Creator blog.
New post every Monday.
Blog #31 What Women Want - Lessons from a 2023 Nielsen report
Here is the key to understanding women. The answer you’ve been looking for.
In this post, I’m going to dissect a report from Nielsen, released in 2023. The report is titled:
With almost 1 million video choices, women 18-34 turn to classic TV
Here is the link, if you want to read it yourself: https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/with-almost-1-million-video-choices-women-18-34-turn-to-classic-tv/
The report breaks down women’s streaming viewing habits, according to their in-house research. The results were mostly predictable, with a few surprises. Some of the answers require a bit of explanation.
Blog #30 Cinematography Analysis - V For Vendetta (2005)
V for Vendetta is the topic of this post. It is a film similar to the first Matrix film - it’s evocative and has a unique way of telling its story. The film has dated quickly compared to other films that came out from the time. I couldn’t find any information on the camera system but it seems that they didn’t have a big budget for future-proofing (given I streamed it on a 55 inch television and it looked muddier than other films shot around that time).
Blog #29 Cinematography Analysis - Moneyball (2011)
I watched this film for the first time recently. It’s an eerie film—a slow burner that chips away at your pre-conceived notions until it sucks you in.
It could be easily renamed The Brad Pitt film because it’s mostly him being macho around other macho men.
It’s a nice looking film. It’s simple and it doesn’t try too hard, like a lot of other films in its genre. It creates a mood and it sticks to it.
The cinematographer was Wally Pfister, who has feaured in other blog posts on this site. I like his work. It has a safe, yet unique style that sucks you into the cinema experience, even if you’re watching at home.
Blog #28 Is off-screen romance the key to captivating on-screen romance?
As the title says, “Is off-screen romance the key to captivating on-screen romance?“
What do you think?
I’m going to argue for the point and if you want to argue against, the more the merrier.
Every now and then, while watching a show, we notice two characters together in the show that we know to be dating off-screen also. Why do we know this? Because of the culture we live in…and a secret part of us wants to know. We crave it.
Blog #27 The Best Books I’ve Read in the Last Year
Books make you a better storyteller, that’s a fact. They inspire, enthrall and delight in equal measure.
By the time you read this, we will be near the end of the year, 2025. What better time to share the best books I’ve read and nearly finished this year, so you can take away some recommendations for your TBR list.
Blog #26 South Park Season 28 is…something
The title says it all. Season 28 of the adult animated show South Park was just released and it is…something.
I’ve watched this show from the humble beginnings of the Jesus vs. Santa clip that was shared around, to what it is now: a global franchise. Over the course of the show, there have been ups and downs. One thing is clear though: the show is now on an up. It’s back to its best.
Why? Simple. South Park is at its best when it’s crazy and offensive. At the moment, it is definitely both of those. From P.C. (Power Christ) Principal throwing down with Jesus in a Cheesecake Factory bathroom to the tweezer thing, South Park is holding no shots back. They’re all in. They even dropped two f bombs in the episode. By f bomb, I don’t mean fat.
Blog #25 Cinematography Analysis - Twilight Saga, New Moon (2009)
New Moon is the second installment in the Twilight franchise. The film changed cinematographers for this one, going from Elliot Davis to Javier Aguirresarobe. The two films have two very different styles but are both consistent in their approaches. This film is more typical of a drama film shot in the late 2000’s era. It consists of techniques commonly used in the era and feels more mature than the previous film.
Blog #24 Cinematography Analysis - The Batman (2022)
I couldn’t not examine this film in depth, given I just did the Christopher Nolan trilogy. The Batman is an effective film but the shots are really strange. This film was very “artistic“. They used modern techniques to create an old looking film. I'm going to be breaking them down here so we can gain a deeper insight into the film. Technically speaking, it was delivered in 2.39 to 1 and shot in anamorphic—much like the previous trilogy.
Here are five points on the shooting style.
Blog #23 My favourite fonts
Fonts. Those things that change how curly the letters in your text are. In this post, I’m going to share my favourites, which scenarios I use them in and a few tips on getting the most out of them.
Choosing the right font can be a make or break decision in your designs; transforming an average piece of text to a neat and stylish design choice, if you use the right font.
Blog #22 Getting low views on your content? It might be a technical issue.
