Tons of Tips for Filmmakers

The 3 Steps of Production
"I haven’t made a lot of films but I have witnessed the witless as they go down in flames on their own sets enough times. The key is to learn from their mistakes. You have three opportunities to completely mutilate your film and pile heartache and unnecessary work on yourself. We call these preproduction, production, and post production. Three lessons for each stage. While these may seem like common sense it still amazes me how uncommon sense seems to be." Read the full article here.

12 Tips for Better Film Editing
"I’m currently cutting a digital feature and this has made me think about editing styles. Here are an even dozen tips that I feel will make any budding film editor better at this craft. I’m sure not everyone will agree with all of these points, since they come out of my own approach and style. Nevertheless, I hope they offer some takeaway value for you." Read the full article here.

10 Tips for a Better Final Cut Experience
"Many experienced editors making the transition to Apple’s Final Cut Pro often struggle with some of FCP’s core operating features. This is especially true of many Avid editors who view working in Final Cut akin to learning a different language. Here are 10 quick tips on how to run and organize FCP edit sessions that will hopefully ease your frustration." Read the full article here.

Dealing with a Post Production Facility
"The do-it-yourself filmmaker might view the traditional lab or post facility as a place of last resort. That belief stems from a fear that – like a visit to a doctor or lawyer – every minute is billable. Most finishing facilities are actually easy to deal with and have the producer’s best interests at heart."

"Sometimes, clients simply don’t know where to start, what to ask, or what’s expected of them. I posed some of these questions to a roundtable of post professionals, including Terence Curren, owner of Aphadogs (Burbank), Mike Most, chief technologist at Cineworks (Miami), Brian Hutchings, freelance colorist (Los Angeles) and Peter Postma, US product manager for Filmlight." Read the full article here.