Posts
The thrill of seeing you every day
The sight of your beautiful eyes
The sound of your resonant voice
I cannot live without
Your smile bewitches me
Your dimple charms
Your sense of humor suits me
Your intelligence disarms
I wish to know you better
To hold you while you sleep
I wish to touch your face
And comfort when you weep
-March, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
To My Friends
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the one's who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason..
If you get a second chance,
grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy,
they just promised it would be worth it.
Friends are like balloons;
once you let them go,
you can't get them back.
So I'm gonna tie you to my heart
so I never lose you.
So love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the one's who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason..
If you get a second chance,
grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy,
they just promised it would be worth it.
Friends are like balloons;
once you let them go,
you can't get them back.
So I'm gonna tie you to my heart
so I never lose you.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Little Something
Slave
I’m a captive of your lips,
A slave to your eyes.
I cannot escape,
No matter how I try.
In warmth and safety,
Your arms surround me
You keep me here,
As your love enfolds me.
You have detained me
With your gentle ways.
I’m a prisoner of the heart
I don’t wish to escape.
Written March 17, 2008
-Susan L. Sybenga
I’m a captive of your lips,
A slave to your eyes.
I cannot escape,
No matter how I try.
In warmth and safety,
Your arms surround me
You keep me here,
As your love enfolds me.
You have detained me
With your gentle ways.
I’m a prisoner of the heart
I don’t wish to escape.
Written March 17, 2008
-Susan L. Sybenga
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
First Article
Collaborative Filmmaking in the Digital Age: Or How to tell your story with no budget.
Do you have a story to tell, but no video camera with which to film? Do you have a video camera, but no story to tell? Do you have the time and money to attend a filmmaking school? NO?
Well, not to worry, there is an answer.
Thanks to sites like www.youtube.com and www.current.com and so many other websites for uploading user content, there is now a venue anyone can use to tell their story. Thanks to free and low-fee film festivals in almost every country in the world, there is now an audience for every story, long or short, funny or sad, romantic or tragic.
This is not just for people with expensive film cameras, lights, sound equipment, and lots of professionals with tons of money. This is not just for big time producers, directors, famous actors and award winning cinematographers. This is the world of truly independent filmmaking. Not those “big budget, produced and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Matt Damon” kind of independent films. But simple stories told in imaginative ways by hidden talents all over the world. All that is needed is an idea, some friends, a computer and a camera. You know this is you, don’t you? Come on admit it?
All right, now that we have that settled, you are asking me “How can I afford to make a film? How can I do it without experience? I don’t know the first thing about writing a script or directing or anything else for that matter.” So what, neither did I when I started.
Here is what you do. Talk to your friends. Tell them what you want to do. You may be surprised to find that they have always wanted to try their hand at filmmaking. One of them may even have a digital camera. Find a group or make a group online, for instance at http://groups.yahoo.com/start ; advertise at your school or college. Talk to everyone about it. Make yourself a t-shirt that says you are making a film. People will crawl out of the woodwork to be involved. There is a celebrity wannabe in almost every one of us. I promise, you will have more than enough people to work with in no time at all.
Once you have a group, you need a story to tell. Go to your local bookstore or library and find books on script writing and filmmaking. If they don’t have what you want, try online. Many books are available through online sellers such as www.amazon.com. You can even buy them used for very little money and individuals like myself will ship your book to any part of the world. Here are a few recommendations for the beginning filmmaker: $30 Film School by Michael W. Dean; The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier; or Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide. There is even free software on the Internet that you can use to write your script. It will make sure you are in the correct format. That way if you write the next great epic, you can submit it to those big time folks and they will take you seriously.
Here is just one link to free writing software: www.celtx.com . Personally, I spent a little money on this one and use Movie Magic Screenwriter. IMPORTANT ADVICE: Please, whatever you write, get a copyright and register your work.
Okay, you now have your group and your story. Time to make a film.
What? Still don’t have a camera? Not a problem. If you can’t afford to buy a digital film camera even from www.ebay.com, like I did, then look around. You will see cell phones with film camera features, or laptop computers with web cams.
Hey, I know what you are thinking. “This won’t work! What about quality?” Well I am here to tell you some of the best short films I’ve seen were made with a laptop web cam. Don’t believe me? Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFamousStacie . Every piece she’s made was done on an Apple laptop with a built in web cam and look at the number of viewers she has. She has even been on the local news for it.
So here we are. You now have cast and crew, camera, and story. You’ve gone out and shot your film. You need to edit it now. Add credits, music, and special effects if required. Where do you get the editing software? For this you will need to research on the Internet yourself. There are many free trial downloads out there. But here I would recommend spending a little money. This is a definite case of getting what you pay for. Some suggestions, from cheap to expensive, would be Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premier, Cyberlink Power Director, and Vegas Movie Studios. These also range widely is ease of use. IMPORTANT ADVICE: Whatever you choose to use, remember to save your work early and often.
Now you are ready to send your baby out into the world. No, don’t be scared. You gave everything you had to make sure it was ready. So, you can start out by showing it to friends and family. Encourage them to make comments, critical and positive and LISTEN to them. You may have to go back to editing, or even do some pick up shots, but believe me it will be worth it.
