Left or Right? Why a Character's Lateral Movement On-Screen Matters in Film

If there's only one tenet of filmmaking you learn today, let it be that everything, everything in your film matters -- including the direction your characters are moving on-screen.

That's right. It matters whether your actors are moving right or left across the screen. Or whether your character appears on the right or left side of the screen. Or whether they are right-handed or left-handed. Why? Because -- science -- and psychology.

In the very educational video below, you'll get to learn about how different directions of character movements affect audiences the way they do, as well as why it happens.

I love this video because it touches on some very important concepts in aesthetics (basically the dictionary of mise en scene), namely spacial properties of objects, size, and movement. How does the size, movement, and placement of an object communicate to a viewer? What do they communicate?

Read More

'Groundhog Day': How a Script Everybody Loved but Nobody Would Produce Became a Comedy Classic

It's Groundhog Day. Again.

When screenwriter Danny Rubin sent out his original draft of Groundhog Day to the studios, he knew he hadn't written a conventional studio film. In fact, he hadn't even written a romantic comedy. "Everybody called me in for a meeting," said Rubin, "and nobody wanted to produce it. What they said to me was, 'I loved Groundhog Day. Of course, we can never make it.'"

After a lot of development and collaboration with Harold Ramis, Groundhog Day became the screenplay that ranks #3 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 funniest screenplays ever written.

Danny Rubin walked through his journey with the story, screenplay and film of Groundhog Day at the 2014 Austin Film Festival. Thanks to AFF's On Story, you can listen to Rubin break down his script and film. If you don't have time to watch now, after the video, I've highlighted some key points from Rubin's presentation.

Read More

What 'Dumb and Dumber' Would Look Like if It Were an Indie Sneaker Hit at the Oscars

Did you know that if you squint really, really hard (and do a ton of re-editing) Dumb and Dumber actually looks like one of those hidden indie gems that sweeps the Oscars?

It's true! Mashable managed to turn the Farrelly Brothers' very first feature about dim-witted duo Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne into a touching, dramatic film with that cliché indie aesthetic -- road trips in the desert, weird haircuts, and southwestern attire. Check out the remixed trailer below!

I decided to conduct a little experiement after watching Mashable's remix. I showed it to a friend who 1.) isn't into indie film, and 2.) has never seen Dumb and Dumber (I was shocked, too) and they were like, "Ew, that looks like one of your stupid cinema films." Then when I revealed D&D's actually trailer to them, they replied, "No shit...that is not the same movie. Whoa...is it on Netflix?!!"

Read More

4K Experimentations: Blackmagic Infrared from Philip Bloom on...

4K Experimentations: Blackmagic Infrared from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

More infrared experimentations. This time with my dusted off Blackmagic Production Camera which I removed the IR blocker from so it sensitive to light from the while spectrum, visible and invisible infrared. Here I used various screw on filters to cut the visible light. For this I used 650nm and 720nm filters. I also used an R65 Tiffen Red Filter as my 590nm filter has not arrived yet.

Most of the stuff in Brighton is filmed with the 720nm filter as well as a couple of shots with a strong variable ND on and no IR filter. Most of the rest of the shots are with the 650nm filter on a 40mm Canon pancake lens as it was the only lens I had that took the 52mm filter.

Grading is deliberately all over the place. Most of this was shot raw as it gave me much more control over the very important white balance. Some shots have the blue/ red channels reversed to give a blue sky with the 650nm and R65 filter which give a reddy/ brown colour normally.

Do check out my soon to be published blog post where I go into this in much more detail.

Music courtesy of Music Bed “When Skies Speak” by Ryan Taubert.

Title filters is “Holomatrix EZ” from Red Giant Universe: gopb.co/redgiant

How Director Ridley Scott Gets Great Performances from Actors

The Martian has already brought home a number of awards, and it was just recently nominated for a total of seven Academy Awards.

Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Drew Goddard must be doing something right, as the film has garnered a ton of praise, and in this Variety video, they give some essential advice about both screenwriting and directing:

While Scott is often working with the best actors out there, he does say it all comes together when you've got a good script. Once you're working with the actors, he says it's important to move on, not over elaborate, and keep it simple, and that the best actors often just want to hear which speed is best for their delivery — faster, slower, or medium. No two actors or directors are the same, but keeping it simple is important, as everyone has enough stress going on already. If you're doing the work in pre-production, once you get on set you're often only tweaking minor things. Either way — and I'm sure Scott would agree — constant communication is important, especially letting your actors know that you've got their back, and you trust the decisions that they're making.

Read More

The Best Realtor in Eastern, NC

If you decide you wish to have further info when it comes to quality real estate agents and are moving to Eastern North Carolina... (from Best North Carolina Businesses) This is a review of some of the very best local small businesses that we can find in North Carolina. We know that small business owners are vital to the economy, and as business owners ourselves, we're showcasing the great work that others do in their local communities. You won't find Fortune 500 companies on our channel. This is all about the local folks who probably know your name when you drop in or call. That said, we're very selective regarding the businesses we show in our channel and websites. While being local is kind of a big deal for us here and experience is alwaysvaluable, excellent customer service absolutely trumps all other factors. User experience is ultimately what we're looking for and what we desire to share online. If there's someone you'd like to nominate for better exposure, please do reach out to us to tell us. We'll be delighted to contact them to talk and see if they meet our criteria.

Belleville drone vs. vehicle crash ‘probably won’t be the last’: police – Ottawa – CBC News

Police in Belleville, Ont., are warning drivers that drones could become a growing hazard on the road, after one of the airborne devices crashed into the grille of a moving vehicle on Monday morning, causing $1,000 in damage to it. Source: Belleville drone vs. vehicle crash ‘probably won’t be the last’: police – Ottawa – […]Read more...