Many think you need film school to survive in filmmaking, just as many believe you need to live in Los Angeles to be a filmmaker. Both filmmaker meccas, both dubious as to how they can help you succeed in...

[Guest Post by Ron Dawson] I have to admit that I hate it when people criticize me. Oh, don't get me wrong. I can handle it. I've a pretty thick skin. You have to have one in this business. But, nonetheless, if I'm criticized, it bothers me. But, I have...

Shooting on film is a wonderful thing when you can afford it. For the low budget filmmaker the money for shooting on film is usually better used elsewhere. It is indisputable that film will make a better looking movie, but there are...

[Guest Post by Grampaw.] Youngsters, this is Grampaw, here, the old storyteller. I been making motion picture stories now for some time now and let me tell you it ain't easy, at all. My friend Len, here asked me to share with you some of my...

As a film goes from beginning to end there are things a filmmaker can do to augment or negate changes in story and character. Depending on how the filmmaker feels about how the story progresses they will alter the production ...

When people hear I'm into filmmaking they wonder why I do not move to Hollywood. The average person does not know what goes into making a movie and that all the elements needed to make a movie are available anywhere and everywhere. There has never been a better...

Movies are made up of individual shots stitched together to convey something. In stories they convey what happens and in what order. In film things do not just happen, there is also the way these things are seen. The camera can be put in any number of positions and pointed in countless ways. This has become a language of its own, film grammar, but its nature is not like that...

Filmmakers not situated in major filmmaking areas are at a disadvantage in certain ways. Camera and lighting rental places will not be as plentiful, skilled crew members will be hard to come by, and screen actors fill not be waiting tables at every restaurant. There are realities of regional...

Many beginning filmmakers overlook makeup and get by for a long time without it. Thought makeup is not a requisite for fine filmmaking, it is a tool you should be familiar with. In real life we are used to makeup being use for one purpose and mostly by women: to look more attractive. In...

Films can be ruined with unintentionally poor sound. If dialogue is unintelligible, so will the film be. We all know recording good sound is important, but the confluence of lack of experience and the variety of devices compounds the situation. Often we hear about expensive, difficult to...