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Lana Loukota

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About Lana Loukota

  • Birthday 04/29/1988

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  • Occupation
    Student
  • Location
    Arkansas
  1. I'm fairly new to acting and very new to directing (doing them both on the same project), but I can see how an actor trying to be the director would be trouble. Actors helping is great, but they need to remember that you are the one in charge. You have to tell the actors, esp the inexperienced ones, what you're looking for, and perhaps your experieinced actor can give tips to make it happen. Of course, sometimes the actors will have ideas to give you that will add a bunch to the piece, so keep an open mind. But if having two 'directors' causes trouble, then maybe you could talk to the actor/director. It could be that he thinks you want/need the help, and I think you do, but only to a certain extent... If the actor feels that you are clear about what you want, then he would probably be slower to interject his own direction. Does this make any sense?
  2. I wouldn't say 'so educated', I've only just completed my 'freshperson' year (and learned mostly about political correctness :rolleyes: ) and my education in cinematography is limited to the few books you can get at Arkansas libraries and this forum :) and a tiny bit of experience, but that grows (though slowly) weekly... So anyway, as I am an uneducated little girl, who knows far more about writing than filmmaking, I'll just let the acronym thing drop, and see if I can manage to squelch the curiosity that keeps coming up... I'll probably just smother it (the curiosity, that is) by studying more about lighting or something. Ah, I see about the quote, I expected as much :P Genius? well, then, I will not question you any more on mundane matters of grammar ;)
  3. Right now I'm making a no budget film with friends, but we'd like to get a sponsor or something for our next movie... there isn't money in our families... My brilliant idea was to start a business and get rich, then use that money to make movies, but practical application of that plan gets tricky :P So, is there any good way for poor people to get funding to make a movie with sound, a camera, and lighting that will be quality enough for the cinema? (the canon DVR, church microphones, and shoplights don't quite cut it.)
  4. Whoa, I am still LOST on the acronym, but then I never went to film school ;) Do I want to know? But James, how do you know so much about cinematography. And, while I'm feeling impertinent, why do you have a dependent clause (aka a sentence fragment) in your signature? :P Sorry, that's the english major inside me creeping out during my summer break... I do like your statement, btw.
  5. So, wait, wait, are you saying legally a person doesn't need permission to show a registered TM in a movie? Like I could have a character wear a 'coca-cola' t-shirt, and legally couldn't be sued by the company????
  6. I borrowed this from my university library, and found it quite helpful! I'd really like to own it, actually. But there are other things on my 'to-buy list first...
  7. Tommy, I can't help you so much with cinematography, but I have learned how to gain knowledge from this forum. I have found this forum very useful, but the people who can help aren't going to take the time to throw out whatever knowledge they have, becuase it would take hours for them to write it and the writing would fill many books. However, if you begin to experiment and learn, and then ask questions, getting specific as possible, then I have found that many people are willing to help you. But you need to make an effort, do some stuff, read some stuff, and perhaps browse the posts and soak up knowledge, then come back and when you need help, ask specific questions. Another thing, I have observed that direct, clear questions with decent grammar and spelling get anwers more readily than questions where the writer doesn't seem to take his own work seriously. What part of cinematography are you most interested in, by the way?
  8. :P Haha!!! In the movie I'm making, we're using lots of prop guns. I'm also a camera person... So my family asks me why I have six guns (including a full-scale M-16 replica) in my car, and I replied, I have to shoot "the gang" today... I'm just glad I didn't get pulled over that day... :P
  9. Try using "Mr. Clean Magic eraser". They're these disposable sponges that remove stains from hard-to-clean surfaces, and they work wonderfully on painted walls. I've never tried to take off "Streaks and Tips", but I have baby brothers :) I've 'tested' it on crayon and permanent markers drawings, and it works well, even with white paint... but don't scrub too much or the paint may also begin to come off. (that takes a WHOLE lot, though)
