Amateurfilm-Forum

Um jemals etwas in jeder x-beliebigen Profession zu erreichen, muss man sich auf die eigene Reise der Entdeckungen, Wunder, Erfolge und Niederlagen, Studium, schlaflose Naechte und lange Arbeitstage machen.
Ich bin fest davon ueberzeugt, dass der einzige Weg, die Welt zu verbessern, darin besteht, miteinander Erfahrungen auszutauschen und einander beim Lernen zu unterstuetzen - bis der eigene Trampelpfad, den man sich muehsam durch den Dschungel gebahnt hat, in einer Autobahn fuer tausende Nachvolger wird. Je mehr Menschen in einem Arbeitsfeld Erfolge verzeichnen, und je schneller sie ihre Faehigkeiten erlernt haben, desto wahrscheinlicher wird es, dass einer von ihnen etws entdeckt, das die Moeglichkeiten aller ausweitet und technologische Entwicklung vorantreibt.

Im Laufe der letzten Monate habe ich meine eigenen Lern-Favoriten aus dem Web gesammelt und zusammengetragen; ich studiere gerade Film in Los Angeles bzw. habe eine kleine Filmproduktionsfirma hier aufgebaut habe (ganz viel dazu in meinem Blog); das folgende LTK ist Stand Juni 2012; wenn du eine up-to-date, ausgebaute Version sehen moechtest, folge dem Link zum Originalen Film LTK.

FILM LTK
Filmmaking Links, Tutorials & Knowledge


Content:

• Forums & Communities
• Tutorials & Instructions
  • Writing
  • Producing
  • Directing
  • Cinematography
  • Rigging
  • DIY – Do it Yourself Builds
  • Editing
  • Sound Design / SFX
  • Visual Effects – VFX
  • Color Correction / Color Grading

Forums & Communities
The fastest way to grow your skills and knowledge is to become part of a community and converse with them all the time. If you are not enrolled in a film school or otherwise surrounded by filmmakers in your area, then becoming part of an online forum/community will kick your learning curve up by more than you can imagine.
As you can see, in my hierarchy "Forums & Communities" has as much importance as all tutorials and knowledge - because these are the only places where your learning experience becomes interactive and social [if you don't have access to a face-to-face filmmaking community outside of the internet], and becoming part of a learning and experimenting community is just as important as the content of what you actually learn.

• DVXUser: www.dvxuser.com – a great forum with massive amounts of information, lot of activity and a nice atmosphere.
• DVInfo.net: www.dvinfo.net - a very informative community with professional and friendly people.
• Indietalk.com: www.indietalk.com - a nice community with lots of categories and diversity; worth checking out!
• Stundentfilms.com: www.studentfilms.com - a community of mostly (not just) student filmmakers, very active and full of conversation - a good place to find other people that cherish learning and development!
• Indiemogul.com: www.indiemogul.com - a community based around low-cost filmmaking; sometimes the conversational niveau is not the highest here, but lots of motivated people populate the forums.
• CreativeCow.net: www.creativecow.net - a community/tutorial-base that talks about everything digital art-related (incl. Cinematography & Editing). The forums still have the oldschool 1995 tree structure, but there's lots of helpful tutorials, helpful people and a good atmosphere.
• REDUser: www.reduser.net – the official RED forum that talks about ONE, ONE MX, SCARLET, EPIC, DRAGON and so on and so forth. Also the best source for RedcineX-updates, and your home of you are RED-obsessed or planning to buy one.

Tutorials & Instructions
Tutorials, especially video tutorials, are the best replacement for on-set experience. If you can't work on a big set as an assistant and can observe your superiors, or you can't be in a film school production class, online videos where people explain how to do certain things will be your (usually) free bible. Here a few resources that will provide you with a constant influx of new knowledge:

• NoFilmSchool: www.NoFilmSchool.com – Koon's weekly web digest of the most important things going on in the film world. One of the few newsletters worth subscribing.
• VideoCopilot: www.videocopilot.net - the probably world's best and largest and most awesomest and most Kramerest collection of After-Effects Tutorials. Here you can literally go from 0 to 100 in After Effects.
• Filmmaker IQ: www.FilmmakerIQ.com - a great collection of articles, tutorials, DIY stuff, link lists and tutorial lists, financing, online publishing - you can spend weeks of learning there!
• CreativeCow Library: library.creativecow.net - a great collection of editing- and VFX-related tutorials, sorted by programs, moderated by CreativeCow. Decent Quality Control, and offers insight for all skill levels.

