Chaos Management and the Art of Living

[Martin Landsburg]

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=201&pictureid=1395

not conventional poster size, sorry

[Martin Landsburg]

Cast:

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1242698625.jpg
Justin Bratton

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1242698675.jpg
Leigh Barwell

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1242698716.jpg
Peter Rnic

[Martin Landsburg]

Behind the scenes
Update 9/04/09

Aerial photography testing today:
frame grab from the Nikon D90 rigged on an RC Helicopter:
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1239296197.jpg

the pilot preparing the "chopper"
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1239296536.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1239296581.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10856/1239296638.jpg

[Rodney V. Smith]

Welcome to the madness dude

[ZazaCast]

Welcome! Looking forward to your film (fresh meat)....oh...and watch out for that Puck character. :)

[MrKilloran]

Welcome ... be careful around Zaza... he bites. :thumbsup:

[stinkpot]

Welcome to the fest man. 2005, you've been here a while :)

:beer:

[Ryan E. Walters]

Welcome to the fray!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Get it made!! welcome!

[Martin Landsburg]

Hello and thank you everyone for welcoming me,

Sorry I haven’t responded sooner, I tried to post something 3 times and each time the browser reset!

Anyway this will be my first DVXuser fest although I’ve wanted to join since sci-fi fest!

I will shoot on a Nikon D90.
So far I have one actor, a sound guy, lighting guy, and possibly an AD.
I’m shooting in Thailand and am going to scout some locations in the jungle on Monday.
Hope to get some shots that would make for a nice poster!

If anyone has other suggestions on what to post here in terms of updates, please let me know!

Martin

[SMarston]

clever title, curious to see what you do with this.
good luck in the fest

[Robert Eldon]

Shooting in Thailand! Welcome. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the jungle locations!

[Martin Landsburg]

Thanks Smarston! I'm curious, too.

Robert, I hope I can shoot at the locations I've chosen, when it's solid I will post some pics, for sure...

By the way, can anyone help me on how to post pics properly? I downrezzed the pics so they are small, but then they look much worse in the post than the downscaled version on my computer. Does the site scale them down even further??

Thanks and sorry, I have never tried to post pics before in the forum!

[dsto]

Man...flying cameras?!!?! I think you should get some award already!

[Martin Landsburg]

Haha if I can pull it off without crashing, knock on wood..."plain dumb-luck filmmaker" award, perhaps?

[Martin Landsburg]

Finally found some time for some updates:



As you can see from the behind the scenes post, one of the highlights of this week has been to do some aerial video with my Nikon D90-suspended from a remote controlled helicopter! Sounds crazy? You don’t know half of it…But hey, it gives me another reason to sacrifice more virgins to appease the filmmaking gods, as long as they stop it from raining on the day we actually need to shoot, as rc choppers don’t fly in rough weather. Hopefully not too much to ask for at the start of an early rainy season in Thailand hehe..ahem.



Also, I want to announce how lucky I am to find talented people to work with on this film:



John – cinematography. Having been infused with special visual abilities at birth, his skills might finally prove to be useful (I mean be put to use) and save the day for this production!

Kelly – casting and promotion. Being a great actress herself, and having a network that extends beyond the internet’s, Kelly will ensure we find the right people for the job.

Joe Cummings – Location scouting, acting, scoring -Writer of many lonely planet books and other guide books, he knows Thailand like no other. Also a brilliant musician and an actor, Joe’s numerous talents will certainly add to the project.

Nate Harrison – actor. His talents as an actor deserve a bigger production. Fortunately, he’s willing to come on board and help make it happen!

Furthermore, I’m trying to get permission to shoot at various locations that might actually take more convincing power than a bottle of Sangsom (cheap Thai whiskey); I know some would say just steal the location without telling anyone, but that could risk spending a 7 hour drive and wasting 10 people’s time…which would also happen if it rains all day. Yikes. <clears throat> Hear ye, Hear ye! From this day henceforth, sacrifice at least two virgins per day to appease the gods of film! End of public service announcement.

Seriously though, if we can get the shots we need on those days, at those locations, it will have been more than worth it. I will put up some pics here soon.

