Online Help For Filmmakers
If you’ve been dreaming of filmmaking suc
cess along the lines of The Blair Witch
Project, but you just don’t know how to move
beyond lackluster footage of your roommates
stumbling around the quad, help is available.
Naturally, the Internet boasts dozens of
moviemaking web sites—here’s a roundup of
the best.
The key to get
ting your movie dis
tributed is getting it
seen, and
moviemaker.com
will tell you how to
do it. This web mag
azine has lists of
upcoming festivals
plus entry info and
tons of informative
articles about every
thing from literary agents to what type of
insurance is needed for film
makers. Makingfilm.com is
another weekly mag with fea
ture articles, news, reviews,
and message boards for bud
ding filmmakers.
Digitalidiots.com is the
go-to site for tech help in dig
ital filmmaking. Though it’s
still in "soft launch" phase,
Digital Idiots is already jam
packed with great resources,
including a "personal guru," who will guide you
through every step of the digital process. The
site has an
online multi
media help
desk, Q&A
pages, and
self-lead tuto
rials for cam
era work,
sound and
lighting. There
is also a "show and tell" section, in which digi
tal film directors give behind the scenes
insight into their work.
Another place to get great first hand
information is invite.to/cineparlance.com,
which features interviews with directors big
and small. This site is also packed with links
for indie filmmakers.
If you have a bunch of shorts lying around,
head to minutemovies.com, a free forum for
displaying and
promoting inde
pendent shorts.
The site allows
viewers to rate and
review featured
shorts (30 min
utes or less) and
includes interviews
with directors.
There’s also a
great film festival
department that
lists all the news and highlights from festivals
around the world.
As in any other business, success in the
film industry is directly related to your abil
ity to stay informed and on top of what’s
going on in your industry. Sites that let you
pick the brains of experienced film
makers include 2pop.com, which
boasts workshops, discussion
groups and equipment reviews for
digital filmmaking.
You don’t
have to go to
USC to learn
your trade, there
are plenty of
online courses
available, includ
ing cyberfilmschooi.com,
where you can guide your
self through classes taught
by some of Hollywood’s
bigwigs. This Internet film
school comes complete
with chapters, assignments,
and yes, exams, complete
with streaming video and
hints from top directors.
So instead of blindly
shooting footage that just
ends up stacked in your
closet, consult some of
these online resources—it
could be just the push
you need to get your art
out there. •
n
Todayssports.com
todayssports.com
Clearly a site for the boys, this sporting news
page has decent AP sports coverage. If you’re
looking for staff writers with a witty edge, you’ll
have to make do with the models and a profes
sional cheerleader who write the only original
articles on the site, the “Spa Report.” The site
has a modest photo gallery including a daily
sports photo, daily cheerleader photo and a
weekly celebrity photo. Good for a quick
update, or when you just can’t wait to find out
how the cheerleaders are doing. MSpilberg
Content: B- Usability: B
Inlli'llfrl
The Hollywood Network
hollywoodnet.com
Hollywoodnet.com takes you through the world
of ‘intertainment’ (entertainment on the web).
They have short films you can watch with
Windows Media Player, links to music broadcast
over the net, TV shows, web series—which are
commentary series, and slightly outdated movie
trailers. The films are entertaining but vary in
quality, style, length and cheesiness. This is a fun
site to browse when bored, and who knows, you
might be visiting weekly for the new Taylor Mead
show, or the new tracks on Global House. TMaor
Content: B- Usability: B
grcrca
The New York Press
nypress.com
The New York Press is an unconventional, New
York-based weekly paper. But it should appeal to
more than just New Yorkers, with political com
mentary, excellent music and art criticism, and
interesting writing on a wide range of subjects.
Rightward-leaning readers will especially enjoy
the political writing and "Taki's Top Drawer," a