In case you missed it, check out the breakdown of Coppola’s notes for The Godfather on No Film School. It’s truly an inspiration to see how meticulously Coppola prepared his script by breaking down every single page of the source material; analyzing, jotting down ideas, dissecting each and every beat of each and every scene.

Did you do this on your last shoot?

For a mildly OCD person like myself, it’s incredible to see how strict methodology can inform the creative process.

A post recently shared on No Film School, containing a video tutorial from The Film Look, explains how some of your favorite movie sounds came about, and how you can create your own, fully customizable library of sound effects. While there may not be a lot of surprises in the knowledge shared, it serves as great inspiration: pitch a tent in your living room, set up your mic and go to town.

After having your gory, stabby, bloody, squishing, cracking way with a variety of fruits and vegetables, go the extra mile and pick up a selection of sounds that you will almost definitely be needing in your edit. Things you may take for granted or simply neglect to include could be sounds like foot steps, jumps, handshakes, the rustle of clothing, cabinets opening and closing, doors creaking … the list goes on. On my latest shoot, we took great care to record clean, on-set sound, but even so, as I was editing the footage, I found that increasing the volume of dialogue sometimes gave the ambient sounds an unnatural presence in the mix. Similarly, in scenes with a rich room tone, like outdoor or group scenes, some of the finer details would get drowned out, giving the mix a feeling of being incomplete – even though the sounds were there. Have those basics (footsteps, movement, clothing) handy.

That said, what really sells these custom-made sound effects in the final mix is the delicate addition of room tone, so be careful to get that while on set.

But say your film is animated. Or set in a dystopian future/past. Or seeks to transport the viewer to unfamiliar places. Is room tone and watermelons gonna cut it? No. Sound effects – or sound design, really – should always support how you want the viewer to relate to your characters and their environment. The perfect example is a film like Wall-E. Take a cue from the greats:

Make yourself a cup of coffee, whip out a notepad, sit up straight and listen carefully. Enjoy.

You made a film. Now what? Chances are you would like other people to enjoy the fruits of your efforts, and if you are fortunate enough to have other people with a financial interest in your project, chances are that they would not only like the film to be distributed, but rather they would demand it. If the latter is your situation, I would hope you have already planned ahead and have a distribution plan ready (see our recent article on how to make a business plan for your film). If you don’t, read on for some of your options.

Tugg

Tugg is a community-driven platform for bringing independent titles to screens anywhere in the US. As a filmmaker you can use the platform to arrange and promote screenings, or you can use it to engage your social media following to the point where enough of them – your fans – request your film shown in a theater near you. It’s not a money-making machine, but it’s a fairly low-risk way of making sure your film gets a theatrical release.

Gathr

Like it’s slightly more streamlined competitor, Tugg, Gathr is a theatrical-on-demand service where either filmmakers or fans can request and promote a screening. Gathr is focused on documentary films.

VOD

Video-On-Demand seems to be the best way for a self-distributed film to generate revenue on a continuous basis and it should be part of any distribution plan you create for your project. Once your film has completed it’s festival run, you need to push for sales on VOD services like Netflix and iTunes. But don’t limit yourself to those brandname services – there are dozens of smaller, independent services that don’t require curator approval before making your film available for download/streaming. As a DIY filmmaker you can make your film more or less instantly available on services like Amazon Video Direct, IndieReign, Vimeo On-Demand and TopSpin, so you can start creating a stream of revenue. Check out this list of services compiled by PBS.

Aggregator Services

There are a lot of film out there. Not only do you need to know who you are marketing your film to, you also need to make sure your film is available for purchase wherever your potential viewers might be looking for it. That means either a lot of submissions for VOD services – or using an aggregator. A service like Quiver Digital takes a one-time fee to distribute your film across all major digital services (like iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google Play, etc.), after which you get to keep all revenue, less any percentages taken by the service your film was purchased or rented on. Similar services are offered by Kinonation and Juice.

Check out this No Film School article on aggregators – and the same writer’s experience using Tugg for her theatrical run.

h/t No Film School and Oakley Anderson-Moore

The full list can be found here.

Unfortunately, the deadline for the prestigious IFP Labs just passed, but there are some interesting alternatives that you may not know of, such as the HBOAccess Directing Fellowship or the Liberty Lab for Film.

Spend some downtime between takes to go through the list and bookmark the ones that applies to you and your project. After all, it’s amazing what a little extra production funds can do to your creativity, right?

h/t No Film School / photo HBO Access/YouTube

One of the best ways to learn, in my opinion, is to read the scripts of the award-worthy films. Then watch the films, of course. And then perhaps read the script again. Things will come forth. We previously posted links to Trumbo, Inside Out, Steve Jobs, Room and more here. Since then, more scripts have surfaced, courtesy the hopeful production companies. Be sure to download these while they’re still available, which is not for long:

Spotlight

The Danish Girl

Suffragette

Concussion

The Hateful Eight

Brooklyn

Macbeth

Legend

Ex Machina

You can find a running list on No Film School, as well, with many more titles.

No Film School has done an absolutely amazing job of reporting from the trenches and they’ve been kind enough to collect all their coverage in a round-up you can – and should – study in detail at your convenience. For those looking for simply a quick primer on what happened at NAB 2015, here’s a list of what we’re most excited about.

Adobe Introduces Character Animator

If you’re anything like me, motion capture and character animation sounds like both a major headache and thousands of dollars all in one unapproachable package. Well, Adobe thinks that this feeling of dread should be a thing of the past, even for relatively inexperienced filmmakers who wants to add character animation to their projects. From the looks of this video it’s not only relatively easy to animate in real-time, it’s also easy to get your hands on the software – for free – as long as you own Adobe After Effects and are subscribing to their Creative Cloud.

Cue the James Bond music. This tiny transmitter from Lectrosonics takes concealable audio units to a new level. It’s pricey, yes, but with this on the market, other and cheaper options are sure to follow soon. For me, these micro-transmitters are interesting products because they make a new kind of professional filmmaking possible. One where you don’t have to worry about blocking in fear of flashing your mic pack to the camera. One where you can be more spontaneous. This little guy is even controlled remotely from your iPhone or Android device. The 007-factor is important too, obviously.

#TryCion Program Let’s You Borrow Their Camera For Free

Along with a bunch of new features revealed with their latest firmware update, AJA has introduced the #TryCION program, which puts their CION Cinema camera in the hands of indie filmmakers – free of charge. Pretty cool. So if you’re gearing up for a production and would like to take advantage of the CION’s 4K/120fps shooting capabilities, head on over and sign up. Check out the gorgeous footage that awaits you:

3DR Announced New Drone At $999 Price Tag

I want one. Edit: I want several and I want them now. This little smart quadcopter from 3D Robotics may not do anything it’s competitors don’t, but what it does it does beautifully and at a price tag that allows even broke indie filmmakers to dream. Or even to pre-order from B&H. This thing will add unbelievable production value to any shoot. And even more importantly, it will allow indie filmmakers on a budget to dream of shots that were previously reserved for the big boys. See all the specs here – and check out the epic launch video:

Redrock Micro Is Changing The Way We Pull Focus

Pulling focus can be a tedious task. Depending on camera movement, blocking and the space you’re in, it might even be a time-consuming headache to get that pull-focus just right. No more, says Redrock Micro, as they usher in a new age of focus pulling with their HĀLO system. HĀLO will allow you to use a combination of manual and automatic focus via a touch pad and a nifty little device called HĀLO Explorer. In so many words; it looks awesome. In many more words, check out Redrock’s own explanation in No Film School’s video interview. It’s really quite spectacular:

Portable PRO Power LED from Lowel At Accessible Price

Lighting can be the bane of any low-budget shoot, especially if you’re working with a lot of locations and very little time. Here’s finally a – from the looks of it – professional grade light source that is portable enough to throw in the back of an Uber and flexible enough to be all you need to make your shots look like a million bucks, without spending a lot of precious time on setup and breakdown. Lowel’s portable PRO Power LED is available for $625, comes with a variety of light controls, runs on either AC or battery and has a number of different color options. Looks slick too.

Be sure to check out all the excellent articles from No Film School right here.