What you've learnt this month

clive

clive

Hi Guys

What are the most useful piece of information that you've learnt about filmmaking and or the industry in the last month?

The "It's time for a new industry" thread really got me thinking. Not about the realities of forming a new industry, but more about advantages of having so much collective experince in one place.

Here are mine

1) If you are a non-London based UK production company ITV network has three million pounds to invest in developing new projects with you. All you have to do is pitch your programme idea via thier website. the rules are that you have to be based outside the M25 and not have produced anything for ITV network before. Their current rate is about £30,000 per half hour episode adn they usually commission in batches of twelve. (If you type ITV Regional Production Fund into google you'll find them)

2) Regardless of how good you are at writing dialogue, without an understanding of how to put a strong structure into your story, it's doomed to failure.

3) Final Cut Express won't resize anamorphic DV to it's true 16:9 shape, Final Cut Pro will. (Hello Final Cut Pro)
 
:O I'm stuck on your 3). Are you saying if you film 16:9 and import to fce, the footage won't be in its original shape?

Back to the question, this week I have more understanding about the scriptwriting process and important things to think about when writing a script due to writing my frist script.
 
3). Are you saying if you film 16:9 and import to fce, the footage won't be in its original shape?
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Yeap. The capture default in the preferences for anamorphic isn't an option on FCE, but is on FCP.
 
Cutting a trailer is radically different than cutting a movie. I thought it would be a snap but it was so much harder to establish a rythym and I like the trailer a lot less than the film. Though I'm getting kind of tired of it, I've seen WAY too much footage to be objective.

In Adobe Encore, you use a timeline to set Chapter points. Each piece of film is given it's own timeline once inserted into the menu, you then open that timeline and it's a snap to set the points. Drag to that location, right-click and you've got a new chapter.

If you are working with a small budget, plot your movie accordingly. You don't have to sacrifice quality, you just have to be very focused on the story you are able to tell. That can lead to clever, innovative ways to show something.
 
2) Regardless of how good you are at writing dialogue, without an understanding of how to put a strong structure into your story, it's doomed to failure.
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Okay, Clive's number two is, also, one of the things I've learned this month (thanks Filmy)

Another friend made me aware of photobucket, so I think I will post paintings and cel stills there until I get my site going.

I've learned that I'm not quite as clever as I thought. And this keeps happening, dammmmnnnnnn.
 
This month I learned... oh wait, who am I kidding. I know it all, already.

Sorry. :(

More coffee and I'll think of plenty of new things.
;)
 
I learnt Firewire cards are cheap, so there's no excuse not to have one. :)
I learnt you really have to get creative and stay dedicated for advertising. You have to keep moving at all times to market your product (film). If you let people forget it exists, it will cease to exist. Constant promotion. Macbeth 3000.
www.superguncinema.com

Also, I was on a set as an extra in an Earthquake documentary and I learnt:
-The director and the producer are employed primarily to argue together on set, while the Cameraman/DoP and AD do all the real work.
-HD needs more smoke because it sees through it better, so for a fire sequence, double the smoke for HD, and use it regularly for ambience.
-The director had one of them Sony handheld HD-cams and would take additional shots himself. The larger HD cam would get all the primary shots, and the handheld HD (which I assume was the director's own) was used for pickup shots.
-Smaller shoots with decent budget = better catering (chicken a la king, asparagus and chicken.. mmm)
 
Time for a serious answer now.

I learned that some old TVs won't play a 16:9 aspect ratio DVD, and will squish the width.

From that, I learned that burning a 16:9 movie at the wrong aspect of 4:3 will result in a perfectly normal picture on afore-mentioned old TVs.

...and knowing is half the battle.
 
1. Murphy's law is real.
2. Don't believe too heavily in the shooting schedule you plan.
3. In the clip properties in FCExpress, you can check a box for anamorphic ;)
4. The FCExpress for dummies book by helmut kobler ( http://www.radiusmovie.com is his project that he uses screenshots from in everything he does) tells you all this neat stuff about FCExpress that you thought you'd have to upgrade to Pro for ;)
 
I learned that it is possible to know exactly what you want to see on screen and make it (Killer Squirrel rough cut was done today, and it is just what I wanted).

I learned that you really don't have to have the degree if you have a 20 year long progressive resume. (I landed a 13 episode tv gig today for regional network broadcast.)

I learned that I have several credits at IMDB- yeah me! :)

A good week thus far. :)
 
I learned that my truck is a lethal weapon and needs new brakes, thus I learned that I will not be shooting my short film "The Stream, The Cave, Jim, and Dave" this September.

I learned the meaning of a Jack-o-lantern.

I learned that even if you sign a highly touted Free Agent lineman and reinvigorate your existing ProBowl linemen, you may still get a 3rd and 50 because of holding penalties (Go Cowboys!).

I learned that I will be attending the Premiere of Whitewashed in Dallas. And in relation to this, I learned that you can get a car rebate in cash and finance a movie with the money.

I learned that my dog likes to eat ants.

I learned that Kung Fu Hustle is a great movie.

I learned that Kinsey (the movie, not the man) did the impossible and made sex boring.

I learned that I didn't learn much in the span of a month.

Poke
 
Zensteve said:
Was that the one sub-titled "The Iron Man"?

If so, that's definitely a flick that required copius C20H25N3O. :abduct:

Loved that movie. Still haven't seen the sequel.
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i have the seque. not as good as the original. story and film are lacking. not the same kind of audio assault on the senses, either. still a good flick - worth renting if you can find it.

db
 
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