Tagged: short film

Feb 01

Traveling Through Life

Right now I am taking a break from the reality world, and working on another one of my dreams.  I am currently a producer on an amazing short film called Traveling Through Life.  It is a sci-fi short about a single parent household that is keeping a dark seceret that once exposed will change the world for everyone.

On this project I am working with a very talented group of young filmmakers that hope to take Hollywood by storm.  In order to have this project reach it’s full potential I need to ask for your help.

We just launched our Kickstarter campaign.  For those of you that don’t know what Kickstarter is; it is a crowd-funding website that helps independent artist raise money for their projects.  I am currently asking all of my readers to take a moment of time to take a look at our project.  Here is the link: http://kck.st/z8gZH5

If you can donate some money that is amazing!  I cannot tell you how much I would appreciate that.  If you cannot donate (which is understandable if you can’t) then I only ask that you help spread the word about this amazing project.  The more people that know about it the better.

On behalf of the entire production crew I sincerely thank you for all of your support!

 

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Posted in About Me, Film Community

Nov 23

Things I Learn From Set

Over this past weekend I donated my time acted as AD on a friend’s short film.  On this short our main actor was a 5 year old boy and as you can imagine things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Now if you have never shot with younger children then you better learn quickly that you need a whole lot of patience to get through the shoot.  Nothing will go as you planned because little kids are spontaneous and don’t always do what you want them to do.

After this weekend I have to say I have so much respect for the people that worked on The Little Rascals back in 1994.  The Director Penelope Spheeris has been quoted saying that the most difficult part about making The Little Rascals was working with the younger kids to get them to say their lines properly.  Penelope, after my short shoot this weekend I seriously feel your pain : )

So here is what I have learned from this weekend:  When shooting with young children ALWAYS plan more days and more time than you need.  Be patient, because they are just kids and most importantly have fun with them because the more fun they have the better their performances will be.

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Posted in Film Community, Things I've Learned From Set

Nov 07

Working For Free

Have you ever come across this type of job ad online?

SEEKING CREW FOR INDEPENDENT FILM

Looking for crew with own equipment for Independent Feature film. Filming will take place in New York.

Any film students who are looking to work on his/her reel are encouraged to apply ASAP.

Looking to shoot in early December and end early January. This is a non-paying job but all participants will receive credit on film and copy of finished film on DVD. Meals also provided. This film will be entered in film festivals upon completion. There will also be a red carpet premiere event in June.

During my job hunt I cannot tell you how many of these types of ads I have come across, and let me tell you it can be extremely frustrating.

I have debated with numerous PA’s on the pros and cons on working for free and I have to say that I am still on the fence about it depending on what type of project it is.  Here are a few scenarios:

Short Films

If you are asked by a good friend to work on a short film of theirs for free over the weekend then I would say yes work on the short film. As long as they offer to feed you for the day be a good friend and help your buddy out.  You never know when you will be working on your own short and realize you have no money and need to call in favors.

When they offer you a position you are trying to break into

Here is where it starts to get tricky.  Say you get asked to be a coordinator or a scripty on a short film for free.  The producers of said short decided to bring you on because you have tons of PA experience and you know how to be in this position even though you do not have any credits for it.  In this situation I would say to take the gig to get this credit on your resume.  That being said I would be super careful about how long the gig is and that you don’t spend any of your own money for it.

Indie Feature for free

Here is where I will draw the line.  Yes it takes money to make a feature film, however, you are now asking people to work for long periods of time for no money.  Shoot days are not easy days, they are usually 10+ hours and when you are working for free, those 10+ hours can start to become miserable for your crew.  A unhappy crew means an unhappy set which really means stress and bickering making it a very unpleasant filming experience.

These days because of things like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, it has gotten easier to begin to raise money for your film.  With all the resources available to producers today I think it is an insult to ask your crew to work for free for long periods of time.

What are your thoughts on working for free?

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Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Career Path, Film Community

Aug 15

48 Hour Film Project

The 48 hour film project is a festival where teams write, shoot and edit a short film all in 48 hours.  Now to those that aren’t that familiar with the filmmaking process you might think that 48 hours is a long time so it should be a pretty easy task to complete a 5-7 minute film.

I can assure you..it is not.

I was lucky enough to participate in this whirlwind of a festival two weekends ago and I have to say that I am now finally catching back up on my sleep. The screenings start to take place this week and I am so excited to see what the other teams accomplished.

I have to say that I highly recommend anyone and everyone to participate in the 48 hr film project.  The festival tours the country so I am certain there will be a one taking place near you.  As another incentive, if you win your city you get a chance to win the national competition to screen at Cannes Film Festival.

I love this festival because it forces you to do what everyone in this industry always talks about, making their own film.  I cannot tell you how much you will learn and how fun it is to create a concept and see it air on the big screen.

To find out more information about 48 hr film festival check out their website.

Good luck to all of those teams that are screening this week!

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Posted in Film Community, Production

Mar 18

Script Consultants…thoughts?

 

I have finished my first round of revisions for my short film screenplay.  Now I think I need to get more eyes on it, and give me some feedback on what is working and what is not.

I have looked into the idea of script consultants, however, I am finding they are slightly expensive which makes since though because you do have to make some money for your time.  That being said I was wondering if any of my readers have ever used a script consultant and what their experience has been.

Also, if anyone is interested in reading my script and giving me notes please email me at rachelmmarks@gmail.com

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Posted in Screenwriting

Mar 14

First Draft Is Finished!


Woo hoo!  I would like to congratulate myself for completing my first draft on my short film screenplay.  After scrapping my first idea and going in a completely different direction I’m just happy that I have a story concept on paper.

Now comes the amazingly fun part of revisions.  I know without even looking at it that there will be tons of mistakes, and that some of the parts of the story need to be reworked.  That being said it’s not a total disaster because  I got all the scenes that have been playing in my head on paper.   Now I just need to find the best ways to work them all together and most importantly the best dialogue to make that happen.

Once I revise the script to my liking then I will start to pass it on to friends and family to see what they think.  This part I think is especially important because you get unbiased eyes reading it.

If anyone is interested to help me revise feel free to send me an email and once I get it to where I want it to be I’ll send a copy over to you.  Also any advice about dialogue, specifically for a kid oriented movie would be a great help!

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Posted in Screenwriting

Mar 07

Working On Your Own Projects

 

After a lot of thought I have decided to take the next few months off to work on some of my own projects.  It’s time to quit saying what I would love to do and actually start doing it.  I will continue to blog about my progress to hopefully give you the motivation to work on your own things as well.

Where did this all come from you ask?  Well it all started by going to a networking event.  At the event they screened a short film and afterward they had a Q&A with the producer and director.  At one point during the questions the producer was asked about giving advice to aspiring filmmakers, and she responded with “just get out there a do it”.  At that point a light bulb clicked on in my head and I got the push that I have been needing since I graduated from film school three years ago.

So wish me luck as I attempt to write my own short film, and eventually get it to festivals.  Any advice from those of you that have done this would be greatly appreciated!

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Posted in Career Path

Feb 15

My Insipiration

So last week I attended a networking meeting (seriously go to them) where they were screening an amazing short film, Sudden Death!  Check out the trailer below and their website at www.suddendeaththemovie.com

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Posted in Film Community, Production