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A few weeks ago I began the process of raising funds to get my last short film, A Son Like You, through post-production. This is a lengthy process that includes a colorist who cleans up the image, digital transfer to HD, foley (SFX) work, sound mastering and mixing, and DVD creation. It can be an amazing process to watch a colorist at work, as I saw on my last film:

Pre-Telecine

Post-Telecine

This is the kind of magic a great colorist can do. It’s night and day.

Please take a look at my Kickstarter page and donate to become a part of the film. I am offering some great perks for those who do.  Click on the link below to help out. Thank you for reading!

SHORT FILM NEEDS FINISHING FUNDS

From UCLA’s 2005 Director’s Spotlight:

The Swimming Lesson is the first film I made at UCLA. We were given four hours and one roll of 16mm film (about 10 minutes) to shoot a film.

*These notes apply to melodramatic films interested in viewer identification with characters and a realistic treatment. I believe that the majority of short films strive for this effect, which turns an audience member from a passive viewer to an active participant in the film.

1. Unclear Point of View

Whose story is it? Short films generally follow one character’s journey and it’s important that we know who that person is as soon as possible. Lead with your protagonist and introduce their problem before moving around into secondary characters. The protagonist is our entry point into the world of the story, so lead with them unless you’re going for a specific effect.

2. Lack of Unity

This is about beginning, middle and end. Every piece of a short film should have significance for all the others. Each narrative thread should wind its way towards a surprising and inevitable climax and resolution. The source of conflict at the beginning of the film needs to be organically addressed through the actions of the protagonist and the events of the plot.

Student films often have too much exposition or too little. What do we need to know about your character, his world and the relationships in that world before the inciting incident occurs? Show only what’s necessary, which is most often what is about to change.

3. Lack of Conflict

Conflict creates interest in an audience, because conflict implies resolution. Through conflict we create expectations about how that conflict will resolve itself. We see that the story is driving towards a conclusion. I once had a screenwriting teacher who said the essence of drama = two dogs and one bone.

4. A Passive Protagonist

A passive protagonist has no goal, and takes no action to achieve it. If there is no goal, there is no expectation of an outcome to that goal, and a film becomes interminable. In a recent post on John August’s blog he posted his favorite definition of a protagonist: The protagonist is the character that suffers the most. To this I would add that the character suffers in order to achieve something he wants. If a character just suffers, the audience will often remain disengaged.

5. Too Many Characters

There is not a lot of time in short films to introduce characters. Often times a new set of characters is introduced for every scene in a film. A secondary character needs to have a specific and organic purpose in the film that makes sense for the entire film. A writer should not need to introduce multiple sets of characters multiple times in a short film; use the characters you have, and have a few as possible.

6. Ambiguous/Vague

Many student writers are into open endings and ambiguity in their scripts. One teacher here gives a caveat; ambiguity is when there are two equally attractive or unattractive options for the protagonist. The opposite of this is vagueness, where the audience doesn’t understand what’s going on. Many open ended endings are not really open ended; the correct choice is obvious to the protagonist and the audience, though the filmmaker wants them to feel something else. Ambiguity is about making two possible options equally attractive for the protagonist and thus for the audience.

7. No Theme

Some stories are very clear, fun rides that don’t require deep resonating themes. Student films tend to stray toward dramas. Dramas generally have a point of view about the world, known as the theme. A theme is an assertive and arguable statement about the world that gives a larger richness and meaning to a story. Most films should have them.

8. Unnecessarily Long

Any scene that does not further the story needs to be cut. Long musical sequences, scenes without conflict, scenes with the same conflict over and over, can all be cut out. Every piece of action of the protagonist gives the audience new information about the story. Subplots that are not essential to the main conflict should be excised. A short film is not a feature, though many students end up trying to pack a feature into a short.

9. No Character Arc

Characters generally change as a consequence of their actions in a film. In short films the changes don’t have to be dramatic, but they should be there. If a character hasn’t changed, for the positive or negative, what’s the point of the story?

10. The Director Gets in the Way of the Story

This is a directorial problem, but you can always see in short films where the director fell in love with the camera because the story wasn’t working. Film is about storytelling, and the style of the film is ideally in service of the story. Don’t dolly because it’s pretty; dolly because it reveals information to the audience in a manner appropriate to your story. This problem is also related to why films are unnecessarily long; a director fell in love with a style that is not in service of the story, or spent a lot of money on equipment that doesn’t serve the story. They keep scenes in the film because they remember how expensive or difficult they were to get. A good director is concerned with communing with her audience, not with a dolly shot or crane move. On DUMPS they call this the “Look at me, I’m a director!” shot.

