The Celtx Blog

Turkish Project "GÖZÜNÜN ÇAPAĞI ILA DILRUBACAN" gets POW'd!

GÖZÜNÜN ÇAPAĞI ILA DILRUBACAN is this week's Celtx Project of the Week, created and written by Nimet Kursuncu and his crew at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.This tragic situation-comedy takes the format of a mock morning TV news channel. With the quick wit and stealth improv skills of its actors, this creative team applies news parody, sketch comedy and satire to real-life Turkish news events.

Support materials in this project like the storyboard and shotlist do a great job of offering the viewer a visual perspective in the show's pre-production phase. The set and wardrobe sketches are fun, and the production notes, budget and everything right down to the lighting plan provide all the niggly details required to help your shoot run smoothly.

The production schedule shows that filmming was to take place this week and last, with most scenes being shot on campus at Bilkent U. With a well organized story blueprint like this one, I'm sure things went off without a hitch!

Cheers to Nimet Kursuncu and crew.

from
Sheila and The C-Team

**UPDATE**
31/03/2008 - Just received project update from Nimet...

"... sorry for my late answer but we finished our shootings and still editing our project "Gözünün Çapağı ila Dilrubacan"... My screenwriter Selcan Doğruöz, she has a great humor and our dialogs are developed in shooting.

Our school Bilkent University, Communication and Design Department, and our Department chair, Andreas Treske told about this software and website, so that we upload our projects. I really enjoyed in uploading time because I shared that project to my crew and everybody added their works, its so effective."

'From Here To Awesome' gives Indie Filmmakers some Awesome New Options

No submission fees, international exposure, multi-platform distribution, retain ALL your rights, AND... money in your pocket?!!
Sound crazy? Not any more... If you're an independent filmmaker, start doing your happy dance because this is the new fix to the old and broken ways of trying to get your films seen, and it's all thanks to the innovative Founders of From Here To Awesome - a discovery and distribution film festival (FHTA).

The brain child of DIY revolutionary filmmakers Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma), Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) and M dot Strange (We Are The Strange), FHTA was born from their concept to create a virtual conference / festival.
In what has now become their Mission Statement, Weiler explains,

"We decided that the virtual event would be an experiment to hopefully connect filmmakers directly with audiences. That the event itself could become a model for open content distribution, one which allowed filmmakers to have a say in how their films were reaching audiences.
The experiment is off to a great start. We’ve assembled an amazing list of promotional and tech partners. Thanks to these partnerships the festival will be distributed across mutiple platforms - mobile, online, theatrical and even into the living room. The exciting part is that we’ve been designing the fest so that each phase returns revenue directly to the creators of the work. Filmmakers will set their own prices, retain all rights to their work and be able to reach global audiences directly. So in a sense From Here to Awesome is a distribution / discovery festival that has no submission fees and allows the audience to be the festival programmer."

Details in a Nutshell:
• No submission fees and open to all filmmakers
• All completed submissions are accepted
• Filmmakers retain all rights
• A global online and off-line festival
• Audiences vote with “this film seems awesome”, and determine winners for cash awards, sponsorship, further distribution opportunities and other prizes
• The audience demand for each film is made public to empower movie theaters to book screenings
• Top 10 films announced in May and loaded by the filmmakers into a variety of distribution platforms
• June world wide showcase brings top films to theaters, living rooms, mobile devices and the internet
• Filmmakers receive revenue directly from the various distribution platforms
• Expert Filmmakers and industry leaders contribute tutorials and discussions to a collective pool of knowledge called the 2008 Awesome Workbook, a free virtual conference running concurrently with the festival

Important Dates:
MARCH 31st - Submission Deadline - SUBMIT HERE
APRIL 3rd - Voting Starts
JUNE - Festival Launches

There's not much time left, so we encourage you to post your submission videos to the site ASAP! And if you don't have time to submit, then do your bit and blog forth and SPREAD THE WORD! - Sheila

Watch this vid to learn more about How FHTA Works:

New Zealand's Michael Andrew wins the POW for "A Last Stand"

"Once, mankind was free to pursue his own dreams. But when those dreams began to consume him... ...little did he know that they would consume his entire world. After the disaster at Black Mesa, Earth was swiftly invaded by an alien race known as the Combine. In seven hours mankind was overrun and surrendered itself to the Combine regime. In seven hours mankind lost it's ability to dream. Until now."

