Enjoy this next installment of our “Behind the Scenes” series for The Storyteller! Watch this one to learn more about the design of the film from expert Jamie Follis.

Enjoy our first installment of exclusive behind the scenes interviews with key members of The Storyteller production. Learn more about how the film was made and see footage of the making of!

This video features the brilliant Dan Clarke, Cinematographer for The Storyteller.

Here are three ways you can simplify your foray into the cinematic arts.

#1. Ditch the cinema cameras and use your DSLR.

Using the DSLR you’ve already familiarized yourself with will give you many advantages on set. It will be more intuitive for you to adapt your shots. It will be easier – and less costly – to equip yourself with a suitable range of lenses. You will be able to film in places where a cinema camera would stick out like a sore thumb. The list goes on.

#2. Light with a single light source.

Like everything else, this will take some practice to master, but trust me, it’s a lot easier to practice with one light source than it is to practice with three (or five or ten or a hundred). Also, it’s cheaper, you’re more mobile and there’s less that can go wrong.

#3. Color Grade like a boss. Yourself. In Final Cut Pro.

Many things will set your film apart from the multitude of independent projects out there. Good sound, yes. Good story, yes. Good actors, yes. These things will all set you off down the right path, but don’t think that the professional look you’re going for is out of your reach. Add “good color grading” to the list of things that will make your film a winner. Color grading always stood out to me as something you would only bother with if you had the budget and the time to employ a professional. It sounded daunting. But it’s actually a whole lot simpler than you might think. As long as you keep it simple, stupid. Color grade right in the software you’re familiar with editing in. Don’t use tech add-ons or install gigabytes of filters you’re not gonna learn how to use. Just make it look good.

Now that you know to keep all of the above stupid simple, why not pour your creativity into the story itself?

CineFix dives into the holy grail of filmmaking in this video essay on emotion and try to pin-point three distinct ways of visually imbuing a scene with emotion.

So let this be not just a lesson in cinematography and directing, but also in screenwriting. Write around the obvious and let the emotion live in the unwritten layers.

h/t CineFix

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

No. 1 – There’s always an excuse to not do something. So stop tip-toeing in circles around your dreams and get to work. Even if your first few attempts aren’t gonna get you where you ultimately want to go, they will set you down the right path.

No. 2 – Build a body of work. Whaddayaknow, look how nicely this one ties into No. 1. Your body of work will be your calling card, your resume and your boost of confidence. You may have the best script in the world, but there’s a fat chance anyone will fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars (not to mention millions) to a newbie without a solid body of work. But how do you build a body of work, if no one wants to take a chance on you. Well, my friend, YOU take a chance on you. Short films are a great way of doing this. They can be shot for cheap, you can edit them yourselves, you can tailor the writing to whatever locations/props/cast/crew you have available to you, and even more importantly they give you a chance to explore and define your own visual style. With a handful of short films (or whatever other projects you can dream up – be creative) under your belt and a visual style to show for it, you now have a body of work that will help you move on to …

No. 3 – Create a visual business plan. Numbers are good and important when seeking investments, whether it’s privately, online or at the bank, but they are also unlikely to really impress anybody, so don’t rely solely on the digits. Write a detailed business plan, then make it visual. People will invest in a clear vision, not a spreadsheet, and a clear vision is much easier to convey, well, visually. Storyboarding, pictures of your desired locations, the style of your previous works – these will all help sell you and your vision.

No. 4 – Don’t get hung up on budgets. All of the above rings true whether you’re making a $500 film or an $85,000 film. Sure, a bigger budget can buy you nicer things, but in the end your visual style and your vision will come from something much more cerebral than that; a good story and a passion to bring it to life.

No. 5 – Repeat No. 1. There’s always an excuse to not do something.

h/t Film Courage

Image from On The Horizon short film by Pascal Payant

Watch and learn, friends. The take-away? Even in the fightiest of fight scenes, the importance should not be on bloodshed, but on story.

When I watched Nerdwriter‘s video essay on the subject of intertextuality and how it’s become Hollywood’s new currency, it was with a bit of d’uh attitude; I had been thinking about this for years and I always let out a slight tsk whenever a new film throws in callback after callback to (mostly better) works that’s come before it. But what Nerdwriter does an excellent job of pointing out is that it’s not all bad. From a financial stand-point, the franchises and shared universes flooding the cinemas right now are fairly safe bets. Which is understandably important when the bet is on a 2-300 million dollars production budget. But more importantly, when it’s done right, the use of intertextuality can add humor, drama and a connection with a viewer – you feel like you’re in on an inside joke.

So after watching the video, my wheels kept spinning. Take away the big-budget financial speculation, the setting-up-for-sequals, the cheap thrills of recognizing a character or image – and what you have left is a filmmaking tool for creating familiarity and instantly eliciting certain emotions. I will, for one, be more aware of the impact of this ‘weaponized intertextuality’ in my writing and not simply brush it off as a dirty trick used by Hollywood blockbusters. Because moments of familiarity is good, especially when the material is fresh and foreign.

Watch the video essay below and be sure to subscribe to Nerdwriter’s YouTube channel.