10 Screenwriting Tips from Joss Whedon

Yeah, that title got your attention didn’t it! Over at Scriptwriting in the UK there’s a nice post with ten detailed tips on screenwriting, by none other than geek-filmmaker darling Joss Whedon. And a damn fine collection of tips indeed. My personal favorite is #5…quoted below:

What $300 Buys These Days

OK, folks, have a look at “Lazy Teenage Superheroes,” a funny, really watchable (and slightly NSFW for language) 13-minute riff on science fiction:

Film-Office Tax Credits Scandal!

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article about Iowa’s “alleged abuses of its film tax credit program.”  I don’t know how surprising this is, given that the Iowa film office apparently described their program as “half-priced filmmaking.”

It would be wrong not to note that the LA Times has a horse in this race - there is more than a hint of schadenfreud in this piece - but on the whole, this revisits well-trodden ground.  Jeez, even I wrote about it!

Not to pile on, but there is yet another article on the subject this morning from the New York Times (registration probably required), regarding New Jersey’s film subsidy program, which Republican Governor Chris Christie is looking to gut.  The intense problem of gauging these programs effectiveness is summed up in this one excellent paragraph, written by NYT reporter Michael Cieply:

Studies about the efficacy of film credits, which became widespread in the last eight years, have been maddeningly divergent in their conclusions, depending on methodology, the structure of the credit and, sometimes, who sponsors the report.

I believe we have a BINGO!

When I wrote about Wisconsin’s film subsidy program back in 2009, things were tough for state governments.  By all accounts, things are worse in 2011.  If I were a betting man, I’d wager that film subsidy programs are going to become an even more endangered species in the near future.

What do you think?

A Look Back on 2010

In this episode of the Terence and Philip Show – with able assistance from Secret HQ’s Greg Huson – take a look back on what changed in 2010 from our perspective.

There’s a lot in this show from Resolve to dissolve.

The LED Camera Light Shootout…

A guy named Frank Glencairn, whom I think is in England somewhere, has gone and done what we’ve all thought about: 

A shootout between five inexpensive LED sunguns.

(OK, so maybe the term “inexpensive” doesn’t quite stretch to cover the Litepanels LP Micro, but I digress.)

Let’s Clean Up That Shot - Beforehand!

We’ve all gotten our footage back to the edit bay and found something we didn’t want in the frame.  Light stand, audio cable, water bottle, you name it.  What if we could remove irritants from the picture BEFORE the fact - without actually moving anything?  Check the next page for an amazing demo.

Martini QuickShot Creator puts pre-viz directly into FCP

Just watched the demo for Martini Quickshot Creator, and must say that this $199 software package looks AWESOME. Check out the demo here...you can quickly build pre-visualized scenes for a project from a library of characters and scenes. All from within Final Cut Pro. This software looks simply brilliant.

The Best of Stunning Good Looks

This entry is a guide to my best articles, sorted by topic. Enjoy!

Page 3 of 6 pages  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »