Over the last century, we made some extraordinary advances in storytelling technology. We can shoot in complete darkness. We can create environments and characters from nothing more than pixels ⏤ even live, in real-time. And we can literally make an entire feature film using our phones! And, yet, stereotypes in movies still exist. The progress needle for non-white character representation hasn’t moved nearly as far. So, in this post, we’re going to talk about how we can be better, more inclusive storytellers by avoiding stereotypes in movies — in our writing, our casting, and other production aspects.Continue reading Stereotypes in Movies…
Musicals are a special breed of filmmaking that requires a LOT of preparation and planning to pull off. There is singing, and dancing, and music. And it all has to be presented in the script in a particular way.In this post we’ll look at some of the special considerations that go into making a musical using La La Land as our guide. Continue reading How to Schedule a Musical: Breaking Down La La Land
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is already one of the most iconic films of the 21st century. Its simple elegance is a perfect example of how much can be conveyed with so little. In this post, we’ll take a look at The Sunken Place sequence and learn how to maximize storytelling with a minimal budget. A lot of it boils down to prioritizing a breakdown and schedule. We'll do this by learning how to identify the key elements that bring a scene to life (and avoid those that don't). We'll break down the Sunken Place scene's sound and VFX elements to…
Every production starts with the script breakdown. Whether you’re working on an effects-heavy mega-budget project like Age of Ultron or a micro-budget indie like Paranormal Activity, you won’t really know what bringing that story to life is going to require until you get into the script and take it apart element by element. So, let’s practice a script breakdown using the big wedding scene from the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians. Continue reading Breaking Down the Wedding Scene from Crazy Rich Asians
