Second Hand Wedding

'Second Hand Wedding' is a New Zealand film. It gets off to a pretty rocky start and as one of the comments I read said, "The irony here as you begin to watch Second-Hand Wedding is that you feel as if you are watching a second-hand copy!! ". Stick with it though - it is full of treasures. The story is beautiful. I went to see it in the Stratford theatre for International Women's Day this week. The film shows a range of relationships and experiences and I would highly recommend it. Lots of laughs and a few tears. Margaret and David reviewed it here - At The Movies: Second Hand Wedding

Reading December 2013

Quentin Tarantino Tells You About The Actors & Directors Who Provided the Inspiration for “Reservoir Dogs”

Akira Kurosawa’s 80-Minute Master Class on Making “Beautiful Movies” (2000)

Reading November 2013

15 "Golden Rules" of Filmmaking from John Waters, Wim Wenders & Jim Jarmusch

Broken Hill

This film is set in outback Australia. It's about music, crossing the threshold into adulthood and redemption. I loved it.

The Sapphires

I finally watched this film this week. It's very good. Based on a true story about a group of Australian girls who toured Vietnam to entertain the troops. The relationships and family scenes are gold. The music is wonderful. I highly recommend this. Others do too, it won awards.

I was kind of amused (because I've never been thrilled  with how the US treats Australian film), but mostly offended at this article: The Age: Furore over 'sexist, racist' Sapphires DVD cover for US release. How can they get it so wrong?

 

Reading July 2013

Jane Campion : this much I know. (The Guardian UK)


iSentia Blog: Most Mentioned Issues Category

Spike Lee Shares His NYU Teaching List of 87 Essential Films Every Aspiring Director Should See | Open Culture

Spike Lee Shares His NYU Teaching List of 87 Essential Films Every Aspiring Director Should See | Open Culture

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Still fabulous even the second time around. I went to see it last year and blogged about it a couple of times on my other blog. Solid gold actors, gentle challenges humorously handled. Love it!

The Failed Estate: Old Empires New Legacies

The Failed Estate: Old Empires New Legacies: Journalism isn't like any other business. And that's because journalism isn't a business at all.  The great newspaper empires ...

David Bowie Narrates Sergei Prokofiev’s Children’s Symphony Peter and the Wolf | Open Culture

David Bowie Narrates Sergei Prokofiev’s Children’s Symphony Peter and the Wolf | Open Culture

Reading June 2013

Open Culture: Beatles perform spoof of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Mental

Love! Love! Love! This film is a must see for a great belly laugh. The women I went with don't want to go to the movies with me again cause I laughed too loud. There were so many hilarious moments. If you love the soundtrack from 'The Sound of Music', 'Muriel's Wedding' or Toni Collette, this is for you. Don't miss it. I als 

The Burning Man

I love Australian Film. The Burning Man is set in Sydney and is about a chef. It took me a little while to follow the plot as it moved about between present and past. I liked it though. It all made sense in the end and there were some great Aussie actors in it, such as Rachel Griffiths, a favourite of mine.

It is a story about love, loss and grief. The protagonist is a chef and there was some reality there. It is a beautiful film in lots of ways and I enjoyed it.

Reading May 2013

Mumbrella:Film Ink gets the Shining treatement

Open Culture: Revisit Martin Scorese's Hand-Drawn Storyboards for Taxi Driver

Mumbrella: Australian Films Stand on their own merit

April 2013 Reading

Open Culture: Alfred Hitchcocks Seven Minute Editing Master Class

The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss: How to Create a Viral Book Trailer or get 1 000 000 Views for Almost Anything

The Intouchables

The Intouchables is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. It's irreverent and uplifting and I highly recommend it. The version I watched is French with English subtitles and it was worth putting aside all distractions to watch and enjoy. This film is my favourite so far this year.

Searching for Sugarman

I listened to Rodriguez in the park on the way to school where we would stop for a sneaky smoke before school. I'd downloaded his music on my ipod and I had no idea about his story until I saw this great film. What a story!

Django Unchained

It's hard to anticipate a film you are looking forward to seeing. As a big fan of the writer/director, you can have high expectations. I totally enjoyed 'Django Unchained'. I'm too biased in favour of Tarantino to give a decent review, so here are a coupl from professionals:

The Australian: Tarantino is unrestrained
ABC: At The Movies




 

Snow White and the Huntsman

I love the retelling of faery tales. Recently I began watching the TV Series 'Once Upon a Time'. All retellings are not equal, yet the retelling continues and the story is familiar, yet with a different perspective. This is another one. Too scary for children.

Snow White and the Huntsman held a few surprises for me. One of the big improvements I saw was no stepmother relationship and no happily ever after wedding.

I am yet to see 'Mirror, Mirror', also made last year.
 

Getting Started in Filmmaking, From Beginning to End

If you’re looking to start making some films, you may already possess a lot of the things you need to get started. If you’ve got some sort of camera, a computer, and some basic video editing software then you’re probably all set. If you want to really get serious though, it’ll take some investment. Check out this list of different things you need to start making your films appear more professional.

Software

Many computers come standard with some basic video editing software. This is good if you’re interested in making low-budget films for your personal use, but if you’re serious about filmmaking then you need to upgrade to something better. Investing in a program like Final Cut Pro will let you edit things you never had the opportunity to before. With all the different kinds of effects you can use, you’ll find a program like Final Cut Pro is a great investment.

Good software will also let you edit the music and scores in your films. This is great because you can get all your free music downloads @ www.kazagold.com and edit them as you see fit. You’ll see that the things you can do with good video editing software are essentially endless. Investing in a program like Adobe After Effects will give you access to insane visual effects. You’ll be surprised at what you can create.

Camera

Surprisingly, you’ll find that you can find a great quality camera that you can use to create awesome videos for cheap. Search some local websites in your area for a used camera, but if you’re looking for a new high definition camera you’ll still be able to find one that doesn’t break your budget. Depending on what it is that you’re filming, a GoPro camera might be a good choice. GoPro cameras are very rugged and can be taken under water and through extreme conditions. There’s no need to invest in a camera that you won’t need, so choose a cheaper yet higher quality model if that’s all you need.

Marketing Tools

If you believe your film is of high enough quality that you want to share it and possibly enter it in film festivals, you’ll need tools to market it. There are lots of ways to do this, some that cost lots of money and some that are free.

First off, you should create a captivating trailer for your film using your video editing software. Make sure the trailer has information on the website for your film, which you should also create. There are plenty of websites that cater to independent filmmakers, so search around to find one that fits what you need (including your budget). After creating the trailer and your website, use social media to market your film. Create a Facebook for your film and have all of your friends “Like” the page, and encourage them to share your trailer. The more buzz you can create, the better.

Image credit: http://www.enfew.com/

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