As someone who has been posting short vertical content regularly on Tiktok and Youtube Shorts, there are a few key obstacles you want to avoid when sharing your content. If you have had these issues, it can be frustrating because there are no clear guidelines on navigating these problems but they will sink your view count tremendously. Dealing with them can feel confusing, frustrating and disheartening.
Blog #21 Cinematography Analysis: The Dark Knight
Continuing on with my analysis of the Christopher Nolan trilogy, this week we’re looking at The Dark Knight, the second film in the trilogy and by far the most quoted and popular. If I had to use one word to describe this film, I would use this: explosive. The film gets the pacing spot on and it does this by starting slow… then exploding into action.
Blog #20 Cinematography Analysis: Batman Begins (2005)
Having just recently rewatched Batman Begins, I thought it worth of a deeper dive into the cinematography and the elements that made it so special. If I was to describe the cinematography of this film I would use one word: cinematic.
I say cinematic because it doesn’t stray too far from the path of cinematic in the traditional sense. The film uses tried and tested techniques to create an engrossing film. I won’t be talking too much about the writing of the film in this post but it has to be said, the writing is great.
So let’s dive into the film and look closer at all the elements that made this film so cinematic.
Blog #19 Predicting the Future of Filmmaking
As a fun thought experiment, I’d like to predict the future of filmmaking. In the last few years, we’ve seen shifts in filmmaking like never before, with different formats and workflows popping up and taking over. I’m going to attempt to do the impossible (unless you’re a Simpsons writer) and predict how things will continue to change in the future.
Blog #18 Making a TikTok
I’ve been big into making short form vertical content recently. It’s been interesting for me to get to know more about this type of content because I’ve shyed away from it for a long time, thanks to my purist roots. Surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed making this kind of content and looking at video in a completely different way: 9 by 16 aspect ratio.
Blog #17 Beyond the Misty Mountains: Understanding the Criticism of The Hobbit Films
I rewatched The Hobbit Trilogy recently, I find them an easy and entertaining watch. I am surprised to see these days many fans turning on the movies and pouring hatred over the screen adaptations. I’ve noticed a few trends popping up among the key concerns and wanted to break them down and ask: what does this mean about fans’ expectations?
Blog #16 7 Filmmaker Tasks I used to do that have been replaced by A.I.
The year is 2025 and artifical intelligence is here… nearly.
With OpenAI’s Chat GPT and many other forms of software using artificial intelligence freely available, the way I do things is rapidly evolving with no end in sight. Many of the menial tasks I didn’t enjoy doing, I no longer have to do because I can ask Chat GPT to do them for me. In this post, I am compiling a list of all the ways in which A.I. has made my workflow faster and easier. It’s amazing to think how different things used to be only a short time ago.
Blog #15 8 Things that changed from my business plan after starting my “real“ business (3 months in)
If you’re like me and wanted to go the proper route before starting your business, you will have created a Business Plan. This is a large document, about 20 to 30 pages, full of information about your business. I included things such as: product description, business goals, target markets, competition and financial outlook. A number of things ended up working out differently than my ideals in my business plan. Here’s a list of things that changed and the new ways I’ve begun thinking about them:
Blog #14 7 Things I learned from shooting a Short Film
My film was shot over the space of 2 days, with the meat of the film (a conversation between two people) shot in a few hours and the b-roll of the film shot on a second day over a couple of hours. I’m going to share some practical insights on shooting that I learned from the filmmaking process.
Blog #13 My Favourite (free) Software to use as a Filmmaker
In the life of a filmmaker, you will have to use many different pieces of software to accomplish different tasks. For the creative side, you will need a video editing software, scriptwriting software, photo editing software and even a sound editing software (sometimes called a D.A.W. i.e. digital audio workstation). On the administrative side, you’ll need a word processor, a spreadsheet software and a slideshow presentation program.
Blog #12 How to Write a Short Film
Recently I was tasked with writing a short film. To make it happen, I had to break out my screenwriting program and get the screenplay juices flowing again. Before I did that though, I went through a quick refresher on all the different elements in a screenplay. It was a while since I wrote anything so I needed to make sure I got all the elements down first before I dove in. Here are the basic elements of screenwriting so you too can get firing again.