We’ve written a lot on NoFilmSchool about the tutorials available for editing, visual effects, and color correction, but there’s one area of post production we haven’t really touched upon: DVD authoring. However, once you watch these tutorials from Creative Cow’s Andrew Devis, you’ll have the knowledge you need to start creating content for your DVD’s:

In addition to this intro to handling media and creating menus, be sure to check out Devis’ later videos in the series which go into creating a Flash-based web DVD (although as we know, Flash’s days are numbered), menus with video and audio content, and photo slideshows.

Link: Creative Cow: Adobe Encore Tutorials

[via Filmmaker IQ]

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With the advancement of computer generated animation, many effects are no longer done on set where safety and cost are priorities (though it seems CGI ends up costing just as much, if not more). I personally have always been a fan of real effects, and it’s one of the reasons a movie like Star Wars, made back in the late 70s, still looks as good as it does today. A recent example is the practical effects used in the movie The Fountain, where organic fluid effects were filmed on a microscopic level to help make the film feel timeless. A new PBS Digital show created by Joe Schenkenberg (also known as Joey Shanks) gives some practical examples of visual effects that anyone can create at home on a budget.

Episode 1:

Episode Extra:

Episode 2:

Many of these effects will be used in a film Joey is making:

SCI-FLY is a space adventure short film that follows the tiny vessel “Spud” trying to allude a black hole that is engulfing the universe. A dark premise contrasted with divine imaginary. A fluctuating ride of tone and emotion. SCI-FLY will rely heavily on “in camera” visual effects using stop-motion animation & time lapse photography. CGI will be used sparingly during the shooting process.

Some of these are just downright beautiful, and when used in the right spot, they could really complement computer animation and live action. Real visual effects seem to be a lost art, but when it comes down to it, if you’re creating something for a science fiction universe, practical effects will probably be much cheaper and save you time as well — especially when you’re on a budget. Obviously some of these are a little dangerous, and we would recommend that if you’re going to try them, that you take extra safety precautions.

“Joey Shanks” will be producing a new episode for PBS every other Friday, and you can find all of the episodes online from the link below.

What do you guys think about the effects? Have you ever used similar effects in your own films?

Links:

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“How do I become a music video director? How did you get into this? Whose door do I knock on? That’s not the right way to think about it. You should really just grab a camera and shoot stuff and wait till it’s good enough for people to notice.”

Being exposed to first hand knowledge and advice from those also on the filmmaking journey is vitally important when it comes to developing your craft, regardless of how far along in your career you are — it’s pretty much this ethos which saw our very own Koo put out the DSLR Cinematography Guide. As last month’s Fidgit Box interview with William McGregor demonstrated, advice from a peer can be of more practical use than the wisdom gleaned from cinema’s master practitioners as it often contains insights you can put into practice here and now, as opposed to filing it away for that elusive day when you direct your first multi-million dollar feature. Episode 1 of the new documentary web series The Videographers Guide aims to share this type of knowledge through its interviews with working music video directors:

The brainchild of Trevor Bayack, a filmmaker and founder of The New Pop, The Videographers Guide began life as the 19 part blog series The Videographers Guide to Not Falling on your New Media Face, with Bayack deciding to eschew the original’s personal style and instead replace it with the voice of industry experts, thereby creating much more of a practical video tutorial series.

Although focussed on music promos, much of the advice here is relevent regardless of your specific film bent. However, if promos really aren’t your bag, it’s worth noting that Bayack plans to feature a wide range of filmmakers in the series down the road.

The Videographers Guide is a documentary web series where we document young filmmakers as they produce short videos for the web in a variety of genres. We want to pull back the veil that shrouds the new media landscape by providing valuable information from other filmmakers who are on the front lines. The goal is to present this information in a compelling, stylistic way that is as informative as it is entertaining.

Episode 2, Events, is due to drop early 2013, but in the meantime the team are at work on getting the Videographers Guide Collectors Edition handbook out in time for the holidays.

We already asked about your favorite filmmaking sites this week, so it seems only prudent to inquire what your favourite tutorial series are?

Link: The Videographers Guide

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For some people, the hardest part of screenwriting is muscling through that first draft. For others, the dreaded editing and rewriting phase, which can last for days, weeks, or even years, is the most difficult. As a writer, at some point in the process, you will have to ask the question: when is it time to lock the script and finally get it out to those who need to read it (whether that be buyers or producers)? To help answer the question, Scott Myers over at Go Into The Story has put together a list of 10 things to consider before locking a script.

Thanks to Scott for putting this list together:

1. Take a break
2. Have people read your script
3. Go back to basics
4. Is my script big enough
5. Read your script out loud
6. Dialogue due diligence
7. Be honest with yourself (Part 1)
8. Be honest with yourself (Part 2)
9. One final polish
10. Let it go

These have been the two most helpful in my own writing:

1. Take a break: Whenever you finish a draft, you should set the script aside for at least week (with a first draft, I recommend at least two weeks). You need that time to get away from the project and develop a fresh set of eyes. It’s amazing how perfect we can think a script is when we just finish writing a draft, then how many issues we see when we come back to it a few weeks later.

10. Let it go: You can not have any chance of achieving success as a writer unless you actually submit your script to potential reps or buyers. So at some point, just let it go. If it sells, great. If it doesn’t, that isn’t the end of the world. You may get representation off that script. The script becomes an asset in your library, something you can dust off down the road, and try to sell again or adapt. Put it out there. All you need is the right set of eyeballs to read your script (assuming it’s good).

Once you get through that first draft, taking a break is usually one of the best ways to get fresh eyes on your writing (unless you actually do get fresh eyes reading the screenplay — as in another set besides your own). First drafts always seem to work in my head, but on further inspection most of it just sounds terrible and overwritten. The subsequent editing phase can be difficult without first taking a break, especially when you find that you can’t see the forest for the trees.

Letting a script go has usually come when I need to shoot the movie I’m writing. Often my writing/rewriting happens right up until production (and even some rewrites during production), but there comes a point where the major details can’t be changed, and your story is your story. Of course, in the excerpt above, Scott is talking about selling the script, and in that case, the situation is a little different — especially since there are no rewrites once you’ve sent it out to be read.

You should head on over to Go Into The Story to read the rest of the descriptions accompanying the list, as he goes into much greater detail.

What do you guys think? What has helped you locking down a script? Does it differ from any of the items on the list above?

Link: Reader Question: Are there any rules of thumb to “locking down” your script? — Go Into The Story

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