PUBLIC MARKS with tags film & tips

Normally at this time we’ve got a new Certified Film Threat in Progress for you to check out, but since we’ve now covered quite a few successful projects, and a few looking-to-be-not-so-successful projects, I figured it was time to share ten things that I’ve learned about successfully crowdfunding your film.

For the Michael Jackson Memorial piece I worked on, we decided before I left for L.A. that we would use the Canon 5D Mark II to try and push the look of the piece, and to try something new. The first thing I did, is call up a freelancer, Patrick Burke, to run sound. Patrick used to be an AC (Assistant Camera) in L.A. so he came with all the right tools, including a film slate that we used to sync audio from a Marantz PMD660 to the video footage of the 5D.

I love desaturated photographs. After looking at a lot of stock photography lately, I forgot how much I loved it.

useful for teachers making clips to analyze in class; "personalize any video with your story. With visual spotlights, you can narrate your personal videos, add captions or subtitles, or comment on any scene."

Metacritic is a usefully organized site, providing tips on what you might like to do.

some tips on good avant garde films you can now buy on DVD

an entry in a film blog that I like that compares and contrasts the Film 101 textbooks commonly used

uses the duration of video to make kinetic poetry that has a narrative in the words and beyond them; nice example for students of simple form with complex effects

more video and text animation, simple and effective -- 53 sec.

video by Juan Delcan; model for students about good uses of new form of production and exhibition

the nitty-gritty of no-budget filmmaking, good on deflating romantic notions often held by first-timers

practical suggestions about real life colors matching computer generated RGBs.

check out witty animations from a Russian animator, simple, elegant

tranquil animation with zen spirit; again, worth exploring narratives with a whole different time sense and way of making a point

ways to use your computer to watch television from around the world

a large, excellently curated photography site, including slide shows and discussions of key issues in photography and representation in general; highly recommended; under tutelage of Pedro Meyer; take "tour" first

this is a lesson plan that could be adapted for different ages or kinds of classes, e.g., composition or video production or narrative arts

a page leading to many examples, things you could make with imovie; from more than decade of practice from 1990-2003

free screenwriting formatting tool to use with Microsoft Word; I have not tried it and do not know how well it works.

I teach screenwriting students to write for the ending; it economizes crafting a storyline.

I have not looked at all these, but about.com often has some new tips to follow up on.

clear and witty, useful for practitioners as refresher or for students, especially production teachers

blog by viewer with far-ranging taste, including Asian cinema, experimental works, etc. Good place to find new things to see on DVD.

This is a top-notch new kind of search engine (Web 2.0). My test case for searches is "film theory" as the search term, and such a search brought me many new resources I was previously unaware of.

links site in a academic vein, oriented here toward lowbudget producers