Making a movie needn't be difficult. It is hard work however, especially if your budget has been crunched to next to nothing.
Can you still make movies with hardly any cash?
Of course you can, bit it's a whole lot easier if you observe some basic simple rules, which I call, with a bit of arrogance, the 10 Commandments of Low Budget Independent Film
Showing posts with label independent film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label independent film. Show all posts
10 Top Trends For Indie Film in 2009
I finally have had my arm twisted and have written down the things I observed film-wise this year.
Scanning past the article right now, I realise it is already getting stale - which means I might have to write the Top Ten Trends of the 00's. (Does anyone else hate the term 'naughties'?)
And then there are the most influential this and the most influential that of the next decade.
At any rate, you might now be totally bored, or you might want to read the list I came up with for:
10 Top Trends For Independent Film 2009
Scanning past the article right now, I realise it is already getting stale - which means I might have to write the Top Ten Trends of the 00's. (Does anyone else hate the term 'naughties'?)
And then there are the most influential this and the most influential that of the next decade.
At any rate, you might now be totally bored, or you might want to read the list I came up with for:
10 Top Trends For Independent Film 2009
A-Z of Independent Film
By Elliot Grove
A is for Actor
...the most exploited component of an independent film. Usually actors work free in a feature film hoping that they will be discovered and be able to launch their careers. Often, independent filmmakers will hire a name actor for a day or tow on the set in a cameo role hoping that the 'name' will help to pull in investors and enhance sales. In America, the actors on low budget independent features are called 'the moveable props' in deference to their abundant supply.
In the USA, actors are represented by SAG, and in the UK by Equity.
B is for Blonde
... the nickname for a 2k portable light that can be plugged into household current. A 750 watt light is called a redhead. These lights are considered the staple of independent filmmakers. Thus the phrase: I'm shooting with a blonde and two redheads. This equipment can be packed in a small case and easily transported with a camera in the back of a taxi.
At Raindance we have a great evening course called the Power of Lighting in which simple three point lighting is explained.
BIFA: Acronym for the British Independent Film Awards, the only awards specifically for independently produced film in Europe.
Not to be confused with Biffa - the London-based waste-disposal company.
B is for Budget - uuaully the first thing you get asked when you are trying to drum up interest in your film.
C is for Culture Jamming
...a publicity technique employed by many independent filmmakers as a way to enhance scanty marketing budgets by associating themselves (uninvited) with successful brands, or by courting controversy.
Camera is used for image capture. Independent filmmakers chose the right camera for the story and the budget. Rentals can vary from £50 per day for a near broadcast quality DV camera to £10,000 per day for a large 35mm kit with track, dolly and lenses.
Film cameras are defined by the width (gauge) of the film stock: 8mm, 16mm, 35mm and 70mm. Specialty gauges are super 8mm, super 16mm, and super 35mm. Imax cameras take 70mm film sideways to allow for a 135mm x 70mm frame.
Tape formats are VHS, Super VHS, Beta, Digibeta, Mini DV, DVCAM, DVPro and HDTV.
Raindance Film Festival screens work originated on all formats. See the submission requirementshere.
D is for Distribution
How To Make It With A Short Film In Europe
by Elliot Grove
Filmmakers in Britain have always considered short form narratives and documentaries as a viable step into filmmaking. The BBC and Channel 4 in particular have commissioned and purchased shorts for broadcast on terrestrial television, often as a way to test new talent before awarding the filmmakers a more substantial contract to produce a feature film or documentary. However, since 2003, the landscape has changed. In the current climate the terrestrial television channels have scaled back their commissioned shorts programs and rarely acquire shorts for broadcast. This has left filmmakers with relying on festivals as the main alternative to getting their work seen.
Shorts typically have punchier story lines, are often shot on very low budgets giving them a gritty look, that combined with sharp short stories make compelling viewing. Filmmakers have been shooting movies on their mobiles since 2003 when Nokia introduced the first camera phone. The haunting images on television after the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London demonstrated their news ability. This ground-breaking moment paved the way to the present BBC practice who issue quality mobile handsets such as the Nokia N93 to home-based journalists, who then email in their footage for quick assembly, edit and broadcast in the studio.
Using a short film, or a series of short films has always been considered a viable and useful way to demonstrate one talent to the industry powers-that-be on route to building a career in features, or in commercials and pop promos. Here are the routes novice filmmakers are using in Europe. Many of these techniques are applicable universally.
1. Film Festivals
A festival screening allows you to screen your film in front of total strangers, and often, in Europe at least, to people with whom English is not their mother tongue. Until you have sat in a screening room full of strangers watching your film you do not really know how the film "plays". Do they laugh at the right place for example.
Getting your film accepted into a film festival is not easy. Firstly, you research the festival world (there are nearly 3,000 film festivals around the world), download a submission form, and send it, along with an application fee and a copy of your film. Then you wait to hear if you have been selected. If you are selected, you then need to send the festival a screening copy of the film, usually on digibeta, along with a picture of yourself, or a still from the movie that they can use in their festival catalogue. Try and book your holiday around a festival screening. Get there a few days earlier and pass out postcards with a good strong image of your film on one side, and the screening dates and times on the reverse. Festival organizers should also be able to help you with a list of local distributors and sales agents who might be interested in acquiring short films (ie: buying a license to screen your film). Contact these people by email and telephone.
