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Category: Inspiration

Mar142015

Deb’s FILM Blog to add INK

cineqllIt’s time to come back from hiatus! Time to get back to blogging. Since starting my MFA in Creative Writing last year, work-life re-balancing with my full time job has been a challenge. It was time to pull back for a while, and it’s been good. But I’ve missed the blog and my connection with you, so it’s time to find a way to make the blog happen again.

Rather than return as it was (why more of the same, eh?), the F-I-L-M blog is undergoing a bit of an expansion. With so much inter-connectivity in life, I’m adding some I-N-K! What that means is basically, yes, more film/tv industry topics, but also now more writing topics… for both I-ndustry N’ K-ids… which includes kids-at-heart.

So, let’s get started with a little glance back at “The Best Of” before we venture into the territory of the future. Gives you the change to re-familiarize yourself with the blog’s flavour and to introduce other friends you think would enjoy it. So, from your feedback, here are some favourites:

F-un:
Fun posts.. need I say more?

New Technology Quiz
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/new-technology-quiz/

Wordsearch: In Honour of Coordinators!
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/wordsearch-in-honour-of-coordinators/

CU on Set
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/cu-on-set/

I-nspiration:
How movies and books inspire our lives…

Magic Movie Moment: North of Superior
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/magic-movie-moment-north-of-superior/

Inspiration at the Movies: The Count of Monte Cristo
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/inspiration-at-the-movies-the-count-of-monte-cristo/

Tail Credits for VE Day: Black Adder Goes Forth
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/tail-credits-for-ve-day-blackadder-goes-forth/

L-ife:
How aspects of our lives affect filmmaking or the craft of writing…

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Kids
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/3-things-i-learned-about-filmmaking-from-kids/

Home Office… Treat It Right!
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/the-home-office-treat-it-right/

The Serendipitous Cuppa Tea
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-serendipitous-cuppa-tea/

M-anagement:
The business of filmmaking and writing.

Cine-Surfer: About Delegation
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/cine-surfer-about-delegation/

Tattoos & Copyright
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/tattoos-copyright/

Free Film Budget (thanks to Deke Simon)
https://debpatz.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/free-film-budget/

Cheers & all the best,
Deb

Deb Patz, author – “Film Production Management 101” and writing for children

Mar232014

Inspiration at the Movies: Downtown Abbey

tlpfn“Is this an instrument of communication or torture?”

– Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Gratham (Downtown Abbey, Season II, Episode 5, 2011)

How true that when new technology is upon us there is an element of pain as we adopt it, learning its ways and learning how to work it into our lives!

The Dowager Countess is, of course, talking about the telephone here, but I’m sure you can insert any new technology today and feel the same way. We must hang on to the benefits of the new device and find our way through the change cycle… for it’s change that’s the constant, isn’t it?

Cheers and a good shoot to you,
Deb

Jan282014

Words of Wisdom from Film Professors: Planning

planng

“Fail to plan, plan to fail”

My television professor’s words still echo today, long after my university degree is completed, and anyone who has charged ahead with production, not having enough prep time knows this phrase to be oh so true… but… you also can’t get stuck in planning and never “do” or you still “fail.” So how about this small modification:

“Fail to plan, plan to fail… then do!”

Cheers and a good, well-planned shoot to you,
Deb

Dec62013

Inspiration at the Movies: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

prjtr“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

– Professor Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II, 2011)

Awesome! A fictional character challenges us about what is real!

How indeed we can be drawn into movies so that the characters “live” beyond the screen for us. We take them home in our minds. On screen they have journeyed through life’s problems and shown us the consequences of the decisions and actions (or inactions) and we may learn from their experiences for good or bad.

Logically we know these characters don’t exist in “real life”… they live only in our heads. But Dumbledore is also right. Just because something happens only in our heads doesn’t make it “not real.” We have many myths, traditions and memories that we carry with us only in our heads and they, too, are very real to us, affecting how we live, love and think. So why not carry around our screen characters long after the credits have rolled? They are real to us to… in our minds. It’s OK.

So… who’s “screen real” for you?

Cheers and a good shoot to you and yours,
Deb

Nov12013

Inspiration at the Movies: Atlantis – The Lost Empire

eye“Trust me on this one. You don’t wanna know. Audrey, don’t tell him. You shouldn’t have told me, but you did. And now I’m tellin’ you… you don’t wanna know.”

– Dr. Sweet (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 2001)

Sweet’s words are appropriate, too, for movies. Ever seen a scene in a movie you wish you could “un-see”? Once it’s been seen, it’s now in our heads and we carry it forever. Sure we can try to forget it, or repress it, but once seen, we’ll never truly be rid of it. We work in a very powerful medium. Let’s make it and watch it wisely.

Cheers and a good shoot to you,
Deb

May172013

Magic Movie Moment: North of Superior

kite1 + 1 = 3.

North of Superior is an IMAX movie from the beginning of IMAX. This magic moment was made in the editing room (as many magic movie moments are):

Outside on a breezy day. An abandoned lot serves as a park. Children have handmade kites from empty bread bags and sticks. So much laughter, so much joy, as they run around. You can’t help but smile, remember the carefree times of your own past. Resonating.

Cut.

The front of a well-cared for church. Mostly adults, well-dressed. Gathering, greeting. Filing into the building. Smiles all around, though more reserved behaviour. So much more grown up.

No narrator needs to tell us the story between these two shots. One cut and we know it. They are no longer only two separate shots showing us a glimpse of life north of Lake Superior; they are so much more. They show us who we are… as we were and as we are now. How, too, we have “grown up”. What did we trade in our own path to growing up?

Don’t forget the bread-bag, kite-flying you inside you. He or she is still there.

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb