DIRECTING ACTORS
FILMMAKING NOTES

Film Directing and being a Film Director

What Is A Film Director? How do you run an independent film casting call? How do you get the best out of the actors you’ve chosen to bring your film to life?

Whether you’re running your first independent film casting call or into your millionth day of shooting, you may find some useful ideas here. Below, we investigate some of the techniques you can use and pitfalls you may face in casting and directing actors. A good resource for actors as well as directors!

We’ll be posting more articles all the time, so make sure you come back and check every now and then.

What is a film director? More than anything, the person responsible for bringing together the technical aspects of capturing performances with the actors who will bring a story to life. One of the most important…

The month of May 2015 was the busiest and most productive yet! We performed over 70 videos for the month, not to mention our extremely successful short film festival event.

Watch the best of the festival:

Feature Script: ORIGINS
May 2015 Reading
Written by Michael Panek & Guershon Moreno
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/origins.html

Feature Script: GOD’S WILL
May 2015 Reading
Written by Jamison P. Derfler
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/gods_will.html

Best Scene: CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM Show
May 2015 Reading
Written by Chris Agnew
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/best_scene_curb_your_enthusiasm.html

Short Script: WRITER’S DUEL
May 2015 Reading
Written by Ellery VanDooyeweert
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/writers_duel.html

Novel Prologue: DISTURBED
May 2015 Reading
Written by Suzanne Wilson
http://wildsoundfestivalreview.com/2015/05/25/watch-novel-prologue-reading-of-disturbed-by-suzanne-wilson/

1st Scene: BELLE BREZING
May 2015 Reading
Written by Margaret Swim
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/belle_brezing.html

Short Script: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
May 2015 Reading
Written by Nat & Digs Palazzo
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/honor_among_thieves.html

Short Story: VOICES IN THE DARKNESS
May 2015 Reading
Written by Rick Lee
http://wildsoundfestivalreview.com/2015/05/20/voices-in-the-darkness-confession-story-reading-by-rick-lee/

1st Chapter: CONCEPTION OF A DIALYSIS
May 2015 Reading

LENSES FILTERS
FILMMAKING NOTES

Cinematography is the art of manipulating light and shadow, and capturing it as a moving image.

CINEMATOGRAPHY – SHOTS AND CAMERA ANGLES

QUESTIONS TO ASK:
-What is the best viewpoint for filming this position of the event?
-How much area should be included in this shot?

SCENE defines the place or setting where the action is laid
SHOT defines a continuous view filmed by one camera without
interruptionSEQUENCE A series of scenes or shots complete in itself.

TYPES OF CAMERA ANGLES
OBJECTIVE – The audience point of view
SUBJECTIVE – The camera acts as the viewers eyes-movement
POINT OF VIEW – What the character is seeing

CAMERA ANGLES – Are the most important factor in producing illusion of scenic depth. Which angle the object is photographed.

FIVE BASIC ANGLES

EYE LEVEL SHOTS – Provide frames or reference. Audiences sees the event as if in the scene…

Spectacular films and accompanying conversations. Great range of genre and cross genres. Small, carefully, thoughtfully packaged 5-10 min gifts from filmmakers from 5 different countries including Canada.

The body of work acted as a thesis conductor, Knock out and flow style over symphonic lead, in the theatre of motion arts, sound and language.

My personal favorite, if I must choose only one, was German Shepherd.

The moderator Matthew Toffolo was excellent! Love WILDsound

– Donna Thompson, (from Meetup)

Tonight was fantastic!

– the_wizard_of_oz, (from Instagram)

This was a great event. Nice variety of movies. Distinct. Awesome to see the differences even in short films…stylistically and conceptually. This was my first event but it won’t be my last.

– Claudene, (from Meetup)

I loved these films and the intelligent discussions. Awesome!!!

– bruno_marks, (from Twitter)

Very interesting group of films.

– David, (from Meetup)

Love this event and how its evolved…

HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY
FILMMAKING NOTES

SCREENPLAY WRITING

When writing a SCREENPLAY, it’s all about CHARACTER, PLOT, and THEME – the three cornerstones to telling a great story.

Below is Part One of NOTES you need to think about when writing a script. Whether you’re a seasoned script writer or just a beginner, these notes should be insightful for all – and it beats reading those long drawn-out books on the subject.

“A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue.”-David Mamet

FOUR STAGES OF ANY SCREENPLAY.

1. THE STORY CONCEPT – A single sentence telling who the hero of the story is and what he/she wants to accomplish
2. THE CHARACTERS – The people who populate the story
3. PLOT STRUCTURE – The events of the story and the relationship of the characters; determines what happens in the story and when it happens
4. THE…

PLOT WRITING
FILMMAKING NOTES

How to Write a Screenplay? PART 3 – PLOT Screenwriting

For most writers, PLOT is the most interesting part of screenplay writing, and why they begin to write to write the script in the first place. They have a good idea for a story, and they want to write it.

PLOT Screenwriting is a mixture of two things:
1) What happens to the characters
2) What they do because of WHO they are

Most PLOTS wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for the CHARACTERS. A CHARACTER(s) should drive the story, and vice versa.

You always know you’re watching a BAD FILM when any human being can insert themselves into the film. The UNIQUE character has to drive the PLOT.

The last thing you want is for you, the writer, to be a character in the plot.

“The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for…

PRODUCTION MANAGER
FILMMAKING NOTES

The Job of Production Management is the job of organization, budgeting, scheduling and preparing for everything.

POINTS OF A PRODUCTION MANAGER

1. Prepare breakdown and preliminary shooting schedule
2. Prepare and coordinate the budget
3. Oversee preliminary search and survey of all locations and the completion of business arrangements
4. Assist in the preparation of the production to insure continuing efficiency
5. Supervise completion of the Production Report for each days work, showing work covered and the status of the production, and arrange for the distribution of that report in line with the company’s requirements
6. Coordinate arrangements for the transportation and housing of cast, crew and staff
7. Oversee the securing of releases and negotiate for locations and personnel
8. Maintain a liaison with local authorities regarding locations and the operation of the company

THE PRODUCTION MANAGER’S RESPONSIBILITY IS TO FACILITATE THE WORK OF THE…

HOW TO PRODUCE A FILM
FILMMAKING NOTES

FILM PRODUCTION
– How to make a movie!
– How to PRODUCE a film!
– How to be the best Movie Producer

A movie producer has the most important position in film production. Why? Because they start from the top, and are in charge in the entire production. They play many different roles: the mother, the father, the lover, the romancer, the persuader, the psychologist, the soothsayer, the comic, the best friend, the teacher, the warrior, the negotiator, the arbitrator, the dreamer, etc…

The best thing to do when making a film is hire or get people who know what they are doing technically, and with whom you can be in sync, artistically.

Before anything else, the producer must know the end result of the project, and know which path the project will take after it is completed.

THE PICTURE HAS TO BE…

SOUND DESIGN
FILMMAKING NOTES

Film Post Production and What Is Sound Design?

The process of creating the soundtrack for the visuals of a film. Since silent films began to talk, filmmakers have been looking to improve the post production of their film. It has become a whole new creative world as people like George Lucas proclaim that “It is 50% of a film.”

CINEMATIC SOUND DESIGN MULTIPLIES TWO OR THREE TIMES THE EFFECT OF THE IMAGE

IT HAS FAILED IF IT DISTRACTS THE AUDIENCE

SOUND DESIGNING IS ABOUT EMOTION, STORY AND RHYTHM

QUIET IS GOOD – THE BEST SOUND DESIGN IS THE SOUND INSIDE SOMEBODY’S HEAD

THREE COMPONENTS IN SOUND EFFECTS AND SOUND DESIGN
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
MUSIC
SOUND EFFECTS

SPOKEN LANGUAGE
-An actor can emphasize one word over the other and thus change the meanings of the sentence completely.
-It all depends on the dramatic contract
-Two types of spoken…