[Chad_from_Chad]

I'm looking forward to some aerial photography. Good luck, I'm trying to help with the sacrificing, but it's hard to find a virgin in L.A.

[Martin Landsburg]

Update 17/04/09

Funny. My short is set in Thailand amidst the political turmoil of the 1970's, and when we are trying to organize things, of course all the riots break out! I was racing down one of the main roads on my scooter last Sunday (when the riots just really started), I turned a corner and almost ran into a tank stationed right in front of one of the biggest local shopping malls! At the same time, thousands of protesters, all wearing red shirts and shouting, start running at the tanks. Some of them were capturing video, one protester even had what looked like a D90 or MarkII; he was definitely shooting video on a DSLR. Damn, where was my D90 when I needed it?

As much as I would have liked to stick around, the oncoming wave of aggression seemed to convince me to do otherwise, and I found myself weaving through protestors on scooters to get away.

Because of all this, the national holidays (Thai new year) have been extended, making it a bit harder for us to get things organized for my project. Blast political turmoil. And holidays for that matter. And the 37 degree centigrade sweltering heat/ humidity. Can't my producer do anything about this?? Oh that reminds me, I've hired a producer! Hooray!

Well regardless, a lot more has happened over the past week. We've been making progress on finding locations, thanks to our production team.

One of the locations is a pub here in Bangkok which could possibly be set in Amsterdam, we will use footage from Amsterdam to replace the exterior background (green screen).

Our casting is tomorrow, which we're all looking forward to.

Someone in the community has offered to let us use his Red One in exchange for help on a feature film later this year. We will meet Sunday to discuss details.

Still awaiting approval to shoot in a National park down south, around 7 hour drive from here (where we aim to shoot with the RC helicopters).

[Martin Landsburg]

Alright I just had a casting today!
It was really awesome and the people actually have talent. But it's still hard to make a decision! What do other people here base their decision on? How well you can work together, is that more important than fitting the role, do you think? Does casting performance really mean anything compared to what performance you can get out of an actor/actress after a lot of rehearsal? For the roles I have in mind, I never considered attraction very much, I imagined them as ordinary people, but for an audience it might make it more compelling to watch if the lead actor/actress is attractive? Opinions please!

[Luis_]

i guess looks always help but I enjoy performances that are good and if the performance is good most of the time to me the looks don't matter, unless you need a specific look in that certain roll. I'm for performance.

[Martin Landsburg]

I agree with you, Luis! And how about directability or personality? Would you favor someone easier to work with over someone who suits the role? Or should the director adapt to the actor?

[sschedra]

I agree with you, Luis! And how about directability or personality? Would you favor someone easier to work with over someone who suits the role? Or should the director adapt to the actor?

My experience is in stage productions, but it tells me that it depends on the strength of character of the director, and how much time you have to 'work' with the actor. For me, I choose people in support positions because I can work with them and people in creative positions for their particular talent. I find in most cases, talented people can grasp what the task requires. Then there is always beating and bribing (lol).

Stephen

http://macjams.com/artist/studio_e

[Martin Landsburg]

Just added two pics of cast, more cast pics to follow soon...

[Martin Landsburg]

Another pic added to cast-

[Bro. Stephen]

I like the chopper idea. That's cool.

[Bro. Stephen]

good luck

[Martin Landsburg]

thanks!

[Girgej]

Looks Interesting ... Good Luck

[Tim Joy]

There's a special place in my heart for Thailand. Love it there, so it's really great to see a film from 'my second home'.
Joe Cummings as your location scout? How could you get any better than that? (In case anyone doesn't know, he writes for the Lonely Planet.)

D90 on an RC Heli? I'm so there! Awesome.

Love your title too!

Really looking forward to this one.

[Matt Harris]

This looks phenomenal, but wheres your poster? Can't wait to see the aerial stuff.

[Michelle J. LaBonney]

Welcome to the festival. Wow, you are really taking on some big challenges for your first entry. I wish you the best of luck. I can't wait to see it!!

