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Chris Gore writes a book called “The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide”.  In the first 10 pages of the book he talks about going to Film Festivals all over the world and enjoying each and every one of them.  I don’t know about you, but this sounds like heaven to me.  Whether you are a film aficionado or a filmmaker with a film entered, a film festival is an exciting experience and one you will want to repeat as often as possible.

There was a time when film festivals were far and few between.  Studios controlled every aspect to filmmaking and there was not much of an independent spirit to be found anywhere. It seems however, with the rise of Indie films that every state in the country has it’s own film festival.  In California alone there must be twenty or more film festivals.

There was a time when films did not happen at all unless they were under the auspices of the studios.  There was no real chance of the little guy getting his or her film out there.  But now it is a whole different ballgame.  The little guy likes to show his films anywhere he can, hence the rise of independent film festivals all over the country.

Sundance, Tribeca, and the Toronto Film Festival are the first and foremost festivals to submit your film to.  However there are at least a hundred other film festivals that you can submit your film to.  This is rather like the lottery; if you don’t play you can’t win.  If you don’t enter your film you can’t get it shown.  You must continue to submit your film as many times as you can until you finally get acceptance into a festival.

You might get quite a few rejection letters until you get your first acceptance letter.  There are a few things that might help you out though.  You must remember that a film festival board may have 800 submissions and only 40 spots for a film to be shown.  Many a rejection letter has given the reason that they had far too many submissions to even view them all.  My advice to you is that once you have your film done and you have the very first date they are opening for submissions then submit your film.  Don’t wait until the last minute.

Make sure your film is entered into the right festival for instance, you would not enter a children’s film into an adult alternative film festival.  I am not sure there is even the latter category, but you get the general drift.  Also, read your application carefully.  It may require your entry to be mailed, done online, or even in person.

In the category of short film, be very careful you adhere to any time requirements for your piece.  If it is a little too long then do some more trimming.  Just to be on the safe side if the film is to be 10 minutes long, make it for 9 minutes.  Don’t give them any reason to kick back a rejection letter.

Rejection is a funny thing with Film Festivals; there is art even in rejection.  The Slamdance film festival came about as an answer to the rejections from Sundance.  The Sundance Festival shows in Park City, Utah.  At the same time in Park City, Utah Slamdance runs.  This is a deliberate attempt to show the films that have been over looked by Sundance.  I’ll bet there’s a lot of action in that town during the combined running of both festivals.

If you get a chance to visit the Pacific Northwest during the end of May and beginning of June, the Seattle International Film Festival runs for almost a month sometimes showing as many as 300 films.  They have great filmmaker’s forums and there is their original  “Fly Filmmaking Challenge” that they hold every year.  Theirs is the longest running and shows the  most films of any other film festival in the country.

I encourage you to do your own search of film festivals and check out their application processes.  Do this research sooner rather than later.  Don’t wait until the last minute.

Audio is one of those things that you have to have for your movie but don’t want to really think about.  You want it to just magically happen and let’s face it, nothing in filmmaking happens “magically”.  It might look that way but it doesn’t.  What you need is a good audiophile, somebody that loves to hold a boom with a microphone on the end of it.

You can look for someone talented with sound or you can figure it out yourself.  I suggest that you get at least 2 decent remote mics that sync with your camera.  While your camera may have sound it is usually really bad.  The remote mics can be worn on the body of the actor.  These will work adequately but proper mic placement it necessary.

When placing the mic on the talent use your fist with thumb extended up and pinkie extended down in the ol’ hang loose hand sign.  Place the thumb under the chin and at the end of your extended pinkie is where the mic should be placed.  This places the mic close enough for good sound but far away enough from the mouth to prevent popping and sibilance.

If you are fortunate to have a mic with a boom then this is the way to go with group scenes.  It is a real pain for a boom operator to handle a boom for an entire day of shooting, but those audiophiles just love this stuff.  They will hold a boom for days and love it.

Once you get your sound back in the studio you will need to edit it along with the image.  Previously filmmakers had non-linear systems to edit their sound but now you have available non-linear editing. This means that NLE gives you the ability to move sound clips back and forth within the video itself.

Along with recording the dialog of the film there is always sound effects and a soundtrack to provide.  The movie would be quite dry if there is no soundtrack or sound effects.  Making a soundtrack can be quite difficult unless it is all original work.  This is when you might look for music that is already recorded but that could present quite a few problems.

Violating copyright on anything belonging to another artist or their agent that owns the rights to the music, can hold up you up in post-production and keep you from being able to release your film.   There are ways around this but only a couple.  You can always use music that is public domain.  Any piece of music or image that has not ownership attached to it means that there is no person or organization that has a proprietary interest in this music or image.

The second solution for adding a soundtrack to your film is to simply use original work.  This is easy if you happen to have a friend that writes and performs music that works with you film.  Many budding composers and musicians are looking for a chance to work with a filmmaker so that they can partner their music making talents.

