Busy, busy, busy!! I have come to my mum's and became lazy today!! ArghH! After having the best dinner, I am here, listening to some fab music on nusoundradio's show 'Music and Movies' hosted by El D!! Brilliant tunes!!
Ok back to work...
Sunday 29 November 2009
Thursday 26 November 2009
Monday 23 November 2009
Poster Boys
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| From Poster Boys |
Posters like all aspects of the post production stage, are essential to the publicity of a film. They are there to make a visual impact of the film to the casual observer, and so have to grab the attention of the average audience member who has seen every special effect known to humanity.
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| From Poster Boys |
I'm on a limited budget, so spectacular graphical representations of 'Caution Wet Paint' are simply out of the budget. Otherwise I would be in that holiday home in Columbia by now...
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| From Poster Boys |
So I have decided to stick with the comic book theme of 'Caution Wet Paint' in order to design the perfect poster for 'Jay and Kay Save the World'. Plus it is a short film that contains loads of animated clips, so it suits the subject matter of the short very well. And so, here it is, the final design for the poster to 'Jay and Kay Save the World!'
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| From Poster Boys |
So, the difference between this and the first pic? The stills within the poster have been stylised as a coloured drawing rather than using plain pics lifted from the film. The speech bubbles have a deper bacground, the 'credits list' at the bottom of the poster have a background to make them stand out and finally there is a lovely gold background, to contrast with the main images.
Knowing me however, this is probably not the last poster design coming your way...
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| From Poster Boys |
Sunday 22 November 2009
Cookies
The weather is horrid today so a perfect day to blog...
I was just thinking and musing about the film process and all its intricacies. Part of my job is to look at funding and getting the film seen by the 'right people'. I have checked regional funding but all are for next year, so I am going to be looking at different ways to source funding and also gain more attention for CWP The Movie.
Anyone for Jay and Kay cookies?!
La P xx
I was just thinking and musing about the film process and all its intricacies. Part of my job is to look at funding and getting the film seen by the 'right people'. I have checked regional funding but all are for next year, so I am going to be looking at different ways to source funding and also gain more attention for CWP The Movie.
Anyone for Jay and Kay cookies?!
La P xx
Thursday 19 November 2009
Turnaround Time
Film Festivals take a long time to respond to your submission. Not surprising, a festival with say, 50 slots to fill may well get ten times that number pouring in through their letterbox. For one film festival that I have submitted to yesterday afternoon, I will not hear from them until July next year. That is over nine months and to put that into context, you can conceive and bear a healthy child in that amount of time.
The wait is agonising, but it is important not to loose focus and to still distribute. It is also why many films at these festivals have copyrights that are one or two years old. These events are big thing, show a lot of films and take time to organise.
Which still leaves me twiddling my proverbial thumbs. Or am I?
The wait is agonising, but it is important not to loose focus and to still distribute. It is also why many films at these festivals have copyrights that are one or two years old. These events are big thing, show a lot of films and take time to organise.
Which still leaves me twiddling my proverbial thumbs. Or am I?
Monday 16 November 2009
The Director's Chair
A little look at film making from the Director's Point of View.
You see what happens in front of the lens, but there is a whole process that goes on behind the lens to make the magic come to life! Enjoy!
You see what happens in front of the lens, but there is a whole process that goes on behind the lens to make the magic come to life! Enjoy!
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| The Director's Point of View |
Sunday 15 November 2009
Toast
Morning bloggers! I am sorry for my abscence last week, I had gotten lost in China Town and was found Monday Morning with a rice grain in my mouth...ahem, anyway I have had an early start today as I have a lot of work to do. FIrst up, I cannot tell you enough how amazing Caution, Wet Paint The Movie is. It was a joy to film it, even though I was very ill during the filming process. It felt good to be on set (my favouirte aspect of making any film) and fantastic to be able to work with our cast and crew. I also love it when you watch the finished product, and you know all the quirks and effort it took to get a certain scene in the film. My favourite part of the film, is at the end, when Jay and Kay are dancing...
la p xx
la p xx
Thursday 12 November 2009
Media Files, bumpf and distribution
Sending copies of 'Jay and Kay Save the World' to film festivals is a long and bewildering process. You need to be focused on the task at hand (hell for someone like me who enjoys the thrill of procrastination) as well as military precision in order to fulfill the requirements for each festival. Some festivals are part of a central submission system, such as the UCAS system for Britain's universities. This can take a lot of the heartache out of applying to festivals. About half of all the film festivals I have applied to so far are a part of one of four such systems. The other half are still independent and require you to go direct through their own website in order to submit your film.
