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July 9, 2017

‘A Ghost Story’ and ‘The Big Sick’ Sustain Indie Box Office Surge

“A Ghost Story” (A24) joined the recent surge of strong limited openers. Boasting top reviews, David Lowery’s offbeat Sundance hit nabbed a wider than usual arthouse audience. A24 is terrific with the right project at casting a wider specialized market net, so this should join several recent titles led by “The Big Sick” (Amazon Studios/Lionsgate) and “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) that have found wider interest as they expand.

This weekend, as breakout “The Big Sick” reaches a wider audience, it’s on its way to becoming the biggest specialized release of 2017 so far — and Amazon’s biggest grosser to date. It looks perfectly positioned for its nationwide break this Friday.

Syria documentary, likely Oscar-contender “City of Ghosts” (IFC) opened in New York only, landing high-end reviews for a reality-based theatrical release.

Opening

A Ghost Story (A24) – Metacritic: 87; Festivals include: Sundance, Seattle, BAM 2017

$108,067 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $27,017

The summer parade of specialized limited opening successes continues with Sundance entry “A Ghost Story.” Another in a series of films to open with top theater initial averages of over $25,000 in New York and Los Angeles (a rarity for most of this year), it is A24’s biggest platform opener of 2017 (their best since “20th Century Women” at Christmas).

Like indie breakout Colin Trevorrow, who followed a studio franchise smash with indie “The Book of Henry,” David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Body Saints”) followed Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” with low-budget effort “A Ghost Story.” The supernatural tale of a dead husband returning in a sheet to observe his mourning wife rejoins “Saints” stars Casey Affleck (in his first film since his Oscar win) and Rooney Mara. This time, Lowery kept his feet as an emerging director working within his earlier milieu.

What comes next: Similar to other appealing recent successes, this will have a careful but aggressive expansion before reaching a nationwide footprint in a few weeks.

“City of Ghosts”

Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios / A&E IndieFilms / IFC Films.

City of Ghosts (IFC)  – Metacritic: 86; Festivals include: Sundance, San Francisco, Tribeca, Seattle 2017

$16,240 in 2 theaters; PTA: $ 8,120

Also backed by Amazon, Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated “Cartel Land” shows first-hand recording of life under ISIS. The documentary scored strong reviews and a decent initial response in its two New York theaters. The spate of recent Middle East region war documentaries hasn’t been an easy sell, but this gross shows that with the right push they can be viable.

What comes next: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. come aboard next week

 

The Little Hours

“The Little Hours”

Gunpowder & Sky

Week Two

The Little Hours (Gunsmoke & Powder)

$193,750 in 36 theaters (+34); PTA: $5,236; Cumulative: $282,023

The little bawdy nun comedy that could had a decent expansion with sufficient exposure that its further growth to over 100 theaters this Friday looks positioned for similar success.

 

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (Neon)

$12,785 in 8 theaters (+5); PTA: $1,598; Cumulative: $40,318

Lesser results than normal for an Errol Morris documentary. This report on a woman whose art encompassed Polaroid pictures broadened to a handful of new cities to minor results.

13 minutes

“13 Minutes”

13 Minutes (Sony Pictures Classics)

$16,174 in 9 theaters (+6); PTA: $1,797; Cumulative: $36,374

Little traction for this 1939 Hitler assassination attempt recreation as it expanded into a handful of additional theaters.

Ongoing/expanding (Grosses over $50,000 in under 1,000 theaters)

The Big Sick (Lionsgate) Week 3

$3,650,000 in 366 theaters (+255); Cumulative: $6,920,000

With its third weekend, Amazon’s romantic cross-cultural dramedy looks to break out into a major mainstream success. In around 300 fewer theaters than “The Beguiled” last weekend, this grossed about $500,000 more, and placed #8 for the weekend despite its modest theater count. Lionsgate goes wide next weekend with a top five placement likely. This could easily become Amazon’s biggest hit yet.

beguiled

“The Beguiled”

The Beguiled (Focus) Week 3

$2,086,000 in 941 theaters (+267); Cumulative: $7,436,000

The aggressive expansion of Sofia Coppola’s Civil War Gothic tale is accumulating a good total. The gross for the third weekend is slightly ahead of Focus’ “The Zookeeper’s Wife” a few months ago, which was at slightly more theaters (total: $10 million). This looks to reach somewhere in the low teens. That would make it Coppola’s third biggest film after “Lost in Translation” and “Marie Antoinette” (the latter’s adjusted gross is $21 million).

The Hero (The Orchard) Week 5

$651,330 in 447 theaters (+46); Cumulative: $2,810,000

Sam Elliott’s late career triumph as an aging actor summing up his life continues to attract moderate interest with a chance to get to $5 million.

Beatriz at Dinner (Roadside Attractions) Week 5

$518,765 in 417 theaters (-266); Cumulative: $5,980,000

Miguel Arteta’s zeitgeisty meeting of income disparate folks is winding down after a rapid wider release but still looks to end up somewhat over $7 million. Getting out ahead of several other films was a smart move for Roadside.

Maudie (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 10

$190,462 in 67 theaters (+35); Cumulative: $3,203,000

Now with most of its dates in the U.S. (this Canadian co-production opened earlier in the North, which still represents the majority of the total). This story about a rural painter is retaining word of mouth despite considerable competition as it expands wider.

Paris Can Wait (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 9

$158,766 in 131 theaters (-83); Cumulative: $5,065,000

Eleanor Coppola’s French road trip is declining late in its strong run as an early harbinger of the summer specialized revival.

The Book of Henry (Focus) Week 4

$ 96,550 in 154 theaters (-209); Cumulative: $4,218,000

Going wider initially boosted the total, but Colin Trevorrow’s return to smaller-scale film making is fading fast with few theaters left in only its fourth weekend.

The Exception (A24) Week 6

$69,900 in 48 theaters (no change); Cumulative: $518,962

Christopher Plummer as Kaiser Wilhelm II in exile continues to do modest business as another World War II related film tries to attract older audiences.

The Women’s Balcony (Menemsha) – Week 17

$53,469 in 23 (-4) theaters; Cumulative: $851,375

Slowly inching toward a possible $1 million gross, this Israeli religious drama continues to do decent business.

Also noted:

Lost in Paris (Oscilloscope) – $21,000 in 5 theaters; Cunulative: $38,666

Churchill (Cohen) – $13,402 in 17 theaters; Cumulative: $1,219,00

The Bad Batch (Neon) – $9,336 in 25 theaters; Cumulative: $169,546  (also available on Video on Demand)

My Journey Through French Cinema (Cohen) – $6,420 in 4 theaters; Cumulative: $36,360

Source: IndieWire film

July 8, 2017

Writing 101: A Simple Breakdown of How to Structure Your Screenplay


Navigating the monomyth is a tedious, arduous, and confusing endeavor for any hero on their journey, but it’s even more so for screenwriters.


One seemingly straightforward but surprisingly complicated things about writing a screenplay is story structure. Plenty of screenwriting gurus have offered their two cents on what a well-structured script should look like, but Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, or monomyth, is perhaps the most widely known and template for crafting stories, and is arguably one of the most accessible for new writers. If you want to get a real handle on story structure, Film Riot has shared an excerpt from Seth Worley’s Writing 101 online screenwriting course that will really help you out.





Even though the excerpt is just an introduction to screenwriting basics, it breaks down the most important and fundamental elements of the craft. Not nailing down your story’s structure is like dropping your audience in the middle of nowhere without a map and expecting them to make it all the way home. It can be done, but 1.) it probably won’t, and 2.) if it is, your audience will be super pissed when they get there.

Read More

Source: NoFilmSchool

July 8, 2017

Watch: Learn How to Fly a Drone in 7 Minutes


If you’re ready to take to the skies with your first drone, you’ll want to learn the basics first.


Drone technology is getting better and better every year, making it easier for beginners to take it out of the box and take to the skies. However, even the most basic drone has a bit of a learning curve. So, if you’re ready to shoot some sweet aerial shots but don’t really know how to get off the ground, this video from Darious Britt of D4Darious shows you the basics of drone operation, from rules and regulations you need to follow before you take off to flight exercises you can practice once you’re in the air. Check it out below:





There’s more to flying a drone than being able to pull off sweet moves. Great drone pilots aren’t just those capable of doing advanced aerial maneuvers, they’re those who are capable of doing them safely. Know the rules and regulations in your area. If you’re in the U.S., the FAA may require you to register your drone, but it has actually relaxed its rules to allow hobbyists to fly without having to register.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

July 7, 2017

Beyond the Basics: Keyframing in Adobe After Effects


Up your After Effects game with these advanced keyframing tips and tricks.


Keyframing is one of the most important and powerful features of Adobe After Effects. Knowing how to apply and manipulate them will help you to become a more seasoned motion graphics artist. Let’s take a look at a few advanced tips and tricks when it comes to working with keyframes in After Effects. We’ll focus on five methods in particular, including precisely editing values, reversing time, changing interpolation, adding roving keyframes, and working with expressions. We’ll use these advanced methods to bring an airplane graphic to life.






Precisely Edit Values


In After Effects, you use keyframes when you want a value of a layer to change over time. Adding two keyframes to a layer at different times with differing values will bring that property to life.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

July 7, 2017

New Music! SXSW Artist Releases – Friday, July 7

2013 SXSW Official Showcasing Artist Haim

We’re back from July 4th holiday and are busy prepping for SXSW 2018. If you’re interested in being a part of the event, apply to be a Showcasing Artist or enter a PanelPicker session idea.

This week, similar to last week, sees a slightly lower than average amount of new releases because of July 4th, but there are still some awesome releases from past artists at SXSW. Indie-electronic pop artist Toro Y Moi is back with a new album full of the summery jams that he’s made his name on, East-coast hip-hop duo The Doppelgangaz return with a new album, and indie-rock mega-group Broken Social Scene return with their first full-length since 2010. Check below for the full list of SXSW artist releases.

Each week we will pick one of the album releases and make a playlist for those that are enjoying the album but want to discover more similar artists. This week, we’re selecting a female vocal driven playlist inspired by Grulke Prize winners HAIM, their new album Something to Tell You releases today. Go ahead and give it a listen because these playlists will only be active for one week before we pick a new artist to focus on. Follow us on Spotify to keep up with our playlists each week.

Release of the Week Playlist

Past Showcasing Artist July 7th Releases

This Is The Kit – Moonshine Freeze
Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder
HAIM – Something to Tell You
The Doppelgangaz – Dopp Hopp
Toro Y Moi – Boo Boo
Public Service Broadcasting – Progress

Haim at SXSW 2013 – Photo by Yoomi Park

The post New Music! SXSW Artist Releases – Friday, July 7 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

July 7, 2017

Tech and Film: 7 Innovations Changing the Industry

These 7 technologies are poised to shape the film industry.
Source: CW’s Flipboard Feed

July 7, 2017

The Daily Chord Weekly Recap – Friday, July 7

The Daily Chord shared the last of the mid-year think pieces this short work week, and linked to stories reporting on positive and negative aspects of streaming businesses. The profiles of Ted Leo, Charley Pride and Dr. Octagon should lead you to seek out their music. After checking out this weekly wrap-up, please subscribe to the Daily Chord email blast and make your inbox interesting.

Wednesday, July 5

Thursday, July 6

Friday, July 7

The post The Daily Chord Weekly Recap – Friday, July 7 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Music

July 7, 2017

‘The Reagan Show’ Editors Reveal America’s First Reality TV President


Three editors sifted through thousands of hours of footage to bring Reaganism alive—to unsettling effect.


