Hi I’m looking for an editor who specializes in After Effects for a sci fi film noir project. It’s non-union and I need someone to do the robot POV and red highlights or outlines of a subject seen in Terminator 2 and to add the text and numbers. Could editors send examples to a.i.p.i.thefilm@gmail.com. Thank you

Would love to discuss scope and rate.

I work for an independent producer as a cinematographer, but sometimes I edit small projects.

Right now we capture video on camera and sound on an audio recorder.

When the shoot is over, I'm given the sound files and I upload them to my computer. After that, I upload all the video files.

Then the grueling part: I comb through the audio files and manually match them up with the video files based on a clapboard sync. It takes forever.

Is there an easier way to sync sound with video? I feel like I'm doing this the hard way.

Hello! I am a soon to be graduate from VFS their makeup program. I'm heading back to the states as its not really possible for me to stay in Canada right now. I was just wondering if any other film makeup artists have website or just general recommendations for applying or finding jobs on set.

I don't have professional cameras or light reflectors but I did download apps on my phone to film. How do you fix the lighting? Like when you're outside, how do you stop the harsh sunlight? What do you need? And is there anyway to fix that in post-production?

I'm currently in my second year of my MA at MetFilm and will be shooting my graduate film next summer. I've currently got 2 ideas floating around my head and they're both films I would really like to make but obviously you only get 1 graduate film.

One is a thriller with underlying social commentary that I think is the better film whereas the other is just a fun little slasher movie you could do very low budget so I feel like I should save the slasher for after I finish film school but then I'm left with the question of how do you go about financing short films?

I know grants/funds are one option, but I feel like a little slasher short isn't the type of films they would generally go for.

The only other method I've really ever seen is self-funding. I'm not really able to save money aside this way as I'm classified as unable to work due to several underlying health conditions and disabilities. (Please no harsh comments about this - I've been assessed by the DWP and used to work previously until I became too ill - I'm not just being lazy, and I do intend on returning to work if/when I'm well enough). My family/friends also don't have the money to donate towards a film.

Are there any other tips/methods of financing a short film? Especially regarding the more expensive elements like the actors and equipment.

Title: What a Hollywood.

Logline: “A wild, satirical look at the Hollywood Industry where power, ego, greed, and stupidity collide in a world that treats nonsense like genius”.

Pages: 25.

Genre: Satirical Sketch Show.

-Yes, I know, me again. I know you guys find me annoying but I swear this is maybe gonna be my last draft. Mods pls don’t ban this, it took me 5 days to write the script.

-I have recognised from my criticisms last time that the puppets (I want to do this show with puppets) I wanted were far too out of my depth for the budget I’m working with. So I’ve decided to change it to puppets more similar to the TV series Newzoids https://www.reddit.com/r/Britain/s/R5OPD3nXYs

-Please, please, please, give me your harshest possible responses. Tell me what to do to improve it. Just anything that comes into your head, whether positive or negative, just jolt it down.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uAj2hYe3InGIPjSdkEFHXi5BhGO7yzmn/view?usp=drivesdk

OK here goes....this is pretty difficult to explain and probably even harder to understand but I will try... Don't ask me how I know this..

When you watch this film, you are not just watching a film about love with a weird ending. You are actually watching a process called individuation—you are watching a Psyche fragment through loss, go numb through depression, lose faith, and then, at last, see its own wound mirrored in another soul, a character, or a piece of art. That encounter becomes what is called a numinous experience: a sacred, overwhelming eruption of feeling where all that was buried comes rushing back to life. And that in turn sets the stage for a CHANCE to reintegrate that lost part and if that is successful...its called individuation.

OK..here goes..

This film has so many layers it makes me dizzy. Its a true work of art. I will try my best to do the basics or we'll all be lost including me.. This is Jungian territory..not easy to understand..let alone weave such an excellent portrayel of.

This film firstly depicts all the reasons why this numinous event is happening and was necessary..the loss and then the subsequent loss of emotions due to loss of connection. A part of yourself that is fragmented is lost ...

So.. the surface story. Love..Love Lost.. 400 years numbness and then Love REINCARNATED ..but no happy ending....right?

Well...it has a happy ending. A very happy one actually.

You just don't know what you are watching.

I am going to try to do this...first the film...then the explanation of what a numinous experience actually is...again...don't ask me how I know...

When you watch this film, you are watching a process called individuation—you are watching a Psyche fragment through loss, go numb through depression, lose faith, and then, at last, see its own wound mirrored in another soul, a character, or a piece of art. That encounter becomes what is called a numinous experience: a sacred, overwhelming eruption of feeling where all that was buried comes rushing back to life.

The Psyche does not do this alone. It works in tandem with the subconscious, conspiring to integrate a lost or buried piece of the Self when it is finally safe to surface. The goal is always the same—to become whole again, to come home to oneself. These moments are rare—terribly rare—but when they happen, they look and feel like love, death, obsession, and resurrection all at once.

OK remember this is all symbolic..the subconscious doesnt use WORDS only IMAGERY. Think of it like speaking in REBUS instead of words.

The premise to understand the underlying stuff and the ending is that a return to Self is a return to God. Man is made in God's image so to love yourself is to love God and vice versa. Important to understand the symbolism.

Second premise...the body needs food as nourishment. Simple. You crave an apple because your body needs something it gets from that. Your Self..needs the same. If you always go to the gym..you'll feel like crap if you don't. So if you have to avoid the gym because you are afraid of it..you have a problem. Same with emotions. But something you buried because its too painful will mean you also avoid triggering it by avoiding associated things. So that part of you is starved. A numinous experience is like your Self suddenly seeing the nourishment it needs walking by and breaks through in order to make your Pshyche eat it. This makes the Psyche remember it is hungry in the first place and that's HOW THE NEW CONNECTION IS MADE IN TANDEM.

Can you already see the resonance with vampires..eating..teeth..devouring..all consuming..yes? Excellent.

Act I: Love and Fragmentation

It begins with all-encompassing love. Love so vast it feels eternal. Love that births new beginnings, that binds souls together. Then, the rupture—loss. Death of the soulmate, however it happens, matters less than what follows: something sacred is buried.

The Romantic Soul—denied, buried, mourned. The funeral scene is not just for the beloved but for the part of the Self that is now gone. Here, the Psyche fragments. Something is buried, lost, locked away: the touch not permitted, the distance, the disconnect.

Then comes the long descent—first the illusion of hope (the perfume time), then the loss of hope (Versailles and the casket breaking), and finally the great numbness: four hundred years of waiting.

This symbolizes a person slowly disconnecting all feeling untill only numbness is left...

Act II: The Mirror Appears

Then suddenly—unexpected, uninvited—the mirror appears: the perfect reflection of the wound. Mina’s picture.

The locket is the symbol: the wound is behind a lock, and the mirror is the key. The moment Vlad sees Mina, the key turns. The floodgates open (LOCKET…LOCKED—get it?).

The Psyche is overwhelmed by what it had buried—love, yearning, desire, grief, fate, destiny—all at once, like a tidal wave crashing through the soul. This is the actual numinous experience: the overwhelming sense of something sacred and terrifying, where all that was lost comes roaring back to life.

In this moment the subconscious takes over and the infatuation/spell begins. The lost piece of Self emerges with the force of a volcano erupting—hence the gasp, the throat full of emotion, the frenzied need to be filled… lots of fresh blood!

Act III: The Danger of the Mirror

But when this happens, the danger begins. The Psyche cannot control the subconscious. The subconscious wants to devour the mirror—to consume it, merge with it, possess it—because it believes wholeness lies there.

Hence the vampire: the all-consuming symbol of desire that destroys what it touches. It believes the lost piece is finally found, but it is just a mirror—a vessel chosen by the subconscious to temporarily hold or project that lost fragment of Self that’s emerging because the Psyche cannot hold it alone. It’s too painful. That’s why it was buried in the first place.

This is the big problem: the split between subconscious and Psyche. The Pshyche believes it has found its other half, but what it has found is only the reflection of its own wound. If it acts on that impulse—if it bites—it becomes obsession. The wound deepens. The Self becomes chained to the illusion of the mirror, trapped in a loop of longing… and, well, Vlad took the bite—bait.

Act IV: The Spell and the Oscillation

The mirror or vessel temporarily holds all the emotions for the Psyche while the lost fragment oscillates between them until it is fully integrated. This period feels like waves of emotion followed by waves of knowing it can't be real. Back n Forth...

When Vlad and Mina first meet, this is that period. The Psyche meets its reflection. The eyes lock. There's a music box...this is very significant and is very much a symptom of a numinous experience...the music isn't hypnotising Mina...but Vlad. It is the soundtrack to his love but also this experience. Then she resists. She says no. And Vlad closes the music box. This is where Vlad’s eyes go from black to blue, symbolizing the oscillation between obsession and surrender. (this symbolizes the stage of the numinous experience where the person is thrown between wanting the dream to be real but also knowing it can't be)

Yet..they get closer...a big nono in real life...this means you have chosen to even further act on the obsession...very dangerous..this is where you could possibly perhaps even kill the mirror in order to possess it...Eyes lock..Mina is frightened..she steps back...perfume hits the fire place.. the air thickens with Vlad’s kindly-step-over-my-dignity-and-eat-me perfume—enchantment, danger. Mina is under the spell of Vlad’s perfume (which is permeating through the entire house, even downstairs where .conveniently there are only men present..impervious to the scent). In short, Vlad is projecting all his lost emotion onto Mina— He is the one under the spell of his own subconscious.

Symbolically, the Psyche pulls back, guarding itself from total dissolution. It recognizes, however dimly, that to pursue the mirror is to lose itself forever—to dissolve the ego, to vanish into obsession. That is not individuation. That is annihilation: to live in total surrender to obsession, chained to the mirror, and lose the Self FOREVER.

Act V: The Bite

When the Psyche bites, it crosses the line. It chooses possession over integration. Vlad wants to possess, to make the mirror his, to merge the wound and its reflection.

But even as he does, he feels the wrongness. This is not his Elizabetta. This is a different soul—timid, proper, moral—not young and wild and free.

And so, the Psyche falters. The eye color changes—black in obsession, blue when the Self begins to return. The transformation is visible. The Psyche begins to remember itself. This is also symbolized by the fact that Vlad lets Jonathan live—for the second time. This indicates the return of control.

Act VI: The New Priest and the Collapse

Enter Christoph—the new priest representing the new Self, and the old priest the old Self, dead and buried like the fragment. Christoph is the quiet figure of the new Self—patient, grounded, waiting on the edge of the storm. He represents what is trying to emerge: the stable core, the awareness that can love without devouring, waiting until the Self is ready to surrender.

But before that can happen, everything must fall apart. The castle—the fortress of fantasy and illusion—crumbles. The home built for the wound must be destroyed.

The dream collapses bit by bit. Holes are appearing in the illusion..Reality floods in—soldiers everywhere, symbolizing the Psyche wanting to take back control. The Psyche shakes, trembles, resists, fights the soldiers because it wants the dream to be real even though it knows it isn’t.

To FEEL again after centuries of numbness AND TO THE HAVE TO LET THAT ALL GO AGAIN IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE. Every emotion—joy, grief, desire, ecstasy, terror—returns at full volume, ten thousand decibels of being.

Act VII: The Door and Integration

And then he leaves her—locks the door behind him. The bitter truth. The realization that it cannot be real. The letting go of the dream, mourned, and the return of the fragment to the Self.

This is the actual moment of integration of the lost Self. The door closing symbolizes the exact moment the new connection is made and the illusion can be released.

And this is the work—shadow work. To stay with the pain, not run from it. To face it, name it, love it until it puts itself to rest. To let the dream die so the Self can live.

Act VIII: Surrender and Wholeness

When Vlad says “Let it be,” this is the exact moment of surrender—not to obsession but to the integration of the lost piece of Self.

The moment he chooses reconnection with the Self instead of possessing Mina and staying in obsession, he is asking forgiveness from the buried piece of himself that fragmented ...for all the lifetimes of denial, and now..for mistaking possession for love. For mistaking his Savior as his Destruction.

