The Smalls is an online showcase for non-commercial creative work. We are here to inspire and to offer a medium where emerging talent can display work not only to fellow members of the contemporary creative community, but also to our subscription members in the broadcast, film and advertising industry.
Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:11
THE SMALLS SHORT STORIES PANEL (IN PICTURES)
September 21, 2011 was a great night for The Smalls as four award-winning directors with experience in everything from comedy to drama took some time out to come to The Smalls Short Film Fest to share their stories behind making films.
From the moving and very personal story told by Calum Macdiarmid, whose stunning cinematography made jaws drop, to the twinkle-in-the-eye charm of Jon Riche who saluted those who "just go out and do it" and made us all laugh ourselves to tears, the evening was a great experience. Questions poured after Joseph Pierce showed some of his stunningly unique animation, and when Karan Kandhari showed his behind the scenes footage there wasn't an eye or an ear that wasn't 100% focused.
We wish we could do these panels more often. And we hope that the next time we do throw an event like this, these wonderful Directors will have time to come back to tell us about what happened next - judging from what we saw on September 21, there will be plenty to talk about.
For those of you who couldn't make it, here are som pictures from the event. Enjoy!
The Smalls Short Stories 2011 Panelists (from left): Jon Riche, Karan Kandhari, Joseph Pierce and Calum Macdiarmid
Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:00
THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Are you ready to enter your film into The San Francisco International Film Festival this year? Now is the time to prep your entry and submit it.
Regardless of genre, form or duration you can submit your film for the festival's consideration. One requirement though - as in most festivals, if your film is non-english speaking, make sure you have subtitles included.
There are some entry fees so make sure you check the site for details. Here are the entry deadlines, note that this means your film needs to be in The San Francisco International Film Festival office by 5:00 PST for each of these deadline dates:
Early - Monday October 3, 2011 (TODAY!)
Regular - Monday November 7, 2011
Final (Shorts) - Monday December 5, 2011
Final (Features) - Monday December 12, 2011
For more information visit the festival's website: http://www.sffs.org/SF-Intl-Film-Festival/Call-for-Entries/how-to-enter.aspx
Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:49
THE SMALLS MOVIE, TV AND DVD NEWS
The Circle of Life cannot be beaten, apparently, as ‘The Lion King’ stayed on top of the box office for a second week in a row. Netting USD $21.9 Million, it handily beat out the top contender ‘Moneyball’ (#2 @ $19.5M) – a true story and well-pedigreed production that really had everything going for it – and the surprise hit ‘Dolphin Tale’ (#3 @ 19.2M) – also based on a true story that was dipped into a vat of caramel sentimentality. ‘Abduction’ (#4 @ $10.9M) actually made it into the top five, an event that took us all off guard, and ‘Killer Elite’ (#5 @ $9.4M) rounded out the list of the biggest earners of the week.
Not impressed with what’s out in the theaters? Perhaps this weekend’s entries will draw your interest. ‘Take Shelter’ has gotten some good buzz, with a tour de force performance by Michael Shannon… ‘50/50’ has been equally lauded, and may have the names (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen) to draw in audiences… ‘Ghost House’ looks very familiar in the way it will probably try to scare you… but ‘Tucker and Dale vs. Evil’ may be the gory comedy you are looking for… and the oddity ‘Bunraku’ may be in some indie theaters near you, but don’t expect anything monumental – reviewers have not been kind.
We had to press our ear down the ground very hard in order to come up with any good tidbits this week. The remake of ‘Red Dawn’ is inching closer to reality, again… Antoine Fuqua will be directing ‘Hunter Killer’, as well as a documentary about superstar rap producer Suge Knight… Gore Verbinski is adding more projects to his plate, including a ‘futuristic’ version of the classic tale ‘The Jungle Book’… ‘Scream 5’ is being talked about as a distinct possibility… the script for ‘Wanted 2’ is now in the works… ‘Valley of the Dolls’ is being turned into a TV series courtesy of Lee Daniels… the videogame ‘Dead Island’ is getting the movie treatment from Lionsgate… Lee Unkrich is starting his next Pixar project, due sometime in 2015… and most fascinating is the news that Stephen King has announced a sequel to his novel ‘The Shining’. It’s called ‘Dr. Sleep’. How long before it is made into a movie? Make your predictions in the comments and forums!
In casting news, Steve Carell has been attached to ‘Foxcatcher’… Jessica Chastain is joining Tom Cruise in ‘Horizons’… the adaptation of ‘Ender’s Game’ is finally putting out calls for actors… Russell Brand and Julianne Hough are in ‘Lamb of God’… ‘Oldboy’ director Spike Lee seems to be gunning for Rooney Mara to play the female lead… Robert Duvall will be in ‘One Shot’… David Duchovny is returning to the big screen in ‘Phantom’… Emma Roberts joins ‘Anything but Ordinary’… John Goodman is in Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’… Mick Jagger will act in the thriller ‘Tabloid’, based on his own idea… and Justin Timberlake continues his ascent (or descent) into acting with ‘Spinning Gold’, based on the life of music mogul Neil Bogart.
And the biggest rumor of the week goes to the remake of ‘Robocop’, which got sudden buzz for implying that Michael Fassbender should right for the title role, but even the current director says it’s a long shot – there’s not even a script yet.
This week’s DVD releases will allow you to play catch up with some of the summer movies you may not have bothered with the first time around. ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ will put your home theater system – and your senses – through a punishing workout… ‘The Ledge’ didn’t do so well in theaters but may attract some attention on disc… and Criterion Collection lovers will have the series ‘Carlos’ or the silent classic ‘The Phantom Carriage’ to choose from. Go spend your money!
See you next week!
Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:37
DIRECTING THE CAMERA WORKSHOP, NYC
This course is essentially a master class in shot planning – a weekend where you will learn how to make the most out of your camera work through planning and economizing your shoot.
According to the website, this is what your weekend will deliver:
Course is suitable for directors at all levels, and shooting exercises include variations to accommodate different levels of experience. Bring a stills camera and a video camera. For the purpose of the exercises, any simple, consumer-grade camera will do. Best if it has a zoom lens.
SATURDAY: Camera Techniques I
10am-12am Composition and Coverage
• Visual composition: seeing in thirds, head space, negative space, perspective lines
• Visual Story-telling: foregrounds and backgrounds, open & closed framings
• Conventional scene coverage: master + inserts, shot types and angles, the 180 rule and when to ignore it
• Lenses: lens choices, racking focus
11-11:30 shooting exercise
11:30-12 review shoots
12-1 lunch
1-2:30 The Moving Locked Shot
• Creating multiple shots with a single, locked shot
1:30-2:00 shooting exercise
2:00-2:30 review shoots
2:30-5:30 The Invisible Moving Camera
• The economy of the moving camera
• Thinking non-sequentially
• Drawing lessons from animation
• Creating accidents on purpose
3:30-4:30 shooting exercise
4:30-5:00 review shoots
SUNDAY: Camera Techniques II & Shot Planning
10:00-12:30 Cool Moves: Expanding the Tool Box
• The push, track-around, countering and converging, reveals, hand-offs, pivots, parallax, back-parallax, and other techniques
11:00-12:30 shooting exercises
12:30-1:30 lunch
1:30-2:00 review pre-lunch shoots
2:00-5:30 Creating Shot Diagrams
2:00-3:30 Shot notations
3:30-4:00 Judo Girl: review shot diagrams and watch film
4:00-4:30 diagram a scene
4:30-5:00 review diagrams
To learn more go to http://theindependentfilmschool.com/directing_the_camera.html
Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:56
THE SMALLS SHORT FILM FEST 2011 AWARDS PARTY PICS
Hundreds of people packed in to The Gallery Soho on Thursday 22 September to find out who the Winners of The Smalls Short Film Fest 2011 Awards were, and to soak up an incredibly fun atmosphere featuring great short films, fellow filmmakers, creatives, sponsors, Smalls staff and crew, drinks and canapes.
Rewarded with a truly moving display of stunning films, all who came could also enjoy our entertaining Host Tim Fitzhigham and of course a greatly appreciated Keynote Speech by legendary DOP John Ward (Full Metal Jacket, Highlander, From Hell).
When Federico Forcolini who created Two Ladies & A Hill and later Sebastian Feehan, Josh Bamford and Hannah Bone who created Eighty Eight, stepped up on stage to receive their prizes the room roared with applause and emotions were definitely running high.
A big thank you again to everyone who submitted films, to our judges and everyone who participated in making this year’s event incredibly special.
A big thank you again also to our sponsors:
