Check out these up-and-coming film directors for inspiration: http://tinyurl.com/b4hnsh

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I met Krystian Morgan awhile back through Twitter. He’s a really talented guy, from the UK, who openly shares everything about his work – I like that. That way we can all learn and grow through the process.Thanks so much for this Krystian I really appreciate it! I asked him to write a guest post illustrating his work flow process. It’s brilliant: take a look!

Thanks - Kathryn Jennex

Producing Video Workflow! by Krystian Morgan

This article is my own typical process of creating a video from conception to publishing online. I don't want to write a tomb of set in stone steps that everyone takes, as all designers and video producers alike tackle their projects differently (it's all personal preference). However here's my tried and true workflow, hopefully it may give you some ideas to adopt for your own.
Of course initially the first place to start is with an idea, although a few times in the past i have started work on a video with the intention of experimenting/ trial and error to define the narrative and design, i feel that the projects i have started with an original concept beforehand make for a much smoother, enjoyable process.
The following steps are what i usually adhere to when creating a video project (depending on what type/length of video it is):

Script- Most of the work i publish on my videoblog do not require scripts because there is no need for dialogue or direction as i create them independently. But when the video requires some more elaborate directions for both myself and others involved whether it be talent or crew a script is close to essential. If the writing is substantial i lean toward using Celtx which is a really intuitive script writing software, but some times i will just use a standard TextEdit .txt file to plot the basic ideas.

Storyboard- Most of the video i create involves alot of movement (regarding camera work and CG elements). Because of this storyboards can be a great way to pre-visualize the best way to shoot and/or composite. Storyboards are also beneficial when you're working as a group, they can really help in explaining your vision to all those involved in the project as an informed crew will be able to work better for the same goal. Also using a Wacom tablet to draw out the stoyboards can save the time of scanning in and can be quickly distributed via SpinXpress to your team.

Housekeeping- I could talk all day about this stage but to quickly summarize: 'Good Organization'. I used to be terrible at naming all my different documents, i'd save them in different areas of my computer and would spend as much time looking for files (some got accidently deleted) as i would actually working on a video, so i really enforce this stage no matter how small the project is. Firstly i'll start with a primary folder, which name is the title of the project. Then inside are further folders separating images from video, text documents from After Effects project files. Other folders i usually include are a 'test' folder for spur of the moment experiments that may or may not be implemented in the final and of course a 'render' folder for all the exports. I also try to keep file names very simple for instance i'll name a clip 'scene1_1.mov' meaning 'scene1-first export' so the likely chance of re-exporting an updated version of that same clip, i'll name it 'scene1_2.mov' and it's then obvious which is the most recent to me, and to anyone else who may be working on this project.

Filming- I wont go too into the details here as i don't consider it a very creative process in my workflow i think there's only one possible shot for any clip and it's obvious when it's in the viewfinder. Ideally for me at this time, the optimal set-up for myself is a HD camera with tapeless acquisition (hard drive), a fluid head tripod, and an assortment of lights, gels, diffusers etc... I don't rent or decide what my set-up for a project consists of until the full concept/design is set in stone as the importance of filmed footage in the composition will define the amount of kit i will take, whether i'm shooting indoors or out, there are quite a few things that should be taken into account, it's better to know that you don't need a particular tool(s) beforehand so you don't have to carry it around with you all day. If i'm creating a personal video for my videoblog i'll often just take my Canon XM1 lone, which usually means more work in the post production stage but is a lot easier for a video that i'm creating for myself and not for money.

Layout- For me this is one of the most important stages in the whole process. I adopted it from the workflow of cartoon studios with minor differences. Sometimes going from storyboard or filming straight into putting the project together in After Effects, Final Cut etc... can seem like an intimidating jump. In this step i open a test project in AE and try translating a prominent storyboard frame, i start this stage with the mindset of strategizing the best way of attacking the actual construction, i further play around with the composition of text (if any) and other elements trying out a number of different effects and filters to try and spur some new exciting ideas that can really take the final video to the next level. This stage usually yields some exciting new prospects, a number of times i've developed the ideas so far i decide to tighten up the quality and rename the test file to the project name to continue the rest of the video.

Post (construction)- Ok so here's the point where most of the work takes place- inside of applications. By this time i know what applications will be needed to work together towards the same goal. For me After Effects is the hub of it all, it's where i start and end every project, all other softwares (if required) come in between. Again, even within the software(s) organization is paramount. I follow a similar organization to that of the primary project folder on the computer's hard drive (in some cases you can just import that folder straight in to the software(s) to have all your files at hand, but i would recommend only importing what you need).

