@2nd-rate-film-school / 2nd-rate-film-school.tumblr.com
I wonder, all these mornings you’ve been sitting in my study, sitting, have you had any moments of stillness? Because you’re right, Ruben. The world does keep moving, and it can be a damn cruel place. But for me… those moments of stillness, that place, that’s the kingdom of God. And that place will never abandon you.
— Sound of Metal (2019), dir. Darius Marder
the rubber duck
For anyone curious what they mean by the rubber duck, rubber duck debugging is a tactic used by programmers to figure out bugs in the code. To do it, they explain the code, verbally, line by line, to the rubber duck until they find it.
It’s also very useful for writers, and I’ve used it multiple times with rubber ducks, stuffed animals, and my friends.
One of the best dance routines I’ve ever watched.
The Nicholas Brothers
I believe these gentlemen are scientifically classified as a liquid.
Diagnosis: sick liquid fire
Didn’t they use these dudes to help animate some of the dancing in Betty Boop?
Correct!
Even more, they utilized Cab Calloway (the band leader) and used the same rotoscoped piece of him dancing in almost 20 of their shorts!
Amazing
Tap is such an exciting form of dance.
It gets better. These are the Nicholas Brothers. They did this unrehearsed, in one take.
1. That saxophone player who kept leaning out of the way lol
2. These guys must have had thighs of steel!
I’ve watched this like a thousand times and I’m so glad it popped up again
UNREHEARSED WHAT IN THE
HOW THE HELL?
How? Well, it helps that they were actual brothers, their father was in Vaudeville, and they’d been dancing together since they were almost bebbies:
Here’s a clip of them from seven years earlier:
This is the polar opposite to “there isnt a single encouraging word on that screen”
every single word of this got me increasingly more hype for it so I had to search to be sure that it’s for real and guys….
“It’s not a Pinocchio for all the family,” he said of his story, set in 1930s Italy. So is it a political film? “Of course. Pinocchio during the rise of Mussolini, do the math. A puppet during the rise of fascism, yes, it is,” said the filmmaker.
To create the unique look of Paperman, the animation was rendered with a base lighting pass that produced a simplified graphic image. Then, facial features, hair, and cloth animation were hand-drawn over using a process called “Final Line.”
We’ve made it!! Congratulations to everyone who completed the screenwriting challenge! You now have your very own first draft of a feature film!
Thank you to everyone who participated, submitters and non-submitters alike. You all put in a lot of time and effort and it paid off. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to read your scripts and can’t wait to see where these projects go. While this challenge was a lot of work, it was well worth it.
Hope to see you all back here for next year’s challenge!
Best,
Jules
We’ve made it to the final week! You all are so close to finishing your scripts and have officially made it over the second act hump. Keep up the good work and don’t forget to get that feedback!
I find the third act easier to write than the second, as it’s a culmination of everything you’ve been building toward. However, the third act isn’t without its challenges. Going into the third act, you’ve set up the climax, the most intense emotional and/or physical part of your story. The stakes and obstacles should be at their highest.
The resolution should tie up the main plot line and potentially tie up some subplots as well. Ambiguous endings are also great, but there still needs to be a moment of finality, even if there’s a question at the end. Think of Lost in Translation (minor spoilers ahead): Bob and Charlotte embrace, Bob whispers something, and they go their separate ways. It’s a final moment with questions still posed.
By next week, Aug. 18, 11:59pm (PST), complete and submit the following:
Resources for this week:
Happy Writing!
Jules
Friendly reminder that GIMP does pretty much everything Photoshop does, and it’s 100% free. Fuck DRM and the license culture, we have plenty of open source options available to us as a consumer.
If Adobe is going to be greedy shitheads, then fuck ‘em. Don’t use their stuff. Freeware can be just as good, if not better, than Adobe CC.
reblog to save a digital arts major
Reblog to save an artist.
𝒊 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 🖤
Rooney Mara & Cate Blanchett behind the scenes of Nightmare Alley (production status: filming without release date)
Congrats to everyone who’s made it this far! You’re halfway there. The 2nd act is what constitutes the majority of your film. It’s twice as long as the other two acts, starting after your 1st act turning point and your protagonist will go on a journey that will become more and more difficult until they reach the “all hope is lost” moment: the 2nd act turning point.
For this week, you’ll be finishing up the second act, stopping at your second act turning point. The second act turning point is not the “final showdown” but the point where your protagonist is at their lowest and they have either failed or succeeded in their initial goal (Think of Miguel and Hector in the cenote in Coco. Miguel found his great grandfather - his initial goal - but it’s not who he thought and now he has a new goal: get Hector’s photo from Ernesto.)
As always, do not procrastinate. I always find the part between the midpoint and the second act turning point to be the most difficult
By next week, Aug. 12, 11:59pm (PST), complete and submit the following:
By Aug. 19th, 11:59pm (PST), complete and submit the following:
Resources for this week:
Happy Writing!
Jules
Me: *stops writing* well that’s enough writing for now
Me: *later* Alright time to write!
Me: *staring at where I left off*
You’ve written your first act! Congratulations!! Now that you’ve gotten over the challenge of the blank page, it’s time to get your story moving!
The 2nd act is what constitutes the majority of your film. It’s twice as long as the other two acts, starting after your 1st act turning point and your protagonist will go on a journey that will become more and more difficult until they reach the “all hope is lost” moment: the 2nd act turning point.
For this week, you’ll just be tackling the first half of the second act, stopping at your midpoint. Your midpoint should be a major event that twists the story in a new direction, but it’s crucial that your characters are still pursuing the end goal (which they will either succeed or fail to achieve by the 2nd act turning point).
Do not procrastinate. You’ve completed your first 30 pages and know how long it takes. The second act is almost always harder to write than the first. Give yourself time during the week so you don’t feel rushed and you can promote creativity.
By next week, Aug. 4, 11:59pm (PST), complete and submit the following:
By Aug. 11th, 11:59pm (PST), complete and submit the following:
Resources for this week:
Happy Writing!
Jules