There is another excellent sample of problems in student shorts on filmmaker.com’s “Directing Unsuccessful Motion Picture Shorts.” It’s a highly entertaining read.

July 2; 7:30pm – Lisandro Alonso Retrospective: Liverpool @ Billy Wilder
Lisandro Alonso in person. Very excited about this ongoing retrospective. Along with Reygadas and Martel; Alonso stands out as one of the most unique filmmakers in South American Cinema.

July 2; 7:30pm – Kubrick’s The Shining @ Egyptian

July 2; 8:00pm – Billy Jack and Born Losers with Director/Actor Tom Loughlin in person @ Cinefamily

July 3; 5:00pm – The Matrix Trilogy @ Egyptian

July 3; 8:00pm – Tom Loughlin’s The Trial of Billy Jack @ Cinefamily

July 3; 9:00pm – Easy Rider @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery

July 6 & 7– Bong Joon-Ho Double Feature: Mother and Memories of Murder @ New Beverly

July 8, 9 & 10 – Alejandro Jorodowski Double Feature: El Topo and The Holy Mountain @ New Beverly
If you’ve never seen The Holy Mountain, do not miss it. It’s cinematic-acid.

July 8; 7:30pm – Rosemary’s Baby and A Reflection of Fear @ Egyptian

July 9 – Angela Ismailos’ Great Directors for One Week @ Nuart

July 9; 7:30pm – De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D @ Egyptian

July 9; 7:30pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: Easy Rider and The American Dreamer @ Cinefamily

July 9; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: Trouble in Paradise and Desire @ LACMA

July 9; 7:30pm – Lisandro Alonso Retrospective: Los Muertos and Fantasma @ Billy Wilder

July 10; 7:30pm – Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey @ Egyptian

July 10; 7:30pm – Alain Cavalier’s Le Combat Dans L’Ile @ Cinefamily

July 10; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: Ninotchka and Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife @ LACMA

July 10; 9:00pm – Arsenic and Old Lace @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery

July 11; 7:30pm – Melville’s Army of Shadows and Bob Le Flambeur @ Egyptian

July 11; 6:30pm & 9:30pm – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 Version) with live score by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields @ Cinefamily

July 11; 7:00pm – Lisandro Alonso Retrospective: La Libertad @ Billy Wilder

July 12; 7:00pm – Robert Siodmak’s The Dark Mirror @ A.M.P.A.S Samuel Goldwyn Theater

July 13; 8pm – Daddy Longlegs and Safdie Bros. Shorts with Ben and Joshua Safdie in person @ Cinefamily

July 14; 8:00pm – G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box with live score by Cabeza De Vaca Arcestra @ Cinefamily

July 16; 7:30pm – Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s and Claire’s Knee @ Aero

July 16; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch:Design for Living and The Smiling Lieutenant @ LACMA

July 16; 7:30pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: Mad Dog Morgan and Kid Blue @ Cinefamily
Mad Dog Morgan Director Philippe Mora in Person

July 17; 7:30pm – Rohmer’s La Collectionneuse and Chole in the Afternoon @ Aero

July 17; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch:The Shop Around the Corner and Angel @ LACMA

July 17; 9:00pm – Saturday Night Fever @ Hollywood Forever Cemetary

July 18; 7:30pm – Happiness and Life During Wartime with Todd Solondz in person@ Egyptian
Alongside The White Ribbon, A Prophet and Fish Tank, Life During Wartime was one of the best films I saw at last year’s Telluride Film Festival. Amazing cast, hysterical and poignant script; I think it’s Solondz’s best film. Also, it’s beautifully shot on the RED by Ed Lachman.