Once you have a film you can be truly proud of, you can start submitting it online or to film festivals. Spend some time searching festivals online and you will find that you can get your film shown in almost every country in the world. In some cases, you will need to subtitle your piece, as most festivals will only accept films in English or with English subtitles. Please read the small print before sending anything to them. Make sure your film is in the genre and time length they are looking for. Don’t think you piece is too short if it is under 10 minutes long. They love to show very short films. They can fit them into slots where a bigger film won’t work.
So now for the cost of a little postage, you send your baby out into the world and wait. STOP holding your breath! It won’t help.
LAST PIECE OF IMPORTANT ADVICE: Not every film festival will accept and show your work. Don’t lose heart. I sent my first film to over 20 festivals, but it only showed in two. One was a local festival where it was nominated for two awards and the other was in Weimar, Germany. You never know, so just keep sending it out and while you are waiting….GET BACK TO WORK! You have more stories to tell and no time to waste.
Best of Luck and see you at the movies. - Susan
Do you have a story to tell, but no video camera with which to film? Do you have a video camera, but no story to tell? Do you have the time and money to attend a filmmaking school? NO?
Well, not to worry, there is an answer.
Thanks to sites like www.youtube.com and www.current.com and so many other websites for uploading user content, there is now a venue anyone can use to tell their story. Thanks to free and low-fee film festivals in almost every country in the world, there is now an audience for every story, long or short, funny or sad, romantic or tragic.
This is not just for people with expensive film cameras, lights, sound equipment, and lots of professionals with tons of money. This is not just for big time producers, directors, famous actors and award winning cinematographers. This is the world of truly independent filmmaking. Not those “big budget, produced and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Matt Damon” kind of independent films. But simple stories told in imaginative ways by hidden talents all over the world. All that is needed is an idea, some friends, a computer and a camera. You know this is you, don’t you? Come on admit it?
All right, now that we have that settled, you are asking me “How can I afford to make a film? How can I do it without experience? I don’t know the first thing about writing a script or directing or anything else for that matter.” So what, neither did I when I started.
Here is what you do. Talk to your friends. Tell them what you want to do. You may be surprised to find that they have always wanted to try their hand at filmmaking. One of them may even have a digital camera. Find a group or make a group online, for instance at http://groups.yahoo.com/start ; advertise at your school or college. Talk to everyone about it. Make yourself a t-shirt that says you are making a film. People will crawl out of the woodwork to be involved. There is a celebrity wannabe in almost every one of us. I promise, you will have more than enough people to work with in no time at all.
Once you have a group, you need a story to tell. Go to your local bookstore or library and find books on script writing and filmmaking. If they don’t have what you want, try online. Many books are available through online sellers such as www.amazon.com. You can even buy them used for very little money and individuals like myself will ship your book to any part of the world. Here are a few recommendations for the beginning filmmaker: $30 Film School by Michael W. Dean; The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier; or Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide. There is even free software on the Internet that you can use to write your script. It will make sure you are in the correct format. That way if you write the next great epic, you can submit it to those big time folks and they will take you seriously.
Here is just one link to free writing software: www.celtx.com . Personally, I spent a little money on this one and use Movie Magic Screenwriter. IMPORTANT ADVICE: Please, whatever you write, get a copyright and register your work.
Okay, you now have your group and your story. Time to make a film.
What? Still don’t have a camera? Not a problem. If you can’t afford to buy a digital film camera even from www.ebay.com, like I did, then look around. You will see cell phones with film camera features, or laptop computers with web cams.
Hey, I know what you are thinking. “This won’t work! What about quality?” Well I am here to tell you some of the best short films I’ve seen were made with a laptop web cam. Don’t believe me? Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFamousStacie . Every piece she’s made was done on an Apple laptop with a built in web cam and look at the number of viewers she has. She has even been on the local news for it.
So here we are. You now have cast and crew, camera, and story. You’ve gone out and shot your film. You need to edit it now. Add credits, music, and special effects if required. Where do you get the editing software? For this you will need to research on the Internet yourself. There are many free trial downloads out there. But here I would recommend spending a little money. This is a definite case of getting what you pay for. Some suggestions, from cheap to expensive, would be Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premier, Cyberlink Power Director, and Vegas Movie Studios. These also range widely is ease of use. IMPORTANT ADVICE: Whatever you choose to use, remember to save your work early and often.
Now you are ready to send your baby out into the world. No, don’t be scared. You gave everything you had to make sure it was ready. So, you can start out by showing it to friends and family. Encourage them to make comments, critical and positive and LISTEN to them. You may have to go back to editing, or even do some pick up shots, but believe me it will be worth it.
Once you have a film you can be truly proud of, you can start submitting it online or to film festivals. Spend some time searching festivals online and you will find that you can get your film shown in almost every country in the world. In some cases, you will need to subtitle your piece, as most festivals will only accept films in English or with English subtitles. Please read the small print before sending anything to them. Make sure your film is in the genre and time length they are looking for. Don’t think you piece is too short if it is under 10 minutes long. They love to show very short films. They can fit them into slots where a bigger film won’t work.
So now for the cost of a little postage, you send your baby out into the world and wait. STOP holding your breath! It won’t help.
LAST PIECE OF IMPORTANT ADVICE: Not every film festival will accept and show your work. Don’t lose heart. I sent my first film to over 20 festivals, but it only showed in two. One was a local festival where it was nominated for two awards and the other was in Weimar, Germany. You never know, so just keep sending it out and while you are waiting….GET BACK TO WORK! You have more stories to tell and no time to waste.
Best of Luck and see you at the movies. - Susan
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