Recent content by scottspears

Good job on collecting all these free resources for filmmakers. Scott

Pick up a used Panasonic GH4. You should shoot 4K to future proof your project. They are going for $400-700 on eBay. Get a couple lenses. Add $400 Tripod - Benro Aero 4 Video Travel Angel Tripod $200 Lighting - Dracast LEDs, a panel and a focusable light + stands $300-600 Rode NTG2...

Get a Aputure Lightstorm LS1. Plenty of output, bi-color. Scott

I would shoot the feature as a webseries, releasing the episodes every week or so until you have released most or all of the episodes. Then combine the segments into a feature that you could sell or stream for a small fee on Vimeo. One option is don't release the final two episodes with the...

The odds of making a great film without a good or great script are slim. Some very few filmmakers can pull it off. (Mike Leigh is one who can do it.) This does not mean the script has to written in stone before walking onto set. You can have a great script that can evolve during shooting...

As the Director of Photography, your job is to make the director's vision come to life, so if they come with a shot list, then you are to do your best to make those shots look great. You are not the director, but that does not mean you cannot make those shots look great. I've shot over 30...

Here's a video I made on slating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpXoDBssg1E Scott

Hi All, Scott Spears, co-producer of Framelines. We're asking for a little help on getting Framelines Season 3 up and running. The show is a labor of love, but it isn't totally free to make. We have travel expenses, tape stock, closed captioning and other hard costs to cover. Those costs...

I have the rule which is you take your happiness and unhappiness anywhere you go, so don't assume that a change of venue is going to make life better. LA is the hub of the industry, so if you want to act in movies, you need to make it in LA. Azuza is way too far away. Get closer to...

What type of locations? Banks? Warehouses? Resturants? Jewelry stores? You should join Mid Ohio Filmmaker's Association's Facebook page and post there. Scott

Go for the airsoft guns and paint the tips black, but contact the police to let them know that you are shooting a film with FAKE guns. You may want to contact residents and businesses within viewing distance of where you are shooting to let them know that you will be shooting a scene with FAKE...

I recommend a cheap shotgun mic ($28)like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Photography-Camcorder-Uni-Directional-Microphone/dp/B008CCQI72/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410697627&sr=1-2&keywords=shotgun+microphone Then find an audio recorder ($60-ish), used on ebay, like this...

My advice, get some lights, find a shot you'd like to do and start playing around with the lights. If you can't get an actor, go buy a foam wig head and use that as your model. Study some films and try to re-create the lighting from a shot you like. Scott

I would say, 99% of the time it will make your script better. Hemmingway said, "The first draft of anything is shit." Having taught screenwriting for the past couple of years and read hundreds of scripts, I feel that all of them were improved with re-writes. Scott

I've always been a fan of Cinematography by Kris Malkiewicz http://www.amazon.com/Cinematography-Kris-Malkiewicz/dp/0671762206/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1403406868&sr=8-6&keywords=film+lighting+malkiewicz Scott