  10. You may be able to tape it up using painter's tape (it's like masking tape, but even gentler on painted walls) and be sure to tape the cord also at several places, so the weight of the cord doesn't drag down the light... But I haven't tried this myself (yet :) )
  11. I'm also trying to put together a beginning light kit. I went to the link posted (filmtools.com, that is) and looked for china balls, then I did a google search and quickly found that I could get white paper chinese lanterns for cheaper at a place that sells them for parties rather than for film. (www.paperlanternstore.com is the best I've found so far, the prices seem cheap and they have a lot of options) Anybody have an opinion on this? would I be better off going w/the ones from the filmstore, or would these be just as good? Another question, (and this may be dumb) but can you use chinese lanterns with different colors of paper to get different effects, or does that look weird? also, what sizes would you recommend? We have to light a small church, among other things, and I just would like functional lights that we could reuse. Thanks, Lana
  12. I've never personally set up a fight scene, that's not my area of expertise, but I have critiqued quite a few, both in movies I've helped with and westerns i've watched, so I know what can really ruin a fight scene. 1) the wrong camera angles. I've seen old John Wayne movies where the angles are just perfect for seeing between the two men fighting, which exposes the 1 foot gap between fist and face. (okay, perhaps this is a slight exaggeration) 2) unrealistic moves. When a man is smacked on the right of his jaw, he shouldn't do a backwards somersault, lol! (also from John Wayne.) I think choreography is good, but not too much, unless you're sure the actors can pull off a script without it looking scripted. Also, when we've done fight scenes, it helps if the actors are not too timid or afraid to accidentally smack others, if you want realistic. But definitely encourage caution. (My brothers have gotten bruises doing fight scenes, they weren't trying to hit each other, but they weren't too cautious either... those scenes turned out well, BTW.) Mostly, yeah, what others have said, be careful with the camera angles.
  13. Thank you Mr. Brown :) Now I understand what you meant when you said something about taking people's jobs. No, I don't expect that we will endanger any peoples' professions :P and thank-you for the cautionary advice, I will certainly keep that in mind. This definitely is a learning experience for my friends and me, so we try take what advice we can get. So, what do you mean "use smoke"? I mean, I think I can understand the purpose of using is, but how do you use it; what are the basics?
  14. Hmmm. DP. Well, we um... we don't have one. So, as one of the AD's I kinda got to help with that also. But I enjoyed it! It would perhaps comfort Mr. Brown to learn that I now have a makeup assistant :rolleyes: Of course, he's first AD. And I am not kidding. You see, we don't have money to pay any of the cast and crew. My friend, Luke, the director/producer/visionary and CEO of Hobbbottom Films, has gathered a bunch of his friends, and we are spending the summer making a movie, learning a whole lot, and having a blast! A lot of us were either interested in movie-making or in acting before he asked us to make this movie with him, and some of us are talented; others of us enjoy learning new things and experimenting (that'd be me). I also like to help where help is needed, which I guess is how I got myself into so many different aspects of production. I started out as just an actress, then volunteered for costumes, and it kinda snowballed from there. But if you think I'm doing a lot of different things, you should see what the director is up to! But after (and perhaps before) we figure out how things ought to be done, we will be able to delegate. and obviously I can't/won't be in charge of every, or even most, aspects of makeup or of lighting... Because of our nonexistant budget and tiny crew, we don't expect to produce a box-office smash :P But we are trying to get as professional as we can with what we have and can do. This is why i like the advice with wood and tinfoil, or pieces of fabric. These are things I can work with. We don't have a lot to work with, that's why all the cast is also crew, and everyone will do many different jobs. I can see that this would annoy a professional, and I am very sorry, but in this case I cannot see how we can help going about it in this unprofessional way. But, hey, if anyone in the Arkansas/ Oklahoma area wants to volunteer as DP or Grip, we'd consider letting them join the project :P Oh yeah, and thanks to everyone for your advice about lighting, I have found it most helpful!
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