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Tag: perspectives

Deb at R2R Festival
Apr172018

Inspiration at the Movies: Earth: One Amazing Day

Deb at R2R FestivalThis past weekend, I went to the closing night of the R2R Family Film Festival. It’s great to see family-friendly films from around the world on the big screen… but I digress.

Sometimes in a movie there’s a line that really rings true and you know you’re going to remember it for, well, probably for the rest of your life! It really speaks to you. Well, Saturday, I heard just such a line. Apparently it’s an African saying, but for me, it’s a line from “Earth: One Amazing Day” forever in sync in my brain with a flyover of African vistas and an adorable baby zebra. Here ’tis:

If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.

Which will you choose? In the meantime…

Cheers & a great shoot to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International and she really, really, really wants to visit Africa someday.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Apr.19 – Guest Author – Tea & Ink Writing Club, Tri-Cities BC
May 2-3 – Guest Instructor – Powell River Digital Film (High) School, Powell River BC
May 19-24 – PM Instructor – Screenwriter’s Bootcamp, PEI
Jul.23-26 – UFVA Conference: Stories Without Borders, La Cruces, New Mexico

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Oct292017

FILM: Doing A Little Bit More… with Signage

I went to a local dog off leash park, and found probably the best location filming announcement ever:

Yup, one for the humans (“park users” / at human eye-level) and one for the dogs (at dog eye-level). Doubt you can read the dog announcement in the wide shot, but it goes like this: “Woof woof woof…”:

The signage is inspired! I mean, why just do you job when you can do you job with a little flare, making the job enjoyable and spreading a smile around to others at the same time? How can one not be more receptive to the disruption of a film set coming to town than by seeing such signage as this!

Way to go, guys. You inspire us in making movies, you inspire us in how we can approach work and school in our lives and make them more enjoyable.

Cheers & a great shoot to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deb Patz is the author of “Write! Shoot! Edit! A Complete Guide to Filmmaking for Teens” (new in 2017) and “Film Production Management 101” both published by MWP Books. She’s shot on some interesting locations when in production.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Feb.17 – Digital Media Youth Expo in North Vancouver, BC
(more events and appearances are being assembled)

LATEST NEWS:
“Write! Shoot! Edit!” was reviewed in:
(1) Montreal Gazette, and many other newspapers across Canada 
(2) SF Crowsnest (in the UK);
(3) Midwest Book Review Library Watch list (on the Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf)
(4) Donovan’s Bookshelf Recommended Reading / Prime Pick for August (need to search for “Write”)

Mar222013

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… an Art Museum

paintbrshI’ve explored numerous art museums around the world, but it’s the one in Chicago that recently revealed these truths to me:

1.One Subject, Numerous Possibilities of Expression
Each artist will see the subject in a unique way – or in many unique ways. A haystack, a bridge, the Eiffel Tower… see any of them through the style eyes of realism, impressionism or pop art and no doubt dramatically different images come to mind. The possibilities of art (and of film) are the “many” and there is not a single, correct “one”… unless of course we are the artist and looking for the right “one” expression for our own artist within.

2.The Many Drafts Before Brush Stroke #1
No artist starts a full scale finished work from brush stroke number one. There will be many sketches that precede it: pencil sketches, pencil crayon ones, miniature fully-painted versions of the finished work to come. In these experimental drafts, the artist can test form, subject placement and meaning, technique, overall creative vision. Some museums display testing pieces near the final work, and then you can see what’s the same and what’s changed during the artistic process – and a process it is indeed. Drafts and drafts of the script precede the shooting script. Just as shorter films precede longer works on the artistic path of discovery. No single jump to final work.

3. If it’s a Different Time, It’s Different Art
Take Big Ben at dawn, with the warm summer light setting it to glow. Take it again at sunset with the sun providing back light instead, making us perceive its bricks darker than they are. Take it again buried deep in London fog. Different times of day, times of the year, and it’s a very different painting evoking in us different emotions. How too our perspective on the same story changes at different times our lives. We don’t see the same story from the eyes our childhood as we do in adulthood and on to further maturity. Knowing our perspectives as artists changes over time, we can explore the various points of view we could use for a story to find the right one… for now, anyway.

Yes, I’ve done a posting about art and not shown you pictures of the actual pieces I saw that brought me to these thoughts. Well, that’s because it’s now up to you to go to an art museum near you and discover the artistic possibilities and inspiration yourself. What will you discover when looking at the actual paint strokes? Have you done so already? Share them!

In the meantime…

Cheers & an artistic shoot to you,
Deb

Oct52012

Big Budget Spokes

Low budget equals fewer cast & crew, each with the responsibility of several jobs. It’s easy to feel essential to the entire production. Then there is big budget… Big budget equals larger – and sometimes MUCH larger – cast & crew, the work spread over so many more people. When you examine your individual role, it may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But that point of view is all in your perspective.

Perspective #1 – A crew member stands alone and removed from set and, guarding a distant doorway to ensure that no stray person walks onto the set when cameras are rolling. He/she is far removed from teamwork of set, and heck, the chances of anyone entering this distant door is remote that his/her presence here is probably pointless.

Perspective #2 – A crew member is one of a network of film professionals guarding the perimeter of the working set – a vast one today – ensuring that no person or activity disturbs the set when cameras are rolling – an an essential element to capturing the magic on screen. He/she is the only one at this distant outpost who knows what’s happening (when cameras are rolling and when they stop) on set, a relatively short distance away. When the rushes screen and when the final film screens, he/she will remember how large a network of crew and space was required for this magic of scene to be captured.

Every spoke is essential. You just have to see how.

Cheers & a great shoot to you,
Deb

Jun292012

Inspiration at the Movies: The Count of Monte Cristo

“You call it 50 degrees… I say two points more north by north east.”
– Edmond Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo, 1975)

Perspectives! How true that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently depending from where each of us have journeyed in life. Our personal histories and experiences colour the lenses through which we see the world. They affect how we interpret movies, art, stories, conversations, relationships… and on and on. No one perspective is right. No one perspective is wrong. Just different.

In a communication medium such a film, we cannot therefore presume that the message we send out will be received exactly as intended… there are so many perspectives at play on the receiving end! Acknowledging alternative points of view can raise our awareness of the richness of other possibilities and augment our ability to communicate. ‘Tis a valuable skill in this communication art.

So… recognize and enjoy that we are each on a unique journey through this life, and… vive la difference!

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb