Becoming a successful filmmaker with Moviestorm

Here at Moviestorm we are inspired by stories of success, and how our software helps users to become successful filmmakers.

We are pleased to share the news that popular filmmaker D.L Watson has won an award for his film 'The Unspoken' at the Oregon Independent Film Festival.

The popular 2011 movie starring Nick Pemble and Erika Antonsen scooped two awards for the 'best short film' category and also 'best actor in a short film'.

D.L Watson said:

"Moviestorm was very useful when shooting The Unspoken. I needed to figure out how to shoot a conversation inside of a car - maintaining the 180 degree rules, and to test out some visual literacy I had learned.

"I think any indie filmmaker out there needs to give Moviestorm a try. It's fast, easy, and will ave you money and time."

'The Unspoken' is hidden from public viewing but will screen at Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday September 22nd.

The Red Carpet and Awards Ceremony will be Saturday, September 21st at the Clinton Street Theater and tickets for the entire festival, including the screening of the short film can be purchased here.

D.L Watson created the screenshots of film 'The Unspoken' and storyboarded using Moviestorm.

  "Instead of paying actors to come on set and block it out in real-life, I quickly was able to duplicate the scene in Moviestorm in the comfort of my home.  The great aspect about Moviestorm is I can quickly set up a scene, apply some quick animation and set-up a camera. Even better, I can even get a preview of what focal length I need lens-wise to get the look I'm going for. Having this information helps me save time and money on set."     

The trailer for 'The Unspoken' can be seen below.

 

Additionally, D.L Watson's 2010 short film 'The Letter' has been recently remastered in HD. The Letter was shot live action and storyboarded using Moviestorm. The video can be seen in HD quality below.

Further links

D.L Watson in a previous case study with Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/professional/professional_case_study_dl_watson
D.L Watson's Moviestorm page: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/community/?u=D.L.%20Watson
More about D.L Watson: http://www.dlwatson.net/

Moviestorm in Education: Long Road College, Cambridge

Students from Long Road Sixth Form College recently completed their animation coursework videos using Moviestorm.

The Level 2 Media students were asked to come up with a short three to four minute moving image product using Moviestorm. The groups gave initial ideas into a typed proposal and from this generated storyboards and in some cases design sheets. They then moved on to producing their final videos, which can be watched here.

Two groups (3 & 4), one all boys and the other mostly girls, chose a scenario about teenage party life. Two groups (1B & 2) chose to do a music-based production, a music video and a reality music TV show. The last group (1A), ventured an ambitious first episode of a ‘Youtube’ style series.

 Long Road Media teacher Steve Thorne said:

"Great time and effort was spent adding the small details. One example was the music video group’s work to recreate the band to look the same as the real one! After working with Moviestorm again this year I think working in pairs generates the best results and group time management."
 
Before the final Moviestorm videos were produced, the groups of students worked on either the characters or settings and then brought them together to add the camerawork and action.

Steve chose Moviestorm to give the students the opportunity to work with a 3D animation software so they didn’t have the same limited scope of the usual video productions shooting scenes around the college. He added:

"This was their chance to use filmmaking techniques in a virtual setting. They also had complete control over every element within their production. I think the generated animations link well to game design and advanced 3D animation software packages."

"Overall it’s been a fantastic resource for the course. The students have really taken to it and enjoyed the production work very much. It’s definitely going to be built into the course more next year!" 

 The initial production stages followed the Moviestorm six-stage production process. All groups were very committed to the ‘Sims’ style character design stage and the production of the virtual settings. CEO of Moviestorm Andrew Kennedy said:

"The students at Long Road demonstrated a rapid development of filmmaking skills and final sophistication between their demos and final movies, and it is nice to see ideas that were formulated whilst they initially played with the software for the first time coming through in their final pieces. 

Steve Thorne needs to be congratulated in creating this module, as it is giving the students an opportunity to test and develop their individual filmmaking skills without the normal logistical and budgetary restrictions, from production design and casting, into scene direction and camerawork, and through to sound design and editing skills. We hope to see more collaborations and films from this group of students, and look forward to supporting Long Road Sixth Form College into the future."

Further links

Final videos here: https://vimeo.com/album/2367854

Demo videos here: https://vimeo.com/album/2302569

Flickr Album here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30136544@N08/sets/72157633378985852/