Director Robert Rodriguez has long been an independent filmmaker’s hero. He started with almost no budget, and through creative gore effects and some shrewd marketing was able to get his films made, and now has credits like “Desperado”, “From Dusk Till Dawn”, “Sin City”, and even the “Spy Kids” movies. One thing that puts Rodriguez apart is that his DVD releases often include an extras called 10 Minute Film School, where he shows some of his techniques and tricks.

The website Filmmaker IQ has compiled many of the Film School moments from his DVDs into one location.

So now that we’ve committed to writing (see the previous post) now we can put that onto film, or at the very least video tape.

I admit it, I’m a hack writer. I don’t have anything published, and I the last narrative I’ve actually wrote was (sadly) a year ago. Even then it wasn’t very good. But maybe things would have been different if I’d found this website first.

I’ve read a lot of writing books, from “Save the Cat” to “Genre Screenwriting” and I’ve even got a copy of Stephen King’s “On Writing”, and they all bring a new perspective. No book can really turn you into a writer, nor can any website. Instead, you become a writer by writing. Constantly.

All of these resources simply give you the tips that you should know, or maybe need to be reminded of sometimes. Just keep writing, reading, and dreaming.

He never went to college. He goes to the library. He walks there, because he never learned how to drive.

And he’s one of my favorite authors. He might even be my favorite author.

So when I came across this half-hour documentary on Mr. Bradbury, filmed when he was in full force as a writer, I realized it was necessary to share the experience. As a sign of respect, yes, but more importantly because it’s a story about story. Hearing Ray Bradbury, in his own words, talk about storytelling is like the force of gravity itself showing you the dark mystery of black holes!

(I had some problems imbedding the video in this post. So just click the link above to view it. And don’t put it off either! You’ve got nothing better to do, so watch it!)

… in binary, that is. 100000 is actually 32. Coincidentally, that’s about as old as I feel most days. In any case, Happy Birthday Trey! Go do something fun. Also lets work out this whole Leonardo da Vinci thing, okay?

While on the face of it, this has nothing to do with the media, or movies, or production; this is probably best considered an example of citizen journalism. Except with more whining.

Anyway, here’s what happened across the street from the office today:

At age sixteen one typically gets their drivers license (in North America), but I think every sixteen years people should get another license.
Of their choice.
And since it’s your birthday today, Ryan, you get to pick whatever license you want! There’s an evil mastermind license, or a license to captain a starship, or perhaps the ever popular license to kill. Very handy for those annoying people that pop up on your birthday. Hey, the punch bowl!!! I’ll be right back! Oh and…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!!

When working on various variosities, I like turning on some music to be inspired to. Typically I’ll reach for (in a digital sense) classical compositions and film scores.

Especially film scores.

And of those especial film scores, three names invariably pop up: John Williams, James Horner, and Jerry Goldsmith. Or the 3J’s as I like to refer to them as. (I think I might have mentioned this in an earlier post. Oh well, nothing like leftovers!) But since I named this post Jerry Goldsmith, I’m forced to only talk about him on this occasion.
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This weekend saw our first out-of-town production. Shooting on location in Cleveland, TN, we also shot our first Noir. Being a noir, it’s about murder, but who’s the killer?

Now begins the hard part: post production. Still, I think we did a pretty good job keeping things organized; our first-time co-director, Stacy Cohl, did a remarkable job beating the performances out of our cast. Photos and screen-shots will come soon. We’re all still recovering from the shoot, as well as the trip.

As the old saying goes, “so what have you done lately?” Actually, we’re working on yet another super-short project. We’re keeping the details scant, but it’ll be about the same length as 3×5, but this time we’re flexing our skills with a new genre: film noir. There’s going to be a few other changes from the way we’ve done things in the past with this film, so it’s bound to be exciting. I hope.

And now for the shameless plug: we’re currently casting roles, but we need a concerned husband. Preferably mid-20′s, around 5′ 6″ – 5′ 10″ tall. Will need to be able to commit to about 12 hours on August 29 in the Cleveland, TN area. Also should be able to acquire his own wardrobe and be willing to do all this for free.

Interested parties should either reply below with a valid e-mail address, or send a note to casting@omega13productions.com.

Editor’s Note: All roles have now been cast. Thank you for your attention.

The latest short that I’ve been working on is now, more or less, complete. The wait is over.  I’ll put up a page for it on this site soon, but for now, you’ll be able to find a YouTube link if you just click below. Read the rest of this entry »