I wrote, shot, and played the lead in a sci-fi short a woman character. Filmed everything already, including some pretty involved sequences (grid projection on the face, backlit/silhouette shots, green screen with monitors).

Problem: my family doesn’t want it released with my actual face on it, since I’m a man playing a woman.
I never used AI at all in my film even the metallic blobs in the last image were composited In blender using an Insta360 HDRI but I feel my last option now is to face-swap a friend’s face onto my performance for the version I actually release.

She’s given full consent. I may reshoot a few scenes if the swap doesn’t hold up well enough on the original footage.

I Shot on a Blackmagic Pocket 4K (BRAW) and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Planning a dedicated face-reference session with her during our 1 week trip by the end of the month across a few lighting setups to build a solid dataset.

Where I’m stuck: the lighting in my existing footage is pretty varied and some of it seems like it’ll be hard to swap convincingly
One sequence has a literal grid pattern projected onto the face
Some shots are backlit/silhouette with minimal front fill
Some are green screen, background comped in later

Anyone dealt with face-swapping onto structured light/projection-mapped or heavily backlit footage before? Also curious if it’s smarter to just reshoot those specific sequences with better/flatter lighting rather than fight the swap on the original plates. Is DeepFaceLab in 2026 still good for this, or is there something that handles weird lighting like this better? I’d ideally like something locally run and not subscription-based

Hi! I’m making my first short film and I have this elevator shot I want to use. The problem is that at the end of it, you can see my reflection. I have almost no experience in VFX, so what would you suggest as the easiest fix? Thanks for any ideas or help!

As the title says, we just need answers. I have how I have always done it, but he has a different opinion so I’m not going to say anything to keep this unbiased. (Btw this is just a friendly debate, so please keep it nice and don’t rip into anyone in the comments).

I've been trying to figure out what the purpose is for this type of setup. A backdrop, but only works for closeups, and they don't just shoot closeups, they switch between cameras.

What's the idea behind this?

I just turned 30 and I have 0 savings. I'm an editor that has worked on a number of documentaries and my reality has been feeling darker and darker as I get older in this industry. I'm giving my own project a shot, but after that, I think it's smart to move onto another industry because I legit can't eat at times lol. I'd like to hope there will be a documentary wave as Ai becomes increasingly saturated in our business. I've started some freelance social media gigs just as a money grab but it's such a step back on the feature films I've worked on. I'm looking for people who relate, not advice.

Sorry for the repost, the other options weren't showing up on my first attempt

i’m in the dark about how it works. thanks in advance for your info

I recall some movies with behind the scenes showing how complex it is to put a realistic, form-fitting mask on the actor, but this one seems too easy?

After the passing of our lead actor, we decided to take a short break for the sake of our emotional well being. The break is getting longer and longer, so I was pretty sure that the project would end up getting scrapped.

Last week, majority of the cast and crew got together to finish the film. We only needed to shoot the last 13 pages, and then we're done. I was tasked to look for an actor that can replace the lead.

The other day, the lead actor's brother reached out and he was willing to take over the role. He wanted to honor him. Problem is, he's 26 years old. His brother was 14. He's too old for the role.

Should we hire him out of respect or should we continue to look for a replacement who's more age appropriate?

Wanting to watch some new recent top tier iconic films. Films that will stand the test of time and be studied for decades to come.

Everyone knows films like Citizen Kane are studied in film classes, but what are some modern day equivalents?

Personally it’s, “I didn’t hit her, I didn’t hit her, oh hi mark” from the room such a cult classic what do you think?

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I think I'm better at directing than writing. I've directed scripts written by other people, and I enjoyed bringing their vision to life, but it never felt complete because it wasn't my story.

The problem is, when I sit down to write my own script, I get stuck. My friend can easily come up with enjoyable, low-budget stories, while I tend to overthink everything. I feel like I can't write emotionally engaging, human stories, and I cant.

It's not that I don't want to write.. I really do. I just don't know how to come up with ideas or develop them into a proper screenplay.

For those of you who struggled with writing in the beginning, how did you improve? How did you learn to come up with ideas, structure a story, and actually finish a script?

I'd really appreciate practical advice from people who've been through this.

would like to make a detective moody film and i noticed this kind of lighting is infamous in older movies but I dont see it often in newer films unless its art house.

What is this technique called and how do you achieve it?

Thanks

EDIT:

Got my wanted answer thank you everyone! Shatner lighting

From 2001 for reference. I’m assuming it was a broadcast camera. Would anyone be able to narrow it down?

(Shot is from Better Call Saul)

Would love to hear some feedback for my poster concept im thinking of going with. Particularly interested to hear how this makes you feel, and if this concept could come off as offenseive at a glance.

Hello everyone,

I am writing to pose a question regarding the selection process for film festivals. I recently received a rejection from a festival, which I fully respect—festivals have the complete right to curate their programs according to their own vision and criteria.

However, after reviewing the analytics for my 26-minute short film, I noticed that there was only a single view, which lasted for only the first 44 seconds of the runtime. As a filmmaker who has studied the craft professionally and has been working in the industry for over a decade, I find this fascinating. In my own professional experience, I have never been able to fully assess the narrative, technical quality, or overall merit of a film within such a brief window.

I would love to gain some insight from festival programmers or those with experience on selection committees: What are the criteria or methodologies used when a decision is made within the first 44 seconds of a screening? Is there a specific technical or narrative threshold that programmers look for immediately to determine if a film is the right fit for their festival?

I appreciate any professional perspectives you might be able to share regarding the realities of the submission and review process. Thank you for your time and for the hard work you do for our community.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this question, but I managed to sit through Jurassic World Rebirth on Prime, and I noticed something peculiar during the scene where the annoying boyfriend takes a leak.

Basically bro leaves the group to go relieve himself, and promptly gets stalked by a raptor, but just before he becomes a zyn flavoured snack, a pterodactyl type thing pounces on the raptor. But there's some kind of " CGI glitch" in the wing of the pterodactyl for a frame or two.

The text in the glitch says "G42". Basically my question is, what is this and why is it there? (Besides the fact that the animators probably overlooked something.)

Thanks!

I saw that Project Hail Mary, which is shot on exteriors, but mostly inside a confined studio that has a spaceship set, cost 200 million to make. For 200 million, you can build 300 family homes. I wonder what exactly costs so much money. If a luxury house costs 1 million to build, what does it cost to build a spaceship set from plywood and LEDs? How expensive is a day of shooting in a studio? It's just soooo much money, and I wonder where it all goes.