Lights Film School Blog

Sample Screenwriting Review

We've recently been asked to provide a sample critique that our students get from our teachers. Below is the the first review one of our students received from one of our teachers on their first screenwriting assignment. For privacy reasons we are not publishing the film title or the script, but you can read the Lights Film School teacher response below: Dear Rob, (Story title removed) is a great story.  I’m particularly impressed with your pacing, which is the most important aspect of cre...

How to Audition Actors + Casting Schedule Template

If you’re currently holding casting sessions / auditions for your next film, you’ll want to be as organized as possible. This blog post will help you organize your casting sessions by using our casting schedule template, and we’ll also go through important casting techniques use by professional casting directors and filmmakers. When you bring actors into your casting space you’ll want to ensure you use a casting schedule to organize your days. When you’re auditioning actors your days will lik...

Independent Filmmaking on a Shoestring Budget: Films made for $0 – $30,000

Independent filmmakers are always looking for new ways to create films while keeping their production cost low. Even though there are obvious draws towards the creation of low budget independent films, filmmakers are often fearful that using a low (or no) budget financial strategy for their next feature film will result in great compromises both in their story and overall production value. However, this doesn’t need to be the case. The 6 independent films below were all created for under $30,000...

Best Video Camera Under $1000

Independent filmmakers are often uncertain when they enter the market for a new camcorder. They become more skeptical when looking for a camcorder for under $1000 becuase gimmicky camcorder options like "100X zoom" or "film look" clog the marketplace. However, you can get many high performance video cameras for under $1000. While it's true you won't have access to a 3 CCD chip camcorder that can shoot 24P (although our top few choices can shoot 24p on 1 chip), you will nevertheless be able t...