Film making Articles and Creative Blogs

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.

A Very Happy Holiday Season To You All From The Smalls! 

Have you noticed something different about The Smalls lately?  We still have quality short films to watch, filmmaking articles for your reading pleasure, and of course our sleek and indelible black and yellow look.  But as purveyors of progress, we listened to our members comments and installed an upgrade to our site that we know will make sharing your films that much easier. We are proud to introduce (drum roll please)…

…  our new EMBEDDABLE PLAYER.

Now not only can you post films to The Smalls, but you can also begin to embed them into your own website, blog, or html email!  Thus it’ll be much easier to share with your friends your work and get people watching your films without waiting to have them discover you on The Smalls. We’ve also upgraded to a larger screen to make your short film look prettier wherever you decide to put it.

How can you embed your film onto your site?  It’s simple:

1) Visit your short film on The Smalls.

2) Roll over your mouse on the video player

Result: the timeline and menu will appear at the top and bottom of the frame

3) Click on the <> symbol at the bottom right (between the timeline and volume)

Result: The HTML code to embed the player will appear

4) Press the ‘COPY’ button

5) Now paste it into your HTML editor, blog software, whatever you wish.

Enjoy!

Best,
The Smalls

PS.  Special thanks to CJ and Paperheads!

Do you have a short film that explores love, relationships or sexuality?

Filmmakers from all over the world are welcome to enter their short film or feature into the SEXY INTERNATIONAL FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL. Best of programming will be screened at a week long event in Melbourne (in August 2009) and after that the show will go on tour through Perth, London, Paris, New York and San Francisco in October.

Opens for entries January 2009!

The competition associated with the festival offers up framed certificates and prizes from exciting sponsors.

Email info@sexyfilmfest.com for more information and application form. Or go to http://sexyfilmfest.com to learn more.

Good Luck!!

We work hard to make the films we want to make.  Whether you’re doing it with a borrowed camera with your best friends, or working on your first feature on a budget you spent three years to raise, the spirit behind what drives you is the same.  Filmmaking is about striving for the realization of a vision, and filmmakers will always give it everything they have to complete their labors of love.  So what happens when you’re done?  What drives you to submit your project – is it just to be SEEN, or is it to WIN?

There’s no denying that an award can be a huge advantage to your film and your career.  The Smalls hosts competitions every year and we know what it’s like to celebrate talent and see doors open for them.  But sometimes we wonder what awards mean to the filmmakers themselves.  An honor, perhaps.  Recognition, perhaps.  But is this one of the end goals when you set out to make your short film, or just a byproduct?  Does it mean nothing to you at first, but when you do get nominated or end up on a shortlist does your disinterest turn into a blinding obsession?

The Golden globes were announced today, and in a couple of months, the Oscar nominations will be as well.  But have we lost the significance of these awards?  Over the last decade, the money spent on promotion and ‘For your consideration’ ads has skyrocketed – the Oscars are a far cry from the private dinner they once were, where it was about peers honoring their own.  Do you think it still retains its spirit, or is it just a big commercial juggernaut, as its harshest critics would say? 

We’d love to know what you think about what awards mean to you. 

No. It’s not something dirty. Some call it a Batman angle, oblique angle or German angle. This filmmaking tactic uses the tilt of the camera to set a mood of tension or emotional turmoil in the world of the subject being filmed.

The reason it is called Dutch angle is rather funny. The Angle was a filmmaking technique heavily practiced in Germany in the 30’s and 40’s, earning the title “Deutch” (German) – but frequently confused with Dutch because of the English language. (We actually did not know the history of this – so I Googled.)

By leaning the camera to one side, so that the shot gets a diagonal axis, you achieve an unsettling mood. From there the camera can pan or track just like the DP or director desires – depending on what the vision for the scene is of course. While many who use this filmmaking technique do so keeping the angle static, there are some examples of moving Dutch angles out there.

The reason some Brits call it Batman angle is because, well duh, the series by the same name assigned each character with its own angle (!) hence creating a 1966 broadcast adventure that may have left some reaching for their nausea pills. Another example is also one of my personal favorites: The Third Man (1949) – this film used plenty of Dutch angles. Since the protagonist finds himself in unfamiliar territory, it suited the story perfectly. In iconic blockbuster Titanic, James Cameron also tilted his camera for the sinking of the ship – here we may care less about why, but can just simply say that it worked. At least for him. Whether TV creation of legendary filmmaking, the Dutch angel has made itself famous plenty of times.

Of course, as with all filmmaking tools and techniques – it only really works when it fills a purpose with your story!

Good luck!

On December 12, 2008 between 7-10pm Life as a Lemon Productions presents their 2008 Multicultural Short Film Festival in New York City.

The Center
208 W. 13th Street, Rm 412
New York City, 10011

Admission is 6 dollars – buy tickets online by going to http://www.lifeasalemon.com

Film festivals all over the world attract a diverse audience of filmmakers. To successfully promote your film festival you need to focus your efforts on the specialized channels that cater to the talented artists that make films – such as The Smalls.

The Smalls is the leading online social network for people in filmmaking, music, broadcasting and television. With thousands of members who practice and love the art of filmmaking and entertainment, there is simply no better place to market your film festival. 

Because The Smalls is a community for animators, art directors, composers, creative directors, designers, DPs, editors, producers, writers and many more, we offer you a way to expand your scope and reach out to anyone who may be involved in a quality project that you would love to see in your festival. When you use the film festival promotion tools that we offer, you meet these artists inside one of their favorite creative hubs – our site is where they come to seek inspiration, opportunity and collaboration.

Another reason for you to promote your film festival here on The Smalls is that you reach thousands of incredibly talented filmmakers worldwide. While the majority of our members are in the UK and the US, our community reaches confidently around the world. Using The Smalls for film festival promotion means you will not only increase your entry levels from all over the globe though, but also boost the quality of films you receive. Our members have a genuine love for the craft of filmmaking, many are active professionals in the arts, broadcasting and entertainment – and many have projects that have already earned them a multitude of awards.

We provide a promotion package that gives you incredible visibility across our site as well as in our newsletter that reaches out directly to all our members around the world. If you are looking for the ultimate film festival promotion success strategy we would like to welcome you onboard.

To find out more please send an email to cj@themalls.com with some details of your festival. We normally respond to requests within 24hrs.

Short films from around the world are welcome to enter into this all genre film festival to be held August 7th and 8th in Wiswall Park in the town of Ballston Spa, NY.

Screenings will be held outdoors and admission will be free. Judges will include professional local filmmakers and Hollywood filmmakers. The genres for the short films in the festival will include:

Best picture young filmmaker college
Best picture young filmmaker high school
Best New Film (must be world premiere)
Best Picture
Best Documentary
Best Animated Film
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Sound
Best Comedy
Of Local Interest

The deadline for entry is March 21, 2009 and there will be low entry fees ranging from 5-20 dollars depending on the length of the short films.  To learn more or to enter your short film go to http://www.bspafilm.com.

Lighthouse announces applications are now welcome for their Animation Storyboarding course, given under the guidance of Temple Clark and Giles Thacker. Six storyboard artists and animators will be given the opportunity to develop an understanding of traditional storyboarding practices and learn a range of digital tools for storyboarding and basic animation.

The course is called ANIMATION STORYBOARDING: A PRACTICAL COURSE IN TRADITIONAL AND DIGITAL STORYBOARDING.

The deadline to apply is January 13, 2009. To learn more or apply, go to www.lighthouse.org.uk

Anyone with a five-minute short film that visualizes ancient and contemporary components of IRANIAN HERITAGE is welcome to enter the Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival 2009 produced by SoCiArts.com.

The guidelines says the short film should be innovative and empowering, and utilize the visual medium to spark the audience’s interest in learning more about the culture and history of Iran.

The submission deadline is Feb 1, 2009. Screenings are planned at the foundation’s Noruz Gala that celebrates the Persian New Year, and the winner’s prize is $5,000USD.

For more information or to submit your film go to www.farhangfilmfest.org.

The Smalls has today launched a new FORUM for you if you are LOOKING TO BUY or LOOKING TO SELL anything related to film, film equipment and other items and services that may be useful to us in the film community.

From video cameras or other equipment, to services for your production – the forum is open for (nearly) anything.

Click on the FORUM tab in the main menu, and scroll down.

We hope you use it and enjoy it!

Ever see a short film you really liked, and it made you think, “I want to make that exact film, only better”?  It sounds a little crazy, but it’s not impossible, is it?  Films are remade all the time in Hollywood, so it can’t be that much of a stretch of the imagination to attempt remakes of short films – well, eventually perhaps.
 
The problem with remaking short films lies in the copyright.  Unfortunately, you can’t go off and watch a short film online, decide you want to redo it, and essentially steal someone else’s idea.  While the legal ramifications are vague, as most short films don’t have any profit machine behind them, internet audiences certainly won’t let you get away with it, and you’ll just look like a hack. Never say never though – someone may find a clever way of getting permission someday, and maybe short film remakes won’t be that strange an occurrence.
 
But there’s nothing stopping you from remaking your OWN film.  Why not look back at the first short film you ever made.  Maybe it’s perfect, but maybe not.  But perhaps there’s been enough distance between you and the material to go back, rewrite, recast, and make it better.  There’s nothing wrong with perfecting an early attempt at genius.
 
So tell us, what short films online would YOU like to remake if you could?