All posts filed under: filmmaking & writing

Effective Pitching For Filmmakers, Writers and Storytellers

Published by Magda Olchawska

Before you even begin to think about pitching  your projects to anyone, I would strongly advise you to answer and identify the following questions: – What is your target market? Do you know your target market, niche audience? Who is going to buy your product, idea or service? – What are the benefits your target market can achieve by working with you or by buying your product? – What problems are you going to solve for your target market? – Do you have a category under which your product/offering can be featured? How can you describe your product? – What results your market needs & wants that you can help them achieve? – Have you got a few (2-3) keywords describing your product or offering that can be used for your marketing & promotional purposes? – Have you checked out your competition to see what they do to promote their work or product? Once you can comfortably answer the above questions, you are ready to start working on structuring your pitches. Having answered the questions …

One Pager

Published by Magda Olchawska

I like making a One Pager for every scene in my shooting script. One Pager is for me only and reminds me of all the most important things I need in the scene for it to work for the audience. My One Pager consists of: The scene in a nutshell (one line, what the view is about). How did the previous scene end? (precise ending of the last scene and how that will impact the current scene). What are the beats in the scene and where are they (on which line, movement, gesture)? What are each characters’ objective/s in the scene? Are the characters going to reach their scene objectives or not? What is the stage direction for each character (what I have imagined and would like to try out with the actors)? How is the scene going to end (what frame, movement, or gesture)? What are the characters wearing (I know that this is the costume department, but I like making a note of the costumes, especially when/if the character is wearing something very …

The Receipt for a Good Family Movie

Published by Magda Olchawska

As a parent, I watch a lot of PG, family-friendly films and over the years I realised that the most successful family films have those five things in common: 1. One of the characters is an animal. It doesn’t have to be the main character, but the animal is an integral part of the whole plot, like ‘Babe’ or ‘Stuart Little.’ 2. The main character is usually an underdog and comes from the background with either financial difficulties, or emotional baggage, has a lot of self-doubts, and their confidence is either very low or doesn’t exist at all. During the film, the character discovers that the confidence doesn’t come from the external possessions but the inner strength. Good examples here are ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Hugo’, or ‘Karate Kid.’ 3. Kids can easily identify with the character because they experience the emotional upheavals often felt and agonised over by themselves, such as lack of friends, feelings of isolation and not being part of the group, feeling alienated at school, especially when they struggle or …

“Sensitive Skin” with Kim Cattrall

Published by Magda Olchawska

I realise that a lot of people don’t like, or perhaps even hate Netflix, but for a working and homeschooling mum, Netflix is a Godsend. One of the shows I recently discovered is “Sensitive Skin” with Kim Cattrall. I’ve always liked her and thought that “Sex and the City” without Samantha wouldn’t have run for longer than a season, maybe two. In “Sensitive Skin” however, Kim Cattrall’s character Davina is nothing like Samantha from “Sex and the City”. Davina has been in a long-term relationship, she has a son, who is not so keen on his parents and blames them for everything that has been going wrong with his life. However, Davina doesn’t try to fix him; she is trying to fix her own life, which only recently she came to realise that has not been as satisfying as she imagined would have been when she was young, full of dreams and hopes. When we meet Davina and her husband Al, they have just moved back to the city, leaving their suburban lifestyle behind, which …

What Does Film Director Really Do?

Published by Magda Olchawska

As a film student I read many books written by film directors, who I admired but I never fully understood what film director’s job was and what do they do on and off the set. It all became clear to me once I started making my films, making mistakes, and learning from them. Below you will find my personal list of the director’s responsibilities/what film directors really do: 1. A director must protect the story and make sure it is told in the best possible way for the audience to enjoy. 2. Before walking onto the film set, the director needs to analyse the script and use that in-depth analysis to understand the story, and then use that understanding as a storytelling tool. 3. The director must know the script, the story, and the characters inside out before going into production. 4. Be prepared to work with the actors. If needed, the director should have a little reminder session of how to work with the actors to help them develop their characters. 5. The director …