Let’s Make A Movie Workshop

Blink and you’ll miss it — keep your eyes open and it’s loads of fun!

“This was the most fun I had at the entire convention! And I still go back and re-watch it from time to time, ten years later, whenever I want a big ol’ smile on my face. I can’t think of any other convention experience I’ve ever had that I continued to enjoy ten years later.”

That’s only one of the many people who have been a part of this unique groundbreaking workshop.

If you’ve ever wanted to make a movie — or even if you already have — then this is gonna be a blast! Heck, even people who don’t think they will EVER make their own movie join in the fun — because it’s just that fun!

“The Let’s a Movie! Workshop is easily some of the most fun I’ve ever had at a convention. Whether you are in a major part, an extra, or crew, you’ll have a blast and probably learn something to boot. Do it, have fun!”

At least once a year, we and a group of our energetic friends (Ryan K. Johnson, Brian Oberquell, Eric Morgret, and Edward Martin III, usually) get together to offer this most kinetic and creative workshop. We started out in 1999 doing it every year at Norwescon in Seattle, but we’ve branched out a bit, and have occasionally gone on the road to other locations.

But what is the workshop? The Let’s Make a Movie! workshop lets the participants join in, learn about making movies, come up with a story, work out the bugs, and basically do a soup-to-nuts moviemaking adventure — usually while engaging in other fun and seedy things in their copious free time.

And lest you think it’s all fluff (and we’re not pointing fingers, mind you…), here’s a testimonial we were just TICKLED to receive:

“I’m a professional film maker with decades of experience and yet, I love to participate in these workshops. The concepts taught are sound and the fun to be had is engaging and real. If you ever wanted an interesting, educational and just downright entertaining way to spend a con, get involved with the Let’s Make a Movie! Workshop. They have become the highlight of the convention for me.”

So, yes, young, old, short, tall, Drow or Orion — we welcome and encourage anyone who wants to join us to please join us!

The Workshop has many parts. You can attend them all, or you can attend only the ones that matter for you. naturally, our preference is that you attend them all, because then you get the most bang for your buck!

Fifteen years of doing this and we’ve ALWAYS walked away with a finished movie.

We must be doing SOMETHING right!

Part 1! For more than a decade, we’ve been making movies every workshop, like some sort of terrifying clockwork monkey. Be a part of history without actually burying yourself in the desert for a thousand years! In this introduction, see a choice selection of movies made as part of this ground-breaking workshop, including hilarious introductions by the filmmakers. Here’s the best place to watch all these movies at once, and behold the genesis of one of the weirdest and funniest workshops ever! Hear heinous behind-the-scenes stories! Feel free to ask the filmmakers questions afterwards, if they’re brave enough to stick around! Be inspired for the other parts! (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

Yes, we all bought Powerball tickets, but the sad truth is that none of us won, so we get to figure out how to do special effects on what a shoestring would be embarrassed to call a shoestring. Join our intrepid filmmakers for our infamous coast-to-coast workshop, and learn how we’ve solved a wide variety of tricky effects problems. Even better — bring us your own puzzlers and problems and let’s see if we can help you with your next movie project! (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

You were there for the previous parts, right? Quick! Time travel (or step into the flow now, if you like)! In this part, we go over the plan, figure out the gear, work up a story, write the script, plan the shoot, and pretty much anything else we can think of. That’s right, from soup to nuts, we’re going to make an entire movie here at Norwescon. This is your chance to be a part of this unique workshop and learn how to make a movie on a budget so tiny calling it “tiny” makes people who are tiny feel insulted. The key to making a movie, of course, is good planning! (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

It’s one thing to read a script and imagine epic space battles across thirty five planets, seven historical periods, three different kinds of airship, and an underground lizard-man lair. It’s quite another to break that script down and figure out exactly what needs to happen to go from paper to “Okay, roll camera!” Our experts walk you through the process using examples from their own movies and maybe something we make up just for this event! (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

Actors. They are the heart and soul of your production and yet they also have feelings and desires and needs to make their own mark, too. In between tyranny and chaos lies the perfect balance of working well with your actors, and our panel of distinguished Directors will walk you through how they went from a character on paper to a Terrifying Screen Presence. (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

The other two-thirds. If there’s anything that marks out an amateur movie production as amateur, it’s the lighting and the sound. A simple lighting setup done right can do more for a mood than all the scary music in the world. Come join our filmmakers for a hands-on demonstration of lighting tricks, a chat about good sound versus bad sound, and answers to almost every question you might have. (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

You were there for the previous parts, right, where we figured out what we needed and planned this movie all out? Quick! Time travel! Or, drop in anyway and become a Valued Actor Person. In part 4, we shoot like mad weasels, because there’s not much time and if we’re going to make a movie at light speed, then we have to move like light! So, don’t be late, or you’ll just see red-shifted versions of us. The key to making a movie, of course, is to get the footage in the can! Or, “box”, actually, because we’re shooting video. But you know what we mean. (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

Let’s make a movie! You were there for the previous parts, right, where we shot video like crazy? If not, then now’s a great time to master time travelling! In this part, we show you a little about editing, how we put all that crazy footage down and make it into a movie that makes some kind of sense. Actually, we hope it makes some kind of sense. We never really know. If you bought a computer within the past two years, chances are excellent that you have more digital video editing power at your fingertips than has ever been subject to the hands of Ordinary People. Learn about using this power for Good. Or Evil. We don’t care, because we only use it for Fun. The key to making a movie, of course, is editing. (note – you don’t have to attend all the parts to enjoy the workshop, but attending all the parts gets you the best possible experience!)

Since 1999, the Fandance Film Festival has been a celebration of low- and no-budget cinema, brought to wondrous lurching life by amateur filmmakers from all around the Pacific Northwest. More than just the movies, this 120-minute extravaganza of entertainment also includes the filmmakers, to regale you with terrifying tales of their productions. Be there or be a regular right quadrilateral! The Fandance Film Festival is the final terrifying phase of the Let’s Make a Movie Workshop, in which participants walk through every step of making a movie, from conception to the premiere of the finished product.