Prizes Galore!

As you may or may not know, we’re in the planning stages of a week long video shoot for a series of ten commercials for one of our clients.

The only catch is that they are in ten different languages, and we’re having a little bit of trouble finding actresses with the relevant skills to fill the roles. That’s where you come in! If we can achieve our goal of sourcing the amount of actresses we need, then we’re happy to reward anyone that helps us out in doing so.

Prize One:

For anyone that shares the following on Facebook…

Everyone who shares the following link (and copies and pastes this description along with it) will be entered into a prize draw to win an iPod Nano (Postage to anywhere in Europe included. Allow a few weeks for delivery. Shares up to the 7th of Feb will be included in the draw.) bit.ly/wyr4d0

Or tweets the following on Twitter:

Actresses required for promo vid. RT and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win an iPod Nano. Europe only. http://bit.ly/wyr4d0 #casting

…will (you guessed it) be entered in a prize draw to win an iPod Nano 8Gb!

The Small Print:

As stated, postage is included to anywhere in Europe and the prize will be shipped to the winner within a few weeks of the draw closing, which will be on the 7th of Feb.

Prize Two:

Shares and retweets are good, we like them; but if we don’t get the actresses we need then we’re an iPod Nano down with nothing to show for it! So here’s where the second prize comes in…

Anyone who recommends a friend* who meets the criteria, in one of the languages below, and that friend attends one of our castings on the 8th (Derby), 10th or 11th (London) of Feb… will be entered into a prize draw that will take place if we meet our target number of attendees**. All of the details relating to the criteria for actresses can be found in our original post here:

bit.ly/wyr4d0

The languages we need are Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Portuguese, Dutch and Norwegian.

The winner will receive their choice of either an iPod Classic 160Gb, iPod Touch 8Gb or a Kindle Fire 8Gb.

All you have to do is email rei@stencilmedia.com with a name, language of the person in question and contact details; and we’ll take it from there. Please ensure the person you are recommending meets all the criteria first!

The Small Print:

*Actresses are allowed to recommend themselves as long as they mention this blog post/prize draw. **And for the draw to take place we need nine of each language to attend the castings. Only the first nine qualified entries in each language will be entered into the draw and we have 14 already booked in. Therefore, there will only be 40 entries to the draw in total… i.e not a bad chance of winning!

Please obtain the person’s permission before supplying us with their contact details. Postage will be covered to anywhere in Europe. Anyone entering from outside Europe will still be eligible, but will have to arrange for postage. Allow a few weeks for delivery.

Prize Three:

Ok, now it’s getting complicated! To help spread the word of the newly announced ‘prize two’ we now need a ‘prize three’! There is now an image on the Stencil Media page that is offering the chance to win an iPod Shuffle for anyone who shares the image. All you need to do is follow the link below and share the relevant image, it’s as simple as that!

http://www.facebook.com/StencilMedia

And if you fancy ‘liking’ the Stencil Media page while you’re there then that would be much appreciated, but not entirely necessary! It would be handy if there are future give-aways though, so you’ll always be amongst the first to know.

The Small Print:

Postage will be covered to anywhere in Europe. Anyone entering from outside Europe will still be eligible, but will have to arrange for postage. Last day for qualifying ‘shares’ is the 7th of Feb. Allow a few weeks for delivery.

So there you go! You’ve got to be in it to win it, so get tweeting, sharing and recommending!

Actresses Required…

Stencil Media are gearing up for our most ambitious project yet, and we’re looking for a whole host of talent to make sure it’s also our best project yet! Last month we were commissioned to create a short product infomercial and the client liked it so much that they have requested ten more infomercials, which is excellent news. But here’s the catch… they’re in ten different languages!

We’re therefore looking for the folowing talent to get involved with this exciting project. Please be aware that all roles are fully paid.

Actresses

We need a total of thirty actresses in all, three for each language. The languages in question are:

Dutch
Portuguese
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Swedish

FORMAL ACTING EXPERIENCE IS NO REQUIRED, although 100% fluency in the language most certainly is. It’s a weight-loss product and the individual will be required to deliver a scripted interview to camera in a relaxed and conversational style. Actual experience of  weight-loss and the ability to provide a before and after photo that shows a noticeable difference would be beneficial, but isn’t absolutely necessary.

The shoot will take place between the 20th and the 24th of February in Derby, and each actress will be required to attend for approximately three hours on just one of those days. Approximately one hour for make-up, one hour for the shoot and one hour… just in case!

The role is fully paid and all actresses will receive a contribution towards travel expenses. Details of pay rates will be provided via email. There will be two days of casting in Central London on the 10th and 11th of February and one half-day casting in Derby on the 8th of February. The casting itself is unpaid. If you would like to attend one of the castings, find out the pay rates or any further details then please contact Rei Bennett on rei@stencilmedia.com

Translators

All translation posts are now filled.

Voice Over Artists

Once the scripts have been translated into the target languages, we’ll require professional voice over artists to read certain parts of the script. Total word count for the voice parts is approximately 150, so around a minute or less. We’re particularly looking to hear form Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish talent. Voice over would need to be completed prior to the 20th of February. If you would like to be consider then please contact Scott Edington via email, including your rates, on scott@stencilmedia.co.uk

Interpreters

We need ten interpreters to be on set for each language shoot. This is to supervise the actresses delivery of lines and provide translation services if the actresses are not fluent in English. This would be for approximately four hours on one day between the 20th and the 24th of February. This is a fully paid role and a contribution towards travel expenses will be paid. Applicants must be 100% fluent in their target language and English. If you would like to be considered then please email scott@stencilmedia.co.uk

Camera Assistant/Runner

We require one camera assistant/runner to help out on the week of the shoot. This will be approximately 37.5 hours work on the week of the 20th to the 24th of February. Experience on a film shoot is a benefit but not a pre-requisite for application.  If you have a car then it would be a considerable benefit. This is a paid role although it will be minimum wage , lunches will be provided plus a contribution towards travel. Would be ideal for a film student who can get a week off uni or someone who has previous experience in the industry. Duties will include fetching lunches, drinks and equipment (the boring stuff!); charging batteries, transferring and logging data from memory cards, setting up equipment and assisting the director of photography, director and producer (the less boring stuff!). Please send all applications to Scott Edington who can be emailed on scott@stencilmedia.co.uk and include details of any previous experience/why you’d like to get involved.

So if any of the roles above take your fancy, then please get in touch with Rei if you’re an actress, or Scott if you are anything else! The shoots will be pretty fun and relaxed so why not get in touch if you have the skills and experience for the relevant roles. Need to get clarification form the client, but hopefully you all should be able to use the footage in your showreel and we’re hoping it will be of a very high quality.

Thanks!

Film Review – Submarine (2010)

All Hell Breaks Loose In Indie Feature Film “Mansion of Blood”

~ Gary Busey, Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff, Terry Moore and Carla Laemmle all star in “Mansion of Blood” set to film in California May 4^th 2011 ~

Hollywood (May 6^th 2011) -  California based production company Elusive Entertainment in association with Welcome Home Productions and Dream Cinema Productions sign award winning stars for latest low budget indie horror movie “Mansion of Blood” starting production on May 11^th 2011.

Award winning actor Gary Busey (Piranha 3Dd, Point Break, and Lethal Weapon), Oscar nominated actress Terry Moore (Mighty Joe Young, Beneath the 12 mile Reef), Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff (Baywatch, The Young and the Restless), Said Faraj (The Green Zone, Sinbad the Fifth Voyage), Sarah Alami (VH1’s Scream Queens 2), Sam Stone ( Disney’s Big Time Rush, Halloween Night)  and the niece of Universal Pictures founder Carla Laemmle (Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera) all set to start filming “Mansion of Blood” in an exclusive location in West Covina, California.

Directed and written by Michael Donahue, “Mansion of Blood” is a grueling horror set in an abandoned haunted mansion built in 1912 which is renovated in 2012 by millionaire Mason Murphy.  To celebrate his new home he hosts a lunar eclipse viewing party at the mansion, inviting everyone in the small town of River Ridge.

A witch casts a spell under the eclipse to visit with the spirit of her dead boyfriend, but the magic runs out of control due to the magically charged items in the house.  Thrown outside of normal space and time, the guests are trapped at the mansion until the curse can be broken.

“I am so excited to be appearing in another horror movie.” – said Carla Laemmle. “I spoke the first line of dialogue ever in a horror movie which was “Dracula” in 1931 and I have the last line of dialogue in “Mansion of Blood” 80 years later.”

Horror fans will be in for a treat with “Mansion of Blood” as literally anything becomes possible as the guests fears and nightmares become reality.  One by one they die in different ways, killed by accident, murder, monsters, and spirits.

Other independent feature films within the slate scheduled for 2011 release from the “Mansion of Blood” producers include “The Extra”, “The Visitor from Planet Omicron” and “Among Rugged Peaks: The Life Story of Carla Laemmle”..

Film Focus – Unit PR

As part of our Film Focus series, we’re joined by Liz Rodriguez, founder of EMR Media; specialising in Marketing, Branding and Publicity Services for the entertainment industry. Today we’re going to be talking about the role of a Unit PR within film production and the value that such a role can add to the success of your film.

Voice-Over Artists

It’s a dark art the world of the voice over, but one that is absolutely necessary when it comes to commercials and webvideos. Titles and motion graphics are great, but there’s times when nothing quite hits home like a professional voice over. I think it’s three or four times now that I’ve had to use a voice over artist on one of my projects and each time it’s been a pleasure. As with any professions there’s your good types and your bad types, but from what I’ve seen, voice over artists are the pinnacle of exceptional customer service!

The most recent voice-over I used for my own showreel was from a gentleman called Eric Saint John based in Texas. Not only did he provide a fantastic quality of work, but his customer service was exceptional. He went above and beyond what I expected and I’d be more than happy to use him again in the future. He’s done work for Disney, the new sci-fi series ‘V’ and a whole host of commercials and webvideos.

If you work in video production and ever need a voice over artist then you should definitely check out the website of Eric Saint John: www.ericsaintjohn.com This guy is as close as you’ll get to the late, great Don LaFontaine!

www.stencilmedia.co.uk

“Wanna be a filmmaker…?”

“Well so do I, let’s figure it out!” was a line featured in the original titles of ‘Film Riot’ and I think it sums up the show perfectly. For those that don’t know, Film Riot is a weekly Revision 3 webshow all about film making which is hosted by Ryan Connolly.

So why is the line so apt? Well normally on such shows you’ll get some guy who proclaims to be a ‘professional’ filmmaker, preaching their way of doing things to the masses… you must do this, you must do that. The difference with Ryan and the gang is that they’re still on the journey to becoming filmmakers and they’re inviting you along on the ride, actually finding out what works and what doesn’t along the way. That makes it sound like I’m making them out to be amateurs, but in reality some of the things they’ve made far outshines the stuff that comes out of Hollywood!

The great thing about the show is that people email in and ask things like “how would you make it look like your actors are in a submarine… that’s in space?” and rather than giving a few theoritical pointers and the like; they’ll say “Erm, I’m not sure, but hey… let’s give it a try!!” and as a result they don’t only tell you how to do something, they also let you know what could go wrong and give you practical demonstrations along the way.

I think I’m not alone in thinking that the main reason people watch Film Riot rather than any other film-making show is down to the humour. Ryan, his brother Josh and the rest of the crew jam the show full of hilarious sketches and over the top sponsor ads that will keep you coming back for more week after week. Teaching people is a skill, but teaching people and making it funny along the way is pure genius. I don’t think I’d be where I am today without the likes of Andrew Kramer and it’s the same engaging style that makes Film Riot such a success in my eyes. Their Ford Focus advert needs to be seen to be believed!

Here’s the latest episode for your viewing pleasure:

If you have any interest in film-making, (or even if you don’t!) then you’d be insane not to check them out at www.revision3.com/filmriot

They’ve also just started a weekly movie news and reviews show called Film State that can be seen here: www.revision3.com/filmstate

www.stencilmedia.co.uk

So if you want to make a film then you can do a lot worse than check it out.

Australia – Film Review

I decided early on that I wasn’t going to write film reviews on here. Not that I don’t have an opinion on films, more that I have trouble summing up exactly what I like and dislike about them. I often think a film is great, average or rubbish; but couldn’t quite tell you exactly why.

So this isn’t a film review… it’s more a few observations of the film I watched the other night. Baz Lurmann’s ‘Australia’

I remember reading about the film ages ago before it came out and remember it being touted as a film that would define the very essence of Australia, a film that would be a truly breathtaking masterpiece. Impressive claims and although I tried my best to have faith in the hype, I never got round to watching it on release. I was also interested in seeing it for the visual effects as they used an environmental generation software called Vue to create some of the CGI shots of the harbour. So… seeing it in Tesco for only £2 it was an opportunity not to be missed!

Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst £2 I’d ever spent. I would have been better of purchasing an additional two loaves of bread, or possibly a multi-pack of Jaffa Cakes. If I had purchased £2 worth of bleach and slowly massaged it into my eyes I may have had a more enjoyable time than I did watching Australia. I felt embarrassed watching it, even though I was watching it alone! The visual effects were ok, but there seemed to be a ridiculous amount of green screen work for no apparent reason. If you’re doing a scene with a space walk to fix a damaged spaceship, you need green screen… if you’re doing a scene where your actor is surveying a demolished city, you need green screen… if you’re doing a shot of an actor on a stationary horse in the outback… you don’t need green screen. It would cut backwards and forwards from shots filmed on greenscreen and shots that weren’t and it was far too obvious. You wouldn’t expect such poor effects from a blockbuster of this size and budget.

Then there’s the annoying, whiny narrative from the young boy that doesn’t add anything to the film, but most certainly detracts from it. As for Nicole Kidman, I’d normally not have a bad thing to say about her, but her performance in Australia was shocking. One minute she’s giving a heart-warming rendition during a ‘touching’ scene, the next she’s attempting to perform some kind of Laurel and Hardy comedy routine and failing miserably! That’s the thing with this film, it doesn’t know what it is and veers ridiculously between several genres… comedy, war, romance, period; resulting in a horrid mess.

It goes on for far too long as well. The traditional first, second and third acts are all there as you’d expect and then there’s another third act… then another first, second and third acts for good measure… seven acts in all! For some films the extra running time is a welcome treat, for others (such as this one) it only contributes to you losing a little bit more of your soul, that you’ll never get back.

Then there’s the claims of racist portrayals of some of the characters… I’m not sure the film was specifically racist in the conventional manner, but I did think it was insulting to the human race in general; so in a way, yes… it was racist. I think the only thing that could have made it worse was if the actors broke out in song every fifteen minutes, but then again that may have actually made it better. I think Bazza should stick to the musicals, but I’d be much happier if he never worked again.

Australia – 0 Stars – Watch at your peril.

Top Ten Tips for making Short Films

Stumbled across a great website and their top ten tips for short film making so I thought I’d share it here. All credit goes to Coherent Visual and you can visit their site here:

http://www.cvisual.com

1. Make sure you have a story worth telling
   Would you sit through the short film if someone else had made it? The answer for a surprising number of shorts is No. Ask yourself this question before you even start writing the script.
2. Don’t start production without a budget
   Films, no matter how simple, cost money — and money is always limited. By making sure you have a budget (a simple spreadsheet will do), you can decide in advance where you want to spend whatever money you have. Without a budget, you can almost guarantee that you will either spend more money than you plan, or end up without the finished film.
3. Get all clearances before shooting
   You need, need, NEED releases from actors, music/artwork contributors, and anyone else who produces content that appears in the film. Getting clearance signatures before the shoot is simple and takes you moments. After the shoot, it can be difficult to impossible. Don’t get caught, do it now.
4. Make the film shorter than you want
   Writer/directors always often leave things in the movie that the audience can really do without. It’s so painful to trim away things that were difficult to shoot. Make sure you do it. Your audience will thank you.
5. When using non-professional actors, cast with personality
   I believe bad acting is so common in short films because people are asked to play characters that don’t resemble their personalities. A dirt-poor professional actor can portray the swagger and confidence of a billionaire – but most amateurs can’t. If your lead is an anal-retentive tightwad, don’t cast a slovenly slacker to play him.
6. Invest in good sound
   Bad sound makes many short films (even ones with good stories) unbearable. There are no real replacements for a decent boom mike. Beg, buy, or borrow one and it will triple the chances your film will be watch-able.
7. Fix it now, not in post-production
   Without Digital Domain or WETA working for you, most post-production fixes don’t look/sound very good and take A LOT of time. If you have a mistake in framing, dialogue, or anything else that can be fixed on the shoot, do it!
8. Don’t zoom in a shot
   Don’t touch that zoom switch! A really good cameraman can make a zoom look OK. In almost all cases, though, using zooming is the hallmark of a sad effort. If you need to push in on a subject, use a dolly, camera glider, or a cut.
9. Know the indie/short film clichés
   The most common clichés include using dream sequences, many dissolves/wipes, long credit sequences, or waking to a ringing alarm clock. There even seem to be a few websites devoted exclusively to citing indie/short film clichés. Know what the clichés are so you can make an intelligent choice on whether to use them or not.
10. Unless you’re shooting on film, avoid night exteriors
    Darkness is the enemy of most camcorders. You’ll become acquainted with noise, color shifting, definition drop-out, and more if you choose to shoot at night without a medium size lighting package. It’s usually a lot easier to change the script than deal with all these problems.

Do you have any hints and tips that should have made it into the list but didn’t? Any invaluable advice that has made all the difference? We’d love to hear them!

New Branding!

We’ve been very busy recently with plenty of projects, but now we’ve got a bit of breathing room it’s time to get our branding sorted out… and also do more than three blog posts a month! If you’ve been to www.stencilmedia.co.uk then you’ll know that it’s not exactly an award winning site, far from it! The intention was always to have a nice fancy website, but when we first set up we needed something quick and easy. That’s what we got.

We’ve just about finished the content for it and will be handing all the designs over to the web developer shortly. We’re hoping to have everything live in time for the 1st of March. To celebrate our relaunch we’ll also be running some promotions so make sure you’re following our Facebook page for all the details. It’s all very exciting!

So watch this space, and in the meantime, here’s a sneek peek of the new site…