Monday, November 8, 2010

Horror movie guide for Halloween

The horror genre ranges from campy to gory. Sometimes a horror movie is so bad its funny. Sometimes, a billion sequels are made as in the case of Saw. Some people claim horror films are really comedy in disguise. Some people are dead before the end of this sentence.

Below are some of the "spookiest" movies for Halloween fun and excitement.

Saw(the original)

Alien

Halloween(duh!)

Night of the Living Dead

Psycho

Carrie

The Simpsons Halloween Specials(its not scary, but there are numerous parodies of the other movies here)

Silence of the Lambs

Misery

Rosemary's Baby -directed by Roman Polanski

Army of Darkness

Scanners(one of the underrated films of our time)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Rocky Horror Picture Show(not really scary unless you are afraid of transvestism, and raunchy sex)

Is there something missing here? Suggestions are always welcome...to go to hell! MUHAHAHHAHA.

Friday, November 5, 2010

This movie cost $150 billion dollars to make

Someone in Hollywood has hefty pockets. Imagine the conversation that goes by to make a movie for a cool $300 million.

Quentin "Hey Harvey I got a movie idea."
Harvey, smoking a pipe and watching television. "What is it and what is going to cost?"
Quentin "Its a sci-fi in the same era of the 70's slasher movies, but this time Uma will play the male dominated role of Wackerbee."
Harvey is interested, he sets his pipe down. "I like it so far. How much?"
Quentin "Well, I won't bullspit you. I'm going to need $400 million and I want distribution percentages."
Harvey coughs up a lung. "I'll give you $300 million, but I won't give you distribution, but you can direct it."

If only that kind of dreams would be that easy to pursue. The reality is that movie budgets ARE EXAGGERATED TO EXTREME HEIGHTS.

Here are some figures to look at. Note that the numbers are not based on inflation.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $300 million
Spider-Man 3 $258 million
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $250 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $225 million
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $225 million
X-Men: The Last Stand $210 million
Superman Returns $209 million
King Kong $207 million
Quantum of Solace $200 million
Spider-Man 2 $200 million
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines $200 million
Terminator Salvation $200 million
Titanic $200 million
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $200 million
The Dark Knight $185 million
Wall-E $180 million
Waterworld $175 million
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $170 million
X-Men Origins: Wolverine $150 million
Star Trek $150 million
Casino Royale $150 million
Transformers $150 million
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $150 million
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $150 million

Notice anything yet(besides bad html)? Almost all these movies were made within the last decade.
Before the 90's boom of blockbuster moviemaking, budgets were already getting ridiculously high, but the exaggeration of the amount it took to make them was noticeably more minimal. If there could be a few movies that started this game of who spends more money, it would probably be Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Mission Impossible.

The general public seems to go wide eyed when an astronomical figure is thrown at them with how much a film took to make. The importance is that nobody actually cares if a movie cost the entire world to make or if it was made for $23,000 in the woods of Pennsylvania.

Gee, maybe movies need bigger budgets to be better you might be saying.

By the way...highest grossing movie so far? Yup, you guessed it.
Titanic with $1.9 billion in revenue.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Beards and the filmmmakers who love them

A concise guide to beards for the film director. Yes, it is a requirement to be taken seriously in the industry of cinema. Many feature film people have tried to go on directing without hair on their face despite the warnings of comrade film professionals, and this has led to the unwanted: car commercials, music videos, and the worst of them all...short films.

First a little about this odd looking facial growth. A beard is hair that grows on the chin, lower cheeks, upper neck, and the area under the nose and above the upper lip. Generally speaking, only males going are able to grow beards once reaching puberty and beyond. There are some cases of women with that may develop a beard as in the case of the bearded lady, and that is perfectly acceptable.

So beards are some sort of growth from the one place you want to keep looking young as long as possible. Given that, there are still youngsters out there that defiantly grow a beard, and not because they are too lazy to shave, or don't have the IQ to understand how to use a razor; but because the forefathers of cinema did it and we continue this tradition.

These young people grew up to become:

Joel and Ethan Coen

Terrence Malick

Stanley Kubrick

George Lucas

Hayao Miyazaki

Steven Spielberg

Francis Ford Coppola

Michael Haneke

Michael Moore

David Fincher

Peter Jackson

Bela Tarr



Mustaches do not count as a beard, though in most cases it does go with the whole appearance of a beard. Therefore: beards are cool. Not so cool is back and shoulder hair.

Screenwriting for Smarties

As you go browsing the local bookstore for a decent copy of The Hollywood Standard or The Screenwriter's Bible, you might come across a book titled "Screenwriting for Dummies". Browsing thru the book you will notice it has some decent information in there, at least much better than 90% of the junk out there. It seems like everyone that has written a script, potentially sold their spec, or maybe never written a script in they're entire life have come up with a viable income selling books on how to write and format a screenplay, sometimes in thirty days or less. Sometimes in twenty days or less. No template to make a huge cash settlement for three days worth of writing yet, but with some luck there will be.

Now before you go on thinking that you've read all the books by William Goldman, Robert McKee, and Blake (RIP)Snyder: please listen up.

Story is story. The story doesn't change whether you change written technicalities or not. If you're story stinks, then it doesn't matter if it the format is right. Now for the other billions of screenwriters out there that don't have Victor Hugo finger clicking all day, format is what will make script reader lives a little less angry and less liable to toss your piece of vile filth(sorry to be blunt) into the trash.

William Goldman says it best. "Nobody knows anything." That is the essence of Screenwriting for Smarties. Save yourself the money, the time, and the anguish. The best way and the honest way to write is in these steps below.

1. Read.

2. Write.

3. Watch movies.

4. Repeat steps 1,2,3.

If you are not a screenwriter, but a writer of news articles, or novels, step 3 is not necessary.

Don't listen to anyone, just write your story. If you don't know how to format a script, have someone that has the know-how to ghost-write it and pay them a grand a week. This is cheap labor compared to what you will actually receive when the film is made. The only worry you'll have after this is if the company you sell it to wants a sequel from you.

With that, screenwriting books are worthless. They only make you seem smart by having books on your bookshelf. Writing is a humble profession. Humble yourself, but don't forget to show your work, otherwise no one will know to option it, so you can pay your bills.

Good luck and have fun!

New Years approaching brings out a chance for personal improvement

OK, admit it. You don't think twice about your New Years Resolution after January 10th. Good advice would be to not even try to lose that 20 pounds you tucked away into the regions of your chocolate eating, chicken frying, high calorie soda swilling gut.

Why even try? You'll never actually go past it once the "Happy New Years" is shouted at 11:59pm on December 31st. All you care about is hopefully getting to kiss someone within the next minute and getting laid to start out the next crappy year of your life.

Maybe you'd like to stop smoking? In this economy, forget it. No one wants to handle stress with a glass of water or would be able to take the day off because the rent is so inflated. Better to just keep smoking because no one likes a quitter anyways. Probably the best thing you can do is only smoke in the morning, and after dinner. And possibly just one before bed and in the afternoon.

Wait, what about being closer to family? That's a great resolution. Nevermind that it was your own brother who borrowed three thousand dollars from you and hasn't found a way to pay you back though to his bragging, he just bought a new Mustang that he can drive around on the weekends as he goes to gamble his life away at an Indian casino.

The point here is, kiddos, why settle for being a better person once a year for a week and then back to being a bum a week later? You can do better. Some random internet search says that New Years Resolutions have a 12% chance of completion. Round 12% down and its 0%. Zero is a number. If you know you're going to fail, why try? Don't.

If you're a bum, be a bum. There is no changing you. Be happy with yourself as a resolution. Only a small percentage of people take initiative and make the world a better place. Maybe its not your year or decade. It doesn't have to be. You're alive. You are better off than the dead of last year. Be a happy about that.