Writing
Not just HOW to write, but especially WHAT to write needs to be put into lots of consideration and inner dialogue. History shows that certain forms and ways of writing are more efficient, expressive and successful than others, so studying the science of writing can never be a mistake. And of course, we're talking about screenwriting – so FORMAT is the very first thing you need to know.

• CeltX: www.CeltX.com – this free software makes Screenplay writing and formatting about 95% smoother. An absolute must.
• Screenwriting Complete Overview: http://www.screenwriting.info/ - a great overview over what screenwriting is about, what diffent terms mean, how to structure and format a screenplay, and what kind of literary tools to use in order to make a screenplay flow better. Pretty much, a complete screenwriting class online, for free.

Producing
Producing is organizing, hustling, paperwork, sitting back, playing big daddy and taking true and big responsibility. Definitely something you want to prepare yourself for – no matter if you have to deal with SAG, if you need to find the cheapest equipment in the most available location, if you need to sort out a conflict on set or deal with insurance and risk. Don't get yourself into a lawsuit, and make sure everyone comes in and out from the set in good physical condition - that's the foundation of good producing.

• Film Budgeting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting - it's good to know what producing is all about: Bringing resources together. And of course, most resources cost money, which is well-explained on Wikipedia.
• Great Production Budget Template: http://makingthemovie.info/2007/03/free-…t-template.html - easy and very useful for small, low-budget projects. Available in multiple formats including *.xls - a great place to start and build upon.
• Simple Front to Back Budget Template: http://www.sixbulletsmovie.com/filmmaking/indie_budget.htm - an instructional page about all steps of budgeting, *.xls-budget template included. The budget is very simple but shows that all steps of the production should be organized and accounted for.
• Scheduling for Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/th…ing-a-film.html - gives you some good insight in the steps of breaking down a script and scheduling a shoot. Remember, you don't need to professionally break down a script on small shoots - but a professional, well-thought-out schedule is what you should focus your energies on.
• Schedule & Shot List Template: http://adhack.com/community/resources/vi…hedule-template - interesting template utilizing screenplay-looking organization to schedule a shoot and including a detailed shot list.
• SAG Instruction Videos: http://www.sag.org/sag-tv/Production%20Center - SAG members are giving you instructions how to sign a production (you have to, if you use SAG actors, otherwise you jeopardize their guild standing) and making the word "SAG" just a little less scary by giving you some good insight.
• SAG signatory online system: http://www.sag.org/production-center/sign-sag-online - sign your production online, right here. Saves you lots headache, because this is one of the first things you should get done as a producer.
• G&E Equipment Rentals Wooden Nickel: http://www.woodennickellighting.com/page…grental/cat.pdf - useful if you are producing in the LA area, or if you want to get a good idea for affordable, professional Grip&Electric equipment that you will need to include in the budget.
• Camera/Lens Equipment Rental Samy's: http://images.samys.com/images/pdf/rental_2011.pdf - also useful for people in LA; the NY equivalent would be Adorama Rentals. These stores rent lens and camera equipment, whereas I would mainly recommend them for lenses, that's what we do with them.
• Making a $20,000 indie film: http://www.sixbulletsmovie.com/filmmaking/indie-film.htm - good article from a filmmaker that "did it" - telling you what to be cautious about and what to concentrate on.
• Largest Collection and System of Film Festivals: http://www.withoutabox.com - this website lets you enter your film into hundreds of film festivals around the world, organizes the submission process for you, and is directly linked to IMDB (every accepted submission to qualifying festivals gets the film an IMDB page).

Directing
A director is the one central element of a film. Everything renders down to an able and well-prepared director, one that can infest his crew with courage and motivation, and keep cool when things get too hot on set. A director needs to be a great communicator, understand himself and even more so, his actors and their psychological triggers, and have a good balance of self-criticism, self esteem and persistence. Directing, since it's such a social profession, can only be really learned on set – but gearing up some aces and hidden tricks up your sleeve when things get tight is never a bad idea.

