InFocus Film Festival Survival Guide

Infocus film school's film festival survival guide

Infocus film school's film festival survival guide

 

Getting into a film festival is both the most beautiful and most intimidating experience for a filmmaker. Even the simple act of submitting is enough to strike one with anxiety, wondering if their work will be “accepted” in both a physical and emotional sense. Film festivals are the breaking ground for filmmakers, giving them the opportunity to launch a highly successful career. However, you are bestowed the task of outshining hundreds to thousands of talented filmmakers to catch the attention of festival organizers, producers, and an audience.

To maximize your chances of success, we have prepared a quick list of tips to help you navigate your way into the film festival circuit.

 

InFocus Film School Film Program

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What is an Assistant Director in Film?

what is an assistant director?

what is an assistant director?

By Johnny Papan

 

If films were the human body, you could deliberate that producers are the brains, writers and directors are the heart, cinematographers are the eyes, sound designers are the ears, and production designers are the lips that tell a story with decoration. These key creatives are the head of the anatomy that is a film crew.

 

But every well-functioning anatomy needs that core piece that connects and communicates with the entire nervous system. When it comes to filmmaking, this piece is the Assistant Director (A.D.), the spine of the production team.

 

“Without a good first A.D., your movie falls to pieces. I feel like you could
probably run a set better with a good first A.D. and no director
than a good director and no A.D.”

– Natalie Portman, indiewire.com

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Script Supervisors: The Eyes & Ears of Continuity

script supervisors

script supervisors

By Johnny Papan

 

Continuity is a vast valley that requires precise attention to detail and spawns through many departments. To save time and money, films are shot out of sequence. It is up to the script supervisor to make sure props, costumes, makeup and things of the like are exactly how they should be in order to look continuous on screen, despite being filmed separately.

 

A key part of being a script supervisor (commonly referred to as “scripty”) is paying attention to actors and their performance on set. It’s not uncommon for actors to go off-script, forget their lines and change movements between takes. Without proper attention, this can prove to be disastrous in post-production, as the editor may not have the right footage to cut things together seamlessly or cinematically. In essence, the supervisor serves as both the eyes and ears for the director and editor.

 

InFocus Film School Writing Program

Click here to learn more about InFocus Film School’s Writing for Film and Television Program!

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