Filmmaking Tricks – Using a Rubber Band for a Smooth Pan Shot

Here’s another simple low-budget trick with a rubber band that stabilizes your tripod for a smooth panning effect. I found this (again) via brusspup’s Channel on Metacafé.

Check it out…

CNN Launches iReport Film Festival

CNN is launching its first user-generated short film competition covering the 2008 U.S. presidential election: iReport Film Festival. Contestants are asked to submit/upload an original short film (8 minutes or less), documenting their perspective during the presidential campaign. Deadline for submissions is October 12, 2008 and the winner will be announced on November 13 on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.

Here’s more info from iReport:

The best films will vie for Grand Jury and CNN Audience Awards, and as with all iReports, may be featured on CNN. Award winners will receive a trip to Washington D.C. for the inauguration of the next president of the United States and a top-of-the-line HD camera. [excerpt from iReport.com]

You can upload your film HERE.

Filmmaking Tricks – Using Your Tripod for Crane-Like Shots

Here’s a very cool low-budget maneuver you can try with your tripod. It’s a simple idea that can add production value to your shot.

I found this video on Eugenia’s Rants & Thoughts via brusspup’s Channel on Metacafé.

Video Cam Super Trick! – Free videos are just a click away

The Doorpost Film Project

The Doorpost Film Project is a new filmmaking contest which will also serve as an ongoing project that aims to “change the world.” It’s another positive social filmmaking endeavor in the light of Pangea Day which I blogged about before. Along with the project’s optimistic goals, they’re giving filmmakers some serious cash!

Here’s the gist of the contest:

Submitted films (accepted from February 1 to May 1, 2008) need to be 5 minutes or less in length – themed in one of seven universal concepts: ENERGY, LOVE, PAIN, GREED, REDEMPTION, FORGIVENESS, and FREEDOM.

Entries are to be uploaded to thedoorpost.com where it will be streamed and judged by “industry experts” and online viewers.

15 finalists will win $10,000 each to make another short film (8-15 minutes in length). From there, three winners will be selected – 3rd prize = $20,000, 2nd prize = $30,000 and 1st prize = $100,000. Not bad.

Here’s what they say about their organization:

This is more than a contest, this is an ongoing project. We ask you, this century’s revolutionaries, to join us in creating a new way to understand the core of our humanity and a new way to change the world.” [from thedoorpost.com 'about us']

DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Props & Special FX – Part 2 “GUTS” (metaphorically speaking)

In Part 1 (DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Props & Special FX – “BLOOD”), I listed several great resources for making your own “blood” related props and special effects. Now in Part 2 – the “Guts” covers several more great links. I used “guts” as a metaphor to describe all the internal building blocks that go into making movie props and special effects.

To be honest, the word “guts” just works well for a two part series: “Blood” & “Guts.”

We’ll start with a good segue to the “blood” post:

FAKE DEAD GUYS

A mixture of links from Halloween enthusiasts and filmmakers are comprised in this list.

- MicroFilmmaker.com – “Build a Dead Guy for Horror Films”

- StickTowhatYouKnow.com – “Making A Dead Guy 101″

- HalloweenOnlineMagazine.com – “Making A Corpse”

- I MakeProjects.com – “Charred Corpse”

And one of the signature DIY sites has its own contributions:

- Instructables.com – “Making a Dead Guy 101,” “BFX: How to Make a Fake Brain,” “How to Make Fake Heads,” “How to Make a Fake Hand”

DIY COSTUMES

- Costume.org – “How To’s”

- Studio Creations.com - “…tips and tricks that go into making professional style costumes and props that are used in the Hollywood Movies”

- DIY Life.com – “Costumes”

- Milieux.com – “Costume Resource Links”

- Costumepage.org – “The Costume Page (a lot of links)”

- Clara.net – “The Dyeing Guide,” “The Arming Coat,” “Dress Making Guide”

Continue reading DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Props & Special FX – Part 2 “GUTS” (metaphorically speaking)…

DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Props & Special FX – Part 1 “BLOOD”

In a previous “DIY Filmmaking” post, I highlighted several great websites like Indy Mogul and Instructables.com. Both provide very useful tutorials for “diy” filmmaking equipment projects. I’ve included several more links from them in this post. They are a great resource for making your own props and special effects. I’ve also discovered several others that cover this topic. In fact, I found so many that I had to split this post into two parts.

