Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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IFP Announces Narrative Line-Up for its Annual Independent Filmmaker Labs
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), Filmmaker‘s parent organization, announced today the ten narratives selected for the 2015 Independent Filmmaker Labs, IFP’s annual year-long fellowship for first-time feature directors. The creative teams of the selected films are currently attending the first week’s sessions – The Time Warner Foundation Completion Labs – taking place June 8-12 at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. Featuring a stylistically diverse slate of sci-fi, fantasy, drama, young adult, comedy, hybrid and horror, this year showcases films from filmmakers across the nation. 70% of the creative teams hail from outside of New York and Los Angeles. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 8, 2015 -
Watch: How to Direct a Dinner Scene (x2), with Nathan Silver
In this video, director Nathan Silver breaks down a dinner scene from his film Uncertain Terms (currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, as well as being available for streaming on Fandor) two ways. In the first part, he shows where each person in the conversation sits around the table, freeze-framing each shot as he cuts to another person; it’s an interesting lesson in seeing how editing for film space doesn’t necessarily bear much relationship to literal space. In the second part, we see the scene uninterrupted as Silver talks through his decisions.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 2, 2015 -
Watch: Crosshair Framing in Mad Max: Fury Road
Sometimes it’s good to state the seemingly obvious, so Vashi Nedomansky has performed a public service in assembling this brief video showing how centered and symmetrical framing helps guide viewers’ eyes through the many cuts of Mad Max: Fury Road. Audio of John Seale discussing director George Miller’s constant instructions as to where to keep the camera’s crosshairs in each shot clarifies the point being made visually. Read more at Nedomansky’s site; thanks to The Playlist for the heads-up.
by Filmmaker Staff on Jun 1, 2015 -
Watch: A Brief History of Motion Capture’s Past and Present
With Robert Zemeckis back in the live-action world and James Cameron taking his time to gear up Avatars 2-4, there’s not been much discussion lately of motion capture. That doesn’t mean it’s gone away, and this video from Vice’s The Creator Project is a nicely succinct overview of what motion capture’s evolved from and where it’s going next; the participation of the technicians behind the technology is a big plus. The baby project described and shown at the end may just be the one that crosses the uncanny valley.
by Filmmaker Staff on May 22, 2015 -
Win a Pass to IFP’s Class Series “The Where of Storytelling: Creating the Location Based Experience”
“The Where of Storytelling: Creating the Location Based Experience” is a class series conceived by the Made in NY Media Center by IFP exploring site-specific storytelling – from interactive film to experiential design for commercial clients, location adds a new level of experience to media projects. The program consists of a Case Study and overview of locative storytelling featuring interactive filmmaker Lance Weiler and Jake Barton, founder of award-winning museum experience designers Local Projects (June 9); a Writing Workshop: draft a location-based story & refine your project through inspiring design exercises and peer critiques (June 13, 14 & 27); and a Beacon Tech Workshop: install a location-specific experience & work with developers to learn to […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 21, 2015 -
Watch: Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach Fundraise for Orson Welles’ Final Film
You’ve probably heard about the latest push to finally produce a finished, edited version of Orson Welles’ uncompleted final film, The Other Side of the Wind. In support of an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach have taped a video message urging you to just contribute already. Unusually for the famously controlling Anderson, he appears to have shot the video handheld selfie style.
by Filmmaker Staff on May 20, 2015 -
IFP Partners With Film London To Bring UK Producers to Film Week
IFP has announced a partnership with Film London to bring two UK-based producers to Independent Film Week to partake in the No-Borders International Co-Production Market. Each year during Film Week, 35 producers with projects that have at least 20% funding in place participate in the No-Borders section to network with buyers, sales agents and financiers, in order to get their films off the ground. No-Borders has previously partnered with the likes of the Berlinale, Venice Biennale, and TorinoFilmLab, to allow international producers to partake in the US-based market. This is Film London’s first US partnership designed to benefit and foster UK producers. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 20, 2015 -
IFP Announces Documentary Line-Up for Annual Independent Filmmaker Labs
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) announced today the ten documentaries selected for the 2015 Independent Filmmaker Labs, IFP’s annual yearlong fellowship for first-time feature directors. The creative teams of the selected films are currently attending the first week’s sessions – The Time Warner Foundation Completion Labs – taking place May 11-15 in New York City. The Independent Filmmaker Labs are a highly immersive, free mentorship program supporting first-time feature directors with projects in post-production as they complete, market and distribute their films. The Labs provide filmmakers with the technical, creative and strategic tools necessary to launch their films and careers. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on May 13, 2015 -
Watch: 69 Ways to Break the Fourth Wall
A couple of years ago, Leigh Singer shared a supercut of 54 instances of the fourth wall being broken. Now here’s the sequel, Breaking the 4th Wall II: Break Harder, which assembles another 69 examples. The editorial work done here is above average for this kind of supercut, with extended sections dilating on various films’ tampering with the 20th Century Fox logo across the decades and different varieties of product placement. Anything that allows a segment from Gremlins 2 to speak for itself at extended length is definitely a good thing. As is often the case, hat-tip to Fandor’s David Hudson for the tip.
by Filmmaker Staff on May 8, 2015 -
Watch: Jonathan Rosenbaum on Orson Welles at 100
Today would’ve been Orson Welles’ 100th birthday, so to commemorate here’s a new video essay made by Kevin B. Lee with critic/avowed Wellesian Jonathan Rosenbaum. This clip-heavy overview argues that it’s more productive to think of Welles as a successful independent filmmaker who sometimes used Hollywood equipment rather than a failed prodigy who got himself kicked out of the studio system. Along the way, Rosenbaum touches on Welles’ views on actors, dislike of Antonioni, the way he stages combat scenes as if from a child’s point of view, and much more.
by Filmmaker Staff on May 6, 2015
