5 Below the Line Lessons from David Fincher’s House of Cards

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Below the Line Lessons from David Fincher's House of Cards

When Netflix handed David Fincher the keys to a $100-million production called “House of Cards,” nobody knew what was going to happen. Would the investment pay off? Would Fincher flounder or flourish in television? Is it still considered TV even if it never broadcasts over the cable pipes?

“House of Cards” is now Netflix’s most-watched title.

Consider me an accomplice to that success: over the course of a weekend, I watched the entire series — exactly what Netflix hoped would happen.

During the post-binge hangover, I tried to quench my thirst for more “House of Cards” by reading interviews with several key members of the production and I stumbled across one with David Fincher that was particularly revelatory.

During the course of this interview with Empire, Fincher drops hints here and there about what it’s like to work with him. And what we can glean from these brief insights are a few tips that will help your career for the long haul. One that, perhaps someday, gets you on a set run by Fincher himself.

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Watch This Honest “Behind the Scenes” Video of a Film Crew at Work

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It’s rare that any behind-the-scenes video gives an honest look at a film crew.

I find most “Making of” or “Behind the Scenes” featurettes to skip over the true filmmaking process in exchange for giving the celebrities of the set more screen time in talking head interviews.

That’s fine for the general public who, in general, could care less about a dolly grip or a camera assistant, but it irks those of us who would prefer people understand the true happenings of the film industry with a glimpse below-the-line.

Luckily, the video embedded above does just that courtesy of The Nerdwriter, Evan Puschak.

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25 Hilarious Filmmaking Meme Jokes: The Animated GIF Edition

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Funny Filmmaking Meme Joke
Now more than ever, the meme has taken over the Internet. Whether it’s cats playing with iPads, cats riding invisible bicycles, or cats pwning owners, they’re everywhere.

And not so long ago, I decided to get filmmakers in on the meme action with 18 Hilarious Filmmaking Jokes from the Internet Meme Machine.

Today the filmmaking jokes are back, but with a twist: they’re all animated GIFs, taking after blogs like #whatshouldwecallme (if you haven’t seen it yet, I apologize for sending you down the rabbit hole).

So here’s 25 animated gif’s to satisfy your intense cravings for nerdy film humor.

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Batting Baseballs with Pancakes and Why You Shouldn’t Settle for “Good Enough”

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One of the first lessons you learn on any set is that you will never walk away from a production without having gained some knowledge — there’s always something new you learn and add to your repertoire. Maybe it’s an innocuous skill like tabbing camera tape, maybe it’s skills outside of your department, or maybe it’s an intangible confidence in your ability to do your job better.

In any case, to freelance in the film industry is to always glean more knowledge from every show you work on. And the spec commercial above that teases “Roddick is Coming” is no different.

As the camera assistant (AC) on the “Roddick is Coming” shoot, I ended up with a few stories that reinforced lessons I had already learned as an AC. Today I’d like to share them and help you learn about some of the finer details of camera assisting.

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18 Hilarious Filmmaking Jokes from the Internet Meme Machine

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Admiral Ackbar It's a Trap Meme About Canon 7D

The meme has gone mainstream.

Or at least in my little corner of the Internet it has.

Everytime I log into Facebook or Twitter, I’m assaulted with awkward penguins, first world problems, and people showing me pictures of what they think I think they do for a living.

Well, it’s time for camera assistants — and filmmakers in general — to get in on the jokes and make their own meme fun. So here’s 20 memetastic memepics to satisfy your cravings for bold white text and filmmaking related humor.

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10 Awesome Production Stills That Will Remind You Why You Love Filmmaking

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10 Awesome Production Stills That Will Remind You Why You Love FilmmakingCreative Commons License photo credit: Karen Roe

Camera nerds unite!

Its time to indulge your collective love for the filmmaking process as well as your affinity for visual stimulation.

Over at The Black and Blue Facebook page, I held a mini-contest and asked people to submit behind the scenes production stills from movies they’ve worked on. In such a short time frame (about a week), I was pleased to see over 20 pictures posted to the page. Some were funny, some were impressive, and one was even sexy (you’ll see…).

So here are 10 of the best of them along with a few words from those who were there.

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Anatomy of a Film Crew in Pictures

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Anatomy of a Film Crew X-Ray PhotographerCreative Commons License photo credit: Karen Roe

What I’d give to travel in the past to the exact moment I stepped on a film set for the first time. As I walked through the set, there was a genuine feeling of fascination and the keen bite of anticipation and fear.

I remember how my mind surged with curiosity and filled with questions like a balloon.

Over the course of the shoot, I was given answers and my fears were quelled, but the memory of those first few days are still crisp as fresh lettuce. In particular, among the millions of other questions racing through my head, there was one that stuck out.

I couldn’t help but wonder: ”What do all these people…do?”Click to continue reading

5 Books to Inspire You to Make Better Films

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Bookshelf Spectrum photo by p!oCreative Commons License photo credit: p!o

If you’re like me, movies are your bread and butter. You make movies, you love movies, and you study movies. But films aren’t the only source of inspiration for us filmmakers and many books change the way you think or feel about subjects, including film.

So today I want to share with you five books that can change your approach to filmmaking, whether as an art form or as a career

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Robert Zemeckis on the Responsibility of Success

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Director Robert Zemeckis on the set of Back to the Future with a Panavision Camera

Robert Zemeckis was once poised to be the next Steven Spielberg before he transitioned from live-action filmmaking to (rather poor) motion-capture films.

Nonetheless, you can’t argue that the man found success as a filmmaker. Here’s a quick sample of the films he’s made:

  • Forrest Gump
  • Cast Away
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Romancing the Stone

And those are just films he directed! Zemeckis has gone on to produce many other well-received films, so when he speaks up about success it’s in your best interests to listen.

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10 Cool Production Stills Submitted by You

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10 Cool User Submitted Production Still Filmmaking Photos

For the past week or so I’ve been urging people to upload some of their best and most interesting production stills to The Black and Blue Facebook page.

The feedback was awesome, so thank you to all who submitted! After carefully scouring through them, I compiled the most interesting photos you liked best.
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