Welcome to our Filmmaker Spotlight of our Inner Circle Members! Our members are what make Shane’s Inner Circle the best filmmaking community YOU should be a part of, and we want to celebrate their stories with this Spotlight Series by sharing them with the world! Our members are so inspiring and I am in awe every day of how dedicated each member is to this craft, which only fuels the drive behind creating the best content from my decades of experience on set for the Inner Circle. This week we’re focusing on the young and talented Gabe Sheets! Read on, be inspired, and join us on the insid ..read more

Today’s guest article comes from our friend Sherri Kauk who focuses on remaining creative despite a micro budget. Take it away, Sherri! Author: Sherri Kauk $800 “When I have more money and more time on the next film, I’ll be able to…”  creeps into the headspace. Shoo! Ever had that thought creep into your mind? It’s destructive and limits achieving creative style.   In pursuit of silencing that “if only” voice and advancing head on toward money and time challenges, I want to share a case study shooting Dave Palamaro’s Murder Made Easy (2018). “Murder Made Easy” poster (2018) Connect ..read more

Welcome to our first Artist Spotlight of our Inner Circle Members! Our members are what make Shane’s Inner Circle the best filmmaking community YOU should be a part of, and we want to celebrate their stories with this Spotlight Series by sharing them with the world! Our members are so inspiring and I am in awe every day of how dedicated each member is to this craft, which only fuels the drive behind creating the best content from my decades of experience on set for the Inner Circle. Read on, be inspired, and join us on the inside so you can take your own work further. First up is Don McVey. En ..read more

We just wrapped on our most massive shoot for the Inner Circle yet! I knew this shoot was going to be something special, and because of that, I wanted to make sure we had this baby documented in top quality for all of time! So I figured it was time to try out a new stills camera, the Fujifilm GFX 50S, to see just how well it could perform in pretty intense circumstances. I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’d choose a medium format camera to shoot with at all? Well, as you may have noticed, the world is shifting to higher and higher megapixels and bigger and bigger sensors, and with RED’s ..read more

As a filmmaker it is incredibly important that you understand a script’s emotional arc when reading it over. Reason being is that a script is not the “final step” in the process of filmmaking. Being thorough with a script will give you a better understanding on how to achieve the “next step” which is ADAPTING IT FOR THE SCREEN.   The big question is HOW TO BREAK DOWN A SCRIPT? This is an extremely important question to ask and I want to say that this step cannot and should not be taken lightly. As I stated earlier, breaking down your script is the big next step into getting the script t ..read more

How do you create opportunities in your business and in your personal life? By Lydia Hurlbut, CEO Are you feeling as if you are just barely hanging on with massive amounts of drama, chaos, and stress in your business and personal life? Or, do you have a smooth running business with clarity and focus? If you answered yes to the dramatic chaos, it is probably because your boundaries are loosely in place. Creative people don’t like the idea of boundaries because they want to be limitless and not bound by rules. However, what allows you to feel limitless and in control over your time is focused di ..read more

Selecting your aspect ratio is one of the major decisions you have to make in pre-production and a lot of times it goes unnoticed! Usually we discuss what camera or what lenses to use to get the right emotion. All I can say is, selecting the right aspect ratio can make or break your film. So let’s get right down to it.There are lots of options to go creative with your aspect ratios. I usually work with the 3 commonly used industry standards: 2.35:1 (aka cinemascope), 1.85:1 (standard widescreen for features) and 1.78:1 (in other terms 16:9 used for HD TV and commercials).On a feature film, it ..read more

This is the third and last part of a deep dive into the uses of Freefly’s MoVi. In parts one and two, I introduced some basic uses of this incredible device and also jumped into some more unique ways I used the MoVI on my features – like mounting it on a dolly or using it as a crane. Now let’s get down and dirty and finish off with some kick ass rigs that my team and I have come up with to bring the use of the MoVI to perfection. There are so many low-tech ways to create an impressive looking shot with a MoVI. The new MoVI Pro created by Tabb Firchau and his team over at Freefly have made the ..read more

The COLOR PALETTE in a movie is what I like to call “Mood and Tone.” Every movie, TV show, or music video usually has an identifiable mood and tone or look to it. This is something that is consistent throughout the length of the presentation and/or shifts due to storytelling purposes.  “10 Best Uses of Color of All Time” by Cinefix © 2017 All Rights Reserved This is a big aspect of being a filmmaker and understanding how colors can affect your audience. Underwhelming color choices can ultimately lead to a missed opportunity in your final piece. Let’s discuss Color Archetypes for a littl ..read more

In the second part of this series, I will continue sharing some incredible insights of how to utilize Freefly’s MōVI to the fullest. In Part 1, I talked about basic principles behind this amazing device and how I used it on some of my features. You can check that out here. This 3 axis stabilizer has changed the game and shifted the paradigm for present day movie-making. It allows anyone to get professional shots. There are probably 900 ways to use this device, but I’m only going to break down a few. Here in part 2, I will get down and dirty with different ways I use the MōVI on set. Let’s hop ..read more