This is a most exciting time for independent film makers. Now that the internet and digital technology have paired up, we are seeing the old way of Hollywood shifting to the new independent film makers. The emergence of this technology has paved the way to new markets and tools for the film making industry. Most significant is the fact that this development has changed the areas where the independents have had the most difficulty- development, marketing, and distribution.Studio big-wigs have ignored the internet, treating it as a passing fad or a tool for film promotion. When Time-Warner was taken in by AOL, they understood what the impact would be. The Blair Witch Project brought this point home, the young film makers brought fame to the film with very clever web marketing. Hollywood production, marketing, and distribution has become the old way of film making, and this is causing a good bit of anxiety with the major studios.Independent film makers who have traditionally been left out and ignored by the film making industry, are now building websites. These sites deal with the traditional ways of film making, but many of them address the problems with financing, marketing, and distribution, and suggest remedies for these problems. Independent film makers are able to directly contact potential investors with scripts and potential story ideas. They are able to pitch their ideas to the investor themselves.

There has also been an insurgence of online festivals, distributors, and resources where an independent film maker can market their film to a worldwide audience and show the product to the interested party directly. This market is available to all, and the forerunners make up the criteria as they go. These new film makers will harness the internet, and be successful in digital film making.There are several methods and techniques when it comes to digital production. There are innovative trends and studies of up-and-coming independent film makers, online. You are able to learn about script development, marketing, digital distribution, how to enter film festivals, and much more. These topics are available to anyone who is interested in learning the new techniques in film making.

The internet is fast paced and growing steadily. These techniques have been out there for a while now, but as I said they has been ignored by traditional Hollywood for quite some time. These techniques are evolving rapidly and they will be critical tools for the independent film makers who want a successful career in the new revolution of the film making industry.Of course, before you jump into film making with everything you have, my advice is to become familiar with every

internet concept and tool that can help you produce, development, and market your project. Weigh the possibilities to find the best technique for you, your budget (while it does come with a cost, you will find internet based film making is cheaper), and your artistic abilities.As far as financing your film making endeavor, you may want to look into film making grants. There are several out there, just do a search on the ever evolving internet.

Hermila Floris is a writer for Uniformhaven.com which sells cherokee scrubs, baby phat scrubs on sale and lab coat as well as a lot of additional products.

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For the aspiring filmmaker film school is a joy.  Not only does it serve to give you the rudimentary skill set you will need, but also it serves to mold your passion and give you the momentum once leaving school, to produce work that is fresh and new.  There are several schools in this country that have outstanding reputations.  Of course California is going to produce more film schools than you can shake a stick at, with New York a close second, but there are plenty of film school opportunities in other parts of the country.  I will discuss some of the heavies first as they are the “Pie in the Sky” for many aspiring filmmakers. The premiere school to go to would of course be the AFI conservatory.  Founded in 1967, they provide 6 areas of course study: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design, and Screenwriting.  AFI is particularly devoted to traditional narrative film.California Institute for the Arts (Cal Arts), was created in 1961 by Disney in 1961, with an emphasis on animation.   San Francisco State University has a film program, also created in the 60′s amid the political expansiveness of that time and their course work is heavily influenced buy experimental film.  Then there is always UCLA Film School and USC as well.

In New York you have Columbia University School of the Arts and NYU.  Both have heavy rosters of Directors and Film writers that have come up in the ranks at these schools.  I think of Spike Lee when I think of NYU.  These are the most famous of them all, the ‘A’ list, and to get into these schools is practically a miracle from god, but if you do, you just scored Willy’s Golden Ticket.  If you find yourself to be one of the many that are outside the golden gates looking at all the happy film students, do not despair.  There are plenty of other film schools around the country that have great programs where you can get the skills and training you need.There are some things that you must consider when picking a school off of the ‘B’ list.  How much is the education going to cost?  That is the bottom line, because if you get loans to get into school, you better be able to make those loan payments 6 months after graduation. To that end the next consideration is what kind of internships do they offer.  See if you can have a conversation with the senior students in the film program so that you have an idea of what is in store for you once you leave school.  Who else has graduated from this school that is noteworthy?

