Surround yourself with smart people who know different things than you do.
That’s good advice, isn’t it? Common sense, really. Other than changing environments, nothing else will spark creativity so well. It will help you in everything you do, from making better decisions to discovering new passions.
This digital age requires us to be specific. We need to identify things so we can find things. We can not just leave things alone and expect that they will be discovered.
I get frustrated when I find a good website or article and I am limited on how I can share it. One of the reasons I like Pinterest so much is that it is so easy to use and share. Yet many sites and articles don’t include “pinable” images that drive the viewer back to the page itself, so you can pin them, or if you can, it is not an automatic link. Heck, I know that I am guilty of such slack; I rarely include images on my posts, which makes them difficult to share. And even when I do, I forget to put in a custom URL so that it drives the Pinterest viewer back to the post.
Yet, I am grateful for this slack of mine, for it exposes a bigger problem that we all face. The same problem — I mean, opportunity — is
By Roger Jackson and Klaus Badelt
Previously: Whatever It Takes
Some directors believe that music is a full 50% of a film. And that there are fundamentally just 3 or 4 “true” creative inputs to the movie — the writer, the director, the composer…perhaps the editor. Whatever the numbers, movie music — that skillful combination of score and song — has the potential to turn a good story into an amazing audience experience. But how do you musically super-charge an indie film when you don’t have the budget to hire a top composer?
I asked Kinonation co-founder — and prolific film score composer — Klaus Badelt.
Klaus has scored over 80 films. His work spans Hollywood blockbusters such as Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Catwoman, Poseidon, Rescue Dawn, 16 Blocks, The Recruit, K-19. And a ton of US and European indies, including documentaries, shorts and even video games.
Here’s what Klaus has to say about making the very best — and most economical — music choices for a film.
1. Composer as Filmmaker
The director-composer relationship is that of two filmmakers. It’s not about musical genres, or instruments. It’s about driving the story and emphasizing characters and creating emotion. That’s the role of music in film.
2. Script
Think about music (both score and songs) at the script-writing stage. Fundamentally, a filmmaker must decide what character development and story arc she wants from each scene. That is, how do you want the audience to feel about this episode? There should be a single, unambiguous answer. i.e. every shot in every scene must have a clear objective in moving the story forward. So thinking about the music at this stage– and making musical choices — actually helps propel and clarify the script-writing process. Deciding where the music in each scene starts — and where it fades — forces you to think with greater clarity about story shapes & arcs.
by Russ Collins
Why Theatrical?
1) Aesthetic mandate — for the film to have its full impact or be fully appreciated it must be perfectly presented on a BIG screen in a beautiful darkened room full of strangers full of artistic anticipation and cultural curiosity – the ART demands it. It is also why we go hear live music concerts, live stage and dance performances at theaters and actual paintings, sculptures and other visual art works in museums and galleries and have real art, not reproductions, hanging in our own homes. Art authenticity is a virtue!
2) Marketing godsend —
It is highly regarded as common sense to “not put all your eggs in one basket”. Yet most film investors, win or lose, get out after just one or two investments. This is not good for them and it is not good for the creators, either.
Just like the filmmakers, investors in Indie Film tend to
By Jay Webb
Previously: Indie Street Post #4: Maximizing Your Story-telling Capital
Indieconomies of Scale, Part 3 (of 4): Distribution
Distribution and marketing are the business areas where we at IndieStreet are really getting excited about the great potential effects of Indieconomies of Scale. Empowering a group of Independent artists to unite and grow together as a trusted brand has not been a realistic option until recently. Indie filmmakers didn’t even have great ways to find each other before the rise of social networking. And now, just by cooperating with one another and utilizing some emerging technologies, a small group of artists can gain negotiating power, release momentum, and expand customer reach in ways comparable to a larger distribution company.
As human beings we are each looking for our own path and purpose, and through our journey we will surely run across successful people or companies out there that we don’t “like” or may not agree with. The mistake that many of us make is to take these entities as a whole, and not try to absorb or learn from different aspects that makes them successful.
