September 24, 2017

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: 8K VR, smoke-free fires, a drone for your home

Check out our roundup of the best new crowdfunding projects and product announcements that hit the Web this week. You can’t buy this stuff yet, but it sure is fun to gawk!

The post Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: 8K VR, smoke-free fires, a drone for your home appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR

September 23, 2017

This Interactive Map Shows You Current Drone Laws in Every Country in the World

If you need up-to-date information about the drone regulations in your country, this map will be a lifesaver.

No one likes having to traipse around official government websites to try and dig up (and understand) documents that tell you whether or not it’s legal for you to fly a drone in a given area. No one likes it, but it has to be done because it’s obviously important to respect the laws of the land. However, if you’re tired of trying to dig up information on drone regulations in different parts of the world, you’ll want to check out this super helpful tool.

Blogger and avid traveler Anil Polat has created an interactive map of the world that contains the drone laws in every country in the world. Take a look at this impressive piece of work below:

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Source: NoFilmSchool

September 23, 2017

What You Need to Know about Directing Non-Actors

Understanding the benefits and challenges that come with working with non-actors.

As no-budget filmmakers, chances are we’re not going to be working with Hollywood actors at the peak of their stardom. Actually, in each and every of your films your cast might actually be made up entirely of non-actors, or actors who have little to no professional experience, and that’s not a bad thing. People hear terms like “inexperienced” and “untrained” and immediately think “bad performance,” but non-professional actors actually bring something very special to the cinematic table, and because they do, you as a director need to bring a very special set of skills in order to direct them. In this video from Film Riot, director Ricky Staub (The Cage), offers up some great insight on what that skillset entails.

Whether they’re seasoned pros or bright-eyed first-timers, directing actors is a tough undertaking. There’s a lot of emotional and technical work that goes on between the director and actors in order to prepare for a great performance; if your actor is unfamiliar with this process, it could prove to be a little more challenging.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

September 23, 2017

Watch: How to Turn a Keychain into a Perfect DIY Follow Focus

Here’s a super cheap and easy follow focus solution.

Follow focus systems can be pretty expensive, between $100 to $1500 depending on features and quality of the build, but you don’t even need to spend more than a few bucks to get yourself a decent tool. In this video, filmmaker Dave Knop (aka: knoptop) shows us how he turned a random $4 dollar keychain he got from a hardware store into a pretty effective follow focus that fits large and small lenses. Check it out below:

The keychain Knop uses in the video is called the Key Band-It, a flexible band made out of waterproof, latex-free material. Though these things are designed to keep your keys safe, particularly while you’re at the gym, we can clearly see that it works well as a follow focus thanks to its accordion design and “ThermoPlastic Rubber” band, which provides plenty of grip. (You can get it for $4 at Lowes.)

Is it the greatest DIY follow focus ever? I don’t know, but it definitely looks like it works. So it might be worth a shot, especially if you’re not using anything right now to help you focus.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

September 23, 2017

This Is Not a Drill. Martin Scorsese is Teaching a MasterClass on Filmmaking

One of the greatest directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, wants to teach you filmmaking.

If you could pick any living filmmaking legend to teach you the art of making films, who would you pick? If you said Martin Scorsese, your dream is about to come true. The human cinematic encyclopedia himself is the latest high-profile filmmaker to join the ranks of MasterClass instructors, which includes director Werner Herzog, composer Hans Zimmer, screenwriters Shonda Rhimes, David Mamet, and Aaron Sorkin, as well as actors Steve Martin, Dustin Hoffman, and Kevin Spacey.

Check out the promo for Scorsese’s MasterClass to get a taste of what you’re in for.

If you’re unfamiliar with MasterClass, it’s an online platform that gives users the chance to learn from some of the most renowned experts in a given field, whether it’s cooking, music production, or chess, through a series of videos (2-5+ hours), class workbook, and interactive assignments.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

September 23, 2017

5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Make Your Screenplay Better

If your script just isn’t hitting the mark, here are a handful of things you can try in order to get it there.

Writing a screenplay is kind of like trying to carry too many things at once. At first, you think you’ve got a pretty good grip, but pretty soon you feel that grip start to loosen. So, you adjust your arms to accommodate the shifting weight only to realize that some items on the other side are now starting to slip. Then it happens: something falls. So you pick it up, but as you do, something else falls. So, you pick that up, but then another thing falls and so on and so forth until you’re just the jackass out in a grocery store parking lot dropping shit and picking shit up ad infinitum.

Yeah, so screenwriting’s like that. It can get frustrating at times trying to keep everything together (and off the ground), but the more you know about what works and what doesn’t work may help you put your narrative elements in places where they have a better chance of staying put.

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Source: NoFilmSchool

September 22, 2017

Keep a 360-degree view on Notre Dame-Michigan football game using Fox Sports VR

Fox Sports is teaming up with LiveLike to cover the game through the free Fox Sports VR app. This time around, Fox is adding a 360-degree Skycam view of the action between Michigan State and Notre Dame.

The post Keep a 360-degree view on Notre Dame-Michigan football game using Fox Sports VR appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source: Digital Trends VR