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Considering that I put on weird clothes and makeup for the camera on a regular basis, it’s weird that I have never actually dressed up for Halloween. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just… never worked out.

It was fun to hear that this year at least a couple of people braved parties dressed as Captain Disillusion. Alas, I think people kept asking them if they’re “T-1000 on crack”…

But I do have a perfect costume in mind for when I finally get around to celebrating Halloween properly, one of these years. I want to dress up as Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I would go with the crazy look at the end of the film. Rubbery skin, created with makeup, a bald cap with just a tumbleweed of blond hair at the top; false, unnaturally perfect teeth and florescent cartoon eyes applied right on top of my real eye sockets. The rest of it is just an old-timey black coat, gloves and a cane with a chrome skull handle. It will be awesome.

Did you dress up as a movie character this year? Who? Better yet, let’s see some pictures in your albums and links in the comments to this post!

Do it or I will tell the judge where you are…

REMEMBER ME, EDDIE?!!!!!

It’s October 31, and you know what that means: Time to watch some horror movies that will scare the living bejesus out of you. Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. FilmNet has lots of great horror flicks to watch. Today I’ll be your guide to the best-of-the-best. So stick out your plastic pumpkin pail, say “Trick or Treat,” and allow me to share some goodies with y’all.

Where would the horror genre be without zombies? Dead, that’s where. For a comedic take on the undead, check out seasons one and two of Zomblogalypse. Reportedly made as a response to George A. Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD, the series shows us the recorded misadventures of three Brits in the aftermath of a (what else?) zombie apocalypse. See the Dead is a fast-paced zombie shocker with some very imaginative special effects. And, speaking of imaginative, Patrick Boivin offers his own unique spin on the genre with Le Queloune, a zombie origin story like no other.

For those who prefer their horror with tongue planted firmly in cheek, there’s Toss of the Coin, about an angel wrestling with a demon over the soul of a man whose cat has just gotten him electrocuted. Written by Patrick Steele, the movie is both funny and frightening. Delta Delta Dead! (great title) is a slasher movie that takes place in a sorority house; it’s like SCREAM crossed with REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Now there’s a winning combination!

Some horror aficionados might be in the mood for an all-out shocker. Well look no further than The Insane, which stars James Spofforth as a hard-boiled detective killing off ghouls in an abandoned city. The action is staged like a gory video game. Free To Go is basically a torture-porn movie in the tradition of HOSTEL and WOLF CREEK, except most of the torture takes place off screen. The movie still hits you where it hurts, though. So does Fear at Dusk, Andrew Pearce’s extraordinary three-minute thriller. In it, a brother and sister are faced with an unseen threat.

No horror collection would be complete without at least a few creepy-kid movies. The Keeling Brothers offer up a doozey with Pop Spoon. It’s about a twisted girl who dreams up the creepiest imaginary friend imaginable. Pop Spoon is a guy, but girls can be scary too. Exhibit A: Two Story House, a haunted-house movie that sustains a shivery, spellbinding tone throughout.

Last but not least is the terror-in-the-woods genre. From EVIL DEAD to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, this has always been one of my favorites. The Keelings deliver something genuinely unsettling with Playtime with Schlompkins, in which the monster addresses the camera directly. As in BLAIR WITCH, the camera – in other words, the audience – becomes the prey. Effigy is a poetic, physically beautiful horror movie based on folklore. It’s also told through subjective camerawork, but here we see the action from the point-of-view of a witch.

All of us at FilmNet had the same dream over the past 5 months: to build a home for filmmakers and movie buffs, musicians and their fans, and all the lovers of quality video content. It has been an amazing journey, and we are now very excited about opening the site to the public and continuing this journey together with you.

There are many video sharing and social networking sites. So why did we decide to build a new one? What’s different about FilmNet?

We have designed FilmNet as an open social community based around video content. We want our users to be able to discover tons of high quality films and music videos by some of the best content creators from around the world, to share them, and discuss with friends on their profiles and through live chats. We also want to help bring together people who share the same tastes – through real-time updates, advanced search options, and many other social networking features.

We believe independent filmmakers and musicians deserve a high quality platform to get their work seen and heard by the masses. On FilmNet you can upload films with no limitation in size or duration, create several shows under one profile and syndicate those entire shows in the embeddable player. We support HD streaming both on our site and in the embedded player, and we’ll be helping filmmakers and production companies distribute their work on other platforms.

We aim to facilitate the production of independent movies by having the most comprehensive and integrated database of independent films and shows, filmmakers, actors, musicians, film festivals, film schools, and other industry professionals and related organizations. We’ll be helping filmmakers find crew members, actors and distributors, as well as to get their movies made with some unique project management and collaboration tools.

And we also want our platform to be equally attractive to both semi-professional independent filmmakers and fully commercial content providers. Our advanced browsing and search options allow users to find exactly what they are looking for, and our versatile high definition player enables premium content to look its best. The Reviews section is built in the same way, combining reviews of both FilmNet content and the latest theatrical and DVD releases from many professional and independent critics.