[Noel Evans]

Really good looking stuff. Some interesting and well thought out shot segments. Not sure if there was a reason, but I wondered why the meeting scene with Charlie Doyle was so milky? I thought it could have looked fantastic if not for that. I liked where it started and where it went. But the end was just left wide open with no solid conclusion. As a short I think it really needs to finish (open to interpretation). The open end made it seem like theres more to come, which, if this is actually part of something bigger I would jump to see it.

[Martin Landsburg]

Hi Noel thank you so much for the great feedback!

Yes I did not have enough time to CC properly, my editor had to leave for Singapore and I had to coordinate sound (great job by Peter Mossman) and had to do editing myself in the end. Wish I had had more time...the titles are also missing.

This film is part of a longer short film now (approx 15-20 mins) and is meant to help leverage funding for a feature film, but the project was started for Questfest and then grew exponentially. Once i have the longer version edited i will post it here.

I like open endings myself in films, things that leave me wondering or make me consider alternate endings. Also it gives a momentary impression of a separate reality that started before and continues after the audience observes. To me that adds to suspension of disbelief as nothing in real life has a definite beginning or ending.

But maybe for a short film it is part of the challenge to tell a complete story within a limited time frame!

i liked chasing kangaroos as well, some real human drama there, and great performance from the young actors!

[Erik Olson]

This short looks, feels and is acted like a harder-boiled Danny Boyle piece. I loved it. Visually, it really delivers. But it does so across all departments, so that isn't a stretch.

The scene in the private dining room has a perhaps deliberate line-crossing block and it distracted me... not that we are supposed to feel comfy and relaxed as we watch this film.

The actors all feel absolutely real. All of it does. Nothing Hollywood about this, though it looks like you took one of their budgets and did this with the money. Dirty, cliche-busting and flat-out brilliant.

Top marks, would love to see how it all turns out!

e

[Geoff_R]

Enjoyed this one. Solid production work here...sound, camera, music, acting, and editing... all nicely mixed with a sense of style. Everything seemed very deliberate, very tightly edited. There's a lot going on in this world but it wasn't overwhelming, so nice work on keeping the important bits and pieces there. Thanks for sharing and good luck on securing the funds for the feature version.

[Martin Landsburg]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Erik: yes the line cross as we go from one gangster close up to the next, to show the escalating intensity/intimidation...i tried to dampen it at first with the close up of the main character shifting eyes, but felt it needn't be there later.

Geoff: yes I had to make some tough decisions, cut out a lot of the dialogue and 3 or 4 scenes. So the overall short is much longer, but I think it has impact as shorter makes for more dynamic.

Just some background info, I planned this since the end of March right after Questfest was announced, for two months, and then we shot around 16 production days (maybe more, lost track). It wasn't easy for me as a director to delete some visually interesting scenes (1 more deleted scene shot on the RED) which everyone worked so hard for, but for the sake of Questfest the story could be told without those scenes.

Most of the film was shot on the D90, which I think really helped speed up production time. It doesn't take 3 guys to drop the sticks lower as with the RED. Plus i shot most of it from a 30 dollar shoulder mount, something I wouldnt try with the RED. Well I actually shot the squib shot with the HVX for the variable frame rates, also from this shoulder mount and the weight of that alone broke one of the extension plates!

For some of the last scenes i got my hands on the hague mini stabilizer, which helped me get the shots in the last 3 scenes. Esp. the one from the table with weapons to the guy on the phone.

The D90 overheating issue was also fine, it gave people a well deserved break. When we weren't out in the country side or forest, i put the D90 in a fridge wrapped in a towel. Blasting AC at it in the car also worked.

This is my first short film and I thoroughly enjoyed the process (still am as I'm still editing for the longer version!), it was very rewarding especially because I got to work with some really great people that were willing to work very hard on this.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

The line crossing was distracting to me as well but I figured it was done purposely. Could have crushed the blacks just a tad more during that scene as well. It seemed off from the rest.

The cinematography was great and I really enjoyed the look of the film. Some really nice planned out shots. The sound and music was also quite good.

The story threw me a bit at the end and it seems like this is just a piece of something larger. Having read your thread I see that is indeed the case. Good luck with it.

Thanks for sharing.

MAH

[Brandon Rice]

It just kind of ended for me... I wanted to see what was going to happen next, but I hear there is a longer story to this :) Doesn't work as well as a standalone short IMO.