July 19; 7:00pm – The Blue Dahlia @ A.M.P.A.S Samuel Goldwyn Theater

July 21; 7:30pm – Dossier K @ Egyptian

July 22; 7:30pm – Wilder’s Sunset Blvd and Stalag 17 @ Aero

July 23; 7:30pm – Wilder’s Some Like it Hot and Avanti @ Aero

July 23; 7:30pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: Night Tide and Tracks @ Cinefamily
Tracks Director Henry Jaglom in Person

July 23; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: One Hour with You and The Merry Widow @ LACMA

July 23 & 24 – Preston Sturges Double Feature: Christmas in July and Hail the Conquering Hero @ New Beverly

July 24; 7:30pm – Wilder’s The Apartment and Irma La Douce @ Aero

July 24; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: To Be or Not to Be and A Royal Scandal @ LACMA

July 24; 9:00pm – High Noon @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery

July 25; 7:30pm – Wilder’s Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole @ Aero

July 25; 6:00pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: Blue Velvet, Hoosiers and River’s Edge @ Cinefamily
Cinefamily will also be hosting a BBQ for this triple feature.

July 25; 7:30pm – Blazing Saddles and Silent Movie with Mel Brooks in person @ Egyptian

July 26; 7:00pm – Orson Welles’s The Stranger @ A.M.P.A.S Samuel Goldwyn Theater

July 28; 7:30pm – Young Frankenstein and The Man with Two Brains @ Egyptian

July 29; 7:30pm – Stones in Exile and Gimme Shelter @ Aero

July 29; 7:30pm – Robert Altman’s The Player @ LACMA

July 30; 7:30pm – Monterey Pop and Wattstax @ Aero

July 30; 7:30pm – Pal Joey and Book & Candle with Kim Novack in person @ Egyptian

July 30; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: The Marriage Circle and So This is Paris @ LACMA

July 30; 8:00pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: Restored 35mm print of Out of the Blue and White Star @ Cinefamily

July 31; 7:30pm – Woodstock: The Director’s Cut @ Aero

July 31; 7:30pm – Picnic and Middle of the Night @ Egyptian

July 31; 7:30pm – The American Comedies of Ernst Lubitsch: Heaven Can Wait and Cluny Brown @ LACMA

July 31; 7:30pm – A Tribute to Dennis Hopper: The Last Movie and Colors @ Cinefamily

July 31; 9:00pm – Airplane! @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery

This list comes from fellow UCLA TFT classmate Richard Parkin.

Filmmakers are flown to Berlin for the festival and put up in hostiles. There are networking events, which are especially grand because the community is so international. As an American filmmaker with a European project, this might be a way to meet German/French/Spanish producers who could tap into European subsidies to produce your film. The talent campus has a number of masterclasses with renowned filmmakers. When I lived in Berlin I saw Wim Wenders, Janusz Kaminski and Tilda Swinton in one week. All events, including many festival screenings are free for participants.
I think as a filmmaker it would be intelligent to go to the talent campus with an actual project you would like to make in Europe. Then you have a tangible goal to talk to people about, as well as something to stay in touch over with the people you meet there. If you’re in the screenwriters lab, you can get feedback on what you’ve written.

Otherwise it can also be a fantastic opportunity to spend a movie-filled week in one of the greatest cities in the world. Alumni and selected participants of the talent campus are also eligible to apply for the Berlin Today Award:

The award offers five young directing talents the chance to produce a short film in cooperation with a Berlin / Brandenburg based production company. The nominated films celebrate their world premiere during the Berlinale Talent Campus. The winning film, chosen by a jury, will receive the BERLIN TODAY AWARD during a gala ceremony.

Eligible for participation in the BERLIN TODAY AWARD 2010 are
- all persons with a complete application for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2009
- all participants of the Berlinale Talent Campus 2003-2008 (Alumni).

The programs continue with special hands on labs (which require a special application) including

THE SCORE COMPET ITION for score composers and sound designers, THE CAMPUS STUDIO for directors, producers, cinematographers, and editors involved in post-production stage, THE SCRIPT & DOC STATION for scriptwriters and documentary filmmakers, THE TALENT PROJECT MARKET for collaborating producers and directors, THE TALENT PRESS for film critics, THE BERLIN TODAY AWARD for directors and THE TALENT ACTORS STAGE.

All of these are extremely valuable opportunities to further the life of a project and filmmaking career. To apply for the campus (and all the other programs) you have to fit these minor eligibility requirements:

• Are you fluent in English? (In particular, can you fill out the application in English and understand a lecture or discussion in English?)
• Do you work or study in the areas of screenwriting, documentary filmmaking, producing, directing, cinematography, acting, editing, film criticism, sound design, film music composition, art direction or production design?
• Have you worked on a short film that was awarded a prize OR Has your work been screened at an international film festival OR Have you worked on a film of at least 60 minutes in length OR Are you a film student in your final year or in a post-graduate programme?
• Will this be your first time at the Berlinale Talent Campus, or are you a Campus alumni that wishes to apply to the Talent Project Market or to the Berlin Today Award?

