The No Film School Podcast

When Fabrice Aragno went to film school, he was written off as a creator of meaningless images. What was the point of his thesis picture? Where was the emotion? These questions, however, didn't matter much to him, so he ignored them. What mattered was assembling work that he felt was sincere. In Aragno's opinion, cinema doesn't need an explanation. There is no objective. Don't explain it, just embrace it. Fortunately, that philosophy ended up aligning closely with another filmmaker some of you may have heard of - a man named Jean Luc Godard. Admittedly, Aragno wasn't terribly influenced by the French New Wave master's work. As a student, he was more interested in Felinni and others associated with Italian Neo-Realism. So when he got a phone call asking if he'd like to work with Godard on "Goodbye to Language", he was nervous to meet with the director who had a reputation of being obstinately difficult to work with. Yet when they met, he found the mythic figure to be just a man, a man who would soon become a collaborator. Their most recent film "The Image Book" picks up where "Goodbye to Language" left off. It is a collage of sound and picture that may be better described as a cinematic experience than a movie. NFS Producer Jon Fusco down with Aragno, who edited and shot the film (which conversely features mostly found footage) at the Toronto International Film festival. Listening to this interview is a bit like watching the film itself. Aragno weaves in and out of the French language, jumps around topics, and drops many obscure references as we talk about the genesis of their collaboration and gain fascinating insights into Jean Luc Godard's creative process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jon Fusco and Erik Luers talk TIFF takeaways, a successor to MoviePass that could actually work out and the Emmys' failures to get with the times. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, talking two of the biggest mirrorless cameras to come out this year and an exciting new pair of Cooke lenses. On Ask No Film School - some thoughts on how advertising could end up hurting your short film. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve McQueen has made some great movies. So has Denis Villeneuve. So what do Hunger, Sicario, Shame, Blade Runner 2049, 12 Years a Slave and Arrival have in common? They were all edited by Joe Walker. McQueen and Walker's latest collaboration, Widows, made its world premiere to a sold-out crowd at the Toronto International Film Festival last week. It's the Academy Award winner's most accessible feature, a blockbuster heist movie with a stellar cast including Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluya and Elizabeth Dobecki. It's almost a certainty that McQueen and Walker will have another hit on their hands upon the film's wide release this Fall. In an interview with No Film School Producer Jon Fusco, Joe Walker breaks down the keys to his successes, common mistakes he sees among young editors, and his workflow with two of the best directors in the industry. It's an especially useful conversation for those of you currently bogged down in the throes of post-production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Erik Luers and Liz Nord reveal a couple of changes to awards season that everyone can agree on, Nicoloas Cage is in a really good movie, and the best new wireless kit to own. On Ask No Film School - a reminder to take it easy. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems that many short films even after they wrap a successful shoot never end up seeing the light of day. And why is that? Because they dry up in the post-production process. Whether it's for lack of money, lack of inspiration, lack of enthusiasm, or just plain destitution at what your footage has revealed, the sad truth is that may directors decide to leave their precious projects on the cutting room floor. All their time and effort, wasted, for not. On the final episode of The First Short, No Film School Producer Jon Fusco is joined by his editor Tam Le to discuss their own trying experiences over nine-months of post-production in an attempt to make sure that this will never happen to you. They cover the ideal relationship between editor and director, why a director should attempt to edit their film, how to identify what needs to be cut, how to establish tone and pacing and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Festival season is upon us once more and with it, a whole new class of award contenders have suddenly made themselves known. In this episode, Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, and Liz Nord reveal the films their most excited about, as well as countless others you should keep an eye on as Fall begins to heat up. In gear news, we highlight a couple of new wide angle lenses that caught our eyes and on Ask No Film School we explain why it's never ok to use an artist's music without permission. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A short film is a tricky thing, you don’t know how much time or money to invest in such a personal thing that nobody may even end up seeing, so a lot of people don’t even try. The point of this podcast is to get you to stop worrying and just try. In this episode, No Film School Producer Jon Fusco breaks down the keys to running a successful Kickstarter, how to allocate your micro-budget, and keeping cool on set in the inevitable moments of failure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss how Netflix is getting revenge on Cannes during this fall festival season, some big changes to the infamous film critics’ Tomatometer, and Disney finally announcing more solid details about its forthcoming streaming service. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including two new, indie-friendly drones. Liz also shares the top five pieces of filmmaking advice she’s collected over hundreds of filmmaker interviews at NFS. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A short film is a tricky thing, you don’t know how much time or money to invest in such a personal thing that nobody may even end up seeing, so a lot of people don’t even try. The point of this podcast is to get you to stop worrying and just try. In this episode, No Film School Producer Jon Fusco identifies the key crew you'll need to get started and how to them on your project, how to create a proper lookbook, what to plan for on a location scout, strategies in collaborating with your DP in pre-production and how to obtain the best gear for your project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Charles and Erik Luers discuss whether a new potential move by Amazon will change theatrical moviegoing as much as it changed shopping, a new Netflix feature that is sure to piss off some viewers, and a surprising turn in the #MeToo movement. In tech and gear news, a new upgrade to the ‘5D Mark II of 360 video’ means that immersive filmmaking might finally be hitting the masses. Liz and Charles also answer an Ask No Film School question about the viability of breaking into the film industry at any age. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices