Star Wars Episode 7

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My First Script! plus Vidcon and Fastnet Short Film Fest

When Dreams Die

So I've been getting a lot of questions asking me if I'm all right in regards to Dream in the Dark getting shut out of every award on Sunday. In my gut I am very upset but I have to look at it from a logical perspective to even rationalize what happened. I'm not bitter against any of the winners as I thoroughly enjoyed their films...well except one (we all know which one). But the others were strong films.

I am surprised that Adam Zielinski's film did not place better. It seems that Spring Flicks suffered from a case of the Sunday syndrome again. Movies that play on Sunday have a better chance on winning. Its just a fact and always will be.

Even the judging was off. One of the judges explained to me that they went back and changed their scores for the first day after seeing the second day's films...that sounds a little shady to me.

To fix any problems I had with Spring Flicks a few things need to happen:

1. DO NOT let bad films in. Two nights of films is enough. It screws over the good films.

2. DO NOT let anyone associated with UNLV judge. Having a judge such as Danette Tull seems much more logical to me. Sadly she couldn't make it this year.

3. Program the shorts better. Having two similar films that are both great play one after the other is a detriment to both films. Sometimes fatal. I learned that the hard way.

Congratulations to all the winners. We all know what should and should not have happened. It was a fun year and the films are getting better and better.

And as to how I feel? Like Chris Nolan when the Dark Knight got snubbed. But hey. I still feel like Chris Nolan.

It's been a while...new film projects coming up by Tony Clifford

So the entire month of January was basically devoted to Jeremy Cloe's Liars, Fires, and Bears.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Liars-Fires-and-Bears/103755603024292

I was 2nd Assistant Director on the shoot. Meaning lots of call sheets and phone calls. I ran out of minutes with 3 weeks til they renew.

It was a very growing experience that left a lot of us absolutely wrecked afterward. And I have a shoot coming up in 9 days. So that's what I've been doing. Finalizing casting. Rewrites. Rewrites. Scouting. Shot list and storyboards. Driving to different states. Rewrites. Trying to find time for class. Rewrites. and more rewrites. The script is finally in a place that I'm completely comfortable with. All I'm sweating on now is one actor's schedule.

Oh and I went to Sundance!

Pictures coming soon.

In the meantime check out In a Better World by the best female director (and one of the best directors in general) in the world, Susanne Bier.

But my to do list is this:

finish storyboards and get them turned into legitimate ones by the amazing Julia Tokuhama. Finalize costuming and design (oops have to make that phone call right now...) cast some of the one liner roles which seem to be already taking care of themselves, and then do a lot of other random things I'm sure I can't think of at the moment.

I've had this script in mind since my junior year of high school so its been evolving for quite some time and I'm extremely excited to direct it.

I confirmed one of my beliefs that casting a professional actor can be hopeless when you haven't had anything already win something substantial. Success breeds further success. I tried casting a youtube celebrity for a cool cameo role but their manager hasn't been the most helpful. It's sad in a way because I fully believe in this script and the people working on it and know it will go places. At the same time the person we have cast instead of that internet celeb is an actor that is absolutely outstanding. I've worked with them before and know that they can bring a lot more to it than if my internet celeb experiment had worked out.

Now I better get back to my Random thoughts outline (Thank you Will Akers!) and storyboarding.

Current read other than textbooks.

TC

Out.

The Need to know about modern shooting

So many times I get questions about how to use DSLR cameras such as the 5D, 7D, or T2i. I don't mind them but people think I have taken courses on them or something. To be honest I got my 7D in the beginning of the whole Hdslr awakening. I'd taken cinematography one, which was of absolutely no help to me in regards to camera, but other than that I was still in camera virgin land other than using cameras with dv tape. I just got into the whole letus adapter thing right before it became obsolete.

So how do you go about learning how to use a dslr? Basically, you have to learn about cinematography. That's going to be your main asset when using any camera. I had my 7D for a couple of months and everything was extremely overwhelming. I didn't find a book that spelled everything out for me but basically you need to know these things like the back of your hand:

F-Stops

Focal lengths

Shutter speed

Frames per second

ISOs

White Balance

and the most important thing...

Post Production workflow. You can shoot the next Inglorious Basterds but have nothing to show for it if you don't get this down.

Also DSLRs have MANY hidden costs.

Harddrive for storing footage. $100+

Lenses $300-$2000

Want to shoot hand held? HH rig $250-$800

Follow Focus? $150-$450

Outside during the day? ND Filters $100

And thats just off the top of my head. These are all estimates by the way. So the nitty gritty. Where to obtain the knowledge of how to actually use your investment. I say investment because thats what it is. If you are just buying one to take cool pictures or cool video then save your money. But the source of all dslr information is...

the internet.

The one thing that is free with a dslr is knowledge. That's if you know where to look. I know that Philip Bloom gets a lot of flack because he's not the best filmmaker but man has this guy championed the age of DSLRs. He's made it mainstream and he has even put together a thing called Vimeo Video School. I wish these videos were out when I was starting out. Would have helped me lots.

http://philipbloom.net/

http://vimeo.com/17862673

The other guy I follow really closely is Robin Schmidt, AKA, El Skid

http://www.elskid.com/blog/about

This guy is really in the same boat as all of us right now. He has done numerous music videos and things but still finds himself without a job. He wants to do narrative dramas and he understands how hard it is to break into that. He is currently embarking on a youtube angle to gain a crowd following. He also regularly posts problems and solutions he runs into along with reviews of products and of course some guides to dslrs.

And lastly everyone should sign up for the weekly email from

Nofilmschool.com.

They have saved me when I was in a bind and didn't have time to set up a steadicam for a pushin type shot. Luckily I learned a magic trick from these guys that let me pull it off and ultimately turned out to be the best shot of the movie.

Ultimately, to get better at what you want to do, go out there and do it. You can get into intellectual arguments about frame rates and exposures and what not but to be honest nobody gives a damn. They care if it looks good, not if your frame rate was 30 or 24. (NEVER do 30). But in all seriousness go and test it and you will see what problems come up.

And don't ask me for help when I've given you everything you need to get started here. Lol. Thanks for reading.

TC

out.

Film in Relation to Theater and Vice Versa

As soon I started to make films I was always warned about theater actors and actresses. Not in the way you might think. I remember being told that theater actors don't want to have anything to do with film...

ARE YOU CRAZY?

...was my first thought. There are very few jobs for theater actors that pay anything substantial. 85% of all acting jobs are through film. It just didn't make sense to me.

Going through the years in the film program I've discovered a few different perspectives.

I can validate why some theater professors don't want their students in short films. Its simple. Directors do not know how to direct actors. This, however is only true at the beginning of their careers. By their third year you can start to see who really takes their directing seriously. I would make the argument with the theater also. You can start to see who is going places. So my solution to this would be to: GROW TOGETHER.

If you don't want to be involved the first two years I would suggest to immerse yourself in the opposite department in the last two years.

Now here I am saying these things about how the departments never come together. This is not true. It happens. But it should happen a lot more. I've worked with production designers and actors from the theater world. It's great. However, I have to point out that these team ups were voluntary and were the product of those people putting themselves out there.

The theater is a place to grow and a place to be around other actors which helps greatly. However, I know actors in the theater that have never been in a play that are now in their last year. And these actors are TRYING to work. They audition and make an effort. This is where I have to point out the opportunity of film. WE WOULD LOVE TO CAST YOU. Really. We would. If you can find a decent script and learn to director-proof yourself well enough then jump onto the project. And then keep your eye out for the good directors.

I have worked with many actors film and theater. I love them both. When I look to cast I look at the work that I have seen, I look to both.

Now for the fun part.

My complaints:

NEVER say that one is better than the other. They are not the same and should not be treated as such. A great theater actor could be horrible on camera or vice versa. Richard Dreyfuss had a horrible time in the first act of a play he did and do you know why? He couldn't project his voice. He was ineffective. He learned to do it...on the spot I might add...and killed in the rest of the play. He GREW. And I think that is what people are mistaking. They have conquered one medium so the transition to the other should be painless. Don't be fooled.

