Ones to watch in 2014

2014 is set to be another great year for film on a global scale. Below are three films coming out this year that deal with a wide and varied range of human emotion, interaction, morality, faith and tragedy.

KIDS FOR CASH is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, KIDS FOR CASH exposes a shocking American secret.

In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small town celebrates a charismatic judge who is hell-bent on keeping kids in line... until one parent dares to question the motives behind his brand of justice.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/kidsforcash/

Would you choose your natural son, or the son you believed was yours after spending 6 years together? Kore-eda Hirokazu, the globally acclaimed director of "Nobody Knows", "Still Walking" and "I Wish", returns to the big screen with another family - a family thrown into torment after a phone call from the hospital where the son was born.

Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not 'their' son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby.

Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between 'nature' and 'nurture.' Seeing Midori's devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a 'father' all these years.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/ifcfilms/likefatherlikeson/

Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL brings to the screen the true story of a small-town father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.

The film stars Academy Award nominee and Emmy award winning actor Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) claims to have visited Heaven during a near death experience. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth, things he couldn't possibly know. Todd and his family are then challenged to examine the meaning from this remarkable event.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/heavenisforreal/

Scenes to Inspire

Above is the pivotal scene in Christopher Nolan's film 'The Dark Knight' starring Christian Bale as The Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker.

As an avid Batman fan this scene brings these two legendary characters together and begins the telling of the Batman/Joker saga. These two opposing forces which act has each others driving force and nemesis creates a relationship unique in popular culture and film. One can not exist without the other which makes comment on the philosophy that good can not exist without evil.

Brilliantly acted by both Bale and Ledger this scene has a solid place in the 'great movie scenes of all time'.

Product Research Resource

http://movieclips.com/

Movieclips

By TIME Staff Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Need to find a scene from your favorite film? With more than 12,000 film snippets, Movieclips has one of the most comprehensive collections available on the Web — and there's no need to wade through duplicates. You can search by film title, character name, actor or keyword. Searching for "fight" yields an interesting library of Rocky moments, period sword duels and even a pillow battle or two, whereas "first kiss" brings up famous on-screen smooches from the likes of Romeo, Scarlett O'Hara and the cast of Grease. But Movieclips is a quintessential film index with a twist. With a built-in editing tool, users can create their own video mashups with relative ease. We opted for a Wizard of Oz–Inception mashup — watch it here — and were able to create the entire thing in less than 10 minutes.

How to Plan a Film

Film Riot : How to Plan a Movie Shoot! - Script Breakdowns, Schedules and Budgets

Ryan talks about his way of doing pre-pro, and how to get a no-budget casting call together.

Film Riot : How to Storyboard & Schedule Your Film

Ryan finishes discussing his way of doing pre-production, with Storyboarding, lining the script and scheduling.

Tell 2012 - Ryan Connelly



Storyboard

Below is a link to a printable storyboard which can be used for laying out the shots and framing for your own productions.

Storyboard Template