Vimeo Find of the Month - January (The Gunfighter - Eric Kissack)

 This Month, although late, is Eric Kissack's The Gunfighter

 It's a brilliantly written and highly amusing Western with a difference. The story is driven and influenced by the Narrator... Whom all the characters can hear.

Watch it here

Details:

Just another period western meta comedy short film.

Featuring the mellifluous voice of Nick Offerman.

I hope you enjoy it!

WINNER Audience Award for Best Short Film - LA Film Fest

WINNER Audience Award for Best Short Film - Sidewalk Film Festival

WINNER Audience Award for Best Short Film - Napa Valley Film Festival

WINNER Jury Award for Best Comedy - LA Shorts

WINNER Jury Award and Audience Award for Best Short Film - Hell's Half Mile

WINNER Jury Award for Excellence in Short Filmmaking - South Dakota Film Festival

Best of the Fest Selection - Palm Springs Short Fest

Audience Favorite - DC Shorts

Honorable Mention for Best Short Films - Woods Hole Film Festival

Official Selection - Cleveland International Film Fest

Official Selection - Seattle International Film Fest

Official Selection - Traverse City Film Festival

Featured on Short of the Week - shortoftheweek.com/2014/06/23/the-gunfighter/

Go to facebook.com/thegunfighter for news about screenings in your area!

Directed by Eric Kissack (erickissack.com)

Written by Kevin Tenglin (kevintenglin.com/)

Produced by Sarah Platt

Shot by Jon Aguirresarobe (jonaguirresarobe.com/)

Costumes by Kate Mallor

Art Direction by Paul McConnell

Starring

Nick Offerman

Shawn Parsons

Scott Beehner

Eileen O'Connell

Timothy Brennen

Jordan Black

Brace Harris

Circus Szalewski

Travis Lincoln Cox

Schoen Hodges

Chet Nelson

Keith Biondi

Italian Subtitles by Emanuele Falleni

Russian Subtitles by Eugene Davydov

Portuguese Subtitles by Ana Rita Rocha

The Slump

 Being in a creative rut or slump is the worst feeling for creative or creatively minded people. The longer it stays with the you the less and less confident you feel about yourself and your abilities, jobs dry up and personal projects get mothballed indefinitely or ignored entirely. It's a fine line which can tip someone to breaking point and that day job to pay the bills becomes harder and harder to break free from; and so continues the rut.

  There is a medication for almost everything now, although potentially and probably placebos, but there doesn't seem to be anything for creative people which doesn't further stifle and impair what is suddenly not coming easily. I'm not saying medication is an answer, I'm merely following a mental process here.

  It first starts when you're out and about, your minds eye is fraught with activity and the ideas are pouring from you. You come up with and conceptualise great ideas or scenes or dialogue, or what have you. Then reality comes crashing in, you don't have a pen and paper handy to write it down, or you grab your phone and start writing notes and like a water through sift you can't keep up and start forgetting elements. Worst of all is when you're at that day job and you don't get the opportunity to put pen to paper, and as fast as those ideas entered your mind they've vanished into the ether.

  I don't have an answer for the blockage, I just know I'm in the oppressive throws of it. Even those random pop up thoughts are drying up, even to the point of many a potential blog post (for the 2 of you to read). I have old ideas, and I need to go back to them, I need to invest time and see if something can become of them, whether they can be enhanced or improved. I need to do something to get myself motivated again. I don't like this head space, it would be nice if people had realistic solutions or ideas on how to ease your way out of a slump.

This is not a cry for attention, nor a warning sign. It's merely a need to do something creative, even if it is just a venting blog post.

Exploring Filmmaking: From Script to Screen (National Film and Television School & BFI Film Academy)

The National Film and Television School (UK) and the BFI Film Academy have joined forces with Future Learn.com to offer a free online course starting February 2nd, and judging by the calibre of lecturers it's poised to be a very interesting 6 weeks.

Course component rundown:

1 - Introduction: how does a film get from script to screen?

Nik Powell, director of the NFTS and producer of more than 40 films, including The Crying Game, Mona Lisa and Company of Wolves.

2 - Storytelling: what’s the difference between plot and theme?

Destiny Ekaragha, director of Gone Too Far.

3 - Decisions: how to choose budget, schedule, location and kit?

Mike Figgis, director of Leaving Las Vegas, TimeCode and Internal Affairs.

4 - The scene: how does a director make choices on set? 

Corin Hardy, director of The Hallow and just announced to direct re-make of The Crow + has directed music videos for artists such as The Prodigy, Olly Murs and Devlin.

5 - Time and space: how does editing affect meaning?

Justine Wright, editor of Touching the Void, The Iron Lady and Locke.

6 - Sound and music: what is the impact of a film’s soundtrack?

Danny Hambrook, sound designer of Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Le Week-End, production sound mixer on Rush

 All in all, it's a vast field of talent offering some insight into Filmmaking from start to finish.

Sign up here, it's free! Exploring Filmmaking: From Script to Screen

Links:
The National Film and Television School - Official
Exploring Filmmaking: From Script to Screen - Course
Future Learn.com - Official
Nik Powell - NFTS
Destiny Ekararagha - Official
Mike Figgis - Official
Corin Hardy - Official

 What are you waiting for? Enrol now!

Moving with the times - An experiment in film distribution (The Interview)

 As Sony face the continued aftermath of the leaks scandal, they also faced a release scandal for the film The Interview. The irony of the latter is that it was just as heavily publicised, but no one really cared.

 Having now seen The Interview, I can honestly say it's a series of overly repeated Anal/Drug/Dick jokes, Lord of the Rings references, and stereotypical racism. In fact the humour is the lowest common denominator and often seems to be a line-o-rama of utter stupidity, not unlike the last film co-directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan - This is the End. But for it's complete lack of tact, flow, and complexity, it does provide a few snigger worthy moments, but it's more a piss-take at the expense of American misconception than a direct dig at North Korea; so the belief that the film was not "properly" or "conventionally" released suggests it to be more of a publicity stunt than pressure from North Korea.

  The Interview became an experiment in alternative release strategies for the Hollywood machine, and the article on Tom Antos Film is a great explanation and goes on to discuss the pros and cons of the limited theatre and simultaneous online release for Hollywood and Independent cinema.

Read the Article here: “THE INTERVIEW” AND THE FUTURE OF FILM DISTRIBUTION

 We all know the obscene budgets some films get in Hollywood in order to secure the best Writer/s, Star/s and Director in the aspirations of creating the next seasonal blockbuster, but often these films are nothing more than popcorn fare or yet another sequel.