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FINDING THE STORY: How Narrative Filmmaker Tamar Halpern Directed Her First Documentary
About Tamar Halpern Tamar Halpern is a writer and director with 9 feature films behind her — all low-budget and produced for less than $1.2 million. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in 1998, the same year she started...
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RECENT POSTS
THE ALCHEMY OF SOUND AND PICTURE: Midge Costin on Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Effects
Walter Murch estimates that about 98% of what you hear in a movie has been added by sound editors. Yet sound is one of the most underappreciated aspects of filmmaking — even USC professor and veteran sound editor Midge Costin dismissed it when she was...
FROM DAYS OF THUNDER TO MAKING WAVES: Midge Costin on the Story of Sound
Sound is 50% of the cinematic experience. It’s the cheapest way to raise the production value in a film. And it’s easily one of the least understood and most underappreciated disciplines in Hollywood. Veteran Hollywood sound editor and USC professor...
LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKING: How Much Does It Really Cost To Make Your First Feature?
Fellow indie filmmakers continue making micro-budget feature films. Glen Schultz (Red Trail 90) says he did it with $10,000. Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) suggests you only need $1,000. Those figures notwithstanding, keeping costs low can set you up to turn a...
FINDING THE STORY: How Narrative Filmmaker Tamar Halpern Directed Her First Documentary
About Tamar Halpern Tamar Halpern is a writer and director with 9 feature films behind her — all low-budget and produced for less than $1.2 million. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in 1998, the same year she started...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS: A Year in Review from Lunacy
Happy Holidays from all of us at Lunacy Productions! We at Lunacy can’t resist a good holiday roundup, which is why we asked our office staff to share some of their 2019 favorites in the video below! Do you agree with our picks? Did we miss your...
WHAT’S YOUR CONTINGENCY PLAN? 5 Ways To Catch Budget-Busting Line Items
A film budget can be a moving target to say the least, and honing in on an accurate number before cameras roll is essential to a successful production. Just about everyone at one point in their career is tempted to trim their budget too low, and it is...
PLUS ONER: How the PLUS ONE Team Gets It All in One Shot
In this followup to our last conversation with the team behind Plus One, we get an in-depth account of the logistical planning and choreography that goes into the oner—a technically challenging but stylistically exciting bit of blocking and camera work....
RUST CREEK’s Thanksgiving Ties
Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been a big year for Lunacy, and we’re incredibly thankful for everyone who helped make that possible. That includes all of you who so warmly embraced Rust Creek, which was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and stands at #104 on...
PUBLIC RELATIONS OVERVIEW: Five Tips for Assembling Your EPK
Your film has a story! Where it came from, why it matters, or who came up with it in the first place (while stranded in a Maryland blizzard, for instance). Public Relations is the art of telling that story, through source material, documentation, and...
RENAISSANCE DISNEY: 5 Filmmaking Lessons from Disney’s Mulan
The term “Renaissance” has been used by fans to describe the awakening and reinvention that brought public and critical interest to Disney Feature Animation in the 1990’s, starting with 1989’s The Little Mermaid and ending with 1999’s Tarzan. No matter...
MAKE PEACE WITH UNCERTAINTY: Craig Johnson on Life as a Director
Directing requires serious people skills! In this follow-up to Stu Pollard's interview with Craig Johnson — writer and director of the Netflix movie Alex Strangelove — we dig into the more intangible aspects of directing. The first part of this...
YOGA ON SET: 5 Mind-Body Habits for Filmmaker Health
Does the word “yoga” invoke images of people in leggings sitting on mats and chanting? Grant us a minute, if you will, to stretch your imagination on this topic. When we talk about yoga, we’re referring to a practice, a mindset, an attitude—not simply a...
WRITE LIKE A PRO: How Our Screenwriting Experts Overcome Common Hangups
There are times when writing can be exciting, effortless, and fun. And then there are all the other times: when you don’t know where to start, or can’t remember why you started, or when you’re buried so deep you don’t even know which way to dig to get...
THE CUT, THE PACE, AND THE SCORE: Editor Melissa Kent on Finding a Film’s Sound
About Melissa Kent Melissa Kent’s diverse artistic background took her from dancing to design to a TV internship. She gave us some great advice back in 2018 about starting and building an editing career. Today she generously dispenses hands-on,...
THE MOVING MASTER: Shooting Coverage With Efficiency and Style
Wide establishing shot… Medium two-shot… OTS single… Reverse… Reverse… Reverse… Punch in for a dramatic close-up… Sound familiar? It’s how most film and television scenes are shot and edited. Sure, it’s a little boring, but it works. And if you have...
GREATEST HITS
LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKING: How Much Does It Really Cost To Make Your First Feature?
Fellow indie filmmakers continue making micro-budget feature films. Glen Schultz (Red Trail 90) says he did it with $10,000. Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) suggests you only need $1,000. Those figures notwithstanding, keeping costs low can set you up to turn a...
RENAISSANCE DISNEY: 5 Filmmaking Lessons from Disney’s Mulan
The term “Renaissance” has been used by fans to describe the awakening and reinvention that brought public and critical interest to Disney Feature Animation in the 1990’s, starting with 1989’s The Little Mermaid and ending with 1999’s Tarzan. No matter...
Z-AXIS MOVEMENT: 5 camera techniques to help you raise stakes, create unease, and more
There are three directions you can move your camera: along the horizontal x-axis (pans and dollies), the vertical y-axis (tilts and booms), and the z-axis (moving forward or back). Used separately or in conjunction, these movements can serve utilitarian...
BETTER SLATE THAN NEVER: The Importance Of The Slate To An Assistant Editor
“Rushing Ramona” is a 2nd AC (camera assistant) working on a feature in Kentucky. Before each take she updates the slate (also called clapboard, clapperboard, or sound marker) with the appropriate scene and take. She announces the take, claps the...
WOMEN ON THE CUTTING EDGE: 5 Female Film Editors Behind Your Favorite Films
In honor of Women’s History Month your friends at Lunacy will be posting content celebrating the contribution of women to the film industry. We continue this week with a look at female filmmakers who aren't household names but have nonetheless shaped...
