Guillermo del Toro movies are known for their lush fantasy landscapes, sense of creeping dread, and unmatched use of color. His self-confessed primary influences are obvious once you know how to look for them.Comic books, manga, horror movies, and his native Mexican culture all combine to create a director who is not afraid to stuff every frame with as much color as he can. It takes a truly skilled artist to balance this riot of color without overloading the senses.But not only does he keep everything in balance, he uses it to tell the story of his film. Learn how Guillermo…
How we distinguish between producers matters. There are a ton of moving parts in filmmaking, and each producer handles a different one. This post answers the question ‘what is a line producer,’ so you can better understand where they fall in the mix.Continue reading What is a Line Producer? Defining the Basics of the Role
You’ve written a script or maybe you’re trying to figure out a script’s shot list. You know what the film is about but you’re trying to figure out how to convey the critical context in each scene. Give the audience those important details with an epic establishing shot. So, what is an establishing shot? Well, this post will give our establishing shot definition, along with a ton of examples in the video below. Let’s jump in.Continue reading What is an Establishing Shot? Creative Examples that Set the Tone
The most recent drone from DJI Mavic is the Air. It’s lightweight, (mildly) affordable, and produces some incredible footage. This post gives a brief overview of the DJI Mavic Air, its capabilities, and a list of our favorite footage. Let’s take a look.Continue reading The Best Drone Footage: A Closer Look with the DJI Mavic Air
The Sundance Film Festival is a program of the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the U.S. with roughly 125,000 people attending in 2018, nearly tripling the attendance only two years prior. If you want to become anybody in the independent film world, Sundance is where you wan tot be. So where is Sundance Film Festival?Continue reading Where is the Sundance Film Festival?
Cleaning camera sensors isn’t challenging, it just requires meticulousness and the know-how to do it safely, so you don’t damage your camera. And it’s easy to damage your camera when the sensor is wide open. Dust and other particles are flying around you all day, everyday, and the last thing you want to do is leave your sensor open for too long or too often. This article will show you how to clean camera sensors in a simple and safe way. Let’s get into it.Continue reading How to Clean Camera Sensors: What to Consider to Avoid Damage
Before style is developed, grasping the basics of cinematography is critical. This post briefly goes over the tilt shot, this basic yet essential camera movement and the best ways in which to use it. So what is a tilt shot?Continue reading What is a Tilt Shot? Essentials of Tilt Camera Movement
Normally, filmmakers write a short film before they write the feature script for the short film. They shoot it, cut it, and hope to god it gets a run in the festival circuit. But Damien Chazelle’s, Whiplash short film, was born in a unique way. The short script actually came after, and really, from the feature length Whiplash script. How did this happen? And because this happened, what can we learn from the short film vs feature? Let’s jump in.Continue reading How the ‘Whiplash’ Short Film Became the ‘Whiplash’ Movie
The Sitcom has been a staple in television for over 70 years, but creating a successful muti-camera all starts with the script. We're going to breakdown the anatomy of arguably the greatest sitcom script of all time: Seinfeld - The Switch.At the end you'll be able to download a FREE Seinfeld script PDF.Continue reading Writing a Sitcom Script: Analyzing Seinfeld Scripts [FREE PDF]
Best Tarantino MoviesQT's Directing StyleQT Directing Tips QT DialogueOnce Upon a Time AnalysisBasterds Breakdown Is there any filmmaker whose personality is more apparent when you watch his films than Quentin Tarantino? In his own quirky way, Tarantino has introduced us to some of the most shocking and moving emotional moments on film.Of course, Quentin Tarantino’s writing style is a huge part of what’s made him so successful, but more than that, it is his shot choices that bring the audience deeper into the narrative. Tarantino, like all directors working at the top of their game, uses the camera as his…
