Hi guys, my name is Anton, I'm an ASC vision DP based in LA.

I'm looking to get involved in narrative or commercial projects, and connect with directors with projects in development. I worked internationally in Asia and Europe for the last 15 years, moved to Los Angeles 3 years ago.

I've been fortunate enough to do well financially, so I'm not looking to get paid (although I wouldnt say no if theres a budget) but it is nice to be able to afford proper toys like unique glass, chapman dolly, etc. I'm looking to shoot more local projects

Please comment if you'd like to connect!

Also my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/anton.usikov.dp/

Hi, I am applying to a cinematic arts program for a university. They want me to perform 3/6 job functions, I have 5 covered on my own. But I have no idea how to edit. It is a 2-3 minute short film, Suspense themed. I was wondering where are the best places to look for an editor, and how much should I expect to pay? Because, I don't have a huge budget in the slightest. The main actor i have is my little cousin in theater that I'm paying with food😂 any help is greatly appreciated.

I directed Red Mask, Part One, a first-person horror short built around a red door and one lamp in a concrete hall. A sound behind the viewer draws the camera away from that door.

https://dontae.teamdct.ca/work/film/red-mask-part-one/

The directing question for me is how much information that turn should give away. Does seeing the space behind you make the hall feel more dangerous, or would holding on the door leave more room for dread?

I came up with the film and directed its revisions. The Virtual Production Lab (VPL) built and rendered it in Blender with AI-assisted coding, recorded human camera movement and licensed sound. Published by DASTRO; full credits are on the film page.

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This is more of a rant than anything but here i go.

For starters, I \[20M\] have always had a very keen interest in visual storytelling. I grew up with a condition called ulcerative colitis, i was diagnosed with it when i was 9, and had to skip school for a few years until i reached 11th grade. I basically watched movies, read novels and plays while at home and the hospital.

I am an iranian. As most of you know we are not in a good spot. Not gonna get into internal politics because of the risks and dangers here. I feel like I'm conpletely lost. I want to immigrate but i have 3 years of my bachelors left. I want to work but i don't know where to start. I keep writing plays, and they seem briliant to me, i complete them and then... i don't do anything with them, i shelf them. What can i do besides writing? I want to write a screenplay but i don't know the formatting and don't know where to learn it.

Iran is and has been (for a very long time) a country with a deep passion for art. i see it everyday, musicians, graffic artists, spectacular actors and film makers, but the future for artists seems non existent, economically it's a shitshow here, though it is for everyone and in terms of freedom of expression in theatre and film... well... it's bad.

It feels almost discouraging and I just don't understand what I should be doing or am doing.

The brackets with numbers in the names of the directors is where I rank them among my favorite directors. I'm sandwiched between Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. I'm taller than half of them but shorter than the other half

I have written a science fiction movie which I want to get produced by any way either in AI or any real production house what should I do to get it produced in free or by any production house where should I send or what should I do

So, I made a short film.

I've actually made several now but it's driving me crazy knowing if I have talent or not.

I love psychological thrillers and I'm trying my best as an independent filmmaker.

Everything is made entirely by me, the filming, producing, acting, writing and editing.

I'd love to film bigger and ask actors to come on board but I want to know if they would take me seriously judging from the short film I made above.

Would you think of me as a serious filmmaker? Is there potential here?

I'm still learning the ropes.

I filmed this using my Canon E0S M5 and can't quite get the clsroty right on close up's! With it just being me it's hard to tell until I watch it back. Any advice?

Synopsis:

Priority Dreams | Original Psychological Short Film

What would you sacrifice to achieve your dreams?

When a woman discovers a mysterious app that promises to unlock her future, she is asked a simple question: What are you willing to sacrifice?

Convinced that success is worth any price, she agrees without hesitation. But as her dreams begin to materialise, the world around her starts to unravel.

Relationships fracture, reality shifts and she soon realises that some choices can never be undone.

Priority Dreams is a psychological short film about ambition, sacrifice and the hidden cost of getting exactly what you want.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, twist endings and thought-provoking stories, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe.

🎬 Written, directed and produced by Kirsty Stella Louise.

Hi everyone! I am looking to get my foot in the door and gain hands-on experience on set or in post-production. I am highly motivated, reliable, and eager to help out with any student films, indies, commercial shoots, or passion projects.

📍 Location: CUBAO Quezon City (Open to travel within Metro Manila)

🎬 Roles Interested In: Production Assistant (PA), Script Continuity, Actor Assistant, Costume, Props, Set Design

🛠 Skills/Background: [Insert 1-2 lines about yourself here, e.g., Multimedia arts student / Passionate about editing / Quick learner with basic knowledge of Premiere Pro and camera handling]

📅 Availability: Flexible Schedule

I am willing to start as a Production Assistant (PA) or utility crew to learn the ropes. If your production needs an extra pair of hands, please send me a DM or comment down below. Thank you so much!

I have two versions of a psychological thriller short (8 minutes' long) I've recently completed. It has a twist ending and although I personally think the meaning of the twist should be fairly easy to understand upon watching it, I don't want to risk audiences/festival screeners not getting it.

Earlier in the film the protagonist is talking to the secondary character about a deeply personal issue which is linked to the theme of the film, then something happens which might hint at that personal issue being resolved, and at the end the protagonist realises this, and it cuts to black. One version is focused on his reaction upon hearing the news, the other version has a 1-second insert of the conversation they had earlier in the film, no dialogue etc., which I put in to remind the audience of what they discussed in that scene so the ending could land.

I wonder whether it's needed though and worried festival screeners/audiences might think using flashbacks of any kind is too cliche or lazy. Does anyone have any thoughts at all? Happy to send you the film or chat on DM about it if you're interested, feel like I'm in a bit of a dilemma!

Hey everyone!

I’m a 2026 CSE graduate from SRM University, Andhra Pradesh. I recently completed my six-month IT internship, but my dream has always been to become a film director.

I’ve written two complete film stories with screenplays, and I’m good at storytelling, creative writing, and poster designing. I’m also interested in learning video editing and other filmmaking skills.

I don’t want cinema to remain a part-time passion while I work in another industry. I genuinely want to enter the film industry, learn from the ground up, and build my career here.

I’m looking for opportunities in Hyderabad and am open to apprenticeships, direction assistance, writing, production, art, editing, or any role where I can learn and contribute. I’m happy to work on short films, independent projects, or feature films.

I know I have a lot to learn, but I’m ready to put in the work. If you’re part of the film industry or know someone I could connect with, I’d really appreciate any guidance or opportunity.

I’m not expecting my first opportunity to make me a director. I’m just looking for a chance to start learning and working on films. ❤️

Niedawno złapałem się na tym, że jedno zdanie rzucone mimochodem przez wykładowcę ma na mnie większy wpływ niż cały semestr teorii. Pomyślałem, że fajnie byłoby zebrać takie rzeczy w jednym miejscu, zarówno ze szkoły filmowej, jak i z prawdziwej pracy na planie.

Jaka rada najbardziej zmieniła wasze podejście do pracy?

Czy jest coś, co usłyszeliście i dopiero po latach zrozumieliście?

Czy była rada, która brzmiała mądrze, ale okazała się błędna lub szkodliwa?

Chętnie przeczytam wszystko: od technicznych wskazówek po rzeczy o ludziach i emocjach. Im bardziej konkretnie, tym lepiej. 🎬

Niedawno złapałem się na tym, że jedno zdanie rzucone mimochodem przez wykładowcę ma na mnie większy wpływ niż cały semestr teorii. Pomyślałem, że fajnie byłoby zebrać takie rzeczy w jednym miejscu, zarówno ze szkoły filmowej, jak i z prawdziwej pracy na planie.

Jaka rada najbardziej zmieniła wasze podejście do pracy?

Czy jest coś, co usłyszeliście i dopiero po latach zrozumieliście?

Czy była rada, która brzmiała mądrze, ale okazała się błędna lub szkodliwa?

Chętnie przeczytam wszystko: od technicznych wskazówek po rzeczy o ludziach i emocjach. Im bardziej konkretnie, tym lepiej. 🎬

My second short film is called The Comic. It was accepted into three festivals out of the thirty or so that I had submitted it to. 

In March of 2020, I was in pre-production for my short film, Authenticity, which was to be shot in July. The script is about a young woman of color who is trying to make a short film. She is smart and well-educated but has problems communicating her vision to the crew and the actors. She is trying to find her identity.

Then the Coronavirus reared its head; we were being told to wear masks and stay home. Public venues closed: restaurants, bars, gyms etc. Schools turned to remote learning. Gatherings of more than ten people were banned.
Lockdown. My timing really could not have been worse.
Throughout April and into May I held out hope that things might calm down and we could pull it off but, by the beginning of June it had become apparent that the project was not going to be feasible. It would be very difficult to get locations in which to shoot. Even if we could get a location, having 10–15 people in one space was going to be a problem. Obviously, when we were shooting, everyone would be in close proximity to each other; the actors would have to take their masks off and many people were going to be uncomfortable with that. We had put out a casting call and barely anyone responded which gave us a pretty clear indication that people just didn’t want to be on set at that time. In addition, I’m sure that people were too preoccupied with their jobs and financial situations to think about acting in a short film.
I had worked hard on the script for Authenticity. It had gone through at least nine drafts and I was very proud and excited to shoot it. Now, the rug had been pulled out from under me. Since my job as a teacher had pretty much halted I had a lot of time to write a new script but it was hard to switch gears since I had invested so much time and energy into “Authenticity”. I felt like I had lost all the energy and momentum that had been building over the previous few months.
Then I realized I should stop being a whiny baby and think of something else to do.
   The guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai, played with Frank Zappa, who is regarded as one of the greatest musical innovators of modern times. He said that Zappa would experiment with guitars, take them apart and rework them to get certain sounds that he wanted. Vai said that if Zappa ran into a situation where he couldn’t get what he wanted, he would “absorb” the obstacle. He would try new designs and techniques to at least get something new, even if it wasn’t quite what he had in mind.
  Absorb the Obstacle: If you can’t get over it, under it, around it or bulldoze your way through it, make it work for you. Absorb it like a sponge, make it take on a different form, like water cutting rock in the Grand Canyon.
 
 It's not like I was the only one in this boat. Many people’s creative plans had been derailed. A former student of mine, Liz Campanelli, is an actor and she sent me a link to a play she was in, The Importance of Being Earnest. She and her acting troupe had been in the midst of rehearsals when the pandemic hit and closed all the theaters so they were performing the play on Zoom. I have to say that the performance was tough to watch. The actors were all obviously in different locations which made the performances stilted. Acting, particularly stage acting, requires an intimate interplay between the actors. They need to look for cues from each other, subtle hand motions and body language that is impossible to replicate over Zoom; everything is static. There was no music, and everything was static, but the costumes and background looked great, and the actors did a fine job delivering their lines. And, bottom line, instead of sitting around and whining about their bad luck, they did it. 
   People were using Zoom for everything from education to musical performances, mock concerts, live theater, and Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. It was great that people, especially creatives, were trying to get it out there, but it never hit the mark. Some bands tried to perform live simultaneously but there was a slight delay that threw off the performance. A bunch of actors reciting lines in separate locations didn’t sell. But they were trying.
So I thought we could do that idea and embrace the pandemic as a sort of character in the film.   Maybe the Coronavirus, instead of being an obstacle, could be turned into an opportunity. We could use the ideas of loneliness and isolation as well as the sense of distorted time that the situation has brought on. Put all of that into the movie: people wearing masks, sanitizing their hands constantly, all the stuff on social media etc. We would use technology and have characters interacting via Skype, Face Time and Zoom.

was debating on whether or not to even provide an update for this, but i do want to thank the ppl who actually gave me genuine advice and were not complete asses.

this is the first thing i’m directing out of film school so i got a bit excited and ended up over committing to someone who i was not 100% on!

i ended up having a convo with the actor and gave them some feedback over what i wanted for the role and they sent me another thing to work with! i’m not gonna say the result of it, because that’s not the point of the update!

i took the advice and applied it and it worked out for the better! once again, appreciate the ppl who were kind enough to genuinely offer feedback so i didn’t have to be overtly terrified of this. that’s all!

Hey actors, filmmakers, writers, directors, animators, visual artists, and anyone else working in the creative world!

If you could change ONE thing that would make building a career in your field significantly easier, what would it be?

It could be anything — finding collaborators, getting your work seen, finding opportunities, making a living from your art, or something completely different.

I’m genuinely curious to hear about your experiences and the challenges you face. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Recently completed a short film (just under 9 minutes' long), and I've gone through so many different edits trying to find the right compromises, transitions etc. I still feel like the film doesn't work on some level and I can't quite put my finger on why.

I get extremely mixed feedback on the film as well. Some people genuinely love it, and then others question some of the narrative decisions and motivations etc.

I've got two versions of the film and I've decided I'm going to use one or the other. One cut is 08:30, and the other is 08:52.

Would really appreciate it if anyone could help me decide which cut I should send to festivals, and get people's frank opinions on what they think of the film and its prospects at festivals.

Let me know if you fancied taking a watch!

A character can look identical from one shot to the next and still fail continuity.

Clothing changes without explanation. A prop disappears or duplicates. A character's position shifts. An action repeats even though it was completed in the previous shot.

These aren't necessarily image-quality failures. They're production-continuity failures.

One of the questions we're investigating through Directed Generative Production (DGP) Methodology is how reliably generative video systems can maintain character, environment, and action continuity across successive shots and generations.

I'm interested in what other filmmakers are encountering.

Which continuity failure costs you the most time to correct?

jseders.net

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It all started back when I was asked to do something, and—

Hello! We are g10 students from the Philippines! And we need your help to make our project in mapeh successful! We just need people from the film industry to interview,, your can text us or comment below if u want to be interviewed, we are looking for someone with a past or still in the film industry, thenk you!

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

I was onstage during a Q&A session at the Boston International Film Festival for my last short film, Say Your Name, and was asked, “What should I do before I start a film?”
I said, “Plan, plan, plan.”
There is a time when all of us: the director, the assistant director, the actors, the DP, the lighting crew, props, art department, need to see what the action of a scene will be: where the actor is starting, where he or she is ending. Where are they standing? Are they sitting? They are not really concerned with the dialogue and emotion of the scene, just the movements. They don’t need to know why the character pauses and looks out the window, just that they are doing it. Essentially, what is the camera seeing? That is what the DP needs to know.
In the script it might say,
INT. HOUSE-NIGHT
Amy walks into the bedroom.
That sounds pretty simple on paper. However, it always seems to get more complicated on set. Amy is in the hallway before she enters the room. So the script needs to be more specific.
INT. HOUSE-HALLWAY-NIGHT
The director and the DP and the AD would have a discussion during a pre production meeting and ideally take a walk through the location and make these decisions beforehand. The scene is supposed to take place at night so that has to be taken into account when thinking about the lighting.
Do we want to see Amy in the hallway before she comes into the room? Then the hallway needs to be lit and the art department needs to dress it. That takes time.
Does she knock on the door before she enters? If so, do we want a close up (CU) on her hand when she turns the doorknob? Then we need to light that.
Do we get a close up on her face when she is facing the door? From the front or in profile? Do we want the camera behind her when she knocks at the door? Way down the hall or right behind her? Is the camera in the room and the door opens and she is standing in the doorway?
We need a plan.

Shot List:

1. Amy in hallway from front
2. Amy in hallway profile
3. Amy in hallway close up on hand on door knob
4. Amy in hallway shot of her back opening the door

Amy enters the room.

INT. BEDROOM-NIGHT
What does she do when she gets into the room?
Once she enters the room, does she walk to a chair and sit down? Does she pause and look out the window? If she does that, then the DP and the crew need to light for it. We need a plan.

Shot List:

1. Amy enters room
2. Amy crosses to chair
3. Amy pauses and looks out of the window
4. Amy sits in chair

Where is the chair placed? What else is in the room? The art department needs to dress the room. What is the woman carrying? What is she wearing? How is her hair and make-up supposed to look. The various departments need time to do their work properly. It all takes time.

Once they see the blocking rehearsal the crew can place the camera and light the scene. The art department can dress the set, though depending on how complicated it is a lot of that has probably been done before.
When you don’t have a lot of money, it is better to keep things as simple as possible.
End
Not everything can be planned. Sometimes, many times, you get on set and things change. Things happen in the moment when the cast and crew are all in the location; you can’t plan for that energy and it is great energy. Good directors and actors and crew are able to adapt and use that energy. Not many things can replicate the energy of the cast and crew being in the same location at the same time. Someone may have a great suggestion and you say, “Yeah, let’s do that.” That is all part of the creative process. If there were a template to follow, a set of directions and it was like a machine, it is not creative.
However, that does not negate planning. Things cannot get out of hand. Someone might have a great idea in the moment but you don’t have the time or the equipment to do it. Or, it might be great for that particular scene but it doesn’t fit the movie as a whole. The director always has to keep the big picture in mind.
In the opening scene in the Godfather, when Bonasera is asking Vito Corleone to murder the boys who attacked his daughter, Marlon Brando is playing with a cat in his lap. That wasn’t planned. In the commentary, Francis Ford Coppola explains that the cat was just running around the set and he picked it up and handed it to Brando. Brando didn’t ask him why; he got it, because he was a great actor. He understood that his character gently playing with this little kitty was a great juxtaposition for this very powerful, very dangerous man, discussing murder. It underscored his character. Sometimes, you have to go with the flow.

But you still need a plan.

Hey everyone! I recently completed my IT internship in Hyderabad and am looking for a job to support myself and become financially independent without depending on my parents.

But I also don't want to give up on my dream of becoming a film director. I'm looking for a PG or shared accommodation where I can meet like-minded people, connect with aspiring filmmakers, and collaborate on short films.

If anyone knows of job opportunities, especially in the film industry or as an assistant director, I'd be grateful for the guidance.

Also, if you know any areas, PGs, communities, or places in Hyderabad where I can surround myself with people who share a passion for filmmaking, please let me know or DM me.

Just trying to stand on my own feet while giving my dream a real chance. Would love to connect with people on a similar journey! 🎬

Introducing Shot Data, a native Mac app designed for directors who want a faster, simpler way to build a shot list.

Here’s the workflow: start with a pre-cut stills timeline or a sound-locked timeline in Final Cut Pro. Shot Data reads that timeline and turns it into an ordered shot list database in Notion, with every shot in sequence. Your cinematographer and crew can then review and collaborate on it before the shoot, and nobody has to print or compile a shot list by hand.

Why directors will like it

• Turn the timeline you have already cut into a polished, shareable shot list
• Keep every shot in order, with the database created for you
• Give your DP and crew one shared place to review your vision before the shoot
• Work in a simple, native workflow with no complicated setup

Pricing and availability

Available now on the Mac App Store for USD $59.99, with no subscriptions and no in-app purchases.

Link

Hoping to connect with a development or creative executive, preferably in the motion picture department.

I have previous experience working in a management company and as a publicist's assistant. I currently work as a private assistant to a client outside the entertainment industry, which has taught me a lot about multitasking and organization. I would love to help make your work life a little bit easier while learning more about the industry. I love dissecting storytelling and have a long list of coverage under my belt. I read fast and give concise and direct feedback.

If anyone is looking for an assistant or might know of an opening or anything that might help, I would love to connect. (Feel free to message me).