Ffresh
Today started off with a talk about Ffresh by Berwn Rolands. Berwyn works for the Festivals Company which offers an events management service that has a track record for producing large festivals, intimate business seminars, and events across Wales and beyond.Ffresh is the Student moving image festival of Wales. Now in its 10th year, Ffresh features the best student work from Wales, the UK and abroad, along with master classes, panel sessions and workshops with some of the industry’s most renowned and respected figures. It's a link between industry and students and facilitates action between the two. If a person has won award or shortlisted then it can help with job opportunities.
Berwyn recommended that we go to a festival to see others work. It's also good to see work from other countries.
So why should you get involved?
Ffresh belongs to Glyndwr for the next 12 months (13th – 15 February, 2013). We can therefore have a closer relationship with the festival for example ushering, looking after guests will give us access to the green room. There will also be other opportunities such as the trailers, adverts and posters for the festival could also be the responsibility of Glyndwr Students.
When submitting work to festivals it's important to consider the following:
- What have you done that isn’t linked to formal education?
- What have you done in your own time? Stand out from the crowd.
Once you have created a film and if you want people to see it then create a marketing strategy for it. Putting it on YouTube is not enough. What’s the point of making a film that you think is good enough for people to see when nobody gets to see it!
- Don’t rely on luck, be strategic. What am I going to achieve my turning up at Ffresh? It could be just watching stuff.
- Establish a relationship or get to know some of the speakers (The Mill, Aardman, the BBC etc). This can be better than posting cvs.
- Set yourself some goals and objectives before going.
- Write down 10 things you can do to reach your objective. E.g connect with people that are doing what you want to do.
- Submit work for one of the various categories. It will then be sent to a judge who decides shortlist and winner. Not done by the Uni. Rely on people within the industry. Submissions open towards end of the summer (dates to be confirmed).
- Always clear music rights for films as submitting a film without this could be embarrassing as it may not be able to be shown.
There’s no limit on the number of pieces that can be submitted. It’s Important to do some research beforehand by seeing what others are doing. Look at Vimeo & You Tube to see the kind of standard that will be expected.
Berwyn then went on to talk about his own work at:
The Festivals Company
Is a creative company based in Cardiff. 50% of what they do they do for other people. Can use IP to make money. It focusses on 3 mains areas:
- Moving Image
- Consultancy
- Events
Festivals in 11 countries, IRIS competition receive around 130 films.
The Festivals Company runs the Welsh Curry House of the year competition and owns branding & logo. Has sold IP to ITV who bought rights to cover it (3 half hour programmes). It has sold 3 films to BBC and does consultancy work for example for the National Library of Wales.
It has recently won a contract for the Welsh Assembly Commission Berwyn believes because it had good creative ideas. The brief was to recongnise 10 yrs of devolution. The Festival Company suggested that it would be good to remind people in Wales about the future of the assembly. They therefore found 15 children that are aged 15 on the day of the assembly for a tea party. There was a cross-section of different people and the focus was on the 10 year old as it is about their future. It appeared on both ITV and the BBC politics show.
I enjoyed the talk about Ffresh. I'm really pleased that it's coming to Glyndwr next year so I will have a great opportunity to get involved and make some good contacts in my final year. I'm also hoping to submit some of my work!
Film, Funding & Wales – Alan Partridge
Alan was here to talk about the best ways to go about obtaining funding for film projects. Depending on the resource that a filmmaker is looking for either the Wales Screen Commission or Film Agency for Wales are good places to start.
The Wales Screen Commission is the best place to approach for help with locations and crews. The Film Agency for Wales supports Welsh born or Wales based writers, directors and producers with theatrical feature film projects (but not documentaries or animation pilots).
Specifically, a theatrical feature could be an animation or live action feature film). 15 minute films (i.e. Shorts) are not applicable as there are other sources of funding for these (e.g. Lighthouse).
If you have an idea for a feature film you can apply. They will ask about your previous experience, background and ask for a copy of your show reel or maybe a short film.
Alan recommends that a filmmaker should be strategic with their skills. If you’re a writer then they will want to see a feature film script. If the writing is good but they feel the director is not up to the job then they may just support a pilot. You need to demonstrate your potential as a filmmaker and ideally need a feature film attached to you. It is easy to get into a vicious cycle of short films. Lighthouse operates a UK wide short film scheme. You must have had a festival film but are aiming to make a feature film. Animation is tough to obtain funding for although there’s a strong argument to support these more.
He also advised not to discount TV production and there are also a few post-productions houses in Wales that may be a source of opportunity. Animation companies such as Dynamo and Calow. Alan said Wales is not a bad place to be for opportunities. Proportionally there are the same amount of opportunities as London.
It’s my shout is a company that makes 5 or 6 short films for BBC Wales. It’s worthwhile exploring this company as they look for short film scripts, have call outs for Directors, scriptwriters and some post-production work.
Festivals and Markets
A website called ‘Media’ lists festivals & markets they support along with professional development workshops. The difference between a festival and a market are that festivals are more about watching and appreciating films and markets are all about getting films made.
Alan gave us a list of some of the annual film festivals:
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Jan/Feb) – Has Cinemart which selects 35 Producers to get films supported and funded.
Berlin Co-Production Market – Co production market, go in with projects meet & greet try to raise finance. It has a talent campus, talks & screening for emerging film makers, directors, producers, cinematographers.
Cannes – The most well know festival and a much larger scale than most. However it is expensive and you may not meet anyone who can help. There is no support network for it and money would be better spent going to Berlin talent campus.
