08Attention: Evanston and Chicagoland-area film/videomakers
Wanna teach kids how to make videos? The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston is looking for someone to direct a youth (11-15) video class this summer. This is a full-time gig from July 9th through August 17th, and compensation’s pretty good. Get at me for more info.
Also - looking for a video editor in Chicago
Do you edit videos on Final Cut Pro? Do you enjoy video editing? Are you quick, reliable, communicative and professional? Get at me.
This is a paying gig.
DP/Cameraperson Needed ASAP - San Francisco and Portland
Hey everyone - this is really important. Please reblog to help me spread the word.
Looking for a San Francisco-area DP or camera op, ASAP, for a low-budget/indie documentary on queercore and queer punk rock. Own equipment optional, should be willing to travel (driving from SF to Portland for more shooting), LGBTQ+ affiliation a huge plus. Shooting starts in SF on April 22nd and will wrap in Portland on June 1st. If you or someone you know would be interested, PLEASE shoot me a message - and please reblog to help spread the word!
Thanks so much!
(via wickerboy)
DP/Cameraperson Needed ASAP - San Francisco and Portland
Looking for a San Francisco-area DP or camera op, ASAP, for a low-budget/indie documentary on queercore and queer punk rock. Own equipment optional, should be willing to travel (driving from SF to Portland for more shooting), LGBTQ+ affiliation a huge plus. Shooting starts in SF on April 22nd and will wrap in Portland on June 1st. If you or someone you know would be interested, PLEASE shoot me a message - and please reblog to help spread the word!
Thanks so much!
My life could be changing.
This is an unedited personal post. It gets very wordy.
Filmmakers, video artists, and creatives of all genres - I could use some advice.
Hey everybody,
The thing I hate the most about filmmaking is funding. I’m running around like mad currently trying to still attend class, work on making this filmy podcast work, and also try to get two last films off the ground before I finish school.
The projects involve quite a few tumblr folks in some sort of capacity. The films that I’m trying to do are, in many ways, being made by this community right hurr!
And I think if I can make them work (IE match them to the ideas that are in my head), I think these could be wonderful films. As it states on the indiegogo page, these two films have very much become sister films. Both deal with ideas and constructions of communities. I would argue that they’ve kind of become presentations of very different views (one more of an assimilationist piece, the other more of a separatist piece).
So, check out the Indiegogo page. It says I’m looking for $500, but I’m only really looking for $200. Any money after that will either go to the films (because I haven’t figured out a real budget!) or be held on for my full length film that I’m also in the process of working on. Any questions feel free to ask. This is a very DIY project.
Also, any folks in or around Michigan interested in acting, I’m still looking for one more actress. I wouldn’t be able to drive you or anything, but if you’re interested or local (preferably interested), we can talk.
Thank you so much for letting me talk about money, which is a silly thing to talk about.
artemisunderscorej asked: Recently I've discover my love for editing thanks to my iMovie and I would like to make a career of this hobby. However, I don't know where or how to get started. Any advice on programs or internships for college students that will give me lasting experience? Thanks! : ]
Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond! Company work’s been increasing lately, so I haven’t had much time to blog. Today, though, I bring you this veryvery long post.
Here are your best bets, in my opinion, and the pros and cons of each:
1. Internship/Career Office
Pros:
- Your college probably has one, and they probably have some media connection they could recommend
- College credit earned, possibly money depending on the company
- Your adviser can help you with your resume if you don’t already have one
- Whatever company you’ll be interning for will have all the editing equipment and people who you could shadow to learn about editing
- No pavement pounding
Cons:
- Might have to pay your school for extra credit hours to take on an internship (it happens)
- If your major has nothing to do with media, the career office might advise against you seeking a media internship
- Competition from other students vying for the same position - if their major is media-based, they might be given priority
- It’s an internship, so chances are you’ll probably be making coffee, sorting mail, taking calls and running notes instead of gaining any hands-on experience
You could also circumvent the career office entirely and call/e-mail the local media companies in your area yourself. Public broadcasting and local news stations are great places to start. Anywhere that has an in-house production staff, though, would probably love a free intern/coffeemaker (this is a Pro). The next easiest step would be:
2. Film Students
Pros:
- Take on as many editing projects as you want at a time
- Connect with others who love and are just starting out in media production
- Not an internship
- Actual editing experience and potential to network in the greater local video/film community
- Feedback! This is super-important to your growth as an editor and a crew member
Cons:
- No pay, usually, though you might get food if you’re lucky
- Editing more awful zombie/urban western/”Lynchian homage” student movies than you ever thought existed
- Competition from student editors who have both experience and Final Cut Pro
It should definitely be noted that the biggest Con in this case is that you’re using iMovie and not something like Avid or Final Cut Pro. This is totally fine for personal projects and learning the basics of timing and composition, but probably won’t get you very far. If you’re prepared to do it all yourself, though, you can look into:
3. Weddings/Special Occasions/School Events/Band Videos/Business Ads, etc.
Pros:
- Money
- There’s always something going on in your immediate community that you could offer to capture, or a business that’d be willing to let you make a promo video for them to advertize with
- Deadlines, working directly with clientele, building a business and a portfolio/resume at the same time
- Money
Cons:
- You will probably need to both shoot and edit, unless you can find a reliable cameraperson (or several) to team up with
- You will need a very quick turnaround for a lot of these projects, and clients can sometimes be overbearing (this is the case in the entertainment industry as a whole, but as a one-person team, things can get really stressful)
- You probably won’t be learning how to use Final Cut Pro
In both #2 and #3, you’ll have to advertize yourself on your own and create your own jobs. This includes posting ads in papers, making and handing out flyers and cards, connecting with potential clients like schools and local businesses one-on-one, and telling absolutely everyone you know a million times about what you’re doing so if they hear anything about a potential opportunity, they’ll let you know. You could also look through the papers yourself for gigs - sometimes people are looking for an editor or something. In a lot of these cases, though, people are looking for someone(s) who can shoot as well as edit. This is a big thing to consider when you’re selling your services.
Lastly, the quickest way to throw yourself into the entertainment industry is to seek out entertainment industry jobs.
4. Be a PA/Production Assistant
Pros:
- You don’t even need to formally apply most of the time to get a PA job; usually you just respond to the ad, expressing your desire to help out, and you’re in
- On-set experience - shows you what an entire production looks like and offers tons of opportunities to learn by observation
- Introduces you to an entire crew of people who could help you get more jobs
Cons:
- You will not be editing, at all - chances are, you won’t even be allowed near electronic equipment
- No money
- Long hours (12+) in all kinds of conditions (I PA’d an indie film here in Chicago a couple winters ago that was shot over the three coldest, windiest days of the year, all outdoors, 15 hours each day)
- PA’ing can sometimes be a thankless task, with a lot of yelling aimed in your direction
Cons aside, though, I think PA’ing professional productions is the absolute best way to gain real experience and is the quickest way to a career behind the camera. Searching for PA gigs is as easy as searching online for “Production Assistant jobs” and the name of your city.
With all that said, I want to be super-clear: having editing as your “hobby” isn’t enough. It needs to be something you do regularly, whether you have a project or not, and you need to be able to sell that passion.
- Make a Vimeo account to showcase all your editing projects
- Connect with other industry people on blogs like tumblr, or networking sites like LinkedIn
This is a stressful and often serious industry. Take any and every opportunity you think would benefit you, and don’t make “editing” or “becoming an editor” the main goal - you can edit on your own at any time. This is about experience and learning; the specialized positions will follow. Good luck!!
The Chicago 8 fest recently announced their 3-day program lineup! SO pumped. Anyone in Chicago who likes film, particularly small-gauge (8mm, Super8), needs to be here.
