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May 27
Love1
Shooting actor demos

Demo Reels for Actors

By Seminars

Next demo reel shoot is June 5, Tuesday, with afternoon and evening times available.  Go to the SFilms store to register. The actor demo reel has become extremely important for getting auditions and landing roles.  Often times, actors work for little or nothing to get the resume credit and to get a scene or something they can drop into their reel.  But time and time again, actors would talk with me about not being able to get the filmmaker to send them the scene to use.  The filmmaker just wouldn’t have time or resource. So at that point, I decided to help out the actors– what if we could do an original scene that looked as if ripped straight from an indie film and featured the actor the way they wanted to be featured?  Of course there’s some serious cost…

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Mar 21
Love1

What To Bring to Screenfighting Workshops

By Seminars

I’ll be sending an email out to all registered students… but thought I would post this first to let you know what to wear and bring to the screenfighting seminar this weekend.  (If you haven’t registered, click here to sign up). Weapons Classes (Saturday) First of all, do not bring any actual weapons to this workshop.  Our weapons master, Doug Williams will supply all equipment.  And especially don’t bring any live ammunition whatsoever.  If you have a concealed carry permit, please leave your weapon in your vehicle, locked. Next, you will need to wear pants and a shirt you can tuck in.  This includes both male and female students.  You will need a solid belt you can clip a holster to.  And wear shoes that you can move around in.  Think about the role you might audition for– is it…

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Mar 08
Love1
Theatrical Truth

Theatrical Truth

By Seminars

(This is for all my actor friends… one film director to actors.  I see a lot actor to actor, but very little from directors to actor.  BTW– we’ve got the screenfighting workshop coming up in a few weeks– click here to make sure you get your seat.) The Quest Constantin Stanislavski– often referred to as the father of modern acting, defined acting as the quest for theatrical truth.  I believe this is a great starting place for the craft you’re working in.  It all boils down to this– is your performance as close as possible to theatrical truth?  Personally, I believe that truth cannot be achieved in a theatrical performance (you’re performing, pretending– it’s not truth, but theatrical truth).  Does your performance ring true with the audience? Sure, many factors go into you achieving theatrical truth in a film role. …

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Mar 01
Love1
In the audition room

One Director’s Biggest Advice for Local Actors

By Seminars, Tips/Techniques

If I could say one thing to local actors to immediately help their performance in film and give them a much better chance for landing that role in auditions, I would say this: Big is Bad. My advice to feature film and television actors is to bring it down.  In some cases… way down.  Now this advice is not without controversy.  I’ve had one agent tell they think I’ve got it wrong… that it’s better to be too big than too small… that a director can bring a performance down to the right level more easily than bringing it up.  Not in this director’s experience. You see, in the audition room, using a 0-9 scale on “bigness”, I have many local actors coming in at 7, 8 or 9.  I’m looking for 1.5.  Now we have to go from an…

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Feb 29
Love0
Dan Millican shooting Commercial

Elements for Corporate Video Production

By Tips/Techniques

Corporate Video is an Art Corporate video productions, in spite of all the technology and advancements in computers and cameras, is still first and foremost an artform and demands an artist.  The best artist is the one that can convey a message effectively through a medium, like painting, sculpture, or performance. The corporate video production or media project is the same way– the effective ones send a message through the medium of video delivered on the canvas of a television screen or a computer screen.  So when we look around Dallas Fort Worth to build a team for any given media project or event, we look for the artists and we look for those who leave ego behind and can work as a team. Sure, we use the most cutting edge tools and techniques– it’s what keeps us as artists…

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Feb 27
Love0

Is Screenfighting Workshop for Children Actors?

By Seminars

I’ve been surprised at how many people have asked this.  For background– we’re offering a one of a kind workshop on March 24-25 where Day 1 has two classes on handling weapons as an actor and Day 2 is about how to fight and work around special effects.  4 classes– 2 days.  To register, go to the SFilms store. Can my child attend this workshop? For ages under pre-teen, I don’t think Day One (Weapon Handling) is a good idea.  What we’re talking about is learning skills for upcoming auditions and roles, that will give you an edge as an actor.  There just aren’t that many roles for a gun-wielding 8 year old.  (I could be wrong, but there you go.)  For teens, especially older teens, yeah maybe.  It’s a skill and you can add it to your headshot/resume. I…

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Feb 24
Love0
Screenfighting Instructors

Pizza Mondays

By Seminars

New Seminar Classes! Starting in the spring, we’re having a series of evening seminars covering filmmaking, writing, directing, acting and more.  These will be held on Monday evenings at Serendipitous Films in Fort Worth and will include dinner.  They all start at 6pm and go to 8:30 or 9pm.  All classes are $39.  Seating is going to be limited and also there will be a 5 person minimum.  If class doesn’t make, full amount will be refunded.  Once class is full, we will stop registrations on it.  Register at the SFilms store. Monday March 26 Greenlight Yourself This evening session will cover some basics about how to make your own feature film.  Emphasis will be placed on exact steps to get started, fundraising and the end game– distribution.  We’ll also cover topics like how to get name talent and short…

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Feb 21
Love0
shooting corporate interviews

Editing the Corporate or Documentary-style Interview

By Tips/Techniques

Telling the Corporate Story Many corporate videos today are built around the interview.  Clients, employees, spokespeople are recorded talking about the product or service.  It’s a quick and effective way to tell your corporate story.  This usually involves the video production of shooting an interview (discussed Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).  What we’re discussing today is the mechanics behind the editing of the corporate interview. How We Shoot Interviews in Dallas First, we like to shoot interviews with two cameras.  Lately, the majority of these interviews are with DSLR’s– they give a very nice, rich look, shallow depth of field and with the speed of the lenses, we don’t need a lot of light to make it beautiful. So after shooting, I will have two different sets of clips and a totally separated audio file.  I use Final…

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Feb 21
Love0
Business Plan

How To Start A Feature Film

By Tips/Techniques

First Steps to Making Your Own Feature Film How do I get started? One of the questions I get asked by new filmmakers is exactly how to get started.  They want to know what their next step is.  Here is an extremely practical, where the rubber meets the road answer to that question. What’s my First Step towards making my feature film? I usually start the answer by asking a couple of clarifying questions.  Do you have a screenplay written?  (If no, then that’s your next step).  It doesn’t have to be polished and locked for production, but needs to be complete.  Do you have any funding?  Usually the answer is no.  Have you set up the entity?  Usually, the answer is a look of confusion. So here goes.  First,you need to have some development money ready and able to…

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Feb 17
Love0
dallas video production company

Screenfighting Workshop now March 24-25

By Seminars

Due to several factors, we’ve moved the Screenfighting Workshop to March 24-25 (after spring break for most people).  Doug Williams will be teaching weapons on Saturday March 24 and Steve Krieger will be teaching the fighting and special effects on Sunday March 25. If you’d like to register, go to the SFilms store by clicking here.  If you plan on coming, please do register as soon as possible.  At this workshop, you will learn how to handle weapons like a professional, adding value to your performance on the set.  You’ll also learn some fight basics and learn to perform in the midst of special effects– what can be costly and how to be safe. You can take one class or all four over the two days.  And if you’d like to experience a squib hit at the end of the…

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