And thus, we set the stage for this week's winning project, "The Last Stand", a romantic survival horror by New Zealand native Michael Andrew. I caught up with Michael to find out more about him, his project and what inspired the idea for his film. Here's what he had to say....

'I'm a Graphic Designer and have been working for a printing company for the past three years. This year I left my job to study Interactive Web Design. I live in beautiful New Zealand, where the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy was filmed. Living here is a real privilege – we have access to an array of amazing scenery and locations. I am based in Auckland City at the moment with modern urban centres, industrial areas, mountains, forests and beaches are right on my doorstep.

I discovered Celtx about twelve months ago on a screenwriting website while working on another screenplay. Celtx's rich feature-set and integrated pre-production features made writing the screenplay so much easier. The added ability to publish projects directly to the internet to share with potential stakeholders, actors and crew makes Celtx stand out from the crowd.

I've always had a fascination with film and storytelling - every time I go to the cinema I find myself dissecting what's on the screen in front of me: How have they positioned the lighting and cameras? Does that shot use a dolly or a crane? Why did the editor decide to cut the film in that specific way? I pull apart the themes and characters in my mind and see the plot lines being weaved throughout the film... It's kind of creepy actually!

"A Last Stand" was an idea I came up with in early February 2008, after visiting an abandoned freezing works that our Airsoft club was using as a playing field for combat games. The grungy torn-up look and powerful natural and artificial lighting in the building was very appealing - a perfect location for a film.

I posted up the idea on our club forums and several people were interested in being part of project as actors or extras. They were able to provide their own guns and combat gear which would allow us to produce the bulk of the film without having to buy expensive costumes. Other people volunteered equipment such as a RC helicopter for aerial footage, batteries, smoke machines and lights.

When my lead actress and co-writer, Gretel Thompson, came on board it took the creative flow of the pre-production process to a new level. With fresh ideas going back and forth between us we were able to start weaving a tale of survival, romance and high emotion. Our Celtx project page is a reflection of these ideas and provides an intimate insight into our thought-process as we shape the film into its final
form.'

Apart from this project being representative of the many, many things to be considered during the pre-production phase of filmmaking, it was also that intimate look inside the thought process while developing the storyline that tweaked our interest in this project... That, and having access to the Audition Test Script, Tutorials and Resources that were used, which provides those who are learning the ropes with some great teaching tools. Also of note are the FX Notes and the wonderfully disturbing Headcrab Zombie costume!!

"The initial idea for the film was to base it on the world and storyline of Half-Life 2. However, to save dealing with legal hassles down the track, Gretel and myself have decided to remove references to the Half-Life franchise in further versions of the script and production. We however will continue in the spirit of the Half-Life storyline – and it will remain a large artistic influence in this project. The film will be about 20 minutes long, directed, produced and co-written by myself.

We plan on holding auditions for supporting roles and shooting some promotional footage for the film in Auckland, New Zealand at the end of March 2008. So if you're in the area then and would like to audition for a role in this project, feel free to contact Michael Andrew at HAZARDU5@gmail.com.
Principal photography will begin in July 2008 and finish in early August 2008. "

So remember, if you're in Michael's neighborhood and you want to try out for a part, be sure to make contact ... soon!!

In the meantime Michael, keep us posted on your progress. We'll be rooting for you back here at Celtx HQ.

Cheers!
Sheila and The C Team

Credit your masterpiece with the 'Created with Celtx' Animated Logo

ATTENTION ALL MEDIA MAKERS

Here's a new way to add a splash of professional fun to your media project AND help spread Celtx at the same time!

If you're keen to inform others about the tool that helped the creation of your masterpiece seem so effortless, show your Celtx pride by adding a ‘Created with Celtx’ Animated Logo to your project’s credits. It's free, and available in 8 ready-to-use, high resolution formats which may be used without specific written permission from Celtx under the following conditions:

*Celtx was used for the project pre-production
*The use cannot be harmful to, or damage the brand, reputation or goodwill of Celtx.
*We reserve the right to revoke our authorization at any time, and for any reason. If revoked, you agree to immediately cease using the Created With Celtx Animated Logo.
*You will not acquire any rights to any Celtx Trade Mark through your use of any Created With Celtx Animated Logo.

So if you can handle the above,... go grab your Celtx animated logo from the link
below. - Cheers!

"LORCA-Grito a Roma -Trilogia da Cidade" selected as Celtx Project of the Week

"2006 marked seventy years since the murder of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca by a right-wing militia (Franquists) during the Spanish civil war. Two years ago his works became available to the Public Domain.

