Film School 101: A History Of CG Characters

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen arena. // Words: Saam Das

This (short) history of computer-generated characters in movies starts with its beginnings in stop motion animation, popularised by the likes of Ray Harryhausen before focussing more heavily on the likes of Industrial Light & Magic upto WETA Digital's work on 'Avatar'. Watch below.

Film School 101: The Art Of Foley

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen arena. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Saam Das

Watching 'Beverly Hills Cop II' the other night reminded me about a brilliant little video on the art of foley - which is the way sound effects are produced for film and television productions. Watch the video below, which features foley artist Gary Hecker explains the art and runs through examples from the recent 'Robin Hood' and '2012' features.

Film School 101: innocent Mini Movies Workshop

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen arena. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Saam Das

We recently ran a competition related to innocent's own competition to film a 30 second short and win a wheelbarrow of money (essentially, anyway) and some other snazzy prizes. To help people produce their short, we've been handily provided with a brief video guide to making your own films, delivered by writer-director-sfx guru Ben Wheatley.

Film School 101: Product Placement

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Saam Das
Photo: filmdetail.com

At the end of the month, UK television shows will be mandated to show a logo demonstrating whether they've had paid for product placements. The BBC note that while the UK has restricted advertising of products to commercial breaks, the US have been far more happy to endorse products in programming. Especially films, which we'll have a quick look at here.

The good folks over at Filmdrunk have put together a compilation video (embedded below) charting a history of product placement. The most ridiculous product placement I've seen is probably in 'Evolution' which basically is a feature length advertisement for a popular shampoo brand.

Film School 101: Film Posters

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Saam Das

You might have noticed film posters tend to look quite similar. Check out the poster for the remastered 'Back To The Future', which is mostly just a sharpened version of the original poster. ORANGE AND BLUE. BLUE AND ORANGE?

Charlie from Ultraculture compiled a set of posters that show off the complementary colour scheme in its full, overused glory. If you're interested in how similar complementary colours are used in film-making, specifically post-production, I highly recommend watching this Red Giant tutorial video. However, that's not the only commonly found trope in movie posters. No, sir. Or madam.

Film School 101: Where Movies Come From

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Ced Yuen

Think about the last film that you watched. Has the fact that pictures can move ever amazed you? Probably not. Every day people see moving images, but they never think twice about it because it is so commonplace. Movies are now a standard form of entertainment, but they were never meant to entertain. It is a billion-dollar industry, but nobody thought that could ever happen. Everyone knows Hollywood, yet it has nothing to do with the creation of the medium itself. So let’s rewind, and go back to 1872.