Seven6 Productions, LLC

“Perfect Substitute” will be in production soon. It’s a story about two buddies who feel coffee is a great substitute for women. We’ll be casting next Friday. This will be Seven6 Productions’ first film. I’m nervous that it will go right so I am planning things as much in advance as I can.

Then there is the 24hr. film challenge coming up. This will be madness. I have ideas in my head, but everyone won’t know what the genre, prop, and line will be until the day of the challenge. So you really can’t plan anything.

More soon …

Although my main focus is screenwriting - seeing my script on the screen is a goal of mine. The Internet is a wealth of knowledge for learning about screenwriting and filmmaking. Lighting is one of those areas I needed to understand. Today, I got to see a live seminar on scene lighting put on by a DP (Director of Photography) out of California. He was an excellent speaker. It was great to see lighting done in person and be able to ask questions of someone who actually has real, practical experience. Several other screenwriters attended the seminar as well. If you can attend any kind of film/screenwriting seminars (preferrably free or of minimal cost) - go to them. Learn all you can - it will help down the road.

Update on the screenwriting challenge. I withdrew mine - personal reasons. The other 4 were read by a film group, voted on and winners (yes a tie) were named. They will be made into films. No further comment.

This summer has been busy. I participated in two 48 hr. film challenges - challenge is the operative word - no more said about that. I did learn a lot - what to do and what not to do in making a short film. There needs to be hours of PRE-planning way before one frame of film is shot. If you don’t have the knack of paying attention to details - get someone and rely on them.

That’s the thing - you write a script - hand it over - and it comes out NOTHING like you imagined or wrote for that matter. That would be great if you were paid a good amount of money for it. You’d say - take it … do with it what you will. But, when you hand it over free of charge and watch your script be turned inside out - it hurts. Soooo…. that’s why so many sceenwriters - write, produce, and direct their own films.

The other thing is watching your script come alive, or dead as the case may be, on the screen. Many, many times it just doesn’t come across as written - the idea, feeling, the look - it loses its brilliance and become dull and missing. And that’s in the editing. That’s in the music. That’s in not paying attention to detail. That’s in not getting film shots important to the script. That’s the director changing things to his/her liking - which makes no sense to the script. That’s people putting in their 2 cents who have no idea how to write. That’s how a film turns lousy.

Moral: If you write a script and don’t get paid for it - and have it produced into a film - either film it yourself or direct it yourself or have a heavy hand in it’s production. BECAUSE - your name is on it FOREVER!

All that said, I’ve written several new shorts - one I am going to produce for a film festival. Our screenwriting group will also produce a film as well. We are delving into the dark abiss of filmmaking. I think our group has lots of talent. I’ll post our film later in October.

I’m learning more about filmmaking and how to do it right. Thank God for the Internet - or I’d never learn anything. If you want some great pod-casts about learning to use your video camera, lighting, and other good stuff go here: Izzy Video