Why is that? Well when you start out in the film world, it can seem like Mount Everest is in front of you. It seems like you will never get to the summit and this can lead talented people to give up.

I think the mountain analogy is a wonderful one. I remember when I climbed Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to climb. My mindset was not initially strong.

Mount Kinabalu is exceptionally steep. It just rises out of the ocean and goes up and up to 4300 meters or about 14000 feet.  It is the biggest moutain in South East Asia.  There is no let up, it is just one direction…UP.  When I started to climb the mountain, I kept looking up at what was ahead and it seemed nearly impossible. I felt exhausted and dispirited.

Once you get to the half way point at 2100 meters, you naturally begin to feel altitude sickness. What I discovered is that if I just looked at my feet and took it one step at a time, I discovered that I did not get tired or dispirited. If I just kept focused on my feet, I began to feel fine and just found a rythm. However, if I looked to the top I would once again become exhausted. When I stayed focused on the now and on where I was now, I felt fine and energized. And what happened after two days of climbing, I arrived at the summit and could see all over the island of Borneo. Beautiful.

The same is true for film. Just stay with what you are doing that day.If you are starting out in film, set a goal of making your own short film now and take one step at a time. Keep with what you can achieve that day and when you have completed production, do your very best to get your short film out to the world via film festivals and the internet( You tube, Blip TV)

Then move on to the next film. It is a great idea to get five short films behind you and then move on to feature films or documentary at that point. Till that point, do not even think about them. Just one short film at a time.  Five Short films gives you a chance to learn how to produce and direct films and learn via film courses how to make them better and better.

The second part of a strong mindset is having a supportive team and people you like working with. Everyone has their strong points and therefore teams that work the best is where everyone is working to their strong points. That is a Producer and Director team.

There is nothing worst than feeling lost and isolated and not knowing how to get motivated to make a film. That is why it is so important to attend film courses like ours.

Why because you will

Learn how to make a short film

Network with people who want to make films

Become very motivated and find that strong mindset that you need to make films.

And if you have all ready made short films, you will re-energize and get your next film happening with enthusiasm and gusto.

Please look at our film schools on our website and we look forward to meeting you there.

Till next time, have a great week          Colm

Colm O’Murchu is the owner of Australian and International Film Base.

He has produed and directed films for the past 15 years.

In many of our film Schools, people always want to know what camera they should buy or rent. They also want to know whether their $1500 camera can shoot a film.

There is now a mobile Film Festival that screens only films shot on a mobile phone.

In one sense, I guess that proves that one can shoot a film on any camera.

So if you have nothing better than a mobile phone to shoot your film on, well you may as well get out there and shoot something. But that is all it is….. Something and possibly practice at best.

In the final analysis, we all want the same thing. Films that sell and get seen by an audience. We also want quality films that sell. I still love going to the cinema and seeing a properly produced quality film on the big screen. I believe therefore there is a certain quality camera that one should shoot on and the best low priced camera starts about $4,000.

One can buy the high end cameras that cost about $50k – $250k , but these days you can get excellent results on some of the lower end cameras for around $4k – $15K.

It is very difficult to work out exactly what one needs and what one should pay for their equipment. What to buy and where to buy your camera?

Should one rent the gear?  Knowledge can save you thousands of Dollars in costly expensive mistakes. Also how does one use this equipment?

For example, Australian Film Base can get you all the professional $10K Cameras, Tripods, Lights and  Sound Equipment and tracks with a dolly for $500 rental  for a two day shoot   But you must know how to use the equipment and what is the best equipment to use.

That is why we have created the Weekend Film Schools now happening in Brisbane Sydney and Melbourne.   This is to help the emerging enthusiastic film maker learn how to make their own films.

 I have just completed a three day shoot which now concludes the extra shooting on A Day in the Life. Every day we got  exactly the weather we needed. This never happens in Film Making. Usually you get “Murphy Law.”  In other words, the weather you do not want.

Day 1 Saturday: It rained cats and dogs, but we were shooting interiors in an Eastern Suburbs house. Who cares? There is nothing better than shooting interiors on a wet day.
Day 2 Monday:  We were shooting at the Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbour. We needed a dull day with clouds so we could put in smoke to make it look misty.
We got exactly that. 
Day 3 Tuesday: We were shooting at a Harbour Front Mansion with a swimming pool with three swimsuit models and our one of our key actors Steve (Ricardo).

I was asked by some of you why there is extra shooting days on A Day in the Life movie
The reason is that the film came in at 75 minutes of pure quality. However we need 85 minutes and so we have shot 10 more hilarious minutes for the end of the film. The film is now even better and will be finished by Easter. The main shoot was 31 days.
The second small shoot is four days. One day in January and three days in a row this week. (Feb)

 And what fun scenes.
One scene is set in Northern Thailand where one of our protagonists has become a buddist monk. It does not take him long to get on the wrong side of his Master.

The other scene is where our biggest loser student Ricardo has won $20 million dollars in lotto and is now living it up with three  beautiful models. What happens? You will have to wait and see the movie. 

We cast Jessica Kahawaty as the lead model. She is currently Miss Lebanon and came fifth in Miss World in Macua last year.  It is a very funny scene and beautifully shot mainly at 30 frames per second.  Have a look at our WIP Trailer  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF6nWJjjXTM&feature=player_embedded
You can also see some First Time Student films made through our courses on More from Australian Film Base.

I worked with DOP John Biggins who is one of the best DOPS. He has such an eye and together we collaborated to create some wonderful scenes. The crew were wonderful and one of my great pleasures is recruiting the most enthusiasitic talented students from our recent courses to do small crew roles and get their first major credit. 

Three people who attended the November Weekend Film School and then went on to our One Week Directors Film School in January worked on the Three day shoot of Day in the Life. I know they had a wonderful time and it is very inspiring for them. They are also gearing up to make their own films and music videos and that is the sign of a wonderful film school. That is when film school participants are out there making their own films now.

Join the dream and have a look at our film courses. Details above for the film school schedule for this year. 

If you book into one of our courses this weekend, I will extend the discount for the courses for the weekend. The $200 discount ended yesterday  but if you are  a fan of my blog, please take advantage of this discount and book now for the discount. 

Have a great week

Colm O’Murchu

http://internationalfilmbase.com/
http://www.australianfilmbase.com/

Weekend Film School     Great for anyone who wants to make  Short Films, Documentaries, Feature Films   November 28th 29th

What is your best strategy for making it in the film world?  Having a business strategy.
Movie Distribution  Australia November 2009.

A friend of mine works for Village Roadshow. I met him last night to talk all about Movie sales in the Film DVD Market. At this time, there is huge supply of movies in the marketplace. He handed me the REM (Retail Entertainment Monthly) guide. This guide lists all the new releases that are scheduled for each month. It made for fascinating reading.

As most people know there are about 20 – 25 releases into the cinema every week. That is about five per week and about 300 per year. However there are thousands more films released straight to DVD. Here are some of the companies and their scheduled releases.

November Releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment 10 Releases
Beyond Home Entertainment 20 Releases
Duke Home Entertainment 9 Releases
DV1 29 Releases
Eagle Entertainment 7 Releases
Gryphon Entertainment 9 Releases
Icon 4 Releases
Madman Entertainment 59 Releases
Magna Home Entertainment 14 Releases
Paramount Home Entertainment 18 Releases
Roadshow Entertainment 122 Releases
Reel DVD 7 Releases
Shock DVD 57 Releases
Sony Pictures 16 Releases
20th Century Fox 24 Releases
Universal Pictures 19 Releases
Visual Entertainment Group 11 Releases
Walt Disney Studios 21 Releases
Warner Home Video 15 Releases

Total Releases 471 Releases for the month November 2009

The above are the list of all the main players in the Film and  DVD Market in Australia.
They sell everything from Hollywood Blockbusters to old episodes of TV comedy. This is where money is made for the distributors and also the Film Maker.
Of course it all depends on the deal that the Distributor signs with the film maker.

Now it is a fact that none of them sell Short Films. Thousands of shorts films get made in Australia every year and not many people see them.
The main outlet is Film Festivals and sadly film festivals rarely if ever pay money to the film maker. It is a limited field and no chance of financial return.

My feeling totally is not to get stuck making short films. Use short films as a means to an end. Make them till you know how to make a 7 – 20 minute film comfortably and you know that you have made a really good short film.  Then move on to making feature films cheaply on the weekend.
A Feature film shot on the weekend is like making 8 Short films over a six – nine month period.

With Final Cut Studio you can post your own feature film cheaply, then enter film festivals and sell sell sell your film. If you make a film for under $50 k ,
you still have a chance at Theatrical cinema release. If this does not happen you can sell your film in the DVD market and
have a very good chance of making a profit on your film selling it all over the world. Always keep the rights to sell your film off your own website
because this is worth $10 – 15 every sale.  Of course with both my feature films for 2010, we are aiming for the maximum return on our feature films. If you our on our site check out our  promotional trailer for A Day in the Life.

Yes you can have fun making your film on the weekend and make a profit from your film productions.

Find out how at our Producers Weekend Film School November 28th 29th

Beginners and Experienced Film Makers will benefit from  this weekend

Have a great one

Colm O’Murchu is the owner of Australian Film Base and has recently directed and produced The Makeover a 97 minute feature film and  directed another Australian Feature Film called A Day in the Life, Trailer is on the website link that follows Click here to learn more about Colm O’Murchu and Australian Film Base

Article can be published  if one includes  link above

Final Practical Directors Course Adelaide ( One Week)   October 6th —  11th  2009
You actually make a short film in one week, crew and write and produce the film
http://www.australianfilmbase.com/courses/1-week-adelaide

Film Making Tip ………… Post Production is critical to the success of the film.

The hardest part of Film Making is Post Production.  Getting it right is so important.  Post Production usually takes four times as long as Shooting.

In Big Budget Movies , producers will have big  post crews that take over a specific parts of posting a film.
But what the budget end of Film Making, Final Cut Pro 3 is the best low budget software for posting your film.
Francis Ford Coppola uses Final Cut Studio with his editor Walter Murch and you will see them on The Final Cut pro site  online posting their film.

Final Cut Studio has many different components
Final Cut Pro 7    You edit the film.
Soundtrack Pro    You sound post your film with this program
Colour      You grade and colour correct your film
DVDPro  ….. Create and burn  your DVDs

One of the most important things to remember is that when you have finished shooting and had the wrap party, you are only half way in the production process.

I have just spent the last two weeks working with Colour on The Makeover. ( one of my 97 minute feature films) It is a wonderful tool and it can make your film look beautiful. If you have worked with any Photoshop, you have the idea of what Colour can do. Is it way better than Final Cut Pro Colour grading or many other el cheapo Grading software.  It can get your full length film fit for the Distributors to see.

Today is the day that I complete post production on The Makeover and send it out to the world.
Big Film Festival Deadlines that are looming  The all important Sundance Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival and Palm Springs are all in the next week or two and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will enter all of them. The American Film Market also happens in November. 
This is one of the biggest film Markets in the world.

Have a great one

Colm O’Murchu is the owner of Australian Film Base and has recently directed and produced The Makeover a 97 minute feature film and  directed another Australian Feature Film called A Day in the Life, Trailer is on the website link that follows Click here to learn more about Colm O’Murchu and Australian Film Base

Article can be published  if one includes  link above

Quentin arrived to a raucous cheer at the Sydney Premiere of “Inglorious Bastards”  and went up to the stage to introduce the film. He made a fun entertaining speech where  he claimed that he came up with the title Ozploitation Films

Then he introduced the actors of the film. The female lead Diane Kruger  claimed that Sydney was her favourite city in the world. But everybody was there for Quentin Tarantino.

This audience loved this film with regular cheers after some of the key scenes. I wont spoil the fun.

Some of the Dialogue scenes go on for an eternity. But one thing I love is that Quentin does not have Germans speaking with English accents. He actually lets them speak in German or when French people speak in French.

How refreshing to see that in a Hollywood Film. Quentin has power.

At the end of the film Quentin walked right past me and I had to say ‘Well done Quentin”

Every film is hard to make but when you pull it off all the better.  Four Stars.

If you would like to be a film Maker, please look at our awesome film courses on www.australianfilmbase.com

Don’t miss out!

About The Film:

Rodger Keaton – Socially inept, clincially frigid, computer nerd, single white male.

With such an exceptional study in social limitations, Particia Bartlett – Award winninghard nosedjournalist at its most self rightous, has found her subject. Pitted against frightening odds, Hollywood makeover Guru Brad Holloway is blackmailed via the threat of crippling publicity if he cannot prove with substantial results that his Ultimate Makeover Services are the ‘Real Deal’.

Over the next six weeks, Brad and Roger take a most unlikely journey into often-uncharted terrain, with hilarious and heart warming results at every turn. But can true change be given a deadline? And can anything with a deadline be thoroughly achieved?

A willing dog can learn a thousand new tricks, but is self identity a trick? Can it be learnt, or must it be found? Join Rodger on a roller coaster of fear, anxiety, disaster, celebration, discovery, reinvention and hope as he hurtles toward the finishing line in this race against time.

The race is a game and THE GAME has a name – It’s called LIFE!

You’ve never had more fun meeting yourself

Australian Film Base
International Film Base
Sydney Film Base

Please feel free to check them out.

Colm.