Making Movies

Has anyone ever tried to make a movie before? If so, what was it called and what was it about? Also, share any tips you have for making movies! I am going to be making a movie soon with some siblings and friends/acquaintances and have basically no experience, yet I am the director and scriptwriter, not to mention an actor! Advice would be great!

Our movie is called 'Greater Love' and is loosely based off of 'The Princess Bride.' In it, the prince and princess of a land-Brit and Weston-are hiding from the bad guy, who killed their father and took over the country, and is now trying to find them and kill them. The movie follows their struggle against the bad guy, trying to defeat him, and their struggle to cooperate with each other since, as siblings, they can't get along. When we finish it, I can post a link to it and you can see how the title and the story fit together.

I made a video in memory of my Great-Grandpa, and showed it at my aunt's house last Thanksgiving to all my relatives. It turned out pretty well, considering that I was scanning in all the pictures, as they didn't have digital cameras before he died. My next project is a sort of "documentary" about the Bible Bee, following our family and showing every step of the way. :) A few friends of mine are REALLY into film-making, and they have made a documentary on a young lady named Amy Vest, and also a story called Excelsior: Ever Higher. I haven't seen it, but it sounds like they did a good job for one of their first projects.

I've done some movie-making, but only in stop-animations with Legos. Its really fun, and I can share some tips if you want. Hey, maybe I should start a Brickfilming topic! What do you guys think?

It's not my decision-but others may object to that, seeing how many people on here run away screaming when you comment on topics.

How true. :D

Hmm, since I cant tell if you're kidding or not, I better not, since you object………..

You can share some tips-you just shouldn't start a new topic on it.

I'd like to see the Bible Bee documentary, Bethany!

So would I.

in 3-D!!

@WM - Now the pressure's on! Yikes!! ;)

What video editor do you use, anyone?

If you're talking about a computer program for editing videos, you'll have to talk to a church buddy of mine who, as far as I know, isn't on here-he's going to be the main editor for the movie. We haven't actually started filming yet either.

Sorry - I didn't mean to direct that at you, i just hit a reply button. :) I just got Adobe Premeire Elements 10, and from what I've seen of it so far, it's pretty cool.

I'm thinking of making a movie with a friend or two that are interested in it as well. I would probably be a co-writer and the composer of the music.

Has anyone here ever submitted anything to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival?

I haven't heard of anyone I know submitting a film to the Festival, but I think I've heard of it. Too bad we live so far away-I might go to it if I had the chance. Maybe someday I'll have a work of art to send there! =)

Hey! My brothers and I are making a stop-animation movie too! With Legos!!!
It's based on 'The Horse and His Boy' by C.S. Lewis.
It's turning out really cool. At least, a lot better than I thought it would when we started. We've got the first five sections done.
( that means we're to the part when the lion chases the two horses together, thats going to be tough.) If you've read the book, I'm sure you know what part I'm talking about. If you haven't read C. S. Lewis's books, DO!!! :-)

I think it would be awesome to go to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival!

@Rebekah…I didn't know you guys were doing that. That's so cool! I can't wait to see it. :)

Seriously? AWESOME!! Finally someone else who likes Brickfilming! You should either google "lego brickfilm horse leg movement" or check out the forums on BricksinMotion.com, they have a Resources page that has lots of great tips and links to websites for filmers, not to mention some awesome brickfilms and a forum with lots of answers to your questions. What other Brickfilms have you done?

@RejoicingAlways(BethanyM) - have you seen AdventuresInEditing's youtube stuff? Tracy (Her real name) does Adventures in Odyssey scenes with an editing program - she does them all by herself. It is AMAZING! I want to do that one day - she is totally into it. Her YouTube account is "AdventuresinEditing - Tracy Lyn Holland" enjoy!

@Brick arms lover: Hey, do you know where to find a Lego Lion? I can't find any ANYWHERE!!!! It would be EXTREMELY helpful for the next scene…
@little miss sunshine: Ha, ha! I'll show you on Friday if you come to FBS. But seriously, You didn't know? I thought I had told you! Oh, well…at least you know now! :P

My brothers and I have made a few movies in the past…. :)

Sorry, no lions! It makes you wish C.S Lewis had used somthing else like bears, or dinosaurs, or dragons, or spiders or somthing like that, because Lego has made all of those animals, but I haven't seen any lions. I checked Bricklink.com , which is basically the Lego version of eBay, with pretty much every element Lego has ever made on their site. You might want to Google "lego lion instructions" or "how to make a lego lion", and see if you can find something. By the way, I you can, check out BricksInMotion.com and search "Ageless" and "Banana Ninja", those two films are funny!

Hey, I have a Lego lion! Wow! Something Sam doesn't have! :P It is in a Lego Narnia set–a very small one with Aslan, Susan, Lucy, a cyclops, and a small ice castle. :D

@Rebekah a.k.a. HorseLover :P No, I didn't know. I knew you were making a movie (or at least wanted to), but I didn't know it was a brick film.

Very funny. Lego didn't do a Narnia theme!

No, really! I do! Let me check if it is made by Lego, though…

Oh, okay. Sorry, the set is by Mega Blocks. The pieces are quite Lego-like, though. And the lion could be used for something like what Horse Lover needs. But it's not like I could just send it to her or something… Maybe you could just use a Mega Blocks lion instead, Horse Lover?

MEGA BLOKS? MEGA BLOKS?!?!? YOU DARE USE THAT PLASTIC FORM OF HERESY!?!? THAT CHEAPLY-MADE JUNK!?!? breathes in and out hard I don't consider myself a true Lego purist, as I use Lego-compatible custom made accessories, but the bricks themselves are out of the question!

By the way, knowing you, you'd bring them tonight just to annoy me! Unless you want to see your friend have a heart attack, leave them alone!

I must apologize for my alter-ego's violent outburst. He had no excuse for such behavior, even if such bricks were heretical, as he puts it. In short, he is sorry for being annoying and mean.

WHAT?!!!
well… maybe…

You mean the Mega Blocks that can be used along with Legos? (No offense, TooTallForTitus; we just sometimes don't have enough Legos to build something.)

Believe it or not, guys, my younger brother wants (when he grows up) to work at Lego Company and try to get them to make Lego Narnia and Lego Bible sets.

Okay, we can disagree on the Mega Bloks. The ONLY reason they exist is because Lego's Canadian patents expired, then Mega Bloks came out. They took them to court, but Mega Bloks basically said "They just happen to interlock with Lego!" when it was obvious they'd copied them.

And in reference to Lego Bible, that's not such a hot idea. If we can get Lego Bible, great, but then people are gonna say where's Lego Koran? Where's Lego Book of Mormon? Where's Lego Budda? And then people might even sue Lego,(which has enough financial problems as it is) and either they'll be forced to stop it, or make other false religions too. So if you want Lego Bible, make the scenes yourself. There's a company called ME-Models that buys Lego bricks, and makes their own vehicle sets and sells them. If your brother wants, he can do that too, just with Bible scenes. http://www.bricklink.com is a great site for finding Lego elements for a good price.

And for Lego Narnia, he can go to brickforge.com and get some medieval weapons, and armor, and can Google "how to make minifig decals" and can find out how to make torso prints for minifigs that would help his minifigs look like characters from Narnia.

Nice name… :P You CANNOT go a week without changing your name at least twice, can you??? :P

Nope, not really. I'm waiting for OCTSRIS's response to it when I see him in church.

And he really didn't say anything about it. I wonder what he'll say about my current username?

By the way, what camera do you guys use for your films? I use an Everio JVC Camcorder for my stop-animation, because of the really awesome manual focus!

Ah, moviemaking. That used to be my big hobby. I still enjoy it, but have other things I like too. I actually started a homeschool Christian moviemakers club in my area. (https://sites.google.com/site/jahmmc/)

You can see some of my movies here: https://vimeo.com/user6215668

My favorite movies to make are silly ones. The club I started has an annual April Fools Day movie contest and we have such a blast with that. Like my brother falling down the stairs, the laundry starts talking to my sister, etc. :D

I use a Kodak 100 Sport (I think that's what it's called, the stickers came off). It supposedly can video underwater but my dad isn't so sure that's a good idea. :) It's just a little fairly cheap camcorder, but it does what I want. Usually. ;)

I think that address should have the "s" taken out of it–that makes it an invalid address. However, without the "s," it takes you to the correct page. :)

Thanks! The reason I include that is because I'm the administrator and I think it automatically does that for me. So if I copy and paste it includes it. I'll try to remember that next time!

Here's a really good example of a brickfilm I thought you guys might find funny:

http://bricksinmotion.com/films/view/3778/

You guys should look at this film, it's really funny! It explains why Apple went to the iPhone 4s instead of going straight to the iPhone 5. Enjoy! And tell us what you think about it afterward!

My brother, Noah, has started filming his third movie. The first one is a Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom parody (Indiana Cassidy and The Fight for the Diamond),The second one is a treasure-seeking adventure with a twist (name not chosen yet), and the third one is a western-Rambo parody, and it isn't done yet.

Tips from Noah:

Do not film modern things in a movie set in older times, unless you want it to be there. For example, having a modern house in the backround of a scene, or a car, or anything like that. It will ruin the movie.

Do not use a bedroom for a restaurant (I made that mistake in my first movie).

When filming any scenes, change camera positions. Don't film the entire scene from one spot; get it from several angles.

The camera man (or woman) shouldn't run with the actor. Get on a vehicle, wagon, or just stay still and pan the camera while shooting running scenes.

That's all the tips for now. Noah says if you're interested in more tips just reply to me and he'll give some more! :)

You know what? Some friends of ours just finished a movie called 'California Johnson and the Second to Last Crusade', a parody of 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.' Here's the link to their website: www.californiajohnson.com.
More tips would be great!

I just started making Lego stop-motion movies. They're really fun!

Has anyone ever made fake advertisements? it's so much fun!

Yes! My siblings and I have made some quick, short movies before… you can check them out here: https://vimeo.com/efffarmhands41

Have fun!

What kind of camera do you have??? You might check out http://www.christianfilmmakers.org They have a forum where you can ask lots of questions!

I'm hoping to shoot a few scenes from Annison's Risk (Passages book by Paul McCusker) when my BFF comes in the summer. I'm the director and she has no idea that she's going to be Annison…hmmm, maybe I should ask her to audition before I cast her. Oh well. :)

Hi everybody,

A friend of mine is competing in a CollegePlus! scholarship contest. She has entered a video essay on the topic of
"Why Should Life Experiences be a Part of Earning a Degree?"

If you have a couple seconds, please go to the link below and click "vote!" before midnight PST tonight. She just needs about 30 votes to put her over the top!

http://scholarships.collegeplus.org/essays/607-why-should-life-experiences-be-a-part-of-earning-a-degree

Thanks!
Grace