Essential short film tips.

Whether you're prepping your first short film or starting to apply to festivals, you'll want to check out these tips which will guide you through the process.

Attention, Filmmakers: Essential Short Film Tips | Indiewire

15 Tips on Becoming a Better Director

Many of the positions in film production are rather straightforward, but directing isn't one of them.

As an indie director, you wear many hats and divide your time between so many duties. You're part DP, producer, production manager, peace-maker, lunch decider, therapist, priest, and so much more. So, when people ask, "What exactly does a director do," I think the perfect response would be, "Everything." This doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence for those who are just starting out -- maybe stepping foot on their first set thinking, "Okay, I'm the director -- what the f*** do I f***ing do?"

http://nofilmschool.com/2015/04/15-tips-becoming-better-director

Doc maker Albert Maysles dies.

Documentary Legend Albert Maysles Passes Away at 88 | Indiewire 

Veteran documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, the cinema verite pioneer who co-directed seminal non-fiction titles such as "Gimme Shelter" and "Salesman" with his brother David, passed away last night at the age of 88. The news was first reported by The Criterion Collection this morning on the company's Facebook page.

www.indiewire.com/article/documentary-legend-albert-maysles-passes-away-at-88-20150306?utm_source=iwAlerts_newsletter&utm_medium=sailthru_newsletter

11 Most Influential Cinematographers of All Time | Online Degree Hub

Acting is easy to appreciate in movies because the performers are right there in front of you. The same goes for special effects, sound, set design: all the stuff that's easy to see and hear and instantly understand. But cinematography is trickier. The way a movie is filmed has everything to do with its tone and purpose, but that tone is communicated subconsciously to the viewer through clever uses of lighting, focus, framing, and a dozen other things that go into making up just one frame of thouands. Cinematography is vital to how a film will feel, but it's also practically invisible. The best cinematographers have been able to compose images that work on viewers emotionally without calling overt attention to themselves, which makes their films feel like real experiences and not dry technical experiments. These cinematographers have earned their influential reputation not for the number of movies they've made but for the way they've made them, impacting everything from how we make genre films (sci-fi, gangster stories, whatever) to what we think movies should look like.

www.onlinedegreeshub.com/blog/2011/11-most-influential-cinematographers-of-all-time?utm_content=buffer2921e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

What Is A Best Boy, Gaffer and Grip? | Gorilla Film Online

Have you ever watched the credits roll at the end of the film and found yourself wondering 'what the hell is a best boy/gaffer/grip/Lance Henriksen?'

That's okay, they're not the most descriptive titles, but we're going to try and make you less stupid by giving you a rough guide to them. You can then use this knowledge to bore a date into ending a night out early. It's okay, no need to thank us, just read on. (And leave a thank you in the comments).

gorillafilmonline.com/features/film-stuff-explained/what-is-a-best-boy-gaffer-and-grip

Michael Moore, Albert Maysles and More Documentary Titans | Indiewire

DOC NYC's Visionaries Tribute, held on Friday, was one of the most significant gatherings of documentary filmmakers in history. The event was host to the likes of Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Barbara Kopple, Dan Cogan, Rory Kennedy and Michael Moore, who all took part in this year's tribute to documentary film and the extremely talented filmmakers who have made doc history.

www.indiewire.com/article/michael-moore-albert-maysles-and-more-documentary-titans-speak-at-docnyc-visionaries-tribute-20141117

8 Female Cinematographers You Should Know About | Indiewire

The statistics are disheartening. In the last five years, women accounted for just 3% of the cinematographers among the 250 top-grossing films. No female DP has ever been nominated for an Academy Award. We recently published a first-person story from Elle Schneider, director, cinematographer and co-founder of the Digital Bolex cinema camera, in which she talked about why there aren't more female cinematographers and why we need to change that.

www.indiewire.com/article/8-female-cinematographers-you-should-know-about-20141104