Waiting 2B Scene

Tag: Cinephile

  • Blog Video: Sherlock Recut As a Thriller Trailer

    Throughout this year my workload has been focused primarily on editing and producing a series of women’s self-help modules. It is necessary work, and based on the stories that have come out of it – it is seeing some wonderful results. Still, it is hardly creative work.

    Well, yesterday I re-stumbled on a great little article by No Film School on how to help get past a bit of a creative funk: so I decided to give it a go. After having a look at some of the footage I had saved on my HD, I decided to do a re-cut version of the very first episode of Sherlock. In a trailer style for a thriller. Aaaand just 2-hours later, this is what I come up with. I’m not a sound stylist, so that side of things is a bit rough. Still, it was definitely a pleasure to stretch out some of the other creative muscles.

  • Video Montage: When Shadows Become Characters (Skorkin)

    So today I was doing my usual perusal of Vimeo (come on now – you know that a key component of the twenty-first century creative process is random internet surfing, right?) when I stumbled on this fresh little piece.

    If you are involved in creative video or film of any sort, then you know a little something about lighting. What I love about this piece is that it demonstrates a variety of ways that cinematographers have grabbed that simple (albeit in a profound kind of way) element of videocraft – ie, lighting – and twisted it into a character in it’s own right. I hope you enjoy it too.

  • How To: Stop Frame Animation (Stop-Motion/Claymation)

    So today’s video how-to one was of personal interest to me, as one of my international colleagues asked the question about whether we could try to pull together a claymation clip for one of our up-and-coming projects. I had no idea… and even though my production manager was reluctant, at least we were given the green light to explore the idea, which was great news!

    So how do you go about trying something you know nothing about? You learn about it. And if you have ever wondered how to do stop frame animation, then I hope this video will be as useful to you as it has been to me this week.

  • Interview: William Goldman (The Writer Speaks)

    Given that I have been reading his book, it ought to come as no surprise that I have finally stumbled upon an interview with William Goldman.

    Released back in 2013 by The Writer Speaks – you get access to quite an influential Hollywood writer and author for an hour and a half.  Deciding to watch this through is definitely a commitment – however, deciding not to would be ill-advised. Honestly, it is less time consuming than reading through the books – and it is worth watching. So do yourself a favour and check it out already. 🙂

  • Video Essay: Directed By Christopher Nolan (Malko)

    As I wrote recently, I have been reading William Goldman’s book, “Which Lie Did I Tell: More Adventures In The Screen Trade”… a consequence of the reading has been to dull the sheen of the apparent super-powers that directors like Christopher Nolan have always seemed to possess. With that being said – great directors are very much a Ring Master at the Cinema Circus. We all know that there is no show without the talent (everyone from the screen writers, the cinematographers, the sound designers, the actors, and everyone else in between). Likewise, the Cinema Circus must have a Ring Master that can pull it all together and offer the audience as seamless a production as possible.

    Thus today I would like to share a video essay put together by a young Ukrainian videographer, Nikita Malko. Even though it falls into that trap of glorifying Nolan alone amongst his talented crew – it is still a fun little montage.

    https://vimeo.com/134932028

  • Top Ten: TED Talks on Storytelling and FilmMaking

    Alright, you ought to know that I am not a big fan of TED talks. It’s not because they are bad talks per se, it’s just that when a multi-million dollar organisation has pretty much zero internet presence in an internet age (as is the case with the owners of TED – that is the Sapling Foundation), it makes me wonder what agenda is being hidden in the background.

    But I digress!

    In today’s post, I actually want to share an article which was originally published in April 2014 by the team at Screencraft. It’s one of those guilty pleasure posts, you know. <insert voice of Matt Smith as Dr Who> Top 10 lists are cool! </insert> So check out what constitutes their “10 favorite TED Talks that all filmmakers, screenwriters and storytellers should watch” right here.

    If you think it’ll be TLDR, then for brevities sake, their list looks a lot like this (links included):

    10. Kevin Alloca: Why Videos Go Viral
    09. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius
    08. Rob Legato: The Art of Creating Awe
    07. Julian Friedmann: The Mystery of Storytelling
    06. Julie Burstein: Four Lessons in Creativity
    05. Don Levy: A Cinematic Journey Through Visual Effects
    04. Joe Sabia: The Technology of Storytelling
    03. James Cameron: Before Avatar … A Curious Boy
    02. JJ Abrams: The Mystery Box

    And their number one TED talk is…

    01. Andrew Stanton: The Clues to a Great Story

  • Video Essay: How to Be Tom Cruise (Schneider & Britnell)

    Today’s post is a link to a fun little video montage made by Burger Fiction that explores some of the tips and tricks that have gone into the making of US Government operative Ethan Hunt. It is very well done, and you’ll enjoy it I’m sure.

    https://vimeo.com/134655198

  • How To: Slate Like a Pro

    Continuing my series of resource links, today I want to share an excellent how to by the Rocket Jump Film School team.

    That moment when your first slate arrives can be pretty exciting. Suddenly you feel a little more professional, you know (well I did). But I had no idea whether there were some common practices when it came to slating. And if you were like me, then those first takes seemed more like an excuse to clap our slates at random intervals rather than being of practical use for the shoot.

    Thank goodness they are more than just a fun item to keep on set for the amusement of the crew though. And in this how to, RJFS break down some simple pointers to help you slate a little bit more like a pro. Enjoy!

  • Video: INCEPT OUT (Carvajal)

    It has been a couple of days since my last post: there was a small emergency at home, so I had been waylaid – but I am back! And to bring in the awesomeness, I wanted to share a short fresh clip with you that I really love.

    Made by Nelson Carvajal, please enjoy this trailer mashup of Inception with Pixar’s latest hit Inside Out. It’s rather good! 🙂

  • Video Essay: Mad Max: Center Framed (Nedomansky)

    Continuing my series of resource links, today I want to return to one of my favourite videography bloggers – Vashi Nedomansky. He recently posted a fantastic little piece that demonstrates the importance of framing and composition.

    We often have it drummed into our heads that our framing and composition will look best when it follows simple rules such as the rule of thirds (or perhaps the slightly more complex golden ratio/phi ratio. Don’t know the difference: check this out). And while you can’t exactly argue with the visual efficacy of either of these rules, it’s always nice to be reminded that there are still other alternatives.

    Ergo, we come to Vashi’s latest clip. In it, we explore how sequences in the newest edition to the action-packed Mad Max franchise actually work by utilising a centre-framed focus. Though technically it is still working within a rule of thirds/phi ratio framework – it has been a marked deviation from the normal sense of framing for modern action films (which have utilised more of a chaos cinema approach). While, “This is by no means a new technique… by shooting the entire film in this way, [editor] Margaret Sixel could amplify and accelerate scenes, cut as fast as possible with the confident knowledge that the visual information would be understood.” It is a short piece, so I hope you enjoy it.