We’ve come to the end of our international excursion of interviewing foreign filmmakers. It’s been quite a ride. Today’s guest brings us back to North America to Toronto, ONT. In fact, our guest today is the perfect bridge between the foreign filmmaker series and the next series I’m doing on YouTubers. Today we have Tom […]
Creating a Shot List
Last Friday I talked about the importance of creating policies and procedures. In that post, I talked about the value of having a written equipment check list to go through before ever shoot. There’s another list that’s pretty important if you’re a filmmaker: the shot list. This is the process I learned in filmmaking classes […]
A Quick Primer on Using Zeiss CP.2 Cinema Lenses
Producing our 48 Hour Film Project had a series of “firsts” for me. One of those firsts I mentioned was the first time for me shooting with a Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 cinema lens (pdf link) (specifically the 35mm T2.1). There’s a lot of talk among DSLR filmmakers about the joy and benefits of using […]
The Importance of Lighting Design
Ask any professional filmmaker or photographer worth her weight in lens caps, and she’ll tell you that light is tantamount to a successful shoot. It’s because of lighting a set properly that significantly adds to how long it takes to shoot a film. I would guess that most of you out there who make this your profession […]
The World Wide Web Premier of our 48 Hour Film Project “The Last Author”
I’m proud to present our 48 hour film project, “The Last Author.” We had just 48 hours to conceive, write, shoot and edit an original short film. Each film had to contain three elements. A consultant named Tom (or Tina) Goodwin, a book, and the line of dialogue “When will she be here?” The genre we […]
FCPX and the Problem with Creatives
I questioned whether it would make sense for me to blog about the release of Final Cut Pro X (aka FCPX). Seems like every major filmmaker/blogger is already doing it. But, I’d like to tackle the situation from a viewpoint that I don’t see anyone else doing. The fundamental problem with creatives in general….
Featured Filmmaker Friday – Adad Warda (Crossing the 180 #37)
Where in the world is Crossing the 180 today? Well, today we head to the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. As we continue our series on foreign filmmakers, Adad Warda. Adad is actually a transplant to Prague by way of the San Francisco Bay Area. After re-locating there with a business partner in 2008, […]
Filmmaking and the Power of Collaboration
Many of us filmmakers in business for ourselves are either lone gunmen, or at most work with 1-2 other people on a job. I bet many of you shoot and edit all your own projects. So when the opportunity to work with a crew comes along, it may seem daunting. I want to address the […]
Our 48 Hour Film Project Trailer
This weekend I experienced the most rewarding and challenging filmmaking experience of my career: the Atlanta leg of the 48 Hour Film Project. I and a rag-tag team of fugitive filmmakers had just 48 hours to conceive, write, shoot and edit a high quality short film. Words cannot quite describe what it was like to […]
The 48 Hour Film Project is On!
Well it’s here. The moment I’ve been nervously and anxiously anticipating for little over a month. The Atlanta leg of the 48 Hour Film Project. I’ve assembled a “crackerjack” team of filmmakers, many of whom are coming from as far away as Savannah. But we have music composers as far away as IN and Cali […]