Application opens July 15th. Good luck!

Which brings me to an interesting question; What do UCLA Directing Students do in the summer? What should they do?

There are a number of options.

1. Don’t get a job/work on their films.

A lot of directors I talked to were planning on doing preproduction on their advanced or thesis films. This often involves leaving LA and travelling to wherever home is. For us first year directors this means continuing work on our six-minute films, getting feedback and refining our cuts.

2. Arts Camp

Many directors opting for paid work that can give them some more filmmaking experience work as mentors (like a camp counselor) at UCLA’s Arts Camp. It pays 10.25 an hour and runs until mid August. There are a variety of classes that can be done. Working at arts camp can help pay the hefty bills that pile up from studying here and also help you get to know some of the faculty and your colleagues. There are also some pretty talented and interesting teachers at the camp.

3. Unpaid Internships

Unpaid Internships are abundant in Los Angeles. Normally what you do is work 2 days a week manning phones, writing coverage, and making small office runs. Writing coverage is basically a book report on a screenplay where you summarize the film and write comments on why you think it’s good or not. Depending on where you work and what you’re doing, an internship can provide contacts and experience, possibly at a production company you hope will produce your work in the future. Writing coverage is an extremely valuable skill to have. Two books I recommend for this are Screenplay Story Analysis and Reading For A Living. Any story experience you can get helps.

4. Paid Internships

A rare breed, but they do exist. Paid internships feel less like jobs and more like scholarships here. Have lots of recommendation letters on hand because these seem to pop up periodically during the year and often during the 12 hour a day on set production quarter.

Three that look particularly interesting.

• The UTA Agent Training Program. Students work in the UTA mailroom and take two hours a week at the agent’s training school. This is an opportunity not only to get  deeper understanding of how agencies work, but also to meet future junior agents who may be interested in representing you.
• The Caucus Foundation Summer Internship Program. Students are paid around $2,500 to work a six to eight week full-time internship. They are placed at a company in LA. I have one friend who’s doing this this summer. This requires a decent sized application with recommendation letters and an interview. Prepare early.
• The Academy of Arts and Sciences Summer Internship Foundation. The academy offers a number of paid internships in different areas of television (directing, writing etc.) a big internship, also with a big application

5. Directing work

Some people through contacts or previous employers direct commercials, PSAs or music videos over the summer.One particularly ambitious director is using some money he got from a grant to shoot a feature.

6. Non-Directing work

Working in a law office, at a restaurant etc. Straightforward work that pays the bills.

There are a number of options, but the important thing is planning. Most choice internships go in the early spring. It’s easy to get caught up in production and post-production and forget what the summer will bring.

• Blue-Tongue Films – Hollywood’s Australia Collective – NYTimes.com
  “We run into people carrying $120,000 debt from film school,” Mr. Doolan said. “And all they want to know is how we did it.”

Here are three of the films the group has produced. I have blogged about Crossbow as a short good enough to get an agent.

Thanks to Short of The Week.

1. Student films come in three sizes; Too Long, Much Too Long, and Very Much Too Long.
2. PASSIVITY is the capital crime in drama.
3. Obscurity is seldom a virtue. If the point you want to make is of any significance, then there is no harm in making it clearly.
4. Improvisation is only valuable when it has its roots in the highly disciplined and often exhausting work that has gone before.
5. Aristotle’s phrase ‘unity of action’ refers to the sense of completeness that is a basic satisfaction in almost every dramatic work. So if ou think you have a great beginning of a story, but the end is weak, the real truth is that you don’t yet have the right beginning
6. Film dialogue is best when it has an immediate purpose and produces reactions in others.
7. ‘Protagonist’ (the name given to the leading character in your story) literally means the person who initiates the agon (struggle). But a figure who does not (or cannot) actually do things or who hasn’t got the gumption to struggle in a way that produces new situations and developments is apt – in dramatic terms – to be a dead weight on the narrative.

It’s a brilliant book. I enjoy revisiting it now that I’ve made two more films. The lessons have some more weight to them.