Look, if you really want to improve something, be prepared to make sacrifices. Knowledge is power. Open up a book and get off the internet every once in a while. Spend time with family, buy your neighbor lunch, go for a walk, its a nice day outside even if its raining. Don't run around sulking because you're fat, balding, and never finished that movie you made in college. Time is plenty, and you might not have money, but you've got the time. Get your act together and do something at least.

As a last resort, whatever you do, do the best you can, even if all you can amount to is a bum. And if you are a bum, quit asking for change, lead by example and get a job collecting cans you lazy jerk.

Why comedy movies are generally ignored at the Academy Awards

Why? Humor me please.

We know that comedy films are laughed off compared to drama at the Academy Awards. Maybe the few exceptions to the rule like Annie Hall.

It's because the Oscars are meant to give films and filmmakers a serious work persona. To quote, "We take our comedy making seriously." -Someone probably famous.

The universal ignore button on comedy is downright outrageous­. Comedy is the yin to the drama yang. The truth is that comedy is hard to write if not as hard, or even harder to write than drama. Who can laugh at their own mistakes with an observant eye and turn that into gold? I'm not saying that drama is easy. But it is tougher to find a large portion of people to laugh at the same thing in this subjective art form.

Screenplay comedies are generally ignored. The Best Film comedies are ignored also.

OK, what is worse is when you ask someone their favorite movie and they say a horrible comedy movie. Maybe it was decent but to watch it again and again? Forgettabl­e films all around if you ask me.

But there are real gems out there. The reason for this is article is that there needs to be more out of the studio influence on what is funny. If you have funny stories, why aren't you writing them? I urge you to take charge of thisand go out there and write it.

Opening night at Cinequest

To kick off the 20th anniversary celebration, Cinequest kicks off with Emmy Award-winner Brian Cox and emerging actor Paul Dano(from Taking Woodstock, There Will Be Blood among others).

The synopsis follows:
Jacques is as cantankerous as they come. He drinks. He smokes. He swears. His entire life revolves around the bar that he owns and lives in, which doubles as his own oasis, where a small group of regulars is allowed. Jacques' philosophy is simple: No women; no walk-ins; and there is no problem that can’t be solved by cursing, a philosophy that has served him well but for the fact that it has left him with one friend: his dog.

Jacques finds a commonality in Lucas, a homeless young man whom Jacques takes into his bar and home to teach him the trade. Not to be mistaken for charity, Jacques teaches Lucas that a man needs to know that he can rely on his bar always being there. Though on the surface a truly odd couple, something emerges—whether one would call it a friendship or not—that fosters a mutual respect and reliance on each other.

The Good Heart is an incredibly well-observed and engaging film to start the Cinequest celebration.

General admission pricing is $40.00 per person for the screening and party. Pricing for the screening is $12.00 per ticket. Buy your tickets now.

The night kicks off February 23, 2010 at 7p.m.



More can be found on the official Cinequest website. www.cinequest.org/

Part of this information were taken directly from cinequest's website. All terms are subject to change but are accurate as of this writing.

Writing a query letter to an agent

This will not only help people in the bay area but if you have friends or family that are writers or filmmakers then pass this along to them. A strong but polite letter will do wonders in a film career.

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Dear "name of person"(*note, do address it to someone specifically, if you don't know anyone call up the office and make a general inquiry to whom does the agency work. This info is usually on the company website also so do your homework)

I am a young writer, twenty-eight years old, I have written numerous shorts and two feature length scripts since getting serious about my craft. They are:
For Love or Money, a feature length screenplay I doctored and polished in only 7 weeks for a fiction novel writer right here in California.
Blackened, A short screenplay I wrote and directed was selected to be filmed and screened at a film festival, 2009.
Blood in the Water, a feature length screenplay I wrote about two brothers that fall in love with the same girl and their feud for her leads to deadly results.

I would be happy to send any of these screenplays (or any of the half dozen I'm currently flogging around) for you to look at, if you'd like. I'm particularly proud of Blood in the Water.

