SmartShoot Producer's Blogg

Question of the Month - Favorite Filmmaking/Animation/Photography Blogs?

This month we want to diverge a little and focus our question to find out about some of your  favorite online resources for filmmaking, animation, photography, etc.

If you're not taking advantage of social tools like blogs and messageboards then you're missing out on some really fantastic communities. Engaging with folks on these venues is great for honing your skills, networking for that next gig or just to share knowledge.

As always here's some of the top picks from the TurnHere staff - besides the TurnHere blog of coures ;)

 

1)   PHILIP BLOOM

     Probably the most frequented blog on the list. Philip is Britain's resident DSLR video shooting guru. His site provides tons of great camera reviews as well as industry news to keep in the loop on all things video. He also hosts great contests, give-aways and charity drives like his Movember project

 

2) NO FILM SCHOOL

     Koo's site focuses mainly on the DIY approach to filmmaking (hence the name No Film School). You'll find the standard news feed and also lots of great hints on how to get big budget looks in your shooting without spending a fortune. He provides a very excellent guide to building your own Hackintosh (e.g. DIY Mac Pro) to give you a supe'd up machine for not a lot of green (i.e. $$$).

 

3) THE ANIMATOR LETTER PROJECT

     Started by Iraq vet Willie Downs, this blog has a really great concept at heart. It's a collection of letters written by leaders in feature and television animation about how they achieved success in their chosen artistic fields. Whether you're an animator-to-be or just a creative individual this blog provides great insights as well as motivational material.

 

HONORABLE MENTION:

• The Black and Blue - Great resource for all those 1st and 2nd AC's out there
• Vincent LaForet - He's the man
• Ken Rockwell - Fantastic info on lenses and photography techniques

 

Tell us some of your favorite blogs to follow; better yet if you have a blog yourself we'd love to check it out. Send us your links in the comments below.

Question of the Month - Best Non-Traditional Holiday Movie?

In keeping with the holiday spirit this month we wanted to find out your favorite holiday movies. A little spin on this query though - we're talking any film that takes place on or around X-mas. Any flick that fits this bill is fair game be it holiday-themed or not.

As always here's a selection of the TurnHere staff's picks:

 

SCROOGED (1988):

 

 

WE'RE NO ANGELS (1955):

 

 

DIE HARD (1988):

 

 

 

 

If you've got your own underground favorites share your links

 

Question of the Month - Favorite Opening Credits Sequence?

The Opening Credits - it's typically the first thing the audience sees, it can help set the tone and aesthetics for the piece and even launch the audience into the narrative. Whether it's film, television or whatever else the credits are always better employed creatively rather than as an after-thought.

Here's some of the nominees from our staff:

 

GOLDFINGER (1964):

 

 

A HARD's DAY NIGHT (1964):

 

 

DEXTER (2006):

 

 

Honorable Mention:

• The Watchmen (2009)
• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)
• The Naked Gun (1988)

 

Got some personal favorites of your own? We want to hear them. Shoot us a comment and a link

Question of the Month: What's Your All-Time Favorite Long Take?

If you're as big of a film geek as we are then chances are you have a short list of your favorite movies. This month we wanted to drill down and ask what you're single favorite long take is.

We polled our staff and here were some of the top picks (tracking/steadicam shots were a popular choice):

 

TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)

 

 

 GOODFELLAS (1990)

 

 

ROPE (1948)

 

Special Mention - Hitchcock shot the entirety of Rope as long-takes lasting up to 10 minutes (the longest a reel of film would last at the time). The film appears as one single take through clever masking of cuts

 

Got any long takes that are your personal favs? Share your thoughts and links with us!