East of Hollywood

Advertising Examples

2008-10-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Kicking Off the New School Year

2008-09-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

School has officially started. How do I know? Progress reports are heading home to parents. Well, at least that is our intentions.

AMAT is rocking and rolling as well. We have had several football games and almost all the classes are through with their first project of the year. Advance Broadcast Journalism has started their second project, music videos, and Video Production has their first project due, Scavenger Hunt, on Friday.

I am very excited about the new year. We have alot of fun activities and projects in the pipeline. Stay tuned for more surprises. I wil be actively keeping this blog up to date. Check back reguarly for new posts.

** Many people ask what my favorite movie is. I always have a hard time with this. It is very difficult to pick just one. It is always a toss up between Goodfellas or Pulp Fiction. I also really like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars.

Really, Really, Really, Realy Cool

2007-12-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

If you like Hitchcock or Scorsese, you will love this:

Apple Contest Videos

2007-10-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

Find them here and vote...

www.rltamat.com

It Could Happen to You

2007-10-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

A 18 year old student created this video commercial and posted it on YouTube. A couple weeks later he was contacted by Apple and they will air this commercial nationally on television. All i can say is keep cranking out those videos.

Apple Film Festival

2007-09-30T14:02:00.001-07:00

Calling all high school and college filmmakers.

On Saturday, October 13 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time), we’ll post a top-secret list of elements — special props, dialogue, settings — you get the idea. Choose any three to include in your movie. Then all you and your team have to do is write, cast, shoot, edit, score, and upload your 3-minute masterpiece within 24 hours. No problem, right?

Once the films are in, your friends, family, and adoring fans will be able to watch them online and rate their favorites. The 25 entries with the highest rating on November 9 at 12:00 a.m. EST will be screened by industry professionals, including Barry Sonnenfeld, James Mangold, and Nora Ephron.

If your film is the biggest hit with either the public or the pros, each member of your team will receive a MacBook Pro, Final Cut Studio 2, Logic Studio, and Shake so you can get started on that first sequel. How’s that for a Hollywood ending?

My Monday Night: No I'm Not a Geek

2007-09-24T15:34:00.001-07:00

Technically I think I am more of a nerd, or at least obsessed with TV. I never get those directors who say they do not watch movies or television. I especially hate when someone in the industry says they do not own a TV. Ok, ok, I am blabbing. In case you wanted to know, this is what Mr. Wheeler is watching tonight. Man do I love the start of the new television season.

1. Chuck (7:00 - 8:00)- Alias/James Bond meets computer geek. This NBC show is supposed to be really funny. Josh Schwartz, the creator of The O.C., created and produces this show. If Chuck is anything like Seth Cohen, I will be hooked. Don't worry. I have TIVO set to record How I Met Your Mother.

2. Heroes (8:00 - 9:00)- This show is one of my top shows I am most looking forward to returning. The others being It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Wire and The Office. Heroes is going to expand its universe this year and will feature Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars, in at least 13 episodes. That is so cool! I am glad K-Ville is awful. My TIVO would be full. I have not watched this much NBC since Seinfeld was on the air.

3. CSI: Miami (9:00 - 10:00)- I have not watched this show since Season One. The previews look really good, so I thought I would get back on board. I even forgot why I stopped watching this. Spoiler: Tim "Speed" Speedle is returning to the show. He was killed off in Saeson 3 or 4, so it will be interesting how they bring him back.

Tomorrow night it is House, Reaper (TIVO), Cane and Boston Legal (TIVO)...stay tuned.

The Art of Cutting

2007-09-24T03:16:00.001-07:00

The Art Of Cutting

Stolen From FCPTIPS.COM

2007-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Six ways you can improve your editing using Final Cut Pro

1. Use the 'command' key

Manuals talk a lot about using the 'command' key, so where is it? It's the key with an apple symbol on your keyboard. Not surprisingly it is also known as the apple key - hence the confusion. Now you’ve found the near-mystical 'command' key you need to use it when editing one sequence into another. Hold it down when you perform your edit otherwise you'll create a nested clip of typically one video and two audio tracks.

