Ideas and practice
Blog
Original writing about the choices behind strong media: sound, image, editing, access, delivery, and the working habits that make projects hold up.
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How to Post Social Without Burning Out
Filming was never the bottleneck, the edit was. A solo creator’s workflow for posting without burning out: filming in blocks, batching the caption pass, keeping a queue, locking a format, and what the AI tools actually take off your plate.
Why Is Everything So Loud?
Cinemas, trailers and adverts all feel too loud, and they get there by different routes. What reference level means, why your cinema is likely running too quiet rather than too loud, and what directors and re-recording mixers say about dialogue you cannot hear.
Know What You Need, Know What You Want, and Know the Difference
Advice for first-time directors, anchored to how Bong Joon-ho, Robert Altman, Chloe Zhao, Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg actually worked. Prep, casting, coverage, sound, and running the day.
How Many Layers Does a Door Need?
What decides how much you layer a sound effect, narrative weight and the mixer’s time on the stage, not a fixed number. How working SFX editors, supervisors, and re-recording mixers actually think about it.
Foley Sound Design: DIY Recording vs. Sound Libraries
Should you perform custom Foley or use pre-recorded sound libraries? Practitioner best practices, hybrid decision matrices, and quotes from celebrated Foley artists at Skywalker Sound and Sony Pictures.
How Film Deal-Making Actually Works: Studios, Box Office Splits, and the Future of Indie Cinema
A candid look into movie economics: why theater popcorn costs $8, how studios take 100% of early box office receipts, the collapse of theatrical windows, and why indie filmmakers are regaining leverage.
The AI Vérité Workflow
A hybrid documentary approach that anchors generative AI to unscripted observational footage: the four stages, why real audio is the source of truth, and the disclosure problems it creates.
Guilds and Unions in Film and TV: What They Actually Do
What the DGA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and their international counterparts actually are, what a collective bargaining agreement gets you, and the real tradeoffs of joining, or staying out.
Is 4:3 Making a Comeback?
Why younger filmmakers keep reaching for boxier frames: the technology that created 4:3, the composition and social-media logic behind its return, and how 3:2 and IMAX fit in.
The Best Free Plugins Aren't Always Third-Party
Why your DAW's stock EQ, compressor, and limiter are often underrated, plus the third-party freeware worth adding around them.
Premiere Pro vs Final Cut Pro for Indie Editors
A practical, in-depth comparison of cost, platform, media management, timeline philosophy, collaboration, handoff, and the test project that should decide your NLE.
Sound in Film Is Not “Half the Film”
A practical answer to a recurring filmmaker debate: why audiences notice bad sound so quickly, how sound carries story, and what a small crew can do before, during, and after the shoot.