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Hi Folks, MOFA (Mid Ohio Filmmakers Association) is looking for indie features to screen. We are working with a couple local theaters. We are looking for solid movies of any genre (although we're already somewhat loaded with horror, but if it's good we'll consider it.) Right now, we can't...

I was looking for a reading light for my office and I stumbled across this little LED light at Ikea. I liked it so I bought on and took it home. Once I got it home I realized it might make a great little backlight. I tried it out on a couple of interviews I shot and it worked great. Check...

Hi People, After a long break, here's a new Indie Film Tech Tip. (The tech tip was napping in the corner of the studio and took some prodding.) This tip talks about the difference between using a zoom vs. a dolly. http://www.scottspears.net/filmmakpg3.html Hope you find this one helpful...

I thought this deserved its' own thread. HORRORS OF WAR to screen in LA on THURSDAY May 25th at 7:PM Westside Pavilion Cinemas 10800 Pico Boulevard at Overland Avenue West Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310) 281-8223 $9.50 per ticket Come on folks, support indie filmmakers and check out one of the...

Hey Folks, I was shooting a film project two weekends back and had to educate one of our crew members on the slate, so that's where this tip was born. When you break it down, there are lots of little procedures which are all shown in this video clip. This tip can apply to shooting video too...

I spent the weekend shooting the openings scene for the horror movie "Live Evil". It's the first outing for my Super-16 Eclair ACL and it mostly went well. (I did have one mag jam, as I'm still learning the finer points of loading the mags.) The shoot went well because I was surrounded by a...

Hey People, I finally got around to making a new Indie Film Tech Tip on White Balance. (I've shot 6 features this year so free time has been tight.) This tip shows you the basics of how to use the White Balance feature on your camera to create different looks for your projects. It's a Windows...

Hey gang, As part of a filmmaking seminar I taught in June at Applachian State University, I wrote and directed a 15 min. short, "Not Alone". It was shot on 16mm and some 35mm and DV. Thanks goes out to Bill Pivetta, Frank Mohler and the entire student crew. This short was written and produced...

Hey Folks, I'm co-teaching a 3 week filmmaking seminar at Appalachian State in lovely Boone, North Carolina and wanted to spread the word about it because we still have a few last minute openings for students, so anybody interested could check it out. Here's the official word on it...

I had some time on my hands and made another Tech Tip. This little clip covers basic use of C-Stands. When I went to film school, they didn't have any C-Stands, so when I graduated and started freelancing and the first time I saw one I was thinking "What do I do with that?" It's something basic...

Hey Folks, Here's a little short I did a while back when I was teaching a video class. I needed something simple that I could shoot in a classroom or close by and could be shot in around 3 hours, so I came up with this little ditty. It was edited by one of my students. Later, I went back and...

Our favorite villian pops up just in time for Halloween. Thanks George W. Bush for taking care of that one. ;) I think before this tape, the last thing ole' W said about Osama was "I'm not very concerned about him." He just masterminded the deaths of over 3000 US citizens on US soil and as...

I got bored and wrote this new article, "Dealing With the Colorist". A friend of mine was going through hell with telecine, so it inspired me to write this article to help folks avoid problems. For those who don't know who the colorist is, they're the person who operates the machine that does...

Hey all, I just posted my newest Indie Film Tech Tip. This new installment is called Lighting Units and lays out the basics of lights you'll be using. It's an overview and doesn't cover every light out there, but talks about open face lights, fresnals, power useage, etc... It runs just under 4...

I just won the Best Cinematography Award at the 2004 Nebula Film Festival held in Palintine, IL. The film won for best short, directing (John Whitney), editing(Jeremy Kalef) and score (Victor Alexeeff) so lots of congraulations need to go out. Special thanks goes out to Peter John Ross of...

Hey folks, I've just added a new Indie Film Tech Tip to my site. It has info on Gels & Diffusion. Also, I've broken Grip Kit Goodies into two clips so they are a little smaller. All the tips are 3:22 or under and are Windows Media Files. I made these to help beginning filmmakers understand the...

I just uploaded several filmmaking artilces into the brand new Articles section. These are just some of my observations about filmmaking and not the word of god. I just wanted to share these with folks. To Indie Talk: Thanks for providing a place for me to share these ideas. Enjoy. Scott