There is not a single talking head in Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez’s documentary The Reagan Show. No one sits around glibly pontificating on Reagan’s legacy. Instead, history speaks for itself, and it’s the audience’s job to listen.



This left the film’s three editors with a daunting task: to build an evocative narrative solely from archival footage. Daniel Garber, David Barker, and Francisco Bello sifted through thousands of hours of news reports and White House TV footage, shot by the Reagan administration in an unprecedented effort to document his presidency. The result is an eerily prescient window into America’s first performance artist president.

Read More

Source: NoFilmSchool

July 7, 2017

SXSW 2017 Closing Night Film LIFE Now Available [Video]

“We brought [LIFE] to SXSW because Austin is where it’s at these days and we were very honored to be a part of your closing night,” said Producer Bonnie Curtis.

LIFE, a frightening sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station, follows a mission of discovery that turns to one of primal fear. The film features an ensemble cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya and is available to watch now digitally and on DVD/Blu-Ray.

Read below for our interview with director Daniel Espinosa and check out our Q&A from the world premiere, moderated by Director of SXSW Film, Janet Pierson.

Q: Tell us a little about your film?

DE: It’s about a strange friendship that goes wrong… And it gets very scary very fast.

Q: What motivated you to tell this story?

DE: My fear of germs. Or, rather, the possibility of germs. They could take over, you know.

Q: What do you want the audience to take away from this film?

DE: To have a blast … and maybe think a little afterwards.

Learn More About SXSW 2018

Learn how to successfully submit your film to the 2018 SXSW Film Festival with our How to Submit Your Film video and find out more information about deadlines and fees on our submissions page. Stay tuned for more information about our programming for the season, and mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 1 when registration and housing opens.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, recaps, late-breaking announcements, and updates.

The post SXSW 2017 Closing Night Film LIFE Now Available [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

July 7, 2017

HOW TO MAKE BETTER INFOGRAPHICS: TELL A SINGLE STORY

This article originally appeared on Column Five.

A lot of people want to know how to make infographics. We’ve made over 4,000 infographics for tons of companies over the last decade, so we know a thing or two about it. Most importantly, we know it’s not enough to make an infographic; you need to make a great infographic. But too often we see people sabotage their work. How? They try to do way too much, cramming as much as possible in.

  • More stats!
  • Another CTA!
  • Product mentions!
  • Another 10 sources!

The instinct is understandable. You want to get the most bang for your buck. You want to give your reader as much info as possible. But this overlooks the actual purpose of an infographic: to tell a succinct story and deliver it in a package that makes it as easy to understand as possible.

WHY LESS IS MORE IN INFOGRAPHICS

Although infographics always been around, it was only in this decade that marketers fell in love with them. This has prompted the revival of a wonderful and effective communication form, but many people are enamored with their flashy visuals and snazzy copy, overlooking their intended use. (In fact, we often have partners come to us asking for an infographic, when what they’re really looking for is information design. Learn more about the difference between them.)

An infographic combines copy, data, and visuals—all three of which work symbiotically—to help people comprehend and retain information more effectively. That’s why they’re so unique. But many people don’t understand what really makes a good infographic. Too many people think the infographic process is something like this:

  1. Slap together some copy.
  2. Sprinkle in some charts and graphs.
  3. Add a few illustrations, logo, and CTA.
  4. Sit back and relax.

We’re here to set the record straight. Just because you have copy, data, and visuals doesn’t mean you have a good infographic. The best, most effective infographics don’t just “deliver information” with these elements. They tell an interesting, enticing story.

Why story? When you are trying to deliver specific information or get a certain message across, wrapping it in story makes it more accessible to the people you’re trying to reach. It’s an intuitive formula, and they know what to expect: introduction, setup, payoff.

