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Craigslist. It’s on the check every day list between email, Facebook, and lint between your toes. Little know fact is that you can find film jobs on the tv / film / video section as well as the crew section for your city. Beware for shady jobs and employers that expect too much for free, or will put you in situations you’re not comfortable in. Try to see a website of any business that is hiring you for validity.
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Filemail. It’s the answer to that question of how to send files if they’re too big to email. You can use it for free but there’s a limit on the size of each file. Max file size: 2GB!!!! Gmail, last time I checked maxes up at 25mb. That’s 100x difference. Sign up for a $10 account a month and get more information like download confirmation, a drag0and-drop desktop application and more. Definitely worth checking out for sending that 1GB movie file to your producer across town, in a different state or even country without having to keep burning DVDs and mailing them.
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Video Copilot. It’s the ultimate in Adobe After Effects training. Even if you don’t have the software, watching the amazing free online tutorials by guru Andrew Kramer will open your mind to a world of special effects within your reach and budget. The site also sells motion graphics, textures, bullet hits, blood spurts, plugins, and music and sound effects. A must have for rising filmmakers if you can muster up the money. The site is constantly updated so check by weekly for the new tutorial. They load quick and Kramer is funny and incredibly efficient.
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Without a box. It’s the 1 stop shop for filmmakers looking to enter or learn more about film festivals. They’ve somehow swooped in and dominated the scene as many festivals offer discounts if you submit through them, while others require that you do. It’s free free free. No money. And did I mention it’s free? Sign up for an account and get their daily emails to find out just how many thousand film festivals are active in the world. It’s pretty overwhelming!
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Vimeo. If you are making HD digital movies and you haven’t heard of Vimeo, then you are far out of the loop. Vimeo has been creeping up on YouTube’s reign of online video content for some time now. The quality and speed of download is arguably better than youtube’s, and Vimeo’s target market of HD filmmakers means that you will find a lot more well made short films than home made videos of cats and babies. You can also sign up for Vimeo Plus for larger file uploads with 5Gb a week upload space (instead of an annoying 500mb) Stats, and an upgraded player than can embed HD. It’s become the home for Canon 5d mark 2 and 7d filmmakers, and is worth a check out to see the competition.
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Celtx. The ultimate in preproduction software is free. Get it. Useful in so many ways from screenwriting to script tagging for different departments, to online sharing with collaborators… to so much else. I can’t get into everything it does, just check out the site. Free.
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Cinema 5D. If you’re a canon DSLR fanatic like the rest of us, then you need to keep a tight watch on this site. It focuses on the latest news of the 5D mark ii for film makers. Stay up to date with accessories, deals, firmware updates, tips, tricks, and everything else. Check out the forum for a comprehensive list of user feedback for the 5D and 7D. It’s a one stop reference to learn about and share information on these groundbreaking new cameras.
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Zacuto Presents “The Great Camera Shootout 2010″:
The Great Camera Shootout 2010. It’s what all cutting edge video makers have been waiting for. Technicians, DPs, Colorists, and fanatics have released very a comprehensive web series which compares film stock to the new Digital SLRs. The results have been surprising and exciting, as to the casual viewer, there is hardly a difference at all. And for some scenes, the whole room of professionals are stumped! It is currently currently on going, and hi-res versions are going to be released soon. Definitely worth checking out.
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D.U.M.P.S.: Directing Unsuccessful Motion Picture Shorts:
Filmmaker.com presents D.U.M.P.S. It’s a funny read for everyone who has made or seen too many short films. It’s a long list of common themes and mistakes that new filmmakers inevitably make. It includes: “Look at me, I’m a director!” Shot, Ultraslow dialogue, the “Nothing Happens” short film, and The “walk into the Camera” transition. Check the link for more. Here’s a good one:
Scene One: The protagonist wakes up.
There’s nothing INHERENTLY wrong with starting a film with the buzz of an alarm clock, a hand slapping the snooze button, eyes fluttering open, followed by a yawn or an “oh my god, I’m late!” – But why so much of this? We see it all the time. It’s as if the writer/director woke up one morning, looked around and said “Wow. This is cool!” Uh yeah. Better go back to sleep.
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Mpeg Streamclip. I discovered it as a great way (and it’s FREE) to make proxies for Canon 5d Mark ii footage to edit with. “MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows. It can play many movie files, not only MPEGs; it can convert MPEG files between muxed/demuxed formats for authoring; it can encode movies to many formats, including iPod; it can cut, trim and join movies. MPEG Streamclip can also download videos from YouTube and Google by entering the page URL.” It’s a great free program for all filmmakers to have.
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Adobe TV. With Adobe’s newest software for version CS5, this site’s very straightforward videos will get you updated. If you want to learn about what a program like Illustrator or After Effects does, or have the software already and want to see free video tutorials, then this site is a good reference for you.
