Update! & Behind the scenes pics

Hey Guys,

First, we are very sorry to have gone silent for so long. We have been working around the clock to get “Making the Film” and “TELL” the best they can possibly be.

The good news is- things are going great!

We have begun shooting “Making the Film” and have been able to get some sponsors so that we can bring you contests where you can win professional gear that is being used in Hollywood right now! In our first episode of “Making the Film” we will be announcing this first contest… But there will be many more. J We have also been able to interview big names in Hollywood and pick their brains to get you guys some really great information about filmmaking from the mind of blockbuster making pros.

As far as our film “TELL” goes, the script is complete and we are in the casting process right now and will be announcing our cast very soon. Of course because it is a low/no budget film they are all local actors, but so far we’ve found some excellent talent!

We have been capturing the entire behind the scenes process of “TELL” and we think you are going to love the results in “Making the Film”!

Keep a look out for new stuff, they will be coming quick! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any of the great upcoming contests!!!

Ryan

P.S. The behind the scenes pictures of “Making the Film” are courtesy of AshleyDanyellePhotography.

New trailers online

"The Watchmen" has finally released a trailer online! Check it out here:

The Watchmen - Med-Res, HD

I am very interested to see what Zack Snyder will do with this film. Also check out the trailers for:

Terminator Salvation - High-Res, Med-Res, HD

Body of Lies - High-Res, Med-Res, HD

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - Trailer

Ryan

Where to find hollywood scripts

Scripts are so specific in how they are written, even more so with what is considered acceptable to studios and managers, which leaves a million question for a new writer. Ever pull your hair out over questions like these: How much description can I add? Should I describe action scenes? Should it be purely a blue print or should it entertain? Can I bold, italicize or underline?... etc.

I think one of the best ways to learn how to structure a script is by reading them, and online you can pretty much find any script you can think of. I love reading a script after I've watched the film to see what changed, how much was ad-lib on the part of the actors and how well it translated to the screen. But most of all, it is invaluably informative on structure. With all the contradicting opinions on what can and cannot be added into a screenplay, it's extremely helpful to see how the pros handle it.

Of course you want to steer clear of established writers. They can get away with a lot because they've proven themselves. Try to find scripts from first time writers, or go back and get some of your favorite writer's first scripts. A great one to read is Shane Black's LETHAL WEAPON.

Here are some links where you can find and download scripts for free:

Simplyscripts.com

Script-o-rama.com

Ryan

Up coming interviews!

Hey guys,

We will be interviewing both David Slade (Director of Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night) and David Bruckner (Writer Director of The Signal) this Monday. If you have a question that you would like to see answered from either of them, leave a comment with the question, your first name and your city/state.

Please have the questions in by Sunday night if you want them to have a chance to make it into the interviews.

-Ryan

Online film community and festival

If you haven’t heard of triggerstreet.com you should be ashamed of yourself… Really. Go paint a giant red “A” on your chest and hang your head low with shame… I’m kidding… Kind of…

TriggerStreet is an amazing online community where you are able to post your short films and get feedback from the other members. You can also check out all the films from the other members and leave your reviews. This is such an amazing tool for the learning filmmaker. You upload your film, get opinions on what worked and what didn’t, then you can correct the problems in that film or just have the knowledge not to make the same mistakes in the next.

It is so hard to find an audience that will look at your work objectively and give you an honest opinion, fortunately, TriggerStreet has made a community that does just that. The added bonus is, if your film gets enough good ratings from the advanced members you will automatically be entered into their online festival. The final three filmmakers get flown to LA to be in front of a panel of industry professionals! This years panel includes Jeff Goldblum, Sam Mendes and Robin Williams.

Also, they have recently added the option to upload your scripts, plays, novels and short stories to be reviewed by the community. If you do not have a membership (which is completely free) you should go sign up… NOW, and start getting opinions from someone other than your mom… Kidding again…

www.triggerstreet.com

-Ryan

Free Sound Effects and Music

The questions keep pouring in! Here is another one that I thought would be great for a blog:

“Do you know of anywhere I can get free sound effects? And background music for thrillers?”

