A while back Short of the Week Editor Andrew S. Allen told me I should write about my thoughts about film school strategy. Here are the seven things I came up with that I find essential to any successful film school career: 1. Find Your Voice This is a murky territory that a lot of [...][...]
Posts Tagged ‘short films’
September 12th, 2011 - 6:38 pm § in Film School, Filmmaking
Good Enough
One of the great unspoken tragedies of film school is that many students never finish their films. The reasons for this are manifold; disappointment with the work, the potentially high costs of postproduction, and the desire to shoot pickups come to mind. If I look back on how long it took me to fin[...]
August 25th, 2010 - 2:44 pm § in Contemporary Short Films
5 Shorts that Launched Features
Sikumi Director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean won the 2008 Sundance US Short Film Jury Prize with Sikumi “On The Ice.” He then participated in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and Directors Lab to develop his feature of the same name. There’s a great video of him discussing it in this episo[...]
Sundance Shortslab Part 1: Development
On the last weekend in July the Sundance Institute hosted its first annual Shortslab, a day dedicated entirely to short filmmaking. I was lucky enough (for $150) to attend, and it was an amazing experience. This is the first part of a five-part section on the labs. Part 1: Development Miguel Arteta,[...]
August 2nd, 2010 - 10:25 pm § in Contemporary Short Films, Film School
Great UCLA Shorts: Pinkerton by Aleem Hossain
This is probably my favorite UCLA Short, a genre-bending joyride: A violent cop out for revenge meets an unexpected obstacle…[...]
June 6th, 2010 - 5:07 pm § in Contemporary Short Films
Blue Tongue Films
Blue Tongue Films is a loose Australian film collective responsible for such films as Sundance World Jury Prize Winner “Animal Kingdom,” Oscar-Nominated Short Film “Miracle Fish,” and the feature “The Square.” This article chronicles their rise to fame in the last[...]
March 25th, 2010 - 11:03 pm § in Film School, Filmmaking
10 Things I Learned On the 6-Minute Shoots
The six minute film is now over. We have completed our 7 week Thursday-Sunday rotation through all 7 positions: Director Boom Operator Assistant Director 1st Assistant Camera Gaffer Director of Photography Sound Mixer All seven people in my group (6 directors and 1 DP) went through this rotation sta[...]
August 22nd, 2009 - 7:25 am § in Contemporary Short Films
Contemporary Short Films: Our Time is Up by Rob Pearlstein
Watch on Youtube. The therapist in popular culture is hackneyed figure. Usually a small, stocky, jewish-looking man, his fate is to listen to the lucrative if dull problems of the rich, problems more easily solved with a bit of common sense. I know this is a comedy, and I watched it with my mom and [...]
August 12th, 2009 - 11:03 am § in Filmmaking
Choosing Your Collaborators
So you’ve finally come out of the pack and decided to make your first film. Congratulations! Even if it’s a small piece, you will most definitely need people to help you. In fact at least half of a director’s work is managing people. The first impulse is to look to your circle of f[...]
August 9th, 2009 - 8:02 am § in Filmmaking
Hosting a Short Film Screening; Things to Remember
A few weekends ago I went to a friend’s experimental short film screening. There were a lot of problems that inspired me to write this post. This is a short list to look at when screening your short films, from the perspective of an audience member. 1. Be Professional Every choice you make sur[...]