Article15 Videos

The Death of Superman Lives and the Failure of Auteur Theory

I recently watched Jon Schnepp’s detailed documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened. Even if you’re not a fan of comic book movies, this really is a must see documentary if you’re interested in the real process of filmmaking. So here’s the premise. We’re going to give one of DC’s most beloved super heroes to […]

John P. Hess

August 1, 2017

Crafting a Director’s Visual Reference

This article was originally posted by Nick LaRovere on his blog, Storyteller. Do you want to be an effective director? Creating a visual reference for your film is a vital step for effective teamwork and good storytelling. As the decision-maker of the film, you must take the time to know what you want. By being ready […]

John P. Hess

July 17, 2018

Never Ask for Artistic Permission

Nothing makes me cringe more when I see a question on a forum asking permission. “Is it okay to push the greens in my color grade?” “Is it okay to shoot shutter speed other than the 180?” Imagine if Alfred Hitchcock asked, “Is it okay to kill off my lead actress in the first act?” […]

John P. Hess

June 29, 2017

John appeared on CordKillers with Tom Merritt and Brian Brushwood

I had a great time with my appearance on Cordkillerrs with the fabulous Tom Merritt and Brian Brushwood. Unfortunately I forgot to switch my mic from the laptop to the actual mic in front of me for the first few minutes (but hey, what Filmmaker IQ live presentation is without audio issues of some sort)… […]

John P. Hess

September 18, 2018

Sex Thrills! How A Pre-Code Self Censorship Move Turned Out to be a Marketing Ploy

The year is 1921. Adolph Zukor is overseeing a growing powerful empire with his company Famous Players-Lasky – a company that we would recognize today by their distribution company: Paramount Pictures. But there are problems on the horizon – a series scandals was rocking a young Hollywood and the “church ladies” and social reformers, having […]

John P. Hess

June 27, 2017

Ahockalypse Now! The Making of a Hockey Themed Zombie Movie

Editor’s Note: This is a special guest post by Wayne Johnson. I asked him to write about getting his film from script to screen – I urge all of you to check it out: Ahockalypse How does one get to the place where making a film like Ahockalypse is possible? That’s a good question.  I could […]

John P. Hess

October 1, 2018

Why the Movie Theater Still Matters

I’ll be honest – I always liked Blade Runner but I never thought it was a great movie. To me it was just okay, a somewhat muddy film that never felt like it delivered on its sci-fi promises. That was until I saw it on the big screen. Blade Runner was released the year I was […]

John P. Hess

July 13, 2017

The Many Stages of Making a Film

It was summer 2017, things seemed simpler, the weather was hot and season five of Orphan Black was airing on Netflix. Lexy Anderson and I (Harvey Puttock) were discussing the lead actor, Tatiana Maslany and whether there was anything she couldn’t do. In Orphan Black she played several women, a trans man and different nationalities […]

John P. Hess

January 25, 2019

Filmmaker Quotes: Morgan Freeman, Anna Kendrick, Quentin Tarantino, Audrey Hepburn, David Cronenberg & Lauren Bacall

Some inspiring and thought provoking quotes from Morgan Freeman, Anna Kendrick, Quentin Tarantino, Audrey Hepburn, David Cronenberg and Lauren Bacall. You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you. Morgan Freeman Being well adjusted is probably fucking overrated. Anna Kendrick When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, […]

John P. Hess

July 17, 2017

555 – Everybody’s Favorite Telephone Exchange

Our story begins with the Telephone Exchange: a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network. In order to connect two telephones, you have to have an uninterrupted wired connection between two telephone sets. But you couldn’t exactly connect every phone with every other phone. So telephone subscribers would call a central office. The […]

John P. Hess

April 6, 2017

In the Near Future Every Student Will Be Required to Make a Film

When you were in school did you have to turn in an essay even though you never intended to be a full time writer? Did you have to produce a drawing as some form of homework assignment even though you would never be a full time artist? How about give a speech? Well we may […]

John P. Hess

July 18, 2017

How Social Pressures Can Shape A Movie Opinion

In our last course, The History of the Hollywood Musical, I professed as to not have been a big fan of the latest Musical Oscar contender La La Land. I knew my opinion was contentious especially up against such overwhelming high regard for the film. But the point of this post isn’t to explain my […]

John P. Hess

July 20, 2017