Click here or the link above for pricing and fest details, including what’s in store each day. Prepare for excitement!!
Reblogging myself again because I still find this to be true, and a very valid argument.
filmme-fatale:
(a response):
It’s about time we held female characters to a higher standard and argue against the Bechdel Test as still setting the bar (because, tragically, it is!). Hollywood will continue to sneer at feminist filmgoers and say films like Twilight are worth a watch because there are at least two female characters with their very own names who talk to eachother about things other than boys - this isn’t right. Gotta step it up a notch. We need a new test. I’ve been looking for a long time about it but I swear I read an interview where Bechdel says she wishes people didn’t put so much stock into that rule and it wasn’t ever meant to be some big grand lesson. It’s definitely not unknown that she didn’t make it up anyway.
I mean, I adore her and think she’s fantastic — but I think the point is missed. The Bechdel Test is like, the most. basic. level. of thinking about this. The Bechdel Test should NEVER be setting the bar for thinking. I think the only reason it is is out of laziness. I mean, it’s a good thing to consider if you’re just now thinking about how women are represented in media, but after a little while of realizing how every movie you love doesn’t fit with it, you need to move on to bigger things.
This is no hate to Bechdel, obviously, because a) she didn’t make it up and b) it’s a comic strip joke.
Anyway. What it meant to me was that it made me really realize that the male gender is the default and the woman is the Other, and oftentimes just an object, and that it’s not ok. I’m not going to watch or not watch a movie because it passes or doesn’t pass the Bechdel test. The Bechdel Test isn’t a feminism or gender equality meter. There doesn’t need to be a new test! The solution to the problem isn’t an easy-to-follow rule so that we can choose what to watch or not to watch without really thinking about it! And having a rule to follow when watching movies does not mean that you’re thinking about it! If you only watch movies that pass the Bechdel Test — if you, say, avoid a movie because it does not pass it — then that means you’re sweeping it under the rug. You’re not thinking about the significance of the female presence or lack thereof, or the significance of the female role in that film, or anything, just ‘no — because I’m following a rule, and obviously this film isn’t for me.’
Not saying that everyone thinks like that — but I know some people do. Changing how women (or anyone that isn’t a white man, pretty much) in the media isn’t going to happen because you don’t rent Saving Silverman. Or Star Wars.
My biggest issue with things like this is that changing what you consume is NOT going to change any industry, and especially not ‘male as the default.’ Changing what you consume just means that you’re not buying it, not that it’s not being made.
I feel the need to explain that the Bechdel test of the film world is not a personal manifesto. As a girl working in the film/media industry who often comes into contact with feminist-bent critique, I can tell you that most people aren’t even aware that the so-called “Bechdel test” came from Dykes To Watch Out For. It’s taken on its own meaning, where the test is used to critique the film on a whole - and to critique something, it needs to be watched. The Bechdel test no longer calls for avoidance of films; quite the opposite, it demands mass consumption. Whether or not FeministFrequency or other critics actually watch the films they hold up to the test, though, I couldn’t say.
The idea itself is empowering - that we should be critiquing media and the film industry constantly for their portrayals of ALL sexes and genders - but my point is, the Bechdel test is being used to critique films when we should be critiquing why everyone keeps talking about the Bechdel test! Ebert himself has referred to it, even used it. And this is the problem. I care less if people avoid films they don’t want to watch than I do having renowned critics invoke a rating scale that barely protects the existence of female characters at all.
So yes, there IS a need for a new test. Just because the fated writer doesn’t support its widespread usage doesn’t mean people don’t take it seriously.
Also, I do sadly view the Bechdel test as “feminist” - because in Hollywood, wanting female characters to have a presence, names and hobbies other than heteronormative obsessions, and other female friends to back them up, is still asking for too much.
Speaking out against the seemingly purposeful omission of Natalie Portman’s dance double (surprise, she had a dance double!), and how the usage of face replacement and motion technology erased Sarah Lane, both literally and… literally.
