Bolt&Nut trailer

Why Emmanuel Lubezki is One of the Best DPs of All Time

 

 

Few cinematographers are as universally lauded and professionally respected as Emmanuel Lubezki. After watching this video tribute from Vimeo user Borealisk, you'll see why.

Listening to the Needs of Your Characters: Director Antonio Campos on 'Christine'

 

Christine is Antonio Campos' sensitive narrative rendering of Christine Chubbuck, the Florida news anchor who shot herself live on air in 1974. 

Antonio Campos might not be a household name yet, but we certainly write about him as if he is. For the uninitiated: Campos is notably part of the Borderline trio responsible for Afterschool, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Simon Killer and James White. Christine is Campos' third feature and first film outside the established Borderline system. The film gracefully depicts a sunny and hopeless mid-70's America and pushes Campos into new territory as a filmmaker. We chatted with Antonio at Sundance 2016 about finding his way into this story, his use of patterns and colors to heighten the narrative, and lessons he learned along the way. (Part 1 of 2)

"As a filmmaker I don’t think that being dogmatic is fun or the right way to grow."

Indie Legend Bob Hawk to First-Timers: 'Don’t Make Genre Films, Make Passionate Films'

 

      

Bob Hawk is the unsung hero of talented nobodies. You may not know his name, but you’ve undoubtedly seen a film that was plucked from obscurity by him over the last 40 years of independent film: Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Ed Burns’ The Brothers McMullen, McGehee and Siegel’s Suture and Kimberly Reed’s Prodigal Sons to name a few.

And what filmmaker doesn’t want to be discovered and set on the fast track to a directing career? Motivated by a genuine love for film, Bob Hawk is the champion that filmmakers dream about! Directors whose careers he has nurtured and launched came out to thank Bob in Film Hawk, the Sundance documentary about his life.
Bob Hawk sat down with No Film School at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival to give us a little insight into what he’s learned after nearly four decades in the biz. Watch some of our conversation below!

I always am attracted to films that can resonate with people that are not "into" film.
Thank you, Bob!
Follow Bob Hawk and keep an eye out for the release of Film Hawk on the official Facebook page.
For more, see the complete coverage of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Just will want to know what you think about this statement?

Stanley Kubrick – Breaking Down the Master’s Directing Style

        

What is that elevates a filmmaker to a film master like Stanley Kubrick, or that elegant French word, auteur? In the vast majority of films that make it onto the big screen these days, it is the actors’ names which draw curious audiences above the director’s.
In many cases, at least in a film’s public profile, the director works behind the scenes, barely participating in the promotion circuit, and in the most disheartening cases, can even earn the label of a “Hollywood Hack”.

What Makes a Film Great? Here Are 6 Elements to Watch For

There really one question lot of filmmakers ask over time and that is "What makes a great film?" If you have ever asked such, trust me that was the right question to ask. And now, we bring you the answer right before you. Enjoy the piece.

What makes a great movie great?

Is it that it has a great story? Great characters? Is it that the cinematography is beautiful? Is it that each actor is giving a great performance? Is it that the soundtrack is top notch? Well, the answer is -- yes. Yes to all of this. And I know, that doesn't really help if you're actually trying to find out what elements make a movie great, because clearly -- something will be great if everything about it is great.
However, Simon Cade of DSLRguide is helping to make the whole concept of what a "great" movie is a little easier to understand by defining specific elements that can be found in the majority of history's most revered films.

Knowing When to Work for FREE in the Film Industry

Some how in one of my numerous internet scouting looking for the best way possible to be a better filmmaker, I bumped into this and thought it will be a nice piece for aspiring filmmakers whose industry does not give room to operate. Here is how you can break even and make head way.

So I know working in the film industry can be tough. Breaking in is even tougher. Many people tell you you have to work for free or intern somewhere to get a foot in the door. Now those people aren’t totally wrong.
The question is when do you work for free? When is trading your time, energy and effort really worth it? In this episode I break down when you should work for free or cheap and when you need to stand your ground and get paid.
This episode is not just for film students. I tell you my story of when I got to Los Angeles and what I choose to do and why even after having 10 years of experience, credits and work under my belt. Enjoy this eye opening episode.
Click here: https://www.indiefilmhustle.com/film-industry-work-for-free/

Natural acting - without rehersal?

