Online Film School Blog

Reasons not to start your film?

Jerry the Prof — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:57:36 +0000

If you’re running out of reasons why you’re avoiding starting your film, then this Nike commercial will give you a fresh supply of excuses.

Don’t watch this video …

Jerry the Prof — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:43:32 +0000

Click here to learn more about The Complete Music Video Production Package. www.musicvideotrainingcenter.com/freefilmschool.html Don’t read this … unless you’d like to become a successful music video director. A few days ago I posted about how doing music videos was a great way to break into filmmaking. There are musicians everywhere who’ll pay you to make short, creative films to [...]

Tribute to a great indie filmmaker

Jerry the Prof — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:31:54 +0000

This week we lost one of the truly great indie filmmakers. Stan Winston died this weekend at the young age of 62. Many would argue that Mr. Winston was not an indie filmmaker because of the many big-budget blockbusters he worked on. But the fact is he was a true indie filmmaker at heart, from his [...]

I want YOU to direct my new film.

Jerry the Prof — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:31:27 +0000

Here’s a question I hear a lot. Hey Prof, I think I’ve got talent. What’s the easiest way to get started as a film director? The fact is Hollywood doesn’t have a lot of openings for new directors. But there is always demand in the film industry for really talented people who have demonstrated what they [...]

New Panasonic AG-HPX170 has vectorscope & waveform monitors.

Jerry the Prof — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:23:48 +0000

I no more than published my last post about the importance of video monitoring scopes than I spotted an announcement from Panasonic of the AG-HPX170 camera. A very close cousin to the popular AG-HVX200 that now includes both a vectorscope and waveform monitor. I don’t know if they are big and detailed enough to be [...]

Are you still filming with your eyes closed?

Jerry the Prof — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:33:46 +0000

No me! You say. But listen up. The problem is your video camera can only capture a very small range of the brightness value that are present in most scenes. Even if you’ve check your camera’s histogram and zebra (if it has them) and decided you are nailing the exposure you may be wrong. There may be [...]

IMDB Wants to Help Distribute Your Film - Can You Afford to Let Them?

Jerry the Prof — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:05:12 +0000

I just got an email from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) inviting me to post one of my films on their site for viewing. What’s this all about? Should I feel honored? Several things are involved. First of all IMDB recently bought WithoutABox. WithoutABox.com is, of course, the wonderful service for indie filmmakers where you can submit [...]

Film Distribution Saved by HD

Jerry the Prof — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:30:56 +0000

One of the elements of successful film distribution that is often overlooked by independent filmmakers is the publicity photos. If you want to sell your film you need a complete set of high-quality photos that can be used in publicity such as “stills” and posters. In the time and money constraints of very low budget filmmaking [...]

Give Your Audience a Break

Jerry the Prof — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:32:33 +0000

This morning I was reading my favorite SF Chronicle film reviewer’s column and was reminded of one of the most basic rules of filmmaking. In his article Few Saw This Film, But Now You Can, Mick LaSalle talks about a powerful film from 2007 that has just come out on DVD. The name of the film [...]

Entertainment Business - The Name Says it All

Jerry the Prof — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:09:52 +0000

The entertainment business is not the easiest way to make a living but if you want to understand the route to success you only need to study the name of the industry for a minute. The entertainment business is the “Business of Entertaining”. So you need to create something entertaining through some combination of a compelling [...]