Kim Leonard is a writer and director who specializes in Comedy. She has done just about every job on set, from PA to Producer.
Over the last century, we made some extraordinary advances in storytelling technology. We can shoot in complete darkness. We can create environments and characters from nothing more than pixels ⏤ even live, in real-time. And we can literally make an entire feature film using our phones! And, yet, stereotypes in movies still exist. The progress needle… Continue reading Stereotypes in Movies and How Filmmakers Can Avoid Them
Musicals are a special breed of filmmaking that requires a LOT of preparation and planning to pull off. There is singing, and dancing, and music. And it all has to be presented in the script in a particular way. In this post we’ll look at some of the special considerations that go into making a musical… Continue reading How to Schedule a Musical: Breaking Down La La Land
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is already one of the most iconic films of the 21st century. Its simple elegance is a perfect example of how much can be conveyed with so little. In this post, we’ll take a look at The Sunken Place sequence and learn how to maximize storytelling with a minimal budget. A lot… Continue reading The Sunken Place: How to Break Down a VFX Scene
Every production starts with the script breakdown. Whether you’re working on an effects-heavy mega-budget project like Age of Ultron or a micro-budget indie like Paranormal Activity, you won’t really know what bringing that story to life is going to require until you get into the script and take it apart element by element. So, let’s… Continue reading Breaking Down the Wedding Scene from Crazy Rich Asians
As the lovechild of the Costume Drama and the Fantasy Adventure, the Western might have more considerations that go into producing it than any other genre. When shooting a western, you’ve got costumes, animals, and stunt work to contend with. You’ve got locations and dirt and weather…And that’s just on an ordinary shoot day. In… Continue reading Breaking Down the Contemporary Western: Westworld