Scoring- When possible with a video i like to own all the rights, so i can later license it however i want. So i take this stage with almost all of my videos. I use either Garageband or Logic (Express) to create the sound/noise/music with guitars and microphones, i often take the abstract approach where i don't compose a song beforehand, i'll just sit in front of the render, press record and lay down a number of tracks composing the notes based on what's happening in the video. I like sporadic video that dynamics can go from 10 to 100 in a split second so by recording the audio myself i can tailor make what i believe to be the perfect match to the visuals (which is nice as editing/animating to already rendered audio can seem a little limiting at times).

Post (final output)- At this stage it's just the matter of having to import the newly created soundtrack and placing it in the timeline. I also add my short site ident at the end which includes my name and my websites URL. Then its exporting time, i like to first export the movie at full quality (for reference on my computer) and then export a compressed version for uploading to the web. Go to freevlog.org to find some great looking compression settings that also play fast (i do however up the data rates on both the video and audio a little more than is stated).

Publishing- Now is either the exciting stage or the terrifying stage (depending on how you look at it) uploading to the web for people to check out your creation and throw in their opinion. I have a self hosted Wordpress blog and upload the .mov files to blip.tv. I also set up the permissions people have regarding my video by displaying a custom Creative Commons license badge on my site.

So as you can see there are a lot of stages here but most of the time not every step is required and the order isn't necessarily always the same, for instance, i may start with scoring the music and then fine editing to the waveforms in the post production stage.

I hope you've enjoyed this long winded summary of my process, i hope you've gotten something new to try or look for from it. If you want to contact me directly my email address is krys@kmogvideo.net, or you can find me at my websites listed below!

Krystian Morgan
KMOGVIDEO.net
KrystianMORGAN.com
twitter.com/kmog

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Now that we're safely into the wet and slushy days of January and most of us have an idea again of what day of the week it is, or are at least getting good at making the eight look like a nine in our cheque books, let’s take the inevitable look back at the year gone by. More specifically, let’s round up the big hitters and big stories when it came to women in film in 2008.

The noteworthy films directed by or written by women in 2008 run the gamut when it comes to the subjects they tackle. There are common threads, of course; both Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River and Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy deal with women in tough economic circumstances and the subsequent tough situations they find themselves in. As an interesting side note on that, Hunt apparently had some economic difficulty herself in finding funding when she refused to use a better known actress as her lead. She eventually found private funding, however, and Frozen River took the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2008 – a lesson, perhaps, in trusting our instincts. The ever-relevant and always complex subject of family, those we’re born to and those we make for ourselves, is dealt with in Gina Prince-Blythewood’s The Secret Life of Bees, as well as Rachel Getting Married, written by Jenny Lumet and directed by Jonathan Demme.

Two very different literary adaptations deal with love and seduction; Isabel Coixet’s Elegy is based on Philip Roth's novel about a professor who seduces his students, while the much anticipated Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, features a mortal teenage girl hopelessly in love with a vampire. Twilight, listed as #8 on IMDB’s list of the top-grossing films of the year, also takes the prize for being the highest grossing opening ever for a female director, somewhere in the ballpark of $70 million. Not surprising, considering the buzz around the film and the thousands of teenage girls who lined up to see it. (Have a look at the wonderful and hilarious Sarah Haskins' investigation into just what it is about vampires that has all those girls screaming.)

In other big budget, high-grossing films of the year, we have Mamma Mia!, which was directed by Phyllida Lloyd and which few of us really want to admit we not only saw, but hummed along to. Written by Catherine Johnson and based on the musical which incorporated songs from Swedish pop group ABBA (don't pretend you don't know), it earned Golden Globe nominations for both Meryl Streep’s performance and for Best Motion Picture in the comedy or musical category. In keeping with the music theme, on a slightly different note, is Cadillac Records, Darnell Martin’s film about a recording studio in 1950s Chicago and the lives and careers of such American legends as Muddy Waters and Etta James.

Other films of note dealt with the often male-dominated arenas of sport, with the story of a young Dominican baseball player trying to make it in the U.S. in Sugar, co-written and co-directed by Anna Boden, and war, with Kimberly Peirce’s Stop-Loss, about an Iraq war vet called back for duty.

In my personal look back at the films of 2008, there’s one more that didn’t make any of the lists or blogs or articles I saw, but that I think deserves mention. The U.K. film Unrelated, written and directed by Joanna Hogg, features a 40-something Englishwoman who joins a family of old friends and their friends at a rented villa in Tuscany. You almost want to hate these sort of posh people, blasé even about the stunning beauty of their surroundings, but you can’t help but sympathize with and be drawn in by the main character, a woman so clearly harbouring some secret pain of her own as she oscillates between spending her time with the mischievous and daring ‘Youngs,’ the children of her friends, and, more dutifully, with the ‘Olds,’ a category she seems uncomfortable belonging to. I had the pleasure of seeing this film in Edinburgh’s Filmhouse Cinema during the fall, an experience which would have been even better had I not spent the entire time thinking how much we need a Filmhouse Cinema of our own here in St. John’s (!).