2. Duplicate sequences

Quick and easy shortcut to duplicate your sequences is by pressing 'Option' D.

3. Peel off the tab

When adding effects/motion to a clip you need to peel off the 'Filters Tab' from the viewer so you can see the changes you are making on the clip. Peel off the Tab by clicking on and dragging it onto free screen space.

4. Create gaps in your timeline

Use the 'Select All Tracks Forward' tool and drag it down onto the timeline where you want the gap to occur. Use the same tool to drag the timeline back together.

5. Leave the tracks

You don’t need to switch off tracks if overwriting new clips in a sequence. It only sees tracks with source connected and ignores all other tracks regardless of track lights.

6. Capture material

There is a fundamental difference in the way Avid captures material compared to FCP. An editor colleague described it very succinctly "Avid is designed to Capture and Log and FCP is designed to Log and Capture". Meaning that it's vital that you name your material as you capture because if you change the names within FCP the source material does not also change name and hence trouble.

Hitchcock Tip #7

2007-09-05T03:13:00.000-07:00

7: Keep the Story Simple!

If your story is confusing or requires a lot of memorization, you're never going to get suspense out of it. The key to creating that raw Hitchcock energy is by using simplistic, linear stories that the audience can easily follow. Everything in your screenplay must be streamlined to offer maximum dramatic impact. Remove all extraneous material and keep it crisp. Each scene should include only those essential ingredients that make things gripping for the audience. As Hitchcock says, “what is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out…” (Truffaut)

An abstract story will bore the audience. This is why Hitchcock tended to use crime stories with spies, assassinations, and people running from the police. These sort of plots make it easy to play on fear, but are not mandatory for all movies.

Do You Like Films? Of Course You Do

2007-09-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

STUDENT TUESDAY

Students can now take advantage of the hottest ticket in town. STUDENT TUESDAY AT THE ANGELIKA invites students to the Angelika Film Center Dallas to get their dose of independent film. Every Tuesday at the Angelika, students can enjoy the latest indie releases for the regular discounted student ticket price of $6.50 AND get a FREE medium popcorn with free refills.

Any student with a valid student ID will receive a free medium popcorn with the purchase of a film ticket all day, every Tuesday.

Discounted Student Ticket price of $6.50 purchases ONE admission. Valid student ID required at time of purchase. Ticket stub required for redemption of FREE medium popcorn (with unlimited refills).

Contact: elizabethm@angelikafilmcenter.com for additional information.

Hitchcock Tip # 6

2007-09-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

6: Montage Gives You Control

Divide action into a series of close-ups shown in succession. Don't avoid this basic technique. This is not the same as throwing together random shots into a fight sequence to create confusion. Instead, carfully chose a close-up of a hand, an arm, a face, a gun falling to the floor - tie them all together to tell a story. In this way you can portray an event by showing various pieces of it and having control over the timing. You can also hide parts of the event so that the mind of the audience is engaged. (Truffaut)

Hitchcock said this was "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience." (Schickel) The famous shower scene in Psycho uses montage to hide the violence. You never see the knife hitting Janet Leigh. The impression of violence is done with quick editing, and the killing takes place inside the viewer's head rather than the screen.

Basic rule: anytime something important happens, show it in a close-up. Make sure the audience can see it.

Hitchcock Tip #5

2007-09-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

5: Point of View Editing

Jimmy Stewart looks at dog and then we see him smiling. Jimmy Stewart looks at a woman and then we see him smiling. Those two smiles have completely different meanings, even if they are the exact same smile.

Putting an idea into the mind of the character without explaining it in dialogue is done by using a point-of-view shot sequence. This is subjective cinema. You take the eyes of the characters and add something for them to look at.

You can edit back and forth between the character and the subject as many times as you want to build tension. The audience won't get bored. This is the most powerful form of cinema, even more important than acting. To take it even further have the actor walk toward the subject. Switch to a tracking shot to show his changing perspective as he walks. The audience will believe they are sharing something personal with the character. This is what Hitchcock calls "pure cinema." (Truffaut)

Note: If another person looks at the character in point-of-view they must look directly at the camera.