-itssawyer

Have you ever watched a movie where the image quality wasn’t that great? If the story is good enough, within 10 minutes you’ll have adjusted to the image and stopped noticing it’s less than stellar quality. (A good example of this would be “Once”.) But now watch a film with bad audio. You will never adjust, and it will be an annoying experience from start to finish (Like “Miami Vice”… Though pretty much everything about Miami Vice was annoying.) For this reason I think sound is actually more important than the visuals. I’ve seen a ton of short or indie films that could have been pretty good, ruined by bad audio, cheesy sound effects and awful music.

When it comes to on-set audio, make sure you have a good shotgun mic, throw it on a boom poll and get it as close to the talent as the framing allows. And if you have the software, in post do a little ADR to tweak the parts that are less than perfect. (I know that wasn’t a part of the question, so… consider it a freebie.)

Sound effects aren’t only for action films! No matter what genre you are working in, sound effect are vital. If someone is walking, we should be hearing footsteps. Little add-ons with sound do a great deal to give your film “production value.” There are a ton of great FX library’s out there, unfortunately they can get pretty expensive. But if you look hard enough, there are places online that offer good sounds for FREE! Here are a couple:

http://www.soundsnap.com/

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml

Soundsnap.com is by far the best in my opinion. Their site is easy to use (unlike the others) and has some of the best quality of free sounds I’ve heard on the web.

If you are looking for music it is the same. There’s good stuff out there but for a price. Most royalty free music isn’t that good to begin with, so once you are looking for completely free stuff, it gets even harder to find anything of any value. But check out these sites, they have a few pieces of music that I think are worth the listen:

http://music.download.com/3607-8272-0.html?tag=MDL_browseAllNode

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/

I hope this helps. When it comes to sound effects and music, I think it’s best to do all original. But if you don’t have the capacity to create Foley or compose music, I think these are great alternatives.

-Ryan

How to get a cast and crew

We had another question on YouTube that asked:

“How can I get a cast and crew that is willing to work for very little or no money?”

Abraham T.

There is a very simple answer for getting crew... friends and family! They might not know anything about filmmaking, but they are willing (and this is the important part) to work for free. I’ve shot a few short films where everyone on the crew had never stepped foot on a set or gone to film school, with the exception of myself and my partner. Before shooting I met with each person that had agreed to help, and taught them how to do the job I needed them for. Really, (for a no-budget film) the only jobs on set that need someone with experience is the Director, DP and the Cam Op (which is typically the same person as the DP). Another great idea is to talk to film schools in your area and see if any of the students would be interested in working for experience/credit.

But if you don’t want to go that route and would rather use experienced people, you’re going to need a great script or past work that shows your talent. If you have one of those two… or both, go and post the open positions you are looking for on these sites:

http://www.craigslist.com/

http://www.mandy.com/

http://www.productionhub.com/

There are a lot of sites like these. But I’ve gotten the best results from the above three. Also if you don’t mind spending the $100 I would suggest getting an IMDBpro account.

http://www.imdbpro.com/

IMDBpro is another great avenue to find other filmmakers and stay up-to-date with all the industry news.

Actors are a totally different story. There are a ton of aspiring actors and actresses out there itching to get work to build their resume. The down side, however, is that 80% of them are not good. So you will have to go through the painful task of sifting through the bad to find the good.

Good places to post for a casting call would be:

http://www.actorsinfobooth.com/

http://www.exploretalent.com/

http://www.craigslist.com/

http://www.mandy.com/

http://www.imdbpro.com/

You can also contact all the acting schools and drama groups in your area... just Google it.

Also remember, no matter who you are trying to get to work on your film, be it family, friends or people you don’t know, you have to get them excited about the project. No one wants to work on a boring film that is going nowhere. But if you can convince them that it will be something great with much potential, then you will be able to get all the help you need.

I hope this helped. We will be talking more about casting in one of the upcoming episodes of “Making the Film.”

Ryan