• Michael Kaine about Directing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njs6ZNSoFC0 - genious video where veteran actor Michael Kaine explains what a director should do with an actor, and shows live how to direct actors and block out a scene. An absolute must-see.
• Directing & Organization: http://postproduction.digitalmedianet.co…e.jsp?id=191694 - tips on how to be a good director, and more precisely, on how to be an organized director. Organization and preparation is often the director's only resort from the inadvertent chaos.
• Beginners Directing Tips: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback…ing-a-film.html - these tips are basic, but definitely useful for beginners ... it's important to think about everything and soak yourself up with information before investing your own and other people's time (and eventually money).
• Advanced Directing Tips: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback…m-director.html - good advice on directing actors and becoming confident as a director.
• Book Tips: There is many good books about directing; I personally can recommend "First Time Director: How to Make your Breakthrough Movie" and "Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances". Both are outstandingly good books, readable at any level in the directing profession. The first book deals with everything related to making your first feature film (similar to Robert Rodriguez' "Rebel without a Crew", but with higher budgets and less medical research lab rats); the second book tip deals exclusively with the art of working with actors on fostering outstanding acting work in your film.

=========TEIL 2 im naechsten Post ========




Viele Gruesse aus den Staaten,
Gentle

PS: Wenn du etwas vermisst oder gerne mehr Links ueber ein bestimmtes Gebiet haben moechtest, oder Kritik an der Liste hast - bitte, lass es mich wissen, damit ich das LTK verbessern kann! ;-)

Cinematography
These links and videos deal mainly with lighting and camerawork. As a cinematographer, you have to understand and feel lighting. Usually, DPs (Directors of Photography) are total equipment nerds and know everything about lighting equipment and camera models – so should you, with the ultimate goal of being able to better express a story through lighting skill and camera choice.