And there is a lot of 'bumpf' that you need with the film that you submit to the film festival. Many festivals just want the DVD screener and nothing else. They will get back to you when they have made their decision. Others want a whole array of materials. This is the much anticipated media pack. You see, making a film does not just stop with the editing of a film and subsequent burning onto CD. No way. You see, the 'indy' director has to be a person of many talents. As 'El Director' of CWP, I also act as distributor, possibly one of the most tedious tasks to fall onto a film maker and the one that will make you go bald faster than any other task on set (other than dealing with actors/actresses).
Firstly, you have to distribute the film itself. That means, getting a list of all those film festivals. Filling out forms (accurately without spelling errors – and if anyone has read this blog then u no how baad i am at dat), burning DVD's (PAL or NTSC, subtitled or not, and better get handy with your French) before heading off to the local post office to send your post. Of course, I know how bad postmen can be, so it is not just a case of licking a few stamps but actually registering the damn things (at least fiver a pop for international submissions). The guys at my three nearest post offices know who I am. Then there is the waiting. Oh, the dreaded wait...
'Bumpf', yes, let me get back to that. There is an assortment of 'media' files that many festivals may or may not want, but need to be prepared by the director of his/her film in case they are required. This is where many directors (including myself in the past) fall. After the marathon run of making a film, you are then expected to complete the triathalon of creating a media friendly side to the film and then distributing the damn thing. You can see why even small films have a huge number of people in their credits. They are the minions who take care of all the 'little things'.
So, what 'bumpf' do I have prepared for my official 'Media Pack'? At a glance, I have a director's bio, filmography, picture and statement (that's the ego bit), half a dozen film stills (at 300 d.p.i.), Posters and Press Packs (recently rewritten), Synopsies (long, short, loglines and everything else in text, word and acrobat formats), a dialogue list (note this is not the same as the script, and again need as txt, doc or pdf files), and teasers/trailers (formatted for both Quicktime and Media Player).
Don't forget, a website is always handy, and guess what. All the above is on that website too, able to be downloaded at a click of a button. Some festivals do not want the clutter of extra paper or a CD-ROM as part of their submission. They want all these files online where they can download at their leisure. These festivals are few and far between at the moment, but they will probably become a requirement in the future.
That's the 'official' bumpf'.
There is a whole lot of 'bumpf' that I do not include in my media CD-ROM, but still need to keep on hand. For instance, a cover for the DVD case, letterheads for any letters I may need to send, a CD cover (if I send the CD-ROM separately), a credit list (some festivals demand a separate list, despite the inclusion of a press pack), a synopsis for the feature film (you never know), lower resolution files of the film stills (to upload directly onto some festival websites) and ditto for the press pack/posters.
As you can imagine I have sent to a lot of festivals. The turn around time is kicking in next month. The proof is in the pudding as they say. Or in this case, the media files...
And there is a lot of 'bumpf' that you need with the film that you submit to the film festival. Many festivals just want the DVD screener and nothing else. They will get back to you when they have made their decision. Others want a whole array of materials. This is the much anticipated media pack. You see, making a film does not just stop with the editing of a film and subsequent burning onto CD. No way. You see, the 'indy' director has to be a person of many talents. As 'El Director' of CWP, I also act as distributor, possibly one of the most tedious tasks to fall onto a film maker and the one that will make you go bald faster than any other task on set (other than dealing with actors/actresses).
Firstly, you have to distribute the film itself. That means, getting a list of all those film festivals. Filling out forms (accurately without spelling errors – and if anyone has read this blog then u no how baad i am at dat), burning DVD's (PAL or NTSC, subtitled or not, and better get handy with your French) before heading off to the local post office to send your post. Of course, I know how bad postmen can be, so it is not just a case of licking a few stamps but actually registering the damn things (at least fiver a pop for international submissions). The guys at my three nearest post offices know who I am. Then there is the waiting. Oh, the dreaded wait...
