Scriptwriting with Celtx Pt 1

  SCRIPTWRITING WITH CELTX Part 1:  Getting Started   N.B – Celtx has changed a lot since this article was first posted. In 2016, they moved their operations to a cloud based service  to encourage online support and collaboration, as well as being able to push their subscription services since the basic version of the …

Raindance Technical Certificate 4: The Power of Editing

Final Cut, Premier and Blender NLEs

The Power of Editing proved to be a strange session in that it was so far the most accurate in regards to keeping exactly on time, while at the same time providing so much information that I used a huge number of pages in my note-book – hence the longer time taken to write a …

Raindance Technical Certificate 3: The Power of DSLR

I’m going to stop saying how great each of these evenings was as it’s starting to get repetitive. I’ve never been on a bad Raindance session so far, so I think that we can take it as read (or, is that RED?) that it’s going to be a good one, regardless.   This session, Rory …

Remember, Remember…Scriptwriting, Story and Plot

A short time ago, Chris called on members of the club to try and film more drama. I thought therefore, that I’d put together some of the essentials that go into coming up with a story and writing it for production based upon my own experiences. While I’ve not had anything filmed professionally, I’ve always …

Raindance Technical Certificate 2: The Power of Sound.

First Impressions Wow. Just wow. I’ve never been involved in any formal sound training, and have never really been involved in sound production, so I’m not going to be condescending and say, ‘look what I’ve not been doing’ as I can honestly claim innocence of everything regarding proper sound. But at the same time, taking …

Raindance Technical Certificate 1: The Power of Lighting

Raindance Technical Certificate - The Power of Lighting

Who am I? I’ve been a member since late last year, but that’s not a lot of time in a club that meets only bi-monthly for people to really know who I am, so here goes – about the author. Despite first writing software in assembly language and being involved in computer graphics, both at …

The Perils of Filming in Public

By Annabelle Lancaster   This is an adaptation of an article in the North Thames Region newsletter written by Arthur Gatcum, a former policeman. Under the ‘Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Freedom of Panorama)’ the taking of photographs or video footage of buildings, sculptures and other art in public places is generally permitted without …

Short Stories for Filmmakers

  Short Stories for Filmmakers  by Chris Coulson   I’m always on the lookout for ideas for films, and we’ve all seen a number of brilliant short 1 minute joke films, by Basil & Pete, and by Barbara Walker, to name a couple of our filmmakers. Now I’m thinking, what’s the next step up from …

Green With Envy

A Personal Review of The Green Screen Practical Evening. When it was suggested that another session with the club’s green screen was due Chris quickly volunteered to organize the requisite practical evening. Never one to shy away from a challenge he decided to put on a demonstration of the use of green screen AND show …

The Write Stuff

Greetings dear readers (and you less expensive ones). For the benefit of those who don’t know me, as I’m a relative newcomer to OVFM, my name is Lee, the writer/director of the multi-award winning film “Writers Block”, and the big ugly brute in black who is usually blocking the view of short people at the …