborate with my talented friends. It was time for a project that would force me to stretch myself and grow as a filmmaker. It was time to make Fugue, a project I’m running a Kickstarter for. Here’s what I learned from the process that started with preproduction and culminated with the first shoot earlier this month: More »
Freddie Wong, the namesake of his FreddieW YouTube channel and co-founder of Rocket Jump Studios, directs or collaborates on some of the coolest original content on YouTube. The FreddieW team also contributes to YT’s Node channel, featuring work from their brethren-in-arms Corridor Digital, who also produce a volume of great original stuff on the ‘Tube. Rocket Jump’s cumulatively feature-length web series Video Game High School was a substantial undertaking, the first for FreddieW and co at such a scale, and produced for over $600,000 (just the first season) — subsequently, Freddie and Rocket Jump have done something virtually unheard of by posting a full budgetary breakdown. More »
Homebrew Render Farming at Crunch Time with Imminent 'The Underwater Realm,' Plus New Trailer
You may recall when director David M. Reynolds shared a guest post with NoFilmSchool readers, in the midst of what would become a significantly successful Kickstarter campaign — overfunded $40k beyond its $60k goal — for his project The Underwater Realm. Now, a year later, the film is less than two weeks from premiering for free on YouTube. Needless to say, the all-volunteer-multi-talented-hyphenates of Realm Pictures is working tirelessly to get the project finished. On top of this, they’ve shared a seemingly endless amount of insight into their process along the way, via weekly video blogs — including a recent look at their self-implemented render farm-style workflow, the sound design, and a bit earlier, a look at their amazing underwater shooting process. Watch these and a new trailer below. More »
Anamorphic shooting at the low budget level is difficult, and with the options out there for filmmakers, getting a proper aspect ratio and a sharp image is next to impossible without a lot of effort or a lot of patience. When Zeek Earl of Shep Films shared some test footage, I took notice, because it was some of the cleanest and sharpest anamorphic footage I’ve seen come out of a DSLR. After exploring a bit further, I discovered their short film In The Pines, and also found out that the test footage posted was for a Kickstarter project that will end in less than 24 hours. Click through to check all of it out. More »
We often forget (or at least, I do) the fact that the video functionality of DSLRs originated from the desire to put motion picture capabilities in the hands of non-fiction content creators. Specifically, photojournalists were given the option for recording that which could beneficially supplement stills, and though we DIY filmmakers have re-appropriated that functionality to our own benefit, there’s still something to be said for its use in generating journalistic content. In that vein I’d like to share a particularly beautiful non-fiction endeavor with everyone — Humanity.TV sets out to bring you an uncontrived, honest, and humanistic representation of people and places of interest — and do so via a custom interactive tablet system. More »
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, shoot a scene, or get your film crowdfinanced — though some ways may be better than others. In terms of the third category, few startups get a higher-profile crowdfunding boost than those with successful Kickstarter campaigns. Generally once fund-raising is complete projects are left to fend for themselves — now, however, one of the first post-Kickstarter success patterns seems to be emerging with the Independent Spirit Awards’ recent announcement of its nominees. More »
CTRL+Console App: Turn Your iPad into a Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro 7/X Editing Console
If you’ve ever worked in linear tape-to-tape editing, there’s a good chance you’ve dealt with an edit controller device that has jog or shuttle wheels. With everything being software based now, many have simply reassigned to a keyboard the tasks that used to be associated with a console. Well, short of buying an expensive console to interface with your NLE or remembering dozens of keyboard shortcuts, what’s a video editor to do? That’s where Jeff Chow’s CTRL+Console iOS app comes in. Click through to check out the Kickstarter video. More »
So did anyone notice that some camera company just dropped prices? No? I think some of you just might have…Anyway, back to the rest of the world for a moment. The Kickstarter world to be exact. The crowdfunding site has been in talks to expand to the United Kingdom, and now it’s official. In fact, people have been setting up projects since the beginning of the month, so that they could go live immediately once the service officially launched. The first project to debut in the UK, Picade, an arcade cabinet kit for the Raspberry Pi computer, has already been successfully funded — so the service is off to a great start. Check below for more details about the UK launch and what makes it different from the U.S. version. More »
Just because you attempt to launch something on Kickstarter, does not automatically mean the project will be approved. In response to this, the development team for the Lockitron project (whose original startup was indeed rejected by Kickstarter) has released a new donation-based funding system, called Selfstarter — and since then has raised $1 million in pre-order sales using it. Selfstarter is fully customizable, clearly effective (compare that $1 million to the team’s original $150,000 goal), and — most importantly — free for everyone to use for their own projects. More details after the jump. More »
David Fincher, who is often on the cutting edge when it comes to technology – even directing the first movie shot and projected in 4K and recently using a Monochrome RED EPIC-M – is now crowdfunding a new animated film called The Goon. It was only a matter of time before the big boys moseyed on down and got in on the Kickstarter action, but this isn’t the first Hollywood project to crowdfund it’s way into production. Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Schrader’s The Canyons was successful back in June to the tune of $159,000. The difference here, though, is that the money is not going to the actual film itself, but to a fully-realized Story Reel that includes vocal performances from Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown. Click through for the Kickstarter launch video. More »
Back in July we talked about Kickstarter finally moving outside of the US this fall,
New Kickstarter Guidelines Could Drastically Affect the Crowdfunding Platform
Kickstarter has become synonymous with crowdfunding, even though they aren’t the only game in town. If you’ve been following the site at all, you’ll know that Kickstarter is home not just to people trying to fund films, but a rapidly growing segment of the site that deals in physical products and designs. New guidelines for the Hardware and Product Design section, however, may derail plenty of these massively successful crowdfunding campaigns before they even get started. More »
Instagram has always felt a little bit like cheating to me, and having come from a film background, I like seeing the real thing as opposed to a clearly inferior iPhone or Android photo with some old-timey effects (though I am extremely impressed by FilmConvert, which aims to do the exact same thing except a lot more accurately with motion content). Impossible Project, who managed to save Polaroid film and is producing it to this day (along with new cameras), is trying to take those iPhone photos and turn them into something real and tangible: a Polaroid instant photo.
More »
This is a guest post by Till Schauder (with Sara Nodjoumi).
I’m married to an Iranian woman. She’s smart, beautiful, and tough as nails. (I may be a little biased, though not much…)
In 2007 a friend of ours – actually the fellow who married us – sent me an article about a handful of Americans who play professional basketball in Iran. At that time we were high at war with Iraq and Afghanistan and it looked like Iran – or “I-ran” – would be next on the list, just as it does again now. In the absence of diplomatic relations (we haven’t had an embassy in Tehran since 1979), I was inspired by these athletes, who arguably do more for dialogue between Iranians and Americans than any politician on either side. More »
Just a couple of days ago I considered the merits of the DIY slider versus the bevy of semi- and professional mini-dolly options. Well now I’ve stumbled upon a product that could very well be a step up from the other sliders out there — the Rhino Slider. This little beast is currently campaigning on Kickstarter with only a few days to go. And like most successful campaigns, it starts at a retail discount with many optional add-on’s. Click through for the details and a few videos, including one that features space flight (I wasn’t kidding), and one that will have you throwing money at your computer monitor faster than you can say Futurama: More »
We’ve all been there… it’s the twelfth hour, and you’re Cam Op or DP on a skeleton crew that’s shooting on a DSLR. The director wants that organic, handheld, flowing look, and stopping just isn’t an option because the talent are in the zone. You’ve been shooting on the 50mm a little too much for your taste, and would love to try the 35mm or 85mm — but your lens bag might as well be on the moon with how fast things are moving (and with no AC). What do you do? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool to help with your quick run-and-gun filmmaking — to keep your lens choices literally at your fingertips? Well, with the Quikdraw, a new belt-side lens holder that’s seeking funding on Kickstarter, you can have the luxury of lens change speed with some added security. Click through to see a video of the system in action. More »
David Branin & Karen Worden from Film Courage Release Feature 'Goodbye Promise' for $1 on IndieGoGo
Many of us have used crowdfunding platforms to get a project off the ground or at least to gauge interest in it — and many more of us have considered, or are planning, on doing so. But David Branin and Karen Worden from the indie film site Film Courage are utilizing a crowdfunding platform for another purpose: to distribute their finished film. Yesterday they released their DIY feature Goodbye Promise on Indiegogo — for just $1. David and Karen are seeking answers to the question we all face as filmmakers: how to best release our films to a changing world. I spoke to them via Skype about film festivals, online distribution, crowdfunding platforms, social media strategies, and more: More »
The tilt-shift effect is nothing new — if you’ve ever been a large format photography shooter you know how interesting it can look. It wasn’t until the Lensbaby line of lenses that tilt-shift really became widely used in everyday photography. DSLR video, on the other hand, brought a whole new group of users to the beautiful effects that can come from these lenses. There is an interesting project on Kickstarter right now for a tilt-shift lens called the Lynny Lens System. It’s nearing the end of its crowdfunding campaign and it’s aiming to be a cheaper alternative to Lensbaby. Check out more details as well as a sample video below. More »
Kickstarter has grown considerably over the past few years, not just in the number and breadth of projects, but in the amounts raised. A few projects have now passed the million dollar mark, and very soon we’ll get the chance to see if any projects will pass the million pound mark. If you happen to be one of the many creative or entrepreneurial individuals living across the pond, there is good news just around the corner: Kickstarter will be accepting projects from the U.K. beginning this fall thanks to the expansion of Amazon payments. More »
Laurel: But orson Welles was a guy who knew what he was doing and he made a lot of… Here's a Compilation of Movies That Can Help Teach You the Craft of Filmma…
Terry_Mickie: LOL @ Dave......Hey I'm 40 and it's the same! I guess when we get our AARP… This 12-Year-Old Girl Can Kick Your Butt (At Directing Movies)
Green coffee: Excellent post. I used to be checking constantly this blog and I am impr… Working on Your Sound Mix? Learn How to Easily Remove Unwanted Audio in Fi…
Gene: Price champion too. I'm wondering how the Panasonic HC-X920 camcorder w… Hacked Shootout: Panasonic GH2 vs. 5D Mark III RAW & Magic Lantern Ge…
Jeff: I'm actually excited about this camera and company, and always have been. … Plethora of Updates on the Digital Bolex Reminds Us That Good Things Come …