'Bumpf', yes, let me get back to that. There is an assortment of 'media' files that many festivals may or may not want, but need to be prepared by the director of his/her film in case they are required. This is where many directors (including myself in the past) fall. After the marathon run of making a film, you are then expected to complete the triathalon of creating a media friendly side to the film and then distributing the damn thing. You can see why even small films have a huge number of people in their credits. They are the minions who take care of all the 'little things'.
So, what 'bumpf' do I have prepared for my official 'Media Pack'? At a glance, I have a director's bio, filmography, picture and statement (that's the ego bit), half a dozen film stills (at 300 d.p.i.), Posters and Press Packs (recently rewritten), Synopsies (long, short, loglines and everything else in text, word and acrobat formats), a dialogue list (note this is not the same as the script, and again need as txt, doc or pdf files), and teasers/trailers (formatted for both Quicktime and Media Player).
Don't forget, a website is always handy, and guess what. All the above is on that website too, able to be downloaded at a click of a button. Some festivals do not want the clutter of extra paper or a CD-ROM as part of their submission. They want all these files online where they can download at their leisure. These festivals are few and far between at the moment, but they will probably become a requirement in the future.
That's the 'official' bumpf'.
There is a whole lot of 'bumpf' that I do not include in my media CD-ROM, but still need to keep on hand. For instance, a cover for the DVD case, letterheads for any letters I may need to send, a CD cover (if I send the CD-ROM separately), a credit list (some festivals demand a separate list, despite the inclusion of a press pack), a synopsis for the feature film (you never know), lower resolution files of the film stills (to upload directly onto some festival websites) and ditto for the press pack/posters.
As you can imagine I have sent to a lot of festivals. The turn around time is kicking in next month. The proof is in the pudding as they say. Or in this case, the media files...
Monday 9 November 2009
2010 Calendar
2010 is upon us and so we here at CWP will add a little bit of fun, milk and alien invasion to the beginning of the new decade!
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| CWP 2010 Calendar |
Thursday 5 November 2009
Plums and Pizza
Thursdays come quickly for me. Saw 'El Maestro' this week, and that meant copious amounts of pizza. Of course, we also have a foolproof solution to finding fine looking plums to garnish our pizzas. All we have to do is walk through the plum orchards of South London and North Eastern Brazil with the DVD box set of the CWP shorts. If the plums start tumbling into out baskets, then they are ripe enough to eat! You can stuff the centre of a plum with a variety of funky fillings, but this is where El Maestro and I differ. El M prefers a garlic filling, while I like something far more spicy.
No doubt, Laars would have something to intercede in all of this, but of course, he is dead! Ha!
No doubt, Laars would have something to intercede in all of this, but of course, he is dead! Ha!
Monday 2 November 2009
The Super Sushi Club
This is a bit surreal. All right, maybe it is very surreal, but there is a destination to the 'Super Sushi Club'. Really, I have plan with this. If it does not work out, I can always call it apocryphal and therefore discontinue it from the CWP cannon.
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| The Super Sushi Club! |
The fact that I am creating a whole backstory to CWP and a whole world through the comic books is a fascinating one. Plus there is the fascinating possibilities open through expanding the Super Sushi...
Sunday 1 November 2009
The inbetween
Hello!!
La Producer here! Well it has been a very busy week! I have had a busy week juggling work, training and everything else inbetween! The most reflective time when making a film, is the time after it has been made. Much work goes on in the form of editing, copying, proof screening, premiere screening and despatching to film festivals and or distributors. The process behind the production of single film is so intricate and amazing. That is the beauty of entertainment and art - it can last for perhaps 5 minutes but the work, thought and everything inbetween is a grand affair!!!
La Producer xx
La Producer here! Well it has been a very busy week! I have had a busy week juggling work, training and everything else inbetween! The most reflective time when making a film, is the time after it has been made. Much work goes on in the form of editing, copying, proof screening, premiere screening and despatching to film festivals and or distributors. The process behind the production of single film is so intricate and amazing. That is the beauty of entertainment and art - it can last for perhaps 5 minutes but the work, thought and everything inbetween is a grand affair!!!
La Producer xx
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