independent filmmakers Archives - Digital Film Academy

Woman sitting in front of a computer screen while wearing headphones, learning online.

Nowadays, we have a wealth of information at our fingertips. Websites like YouTube provide resources on topics we never thought possible! You may find yourself asking, why do I need a film school when everything I need to learn is online? Doing it yourself can be helpful in many ways, but you’ll need a little more to be a successful professional in the film industry. We give you (at least) three reasons:

Connections

Attending Digital Film Academy will expose you to professionals in the industry. Our instructors are working film professionals with firsthand experience in the field. There are people to support you before, during and after completing the program.

Hands On Experience

YouTube is great for visual learning but sometimes you need hands-on experience. At Digital Film Academy, we put equipment in your hands and teach you how to use it correctly. Our online classes are engaging and interactive, no more boring zoom classes…

Equipment

Digital Film Academy offers FREE lifetime access to our production equipment and facilities including our RED Cinema cameras. This means no more paying for rental equipment, ever. In the classroom, Digital Film Academy uses state-of-the-art industry equipment to make sure you receive the best training possible, including DSLR’s, RED Cinema cameras, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere and Protools just to name a few.

Doing your own research and learning online can be fun and valuable but it cannot replace a quality education from Digital Film Academy. Our goal is to give you all the tools and resources you need to succeed in this industry. If you are ready to take the next step, join us at our Open House on Tuesday December 21st at 6pm EST.

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Opening this Weekend: Boyhood

Rarely is an indie movie’s premiere considered an ‘event’; at least, not compared to premieres of major studio blockbusters released amidst massive marketing campaigns and publicity. But Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, opening this weekend, is an exception to this rule.

The film has received rave reviews since showing at Sundance this year and is currently 100% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes after 94 reviews. If those facts alone aren’t enough to peak your interest, though, perhaps the concept is.

boyhood fam — Patricia Arquette with Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater in *Boyhood*.

Boyhood is a film that chronicles one young man’s journey from ages 6 to 18. That’s not too unique, but the approach to filming the story was: the movie was shot over the course of 12 years, filming 3 or 4 days each year.

The result has been astounding critics and audiences: the viewer gets to actually watch this family of four age and repeat the same cycles at different stages of their lives. Nothing quite like it has ever been done before, the closest attempt being Michael Apted’s 7 Up documentary series that re-visited the same subjects every seven years starting in 1964, documenting their progression from hopeful children to somewhat dreary adults. Boyhood, however, is no documentary; it’s pure cinema.

Ellar Coltrane, the film's star: ages 6 and 18. — Ellar Coltrane, the film’s star: ages 6 and 18.

The effect of seeing time pass in this way can be as unsettling as it is epic. After watching Boyhood, some reviewers remarked upon how it feels to see someone age before your very eyes – reminding everyone that we’re “here today, gone tomorrow.” The film is a surprising 165 minutes long – however, in keeping with the theme of time slipping away, viewers seem to unanimously agree that those 2 hours and 45 minutes fly by.

All this interest surrounding Boyhood suggests it will do quite well at the box office. Only opening in 5 theaters this weekend (Lincoln Plaza, IFC Center, and BAM in NYC and Arclight and Landmark in LA), the film is expected to sell out at every showing, averaging a $50,000 intake for each theater. This is well above the $35,000 ceiling most indie films hit when it comes to theatrical releases. That’s great news for the film’s distributor, Jonathan Sehring of IFC Films, who has amazingly bankrolled the project from its start in 2002.

Left to right: Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Patricia Arquette, and Richard Linklater.

The film stars Ellar Coltrane as the central character, Mason, and Lorelei Linklater, the director’s own daughter, as his slightly older sister, Samantha. Ethan Hawke, who has notably worked with Linklater on the highly acclaimed Before trilogy, stars as Mason’s unreliable father, and Patricia Arquette rounds out the central cast playing Mason’s mother.

What do you think? Will Boyhood’s realism catapult it to further greatness this year? Or will it fail to live up to all the hype?

By Digital Film Academy Blog Manager Sara McDermott Jain

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