However, the opportunity to see at least some of these films, if you haven’t already, is still available. Twilight is still screening right now at Empire Theatres, and MUN Cinema has just posted their winter schedule, which, lucky for you, features two of the above-mentioned films – Frozen River and Wendy & Lucy – among many other great offerings.

Have I missed anything? What were your favorite female-led films of 2008?

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I’ve been absent from this blog, “away” doing administrative tasks, things that have to get done. I’m back and thinking about November?December things: projects to finish and projects to begin. The days are darker and shorter now and all these things combined had led me to thinking about motivation.

There was plenty of motivation, and inspiration afoot at the festival workshops this year! If you ever have a chance to participate in any kind of workshop or forum where filmmakers are going to discuss their work do it! Listen to Eva Madden, our feature filmmaker talk about workshops . From financing to scriptwriting and producing to directing; it was all there

Carol Whiteman from the Creative Women Workshops Association was at the fest again this year leading workshops at the Film Forum. Carol is a really engaging presenter and embodies the spirit of collaboration from whence good filmmaking comes. Carol is the co-founder of the Women In the Director’s Chair Workshops that use the mentorship model as the foundation for successful learning. Pattie LaCroix from Catapult Media had a chat with Carol about mentoring – a really informative and candid interview that I’m sure you will find inspiring.

Carol’s workshops have been extremely successful and have helped many women go on to successful and fulfilling careers in the film industry. Along with the idea of mentoring she also discusses the concept of trust and how important it is, in the creative and personal process, to trust yourself – a truly motivational piece of advice. Mentoring is an important element in the learning approach in any field.

In fact, in the business world, an important part of the film industry as well, mentoring is taking on a new approach with many advocating a “network” of mentors to encourage and guide you on your learning journey. That’s what we’re hoping to do here at moovy – be your network for collaboration and support! Leave a comment let me know what you think!

The interview is in two parts: part one and part two. Well worth the time - you will be inspired and learn something!

A very special thanks to Maura McGovern, an amazing photographer, for letting me include this photo here!

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If you live in St. John's you probably know Tim from Capitol Video; if you don't - go there, it's at Rawlins Cross - the best films to rent in town , good conversation and excellent recommendations for when you want to watch something but just don't know what. For those of you who don't know Tim, I asked him to send me a blurb about who he is. This is what he sent;

"I started reviewing movies for Take Two, a radio show at CHMR in the fall of 1994, and began co-hosting the show the following semester, which I continued to do for a couple of years. During that time, I reviewed movies for a number of community publications, until early in 1997, when I began doing film reviews for the Express. I continued there until the end of 2003, then moved on to Current for half of the following year. I then went on to Independent, until its untimely passing, and am back with Current since September. For the past ten years or so, I've been operating Capitol Video, currently located on Rawlins Cross."

Tim did film reviews for us! This is his review from last nights screening - were you there? Comment and let us know what you thought - start a conversation!

WEDNESDAY NIGHT REVIEWS by Tim Conway

Sometimes, dreams come true. The same holds for metaphors in the 7 min. short, Struck, written and co-produced by Milena Ferreira, and screening at the WIFF’s Brevity Meets Levity show on Wednesday evening.

Just as Joel catches sight of a fetching woman on the other side of the street, he’s struck in the chest by a metre-long arrow. He’s not fatally wounded, but his life is certainly more complicated, as doctors choose to leave the projectile intact.

A well crafted, highly polished comic gem featuring a lot of familiar faces, Struck is a delightful picture that is sure to charm you. Afterwords, check out the entertaining "making of" offering on the film’s web-site.

Playing in the same show is a couple of 2min. films from mobiDOCS, a joint project of the NFB and Film Australia. First, Canadian film, I’ve Never Had Sex challenges participants to respond truthfully to a statement that begins "I’ve never had sex ...". Presumably shot on a cell phone, the folks behind the film were clever enough to realize that if you have no visuals to show off, you’ve gotta have content, and editing skills, which they do.

URNT4ME, an Australian component of mobiDOCS offers great visuals, but wastes way too much time with bells and whistles. The film offers reactions to the trend of announcing the break-up of a relationship via text-messaging. There’s a bit of older film footage cut into this that helps give it a professional glow, but in a two minute film, you don’t spend a third of the time on an introduction. The core material is great, but this is as much an audition for the film-maker as it is an attempt to entertain you.

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