The opening scenes of your screenplay are crucial in hooking the reader to continue with the rest of the story. But how do you start? It can be tough to figure out the perfect way to get the plot flowing and pages turning. That's why I want to give you ten different options of ways to start, that could, hopefully, get your brain working in different ways to start your script. Let's dive in. 10 Ways to Start Your Screenplay The best opening for your screenplay depends on the story you want to tell and the effect you want to create. Experiment with these different approaches to find the one t ..read more

One of the best movies of the year hinges not only on the chemistry between actors, but also the ability for VFX people to make the tennis look real, and make it look like the actors were really playing tennis. A new behind-the-scenes look at Challengers reveals the incredible visual effects work that brought the film's tennis courts, dramatic moments, and intense rivalries to life. If you thought the movie was thrilling, this is going to blow you away. — (@) The awesome publication Before And Afters Magazine took an intricate deep dive into intricate how the Challengers tennis scenes were ..read more

Film school is a touchy subject. If you're in insurmountable debt from it, like me, you have many feelings when it comes to the good ol' days of wide-eyed academia and the promise of breaking into the movie biz. It's a place where I wrote a screenplay that sold and allowed me to break in; it's also a place that charged me way more than that screenplay sold for me to attend. As it turns, out even legends like Laura Dern have a complicated relationship with film school as well. Dern, the actress in many classic movies like Jurassic Park, Citizen Ruth, and October Sky, as well as Big Little Lie ..read more

When working on set, brands like Hollyland and Teradek allow filmmakers to skip the BNC and move with significantly more fluid mobility than ever before with wireless connections. It goes without saying Hollyland has made major waves in the last few years in the wireless film tools space. With their popular Solidcom headsets, communication on set has become a dream of clear reception. And, with their Mars wireless video tools, it's easier than ever to monitor camera remotely. Lucky for filmmakers everywhere they haven't slowed down producing new equipment. And, even luckier for us at No Film ..read more

Once you finish your script and are ready to start shopping it around town, the idea of pitching all your ideas and themes can feel extremely daunting. Often times you're trying to get producers and execs to even give your script a read, and even if they do what if they don't fully conceptualize your vision completely the way you've lived with it up in your creative noggin. That's why we love to utilize a pitch deck. Filmmaker Leah McKendrick was kind enough to share her very own pitch deck for her hilarious, honest, and personal comedy Scrambled as an example below—an invaluable resource to ..read more

The Black List started as an annual list of the best, unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Nowadays, it’s an awesome online platform that nurtures and empowers screenwriters from around the world, by helping them showcase their scripts and grow within the industry. In today’s episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins, Jason Hellerman, and host of the Blacklisted podcast, Chris Hill, discuss: How The Black List got its start and what it looks like today The difference between the website and the annual list of scripts Getting multiple reports on a script Recurring themes of screenplays on The B ..read more

I was driving to the movies with an executive friend the other day, and something surprised me when I jumped into his car. He wasn't listening to the radio. He was listening to a screenplay. I quickly emailed a few other friends and found that many execs in my circle listen to scripts like audiobooks. It's pretty easy if you have a PDF. Sure, the voices are a little computerized, but there are actually a few out there that sound less digitized. This revelation made me think... if I knew they were listening to my script instead of reading it, how would I write it differently? Let's dive into ..read more

Since Nikon’s acquisition of RED Digital Cinema, there’s been A LOT of speculation as to what this could ultimately mean not just for both brands involved—but also for the cinema camera industry as a whole. However, both companies have been a bit quiet as to what might eventually come from this acquisition. That is, until now. According to Nikon Rumors, Nikon's president shared details about the company's plans to incorporate RED’s color science and video technology into Nikon’s camera lineup. Here’s what we know so far about the future of these RED-powered Nikon cameras. Nikon to Incorporat ..read more

If you had to ask me my favorite movie genre of all time, it would be film noir. I grew up loving those darker, more mature movies with detectives, twists, turns, and incredible characters. As I grew up, noirs became the thing I most loved to write as well. But what are the best film noir ever made? And do they make them around the world? Today, I want to dive into those questions and come up with a complete list of some of these movies you definitely have to check out. Let's dive in. Film Noir Definition Film noir is a genre that has captivated audiences with its shadowy visuals, morally a ..read more

Adobe recently released a new Photoshop update, adding quite a bit of new AI-powered tools. Many of these were already out in the wild, but they're officially moving from beta to public release. However, a few of these AI tools are quite new, and—as we predicted before—will most likely make their way from Photoshop eventually to Premiere Pro and After Effects. Let’s take a look at these latest Photoshop AI tools and see which ones might make their way to Adobe’s video editing apps the soonest—as well as which ones might be the most impactful for video editors. Adobe’s Selection Brush Tool P ..read more