Bits & Pieces

10 Stupid Mistakes Screenwriters Make | Raindance Film Festival
So you want to write a screenplay? That’s fantastic! But why? Is it to make a lot of money? Or is it to impress your friends? Is it because you have a story to tell that will work best in the cinema?
Try and write your screenplay before you decide the ‘why’ you want to write it. will eman, almost cetainly, your writing will be encumbered.


Attention, Documentary Filmmakers: Here Are 9 Tips for Finding and Securing the Archival Material You Need | IndieWire
1. Beware the internet."Everything is being pulled from the web and then, under deadline pressure, [filmmakers] are trying to find out who owns it. Usually, those filmmakers end up having to hire a very experienced research clearance person to try to sort out things. There's a way to work with things from the internet, but it's the wrong approach to take everything as placeholders and then at the very end, under a time crunch, try to figure out how it's all going to be licensed." -- Scott Norman


DIY Monday: Telling the Truth Without Paying for it | MovieMaker
Potential Legal ThreatsFacts and historical events cannot be copyrighted, so when a moviemaker is creating a film based on true events and real people, he or she is not typically exposed to liability for potential copyright claims that may be brought by the subjects of the true story. However, the subjects of the true story may well raise one or more of the claims mentioned above.


Jerry Lewis' Invaluable, Impossibly Rare 'The Total Filmmaker' Resurfaces | IndieWire
But his prize possession was a copy of Jerry Lewis' The Total Film-Maker, compiled in 1971 from lectures Lewis gave while lecturing at the University of Southern California. Then, used copies ran about a hundred dollars; now they're up above $500. But thanks to Cinephilia and Beyond, the book, which many regard as the best ever published on directing, is available for the first time in decades. Of course, it may not last long.


Introducing BeetleCopter and Camtraptions | Burrard-Lucas Blog
BeetleCopter is the next instalment of the BeetleCam Project. I have built a remote-control multirotor copter for my camera (actually, I have built several to accommodate different sized cameras ranging from a GoPro up to Canon 5D Mark III). The camera is attached to a stabilised gimbal suspended under the body of copter.


At last! You can now buy a 4K laptop! | Red Shark News
We think this is less of the start of a trend than the starting gun for every other manufacturer. Even though screens of this size are really to small to do full justice to 4K (people compain that they can't tell the difference between HD and 4K on a 50" screen - but you do sit pretty close to a laptop display) that's not going to stop the deluge of 4K laptops that will follow this first step by Toshiba.




Sony Super 35mm | Facebook
Using a Super 16 lens on a Sony F55...to shoot HD on the 4K sensor.
"Our Super 16mm Setup. Huge zoom range is fantastic. Classic canons via AbelCine. Living on 11-165. #PartsUnknown"- shared by Zach Zamboni (@zachzamboni) 


Meet Colorist Jim Wicks | Mixing Light
Meet Colorist Jim Wicks in this podcast interviewIn this installment of the Mixing Light Colorist Profile series, we are honored to have colorist, color correction news guru and all around nice guy Jim Wicks.Based in West Palm Beach Florida, Jim is a colorist working in lots of different genres, but the one that fascinates me the most is color restoration. Jim has digitally color corrected dozens of classic films including some classic Mexican films from the golden age of Mexican cinema.


Martin Scorsese A Letter to my Daughter
For the last few years, I’ve realized that the idea of cinema that I grew up with, that’s there in the movies I’ve been showing you since you were a child, and that was thriving when I started making pictures, is coming to a close. I’m not referring to the films that have already been made. I’m referring to the ones that are to come.


The Amazing Rejection Letter Disney Sent In 1938 To A Woman Who Wanted To Be An Animator
Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men. For this reason, girls are not considered for the training school.


And if you're in Boston
- A Conversation with Film Editor Crispin Struthers (AMERICAN HUSTLE) | BOSCPUG
January 30th
A Don't Miss! We welcome Crispin Struthers who joins us for a special conversation on his work on AMERICAN HUSTLE. Bring your questions with you for Crispin to engage with you - there will be plenty of time for questions!

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