For Part 1, my list of sites with DIY Props & Special Effects will cover “Blood” and all the filmmaking special effects that relates to it.

BLOOD

Almost every film uses some kind of blood effect. Be it a simple abrasion or nosebleed; an action flick with shoot ‘em up gun-shot scenes or a full on horror slasher film. They all have to produce blood FX in some degree.

Gun Shot FX:

- Indy Mogul has a good ‘diy’ gun-shot squib tutorial titled, “How To Make A Blood Shooter.” There is also a video demonstration which was their pilot episode (“Blood-squirting gunshot effect for just $15″) for their series, Backyard FX. Curbly.com has both parts combined.

- Instructables.com – “Hollywood Gunshot Blood Effect!”

- Exposure.co.uk – “Blood & Bullets for No-Budget movies” (How to make compressed gas bullet hits); alt link via panzercorps.com

- eHow.com – “How to Make Fake Blood Squibs for Film, Television and Stage Productions”

- MicroFilmmaker – “Create a Hollywood Style Gunshot Wound” and “Creating Bullet Hits with Paintball Shots”

Continue reading DIY Filmmaking: Make Your Own Props & Special FX – Part 1 “BLOOD”…

New Green Screen Technology Creates Virtual Sets and Locations in Real-Time

M.I.T. alum, Eliot Mack started Cinital, Inc. and created a system that can revolutionize the costly, time consuming process of traditional visual effects post production. The Cinital system has the ability to instantly track and match camera motion to virtual environments and to perform real-time keying and compositing. Although it costs $85,000 to buy, it will certainly be available to rent (some day). The Boston Globe ran a piece on this recently:

…when the Cinital-enhanced camera is pointed at an actor standing in front of a green background, it uses a powerful multiprocessor PC to replace the background with footage digitized earlier. The merged image appears on a high-definition monitor on the set, so that the director can adjust lighting or the position of actors to make the shot look more realistic. When the camera pans across a landscape, or zooms in, the background imagery adjusts appropriately. [excerpt from Boston Globe article, "A new script for moviemaking," by CinemaTech's Scott Kirsner]

Check out the video interview with Eliot Mack – demonstrating the process (click below for the video).

Continue reading New Green Screen Technology Creates Virtual Sets and Locations in Real-Time…

Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute (DIY) Film School VIDEO

One of the most popular filmmaking articles online has been “Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School” (courtesy of Exposure.co.uk). It’s a transcribed excerpt from a ‘guerrilla filmmaking’ seminar-lecture Rodriguez did several years go. A more detailed version of the lecture is also available in his book: Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player. One of my most popular posts on this site, “DIY Film School – Learn from Websites with Filmmaking Tutorials” also includes a link to this article. Now, a video has surfaced on YouTube with Rodriguez narrating the making-of his legendary film, El Mariachi. He shares some of his “secrets” on how he shot his first film for $7k. One is that he shot the whole thing silent – without sound. He made it work.

Check out the 2 parts of the video by clicking below:

Continue reading Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute (DIY) Film School VIDEO…

The Hollywood Reporter Breaks Down State-by-State Incentive Programs

The Hollywood Reporter has a great feature titled “Made In America.” It highlights all 50 states’ production and tax incentive programs and information on all its film commissions. They have an interactive map of the U.S. that facilitates your search. It also includes Puerto Rico and “D.C.” (District of Columbia). If you’re getting ready to shoot your film in America, check out what incentives your state has to offer. Click on their map to browse complete details on production and tax incentives and film commission info by state.

You can also check out Filmlinker’s Links Directory – Industry Organizations for more info on Film Commissions, Groups & Associations, Organizations and Guilds from the U.S. and around the world.

Scorsese’s Take on “Found” Hitchcock Script

Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese [IMDB info] has been seen in a few commercials this year, but this time – he directed a very interesting homage to Alfred Hitchcock [IMDB info]. It’s called The Key to Reserva – sponsored by winemaker Freixenet whose product is prominently displayed throughout this short film/commercial. It starts as a mockumentary with Scorsese describing a found, unmade Hitchcock script that he will direct the way Hitchcock would have made it. He uses several methods that give tribute to the ‘Hitchcockian’ filmmaking style. Check out Borgus.com for a list of these techniques that were used by Alfred Hitchcock.

Here’s the Martin Scorsese advert/film/mockumentary – The Key to Reserva:

Continue reading Scorsese’s Take on “Found” Hitchcock Script…