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Drone moviemaking tips for the novice by Daniel Bowen

Aerial photography goes back way before the Wright brothers. Nineteenth century balloonists astonished earth-bound audiences with shots taken from the sky. Moviemakers early on exploited the visual possibilities of shooting from fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.  So there’s nothing really new about drone cinematography except that it has democratized the technique. Now anyone with a low-cost…

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Waiting For The Ferryman

Shot in Dar Es Salaam Tanzania on an iphone 5c of people waiting to catch Kigamboni ferry in December 2015. FacebookTwitter

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Music and Moviemaking

In the 1930s, long before  MTV, Disney’s “Silly Symphonies” and “Fantasia” explored the relationship between music and moviemaking. Simon Presto’s “Waiting for the Ferryman” carries on that tradition, and extends  it to the documentary genre. In the following interview, this UK-based filmmaker discusses the techniques he used in making his short film. MMM: Do you see “Waiting for the Ferryman” primarily as…

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Using “But” to script movie narration

Young children tell stories by stringing together incidents with “ands”: This happened and then that happened and then something else happened. This kind of episodic narrative works, but experienced storytellers–especially Hollywood screenwriters– have long understood that building on “but” can add more drama. Here are examples in loglines from movies you might have seen: A band of adventurers capture and…

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3 Directing Tips for the Novice Mobile Moviemaker

If you’re a new director, you might not have much experience working with actors. The first thing you need to know: Actors are sometimes strange, weird creatures. I speak from personal experience. I was an actor before I was a filmmaker. As a novice director, the chances are that you’ll be working with novice—even completely…

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How to make a fundraising pitch video

It’s possible to make a movie without much cash. If you’ve got an  original idea, basic filmmaking skills, and friends willing to work for free, you can produce a good–even a memorable–result. Famously, “Paranormal Activity” was shot for $15,000. It earned $193,000,000.Compared to typical Hollywood budgets of $50,000,000, $15,000 is less than a drop in the bucket. But even…

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