"The Watchmen" has finally released a trailer online! Check it out here:
The Watchmen - Med-Res, HD
I am very interested to see what Zack Snyder will do with this film. Also check out the trailers for:
Terminator Salvation - High-Res, Med-Res, HD
Body of Lies - High-Res, Med-Res, HD
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - Trailer
Scripts are so specific in how they are written, even more so with what is considered acceptable to studios and managers, which leaves a million question for a new writer. Ever pull your hair out over questions like these: How much description can I add? Should I describe action scenes? Should it be purely a blue print or should it entertain? Can I bold, italicize or underline?... etc.
I think one of the best ways to learn how to structure a script is by reading them, and online you can pretty much find any script you can think of. I love reading a script after I've watched the film to see what changed, how much was ad-lib on the part of the actors and how well it translated to the screen. But most of all, it is invaluably informative on structure. With all the contradicting opinions on what can and cannot be added into a screenplay, it's extremely helpful to see how the pros handle it.
Of course you want to steer clear of established writers. They can get away with a lot because they've proven themselves. Try to find scripts from first time writers, or go back and get some of your favorite writer's first scripts. A great one to read is Shane Black's LETHAL WEAPON.
Here are some links where you can find and download scripts for free:
Simplyscripts.com
Script-o-rama.com
Hey guys,
We will be interviewing both David Slade (Director of Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night) and David Bruckner (Writer Director of The Signal) this Monday. If you have a question that you would like to see answered from either of them, leave a comment with the question, your first name and your city/state.
Please have the questions in by Sunday night if you want them to have a chance to make it into the interviews.
If you haven’t heard of triggerstreet.com you should be ashamed of yourself… Really. Go paint a giant red “A” on your chest and hang your head low with shame… I’m kidding… Kind of…
TriggerStreet is an amazing online community where you are able to post your short films and get feedback from the other members. You can also check out all the films from the other members and leave your reviews. This is such an amazing tool for the learning filmmaker. You upload your film, get opinions on what worked and what didn’t, then you can correct the problems in that film or just have the knowledge not to make the same mistakes in the next.
It is so hard to find an audience that will look at your work objectively and give you an honest opinion, fortunately, TriggerStreet has made a community that does just that. The added bonus is, if your film gets enough good ratings from the advanced members you will automatically be entered into their online festival. The final three filmmakers get flown to LA to be in front of a panel of industry professionals! This years panel includes Jeff Goldblum, Sam Mendes and Robin Williams.
Also, they have recently added the option to upload your scripts, plays, novels and short stories to be reviewed by the community. If you do not have a membership (which is completely free) you should go sign up… NOW, and start getting opinions from someone other than your mom… Kidding again…
-Ryan
The questions keep pouring in! Here is another one that I thought would be great for a blog:
“Do you know of anywhere I can get free sound effects? And background music for thrillers?”
Have you ever watched a movie where the image quality wasn’t that great? If the story is good enough, within 10 minutes you’ll have adjusted to the image and stopped noticing it’s less than stellar quality. (A good example of this would be “Once”.) But now watch a film with bad audio. You will never adjust, and it will be an annoying experience from start to finish (Like “Miami Vice”… Though pretty much everything about Miami Vice was annoying.) For this reason I think sound is actually more important than the visuals. I’ve seen a ton of short or indie films that could have been pretty good, ruined by bad audio, cheesy sound effects and awful music.
When it comes to on-set audio, make sure you have a good shotgun mic, throw it on a boom poll and get it as close to the talent as the framing allows. And if you have the software, in post do a little ADR to tweak the parts that are less than perfect. (I know that wasn’t a part of the question, so… consider it a freebie.)
Sound effects aren’t only for action films! No matter what genre you are working in, sound effect are vital. If someone is walking, we should be hearing footsteps. Little add-ons with sound do a great deal to give your film “production value.” There are a ton of great FX library’s out there, unfortunately they can get pretty expensive. But if you look hard enough, there are places online that offer good sounds for FREE! Here are a couple:
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml
Soundsnap.com is by far the best in my opinion. Their site is easy to use (unlike the others) and has some of the best quality of free sounds I’ve heard on the web.
If you are looking for music it is the same. There’s good stuff out there but for a price. Most royalty free music isn’t that good to begin with, so once you are looking for completely free stuff, it gets even harder to find anything of any value. But check out these sites, they have a few pieces of music that I think are worth the listen:
http://music.download.com/3607-8272-0.html?tag=MDL_browseAllNode
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/
I hope this helps. When it comes to sound effects and music, I think it’s best to do all original. But if you don’t have the capacity to create Foley or compose music, I think these are great alternatives.
-Ryan