Mamma Mia! The film will undoubtedly find its audience. There are women of a certain age will embrace the joy of living. And there are people of a certain belief that the worship of his kitsch appeal. Besides these two demographic characteristics, although the film’s sleigh in the cultural arena of the car accident. While on stage at the weakness of vanity “history Catherine Johnson, is in bulk Razzmatazz showbiz on the big screen is stretched to its thin translucent caramel.

Just Across the Universe, Mamma Mia! is a collection of hits in search of a script. But unlike the former, she established her legs theater, playing in 170 cities around the world. Songs like Honey, Honey and Money, Money have pinched and twisted to serve new term story ends well as an animated Paeon Abba and a kind of Shirley Valentine amphetamines.

Here, we have Meryl Streep as Donna, a Doughty, hard-working single mother managing a dilapidated hotel on a Greek island. Her daughter Sophie (Seyfried) married and behind the back of Donna, the three men who had sex with his mother called at the time of conception. Sophie believes that until she discovers the identity of her father, she may not know who she really is. And if Bosnan Pierce, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård rolls per claim, the daughter she never knew she had.

Watching the likes of Karen Silkwood, James Bond and Mr Darcy grappling with the familiar hooks Benny Andersson and Björn Ulraeus timeless music “is akin to engaging in a sort of blood sport. Although, as always, Ms. Streep rises to the occasion dynamically, Brosnan is the screen as he smiled bravely SOS butchers ( “How can I try even to go …”). The real star is Christine Baranski, who brings spit and polish for her role as Donna girlfriend, Tanya.

He is about to save, but the banquet of cultural musical film, this is strictly choux pastry.

“I think we did a spy movie, [but] it does not exactly look like. I did not really think that a spy movie!

Filmmaker Ethan Coen may appear somewhat confused about his latest film – made, as always, the brother of Joel’s – when we meet at the Film Festival in Toronto, but this has not prevented the American public to receive the same Burn After Reading enthusiasm they last year, No Country for Old Men. But the difference between the two films could not be more marked, while no country is the epic, violent look at the hard edges of life in the modern West, Burn After Reading is a comedy with no taboos a strong cast of characters personified Goofball by an A-list cast. In the middle of the colorful story is John Malkovich, as ex-CIA agent Osborne Cox, who write his memoirs and tried to ignore his troubled marriage to wife Katie (Tilda Swinton). Unbeknownst to her, Katie is engaged in a tumultuous affair with federal marshal Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), while attempting to empty the bank account of her husband. When the manuscript Osborne accidentally finds its way into the hands of clueless personal trainer Chad Feldheim (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzka (Frances McDormand), they attempt to wrest their own purposes.

May It sounds like a romantic comedy, which in many respects it is, but by placing the center of American power, Washington DC, the Coens are deliberately invite theories about subtext and social policy? “This is not really intended as a commentary on Washington,” says Ethan. “It’s these special characters. Every time you these things, you want to be specific about the place that your story is. In this context, you not only people who hold power in Washington, but people live in this community. We had a vague sense of who we thought the references to characters, [but] it does not libel a person. ”

If they have heart satirical or not, there is no doubt that Burn After Reading is a great success back to the dark comedy tinged early work of the brothers, as Fargo (1996) and The Big Lebowski (1998). The fact that it comes so soon after the straight, intense sensation of No Country is impressive, even for filmmakers as varied as the Coens and achieved. But it is difficult for such a massive switch between genres as fast to make, and they see no similarities between the two? “You know, we do not have a film related to another in one of our films,” Ethan said with an amused smile. “Why? We believe that everything we now work. They are different films. They feel different.

“Certainly, it is an ambition that you change from movie to movie,” he says, which could reflect on a career of 25 years, who has covered everything from modern black (Blood Simple, 1984) to pastiche (Barton Fink, 1991) and classic remake (The Ladykillers, 2004). “You do not want to repeat.

They may strive to be different for each project, but a skill that remains in the heart of the success of the Coen brothers’ is their ability to choose the right players. She was known for picking players for dramatic comic roles, will now most famous attraction is Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski and George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Now they are adding Brad Pitt – who turns in a hilarious performance in Burn After Reading – this file, Joel Coen acknowledges that this is not a deliberate tactic. “We are not necessarily the distinction between actors and comedians, dramatic and comic roles in acting that way,” he explains. “If we put actors comedies that are not normally associated with comedies, it simply reflects our interest in them as actors. We are confident in their ability to inhabit the material the way it is written. We would not necessarily have thought:” Well, it’s a funny movie, and we have to cast actors.

“We want to write, and we always have written parts for specific actors, Joel continues, that a list of successful collaboration of the brothers script offers.” While we are writing, it helps us imagine the history. Many parts in this movie are written for people who play them. This is often how it works with us. We know that a player and want to work with them. If we do not know who will play, as it happens, and we throw the game. This was the case, for example, with Tilda [Swinton]. We had not worked with Tilda before. It’s all over the place! “