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The best advice for student filmmakers often comes from other students who have already gone through the filmmaking process.
Screen Test is a competitive festival, but it's also a forum for young filmmakers to share ideas and gain insight into the motion picture medium.
Questions are also welcome! |
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| The March 12 submission deadline is approaching fast -- but there's still plenty of time to make a winning student film. |
Greetings!
The year is still young -- a good time to hunker down and get to work on that film you've been meaning to make. In the upcoming weeks, we at Screen Test (with the help of our film expert buddies) would like to offer offer young filmmakers resources and tips to help complete a project in time for the festival. |
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What's My Line? |
Every great movie starts with a great story. Emmy Award-winning producer Kathy Rivera told us at Screen Test, "the most serious advice I give to students interested in my vocation is to 'learn to write!' Even though you may not have a desire to be a 'writer'...you still have to learn how to communicate...intelligently, professionally and creatively."
Sometimes putting thoughts into words can be the biggest stumbling block in the whole film-making process. Fortunately, there are great resources to help you hone your writing skills.
Frost Jr. High School media teacher Bob Burak recommends Christina Hamlett's, Screenwriting for Teens; The 100 Principles of Screenwriting Every Budding Writer Should Know. "In fact, the book should be titled Screenwriting for Everyone," says Burak. "The author analyzes the 100 concepts needed to have a credible storyline and proper character development, adding genre breakdowns, technical necessities, and even how to present and publish a script. Along with the concepts are insightful questions for the author to ponder, and a wealth of resources and examples to aid the development of each concept."
If you're just embarking on a project now, here's a valuable piece of common sense: KEEP IT SIMPLE. Most projects are abandoned when ambition exceeds resources. In other words, don't bite off more than you can chew. Often our favorite film entries are built around very basic premises. Ben Gustafson's straightforward, dialogue-free "The Walker" hit the right note with our judges last year and took 2nd place.
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Join the Claymation Nation |
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While computer generation has become the industry standard for motion picture animation (Up, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), the nearly century old method of stop action animation is alive and well, as seen in recent releases such as Coraline and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. In fact, Peter Gundling's 2009 Screen Test entry, "Super Kitten and the Power Pets," took top honors at last year's fest.
We were recently asked about the possibility of making a stop action animation film on a shoe string budget. After snooping around on the web for a while, we came across this cool resource:
The site provides a comprehensive rundown on stop action (also called stop motion) animation, including an excellent overview of animation software programs -- some free, some on the pricey side. Just keep in mind that any downloaded software can contain malicious bugs and viruses. Make sure you're getting your files from a reliable source. |
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More helpful tips are on the way in our next newsletter. In the meantime, happy filmmaking!
Sincerely,
The Screen Test Team |
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