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Mac Drive 8. Or whatever version is the latest upon reading this. It’s a solution for reading Mac formatted drives on a PC. Finding this software saved me countless hours of carrying 2 hard drives around and copying back and forth from computer to computer. If you need to transfer files from a PC to a Mac and can’t use the dreaded FAT formatted drive (limits file sizes to 2GB and isn’t as fast) then this simple software is your answer. Plug in your Mac drive and it pops up like any other with an icon letting you know it’s mac formatted. There’s a free trial too.
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NAB 2010 on DavidMarcusFilms. We self promote. Filmmakers need to stay on the cutting edge of technology, and NAB is the premiere spot to unveil the latest gadgets.
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Amazon 60+ Good Documentaries on Making Movies Part 1 and Part 2:
A solid list of movies about making movies. Great for people looking for dvds to add to the library.
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Canon Live Learning is an exclusive educational experience that delivers dynamic learning opportunities for enthusiasts and professionals through workshops and high quality classes around the country. Led by industry experts and professional photographers, including Canon’s Explorers of Light, you’ll gain both technical and creative expertise through these exciting programs in locations near you.
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John August, the screenwriter of Big Fish, Go, Corpse Bride, and many other recent films has a blog- and it’s good. Real world advice for writers has never been so to-the-point, accessible, and helpful. The bitter reality of the business can get you down if you aren’t used to the LA life, so when you find out facts like selling a spec script with a writing partner to the studios for $100,000 will only get you $36,750 each before taxes, keep a stressball in hand.
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Finally, a list of film jokes for you to use to blend in better on set. A few gems:
How tall is a sound recordist?
-I don’t know either. I’ve never seen one standing up.
How many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
-None, writers don’t make changes.
How many Assistant Directors does it take to change a light bulb?
-”It’s fine , just shoot it.”
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Staring at that blank screen too long? Story starters are a good way to kick start your daily writing (that’s right you writers out there, DAILY). Sometimes it just helps to loosen up the writer inside you, other times you’ll find yourself using segments of the exercises in your scripts. This site lists several ways to get the creative juices flowing, gushing, oozing, flooding- you get the image.
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I was really excited when I heard about this site. Rent lenses online. Ship them back when you’re done. GREAT for DSLR Shooters. Sure you don’t get the hands on assistance of a techie rental house employee, but you can call and ask them any questions. Each item has a “Roger’s Take” section for the owner’s frank ‘expert’ opinion. I enjoy reading those. They also rent other camera accessories, cables, matteboxes, and viewfinders to name a few, as well as some (mostly LED) lights. The site is easy to navigate, lots of photos and descriptions help take out the uncertainty of internet shopping.
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That’s right, the newsletter. Boris FX have been around a long time with plugin packs for AE, Premiere, Final Cut, etc. Haven’t seen anything particularly worth buying until they released their new Boris Continuum FX set. Costly, but is a loaded set of looks you can’t accomplish with built-ins alone. THE FREE NEWSLETTER includes free giveaways, and free webinar tutorials which, if you sit through, can win other big prizes like Production Premium cs5, $900+ FX bundles and more. Come on, it’s free.
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Previsualization is possibly the best tool for communicating your film. Don’t know what it’s all about? Watch this quick, free 9 minute documentary brought to us by the renowned (just kidding, I’ve never heard of them) Previs Society. The video is very well put together and includes interviews with some of the top names, and prevsis comparisons to some of the top recent Hollywood films like “The Matrix” “Star Wars” “Speed Racer” and “I Am Legend” to name a few. As it explains, it’s not just for animated or high visual effects shots (although it’s pretty much a must for them), but for laying out a sequence for the director to see emotional beats, and producers to see in order to schedule and budget. I recently did some on a relatively simple toy commercial to figure out the quick ADD pacing that our shots would have to hit. Ended up helping a lot and made editing (almost) a breeze.
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NATPE – Free Live Streaming Seminars:
NATPE is a major film market for Hollywood’s top players. Watch the panels now, FREE! The National Association of Television Program Executives is in full swing this year in Miami, January 24-26. If you’re interested in learning from the pros without paying the full $430 per day or whopping $1050 3-day pass, there’s another way. Check the link above to see a list of selected free LIVE seminars happening throughout the event. “How to deal with network notes without killing yourself”, “Building entertainment brands on Facebook”, and “The new guard of digital deal makers” are just a few of the 20+ offered that I’m interested in.
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In 2011, Tribeca All Access (TAA) will provide grants of $10,000, one-on-one meetings with industry representatives, career development workshops and informational panels to ten exceptional filmmakers working in narrative and documentary. If you’re an aspiring filmmaker, this is one opportunity you should not miss. Missed it this year, but plan ahead!
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A nice resource from the free online sharing site that actually found a market during the YouTube era. It’s been a hit for DSLR shooters, and now they’re reaching out to educate. Kudos Vimeo! (BTW everything there so far is pretty basic, so best for the beginners)
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