It’s Back by popular demand! – Caffeine, the 24 hour international film festival, returns on the 15th of January 2010. You can now register your teams here to take part.
2009 winner “Sclever”. On the team were Stephen Colfer, SarahWalsh, Conor Barry, Richie Cody and John Doran
.
.
.
.
Conditions
> All participants must be ages 12 and over
> The Competition runs from 6pm Friday 15th of January 2010 to 6pm Saturday 16th of January 2010
> Running time of each film must not to exceed 5 minutes
> All films for the competition must be hosted on YouTube, posted as a video response to the YIFM CAFFEINE YouTube Channel.
> Films must be scripted, shot and edited within the 24 hour time limit.
> The objects given and named at the offset of the 24 hours must be relevant to plot.
> Crew and cast may be prepared before the 24 hours begin.
> Films may be shot on any medium (from camera phones, Hi8 to HD and beyond).
> Films may be edited on any software or edited in camera.
> Films may be of any genre,
> YIFM equipment may not be used in the making of these films, however YIFM computers will be made available for upload to YouTube should that be required.
> All teams and individuals taking part must register for the competition before the deadline of WEDNESDAY 14th JANUARY 2009.
Top tips for Caffeine
.
Write your script
Make sure it has a beginning , a middle and an end! The three act structure with plot point one at the start and plot point two near the end is preferable.
A comic story with a twist at the end is usually the best for this type of film.
A protaganist and an antagonist are usually working against each other with a climax at the end.
Keep away from too much interior monologue or too much talking- this isn’t a novel or a play.
Think visually- this is visual medium!
Show your character through action not by what they say.
Make sure there is narrative tension in your script- boring your audience is death!
Hide your back story and avoid too much exposition.
Show – Dont tell your story.
Find locations-
Be warned you lose an hour everytime you change location.
Try to use one location preferably interior – two at the very most.
Schedule your film-
Be careful that you give yourself enough time for every scene and not to spend too much time on the shorter ones.
If there are any that can be cut out leave them till the end so you can shoot them if you have time.
Spend a good five hours scripting, three hours pre production, five hours shooting, five hours editing, two hours uploading.
Do not spend too much time on any of them. If you behind schedule while shooting change your story or combine shots to tell the same story.
If you have night time scenes outside be careful.
Do your storyboards-
Draw a comic strip of your story.
It should be possible to see your story through these panels without any dialogue.
Dont worry about the quality of the drawings.
Do an overhead of your scenes(especailly if it is a dialogue scene)-
If you have a talking scene with lots of shot reverse shot be careful not to cross the line.
Do a shot list-
This is a list of all your shots so that it will save you time
The three main types are-
Close Up (CU) -This is usually a characters face and shoulders.
Mid Shot (MS)- This is a characters from his waist up.
Wide Shot (WS)- A characters from their feet up.
There are other shots like Extreme Close Up, Tracking shot, Handheld, Two Shot, Over the Shoulder etc.
You will only use the wide for beginning and end of scene usually then go to mids and close up in the middle. Then back out to wide at the end.
Rationalise your shot list!- That means shoot all one way besides wasting time having to come back and set you camera up twice.
Leave the cutaways till last as they take time to do and actors prefer to get the flow of their performance out of the way.
Camera-
Remember the rules of compostion when you are shooting- The Rule of Thirds.(Imagine a Tic Tac Toe grid on your shot- try to have something of interest where it intersects.)
Try to keep everything in the left of right of your frame not in the middle.
Avoid too much negative space on left or right.
Watch out on the head height of your characters from the top of the frame.
Be careful of over exposure and the opposite under exposure which is worse.
White balance, focus and adjust the aperture of your camera(Use the auto settings if you want- its easier on smaller cameras!)
Help your director but don’t take over!
Directing-
Overlap all your shots- shoot coverage that will join up with the next shot in your sequence!
Create transitions- make sure that you know how your scenes will edit together.( A nice match cut is always cool!)
Keep calm and be authorative while listening to everyones advice but be the final say!
Listen to actors performance and watch everything are doing through the viewfinder if possible.
Give them notes after every shot. Praise if they deserve it but be constructive in your criticisms.
Communicate with everyone especially your cameraman.
Be decisisive- if you are panicing set up a cutaway shot while you think about it.
Get your main shots done that will tell the story and then do the ones that you can live without.
Shoot loads and loads of cutaways- these will save your life in the edit.
Editing-
Digitise all your footage. Watch every take and take notes. You never know what you will use.
Try to find movements of characters in shots that you can cut on.
Do not always come in on a wide- sometimes it is funnier to start on a close up and jump out to a wide.
Use close ups for more emotional shots.
If an actors performance is too broad use the wider shot.
Avoid the shots that last too long- these will bore your audience.
Let the pace reflect the film- a moody film shouldn’t be cut like an MTV video!
Editing is about finding solutions to the mistake of the shoot. Help the director find those solutions but don’t take over.
Try to get a montage sequence or at least one scene involving music.
Watch the transitions between scenes.
Try to cut dialogue scenes using the reaction of the other person they are talking to as much as possible.
Tighten every single edit on the final cut.
Watch the film with the sound turned down and see if it still works.
Editing in Camera
Be warned you do not have a second take.
Planning is essential.
Make sure you have a few tapes if you mess up.
Be inventive as you can. Use the cuts.
Uploading-
Turn it into a Quicktime clip
Then create a YOUTUBE account.
Upload your Video and MAKE SURE WE CAN FIND IT!
Good Luck! and Remember Have Fun!It’s Back – Caffeine, the 24 hour international film festival, returns on the 15th of January 2010. You can now register your teams here to take part.
2009 winner “Sclever”. On the team were Stephen Colfer, SarahWalsh, Conor Barry, Richie Cody and John Doran
Conditions
> All participants must be ages 12 and over
> The Competition runs from 6pm Friday 15th of January 2010 to 6pm Saturday 16th of January 2010
> Running time of each film must not to exceed 5 minutes
> All films for the competition must be hosted on YouTube, posted as a video response to the YIFM CAFFEINE YouTube Channel.
> Films must be scripted, shot and edited within the 24 hour time limit.
> The objects given and named at the offset of the 24 hours must be relevant to plot.
> Crew and cast may be prepared before the 24 hours begin.
> Films may be shot on any medium (from camera phones, Hi8 to HD and beyond).
> Films may be edited on any software or edited in camera.
> Films may be of any genre,
> YIFM equipment may not be used in the making of these films, however YIFM computers will be made available for upload to YouTube should that be required.
> All teams and individuals taking part must register for the competition before the deadline of WEDNESDAY 11th MARCH 2009.
Top tips for Caffeine
.
Write your script
Make sure it has a beginning , a middle and an end! The three act structure with plot point one at the start and plot point two near the end is preferable.
A comic story with a twist at the end is usually the best for this type of film.
A protaganist and an antagonist are usually working against each other with a climax at the end.
Keep away from too much interior monologue or too much talking- this isn’t a novel or a play.
Think visually- this is visual medium!
Show your character through action not by what they say.
Make sure there is narrative tension in your script- boring your audience is death!
Hide your back story and avoid too much exposition.
Show – Dont tell your story.
Find locations-
Be warned you lose an hour everytime you change location.
Try to use one location preferably interior – two at the very most.
Schedule your film-
Be careful that you give yourself enough time for every scene and not to spend too much time on the shorter ones.
If there are any that can be cut out leave them till the end so you can shoot them if you have time.
Spend a good five hours scripting, three hours pre production, five hours shooting, five hours editing, two hours uploading.
Do not spend too much time on any of them. If you behind schedule while shooting change your story or combine shots to tell the same story.
If you have night time scenes outside be careful.
Do your storyboards-
Draw a comic strip of your story.
It should be possible to see your story through these panels without any dialogue.
Dont worry about the quality of the drawings.
Do an overhead of your scenes(especailly if it is a dialogue scene)-
If you have a talking scene with lots of shot reverse shot be careful not to cross the line.
Do a shot list-
This is a list of all your shots so that it will save you time
The three main types are-
Close Up (CU) -This is usually a characters face and shoulders.
Mid Shot (MS)- This is a characters from his waist up.
Wide Shot (WS)- A characters from their feet up.
There are other shots like Extreme Close Up, Tracking shot, Handheld, Two Shot, Over the Shoulder etc.
You will only use the wide for beginning and end of scene usually then go to mids and close up in the middle. Then back out to wide at the end.
Rationalise your shot list!- That means shoot all one way besides wasting time having to come back and set you camera up twice.
Leave the cutaways till last as they take time to do and actors prefer to get the flow of their performance out of the way.
Camera-
Remember the rules of compostion when you are shooting- The Rule of Thirds.(Imagine a Tic Tac Toe grid on your shot- try to have something of interest where it intersects.)
Try to keep everything in the left of right of your frame not in the middle.
Avoid too much negative space on left or right.
Watch out on the head height of your characters from the top of the frame.
Be careful of over exposure and the opposite under exposure which is worse.
White balance, focus and adjust the aperture of your camera(Use the auto settings if you want- its easier on smaller cameras!)
Help your director but don’t take over!
Directing-
Overlap all your shots- shoot coverage that will join up with the next shot in your sequence!
Create transitions- make sure that you know how your scenes will edit together.( A nice match cut is always cool!)
Keep calm and be authorative while listening to everyones advice but be the final say!
Listen to actors performance and watch everything are doing through the viewfinder if possible.
Give them notes after every shot. Praise if they deserve it but be constructive in your criticisms.
Communicate with everyone especially your cameraman.
Be decisisive- if you are panicing set up a cutaway shot while you think about it.
Get your main shots done that will tell the story and then do the ones that you can live without.
Shoot loads and loads of cutaways- these will save your life in the edit.
Editing-
Digitise all your footage. Watch every take and take notes. You never know what you will use.
Try to find movements of characters in shots that you can cut on.
Do not always come in on a wide- sometimes it is funnier to start on a close up and jump out to a wide.
Use close ups for more emotional shots.
If an actors performance is too broad use the wider shot.
Avoid the shots that last too long- these will bore your audience.
Let the pace reflect the film- a moody film shouldn’t be cut like an MTV video!
Editing is about finding solutions to the mistake of the shoot. Help the director find those solutions but don’t take over.
Try to get a montage sequence or at least one scene involving music.
Watch the transitions between scenes.
Try to cut dialogue scenes using the reaction of the other person they are talking to as much as possible.
Tighten every single edit on the final cut.
Watch the film with the sound turned down and see if it still works.
Editing in Camera
Be warned you do not have a second take.
Planning is essential.
Make sure you have a few tapes if you mess up.
Be inventive as you can. Use the cuts.
Uploading-
Turn it into a Quicktime clip
Then create a YOUTUBE account.
Upload your Video and MAKE SURE WE CAN FIND IT!
Good Luck! and Remember Have Fun!
Popularity: 100% [?]
Dreamstuff Youth theatre staged their first production in the Watergate way back in 2000. The play was Monty Python’s Life of Brian and ever since the group has produced sixteen fun filled comedies like Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and Macbeth (OK, not all of them were fun filled!) in the style of their original crazy comedy production. This Christmas for their 17th stage production the group will present the (mostly) fun filled Sword in the Stone telling the magical story of the young Arthur and his childhood in Camelot.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Stumble Upon
MySpace