The reason I'm applying is that I'm at work on my third feature length screenplay. Tentatively titled Mexicana, its a mystery story about a Mexican mafia family disgraced by an older brother who fathered his older brother's wife. The band of younger brothers must sneak into the US and find him, and sneak him back into Mexico for punishment by the head of the family. The pages are in pretty good shape, and I'd also be delighted to show you these.

Please be in touch and tell me if you'd like to see some of my material. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Sincerely yours,
Joe Screenwriter


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Now you can copy this, take out the info of mine and fill in your information for mine. If you don't have any previous work, now is the time to write and direct some short films that will add to your letter. Note that it is very hard to get work as a writer/filmmaker so be prepared to get hundreds of thousands of rejection letters back if you get anything back at all. This isn't an easy business to make a comfortable living in. Make sure you are doing this because you can't see yourself doing anything else.

Said that, this query letter is the easy part. The hard part is getting feedback. Some agents just don't have time to tell you your work needs a rewrite or that it isn't their type of material. Don't fret. There are many people who will not share their stories with anyone for fear of theft. It has happened and will continue to happen but the reality is that most agents or companies would profit more to hire you for your work than to find an established writer to tear into your work and make it slightly different enough to not give you credit. Show everyone your script and ask them to tear into it. Hold nothing back. When they are done tearing you a new one, THANK THEM. Now get back to rewriting and send it again. After about two decades of no one buying your material, then you might consider a new trade. GOOD LUCK!

James Cameron vs. Kathryn Bigelow

The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar this year? Nope. Its Ex-Husband vs. Ex-Wife.

So who will win? My guess is Avatar. Its not a great film, but its full of special effects and movies are eye candy. Though The Hurt Locker has many nice scenes and good moments, Avatar is 3D blue Gumby graphics at its best(so far!). The Hurt Locker just has a crazy guy running around getting off on being unsafe in bomb-defusing which creates more action scenes. The camera zooming in and out to create more tension didn't do much to add to the confusion. Avatar seems to only care about showing off 3D effects. Maybe there is hope that Inglourious Basterds could win Best Picture.

The worst part is that James Cameron said he could do without another statue cause he has so many of them already. We'll see in a few more days.

3 Day Film Challenge is coming

A bay area production company is hosting a short film festival at the Bluelight Cinemas in Cupertino by DeAnza College. Its called the 3 Day Film Challenge and will be playing at Bluelight June 19, 2010.

The website http://www.3dayfilmchallenge.com states that there are prizes available including a 4 day Red Camera package rental and even an Apple iPad among more to come.

Taken directly from the site:

An opportunity for filmmakers throughout the Bay Area to put a team together, make a short film and then get a chance to share your film with family and friends during the Premiere Screenings at the Bluelight Cinemas the following week. Each film must be a min of 3 minutes and not exceed 6 minutes in length.

Volunteer Teams will have three days to write, cast, shoot and edit a film - starting on Friday June 11th at 7pm and returning a finished project by Monday June 14th at 7pm. Other than forming your team and finding your actors, selecting your equipment and securing shooting locations; All Actual Productions from Scripting to Post Production MUST BE Completed During the Film Challenge Period June 11th -14th, 2010.

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If you are a local filmmaker, get your creative ideas ready to shoot.

For the rules please visit http://www.3dayfilmchallenge.com/rules.html

Film as art

Art is a rebellion. A way of showing honesty of how great and/or ugly us human beings can be. Art is not about being, its about doing. What art does is more than what it actually is. What is a photograph or painting or a movie? Nothing more than a glimpse into a life. What the media can do is potentially change a life.

Art can be subjective. Art can be whatever the people that feel it want it to be. Art is an extension of being a human being. Its the part of us that strives to say, "We are here, we were here, we will continue our existence."

Film is art. It may not always be artistic but it does have value. A breadmaker is an artisan, and so a filmmaker is considered a specialized talent too. A camera is a simple machine. It captures a moment in time. The function is what sets it apart from say, an alarm clock. Photography itself is still new, maybe only two hundred years old. Its still in its infancy stages. The medium changes, it evolves over time. The artist holding the camera, pointing it at an object...their need is the same. To show. To prove. To defy something or even nothing. That is an artist making art.

A film I created recently reminds me of this. Any film is incriminating evidence of me. I knew I wanted to capture beauty that I see with my own eyes. Unluckily(or luckily however you might see it) the beauty is harder to capture than it looks. Something that looks spectacular in real life may only look marginally nice in film. Its my goal to show that subject in all its glory, even if there are ugly moments in them because that is what film does. It shows the truth.

And that is part of the charm of moviemaking.

Some of the biggest mistakes filmmakers make

1. Mass mailings to big lists of distributors, sales agents, and film festivals instead of carefully calculating which ones are actually appropriate for your film.

If you need to mail these people, do the math. Don't send everyone your film. Send a query first.

2. Not doing your homework before signing a deal with a distributor or sales agent. (hint: check references!)

If you are offered a deal know this: You don't have to take it immediately. Consult a lawyer who specializes in entertainment law. As a rule, if you are feeling pressured into signing, its probably not worth it.

3. Not having an actual plan for distribution - just assuming it will all work out. All business ventures need a plan, and filmmaking is a business.

How many friends in the business do you know that always talk about making movies but never actually make them? Yes, it really is all of them. You have to be the one that actually does the work to get paid. It'll be your Oscar that does the talking for you.

4. Submitting rough cuts to distributors, sales agents and festivals instead of waiting to put your best foot forward. This is the worst thing. We all have a Facebook friend that is putting up videos that are "in progress". Please don't be this friend. Wait it out and trust that it'll be worth more when completely done and then showing it to the world.

5. Not treating filmmaking like a career and your own business. You have to invest in resources like seminars, workshops, industry events, and education to better your chances for success. Education doesn't have to be schooling. It can just be reading every screenplay you can, books on writing screenplays and filmmaking books, and then watch every movie you can.

Big fish in a small pond or move to LA?

When people think of making movies, there is the misconception to move to Los Angeles and to a lesser extent, New York City. While big cities like these do provide a networking capability beyond anyone's imagination(imagine ordering a cafe latte' right behind Hugh Jackman), there are options and good choices of living where you are right now. OK, maybe not everywhere is a good location, but for me, living in San Jose is a great option because its an hour drive(with traffic) to San Francisco for beautiful scenery, or an hour flight to the city of lost angels...and for the folks afraid of flight, its a five hour drive to Los Angeles too.

Now, my story is a little different. I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The film community is backed by a great set of minds and storytellers. They are no different than us in the bay area. Why I left was because it was frustrating to find enough creative people to get it all together to make a movie that would be taken seriously. Let's leave the politically correct environment behind us for a moment... OK, are they gone? Good. Now who the hell would care if a movie was made in Oklahoma? Not me. I realized this at the age of 18. By 25 I made up my mind to leave my home and mortgage to go live in a stuffy apartment that is thrice the cost.

I made the move to be near more creative types, and as odd as San Jose might be as a place to be, it really works. Not because it's San Jose though. It is because San Jose connects to Oakland, to Mountain View, which goes north to "the city". Need more inspiration? Go south a little and hit the Santa Cruz mountains and Carmel are.

So truth be told: Yes, you can make it anywhere in the world if you have the drive and talent. But, if you really want to be in the business you need to surround yourself with folks that support you. Even if everyone around you is struggling to sell their screenplay.

Los Angeles is great for writers. Oh, and they make movies there too in a little downtown tourist trap called Hollywood. Where you pursue your talent can be a defining factor. So if you decide to stay in Silicon Valley, is that considered big fish in small pond? Or is it close enough that we can be collective as lovers of cinema?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Movie demographics

The business of business is people. So to offer complete satisfaction in the movie industry, its to make a movie that is perfect for everybody that watches it. No! The movie to make is a catered to a specific demographic