Shekinah Springs Studio

Music is said to be at least 40% of a movie experience. It isn't important to have good music, it needs to be great! Good music follows the story of your film, great music will enhance the story. Stock music works for some videos, but it usually forces you to fit your story around the music rather than the music telling your story.

Caleb and Daniel Morris are the young men that I use anytime I need custom music for a project. In fact, I have them working on some music right now for my upcoming ReelCast demo reel - and let me tell ya, it's sounding good! A while back I did an interview with them for my blog about their process for writing music, I mean how does it work with two people? You can read the interview here.

"Our ultimate purpose in writing music is to glorify God. We want to write music for films that accomplish this goal." ~Caleb and Daniel

Head on over to their website - Shekinah Springs Studio - and check out some of their music samples. Some of my personal favorites are:
- Holiday's Song
- Out West: The Race
- Seek and Ye Shall Find Part 2
- Epic Ending
- Christmas Movie
- Pendragon: King Battle

Apple Updates

Apple has updated the entire line-up of desktop machines! Check 'em out!

I know most of you aren't looking for a new computer and if you were, you probably wouldn't be shopping at Apple. Now, I for one happen to like...and use Apple hardware and software. So, you'll have to put up with periodic updates about all things Apple - besides, having pictures of Apple products on my blog makes it look classy! :)

Tips for Text

There is more to titles than typing words and picking a font. Spacing, caps, no caps, size, color...all contribute to the readability and attractiveness of a title! DVD covers, video titles, announcements, newsletters, birthday cards - these all involve creating text for your project.

I thought I knew quite a bit about text design...and then I saw this video. The tips and tricks are demonstrated using the font library from Digital Juice and the Digital Juice Juicer program, however the same techniques can be achieved using normal fonts in Photoshop or other text layout applications. These tips will help your text communicate better!

"Learn how to arrange your words so they are both legible and graphically strong. Once you know what you are trying to emphasize, these tricks will help you prioritize your text so that the viewer gets your message immediately."

Watch the tutorial. (12:31 min)

Celtx 2.0

Before you shoot a film, you need a script. Celtx is a free program that makes script writing and re-writing easier! I've used it on several projects and it is quite simple to use but yet has a lot of depth to the program. I highly recommend it! AND - version 2.0 is now available! You can see some screen shots here.

"Unlike scriptwriting software and sites, you can use Celtx for the entire pre-production process - write scripts, storyboard scenes and sequences, develop characters, breakdown & tag elements, schedule production, and prepare detailed and informative production reports for cast and crew."

Read more about Celtx.

Download 2.0!

Michael Landon Jr.

"Creating wholesome entertainment in Hollywood isn't always easy. Neither is following in the footsteps of one of the most beloved, recognizable father figures in TV history. But that's just what director Michael Landon Jr. has done, crafting a career out of telling stories that parents can feel good about watching with their kids—like the new family-friendly movie The Velveteen Rabbit" ~Guideposts article

Someone sent me a link to this article from Guideposts and I must say that if you are interested in Christian Film this article about a Christian director is worth reading.

"Like his father, Landon has had success producing wholesome entertainment—much of it set in bygone eras—including Jeannette Oak's Love Comes Softly TV-movies for the Hallmark Channel. "

Michael Landon Jr. has a heart for God, a heart for his family and reaching other families with clean films. In this article he gives his life testimony and the reasons for making the kind of films that he does. Read the article here.

SAICFF on National Public Radio!

Millions of viewers tuned into the 81st Academy Awards where they watched Sean Penn receive the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of homosexual activist Harvey Milk, and Kate Winslet receive the Best Female Actor Oscar for her performance in The Reader, a pornographic story about a female Nazi war criminal seducing a 15-year-old boy. They also watched award-winners use their platform to push homosexual political activism and to encourage teenagers to pursue a homosexual lifestyle.

NPR Religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported on the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in her feature report “Christian Filmmakers Creating an Industry of Faith.”

Click here to listen to the report which includes interviews with Kirk Cameron, Steven Kendrick, and some of the more than 2,400 people in attendance at the event.

This is a 8 minute interview worth hearing! Thanks to Doug's Blog for the info.

Editor's ToolBox

NEW FROM DIGITAL JUICE!
see details here

Pendragon Soundtrack

The musical soundtrack of a film is very important and has the potential to make or break a film. It tells the audience what to feel and when. Personally I'm a big fan of movie soundtracks and the soundtrack for Pendragon is coming! You can read the blog post with all the details - here

2009 SAICFF AUDIO

"These two albums contain collections of both messages and testimonies from the 2009 Film Festival, and training lectures from the Christian Filmmakers Academy, provide a cross-section from this historic week-long event hosted in San Antonio."

If you were unable to attend the Academy or Festival, these would be a great resource for anyone interested in film making! Even if you did attend, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have these sessions on hand for a periodic "refresh" - and the Academy set also includes "A bonus DVD of lecture slides from the event." I bought a couple of the sessions after I got back from the week, I didn't know they were coming out with this!

Click here for more information!

Praise Pictures

"Praise Pictures was created in May 2007 by Kyle Prohaska & Kevin Michael for one purpose...to reach others for Jesus Christ through film."

FILMS
They are currently working on the film Standing Firm, "a story of forgiveness and finding peace in times of suffering."

ARTICLES
If you are involved in Christian film making, I would encourage you to take some time to read some of the articles on the their website about networking, money making, aspect ratios, shooting on a low budget and cinematography! I found them encouraging, challenging and very informative!

BLOG
Oh yea, they also have a blog! :)