Great effort!

[John LaBonney]

I enjoy watching the variety in the DVXFests, and this was another film that took its own path. There's a lot going on in this film, and it does feel like there's a lot being squished into six minutes and that makes it a little bit hard to follow.

16 production days! Amazing!

Some really great visuals, and I imagine some additional CC work will enhance the film's appearance. Thought the acting was good.

[stinkpot]

Cool concept and great shots. It had a really large feel to film (maybe too large for 6min). A bit discombobulated at times but you definitely have the eye for it.

:beer:

[Martin Landsburg]

Hmm I guess I couldn't quite make the impact where the film reveals several things at the end...did people link the shooter and the dope? maybe it goes by too quickly, or the shots themselves are too dark? I'd love to get feedback on how to deliver that better for the longer version...

[ZazaCast]

Solid film and a joy to watch. I'm not usually a fan of being told the story by a narration, but it worked just fine for me here. Great cinematography and all the different formats blended well. I like to see the D90 footage in there...love that look. Again, if I had to pick at something, I didn't feel the jump to Justin's song worked with the rest of the score...plus I believe that song was used by another filmmaker in another fest. (it is a great tune Justin...just didn't work for me here...)

Nice work & I'm looking forward to seeing this play out! This might just be the sleeper of the fest.

[Martin Landsburg]

ah finally my poster and banner are up!

still need to fix the bad compression...maybe i will use that uploader you mentioned, zazacast, as the file size limit is actually 1mb! just only 10mb storage...sigh...

anyway thank you everyone for the nice comments and feedback.

Cinematography:
Some of it blended, some of it didn't. There was D90 and HVX mixed in one scene, which is a bit too obvious.

Most of this I shot myself on the D90, mostly on a shoulder mount...i love the easy run and gun aspect of this cam! And the last two scenes i had to run sound myself too (only one on set...:-( , with a boom mic mounted on a tripod wired to a zoom H4. But the time i lost there was gained by quick camera setup time. Wish the D90 had the precision of saving manual settings, almost impossible to match shots in post.

Maybe i should try another song, something acoustic composed by travel writer Joe Cummings, instead of Justin's? I thought Justin's song was appropriate because of the lyrics apply to the story. And the emotion it evokes, IMO. He's a great songwriter I think.
Anyway not so clear in a short little segment it turned out to be in this version. Hard to tell also because of the narration VO. Will need to have a think about this!

[Girgej]

Hey man ... Great movie ... I loved it ... good visuals ... Might benefit from a longer version ... and there is much to expand to (in the story .. i mean) ... Keep it up ... if there's a longer version .. post it please....

[Martin Landsburg]

Hi Girgej,

thanks for the nice comments! Yes a longer version is on the way...but can't post it until this fest is done, according to the rules, i think??

Ahh anyway I'm not done with it yet, plan to take more time, will get some help with CC and more foley sound from some friends!

Everyone, just want to say that the feedback has been very encouraging! I so want to shoot a feature...Might have to start all over again though, if i can get funding...otherwise I will keep plodding along on a shoestring budget, as long as the people involved are still up for it (i.e. another month of getting up at the crack of dawn, out in the Thai sun all day for no money lol) :) So far all the people on the project have been really great, I owe it all to them.

Keep the feedback coming, criticism too, I need to hear it.
Thanks again!
Martin

[dsto]

I think this was one of my favorites. Great shots. The acting was really good. Rich color. The "dream" sequence" was awesome. The only thing that didn't work for me aws the handheld shots in the village where they picked up the drugs. Weird angles or something. But, really, it is such a minor critique, it is almost not worth mentioning. Great job. Color me impressed.

[Brian Parker]

Wow...some really good stuff here. Lots of unique visuals, strong acting, great editing. Some good lighting as well. I was caught up in the frenetic pace of the film. Interesting story and some great locations. Great work. Looking forward to what you do in the future. Great job!

[ronankeating]

description of the difference between the left and the right filled under "Timeless Posts" on his blog:
http://artmarketer.blogspot.com/2009/10/data-unveils-highest-speed-of-ddr3.html