im looking for mic recommendations for shooting a short film with an iphone 14 non pro version. there are so many options its kinda overwhelming so im looking for suggestions. i would like to use a lav mic if possible but idk if that good idea. anyways lmk what you guys think

Any filmmakers in NC looking for friends? I love the process of filmmaking. I live in the Triangle area and I would love to connect and help others with their projects.

I am thinking to get the intro course from Master the Workflow, since it is only $27 and seems like I could learn a great deal on professional workflow and mindset for assistant editor.

I am wondering that if the Feature Film Assistant Editor Immersion is worth getting, since it is almost $1000. It seems like this course get more in depth and with practices than the intro course, and it also offers a referral database for people who complete the course.

Hence, I am wondering is it worth getting the Immersion course? How effective was the referral database, and if there is a cheaper alternative to learn and practice course to learn professional assistant editing workflow for feature and TV.

Also, I think I consider myself to be pretty familiar with Avid (shortcut, basic sound mixing tool/effect). However, I am interested in things on how professional prep/view dailies and build reels etc.

Thank you!

I'm in that stage right now. I wouldn't call it a "bad" film, but I'm just kinda sick of it. It didn't get the response I wanted, it's messy, it went through a troubled production, and I'm now just kinda waiting to start with literally anything else.

I am currently looking at 7artisans cinelens but they dont have an ef mount for my BMCC 6k Pro so I was wondering how to solve that thank you. On the artisan lens there is a sony, fuji x and an canon r mount but I cant seem to find an adapter on an ef body.

Hi! I’m a production designer working on a tiny budget indie short (so what would be makeup/sfx is probably falling on my dept.) In a scene, we need it to look like our character has a bunch of cactus thorns pricking their skin. I’m trying to research how to achieve this practically, and not really getting any results. Are there prop thorns we can use? Or will this ultimately require VFX?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some help with this one - a friend of mine recently made a short film (low-budget and self-produced) and is looking for permission to use a Black Country, New Road song in it. I reached out to a distant contact of mine a couple of weeks ago who's involved in the industry and who seems to think that the publishing company would want to enforce licensing regardless of the project's small size.

I need leads on who I could possibly reach out to to obtain permission/a license to use this song. In the past week, I've emailed the band themselves, Transgressive Records, ATC Management, and an email address I believe could be their manager's (although I'm not sure if it's the right one). I've considered reaching out on Instagram but I'm not sure how well monitored that is and I definitely don't want to piss anyone off by reaching out to personal accounts. I'm really dedicated to reaching them for this song so if anyone has any tips/contacts/advice on this, I'd really appreciate it!!

Hello- we are finishing a female driven horror film - not a slasher or gore film.

Any recommendations for film festivals? Horror film festivals to screen at?

There are so many that I taking recommendations!

Thank you!

Hello, I am a composer of neoclassical music. I am interested in collaborating by composing music for an audiovisual project. I have some training in film composition and have created quite a few compositions. I would love to find a project to collaborate on.

If you have something in mind or need to add music to a scene in a style similar to the one I compose, do not hesitate to contact me.

I am leaving you my YouTube channel here where you can see my piano work. I also have orchestral works, but I am less likely to publish them.

https://www.youtube.com/@rubanetti

Any feedback is always welcome.

Greetings

Hi! I’m directing a short film coming up and I used to use Studiobinders daily elements template but now I can’t find the free template anymore. I am curious if anybody has a template they really liked and wouldn’t mind sharing? I know I can make my own but there are smarter people than me out there. Thanks for the help! Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated!

Was contacted by Zack Baker from this company. He says he wants to make a film from my already published book. I had to shell out 2k for a movie trailer, to present to investors. Supposedly, one investor liked it so much, they want to invest 1.2mil for the rights to make the film. I'm thrilled... except now I need to shell out 6k for a screenplay to be made. Something tells me after this, they'll be more expenses. I'm "green" to this subject. Anybody else have this experience? Anybody ever deal with Bloomberg Productions? I need your help please & thank you.

Plug fire cap guns are model weapons with a closed barrel and a small primer cap made to spark and smoke while cycling a fake bolt and ejecting a shell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoeDeG5cTXY)

They are way more effective props than gas blow back airsoft thanks to the sparks and the case ejection, but seem to only exist as antiques from 1980s Japan. The models are getting more and more rare/expensive and the casings and caps are basically impossible to find for some weapon types, especially the pistols.

You'd think in a post Rust world these would be making a come back due to them adding significantly more realism than other prop methods while still being significantly safer than blank firing from real guns with open barrels.

I'm currently working on a four part docuseries with each part hopefully averaging to be about 20 minutes long or less. I have the first draft of episode one written out and have the shell for the rest of the episodes (topics discussed in each episode).

I've been trying to find information on other filmmaker's process for writing a series and organizational methods when editing a series in Adobe Premiere, but I've had no luck.

This is my first feature length documentary with a huge amount of interviews and I'm learning everything on my own, but I would love it if I could be pointed in the right direction of resources on this topic!

Hi, I'm very new to filmmaking (started last year) and I just finished a class abroad called smartphone cinema where we had to use our phones to shoot and edit films. I attached my final film, and I'd really appreciate getting some feedback about the cinematography. I couldn't really do anything with the lighting and audio because we could only use our phones, but I'd love to know where I can improve the cinematography or pacing. Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koZQv4JfYlA&t=89s

Sorry if this has been asked a million times. I've been searching through this subreddit to get some informatuib but not finding something that really fits with my exact situation.

I'm a classical musician who plays in a flute/guitar duo. We're going to be recording some new promotional material soon - really just simple live videos. I'm looking to get a simple 4k video camera that is good for someone who doesn't know much about cameras and camera settings. We will also use the camera in the future for recording concerts so it needs to be able to handle at least 2 hours of continuous recording.

I have audio covered through dedicated mics so I don't care about the cameras audio.

I saw that the ZV-E10 might be a good option, but I'm concerned about the overheating. Would the ZV-1F be good for this kind of situation?

Back in college, I used their Panasonic FHD camera for concert videos and was never happy with how they looked. I think it was a HC-V770? Could be user error though lol

Let me know what you might recommend for this situation! I'm hoping to stay under $500 but willing to stretch this if that is impossible.

Thanks!

SPOILER FOR TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA

In the commentary Friedkin gives on the film, he mentions the blood effect they did on Chance’s face, he mentions that they used a plunger to spray the blood. Does he mean like a syringe type thing? Like a big one? Because he mentions spraying the blood on Petersens face, but I don’t get how a plunger would be capable of that. Or is there such a tool called a plunger that is used on sets?

Edit: I’d also like to hear if anyone has extra info on how they did those blood effects in general, Friedkin only touches on it in the commentary.

Thanks

Disclaimer: I'm a produced writer / director with 4 features to my name (all indie from micro to low-budget, ie. sub-1M). These were all made outside of the studio system.

EDIT: Here is a better TL;DR to get my point across:
"I think the real point I'm trying to make is that, "Sure, being the 1% / lottery winners IS a crapshoot... but there's room below that to still make a living, right?" Well, THAT I'm not too sure about anymore. You either make the 1% or you work something else -- there is no middleground anymore.

Was the Hollywood Dream we were sold growing up a lie?

Here's what I thought a professional career looked like for filmmakers that "made it" in "The Industry."
- Once you're in, YOU'RE IN.
- You sold a feature script! How are you going to spend that $100K/ WGA minimum?
- You're going to have enough work to buy that house, that car, have a family, stow away a nice comfy nest egg, and put your kids through some damn decent schooling.
- The Major Studios WANTS new, original, and well made films.
- With larger audiences than ever before, YES there will be more low and mid-budget studio films made for young filmmaker to cut their teeth.
- There will be more opportunities than ever to: sell your film to a major, big picked up for a major studio project, establish yourself.
- Even if you aren't the top 1% or 5% you WILL earn enough to live a respectable life. Just make sure you're the top 25-30% and you're looking at some niiiiiice cash and an upper-middle class life!
- Finally, you got stability!

Were we (ie. myself) naive to believe this was realistic? I feel, more than ever, that the bottom has fallen out of Hollywood and it's never going back to, say, the indie / spec frenzy of the late 80s and 90s. Luckily, technology has lowered the barrier to entry, but consequently it's harder to stand out than ever before. And a whole cottage industry of predatory distribution is awaiting the vast majority of hopefuls out there making their films outside the system.

I'm a positive / bootstrap sorta' fella', but can we be honest with ourselves and admit that the Hollywood we thought we were after doesn't really exist? I see the battle of filmmaking like sailing to a destination; you can live the Hollywood dream (ie. board the cruise ship) or you can slog outside of it where sharks circle your raft, storms threaten to capsize you and your only tool is pure will and the shitty coconut radio you tune into on the off chance the cruise ship sees you.

That's how I see it. Or at least saw it. Because now I'm paddling in my little raft and I see the front bow of the cruise ship in the sky (the 1%) up ahead and the rest is below the waterline. Suddenly I don't feel so inclined to be onboard that particular vessel.

What's everyone's thoughts? Is a new paradigm birthing from a dying industry? Are we simultaneously being empowered to create art while an industry crumbles around us?

I'm curious (and surprisingly optimistic) about what the future may hold. But I'm definitely letting the old dream die in way of the new.

Mods, please remove if inappropriate.

B&H has the Genie II motorized pan/tilt head marked down SEVENTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS to $294.95 as a Deal of the Day. The only two reviews on the site are both from people whose devices broke so they're not good, but I did some research and it got enough good reviews that I am taking a flyer on it for two hundred and ninety-five bucks. If you are interested here is the link:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1802094-REG/syrp_sy0031_0900_genie_ii_pan_tilt.html

Note that the battery charger is also marked down to $99 or $280 with two spare batteries and they do have the cords for shutter release.

I have a BMD Pyxsis fully rigged out. I can’t give an exact weight at the moment but it’s probably around 14lbs. How do I get a gimbal for it? What do big productions use to stabilize footage with heavy cinema camera rigs?

As the title says, what do you do now?

For context, I've been a PA and an Assistant Director for the past 15 years. Been wanting to get out now for a little while to have some stability in my life but I am having a hard time finding a job that I would be qualified for. Are there any former ADs out there who have transitioned out of the industry and put your skills into corporate America?

My short, "Things Worse Than The Dark" got rejected by Slamdance for their 6XTY (60 seconds) category.

I decided not to submit to other festivals but am still very proud of the short, so I wanted to share it here and see if anyone else wanted to do the same with their rejected shorts.

Would love to see what you've made!

Things Worse Than The Dark

https://www.prodigium-pictures.com/new-jersey-film-tax-credit-interactive-30-mile-zone-map
I found this great tool for mapping out the 30 mile zone of NJ for tax credits. What websites/ tools do you all use when looking for tax incentives for filming?

I’m just curious how some of you secured your “First Money” for a feature. If you have been through this process what did it look like?

Our Director and producers have been in the industry for a while and have quite a few folks they’d be comfortable going to as E.P. After first money is secured.

Thoughts?

So as the title suggests I’m in the pre production stage of a short I’m planning to make next year which involves a scene with a gun but I live in the UK and guns are a massive no no here.

The scene takes place inside and I’m planning to get an obvious toy gun then paint it black to look real but I’m worried that somehow it may be mistaken for a real one in case I’m stopped and searched or something, how do I go about doing this successfully?