• DSLR Super Guide: http://nofilmschool.com/dslr/ - The NoFilmSchool DSLR Guide is a free guide that introduces you to everything you need to know if you want to be part of the DLSR revolution – from exposure to F-stop and sensor size, trough the Canon army of awesome cameras (and Nikon's/Panasonic's comrades) to the CMOS issues with rolling shutter or the graceless moire and aliasing. If you want the PDF, you need to Sign up for the Newsletter. Good for anyone between beginner and total pro - the guide is simply written, but communicates complex concepts and facts.
• CreativeCow DSLR Collection: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD1D30A51D0AE06CB - this Youtube playlist with 30 videos by Creative Cow is absolutely great for beginners - it teaches you exposure (aperture, shutter speed, ISO), monitoring, slow motion, focus, gadgets, tools, ... a smooth way to get an introduction to filming on DLSRs - good if you are a beginner, too basic if you're a pro.
• Light Meters: http://vimeo.com/32496718 - the much underestimated Light Meter and how it works by Ryan E. Walters ... something we need to know in a world where filming and previewing with digital cameras creates the illusion of not needing a light meter; with a meter you can measure light ratios and can make sure that more professional gaffers than you don't make you look like a fool for not knowing how to use it!
• LearningDSLR: http://learningdslr.com/learning-resources - A video giude to the DSLR basics - very nicely made, with good lessons and a from-beginning-to-end mentality. Great for beginners and advanced DSLR users!
• Reverse Key Light Analysis: http://evanerichards.com/2012/2463 - a stylized way of lighting faces that proves to be not just popular, but looks damn great. Evan E. Richards puts in words what we have subconsciusly thought all along! Why does this come so far on the top? Well ... because it's so important to understand!
• Behind the Scenes of a Cinematographer: http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/a…ing_good_looks/ - Art Adams is a Cinematographer that boasts about 30 articles about stuff he's shot. All listed in a good overview, lighting diagrams, videos, photos, easy to read - a great collection of resources and real life examples!
• Camera Blocking Walkthrough: http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/freshdv/video/camera_blocking_case_study - a cinematographer walks you through the creation and thoughts behind a complicated opening dolly move of a low-budget but decent-looking horror film, and explains the reasons for planning it that way.
• Portrait/People Lighting Diagrams: http://www.youtube.com/user/FreePhotographyTips - really valuable videos that explain strobe setups for photography (it takes little creativity to translate these in continuous lights) and shows the final results together with neat diagrams. Each video is usually one photo shoot, and you learn a lot about making women look beautiful - the eccentrically dressed photographer is an added bonus.
• Basic Cinematography: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback…era-angles.html - a good introduction to the way a cinematographer should think and what questions to ask oneself when being a DP.
• Scene Lighting: http://vimeo.com/41756494 - an SMAPP lighting tutorial for entire scenes; useful if you want to learn to light larger spaces. Although the directing and acting in this clip is questionable, the shots are well done.
• Lighting Techniques: http://vimeo.com/33672808 - Eve Hazelton's Lighting Techniques, Tutorial 1
• Lighting Techniques: http://vimeo.com/34004547 - Eve Hazelton's Lighting Techniques, Tutorial 2
• Basic Lighting: http://vimeo.com/39681309 - SMAPP Basic Lighting Tutorials
• Rembrandt Lighting: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Create-…hting-165253626 - a basic tutorial about Rembrandt Lighting. While this video is basic, it introduces one of the old masters of lighting, and should inspire you to borrow books about painting from the local library. I swear, learning to shoot and light from the paintings of old masters will make you a MUCH better cinematographer [however, it is supplemental knowledge and should build on a strong pre-existing understanding of lighting].
• Beyonce Shoot Setup: http://www.profoto.com/us/master-series-…g-beyonce-shoot - a detailed video explaining a George Holz beauty shoot with Beyonce. Good for music video white room look shoots - and of course, you have to translate from strobe to continuous.
• Romantic Restaurant Lighting: http://www.youtube.com/polcan99?v=aCWyuBsHJ60 - a cool little tutorial teaching you how to light a larger space; a restaurant - in correlation with the story content, a romantic dinner.
• Green Screen: http://vimeo.com/34365256 - Green Screen Chroma Key Tutorial with Eve Hazelton (Lighting & checking it)
• Roger Deakins Forum: http://www.deakinsonline.com/forum2 - although a forum, it's a great cinematography resource, since Roger Deakings, ASC (a famous cinematographer) often answers questions himself there...!
• The Film Look: http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp053.shtml - a BBC White Paper (PDF) explaining what makes digital look like film. Totally advanced knowledge, on a technical level of understanding the material - have Wikipedia ready for understanding terms.
• DSLR Aliasing & Moire: http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/article.php/20 - great article explaining the difficulties of DSLR footage processing.
• RED ONE Setup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfhWIYGcpI - a good intro to the components of a RED ONE. If someone asks you if you can shoot on the RED, and you say yes but lie - this might be a good video to watch before you are on set.
• Managing RED Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZID4urBmgM - good video tutorial explaining the flow of managing RED Footage of the RED ONE. Soon, this will be a bit outdated (Scarlet and Epic with REDCineX make it simple), but it can't hurt knowing.
• Magic Lantern Users: https://vimeo.com/groups/magiclantern - The official Magic Lantern (a.k.a. make your DSLR in a monster ... unless it's the 7d) community of awesome hackers around the world that transform the world for advanced DSLR filmmakers.
• CreativeCow DLSR Library: http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/dslr - a cutting edge resource of DSLR reviews and similar cameras; fetures tutorials, analyses, articles and a lot more. Especially the guest articles are helpful for advanced users; the creative cow-own tutorials here are only for beginners.
• AbelCine Blog: http://blog.abelcine.com - for all nerds, this blog reviews current technology and gadgets as well as stuff in the post-pipeline. Good to stay updated on technological developments.
• The Understanding Series: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series - a great series designed for stills photographer working with color negative film, but extremely relevant to modern digital and analog cinematography. Exposure, framing, cropping, sharpness etc. principles explained with lots of text and pictures.

Rigging
One of the most overlooked field of knowledge in film schools, if you ask me (together with costume design, makeup, and production design - if you don't have one of these components in a project you truly care about, then slap yourself hard left and right and get these positions filled with motivated people!). If you ever thought about becoming a gaffer or grip, or want to extend your Cinematography one-man-show, or learn how to up your game when it comes to placing lights and cameras in difficult/impossible locations, then rigging – the art of setting up contraptions – is a field you should dive deeper into.

• Gaffing in General: www.gaffersunite.com - a great blog about AC/DC, power sources, rigging, menace arms, lighting and the rest.
• Rigging Examples: http://www.gripnerd.com/rigging-gallery/ - A Rig gallery by Gripnerd, a Blog and Gallery about Camera Dolly Rigs, Lighting rigs and miscellaneous on-set jerryrigging. Very informative and inspiring!
• 
  Rigging a Car Shoot
  How to Rig a Car Shoot: http://www.devondelapp.com/weblog/?entry=237387' - this guy listened well on set and put together a cool drawing that includes various elements you can use in a nighttime car shoot inside a studio.
  
• Gaffer VS. Key Grip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUiZCg_AntQ - hilarious series (look on the youtube video list on the right hand side) of different set positions against each other. Interestingly enough, this might even teach you something about set etiquette, correct language and proper hierarchy. Or confuse the hell out of you.

