What to do with a short film? :)

I

IvoryOasis

Hiya, nice to meet you (<--- too generic?)

Anyway, I am new to the entire making films thing (some might say that makes me a newbie!) and was curious what exactly people do with their short films?

I assume contests and festivals? Would anyone happen to have a list of these? P: Also, is it wise to just throw your short film up on youtube? Or is showing it like that a bad move if you want to make billions of dollars? (Aim for the sky, right? :D)

Right now I am planning on doing a 5-10 minute film for my first project... so building a small set in my apartment (attached hooks to the ceiling so i could position the camera anywhere in the room, muu ha ha ha!). Just kind of curious what types of things I should be planning to do with it when I am finished (other than watch it over and over again and pat myself on the back :D)
 
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You should check out "Withoutabox". The site will give you the details of every festival registered, with a profile on each as to your eligibility, genre specifications and submission fees.

It makes the submission process alot easier.
 
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IvoryOasis said:
Thanks sooo so much! That site is perfect!

What about the issue of showing the film on youtube? If you plan to enter it in festivals, is it better to keep it more secret?
Click to expand...

It will say on the their specifications. Although, i can almost assure you, that it's only common in the bigger festivals requesting that the work be unpremiered.

Goodluck, and Welcome to the boards.
 
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Hey IvoryOasis,

With all of my short, i either:
a) Show them to my friends
b) Hide them as far as possible with an attached file what I did wrong, and how to improve it, so I would never produce something as crappy..

So far category "b" has more films that category "a" :-D

My only tip is after you make a short film - show it to your friends, then make another one. Repeat for a while until you'll start hearing your friends tell you "damn.. thats pretty good! can you send me a link of that video?" Thats when you're hitting the right stuff, IMHO ;)
 
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No no, you can't think like that. You have to think "it will be the best short film ever and studios across the globe will be climbing over eachother to give you millions of dollars to make it into a feature!" :D

I'm a 2d artist right now, so 'hopefully' that will come in handy. Hehe I even made 2 green screens to use with my matte-painting (which was the real reason I started thinking about movie-making, to try combining my painting with moving clips o.O)

Oh, also, I found out that green-screens and glass tables do not get along friendly o.O
 
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I don't know if that's the style of the movie, but the matte paintings need to be a lot more realistically. So far they look like image collages with soft brushed edges. When images are composited you need to blend them correctly not just with a soft brush.


Here is one of the best matte artists out there:

http://www.dylancolestudio.com/

You can check some of his tutorials for a better understanding of principles and techniques. I totally recommend them:

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/category/38/Dylan-Cole

Just my 2c.
 
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Id say start with a shorter goal. 1 or 2 minutes. Build some nice miniatures, shoot them on the green screen and extend the sets with you matte paintings. Get good at this technique (don't have to be a master yet) then offer this skill to other aspiring filmmakers in your area.

For miniature building I recommend hitting your local full service hobby train store. Lots of HIGH QUALITY miniature premade, kits and building supplies.
 
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Whops, I forgot to say I think your paintings are beautiful, let me know if you want to VOLUNTEER some matte painting.. I think of SOMETHING to do ...

SaberRider,
that was an incredible link. Just looking at the matte painting examples, particularly with the ones that have the "roll over to see original photography" lit my mind up.. I notice the tracking markers etc.. (just getting into match moving...) thanks!
 
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Thanks :) I agree, Dylan Cole is amazinggg! I'll catch up to him someday :D ((I was taking some classes at gnomon and going through their videos, they have so many different tutorials on almost everything o.O Maybe I should start having it play in the background as I sleep :P )

Everything for me so far has been really short speed matte painting though (each one takes 1 or 2 hours), but if you want it really super clean you have to spend days and days noodling over tiny details. I guess you could call them concept-mattepainting?

I'm still dying to make some to animate! For my short I think I'm going to do that. I have a bunch of effects that can be put in to animate clouds and fog / smoke to bring them alive a bit more. I think I'm going to try it with my short film (I'll fit it in somewhere haha).
 
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