Comic-Con Film School is back for another four-day, nuts and bolts course on how to make a movie for very little money using available video technology and desktop postproduction software. Whether you're shooting your first vampire film or that story about the leather-clad girl who hunts dimensional refugees, this course will take you from script to final product so that you too can enter your own movie into the CCI-IFF. This first class covers the specifics of preproduction on the cheap, including screenwriting, casting, scheduling, location scouting, crewing-up, and getting equipment for nothing. Panelists include Valerie Perez (producer/star, Paula Peril series), Jack Conway (writer/producer, Fear News), Vera Vanguard (producer, The Building of Good and Evil), Nick Murphy (writer/director, Pizza and Bullets), and Sean Rourke (writer, Ballistica).
Location scouts work with the director and production designer to translate their cinematic visions to reality by traveling the world to seek out where the movies will be made. Six location scouts will discuss the creative and logistical aspects of their jobs, tell some exciting anecdotes, and answer audience questions. Panelists include Becky Brake (Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol), Caleb Duffy (Thor), Scott Allen Logan (Iron Man 2), David Lyons (Community), Rebecca "Puck" Stair (Terminator Salvation), and Scott Trimble (Star Trek Into Darkness).
Day 2 of this four-day course on microbudget moviemaking focuses on the specifics of production, from shooting techniques, to lighting on the cheap, to crew positions you need (and don't need), to costuming, props, and set decorating for as little money as possible. Panelists include Valerie Perez (producer/star of the Paula Peril series), Vera Vanguard (producer of The Building of Good and Evil), Nick Murphy (writer/director of Pizza and Bullets), Jack Conway (writer/producer of Fear News), and Sean Rourke (writer of Ballistica).
Moderated by Lora Kennedy (Warner Brothers, EVP, features casting; CD, Man of Steel). With a panel that includes Roger Mussenden (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Sharon Bialy (The Walking Dead), David Rapaport (Arrow), Randi Hiller (VP of casting for Walt Disney Studio, The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor), these leading casting directors will give behind-the-scenes insight to the casting process.
Day 3 of our course on microbudget moviemaking deals with how to direct actors, organize a crew, and keep them all happy without anybody making a dime. Panelists include Valerie Perez (producer/star of the Paula Peril series), Vera Vanguard (producer of The Building of Good and Evil), Nick Murphy (writer/director of Pizza and Bullets), Jack Conway (writer/producer of Fear News), Sean Rourke (writer of Ballistica), and actors Kat Steel, Josh Perilo, and Bradley Upton.
Whether your main character is a hero, a villain, a sidekick, or a one-of-a-kind original, empathizing with a main character is essential if you want your audience to experience your story at a personal level. Even the meanest main character is sympathetic when you get inside his head. This workshop gives you several surefire, practical techniques to get your audience squarely involved in your main character's personal issues.
The final day of our comprehensive course on microbudget moviemaking revolves around what to do after your movie is shot. Panelists will go over the basics of postproduction on your home computer; what software to use for editing, graphic design, sound design, and visualFX; and finally, how to burn your finished product to DVD and upload it to the Internet. Panelists include Valerie Perez (producer/star of the Paula Peril series), Nick Murphy (writer/director of Pizza and Bullets), Jack Conway (writer/producer of Fear News), and Sean Rourke (writer of Ballistica).
The films have been shown, now it's time to award the recipients of the 2013 Comic-Con Independent Film Festival with their trophies and recognition! Comic-Con's Gary Sassaman talks to this year's trio of judges -- Alex DeMille (winner of last year's CCI-IFF Judges' Choice award for The Absence), journalist Geoff Boucher (senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and the force behind EW.com's CapeTown) and acclaimed award-winning actress Kathy Najimy (Sister Acts 1 & 2, Hocus Pocus, Rat Race) -- about the films and presents prizes and trophies to the winners.