Galway Film Fleadh – Smaller film festivals are often better place to go. The Galway Film Fleadh in Irelnad also holds a market and in the evening there are other places and opportunities to meet people. People are friendly and will want to talk to you.
Toronto Film Festival (September) – This is again high end and more for professional. It’s also orientated towards the North American market.
Think, shoot, distribute - Selects and helps 25 talented and experienced people with a feature film project (fiction or documentary).
Training opportunities
Media Training – www.mediadeskuk.eu/training Can fund training schemes for professional development for example Post Production Workflows. Places are often subsidised. Skill set is another organisation that may be able to help with funding.
Ace - provide Producer based training for live action
Eave
Binger – One on One training
Torino Film Lab – New film projects, packaging
Notes to guide the futures
- Audience Research
- Select your project for the right reasons – not because it fits local sources of finance
- Remember the screenplay is the most important element in the package – films are about stories
- Build up relationships e.g. with Sales Agents, Bankers, Lawyers
- Cornerstone strategy
- Don’t try to run before you can walk – develop fully
- Know the value of your project in the marketplace (budget the project then find out what the perceived value is. Look at similar projects before looking at the finance plan)
- Make it for less than its value
- Know when to give up
- Remember the last 9
How many Producers?
We looked at a number of different films of varying budget and genres and attempted to work out how many Producers were needed to get the film made:
Monsters - This is a low budget film by Vertigo Films – 2 Producers
Katalin Varga - 3 Producers
Bronson - 11 Producers
We need to talk about Kevin - 19 Producers
Freerunner ‘Run for your Life’ - 8 Producers
Slumdog Millionaire - 5 Producers
- The International Film Business – Angus Finney
- The Film Business Handbook – Mike Downey (Ed)
Digital - Fluid Film
The final session of the day was with Dan Fox who an ex CLM Student and now heads up his own production company called Chat Noir Productions. He began by talking about how technology has evolved since he was studying.
Standard vs. High Definition
Digital technology impacts on how you create your film. For example the old way of doing green screen was to develop onto green sensitive film. Films are now filled with green screen shots. Everything becomes flexible and fluid.
Digital won’t make everything possible. Dan said that films can contain 3-4000 digital effects shots and he believes the quality of film is suffering as a result. Most important thing is to create the bet clarity and integrity. Film makers now have lots of freedom but a lot more control is required.
Avatar was made to solve a technical problem. Technology is leading the way we make films. Computers allow us to have armies fighting each other. Filmmakers create shots such as flying cameras over them which is unrealistic. In the old days you would hire a filmmaker and they would go and make the movie. Digital intermediate – Processing allows you to change lights and darks – colours of films are changed digitally. Dark Knight was done chemically. 35mm is much more reliable than some modern cameras. 35mm is better than digital as there is no pixel reduction. However, the red camera could be the future of film.
The most important thing we need to do is making films, doing work. Are you being led by the computer program or the creative? E.g Matte paintings (originally done on glass). Films are now filled with matte paintings. Cameras & lens are good enough, but technology can make you lazy. Always use reference and look at movies and compare your work. Filmmakers nowadays often rely on technology to sort things out for us so we lose integrity. There's no reason why you can’t make things look realistic without the technology. Get out of the computer suite and look at how things really work. Simple models used in movies are wrapped with excellent photos, learn how to use these tricks but balance.
Everything changed in the mid-90’s. Dan's view is that the last 15 years has not been good for films, some movies from the 50’s have better production values.
Standard vs. High Definition
Digital technology impacts on how you create your film. For example the old way of doing green screen was to develop onto green sensitive film. Films are now filled with green screen shots. Everything becomes flexible and fluid.
Digital won’t make everything possible. Dan said that films can contain 3-4000 digital effects shots and he believes the quality of film is suffering as a result. Most important thing is to create the bet clarity and integrity. Film makers now have lots of freedom but a lot more control is required.
Avatar was made to solve a technical problem. Technology is leading the way we make films. Computers allow us to have armies fighting each other. Filmmakers create shots such as flying cameras over them which is unrealistic. In the old days you would hire a filmmaker and they would go and make the movie. Digital intermediate – Processing allows you to change lights and darks – colours of films are changed digitally. Dark Knight was done chemically. 35mm is much more reliable than some modern cameras. 35mm is better than digital as there is no pixel reduction. However, the red camera could be the future of film.
The most important thing we need to do is making films, doing work. Are you being led by the computer program or the creative? E.g Matte paintings (originally done on glass). Films are now filled with matte paintings. Cameras & lens are good enough, but technology can make you lazy. Always use reference and look at movies and compare your work. Filmmakers nowadays often rely on technology to sort things out for us so we lose integrity. There's no reason why you can’t make things look realistic without the technology. Get out of the computer suite and look at how things really work. Simple models used in movies are wrapped with excellent photos, learn how to use these tricks but balance.
Everything changed in the mid-90’s. Dan's view is that the last 15 years has not been good for films, some movies from the 50’s have better production values.
You can do anything with digital but don’t rely on it. Shoot 35mm stills if possible to learn how light works. 35mm gives greater range of exposure latitude (e.g pull back over exposed). Dan believes digital removes a level of creativity e.g. Spy Kids there's a scene with glow sticks that was shot using digital just to get a correct exposure. Learn how to use technology and when to use it, master it.
I found Dan’s lecture quite negative. He is very opposed to new technology. He was particularly negative about the use of digital film and visual effects. I agree that film is a medium that has its advantages but I believe we should embrace new technology and be excited about the things it will allow us to achieve.
No comments:
Post a Comment