We hope this is a good start. We have many more exciting things planned in the coming weeks, and we encourage you to tell us what you like and dislike. Upload your best films and music videos, and spread the word about FilmNet to all your friends!

Here’s a short animation from Joaquin Baldwin that perfectly represents how we feel right now

As you explore FilmNet’s vast reserves of films, you’ll notice: some people’s work stands out. Sure there are titles here produced by world class film schools with tons of resources, but there are just as many semi-professional short films made by modest means. You can tell they had the same type of equipment and the same amount of people at their disposal as you do on your productions, but their stuff is just so damn good…

It’s all about making your film excel equally in all aspects.

If you quickly throw together a script and shoot the movie beautifully, people will say, “This movie has beautiful cinematography.”

If you write the most dynamic and intelligent storyline ever, then get your shy friends to play-act it all amateurishly, people will say, “This movie has an interesting plot…”

But if you write a strong script, cast it well, shoot it beautifully and edit it professionally, then people will say, “This is a great movie.”

So here are some useful (and not always obvious) resources I highly recommend for making each aspect of your production better:

Writing/Planning/Pre-production

• http://www.script-o-rama.com – Some dude named Drew keeps a database of free movie and tv scripts it has been around for many years and it is vast. Chances are you can find and download any script you’re looking for there. What’s great is that some scripts are early drafts, showing how different the story was. A great way to study writing.
• The Screenwriter’s Bible by David Trottier – (available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/yjynnrq). This unfortunately named book is widely used in film schools to help students grasp the rules of American movie script writing so that they can later break them. For this reason, it’s updated and republished regularly. It’s very insightful, easy to understand and covers everything from summoning your creative muse, to story structuring, to how many spaces the character’s name is indented in the dialogue block.
• http://www.ebay.com – Find shot lists, shooting schedules and call sheets from movies and TV shows that you like. Some former AD’s and PA’s are always selling them there. These are copies of actual documents used to make the final product. Study them, track how they organized and scheduled their massive productions, feel puny by comparison.

Production

• The Working Director by Charles Wilkinson – (available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ylanobu). This is one of the best books on directing I’ve ever read. No glamour, no hyperbole, just really practical advice by a veteran director successfully working in the trenches his entire career.
• http://wwww.google.com/docs – Don’t waste your money on fancy, specialized production software, at least until after you try Google Docs. The combination of Spreadsheets, Calendar and Tasks are a great solution for call sheets, scheduling and shot lists. Learn the features inside-out and use them. The best part: all your stuff is available when you inevitably lose your notebook in the chaos of a running set.

Post-Production

• http://www.videocopilot.net – If you deal with any kind of visual effects or graphics in your films, you have no doubt visited this site already. Andrew Kramer and team supply the internets with a wealth of incredibly useful tutorials for doing stuff in Adobe After Effects and other popular motion graphics software. They also sell unique and affordable plugins and stock material (effects elements, sound design and music). Plus you can’t beat Kramer’s hokey, absurdist humor.
• http://www.istockphoto.com – The most inexpensive stock photo and video site around, great for finding establishing shots and graphics elements in a variety of formats. If you have accumulated useful footage of your own which you think others might need, you can also submit it there and possibly earn some cash from downloads. Win-win (win).

Well, that should be plenty. Like an ancient Kung Fu master, I’m not going to reveal all my secrets in the hope that my pupil never surpasses me. Go forth and use these resources in your creative work, then upload it to FilmNet and show us!

The track has been laid, the whistle is blowing, and we’re off! All aboard the FilmNet Express!!!

Today I’ll be your tour guide though one of our more exciting compartments: The Reviews Section. As resident film critic, I’m in charge of making the reviews look as spiffy as possible. Here’s how the section breaks down…

On FilmNet: Here our contributors get the professional treatment, as we offer in-depth reviews of the short films, Web series and feature-length movies available to watch on FilmNet

In Theaters: Reviews of the latest Hollywood, independent and film festival releases.

On DVD: A look at new home video releases, from blockbusters to little-seen gems.

A Look Back: Everything else!

So there you have it. As you’ll see, we’ve already filled the section with reviews from multiple critics. Not only will FilmNet be an excellent source for reviews, it will also be a great showcase for reviewers. Richard Peter focuses on horror movies, while Steve Rhodes reviews just about everything new that comes out. Our other critics include Evil Wolfie, Man of the Movie 16, Shane Burridge, Jerry Saravia, Dain Binder, Phil Edwards, Battle Royale with Cheese, Tom Elce, Tim Skirvin, Andrew Staker, Justin M and Joe Lopez.

And this is only the beginning! You’ll see many more critics and reviews on our site soon.

You’ll also see that you can add your own review to any existing review on FilmNet. Just go to the “write a review” section at the bottom of the page and let your voice be heard. And we’ll be adding more features in the weeks ahead – including the ability to browse reviews by critic, links to movie trailers, photo albums and more – so stay tuned.

I hope you find the reviews – not to mention the rest of the site – as exciting as I do. Consider this an open invitation to get involved in the site and contribute your own reviews to FilmNet!