From no-budget to a Microsoft-backed third season, The Guild has caught on at ComicCon, YouTube and elsewhere on the ‘net to great levels of geeky fandom all over. In short: it’s awesome. Anyone with a decent knowledge of computers, gaming and the geek stereotypes will get a kick and a half out of this series. From a no-budget, web-friendly filmmaking standpoint alone, this’ll knock your socks off. Yep. Really. Knock ‘em right off. Check out the series at the show’s homepage, and episode one below.

Felicia Day’s co-producer of The Guild has her own web series, a mock Asian talk/game show where the joke’s basically on…well I suppose the guest, but the viewer definitely gets more then they bargained for. Lots of fun, great if you’re familiar with similar shows or personalities. Check out the series on its site and episode one below.

Eclectic

Mark Apsolon apparently is a guru of greenscreening and filmmaking, and his website won’t hesitate to tell you that. It’s one of those sites you hate until…well…no, you pretty much just hate it. Unless there’s some good content. I only post this because I remember a while back I watched a few of his videos and found them informative. That’s likely changed now, since I’ve gone through education in the area, but for those of you without the benefit of a VFX or film school – or choosing to rough it (more power to you in that case) – this stuff may prove useful.
Videomaker, always a good source of beginner/intermediate level information and tutorials, published this article on ‘lighting objects for video ads’, definitely a useful bit of knowledge for anyone, maybe something to supplement (or support) your original video & film efforts.

Web Shows

Kevin Pollak has a talk show – yea, who knew? – and it’s actually pretty cool. The Paget Brewster episode alone was cool, but the reason I’m posting it here is because his latest update features Felicia Day, the well-known (at least online) creator of The Guild and actress in Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and they have a lengthy discussion about web shows, web-based creative content and making that something creative and original, engaging but still marketable. It’s pretty cool as a fan just to see her interviewed, but it’s also applicable to the online filmmaking community. Hearing from someone who’s been there is invaluable stuff to listen to. Head over to the site or – oh… you could watch it here:

Also in helpful web show stuff, check out this video for a quick listing of what you can do to make a guaranteed successful web series. Heed the advice, it’s good stuff.

First up is Rock Paper Scissors EXTREME.  Cheesy, I know, but good fun, and a good example of how tiny of a budget you really need to make something entertaining.  Entertainers are basically just good personalities with good ideas, and we have some of the coolest ways these days of showing those ideas.  So here’s that one.

Next is a Robert Rodriguez video of his 10-Minute Film School featured all over the web from Eejit’s film site to Rodriguez’s DVDs themselves.  Plus, he’s one of my favorite directors, so I keep eyes out for him at most all times.

Next up is a pretty cool little feature on Film&Video (related to Studio Daily/Monthly) that I found last week.  It’s a new HP spot that was apparently very low budget and had a decent amount of effects work in it, though you’d never know just from watching the clip.  Take a peek at the intro article here, and the spot followed by the director’s pretty cool commentary here.  (If that link doesn’t work, there’s another in the article itself).

Alright, that’s it for this week.  I’ll try to get out some cool finds by Wednesday but I can’t make any guarantees.  It’s crunch time before our final project shoot date here at school, so I’ve got to make sure things are in place before I have a life .  But I’ll try not to neglect my self-imposed duties too often if possible.  Anyway, enjoy these little items and happy filmmaking.

I recently saw Angel-A, which stars Rie Rasmussen, and I was surprised to discover it was her at the end of the film, since she looks nothing in that film like she does in Thinning The Herd.  That’s partly the costume and makeup, but the acting is definitely there in both parts, separating her characters immensely.  The main point I want to make in this post is that good acting, with or without dialog, is one of the key assets in any film.  As long as the writing’s good, the acting can pull it through with no budget at all.  If someone’s performance shines, it’ll shine out no matter the visual constraints.  (Obviously, you’ve got to do your best to help it shine, throw some oil on the flame and the like, make sure it can be seen to start with).

Essentially, the point is this: write a solid script with a basic storyline, a some characters that aren’t too simple (give them habits, dialects, things they like the most and play off those in the dialog or actions with the other characters), and then find someone who can portray that character in the way you like, with their own spin on it as well.  Always let the actors take the character to their own level, in addition to fulfilling your needs.  They need to be challenged, not typecast and factory-assembled into their characters.  That’s destructive to the very nature of acting.

Back to the point, after you’ve written your solid script, and found someone to act, find money if you can, and some kind of light, and something to bounce that light off of (you’ll rarely want the harsh light coming right from the work light you found).  Tin foil works great.  After that, let the light and the performance shine as your camera rolls and captures the whole thing from the angles you’ve pre-planned due to your careful thoughts on the project (do not leave that part out!)

Rie Rasmussen might have a name in the business; she might be known for doing a good job in her projects; she might even be known for being a sexy bitch; but you can make yourself known by making something with a solid base and the only frills being the talent that brings the idea to the screen.  Best of luck, check out the film and send in any of your work you want an article written about!

Link: http://www.izzyvideo.com/…

Also, in AV news, I got my first issue of the magazine studio/monthly today, from the folks at studio/daily who put out an awesome newsletter that always has something interesting in it.  The address sticker on the bottom said “BLAKE JOHNSON; MR; ANIMIVIRTUS PRODUCTIONS…” marking the first printed piece of material addressed to my dream production company.  So in a way, it’s a reality now, even if only barely.  That was my little joy of the day in terms of film.  And from what I glimpsed at the table of contents on the cover, it’s a sweet issue with some really cool-sounding stuff inside.  I can’t wait to get started reading it!

I also finished writing a short film titled “The Kiss” today, as hopefully part of a series about guys and girls at any age and their relationship attempts, triumphs, travails, and successes.  Hopw you guys enjoy the video and are making some sweet headway on whatever projects you’re working on now.  Good luck, do some awesome work!  (And don’t forget to send it over to Microfilmmaker Mag for critique and praise).

Link: http://www.break.com/index/quentin_tarantino…