R.S. Mellette's Blog, page 2
April 9, 2015
A Film Festival Orange
Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange
We have more movies to watch than ever!
Thanks to all of your submissions, we've added one day to
our screening schedule, and will probably have to add another – and that's just
for the shorts. We're also cramming feature films into our collective brains as fast as we can - so keep that in mind when whatever date Without A Box has for our announcement
We have more movies to watch than ever!
Thanks to all of your submissions, we've added one day to
our screening schedule, and will probably have to add another – and that's just
for the shorts. We're also cramming feature films into our collective brains as fast as we can - so keep that in mind when whatever date Without A Box has for our announcement
April 6, 2015
A Festival of ... BOOKS!?!
First things first. I want to get a shameless plug out of
the way. On Saturday, April 18th 2015, between 2:00 and 3:50, I will
be selling and signing Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand at the Los Angeles Times Festival of
Books in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI –
LA) booth 834. Please feel free
to join my event on
Facebook and if you're in the LA area then, come on
the way. On Saturday, April 18th 2015, between 2:00 and 3:50, I will
be selling and signing Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand at the Los Angeles Times Festival of
Books in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI –
LA) booth 834. Please feel free
to join my event on
Facebook and if you're in the LA area then, come on
March 30, 2015
Doin' Time Is Here
We are getting close to the final
deadline for submissions, which means it's getting real, folks. For those who have submitted, that means the
waiting is going to get more and more intense. Sorry, there's not much we can do about that.
For us, it means it's time to
actually do all of the things we said we'd like to do. … okay, maybe not ALL of
the things we'd like to do, but most of them.
deadline for submissions, which means it's getting real, folks. For those who have submitted, that means the
waiting is going to get more and more intense. Sorry, there's not much we can do about that.
For us, it means it's time to
actually do all of the things we said we'd like to do. … okay, maybe not ALL of
the things we'd like to do, but most of them.
March 23, 2015
On Being A Programmer
Last night, I spent the evening as a different kind of
programmer. While all of our other screeners spent the night watching shorts, I
tweaked our Filemaker Pro program to track who is watching what feature film
regardless of format, and unsuccessfully tried to calculate a sum using three
separate WHERE parameters. I have an SQL equation that works for two of them,
but the third is a problem for
programmer. While all of our other screeners spent the night watching shorts, I
tweaked our Filemaker Pro program to track who is watching what feature film
regardless of format, and unsuccessfully tried to calculate a sum using three
separate WHERE parameters. I have an SQL equation that works for two of them,
but the third is a problem for
March 16, 2015
Why A World Premiere?
Last night I was digging through the bin of unseen short
films looking for which ones we'd screen in the room that I'm in charge of,
when I realized that you, the filmmakers who submitted these movies – as well
as the filmmakers who might want to learn more about how film festivals work –
might benefit from knowing what I was looking for.
The answer is easy. World Premieres.
Let me clarify
films looking for which ones we'd screen in the room that I'm in charge of,
when I realized that you, the filmmakers who submitted these movies – as well
as the filmmakers who might want to learn more about how film festivals work –
might benefit from knowing what I was looking for.
The answer is easy. World Premieres.
Let me clarify
March 9, 2015
The Screenings Continue
As of today, we are tracking to have more submissions this
year than any other year of the festival.
Last year, getting all of the films screened and programmed
nearly killed us. It will be interesting to see how it goes when push comes to
shove this year.
With that in mind, I'm going to start now saying the two
things I say every year over and over again.
First, I don't care what
year than any other year of the festival.
Last year, getting all of the films screened and programmed
nearly killed us. It will be interesting to see how it goes when push comes to
shove this year.
With that in mind, I'm going to start now saying the two
things I say every year over and over again.
First, I don't care what
March 2, 2015
It's All About The Connection
Before I get into the films, I want to talk about walking my
dog.
Wait – don't run. I have a point.
When I walk my dog around the neighborhood, I see tons of
people out and about for whatever reason. Most of them are wearing headphones,
listening to God knows what. For non-Artists, that's fine. Sherman Oaks is
hardly NYC, Detroit or Moscow. We probably have more than fair our share of
dog.
Wait – don't run. I have a point.
When I walk my dog around the neighborhood, I see tons of
people out and about for whatever reason. Most of them are wearing headphones,
listening to God knows what. For non-Artists, that's fine. Sherman Oaks is
hardly NYC, Detroit or Moscow. We probably have more than fair our share of
February 23, 2015
While Waiting for the Godot Festival
I was away from the shorts screenings this week, so I'll
have some catching up to do. I did see good feature submissions, so thanks to
those filmmakers for that. I know other screeners will appreciate them as well.
We all want your movies to be great!
We had a production meeting this past week, and got to the
topic of distributors coming to the festival. This turned into a discussion of
what
have some catching up to do. I did see good feature submissions, so thanks to
those filmmakers for that. I know other screeners will appreciate them as well.
We all want your movies to be great!
We had a production meeting this past week, and got to the
topic of distributors coming to the festival. This turned into a discussion of
what
February 16, 2015
All About The Talent
Before we get to the shorts, I'd like to talk about features
for a second.
Last week I saw three films in a row featuring an early
scene of a single character, usually mumbling to him/herself, with about a
million jump cuts thrown in to look cool. It's not.
For my non-filmmaking readers, a jump cut is any edit that
cuts from a shot of one person to another shot of the same person. Most
for a second.
Last week I saw three films in a row featuring an early
scene of a single character, usually mumbling to him/herself, with about a
million jump cuts thrown in to look cool. It's not.
For my non-filmmaking readers, a jump cut is any edit that
cuts from a shot of one person to another shot of the same person. Most
February 9, 2015
Minute-By-Minute
At least once a year, I do a live-ish blog. That is, I share
my thoughts about each short film as they are screened. I say live-ish because
I'm not writing this during the movies, that wouldn't be fair to the filmmaker.
Instead, I'll go through my notes as I wrote them.
Keep in mind, I'm not the only judge. I think we had five or
six people in our room last night, so this is just a fraction
my thoughts about each short film as they are screened. I say live-ish because
I'm not writing this during the movies, that wouldn't be fair to the filmmaker.
Instead, I'll go through my notes as I wrote them.
Keep in mind, I'm not the only judge. I think we had five or
six people in our room last night, so this is just a fraction
