Filmmaking

Many of the most common mistakes found in screenplays are also easy to rectify. So if you are working on a screenplay of your own, make sure that you do not fall into one of these traps. 1) The Compulsive “We See-er” We see an eyeball staring directly at us. The Issue: Let us not forget that a screenplay is a blueprint for a motion picture. Hence, the fact that “we see” everything you are describing is rather a given, is it not? The Fix: Do a document search for “we see,” and delete...

By James Napoli. Flashbacks Nothing provokes a more knee-jerk “don’t do it” reaction from screenwriters than the decision to include one or more flashbacks in one’s screenplay. We can, of course, understand this compulsion to remain linear, and the gut instinct that to tell the story from beginning to end is the only pure way to make narrative cinema work. It’s probably – largely – true, especially when one thinks about the criminally overused technique of whiting out to flashbacks in...

By James Napoli As the head of our Screenwriting MFA at Western, I thought it would be interesting to post some articles on screencraft for your review. I hope you find them helpful! I had an interesting experience while binge-watching the first two seasons of the beautifully acted and tonally flawless British television series Broadchurch. In an attempt to keep this article spoiler-free, I will simply say that the program, which concerns itself with the murder of a child in a small town...

"Mark Duplass, a director, actor, writer, and producer, discusses the migration of filmmakers to television, to the emergence of VOD and its impact on micro-budget film. Duplass has eight pieces of advice for those who want to start a career in filmmaking. He also talks on the changing models of film and television distribution/production, how those changes affect those in the independent sphere, and why carving out your particular corner of the sandbox is going to be the key to maintaining...

My last post was all about the develop, prep and shooting of my short film. For Heads/Tails process, the next phase has been our crowdfunding campaign. For most creatives, this is without a doubt, raising money can be the most nerve wracking aspect of the project. In my case, I know exactly how much money I need to re-coup after putting the project rentals and purchases on a credit card and budgeting a fair deal for my crew and post-production staff. Which is why I'm writing this post right...

We all want to make movies. We wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case. But making any movie, even a short can feel daunting no matter how much experience you have. Here's how I made my hopefully triumphant return to directing. I'll start from the very beginning... The Script - How did I write my script for a short film? A saying I picked up at the UCLA Professional Producing Program is "make is the shoe fit the foot". I think it's something that applies to all aspects of production...

I'm going to take our humble leader Chris's lead and start with a run down of how I've worked in the industry so far and where I plan on going from here. I'll give you a hint, it's involved a lot of travel and quite a bit of luck. To begin with, I'm a stereotype. I have been playing with cameras and writing for as long as I can remember. Perhaps less common though, I've never done anything else besides work in the film industry. A very long, personal story made short, I took 4 years off...