Lorca left behind many prominent and important works, however his book the "Poet of New York" written in 1929 is less known and possibly the most radical, as much for its theme as for its language, and was sited by many as a "phase" while he was away from Spain.

Born in a quixotic Spain, Lorca arrives in a metropolis (New York) in the middle of an eminent collapse and observes a world that lost its center, its identity and origin. Almost 80 years after writing, it's a current picture of global megalopolis that still follows a chaotic and non-stop growth model, creating a stressed and schizophrenic society."

"LORCA - Grito a Roma -Trilogia da Cidade" is being developed by 27 year-old multi-media artist and Director, Dado Motta and his creative team at Mandala : art and technology located in San Paulo, Brazil. Dado says the idea of this audiovisual trilogy was inspired by Lorca's poems “Cry to Rome”, “Return to the City'' and "Sleepless City", as they relate to each phase of the New York piece described above. The plan is that each poem will be the basis for a 20 minute short film, and then all three together will compose, in their final cut, a 75 minute feature movie.

Currently in pre-production, Dado and his team are looking for new partnerships that will help make the project a reality. Research for the first short, “Cry to Rome” started in 2006, followed by another year of developing the script . Great examples of some of the research details can be seen in the character, wardrobe and locations forms. And to pre-visualize the look and feel of Grita A Roma, view the storyboard with PC's slideshow player and you'll get an immediate sense of how the fiilm's introduction and subsequent scenes will unfold on screen.

Shooting for Grito a Roma will begin in May in São Paulo, Brazil and will include a complete crew and a cast of 3 principals and about 40 supporting characters. Using HDV and Super-8 cams, the team will combine both video and animation techniques, and polish off their audio with Dolby Surround 5.1. If all goes well post production is scheduled to run from June/08 until Jan./09.

If you'd like to learn more about this fascinating project see details below, and for a sneak preview be sure to check out this TEASER.

In the meantime, Dado told me "...Celtx has been a great support to ourselves in the war to develop Independent Movie, and I imagine that to many others."
Well we're delighted we could help and sincerely wish you and your team all the best, Dado. I think you have a smashing success on your hands! - Cheers!

Sheila and The C-Team

PS - Many, many thanks to Dado and Google Translate for translation assistance :)

LEARN MORE

CREW
- Research & Roadmap - Dado Motta, Leo Baga, Thiago 
Navas, Pablo T. Sola and Luis Felipe Volpe; Director - Dado Motta; Assistance Direction - Baga Defente; Production - Ladislau Kardos; Direction of Art - Thiago Navas and Marina Previato; Direction of Photography - Igor Sales; Assistance Photography - Luis Felipe Volpe; Costume - Camilla S. Bologna; Music - Flavio De Cápua; Direction of Sound - Gui Simonsen;
Operators of Audio - Diego Disorder; Camera - Baga Defente

DIRECTOR
A graduate of the Fine Arts University of Sao Paulo, Dado Motta worked as Art Director for various advertising agencies ,then taught "Digital Art" at Senac University of São Paulo. In 2002 he founded the Mandala studio where he developed experimental and multimedia projects such as animation "Virus Inertia", an Animamundi finalist of 2003, which was also invited to the International Festival of Cinema and Technology 2004/2005 based in Australia, England and USA. In addition, part of the Resfest 2005, Fluxus 2005 (with Randomiz project) and was invited to join the FILE editions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with videos as Iroco.

PARTNERSHIP
- iDch
- Transmit
- Núcleo Experimental de Cinema
- Pirex
- NaLaje Filmes

PRODUCTION:
Mandala
Reset Studio

2008 Script Frenzy Countdown - Publish your work to Project Central

Hey Gang!

The countdown for Script Frenzy 2008 and the SF Young Writers Program is on!!

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which you attempt the creatively daring feat of writing 100 pages of scripted material in April! No fees are required and the award is the incredible sense of pride and satisfaction of accomplishing that 100 page goal in a single month (plus a special winner's certificate and web icon, to boot).
You'll find all the details here.

Celtx users who are interested in competing in Script Frenzy and who would like others to view and /or give feedback on their work can tag their project 'scriptfrenzy'and have it show up on this dedicated page on Project Central.

Likewise for participants of the Young Writers Program... just tag your project 'youngwritersprogram' and it will show up here.

You've got 3 weeks to get those engines primed, ..... so get crack'n!

Sheila et al