“3D filmmaking might be giving the phrase “Here’s looking at you, kid,” a whole new dimension.

This past Saturday, footage from films such as “Titanic,” “The Matrix,” “Star Wars Episode 3,” “Transformers” and yes, even “Casablanca” were shown in full 3D as created by a company called In-Three.

No, those films aren’t going to have 3D releases anytime soon. They were played as examples of where the 3D medium is going and the type of work In-Three is currently doing. They held a conference on the latest medium to rock Hollywood and MakingtheMovie was there.

Read this article from Making The Movie.

Tags: 3D, filmmaking

“The Nigerian Film Industry (popularly referred to globally as Nollywood) is one of the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy. It is less than 20 yrs old but it is now ranked third in the world after Hollywood in the USA and Bollywood in India, in terms of volume of output, productivity and profitability.

The Nigerian home movies have become popular in most parts of Africa, even franco phone Africa, and increasingly so in Europe, America, Asia and elsewhere. A casual glance in the internet today yields overwhelming surveys and articles detailing the progress and positive expectations of the Nigerian Film Industry. Several researches have been conducted by prominent organizations to understand the phenomenal success of Nollywood.”

Read this article from Afrogist TV Blog.

Tags: Nigerian films, nollywood

“Being a producer is much like being an actor — you get paid once a film is in production. Everyone’s heard of starving actors, right? Well there are a lot of starving producers too.

If you set up a film at the studio, you may get a paltry development fee (usually $25k) that you usually end up splitting with a producing partner or two. But for argument’s sake, you are very much like an actor — working diligently toward being on set with the hope of a good pay day.”

Read this article from All About Indie Filmmaking

Tags: indie films, producers, Producing

Follow the writings of an indie filmmaker relentlessly dedicated to directing her first feature, and sharing the experience with you. For Love of Indie Filmmaking.

Tags: independent filmmakers, indie filmmakers

“Last year seven friends and I turned-around a short film project in about 14 hours (from conception to delivery), with nobody other than Anu and I working more than 6 hours on it (that’s how long the shoot was, including rehearsals and dinner). It was literally no-budget filmmaking. The entire project was made on volunteer time, borrowed gear, and $50 pocket money for food and tape.

There was no dedicated editor involved, and I’d burned myself out by the time I went to edit it myself, so I decided to use one of the single continuous takes that we’d shot. Thus, it became a filmed skit, in the style of an old variety show. I still think I should have edited it, because the action isn’t very expressive and camera movement / shot dynamics would have helped mask that, but alas, that ship sailed long ago.”

Read this article from The Indie Auteur.

Tags: indie films, short films

The feature article this month is called “Prodding the Drunken Elephant” (The Film Editor’s World) by Rick Benwick.

“What we learn as Editor’s of movies is that we develop a very close relationship with the film image. Each movie production shoots and hands us many hours of material. We look at this material first as independent shots of different sizes and angles. We look again as it is being digitized onto the hard drives.”

If you are not a subscriber to this free monthly ezine for filmmakers, (packed with hundreds of filmmaking articles, tips and techniques) you can sign up at: http://www.actioncutprint.com

Tags: Film Editing, the director's chair

“The goal for most, if not all, filmmakers is distribution. Distribution means many different things to different people but to most, if not all, it means getting your film seen. To many others, it means getting your film seen and being paid for your efforts in making the film.

It’s an uphill battle that requires constant adjustment and tweaking of processes. For me I’ve had to think on the fly, adjust my goals, shoot higher, shoot further, shoot internationally.”

Read this article from Angelo Bell.

Tags: Film Distributon

“Tragedy reminds us so well that the adventures we undertake while making films can be dangerous. I used to try to argue the point with our insurance agent that if 40,000 or more people die in car accidents every year in the USA, then how could adventure filmmaking be worse?

Sadly, I was wrong. We operate in a dangerous world but its fragility is what makes it all the richer.”

Read this article from BackPacker.com

Tags: adventure filmmaking

““The way we operate is being dissected and reassembled in front of our eyes,” noted Endgame’s James D. Stern in a keynote speech at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend (which was published in its entirety by indieWIRE). Later that day, a panel of key industry players gathered at the fest’s Film Financing Conference to, as moderator and industry blogger Anne Thompson put it, “parse the desperate stage of the indie economy” right now.

The panel, titled “The World As We Know It: Is It Over?,” included “Che” producer Laura Bickford, Christian Gaines of Withoutabox, Ted Mundorff from Landmark Theatres, “Notorious” producer Bob Teitel, and Beastie Boy Adam Yauch from Oscilloscope Laboratories.”

Read this article from IndieWire.

Tags: Filmmaking Tips

In 1993, I was the 1st Assistant Director on the movie “Look Who’s Talking Now” starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. The DOP was Oliver Stapleton BSC.

Oliver has a very impressive film production credit list and he has written a variety of informative (and sometimes funny) articles on the filmmaking journey.

I have included one of my favorites here called “So You Wanna Work in Movies?” - a response to people who ask: What do I do to get into Movies?

Tags: Filmmaking Tips, Oliver Stapleton