James Steel on Habbowood!

[Boxiel]

http://www.habbo.co.uk/entertainment....html#COMMENTS

Throughout the Habbowood Digital Movie Awards we will be chatting with BBC director and producer James Steel. He will be sending us his views and opinions on each of our finalists' movies and has supplied everyone with some great tips and tricks.


Who are you and what do you do?

"My name is James Steel and I have been working as a director and producer for the BBC for the last 10 years. I have directed on everything from Chucklevision through to Watchdog and I am currently responsible for CBBC's red button service and producing AV content for the new CBBC website."


How do you get a job as a TV director?

"Getting into TV relies on three things - being prepared to work hard, having good ideas and being passionate about what you do. If you watch TV and think "that's rubbish I could do better" then you may be the sort of person who could work in TV. It doesn't require any formal qualifications and the best director I know left school at 16."


How can you produce a good short movie?

The one absolute essential is to start with a good idea! Knowing if something is a good idea often relies on having made a few films first and having a bit of experience so don't be afraid to make a few films without knowing what you are doing. If a film turns out to be a bit rubbish you are then one step closer to making a successful film the next time you have a go. Map out your idea on a piece of paper, what is going to happen, what do the characters say, what is the ending going to be and what journey do your characters take. Then give it a go, the more movies you make the better they will become. Get your friends (the ones that will be nice to you!) to watch your films and suggest how you can improve them.


How do you start your short movie?

With a short film you need to grab everyone's attention from the first frame. If I'm watching a film I want to know that it is going to entertain me, so if someone hasn't caught my attention within the first 30 seconds I will start to lose interest. Make your characters interesting, have them say interesting or unusual things, create a scene that causes your audience to think "Wow what's going on here...I must watch on to find out."


Finally, any tips on promoting a short movie?

If you are proud of what you have made, shout about it! If you talk up your movie people will go and see it and if they like it hopefully they will get their friends to watch. You can always resort to bribary - offer your friends parts in your next movie if they promote it for you!


James Steel (aka MrSteelo) will be present at the Habbowood Gala later this month where he will be making a speach after we announce the UK's overall winner! If you see him in Habbo, why not say hello.

View James Steel's Habbowood movie by clicking here!

What he thinks..

The Pixel Stories
by
Tilet
Good use of characters and I liked the way the story was set up, great car chase in the middle, really good sequence. If I was going to make changes I'd say use the effects more sparingly, the shaking screen/darkness effect makes it really hard to read the text in some sequences. Also try and edit your text down; the more text you have, the more the viewer has to work to read it so use only the amount that is necessary to tell the story. Overall I liked it.
........................................ Dial Up
by
Pyroka
Mystery and suspense! I like it. The main character of Pyroka is introduced well and I like the plot of his brother disappearing. There is also nice use of visual and sound FX. A couple of bits of advice - right at the end there is a lot of text on screen and my browser finished the film before I could read it. It is sometimes worth leaving an empty frame on the timeline at the end of your film so that your end joke, surprise or cliff-hanger has time to sink in with the audience. Again as with yesterdays winner think about how much text you using only use as much as you need to tell the story. Overall Good effort.
........................................ His Worst Nightmare
by
Asimm
Really good storyline in this one and I like the twist at the end. There are some nice use of FX, especially in the diner sequence although the shaking screen effect is used a lot in this film which is alright in short bursts but for me it makes it hard to follow the story if used too much. The opening of this film is a really good example of good scripting that sets up the main character and is easy to read so you can follow the story easily on screen. As the action progresses the story would have benefited from having less dialogue on screen so that it's easier to follow. Having said all that it's a good watch and a worthy daily winner.
........................................ The Habbo Staff
by
Conkers.
Wow - definitely what I would call an epic! This is a really involved story that has lots of text in it and runs across 9 scenes. It features a lot of in jokes and characters from the Habbo world which I'm guessing could work for you or against you. A lot of people might find the story hard to follow as they don't know the characters but for those of you really immersed in Habbo they are characters you probably know and recognise. I'm starting to sound like a broken record in my reviews but again if you put too much text in a scene it's very hard to read. I would quite often find while watching this film that it had cut to another scene before I could read the last line of dialogue. After watching it through twice, however, it was really well written and I love the way the green tea joke is woven through the film. There is a great scene in the diner with a teleport that uses really good use of FX and dialogue, make sure you check it out. Overall - a really strong contender.
........................................ Flood and Flooder
by
WiseBen
Possibly my favourite so far! Lots of really great humour in this and it features some fluffy cats running a factory! Very good examples in this film of how to tie script up with the things available to you in the movie maker and make a feature of them. This film uses a lot of FX but it feels like they have been thought about and used wisely. My only criticism would be that the plot could have been improved by giving the characters more of a storyline and therefore a reason to why they are going to the locations they end up in. The out takes section at the end of this film, however, is pure genius and made me laugh out loud. Well done WiseBen and cross your fingers, you're in with a good shout of going to Hollywood!
........................................ Creation of Habbo
by
Dictator
One word - Excellent - I saw this film a couple of days ago and looking at it again it's got lots of really good elements in it. A great storyline of interest to anyone interested in Habbo, it's well paced, there are some good gags, the story takes you easily between the scenes, good use of FX, not too much text...I could go on! Definitely my favourite so far as the story really works with the tools available. Dictator - make sure your passport is up to date!
........................................ The Habbo Crook
by
iTweedz
Good effort this one. It's a good example of how to catch peoples attention at the start of a film - everything seems normal then a body turns up in the water! The story was ok but I felt that some of the other weekly winners have had stronger storylines . Again with this film the way the text is laid out and the order in which characters appear makes it hard to read in some sections. This film again had some good use of FX's tied well into the storyline. I liked it but not sure whether it's a contender.
........................................ Pix, Pixe and Pixel
by
kaotix12
When this film started I really thought I wasn't going to like it but as it went on it really started to make me laugh. Lots of great gags about text speak and some really good examples of how to tie your script in with FX that are available to you on the movie maker. The beach scene with the falling piano gag did make me laugh out loud and is a good example of comic timing. This film is a real grower and the more I've watched it, the more I like it. It's a good bet for an outside chance of winning.
........................................

[Fart]

Good find +rep for copy and pasting as im lazy ;D

[DPS]

good find +rep

But was does a TV directer have in common with habbowood hes not a film directer.

[Rubadub]

Creation of Habbo by Dictator
One word - Excellent - I saw this film a couple of days ago and looking at it again it's got lots of really good elements in it. A great storyline of interest to anyone interested in Habbo, it's well paced, there are some good gags, the story takes you easily between the scenes, good use of FX, not too much text...I could go on! Definitely my favourite so far as the story really works with the tools available. Dictator - make sure your passport is up to date!

Wow, I don't know why, but I've taken a liking to this man.