0

Category: Ciné Surfer

Apr192013

Ciné Surfer: CareerRealism

news-emplyThis site has a great tag line:

“Because every job is temporary.”

Good perspective… although, admittedly, freelancers have understood this “realism” for a long time now.

It’s good to cross-train and cross-learn, so although this site may be more directed to “regular jobs” (whatever they are!), the info is very interesting and useful, covering topics like: being laid off and resume help, but also cool concepts like having an elevator pitch for yourself.

Surf by and have a look: http://www.careerealism.com/

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Jan252013

Ciné Surfer: About Delegation

handlesDelegation IS NOT about palming off the tasks you don’t want to do so that you are free to take on the only parts of projects you do want to do (like handing over the filing on a project you’re working on – because you don’t like filing – so you are free to do all the design, all the research, or even to visit set more often – which you enjoy)… in this scenario, there is little trust and lots of stagnancy; how could anyone working for you ever prove to you sufficient skills to fully take on a smaller project so you are free to take on larger ones (where you both can grow)?

Delegation IS about handing over not only the project and all its tasks, but also its responsibility… although as manager or supervisor you retain ultimate responsibility… and in this scenario you oversee the work, can properly mentor, and can help someone to grow their abilities and career to benefit not only themselves but also the work team and company.

About.com has a great management blog with 2 great articles about delegation. Not written specifically for the film industry, but totally valid all the same:

Delegate, Don’t Dump

http://management.about.com/od/people/a/DelegatDontDump.htm

and

All Management is People Management

http://management.about.com/od/people/a/All-Management-Is-People-Management.htm

Have a look and learn to delegate and work with people effectively.. and to grow.

Cheers & good delegation to you,
Deb

Jan272012

Ciné-surfer: Stella Pacific Management’s Resources Re: Child Labor Laws

Stella Management has a great summary California child labour laws and work hours for film sets here:

http://stellapacificmanagement.com/?page_id=8

Though your production may not be based in California, for early planning purposes anywhere, this page gives you an excellent overview of what hours you can expect are reasonable for child performers. Of course as you near production, ensure that you abide by the local laws.

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Oct212011

Ciné-surfer: Inspirational Quotations

Motivating Quotes.com : Dream Quotes have some great quotations of inspiration and thought-stimulation, especially about your dreams. George Lucas and Steven Speilberg are included in the list, as is John Barrymore and Jimminy Cricket (further down the list). My fav has to be Goethe’s… surf by and look it up.

ThinkExist.com boasts it has more than 300,000 quotations, so you can spend plenty of time here looking for the right inspiration you might need today. Their home page, however, displays quotations from people who were born today. Not all quotations are inspirational and motivational, but they’re bound to get you talking or thinking.

Might any of these quotations end up on a call sheet near you?

As a challenge game, you could include, say, 3 to 5 quotations and their 3 to 5 speakers… and then have the crew try to match the quotation with the speaker throughout the shoot day.

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Oct72011

Ciné-surfer: 3D Stereoscopic Film & Animation Blog – 1953 vs 1983 vs Today

3D films have come and gone and come back again. Alexander Lentjes has a great article on the 3D Stereoscopic Film and Animation Blog that looks at 3D films over the years.

Beyond the discussion, there are stats of the number of 3D films released (per genre) in various years and a bar chart… for us visual folk to interpret the information. Through comparison, we can get a better picture of where we are today.

Have a look: “Real 3-D feature release numbers: the 3-D Revolution of 1953 and 1983 vs 2010”

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Sep92011

Ciné-surfer: $1M Budget Breakdown (from Oz Film Commission)

The Australia Film Commission has a set of feature articles worth perusing. One in particular is called “The Financial Lowdown“.

Though this article is a tad old (it references films shot between 2000 and 2003), the content is still excellent. There’s a breakdown of a $1M production budget that helps with understanding of generally where in the budget the money goes. There is also discussion of how many shoot days are typical for low budget features and much more.

So… read it, learn from it, bookmark it! Then you can peruse their other articles too. Are any of them of significant interest to you?

Cheers & happy budgeting to you,
Deb