        

Just read an interview with two young actors - Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri.
Which were casted in film - Little Man directed by Ira Sachs. This film is screened at this year Sundance Festival.
In the interview they were also discussing directors technique of leading actors and this part is really interesting so I thought it would be nice to discuss.
Quote:
"Ira believes filming should be natural. If we rehearsed it over and over again he would say, "Oh, well no, it’s just you saying some lines." He wants it to be, you’re not acting, you’re just being yourself and this camera is coming around you. --M.B.

The Process of Translating a Poetic Novel On Screen in Ross Partridge's 'Lamb'

       

 

"Books are very seductive to me," says actor/director Ross Partridge, "but the voice of the book has to be different than the voice of the movie."  

In his directorial debut, that's exactly what Ross set out to do with the boundary-pushing Bonnie Nadzam novel about the controversial relationship of a 48-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl. Ross sat down with No Film School at SXSW 2015 to share his process of staying true to the text of a subtly poetic novel, while still finding an original voice for the film, as well as how he balanced the roles of actor and director in the making of Lamb, which comes out today on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and in select theaters.

Meet YoCam, the 'Smallest Waterproof Camera' That Shoots 2.7K at 30P

 

GoPro has dominated the action cam market pretty much ever since it launched, but the folks at Mofily have introduced YoCam, a tiny waterproof camera

 

 

 

 

that gives the GoPro Session a run for its money.

The YoCam, which has raised nearly $400K on Kickstarter, surpassing their initial $80K goal by over 478%, has a bunch of useful features: it's small, light, shoots 2.7K at 30p, has remote connectivity, and contains MoSteady image stabilization. Check out their Kickstarter video below to learn more about it, as well as see some sample footage:

 

How to Make Compelling Lighting Decisions that Support Your Story

pix by Factoryfilmworks

It's something that aspiring cinematographers hear all the time: "Make sure your lighting supports the story you're trying to tell." But how the hell do you actually accomplish that?

Over the past few months, Simon Cade of DSLRguide has become one of my favorite YouTubers for cinematography tutorials. Sure, he may be young – as people are always quick to point out in the comments – but his understanding of advanced cinematography concepts and techniques goes well beyond his years, and his ability to explain and demonstrate them is excellent. Don't believe me? Just check out his previous videos on storytelling through composition and this beautifully-executed Scrabble metaphor for filmmaking.
Simon's newest tutorial attempts to answer the question at the top of this article. How the hell can we use light to tell better stories? It's an incredibly difficult question – the answer to it is situational and always shifting – but Simon has some great actionable tips for how to think more critically about your lighting:

How to Make Your Film Look Cinematic in a less ideal light set up

   

One of the most common questions young filmmakers ask is, "How do I make my film look cinematic?" Usually the answer is "good lighting", but what if you don't have access to any?

in this video, 100% natural light is used to produce images that have that desired "cinematic" aesthetic. In other words, in this  aspects of filmmaking you can focus on to capture beautiful, professional-looking images if your lighting setup is less than ideal. Check it out below:

 

 

 

2016 Academy Award Nominations list.

 

      

 

It's been another interesting year for nominations, with some of the same folks returning from the Golden Globes, along with a bunch of surprises (as usual). Scroll down for the complete list of nominations, and be sure to check out the show live on Sunday February 28th, at 7PM EST/4PM PST (on ABC).
Here's the complete video of the nominations being announced:

That moment when your sitting on 3 great short film ideas...

        

Okay so I just finished up a short film called Doppelgänger and it's been very well received among my peers and it won the Chattanooga Film Festival for best short. It's been a real confidence booster for me as a filmmaker. I was so sure I wouldn't win any award for it, I slept through the awards ceremony at home and ending up missing my acceptance. Fail.
Now I'm on the fence about my next project. I have 3 ideas, all of which I want to do equally as much as the next but they are all very different genres. I have a comedy idea that everyone wants to get in on and shoot, were talking mass cooperation from all my friends. I have a sci-fi drama that I keep getting asked about as well. I am most excited because it would be a movie I'd pay 12 bucks to see in a theater if it were actually made. I am just thinking it may be too ambitious for me now. I've got a horror movie screenplay written out that is in my mind, and to my knowledge totally original (which doesn't happen much anymore.) I don't know how to make this decision so basically I've made zero progress on any ideas.
I'm floating on all these ideas and can't figure out how I should push forward with just one of them.
Oh! and here is a trailer for Doppelgänger if anyone was curious.
https://vimeo.com/127358969

7 Filmmaking Lessons You Might Want to Learn This Year

 

 

We're almost halfway into the first month of 2016, which means 90% of us have forgotten about our New Year's resolutions, while the other 10% still don't really know what we're doing. But don't worry -- there's help!

If your resolution was to become a better filmmaker in 2016, you might want to check out this helpful video by Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter, in which he lists 7 things he's learned about making films this last year. Serving as a great checklist of sorts for the rest of us, Pike mentions things that will help all types of filmmakers, whether you're working on a solo project or shooting something for a high-profile client. Check out the video below:

REVIEW: Birdman: A Nightmare on Broadway

 

    This is coming solely at the time when most people have actually seen the film in question. But none the less, its a great piece and for those who have not seen the film and yet doubt why it should win the prestigious Oscar Award, find out in this review and if you haven't seen it, make sure you do find a way out...Its a film to see, Trust me...

New Regency Pictures/Fox Searchlight Pictures

Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, 2014

REVIEW: The Revenant; Why you must see this Golden globe winning film.

 

The Revenant has made its mark as one of the leading most successful films in 2016 and coming from a great and award winning Director, Alenjandro Inaritu, it's sure going to be a boom considering the success of his last Film Birdman. However, see what reviewers have to say about the Golden Globe Winning film, THE REVENANT. Enjoy the review.

   

New Regency Pictures/20th Century Fox

Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, 2015

The ordeal of filming The Revenant, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s fur-trade odyssey of survival and sweet revenge, has received a great deal of attention: for its remote wilderness locations in Alberta and Argentina; for the director’s mad insistence that the scenes be shot in narrative sequence, in natural light, with minimal digital intervention; for the grueling schedule imposed on actors and crew. This is all a bit reminiscent of the hair-raising stories of the production of Werner Herzog’s rainforest epic Aguirre, the Wrath of God, in which arduousness is felt to entail authenticity, as though the movie is a reenactment of the events it records rather than a mere Hollywood facsimile.

What We Can Learn About Storytelling from Ben Wheatley's 'High-Rise' Teaser

     

 

We analyze the virtues of this subtle teaser-trailer that asks the question "Ever wanted something more?"

From J.G. Ballard's 1975 dystopian novel, High-Rise has made the crossover to cinema thanks to UK based director Ben Wheatley. The marketing for the film (which premiered at Toronto 2015 and is landing in UK theaters in March) is beginning to roll out, and what they've done here is appreciable. "Ever wanted something more?" might just be the subtext of every advertisement ever — but there's something subversive and brilliant about letting it boil directly to the surface.
I've always had qualms with trailers, and part of the reason I vowed to stop watching them years ago (of course a few sneak by every once and a while, especially taking part in film journalism) was because trailers directly add an (often over-mediated) expectation or plant lofty assumptions in the viewers mind. I find they can soil a cinematic experience I want to be as fresh as possible, but when a really good teaser-trailer comes along, I have to tip my hat.

Removing the camera from a mirror scene

 Filmmaking is beginning to look more like a magic that many see it to be. Filmmakers are trying their hands on many different things and most of all inventing several ideas and new techniques in filmmaker. With what Alejandro Inaritu did in his new film Birdman, it's certain that film has taken a new dimension and filmmakers need to follow soot.    

  

I have been noticing recently the technique of shooting a scene with some actors in front of a mirror and the camera also being clearly in front of the mirror, however it's not reflected in the mirror. I'm thinking of films such as The World's End, Benjamin Button and most recently Birdman. So I was wondering how is this effect done? Digitally masking the camera out or what? Thanks!

Now, the question has been posed and it is time to find a lasting solution to the question and I am sure you heard it. Its a Digital masking technique. This obviously sounds alien but then its not far from finding out. May be we should take that task find out how that was done and lets share the idea here on this platform....

Celtx upgrades to an All-in-One Video & Movie Planning System

 

Upgrade is now the trending thing. No one wants to be left behind obviously and on that note, Celtx have also upgraded making the software not only suitable for scripting but now for video. They are sure introducing what others don't have. This might be the last resort for you or will you want to remain with the editing software you already know or make a change. That is totally left for the filmmakers to decide. See this below.

 

Kodak to Revive Super 8mm Film with a New Camera

 

I really want to believe that many filmmaker must have anticipated the death of Film considering the invention of digital cameras which seem easy and cheap to afford and process. However the reverse is the case because Kodak has refused to remain in extinction and have decided to make a come back with the 8mm film in a totally new camera.

This is coming at the time the demand for Digital camera has so much eaten deep into the minds of several filmmaker, including ace DP's. But this seems to be a great one by the manufacturers and hope its come back will not be suicidal?  Let's look further and determine what could be the advantage of this new baby by the prestigious KODAK.

Remember Super 8mm film?

While some of you are still shooting a few rolls here and there, the format that was once synonymous with home movies might just be making a comeback 50 years after Kodak made their first camera. With analog formats getting a new lease on life lately, including film, Kodak is pushing forward with a brand new Super 8mm camera — one that combines analog film with the ease of shooting on digital, like the addition of a flip out LCD screen for shooting (rather than an optical viewfinder), and other digital connections on the back. According to the Wall Street Journal, this model will cost between $400 and $750, but a much cheaper model will be coming out in 2017:

The first new Super 8, expected to arrive in a limited-edition version in the fall of 2016, was conceived with help from the industrial designer Yves Behar. It is likely to cost between $400 to $750, Mr. Clarke estimated. Processing the film should cost $50 to $75 a cartridge, he said.

The big secrete;Hollywood directors speaks

Filmmaking recently has grown beyond our imagination across the world and the industry has continued to boom. In Nigeria, the industry contributed to the development of the Gross Domestic Product in the areas of productions and distributions across the globe.

Never the less, this brings me to the reason why this material needs to get to the reach of many Nigerian Filmmakers, especially film graduates who find it very difficult making a film. Someone will say, making film is not an easy task and involves so much. That I agree but then it is only the adventurous, the risk takers that eventually make headway.  Home and abroad the situation has been the same, independent filmmakers find it difficult making head way but somehow there seem to be a paradigm shift  when I discovered that the rich also cry. What do I mean, just like the independent filmmakers in Hollywood find it difficult, that same way every other independent filmmakers struggle to get to the top. The driving force is always the ability to conquer fear and take risk.

However, on this note, I urge you to see this amazing discussion with the latest rating Hollywood directors who are recently rocking the airwaves, their challenges rising to the top, challenges being the independent filmmakers, working with actors as well as their regrets. The directors includes, Alejandro Inaritu, Quintin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick  and many more on their recently made film.

Despite the fact that it seems we see a lot of the same faces each year in these things, it's still inherently fascinating watching these directors shoot the shit. They cover the state of cinema, career challenges, working with actors and their favorite movie-making movies. If nothing else, it's worth watching for Ridley Scott's story about getting 17 hours of helicopter footage from Stanley Kubrick for the end of Blade Runner. Enjoy the experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction to foley and sound effect for film

One of the greatest and most important element of filmmaking is sound. Without sound, a picture will lack life. It is seldom said that a picture speaks a thousand words. No doubt, but then bringing life to the words said by a picture, a sound is required.

Very little of what you hear in the movies is real - in this lesson we take a look at the art of Foley, how to classify it, the history of the man who started it all and take a crack at doing our own Foley work. FilmIQ explains this further.

The science behind the camera lense

 

So many at times we see movies and we mavel at the pictures and the next thing is mouth agape,

wondering when you will get to that stage of purchasing that big camera. Like they say time waits

for no one.

The Many pros will tell you: it's less about the camera you're shooting on and more about the lens. 

The lense is obviously the heart of every camera. That doesn’t seem to make any meaning at all I

guess, but the truth is not far from the fact that the lense is the tool behind every great pictures
you see.

I mean -- that's neither here nor there, but one thing's clear: knowing all you can about lenses, how they're built, their properties, and even their history, will benefit you immensely as a filmmaker. This is something Filmmaker IQ's John P. Hess obviously knows, seeing as he has dedicated two separate videos to diving into the history and mechanics of the camera lens.

It's 45 minutes well spent, so check out both videos below:

Vid 1  

Vid 2

 

THROUGH THE LENSE: STARTING UP AS A SCREENWRITTER

 

Over time, I have seen WRITERS struggle trying to know the best way out in screen writing without

fundamental research and knowledge. Somehow my curiosity grew and that raised my

interest  in finding out what the problem might be. Interestingly, I discovered many have developed

that self-fear within while some just have a feeling that it can be done and then  move on without

basic research.  I don’t think I can do this. Writing is for greater minds, most say ignorantly. Yes that

could possibly be true but sincerely, everyone is great if he/she feels so. However being a writer

starts within, developing the interest from the inside. i.e the desire to write.

Most believe to become a screenwriter, they need to write one great script, get that script

into the hands of an agent, the agent sells it for lots of money, and then Boom! Their career has

begun. This is not actually how to become a screenwriter. You can have a great script and yet not

produced. The joy of every screen writer is to see their works being produced.

This is what happens most times.