“Cool! I can make a story,” we hear people say. And that’s when things can go even more off the rails. They drown their infographic in data. They stuff it with a novel’s worth of copy. They pack it with picture-book visuals. The result? A Franken-graphic that is an unreadable eyesore. Here’s the thing about story: It’s a balance. Sometimes you have too much, too little, none at all, or something way off track.

To make sure you’re telling a solid story, you need the right ingredients.

HOW TO MAKE INFOGRAPHICS THAT TELL A STRONG STORY

A strong infographic contains many elements, from the narrative to the design. To help illustrate the example, let’s walk through an infographic we created with Upwork, a global freelancing platform.

This infographic is a great example of a well-crafted, well-designed piece that is perfect for its intended audience and, therefore, helps the brand connect with them. Here’s how to emulate it.

1) CHOOSE A SINGLE TOPIC (THAT PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN)

This may be broad or specific, depending on your goals, but it should have a specific angle. You might craft an infographic about overall industry trends or tell a story about a specific sector of the industry, but don’t try to cover every single aspect of your industry in one infographic. Either way, it should be relevant to people’s interests.

Tip: If you are interested in exploring a topic from many angles, craft an infographic series. These can be published all together or used to enhance other larger pieces of content, such as an e-book. To make sure your story ideas are actionable and interesting to people, create marketing personas of your target audience. Try our exercise to help you do it in an hour.

The Upwork infographic is effective because it addresses a very specific subject that isn’t too broad or too granular: finding and attracting remote development talent. For a freelancing platform, this is a highly relevant topic.

2) EXTRACT RELEVANT DATA INSIGHTS

Sometimes you will already have these insights, which will inspire the topic. Sometimes you’ll have to go looking for them. The key here is to include only the most relevant data.That doesn’t mean you cut out data that doesn’t “support” your story, but you should include only that which helps you communicate it effectively.

Tip: If you don’t know how to extract those insights, try our 5 tips for finding stories in your data. Not sure where to find data at all? Start with these 104 great sources of data.

This graphic was created using Upwork company data and survey data from 1,068 top-rated freelance developers on Upwork. It provides fantastic insight into what motivates and concerns this segment of the workforce.

3) STRUCTURE A CLEAR NARRATIVE

The same grade-school writing rules apply:

  • Introduce the topic.
  • Guide readers through in an intuitive manner, with supporting data.
  • Call out or provide context for any particularly relevant (or possibly unclear) data.
  • Wrap it up with a simple, intuitive CTA.

When it comes to actually writing:

  • Limit copy: Large blocks of text are an immediate turnoff. Data and design are meant to enhance and do some of the heavy lifting. Keep copy short, quick, and to the point.
  • Kill redundancy: Again, let design to its job. Don’t over label charts. Don’t call out the same stat in the body copy, header, callout, and chart. Keep it clean and simple.

Tip: Here’s a good litmus test: Is it easy to write the headline for this story? Can you summarize your points in a few sentences? If not, you may need to simplify. Get more tips on crafting an infographic narrative, and check out these 101 resources for copywriters.

The Upwork graphic doesn’t just throw in a few random stats. It presents data and translates that data into useful and actionable tips for the target audience. This helps them not only understand those workers (through data) but understand how they can attract those workers.

4) DESIGN FOR STORY

Another common issue on the design side is over-designing: adding a ton of illustrations, getting too crazy with a visual metaphor, or including chart junk that distracts from data visualizations. Everything from the layout to the font choice affects how the reader absorbs the story. Design should never distract, only enhance. Never forget that white space is your friend!

Tip: Follow best practices for data visualization. Check out this e-book to learn how to design the most common types of charts and graphs, and make sure you avoid these 8 common design mistakes.

The infographic’s clean data visualization and modular design makes it easy to navigate. Each panel presents a certain aspect of the story, and it flows in a logical order.

Creating great infographics isn’t difficult, but it does take knowledge, practice, and skill. To make sure you’re on top of your game, stay educated and informed. Want to start now?

Source: Visual News