DIY - Do It Yourself Builds

One method to prove yourself how much of a filmmaker you are is when you get down and dirty to the hardware store and abuse some materials to build your own equipment. Usually, when you're at that stage, time is not exactly money, so it's a far more effective way for you to build something for $50 now instead of waiting three months worth of paychecks to buy it for $500 later.

• 202 DIY Build Tutorials: http://filmmakeriq.com/2008/07/202-diy-filmmaking-tutorials/ - over two hundred links to different DIY builds - camera stabilizers, lights, shoulder rigs ... an awesome collection! FilmmakerIQ makes it easy for people looking to build something. This collection should give you good inspiration!
• Cheesycam Collection of DIY: http://cheesycam.com/ - Cheesycam is a great website with a constant influx of new DIY and discount equipment and ideas. Worth reading.
• KinoFlo DIY: http://vimeo.com/33085277 - Realm Pictures' "Build your own set of KinoFlos" for $100/4-bank light. Very efficient, and explains some electricity principles too.
• $7 DIY Dimmers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a57tIqfuN5I - Make your own Dimmers, and attach them to construction lights, and make them stoplessly dimmable! Awesome.
• 
  CFL Bulbs in a 9-array with Barn Doors
  900 Watt CFL Box: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-manag…ting-units.html - a cool build with switches and Barn Doors, utilizing nine CFL bulbs and household equipment.
  
• Dirt Cheap Reflectors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4AwWuZ7IjQ - using cardboard and a reflective foil, this man builds OK reflectors that can be useful when there's little wind.
• Ultra-Cheap Light Tent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GghFf8cPxm8 - useful for product shots; even though the video is in German, you'll get it.
• Selfmade Photo Studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43LGog1o3oE- a very useful compilation of ideas, in which a German TV team puts together a $250 Photo studio - all with German Engineering ... wooden frames and the whole fun. Can give good inspirations, despite the German language in the video (just watch and turn on music).
• 
  Using the Cheapest Camera Crane of the World as a Drive-By camera on a Pontiac Firebird 1992 in the Mojave Desert.
  $15 Camera Crane: http://studium.tobiasdeml.com/2010/05/22…world-tutorial/ - the probably cheapest camera crane ever - a 2x4 combined with a chinese plastic tripod. Great for DSLR run n' gun type shoots, and if there is no money for a real jib.
  
• A DIY Shoulder Mount for around $20-$30, mostly made of plumbing equipment, geared towards Video DSLRs; the tutorial below lets you build one yourself!
  $20-$30 Shoulder Mount: http://studium.tobiasdeml.com/2011/02/28…-filming-20-30/ - a shoulder mount constructed out of plumbing pipes. Works great, and is a very quick solution to the problems of "actual" hand-held DSLR footage.
  

Editing
One thing is true about filmmaking: Once you are finished filming, you are halfway done with your work. The editing room (or nowadays, your computer workstation/cluttered desk) is not just a place to put footage together, but to actually tell and re-tell the story; to construct connections between characters that were not there at the stages of filming or scriptwriting, to change messages and implications; to support the film's narrative through editing style, editing pace or shot/scene sequencing. If you want to become a director, learn editing (first for yourself, and then for the editor [so he doesn't hate you for having no idea about it]), and if you want to become an editor, then it's really time you start learning - you should have started when you were just about in the middle of puberty!

• 202 Editing Tutorials: http://filmmakeriq.com/2008/09/202-final-cut-pro-tutorials/ - these tutorials are written mostly for Final Cut Pro and deal with technical knowledge... very useful and absolutely important.
• Tips for better Editing: http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2008/1…r-film-editing/ - this is not about editing programs, but principles. Incredibly useful text for people who are starting out; most professionals will have mastered these guidelines of matching action, camera movement etc.
• CreativeCow Premiere Collection: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL507B3498B4479B96 - a collection of 100 video tutorials by Creative Cow, all explaining Premiere workflow and tools. Very useful if you want to learn the program!
• CreativeCow Final Cut Pro Collection: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF2A3CA1C1E33C935 - 50 video tutorials explaining editing principles, tools and workflow in FCP. Useful to learn, and expand your knowledge!
• CreativeCow AVID Collection: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCD65D3F80915B431 - good tips for the legendary AVID Media Composer, embedded in 20 video tutorials that are easy to understand.
• Quick Editing: http://vimeo.com/28298787 - Same Day Editing Tutorial showing you how to select clips and edit time-efficiently
• Film Editing Principles: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback…lm-editing.html - very informative article about the way an editor should think. Good to internalize and combine with other knowledge.
• Compelling Story Editing: http://www.helium.com/items/555846-film-…ompelling-story - this collection of articles concentrates on editing principles in relation to story. Useful but wordy.
• Intro to Editing: http://www.indymogul.com/4minfilmschool/…ute-film-school- humorous beginner's intro to the actually-not-that-scary world of editing.
• Small Editing Tips: http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaki…iting-tips.html - reiterating some of the other articles' content, but a good read for beginners. Repetition is often the path to success.
• Bitrates Demystified: http://exposureroom.com/help/view.aspx/329/ - I remember, when I started editing, bitrates were the most confusing and abstract things; exporting was a pain. This article explains it well; I personally use between 5000 and 15000 kbit/s in an H.264 output to 1080p web video.
• Exporting Video for Youtube and Vimeo: http://longzijun.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/exporting-hd-video-for-youtube - exporting video for web can be a pain; this page explains great settings for an export from Premiere (can be used in other editing programs as well) and recommends an H.264 output in a MP4 format for the streaming services - and explains important terms along the way.

Sound Design / SFX

Also often overlooked in film schools; as a sound designer or editing one-man-show, you are master over the audio-experience of a film. Watch films like The Blairwitch Project, Cloverfield or Tape [genious film, by the way] and you will notice that image quality or camera choice are not necessary factors to make a box-office ready film. Watch student films produced at the low end of film schools (or any "student" "nonserious" "amateur" film for that matter), and you will notice that the sound quality sucks, and without even seeing the film, you can immediately tell that the film will suck as well. Noisy sound recordings, audible sound clippings between edits, stale environments without any environmental sounds - those are the most basic mistakes made. Once you dwelve deeper into sound editing, sound design and sound engineering, you will see a whole new world open up. Many filmmakers believe that sound is 50% of their movie. And if you project your movie on actual film rolls, 50% of the time you are sitting in the movie theater, you will be staring at a black screen while hearing the sounds only.

• What is a Sound Designer: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback…und-design.html - a little intro to the work a Sound Designer does, and what is important to look out for and accomplish. Very useful, even if you never want to become a sound designer - getting an understanding for sound design will help you a lot down the line.
• Essential Sound Filters: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=24332 - this user article explains some of the basic sound filters in a very understandable fashion and gives you some insight what you might use LowCut, HighCut, Equalizer/EQ and so on for. Very important for 1-man-crews.
• Freesound.org: http://www.freesound.org/ - the probably coolest and most in-depth library website with completely free sounds for any kind of project - student film or commercial, it's all for the common good and free.
• 50 Free Sound Websites: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/55-great-we…-sound-effects/ - if Freesound was not enough, you'll find what you need here. Some of them charge you for specific usage.
• Foley Tutorials: http://www.epicsound.com/sfx/ - a great list of instructions how to create certain sound effects on a foley stage or in a recording studio. Feels very DIY-like, has totally valuable information in there and is comprehensive as hell!
• Sound Design of "Prometheus": http://vimeo.com/43796489 - the sound designer of Ridley Scott's SciFi epic explain their approach to the sound design of the film - powerful insight to top-notch sound designers' work!

Visual Effects - VFX
This will cost you half of your lifetime - Visual Effects are the ultimate time eater, similar to editing. On big movie budgets, they are the big money eaters. Nevertheless, VFX are essential to the modern filmmakers' toolbox, and should be learned by any director in order to communicate better with VFX artists down the line. If you want to become a VFX artist yourself, you will probably already have VideoCopilot hidden under your pillow and as your browser start page; but essentially, VFX is all about learning lots and lots of examples, and growing the capacity to use that knowledge and create the effects needed for your film. The most essential skills - for one-man-shows - are sky replacement, camera stabilization and 2D tracking, and they will come in quite handy if you messed up on set or couldn't afford to shoot something specific.

• VideoCopilot: www.videocopilot.net - the probably best place ever to learn visual effects - over 100 top-notch After Effects tutorials, including project files, with complex and high-end looking projects. A piece of VFX history!
• Creative Cow After Effects: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5684F936D57FC524 - an awesome playlist on Youtube with 200+ original After Effects tutorials, moderated by Creative Cow. The projects are simple and easy to understand.
• Ayato@Web: http://ayatoweb.com/ae_tips_e.html - the japanese second degree Cousin of Andrew Cramer - that guy has the text&picture equivalent these AfterEffects-tutorials. They are neatly organized step-by-step tutorials for Motion Graphics and light effects, for the most part.
• Basic Sky Replacement: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/basic_sky_replacement/ - great news if your sky is blown out or ugly - there is help! Also, check out the Advanced Sky Replacement Tutorial if you've got more camera moves and using a procedural matte for the sky seems like a better option.
• Gunshot Lighting: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/simulated_lighting/ - simulate lighting from a gunshot - a basic skill for all action fans.
• Footage Stabilization in AE: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/st…_shaky_footage/ - footage stabilization is crucial in basic visual effects. Very helpful. If you've got After Effects CS 5 or after, check out the awesome Warp Stabilizer.
• Day to Night: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/da…ght_conversion/ - although this is mainly a cinematography question, there is just certain cases where the VFX guy will have to go from day to night... and this tutorial explains one of the many possible approaches to that.
• Advanced "Soft" Chroma Keying: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/advanced_soft_keying/ - a good tutorial about partial keying and leaving reflections, dirt etc. in the footage to give it more depth and realism. Partially builds on pre-existing Green Screen skills.
• Tracking2.5D in AE: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/magic_tracking/ - tracking a shot and using the information for a 3D-like camera movement with parallax effect of inserted elements. Powerful, simple idea!
• Creating a Blast Wave Effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrbL5fvj_dU - a blast wave Tutorial that uses Mocha, Tracking and external footage. Very helpful if you are working on a warfare scene, and will teach you a lot about believable composting and creating on-screen action in post.
• FXPhD Tips: http://www.fxphd.com/tips/ - some free tutorials, mostly for Nuke & Flame software ... teaches you plenty about nodes, expressions and serious compositing - as long as you have the tools for it.
• RedGiant TV / Magic Bullet Tutorials: http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/ - although mostly self-promotional (tutorials for their tools in the MagicBullet series), this website boasts 200+ tutorials. Worth a read!
• Twixtor: http://www.revisionfx.com/products/twixtor/gallery/ - a great little piece of software that gives you ultra-slow-motion for $300 (standard) and advanced stuff for $600. Eventually, you will find this software incredibly useful in your workflow if you work in music videos, action, sports etc.
  If you have access to a Linux-distribution like Ubuntu, check out SlowMoVideo, a free alternative to Twixtor that only works on Linux and provides comparable results!
• 50 Twixtor Tutorials: http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/revisionfx - a collection of 50 (!) video tutorials around Twixtor [I did't even know there is so much to talk about!].

Color Correction / Color Grading
Color Correction is to correct wrong white balances and exposures, to "sync" one shot to the next in a scene and make them seem seamless, hiding the mistakes of the cinematographer. Color grading is when you give that corrected footage an actual style or look; the typical bleach-bypass/Apple-Color/After-Effects/DaVinci/porn-filter/crushed-blacks orgy you see more and more online. Since everyone learns to make their movies look cool, so should you. Only, learn it with a purpose: Learn color correction to make your film flawless and professional; learn color grading to support the narrative and style of the film, and to enhance the viewers' emotional experience of scenes in the film - not to show off how hard you can twist Curves or how much MagicBullet presets you downloaded.

• Color Grading in FCP: http://vimeo.com/1970384 - A tutorial for primary and secondary color correction with Apple Tools - can be easily translated to other toolsets.
• True Color Correction: http://vimeo.com/14396098 - not color grading (stylizing) but color correcting. And not by feeling, but by numbers, involving photoshop, RGB-value reading and other semi-advanced techniques. Helpful for all who are interested in color correction and grading.
• Cinestyle Looking Good: https://vimeo.com/23127327 - this guy understands how to correct cinestyle properly, by feeling - and shows before/after comparisons. (Cinestyle is a Canon DSLR picture style) Worth watching!
• Cinestyle Color Breakdown: https://vimeo.com/24025791 - a video showing various steps of making Cinestyle come to a final output look.
• Cinestyle LUT use: https://vimeo.com/23157870 - a video showing many examples of Cinestyle footage, comparison to Standard footage and Look-Up-Table correction.
• Bleach Bypass: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/simple_bleach_bypass/ - A Bleach Bypass tutorial. Bleach bypass looks are popular these days...!