Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Steven Ascher Maybe you’ve had this experience: You know a song that would be perfect for your movie. You scurry around, trying to get permission to use it. After lots of leg work, you contact the rights holders and then wait. For weeks or months. Eventually, you hear that the song is not available, … Continue reading “Clearing Music for Your Film | Negotiating the Rights Package; Library Music versus Original Scores”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Jeff Turboff How many times have you finished your sequence, eager to make that output for the director to watch or to export a Quicktime for all your YouTube fans to check out, but then, you have to wait for what seems like forever as you render all of your dissolves and other effects? … Continue reading “The Power of Rubberbanding | Reduce Your Render Time, Get a Better Sound Mix, and Avoid Losing Your Audio Smoothing”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
Payroll and Production Accounting For the independent filmmaker, there are many financial production issues to deal with; much more than any one person on a large production. From handling cost reports to dealing with payroll, there are hundreds of things that need to be managed successfully. The reason of course, is because the independent filmmaker … Continue reading “Entertainment Payroll and Accounting: Can’t I Just Do It Myself?”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
Interview conducted by Jody Michelle Solis StudentFilmmakers Magazine interviews Telly and multi-award winning Director of Photography Tom Robotham, who is an inventor of LED lighting. What inspired you to invent the Blender® Light? Tom Robotham: I invented the Blender® Light because I liked the efficiency and portability of battery operated LED lights, but was… …
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
Interview conducted by Jody Michelle Solis Vartorella Tips: Top 3 Things Investors Want to See During the Pitch (1.) Enthusiasm (2.) Honesty. (3.) Realism. Honesty is critical as it is the least-used strategy in American business. The realism part is on the money side. Know the basics of above-the-line and below-the-line costs. The … Continue reading “Pitching to Film Investors: A Glass of Water with William F. Vartorella, Ph.D., C.B.C.”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
Written by Jonathan Moore I remember what they tell me about Tamara. And it isn’t good. I’m preparing to shoot my first documentary, several individuals from my hometown strongly warn against using an old friend of mine, Tamara Douglas, in the film. But, I protest, this project is about the effects of the closure of … Continue reading “Casting Must-Do’s for Your Documentary: How to Choose and Select Subjects (People)”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Scott Spears I talk with a lot of young filmmakers who are just starting out in the business end of the industry. They’ve made their DV shorts and are beginning to understand the fundamentals of filmmaking, but are realizing that their neat short movies don’t put change in their pockets. They want to … Continue reading “Production Assistant Essentials: What Do You Bring to the Set?”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Ric Viers Three Ways to Cut Sound Effects for Your Production: (1.) Use the sound effects recorded on set with the boom mic. You’d be surprised how much you’ll get for free! (2.) Create your own sound effects in-sync to picture. A laptop playing back a Quicktime file works fine in a pinch. … Continue reading “What Makes a Sound Effect Useful or Useless: Keep Your Audiences Engaged”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Richard La Motte I’ve spent forty years in the film business, worked on many films and TV shows and can say that the best experiences all happened in and on projects that were well organized, and that means designed. Maybe it’s not often taught in enough film classes but strong design is central … Continue reading “Design Your Movie: What is Good Design?”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Charlie Balch In-Camera Settings for Two 7Ds The in-camera settings closely resembled the popular “cinestyle” look in which we pulled a more neutral image. By desaturating and bringing down the contrast in our image it allowed us to have much more to work with in post color correction wise. This style was very… …
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by Richard La Motte Making a film has never been easier. With all the advances in digital cameras and editing programs, virtually anyone can make a film with limited resources, but making a film is only one-fourth of the problem. So what are the other three fourths? (1.) Come up with a saleable idea … Continue reading “4 Key Pointers of Film Marketing and Sales”
Written by StudentFilmmakers Magazine
by John Manchester Music libraries, more accurately described as production music libraries, supply music for productions. Why do you need one? Can’t you just use whatever you want from your CD collection? No. If you want to do just about anything with recorded music aside from listen to it, federal law requires you to … Continue reading “Show Me Your License: 4 Options for Licensing Music”
