Posts Tagged ‘film students’
Screenwriting Books You Need to Read – Top Ten List
Top Ten Screenwriting Books You Need to Read 1) Screenplay by Syd Field The first book I ever read about screenwriting. Field is the forefather of the how to for screenwriting. He cracked the code of the three act structure and paved the way for all others screenwriting gurus that would follow. As far as…
Read MoreWATCH: Why the First Act of Every Film Is The Same!
Why the First Act of Every Film Is The Same! It is surprising that the first act of most movies are normally the same, the way they set up the character as part of the storyline for the film. Most films show these five things, although maybe not in this exact order. Check out this…
Read MoreLessons Learned from Winning a Screenwriting Competition
Winning Screenwriting Competitions: Lessons Learned Years ago when I received word that my screenplay, Control; Alt; Delete, had won not one but two screenwriting competitions, I believed that all the hard work, years of struggle, self-doubt, and rejection had culminated to a glowing achievement that would forever wash away the specter of failure: I had…
Read MoreChristopher Nolan Master Class: How to Direct Your First Feature Film
Christopher Nolan Master Class: How to Direct Your First Feature Film Who isn’t familiar with the mastermind who resurrected Batman and made people watch Interstellar twice and thrice even just to find some new angle of the movie? Being London-born, Christopher Nolan was born to an English father and an American mother, Brenden James Nolan…
Read MoreMichael Bay: Directing Hack or Genius?
Michael Bay: Directing Hack or Genius? Every indie filmmaker who knows anything about films loves to hate on Michael Bay…or do they? Over-the-top he may be, but is Michael Bay really the worst director alive? I know we are all a bit tired of watching giant robots beat the hell out of each other. With that…
Read MoreHow to Make Robert Rodriguez’s Guacamole Gun
The first time I ever heard of the “Guacamole Gun” was watching Robert Rodriguez’s 10 minute film school on DVD for the third part of his El Mariachi series “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” (he developed it first in his and Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn) Robert talked up the Guacamole Gun something fierce, saying: “The Guacamole Gun…
Read More[WATCH] All of Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Film School
Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Film Schools – ALL OF THEM I’ve been a huge fan of the way writer/director Robert Rodriguez makes his films. The almost total creative control within the studio system is remarkable. Before Youtube film schools there was the 10-minute film schools on every DVD release of any Robert Rodriguez film. These 10 minute film…
Read MoreHow to Write a Script and Workshop Your Screenplay with Paul Castro
How to Write a Script and Workshop Your Screenplay with Paul Castro How to write a script? A question many of us have when we start out. When I created the online course, The Million Dollar Business of Screenwriting with August Rush screenwriter Paul Castro I was blown away by many of the techniques Paul explained.…
Read MoreTop Ten Best Screenplays Ever Written
Top Ten Best Screenplays Ever Written If you want to be a screenwriter you have to read screenplays. There’s no better place to start than then reading the masters of the craft. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) published this list of the top ten best screenplays ever written and I would have to agree. My personal…
Read MoreIFH 143: How NOT to Shoot a $50,000 Short Film – Lessons Learned
How NOT to Shoot a $50,000 Short Film – Lessons Learned So as filmmakers we all want to make the best films we can. Sometimes filmmakers think that a bigger budget is the answer, that bigger is better. This is what I thought when I went down the road and create my short film Red…
Read MoreVisual Effects: Knowing When NOT to Use Them in Indie Filmmaking
Visual Effects: The Sword and The Shield In the hands of an artist, cg and visual effects can be a beautiful display of elegance, subtlety and realism. The exact opposite effect, while equally as beautiful, can also be achieved. It can be rough and rugged, dirty, in your face, and completely devoid of any sense…
Read MoreGeorge RR Martin: Master Class on Storytelling with the Creator of Games of Thrones
George RR Martin: Master Class on Storytelling George RR Martin is one of the most beloved and hated storytellers of his generation. He’s best known for his international bestselling series of epic fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire (FREE AUDIO BOOK VERSIONS HERE), which HBO later adapted for its dramatic HBO series entitled Game of Thrones. Ever since HBO released the Games of…
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