Movie Monday: Month Of The Novel

Follow the adventures of a writer as she seeks to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. Follow the link and enjoy two fun filled seasons.

Follow this link to watch Month Of The Novel

Interview: Jordan Smith

 Welcome to Homeschool Filmmakers, Jordan!

 What inspired you and your team to write the Month Of The Novel?

We loved the idea of NaNoWriMo and the challenge to write 50,000 words in a month, and making a short film about it was a fun idea. But it didn’t really take off until we started thinking about what happened inside the novel. Once we had that in place, we knew this thing had to be done.

What was your biggest challenge to making this series?

It’s difficult to pick just one challenge! We had a couple things that gave us trouble over the course of both seasons. One was keeping up with the deadline and getting the episodes out and online in time for the scheduled air dates. For the first season, we were editing down to the wire every week, getting each episode ready to go. Season 2 was supposedly going to have a little more wiggle room, since we shot it in the spring and gave ourselves almost the whole year, but it got bigger and bigger, and we ended up bumping on our deadline once again. But we made it in both cases, so all’s well that ends well.

Our second big issue was in the writing of the series. We had to decide early on if we were going to keep the novel story going between episodes. In Season 1, we said no to that and wrote each episode to stand alone. But then we got comments asking how the story threads tied up, so we revisited that decision for Season 2 and wrote a story that worked across all ten episodes. That was really challenging with eight different writers in six different houses working on ten different episodes, but ultimately we were able to pull it off, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.

What did you enjoy most about making this series?

The best part for me was getting to work with so many talented people. When I was first starting out, I kind of put myself in a “my friends and me only” box, not wanting to bring in other people. For Month of the Novel, we threw open the doors and tried to involve as many people as we could. I made friends with a number of great filmmakers in the process.

        When you're not making movies, what do you enjoy doing?

I like to actually watch movies as opposed to always making them, of course. But then I also enjoy reading and tasting hot sauce, not simultaneously. I like to write as well, and I’m constantly scribbling down ideas for new books on storytelling.

                                     

Do you have any plans for future projects?

Well, right now I’m settling into a whole new way of life after getting married in February, so things are very up in the air for my filmmaking future. I’m still surrounded by intensely creative people and I’m still a filmmaker, but I’m letting things drift for the time being while I find my groove. There are some seriously cool ideas that I’m kicking around with my story crew, though, and I hope I can be rolling camera on them someday.

Meanwhile, I continue to produce videos for Simply Charlotte Mason, a small homeschool publisher. I’m plugging away at a sizable DVD set right now, so that’ll keep my filmmaking side happy for a little while.

What is your favorite part of the filmmaking process?

It’s a toss-up between the story process and the editing. I love plotting a story, although writing screenplays is often difficult for me. But then editing is so much fun and so satisfying. Seeing the movie come together is incredible.

What advice would you give to other homeschool filmmakers?  

A couple things. First of all, get out there and make movies! You don’t know what you’re capable of until you try, and then you’ll discover that you can do so much. My two films iSundae and iSundae II were made when my crew didn’t know what we couldn’t do. The result is that we got super creative and put out something that even now I look back at and wonder how we even made it happen. I learned a lot from those two films, and I credit simply getting out there and making movies with the result.

And then second, focus on your story. Spend extra time on it. Get feedback from a lot of people before you shoot your script, write more drafts, hone it to the best you can make it. Great film is remembered because of great story. It’s worth obsessing over.

You can connect with him through Facebook or www.monthofthenovel.com

Movie Monday: Brothers Arise

I saw this at the San Antonio Christian Worldview Film Festival.
Brothers must band together to fight off a deadly enemy. Can they find courage before it's too late?

Check the Homeschool Movies page for more.

I'm Off This Weekend

While you are reading this, I'm in San Antonio for the Christian Worldview Film Festival.

I'm so excited about going to this film festival. Not only will it be my first major film festival to attend, but many of the people that I worked with on other film projects will be there. 

So enjoy you weekend and I'll tell you all about the conference next week. 

Movie Monday: Rescued

This was the first film that I ever wrote, directed, starred in, edited, and finished. With the help of an amazing team we brought a dream to life.

I laugh over some of the things in this movie and cringe over others, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Have a great Monday

Who Am I?

I am a filmmaker.

From a very young age, I enjoyed acting out movies. I would imagine myself being in an actress' shoes and playing the same role.

It wasn't until I was 20 that God opened up the doors for me to learn more about filmmaking. Some friends of mine hosted a Christian filmmakers academy and I went. It was then I learned how long and painstaking the filmmaking process is. I also learn how enjoyable and rewarding it is to see a project come together.

Ever since I've been a filmmaker. Sometimes it was just in small film projects, other times it was in larger projects. (I hope to share stories later)

Now my hope is that by starting this blog, I can connect with the other homeschool filmmakers who have similar passions and dreams.

I am a homeschool graduate, blogger, and filmmaker.

Movie Monday : Pendragon

The first time I saw this movie, I was captivated. I found the story intriguing. Combined with the beautiful sets and costumes, this was a powerful film.

The story following young Artos as he fights for his peoples freedom. Through loss, betrayal, and battles, his faith is tested and his vision of a free people struggles to survive.

To see a trailer or to get your own copy of Pendragon: Sword of His Father, you can visit their website