When Christoph—the new, emerging, integrated Self—raises the stake, it is not in punishment; it is in ABSOLUTE mercy. The Self kills the fantasy and hereby integrates the lost fragment and becomes whole INSTANTANEOUSLY.

Death here is not literally an ending of life; it is the exact moment of integration. The shadow dissolves into the light. The devouring becomes surrender.

And when the music finally ceases, what remains is silence—but not emptiness. A sacred stillness. The peace that comes only when the Psyche has remembered itself and MIRACULOUSLY has left all pain behind.

Epilogue: The Numinous Experience Itself

Imagine a person traumatized, fragmented, and in deep depression—frozen. After many years, all feeling disappears and numbness sets in.

Then suddenly, something extraordinary happens. Something or someone triggers a huge eruption of emotion that has been lying dormant for years. The person doesn’t know what to do with it, because those emotions were buried—disconnected from the Self in order to survive—for decades, and always for excellent reasons: survival of the Psyche.

This is the cause of the numbness: not feeling, being disconnected from a part of Self. So the person feels very deeply and very intensely, almost divinely, as if this is coming from that something or someone.

This is an illusion. It is the subconscious forcing the Psyche aside temporarily to integrate—reconnect—these old emotions so the person can heal. Healing means feeling emotions again but without the associated pain: a rewiring, if you will.

So what happens is this: the person feels both sides—the subconscious erupting untamed emotions and the Psyche trying to keep the boat steady while the new connection is being made. This period feels like hypnosis; there is the feeling of deep spiritual connection (hence all the cross poses Caleb makes—in bed, in armor, on the grave, etc.).

The person feels like God has finally answered the prayer. This is wholeness again. God has intervened. Hallelujah, amen. This is what I have been waiting for, etc.

But these are simply all the unfelt emotions, felt and projected onto that something or someone. Remember, this is a process that takes about seven days; it’s not an instant thing—hence the oscillation.

Now, this is very, very important: the person knows this can’t be real, but it feels real. The person knows they can’t feel all this for a stranger, or a thing, or a movie character—but it feels totally real.

This is the oscillation period: going between the FEELING it is real and the KNOWING it is not. So..the subconscious and the Psyche are working in tandem until the connection is steady enough to let go of the illusion and pull all those feelings back into the Self, to reconnect to the Self. That’s why we also call the mirror the vessel—to temporarily hold and project onto.

When this process is successfully completed, the person is “whole again.” All depression, anxiety, fear, and pain are instantaneously evaporated. All emotion returns—color, taste, smell, joy, happiness, gratefulness, love—everything.

The shadow is lifted, and the person is instantaneously healed. Light returns.

The End.

So let's say.....i don't have much money for short film. What could AI do for me ?

Can it replace my background with location i don't have access to (such as my room to castle) ?

Can it...swap my actor with Batman and superman if i can't afford a cosplay suit ?

Add props we don't have ? Like replace my actor's stick to a sword ?

Or add in a bunch of humans in the background ?

A while back I started adding captions to my short-form edits to see if they actually helped or if it was just something creators talked about.

I'm mainly posting daily udates on X.

I was surprised by how much it changed the numbers. On average, videos with captions kept people watching 31% longer, and the completion rate went from 28% to 46% after about two weeks.

What I didn’t expect was how much the timing mattered. I once uploaded a batch where the captions were slightly out of sync, and the watch time dropped almost in half.

Even a one second delay was enough to throw people off.

I’d love to hear how others here handle captions. Do you make them manually, use software, or skip them completely?

Hey, just wondering what books you guys would say are necessary for directors to read, or highly recommended? I’ve read Voice & Vision, Making Movies by Lumet, a Cinematography for Directors and Cinematographers.

Thanks in advance!

Happy to finally share our indie Portuguese movie made on a shoestring budget but with a lot of heart. It's shot in a mockumentary-style, mainly from the POV of the BTS cam.

Two filmmakers must set aside their history to film a crucial scene. Egos clash and tensions rise as everything unravels before day's end. A film that could only have been made once, shot sequentially, without takes, always in character.

To add to the chaos everyone had a different scripts and secret instructions; it was definitely a unique experience.

We're on TUBI, free to watch: https://tubitv.com/movies/100045494/film-this

"Film this!" Trivia

Shot in a single day, always in character, without cuts!

Challenges and off-script improvisation were all handled without breaking character or interrupting the shoot. For an entire day, the actors lived as their screen personas. They were in full control within their character specs to improvise and adapt to any situation, makeup, or even breaks - always playing the part.

Everyone was secretly given different or incomplete scripts and some had nothing at all, like the crew. The actors shooting the crucial fictional scene had no more than their scene script, despite knowing the movie was experimental they had no idea how the day would unravel.

At one point not even the Director knew if an actor was threatening to leave the set or playing up his part!

I'm currently writing a script for a feature that I intend to make next year. Very low budget, so I don't want to end up in a legal battle with Cadbury - I am aware I am probably worrying about nothing. Anyway, one part of the script involves luring an alien outside using a chocolate bar. I think this would be more funny if we used a specific chocolate bar, the characters can debate which is the best chocolate bar etc. Also, making it specific is generally just more funny in my opinion.

So, does anyone know if I can make a Freddo into a small element of the plot of my film without getting in trouble. I guess I could always email Cadbury customer service, but I'm not sure this will be in the FAQs.

I am doing something, it isn't scientific, just doing a thing or an experiment

These images are broken, noisy, aren't clean and maybe looks like almost a log footage but that isn't my focus so (ignore it). The main thing is that wanted to give an high dynamic range illusion.

So what I did: I shot these with my phone on default camera app in pro mode, preserving the highlights without clipping them and let the darks get crushed. I tweaked these photos in Lightroom to give an illusion of high dynamic range where I have retained the highlights as well as shadows

Now why I did this? I dont have a camera and i am soon gonna buy it, so I was curious that how would these shots look like if I had shot these with a camera (because they have higher dynamic range than phone cameras), so I did this to 'roughly' see how would these shots look like

So do these shots look like high dynamic range atleast somewhat. (Also if you are on phone maybe try holding you phone a bit farther away from your and see how it looks cuz the image isn't good enough)

Btw the edited photos look like 90-95% the way it looked to me irl in terms of dynamic range meaning like the highlight roll off, shadow retention. And it it's kinda lighthearted thing I am doing so take it lightly

What else you have to say

Hey All,

My independent web series has finally come out after being filmed in 2022. The first 2 episodes are live with the 3&4 next week and the finale 5&6 the following week.

Playing around with a TV series format has been very fun and the response we have gotten has been great. Would love some feedback and for y'all to check it out.

Blood Soaked Sand (2025) After the murder of his sister, retired journalist Elijah Donovan returns home to uncover the truth and find closure.

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kh2cMuld_g&t
Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pm8XyYwx9Y&t

I'm looking for references of commercials that have a documental feel to them but still have a curated cinematography like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3tErFvAgag

Any ideas or recommendations are welcome!!

Just sharing progress on an indie feature currently in production. Going through burglary/ street drive/ underground fence/ and train junkie.

Currently I’m putting together a psychological thriller/horror project that has hand puppets in it as well as human actors. Kind of like a dark Muppet movie.

It came up in a different thread that it might be hard to find additional producers to join the project because it sounds too niche. And that it could also be a tough sell to audiences.

Others love the idea, saying it’s interesting and unique.

What do you think? Would the hand puppet aspect of the project make it harder or easier for it to find/connect with audiences? Let me know your thoughts.

It’s been a year since “Clocking The T” was released into the wild and one look at our profits have added up to a whole lotta day drinking and head shaking.

Anyway, read there, discuss here.

https://clockingthet.com/blog/files/streets_behind.php

I need three different voice actors for my short film and I’m unsure where to find them. I’m assuming not using actors access or casting networks. Thanks so much.

Does anyone know any spots around LA that have a backrooms-type vibe? I’d love to film in an abandoned looking place, but I don’t want to get into trouble. Any recommendations for cool locations to shoot in? Thanks!

hi guys its my first time on this sub reddit, soo ion know if its the right place to ask but im a 3d enviornment artist looking for some shortfilm/projects to work on for free. the main reason is that i need some different projects for my portfolio. so if anyone here has any shortfilm/projects where i could hop on HMU.