Film School is that wonderful island in the middle of an otherwise uphill battle.  The equipment loan programs in themselves are worth the price of admission.  Here you will have the opportunity to use cameras, recording, and editing equipment along with edit bays and sound studios.  There will be a pool of actors and crew to draw from as you each help crew for each other.  For this one brief time you have the benefit of all this.  Once on the other side, however, you are on your own.The Pacific Northwest has several film schools.  University of Washington has an excellent film school.  The Evergreen State University is notorious for their liberal/alternative education. Some take issue with the fact that there are no grades.  Instead there is an evaluation system in place where the student and teacher write evaluations of themselves, the teacher, and the program. Greeners, as they are called, pride themselves in critical thinking and their program, MediaWorks, has provided the film community with radical, cutting edge filmmakers.Whatever school you decide to attend, enjoy it while it lasts.  It will be the one place you can experiment and have the support you need to get your projects done.  Plan on sleeping very little and learn to love pizza and Top Ramen.

Thresa Land is a writer for Uniformhaven.com which sells cherokee scrubs, urbane scrub tops and lab coat as well as a lot of additional products.

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The script is one of the most important areas of your film making process.  If you have a bad script people will not be interested in your movie, you will have difficulty finding actors and your entire project can meet a very premature death.  The solution is you need to ensure you are developing a good script, and making sure that your script is laid out properly.  Ensuring a script is laid out well might seem like only a waste of time, but it will be a small benefit that your actors really appreciate.  Keep in mind, actors who enjoy working with you are much more likely to put a large amount of effort into their role, as well as enjoy working with you again in the future.Your first task is going to be actually taking ample time to develop a good script.  This does not mean you need to spend a year on it but you can certainly expect to spend a few months.  If you have a Hollywood budget, you would be able to afford to pay several writers to work on the script full time, but as an independent filmmaker you are likely to need to use your own writing skills to create the script.  It is quite important that you do not schedule shooting to start on a script that you have not even started writing yet.  If you find that you will be working on the script for a long period of time it could really throw off the scheduling that you have planned.

You should also take some time in the layout of your script.  While you may want to create small versions of the script, it is very important to realize that this is not something that actors are typically impressed with.  It can make your script much harder to read, which will ultimately turn actors off from your work.  Additionally, you need to ensure that you are using just standard sized paper that is white.  Using cute colors might seem creative, but it will generally make the script harder to ready.  Avoiding emoticons as well as strange fonts is also highly recommended.  Your ultimate goal is a script that is extremely easy to read at a glance.To ensure that actors are able to find their places in the script quite easily it is a good idea to create a table of contents that is broken down by scenes.  This should be done in connection with all of the pages being clearly numbered.  While putting numbers of the pages might make it look a bit messy, it is critical to do so actors are not wasting time looking around to determine which page they are expected to be on.  Remember, your ultimate job with the script is ensuring that it is laid out quite easily for the actors as well as crew to review.

If you are not sure about the exact way to lay out the script, or you really hate the tedious work of laying out the script you should look into hiring someone to edit the script, which will work well for helping you to get the script completed much faster.  If you cannot afford to hire an editor, or if you have a problem in locating an editor who is willing to work on your script you may need to work on it yourself.  Just be sure to take your time, and make any adjustments that are needed.  Do not be afraid of taking months to years to finish a script entirely.  This is not uncommon and having a good script is much more important than rushing through the process.  You are going to be much happier with the result of your movie if you take your time to correct any mistakes that you locate prior to releasing the script.  Plus, as a final though, always make sure you wait to show the script until it is completely finished if possible.

Meta Mckay is a writer for Uniformhaven.com which sells dickies scrubs, landau scrubs and lab coats as well as a lot of additional products.

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