Festival Dates

2007-09-02T07:37:00.001-07:00

AFI DALLAS 3/27 - 4/6

Student Film Category

Deadline: December 1, 2007
Late Deadline: December 7, 2007

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 3/7 - 3/15

Student Film Category

Deadline: November 16, 2007
Late Deadline: December 7, 2007

Hitchcock Tip # 4

2007-08-31T03:14:00.000-07:00

4: Dialogue Means Nothing

One of your characters must be pre-occupied with something during a dialogue scene. Their eyes can then be distracted while the other person doesn't notice. This is a good way to pull the audience into a character's secretive world.

“People don’t always express their inner thoughts to one another," he said "a conversation may be quite trivial, but often the eyes will reveal what a person thinks or needs.” The focus of the scene should never be on what the characters are actually saying. Have something else going on. Resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise.

"In other words we don’t have pages to fill, or pages from a typewriter to fill, we have a rectangular screen in a movie house,” said Hitchcock. (Schickel)

Hitchcock Tip # 3

2007-08-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

3: Camera is Not a Camera

The camera should take on human qualities and roam around playfully looking for something suspicious in a room. This allows the audience to feel like they are involved in uncovering the story. Scenes can often begin by panning a room showing close-ups of objects that explain plot elements.

This goes back to Hitchcock's beginnings in silent film. Without sound, filmmakers had to create ways to tell the story visually in a succession of images and ideas. Hitchcock said this trend changed drastically when sound finally came to film in the 1930's. Suddenly everything went toward dialogue oriented material based on scripts from the stage. Movies began to rely on actors talking, and visual storytelling was almost forgotten. (Truffaut) Always use the camera as more than just a camera.

Hitchcock # 2

2007-08-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

2: Frame for Emotion

Emotion (in the form of fear, laughter, surprise, sadness, anger, boredom, etc.) is the ultimate goal of each scene. The first consideration of where to place the camera should involve knowing what emotion you want the audience to experience at that particular time. Emotion comes directly from the actor's eyes. You can control the intensity of that emotion by placing the camera close or far away from those eyes. A close-up will fill the screen with emotion, and pulling away to a wide angle shot will dissipate that emotion. A sudden cut from wide to close-up will give the audience a sudden surprise. Sometimes a strange angle above an actor will heighten the dramatic meaning. (Truffaut)

Hitchcock used this theory of proximity to plan out each scene. These variations are a way of controlling when the audience feels intensity, or relaxation. Hitchcock compared this to a composer writing a music score - except instead of playing instruments, he's playing the audience!

Found: http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm

Film Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock

2007-08-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

1: It's the Mind of the Audience
Change everything in your screenplay so that it is done for the audience. Nothing is more important than how each scene is going to affect the viewer. Make sure the content engages them and sucks them in. Use the characters to tease the viewer and pull them along desperately wanting more.

Hitchcock knew why people are drawn to a darkened theater to absorb themselves for hours with images on a screen. They do it to have fun. In the same way people go to a roller coaster to get thrown around at high speeds, theater audiences know they are safe. As a film director you can throw things at them, hurl them off a cliff, or pull them into a dangerous love story, and they know that nothing will happen to them. They're confident that they'll be able to walk out the exit when its done and resume their normal lives. And, the more fun they have, the quicker they will come back begging for more. (Gottlieb)

From: http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm

Number 2 Tomorrow

Free Moby: Melville Would Be Proud

2007-08-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

The singer Moby is offering a cool treat for filmmakers. He is allowing his music to be used for non-commercial films. This means that my students can use them in their projects.

Find them here: moby.com

After you get to his site, click on the moby gratis link.

Enjoy!

Hello World

2007-08-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

This blog will be used to communicate my thoughts on the film community. I will post cool links, videos and other type of things that I think are cool. I want to give a special welcome to my students who are out there.