Screenings at certain film festivals almost certainly guarantee other festival invites. Many festivals rely on bellweather festivals such as Raindance, to act as a filter to whittle down the huge number of films to a manageable lot of a certain quality.
Remember that each festival has different taste, and to be rejected by one festival is not to be taken personally.
The best way to research film festivals is to look at these two sites: www.filmfestivals.com, an English-speaking company based in Paris, and www.withoutabox.com, an American company with a subsidiary office in London.
Top European Film festivals for shorts:
There are at least 9 European short film festivals which show shorts only. Other festivals, such as Raindance, have dynamic short film strands. Research the festivals and try to ascertain which ones have videotechs, such as Rotterdam. At those festivals, even if you are not selected, industry scouts will be able to see your film.
International Short Film Festival Leuven January
International Film Festival Rotterdam January
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival February
Tampere Short Film Festival March
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen May
Cannes International Film Festival May
Cineam Jove International Film Festival June
Vila do Conde International Short Film Festival July
Raindance Film Festival - October
Kinofilm Manchester International Film Festival November
Encounters International Short Film Festval November
Sales Agents
The Final Countdown
Less than a week until the 17th Raindance Film Festival. Get updated on what's good with the UK's largest independent film festival.
A trailer so good it had to be controversial.
Newsletter
Festival info
A trailer so good it had to be controversial.
Newsletter
Festival info
Saved By The Box
May 21st 2009 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition
Independent film is thriving on television thanks to video on demand
CANNES was quiet this week. Although the stars and the paparazzi went through the usual red-carpet routine, there was less extravagance and a smaller contingent of film-buyers than usual. Yet for makers of independent films, that was not the end of the world. In their business the action increasingly takes place not on the French Riviera but in American living rooms. Tricky, intelligent films are finding a home in the least glamorous corner of the television business.
Read the rest of the article
Japanese Film Themes: Love
by Grace Leong
Love is a strong recurring theme in Japanese Films, especially love that is lost. While a plot involving losing a loved one to an incurable disease or a fateful accident may sound too much of a cliché, Japanese filmmakers have continued to show how successes can be created through intricate story-telling. The following are some titles to look out for.
Shunji Iwai, perhaps better remembered by some Western audiences as the director of All About Lily Chou-C
hou (2001), created the classic film ‘Love Letter’ in 1995. The story begins with Hiroko Watanabe mourning the death of her fiancé Itsuki who died in a mountain climbing accident. While trying to come to terms with her loss, she decides to write a letter to him and mails it to an old address in his hometown. Surprisingly, a reply is received from Itsuki, a woman whose links with Hiroko’s dead fiancé go beyond sharing the same name. Years after its initial release, Love Letter continued to create waves in Asia and is credited for creating a whole fan base for Japanese films in Thailand when it was released there in 2001. Having been part of the original crew for Love Letter is also to be part of a powerful lineage.
Love is a strong recurring theme in Japanese Films, especially love that is lost. While a plot involving losing a loved one to an incurable disease or a fateful accident may sound too much of a cliché, Japanese filmmakers have continued to show how successes can be created through intricate story-telling. The following are some titles to look out for.
Shunji Iwai, perhaps better remembered by some Western audiences as the director of All About Lily Chou-C
hou (2001), created the classic film ‘Love Letter’ in 1995. The story begins with Hiroko Watanabe mourning the death of her fiancé Itsuki who died in a mountain climbing accident. While trying to come to terms with her loss, she decides to write a letter to him and mails it to an old address in his hometown. Surprisingly, a reply is received from Itsuki, a woman whose links with Hiroko’s dead fiancé go beyond sharing the same name. Years after its initial release, Love Letter continued to create waves in Asia and is credited for creating a whole fan base for Japanese films in Thailand when it was released there in 2001. Having been part of the original crew for Love Letter is also to be part of a powerful lineage. Love Letter Assistant Director Isao Yukisada used to be marketed as such but he too has gone on to create his own classic love story. Crying Out Love In The Centre Of The World or 'Sekai no chushin de, ai o sakebu' (2004) sold 7 million tickets in Japan within 10 weeks of its formal release and features Kou Shibasaki (Battle Royale) as one of the leads.
View the rest of the article HERE.
Festival Submission Closing Date
It's been the same for 17 years now:
In the week BEFORE our final deadline, dozens of telephone calls - from filmmakers asking questions concerning eligibility, from filmmakers worried that their films will reach us in time (Yes it has to be POSTMARKED June 19th) and from filmmakers worried about whether or not their film submissions have arrived.
On this last point, our answer isn't such an easy one as there is a huge pile in the corner, and I'd guess we are running a good week - ten day behind in the logging process.
Happen to want to submit to Briain's largest independent film festival?
Here are the Submission Details
In the week BEFORE our final deadline, dozens of telephone calls - from filmmakers asking questions concerning eligibility, from filmmakers worried that their films will reach us in time (Yes it has to be POSTMARKED June 19th) and from filmmakers worried about whether or not their film submissions have arrived.
On this last point, our answer isn't such an easy one as there is a huge pile in the corner, and I'd guess we are running a good week - ten day behind in the logging process.
Happen to want to submit to Briain's largest independent film festival?
Here are the Submission Details
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