When a PRODUCER emails you about AUDITIONING do one thing even if you can't make it. REPLY. Do it swiftly. It makes our lives easier and if we have to wait to the last minute to cancel your audition it can really irk us. And if we have to hear back from a third party that has nothing to do with the film that you can't make it...then I'm sorry, you are probably not going to get the chance again.

And never say that you don't have enough to work with in an audition. It's not our fault. We know. We hate it too. It's how auditions go. And I would definitely not say that when the last five people were amazing.

----

All in all I would love for a closer world between theater and film. Comment. Let me know what you think. I'll follow up.

Till next time

TC

The future of English football

After yet another dismal World Cup, England are in tatters. Big Sam is calling for a change in the FA. Beckham is blaming the players. The players are blaming themselves. The pundits are blaming the amount of games played. All the while Fabio Capello doesn't know what went wrong. So what the hell is going on and when will it change???

Failure #1. The Oldboys.

Manager after manager after manager have done the same thing. They play the same players over and over without ever thinking that the problem may lie with the players themselves. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Ashley Cole, EMILE HESKEY. Lamps has done a fair job but cant drive a team. He is good at filling in the gaps and is a fairly one dimensional player with an eye for a long shot...Gerrard is virtually the same player except with horrible disicpline and puts down his head after the first thing goes wrong. Rooney Rooney Rooney how overrated you are. You are good but you are not great. Pegged as the next big thing after having a good showing in the Euros a while back he has grown strong. Only problem was that all his goals in the Euros that year were lucky if you examine them. Goalies jumping out of the way basically. John Terry is scum and sleeps with his teammates wives. Ashley Cole is an angry little man and also seems to be a whiner on field. And Emile Heskey can't score goals. I can honestly say that I am better than Heskey when I'm fit. 

2nd mistake - The press

If you have ever bragged and lied about something long enough, then you should know that you eventually start believing your own bullshit. That is exactly what happened with the Nike commercials. All the promos of the so called best players built them up as something they are not. They are not gods. They are the best because they work their asses off at what they do. They forgot that and became frustrated at even the simplest of hurdles. It is quite disturbing how quickly English players are to hang up their boots and retire. If you look at countries like Italy they have players playing close to their forties...and they also won the previous World Cup...with all domestic platers which leads me to...

3rd mistake. - The English Premier League.

The Best of the Best. No league can match it. Only problem...not so English. Liverpool look more like a Spanish team. Arsenal look like a French team.  Chelsea look like an African team. Man Utd are the closest thing to an English team consistently in the top 4. There are a handful of players in these teams that are English which makes selections a headache. Say there are 20 English nationals between all these teams. That means there is a selection pool of 20 to try and be versatile with. That means there are 9 options to switch things around. It just really isnt enough to choose from.

The way of the future...

Tottenham Hotspur. The success of this club lies with Harry Rednapp who favors English players. They broke the top four this year. They have a relatively young team. Time will tell. 

The death of the English Premier League...or the rebirth.

In today's society footballers are celebrities on par, or above in some cases, A list celebrities in Hollywood. A list celebrities like good weather. England does not have that. As celebrity increases in soccer there will be less players migrating to England and more to Spain and Italy. This can be good for England as that will give opportunity to younger english players to come through the ranks. However, that is assuming that Africa Asia and South America arent pillaged of their young talents. Ever heard of Cesc Fabregas? pillaged. Cristiano Ronaldo? pillaged. Robin Van Persie. Gael Clichy. Aaron Ramsey. Carlos Vela. Macheda. All pillaged. Name the best English players that were pillaged...Rooney...and uh...joe cole...wait joe cole is 28. 

One for the future. Adam Johnson. Thank God. Too bad he will probably become the next Michael Owen and have his career be injury plagued. Thus is the Premier League. The toughest league not only to break into but the toughest league to stay in. 

And the scary thing is that nobody has seemed to notice that the USA did better than England at the world cup...uh oh for the future.

T

Out.