Cinema Advanced | Filmmaking Tips

I’ve been talking quite a bit about how to create a successful web series, and the types of content that work well on the internet. The honest truth is, there are probably a ton of great ideas I’ve never considered. Even more likely, there are a bunch of things which I would say are outright stupid ideas, which if done right would end up being huge successes. However, here are a few things I absolutely know won’t work, so don’t make the mistake of creating these types of web series:

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Everyone knows that breaking into the film world is tough, if not nearly impossible. The cost of creating a film is enormous, and the likelihood of making a profit on your first feature is extremely small. But over the past few months, I’ve realized there is a better way. That way is to create a web series…

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When you are building a crew for your first, second, or even 100th movie, it’s always good to ask yourself just how much crew is necessary to complete the film. Do you really need all those people loafing around the set? Trust me, you won’t have to worry about left over donuts…the actors will take care of that.

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The movie Cloverfield did astoundingly well this weekend. On my other site, ourCloverfield Review has been receiving tons of hits over the past few weeks, so it wasn’t a bit surprise for me to see it at Number 1 this weekend. But what can we, as filmmakers learn from the way Cloverfield built its marketing campaign, in order to better market our own movies?

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There is a conventional wisdom when it comes to making movies, that is often expressed as “Show, don’t tell”. But that can mean alot of things to different people. I really think its one of those things that, essentially is good advice, but can be so easily misinterpreted, that it actually does more harm than good. Ultimately, it results in a huge mistake that first time directors always seem to make.

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Maintaining a good crew
So now that you’ve found the right people, and said all right magic words (for those who don’t know the magic words are “Sundance” “Van Sant” and “Japanese”). You have a crew. How do you keep that crew?

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It’s your first film, you’re under the gun and have to get things done. Money is disappearing by the second. The actors are getting antsy (or possibly drunk). You look up into the sky and scream…”Where the hell is everybody?”. Sound familiar? You need to learn how to find a good crew.

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You’re a DIY filmmaker. An independent. You’re won’t let anyone tell you how to make your film. So why are you going to let the distributors tell you how to sell your film? Or what if you’ve already tried the traditional distribution route, and no distributors are interested. Maybe its time to think about self distribution. After all, films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding made literally millions… Read more »