Movies & TV

There are many opinions on the countless ways to breathe life into screenplay heroes, but a character cannot be compelling on the page or the screen without these five elements. It's the writer's...

The Star Wars universe is vast both in terms of size, time and the creatures that inhabit it. From Jedi warriors to massive living sand pits, fans experience characters drawn straight from...

"Naruto" is a popular Japanese anime about a young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki. His mission is to become the best ninja in the land, but there are many obstacles in his way, including some of his...

Anime simply means animation; but is used to refer specifically to a recent style of Asian animation. It can be seen on Japanese TV morning, noon and night. The content of anime can include...

Version 1 of the South Park character creator allowed users to create a basic South Park character based on their own style and design preferences. Version 2 now allows users to create a more...

It's one of the most frustrating things in the world--remembering the plot or stars of a movie but being unable to put your finger on the exact title. Before the rise of the Internet, you needed...

Animation is one of the most popular forms of entertainment these days. Most channels carry an animated series, even if only in reruns, and there are several channels exclusively devoted to...

Two reasons for the popularity of the TV show "Family Guy" are it makes heavy use of specific pop-culture references and it's relatively easy to draw the characters. Some simple drawing techniques...

George Lucas invested his "Star Wars" universe with a wealth of details, and subsequent authors and artists have only added to its depth. It encompasses thousands of years of fictionalized...

A television character with a strong series based around him can be a writer's dream come true, both creatively and financially. A successful television character can not only bring a writer...

A career in acting is one many people dream of: the call of the limelight, the recognition that comes with being in movies, the celebrity lifestyle. The spell draws thousands of wanna-be actors to...

Are you interested in making computer generated animation but don’t know where to start? There are many aspects in learning how to produce 3d animation. This article will guide you to make...

Designing a great cartoon character requires the artist to balance creativity, familiarity and practicality within the context of a well-defined goal. Factors such as target audience and format...

A simple thought to approaching acting auditions to relieve nerves and give it your best shot.

Improvisation is one of the most popular forms of comedy these days, primarily based on the level of difficulty in perfecting the form. This tutorial may not turn you into the next Wayne Brady—but...

Claymation is a rare form of animation today, but movies like "The Corpse Bride" and "Coraline" are keeping it alive. Claymation is a great for new animation filmmakers to learn the craft and...

Here is an easy way to make animation using Lego characters and a digital camera. Beware! It is hard work but one of the most basic and crudest method to make animation in the fastest way possible.

Have you ever wondered why successful superhero movies are so few and far between? Have you ever wondered why it seems so hard for the powers that be to get this particular genre right? ...Read...

So, you want to be an actor! You have your audition appointment and you're ready to read... now, give the casting directors what they want!

With so many movies being produced every day, it can often be difficult to develop strong and original ideas for new movies. Countless remakes and sequels flood the film market to the point that...

Filmmakers often choose to create a film or genre spoof in order to express themselves in a humorous way. This type of filmmaking tends to be more successful than more serious genres such as...

From the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) to today's Jet Li, ninja movies have flourished in both Asian and American culture. One of the major draws to ninja movies is the low budget...

When you read great dialogue, it should pop off the page at you. And when a scene is performed, great dialogue should make the scene pop, too. Movie script dialogue should not only add suspense,...

Movie scripts conform to a strict industry standard. This article will outline how to format your script professionally. Click on the pictures for examples!

There's no one way to act, and every actor has his own method of how he gets into character and work. There are some standard techniques that most actors study at one point or another by which...

The television program "Gunsmoke" is America's longest-running Western, according to Museum.tv. This show aired on CBS from 1955 to 1975 and was known as an "adult Western," as it focused on...

While in any sort of production, actors must stay in character in order to portray the best possible performance. Many struggle to comprehend what staying in character suggests or how to actually...

When acting, the goal is to create a character that will captivate the audience, bringing them into the world. Staying in character is very important, but creating the character in which to stay...

Retcon stands for "Retroactive Continuity." It's a writing device used to change or undo previously established mythology. It's most commonly found in long running franchises where...

After you get hired onto the giant studio feature as cast, moments after getting the 7th new draft of the script in 4 days. It occurs to you that something is amiss. The lovely man whom you were...

Have you ever wanted to create your very own South Park Character? In this article I will explain how you can create your own character! It is fun, easy, and pretty neat. I dare you to give this a...

Have you ever dreamed of wanting to be a Simpsons Character. Well, if you follow these easy step by step instructions you can make yourself look exactly like a character from the cartoon.

Most people underestimate the rehearsal process in a film or play, thinking that the actors simply memorize lines and say them in front of a camera. The proper way to go about rehearsing is...

Movie actors appear on the big screen and seem to lead lives of glamor off-screen with endless premiers, publicity parties and magazine covers. This royal treatment is reserved only for those at...

When preparing a casting call, write down each character in the script and their description. Put together a casting call with tips from an independent filmmaker in this free video on casting.

Some of the most memorable and ground-breaking moments in television have been the result of a mini-series. Roots continues to impress and inspire. Angels in America shed light on the heartbreak...

A script is an outline of a story. It is written in a dialogue form, and the narration is very descriptive so that when you read it, you can visualize each scene and follow the story and plot.

The format requirements of screenplays have destroyed more than one great idea. Many writers think a screenplay is easier to write than other types of literature because scripts are shorter than...

They say the bulk of writing is rewriting, and while heavy rewrites will surely make your script better, they will probably leave you with sticky continuity problems, too. All the cutting and...

Science fiction movies are constantly earning money at the box office and some of the top grossing movies of all time have had science fiction themes, like the two Star War trilogies. CGI has made...

TV commercials are the backbone of product sales. Commercial spots during shows that have high ratings can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to run, but companies are willing to pay the...

When acting out a scene, whether it be for the theater or on camera, the most basic and helpful preparation is to "bottom line" your scene.

Screenwriting is a competitive field, and you're working hard to make your script the best it can be. How do you push that screenplay to be the very best you can make it? Well, one way is to...

If you are trying to sell a screenplay, you will often be asked to submit a "one-sheet" or one page treatment. This is a description of the story that fits on one page, along with title...

Formatting the screenplay is not hard, but writing a selling screenplay is the achievement of a lifetime. The two types of scripts are the shooting script and the submission script. The submission...

We have all seen the scenes in movies where two characters engage in a physical fight. The actors clearly are not really hurting each other, but a very fine line exists between looking realistic...

Dream sequences are visual tools used in films for two reasons: first, to express the creativity and artistry of the filmmaker, and second, to show what a character really has going on inside that...

There's a subtle knack for dressing the part--but not going over the top--when you audition for a film in Hollywood. Here's how to do it cleverly and effectively. The most important thing to...

An actress is a woman who portrays a character in a film, play, television show, or other work of fiction. She immerses herself in a character, creating a fictional human being by sharing her...

Actors who are not conventionally "pretty" by Hollywood standards are often called character actresses. There are actually more parts for character actresses than there are for so-called leading...