Thursday, April 24, 2008

For Hazel

live@raindance.co.uk
the online martini shot* of independent film
the 24 April 2008 edition
Newsletter Subtitle
This week
What's New
Tip
Upcoming Courses
LAST CHANCE: Festival Submissions
What's On RDTV
The Canadian Connection
Competition
Greetings!
What's new this week at Raindance?

Martinis, Mozart & Movies. Read on...

Not a member yet? Click to join
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What was Kubrick Thinking?

Did Stanley Kubrick really make his cast and crew listen to classical music all day long while filming 2001?

And did he really shoot footage 200 times the length of the final film?

Ask Kelvin Pike, he'll know.

The Raindance Kodak Masterclass takes place at BAFTA on Saturday 10 May, 2-4pm. Tickets cost £10.

Veteran cameraman Kelvin Pike, whose work includes 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY, THE SHINING, STAR WARS:THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, DR STRANGELOVE and HEAVEN'S GATE, will give us a behind the scenes look at what it was like working on some of the most iconic films of the 20th Century.

Click HERE to book a place or ring 020 7287 3833.
stanley Low Budget Shooting Tip:
Make the Video Store your Film School

Godard, Truffaut and the rest of the French New Wave were the first filmmakers to study and deconstruct previous films as inspiration for their own work. Since then, indie auteurs from Kubrick to Tarantino have used the work of their peers as building blocks towards success.

With the home video market as advanced and as cheap as it currently is, you have no excuse not to do the same! Research the classics, rent them from your local video store, your local library, or on the internet, and start watching. Even the most advanced filmmaker can still learn from the masters, so, get working!

Learn about the best 10 Sites to Watch Movies HERE

film crew One Night Stand

Come along to Raindance's annual Open Evening, 8 May 2008, where you will meet the filmmakers and screenwriters who teach some of your favourite Raindance courses. Ask them all the gritty questions about what they do, and how they broke into the film industry, and their most embarassing moment on set.


Oh, and it's FREE.
For more information, click HERE
Book your place today by emailing party@raindance.co.uk

ALSO: New this year, check out The Short Film Project if you want to get some hands on experience with producing, shooting, and screening your film in just 4 days!
last chanceLAST CHANCE!

This is your last chance to reach the early submission deadline for the 16th Raindance Film Festival. The first stage of deadlines closes on Thursday 1st May (Just one week from today!) so here's your final chance to get your film in early and to save on submission fees.


Not quite there yet? That's okay! The final deadline is 6th June with a Withoutabox-only extended deadline of 20th June.

For details on submissions, click HERE
Our Ears are Ringing...

Some familiar faces are chatting about Raindance.

Click HERE to see what they're saying.

Through the Film Festival and the Awards, Raindance continues to inspire and encourage. A natural force in independent filmmaking and long may it "rain".

-Alan Rickman
Actor/ Harry Potter/ Truly, Madly, Deeply/ Dogma


Coming Soon...

Sleep Dealer featuring a Q&A with Director Alex Rivera Friday 25 April 2008.

Set in the near future in a militarised world marked by closed borders, virtual labour and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break barriers of technology. Sleep Dealer, the feature debut by renowned digital media artist Alex Rivera, is a highly imaginative and boldly futuristic sci-fi thriller.

RSVP ESSENTIAL: This is a private event - If you would like to request tickets please e-mail fps@aljazeera.net, with your name, telephone number and the number of tickets you require.

FREE for Raindance Members

TIME: Doors open at 12:00pm and the event will end around 4:30pm.
VENUE: Everyman Cinema Club, 5 Holly Bush Vale, Hampstead, London, NW3 6TX Buses: 46, 268, N5 / Underground: Hampstead, Northern Line (Edgware Branch)

Click HERE for more information.
digmi RDTV
This week on Raindance.tv, get shorty with some great mini-movies.

Jarl Olson's jazzy one and a half minute story Omar, the Short is bigger than Omar himself- a comedic tale of the ups and downs of Karma is now available for viewing on Blinkx.com


Help Flint hunt and bobble for the missing chord in the mesmerizing animated tale, Digmi-The Search for the Missing Chord

Got more time?

Making of A Film Idol, a full length-feature where "A first-time producer wanted to cast his 'fully funded' British gangster film with wannabes. It was a match made in hell". You can also check out this film on Bablegum along with The Morning Guy a great short to make you feel better about your mornings.

Special for Raindance Members

Are you off to Cannes this coming May? Are you a Raindance Member?

If you answered "Oui!" to both those questions, we have some exciting news for you. On the first Saturday of Cannes Film Festival, 17 May 2008, Raindance's very own Elliot Grove will be conducting a walking tour of Cannes Market. And you're invited.

To register or simply get more information, shoot us an email at cannes@raindance.co.uk


To become a Raindance Member for just £50.00, click HERE

If you are not attending Cannes but want to take the tour anyway, not to worry! Take the virtual Cannes Tour courtesy of Tiscali HERE
Alumni

Raindance alum Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) encountered controversy this week as he geared up for the release of his latest summer Blockbuster, The Dark Knight. It has been reported that the film, which stars the recently deceased Heath Ledger as the Joker, contains a scene in which the late actor rises from a body bag after faking his death. After test audiences responded with shock, the studio reportedly put pressure on Nolan to remove the scene from the film's final cut.

However, the director has stood his ground, refusing to edit Ledger's performance.

The Dark Knight is currently set for a UK release on the 25th of July.
Quote

In England, I'm a horror movie director. In Germany, I'm a filmmaker. In the US, I'm a bum.

- John Carpenter

First Feature The Canadian Connection

If your indie comedy isn't getting the sales you'd hoped, Richard Symons of Spirit Level films suggests ...try Canada.

Indy comedy THE JOLLY BOYS LAST STAND starring (a then) unknown Andy Serkis, Milo Twomey and Sacha Baron Cohen made no headway on the UK festival scene until Canadian ex-pat and head of the Raindance Eliot Grove tuned in to it's off beat humour and gave it an airing at Raindance 1999.

Six months later the BRITPICS festival in Toronto heard about the Raindance screening and booked Jolly Boys for a 6pm Tuesday night screening. Despite the film's zero profile in Canada, 600 film fans packed the hip Bloor Cinema to see what the fuss was about. Still no territory sale.

Just when the producers had almost given up selling the film, acquisition scouts from new Canadian distributor PEACE ARCH contacted Britpics' programmer Oliver Groom to suggest any films that had screened well at the fest. Groom described how Jolly Boys had gone down a storm and the label picked it up for Canada and The US.

In the meantime, producer Chris Payne would still love to hear from anyone in the UK...

Raindance has a whole bunch of events next week in Toronto.
Find out by clicking here.
dracula Turn 2 Minutes into £5,000!

"The horror, the horror!" What better way to celebrate the arrival of sunny spring than with guts and gore from London's bloodiest short film competition, Zone Horror's "CUT!"

Enter your two-minute horror flick, get it screened by "kitsch-cult legend Lloyd Kaufman, local horror hero Alan Jones and Joe Lynch" and win the chance for a not-so-horrific cash prize.

Of course, submissions are due on Friday the 13th of June 2008.
For more information and videos of last year's winners click HERE
martini *martini shot

The last shot of the day's shoot... because the next "shot" is in a Martini glass.

Yours etc
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Joe Pearshouse and the Raindance team
Elliot Grove
Suzanne Ballantyne
Will Pearce
Jesse Vile
James Merchant
Kelly Reilly
Marco Esquivel
Dan Schoenbrun
Molly Schulman

In Memory Of Hazel Court

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