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New Raindance Book
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Out Now
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Greetings!
Welcome, Canada, to our weekly newsletter - everyone else, this is Canada, say hello.
I hope you are all having a good week - if not, this newsletter should be enough to cheer you up!
This edition includes an article on flash mobbing, Elliot teaching in Ireland, tips on lighting and of course, all the news from Raindance Canada.
Enjoy.
Read this, and old newsletters, online!
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How Some of the World's Best Known Film Director's Got Their Start
Even the greats started with something less than Oscar worthy (well, with one or two exceptions). Some of their first films went on to major commercial success, others might be best off forgotten... Raindance has compiled a list of Famous Director's First Features. How many have you seen? |
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Direct Your First Feature
An intensive introduction to the creative and business elements of
directing a feature film, by detailing the director's role with the
various heads of department: pre-production, production and
post-production.
Day 1: Directing For the Budget
Learning how to direct with Micro through industry Budgets
- choosing scripts
- choosing formats
- planning the shoot
Day 2: Directing for Your Career
Learning how to plan your film and your career - the step-by-step process to shooting and delivering a feature film
- deciding what your 'look' is
- developing a team
- tricks and traps of directing
What? Direct Your First Feature
When? 28/29 November
Where? 10 Craven St Rehearsal Studios,
London WC2N 5PE, nearest tube Charing Cross
How Much? £250 + VAT
Raindance Premium Members get a 15% Discount
Full Details and Book Online Here |
Guerrilla Marketing: The Power of the Flash Mob
Independent filmmakers aren't able to spend half their budget on big marketing schemes: instead they turn to guerrilla marketing techniques; word of mouth, the viral and perhaps The Flash Mob
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Documentary Foundation Certificate
Documentaries are experiencing a peak in commercial and critical success right now - and this is reflected in the number of submissions to our Festival. Unfortunately, however, we are turning 100s away because they are just not good enough. This course will ground you in the basics needed to make a high quality documentary. It will teach you how to:
- Develop a distinctive documentary idea
- Test its effectiveness as an engaging film
- Decide the appropriate way to film it
- Find the right people to appear
- Choose the best things to film
- Shoot and edit your film in the most effective way
- Pick the right music or sound
- Shape your finished film into a story that works dramatically and emotionally.
What? Documentary Foundation Certificate
When? 25,26 November 2,3,9 December
Where? 10 Craven St Rehearsal Studios,
London WC2N 5PE, nearest tube Charing Cross
How Much? £165.00 + VAT
Raindance Premium Members get a 15% Discount
Full Details and Book Online Here |
Dismal Skies Got You Down?
Take a break and have a few laughs with Martin Gooch's hilarious short films. A few favorites include the bizarre condition involving faeces in "The Curse of Ian Spatchcock", an awkward encounter in close quarters in "The Lift", and the distinction between what we think and what we say in "Don't Even Think It!"
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Welcome Canadians
 We have had a really successful micro office in Toronto for 5 years now, and loads of fantastic films from Canada in the festival.
We think it's time everyone knows what great indepednent film opportunities there are in Canada, and in Toronto in particular.
Read this week's Canadian news, including film festivals and competitions.
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5 Tools to Improve help Light Your Film
Lighting your film is a tricky business - get it right and nobody really notices, get it wrong and nobody will watch it. We've prepared a short guide to successfully lighting your film that will help your film really shine!
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Working the Net
Stellar Events presents 'Franklyn', directed by Gerald McMorrow and starring Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe and Sam Riley.
Set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and the futuristic faith-dominated metropolis of Meanwhile City, 'Franklyn' weaves a tale of four souls whose lives are intertwined by fate, romance and tragedy. As these worlds collide, a single bullet determines the destiny of these four characters.
See the trailer here.
The screening will be preceded by networking drinks and followed by a Q and A with the director, Gerald McMorrow! Finally, we'll be adjourning to a local bar after the film for further drinks.
See here for a recent TimeOut Interview with Gerald.
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London Whisky brand Cutty Sark and The Smalls today
announced the call for entries for a new competition for independent filmmakers. The winning films will be featured in
an exclusive online gallery hosted on the Cutty Sark website as well
as on the Discovery Channel. The winners will also be promoted
in a full-page advert in (magazine TBC), receive a Canon EOS 500D camera and a
case of whisky.
The competition features four themes for filmmakers to choose from; they are invited to execute one script in any manner they choose - be literal, go figurative,
and make the most of any one of the many inspiring stories from the history of
Cutty Sark.
For more details, call
Mira Bajagic at The Smalls on
0207 240 9444
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Top Tweets
Hollywood's 4 Big Lies
Avoid the Dreaded Gap in your Films
What makes films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stick in our minds?
We had to turn away hundreds of docs from the festival this year - 5 Mistakes Documentary Makers Make
Follow us on Twitter
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Josh Golding Interview
Josh Golding, tutor of
Maverick Screenwriting, has
been interviewed.
He discusses the future of screenwriting, the need for originality and Hollywood's place in the world of cinema.
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Elliot teaches Ireland a Lesson or Two
Raindance Founder Elliot Grove will be heading over to Ireland to give two evening courses; Breaking into the Film Industry and Pitching Skills Workshop.
These courses are designed to help you get started in the film industry. Breaking into the Film Industry help you identify where you want to work and develop a plan of attack. The Pitching Skills Workshop will focus on the undervalued and extremely important skill of selling your film product.
Know anyone in Ireland who might be interested? Why not forward them this email?
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Premium Members
New scripts available for Premium Members!
Our script database has been updated with 40 new scripts including 'Children of Men', 'Good Night and Good Luck' and 'Maria Full of Grace'.
To access these scripts, simply log in and follow this link or navigate to the scripts section.
Not a Premium Member? Join here
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Stuff We Like
The End of the World
There's nothing like a good apocalypse, total collapse of liberal society or rise of the machines to bring a smile to one's face. Many excellent films have been made on this topic and some people over at snakerati have put together a list of the top 50 Dystopian Films. What do you think? |
Quoted
The Truth about Documentaries
In feature films the director
is God; in documentary films God is the director.
Alfred Hitchcock
By showing hunger, deprivation, starvation and brutality, as
well as endurance and nobility, documentaries inform, prod our memories, even
stir us to action. Such films do battle for our very soul.
Theodore Bikel
Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of
representation must change.
Bertolt Brecht
Every cut is a lie. It's never that way. Those two shots
were never next to each other in time that way. But you're telling a lie in
order to tell the truth.
Wolf Koenig
I don't know what truth is. Truth is something unattainable.
We can't think we're creating truth with a camera. But what we can do, is
reveal something to viewers that allows them to discover their own truth.
Michel Brault
I am eye. I am a mechanical eye. I, a machine, am showing
you a world, the likes of which only I can see.
Dziga Vertov
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Coffee Break
If you're bored and looking for a scare, dare to enter Hotel 626. This fun little website has you going through several frightening obstacles and puzzles that you may or may not get out alive. |
Competition
BIFA tickets up for grabs
Cinema, celebrities, celebrations - the makings for another unforgettable British Independent Film Awards. Don't have a ticket?
Don't fret. Enter our competition for a chance to win two tickets to the after show party. Clear the calendar on the night of December 6 for the party, held at The Brewery.
Why not try your luck? Who knows, you might be rubbing elbows with the stars in a matter of weeks!
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Choosing Screenwriting Software
When you start out as a screenwriter you quickly realize that Word is not going to be an efficient way of committing your masterpiece to paper. Screenwriting software is required, and is indeed available - but there are many different versions out there - how do you choose the one that's write (geddit?) for you?
Included in the article are discount codes to get you money off some of the pricier pieces of software.
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Renounced
 A recent E! online poll asked 'Which Rocks Your World', "the splashy discovery of water on the moon, possibly altering the course of human history" or "splashy pics of Twilight peeps at the New Moon premiere...they're so cute!"?
At our viewing 60.2% of those who responded preferred juicy New Moon news to 39.8% who were more interested in one of the biggest scientific discoveries in recent years.
Not to rain on anyone's sparkly vampire parade, but such an important scientific revelation should be far more dazzling than the latest popular culture craze. Enjoy 'New Moon'[Ed. don't], but make sure you're up to date with what's going on ON the moon.
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Have a good day and a great weekend - sounds like it might be a good time to go fly a kite...
Sincerely,
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The Raindance Film Festival Team
Suzanne Ballantyne
James Burbidge
Frederica Byron
Julian Chapelle
Lindsey Curran
Aylin Erinc
Elliot Grove
Meredith Hicks
Jagruti Majithia
Rory O'Donnell
Theresa Norton
Joe Pearshouse
Chris Presswell
Xavier Rashid
Amelie Thille
Chris Thomas
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Festival Store Now Open
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Tee Shirts, Posters, DVD's, Books, and the Raindance Bag
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Amnesia
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When most people think of Frank Capra they think of Capricorn,
idealistic drivel that has absolutely nothing to do with the grim
reality faced by many Americans in the midst of the Great Depression.
To view the man and his work in such a way is just as distorting as the
rose tinted lens which he is accused of using in his films...
Meredith Hicks - The Forgotten side of Frank Capra
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