The Men Who Fell Trailer #2

I dig this idea for a film .. from what I see, basically two guys get lost exploring a strange land and get in abad way because of it. It takes me back to my 'settler' ancestry.. hah! There's some pop psychology for ya!
This is cool i wish i'd done it. Work on the sound, though.. even though I think the actors are really working it image wise, the vocal processing needs some oomph factor. Bring that sh*t into soundtrack or something!!
 
yeah i just watched the h.264.. so much better. The weakest sound is the "there's nothing here macaferty" the girl.. pitch it down or something.
What happens to these guys, they go crazy because of radiation or something?
Can't wait to see this.
 
I think we need to clear up a few things about exactly how this film was made. It wasn't with fancy gear or money.
The budget including camera and audio gear, and yes it's the original DVX100, not an A or B, was around $15,000, all paid out of pocket by the producer. We saved money by building all our own sets, props, costumes, and miniatures. The lighting kit is from Home Depot supplemented with three old Totas and some home made diffuser screens. The extensive make-up effects were done by a good friend for trade out and we had use of a warehouse to build and shoot in also for trade out. The locations are all around the Tucson Arizona area. That's where the money was spent.
This movie was only possible because of the cast and crew.
I'm sorry you don't like the actors but they worked their asses off wearing very uncomfortable costumes in temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees. Plus they did all their own stunts, several times resulting in injuries that they shook off. It was, at times, a superhuman effort by each of them. All for cold sandwiches and diet Pepsi.
The writer, also came out from California and did week after week of 15 hour days as the grip/gaffer and all around work horse. The rest of the crew was the producer, my wife and myself. That's it.
As someone actually taking on the challenge of making a film like this with almost no money, I couldn't have hoped for a better cast and crew. They are how the film got made. I would be honored and fortunate to work with them again. No attitudes, just hard work.
It's not the gear, or the money, it's the work ethic and dedication. These folks believed in the project and showed it on set. If you want to make a film for $15,000 you better forget about the fancy gear and get yourself a cast and crew like this. They are worth more than any budget can buy.

Thanks for watching.

William Lewis Stewart
Director
The Men Who Fell
www.themenwhofell.com
 
PimpDaddyDA said:
I don't think it was shot on the DVX also.... mearly stated so to get a buzz going on this site.
Great camera work, nice locations, good sound, lousy dialogue and acting.... I liked it the first time when it was called "Alien."
Major Indy budget.... must be nice to get your hands on cash like that. I'm jealous!

www.mogthemovie.com
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You're a jerk for discrediting the quality of the DVX and the people who posted this for us to see. :D

As for the post above this one--

Now THAT'S filmmaking, baby.

I want this on DVD NOW!
 
Great stuff. Thanks for the clear up William.

Fantastic job. I hope I can produce something like that sometime. Stunning work.

Tell me where to send the money for the DVD.




EDIT: Holy crap! I just looked at the stills, and was suprised to see the ship was not CG.
 
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Rapier_100a said:
EDIT: Holy crap! I just looked at the stills, and was suprised to see the ship was not CG.
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I wasn't surprised. I figured it was probably a miniature because it actually looked realistic. Old school still gets the job done. If you have more details on the miniature work please share them with us, William. I plan on using them for my next short and would appreciate any pointers.
 
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PimpDaddyDA said:
Hey Kholie... where do you get off telling a complete stranger he is a jerk? What are you 9 years old or something? Everybody is entitled to an opinion.

The DVX is not the end all camera. Sorry if I insulted your "leader."

As for the trailer....Steady cam.... color correction... lenses....sound mix.... actors...food... transport.....editing......? All of this for $ 15,000?
I think a few things were left out of the budget.

Is it just a trailer or a full feature.....? If it was just the trailer, then I can understand, but a feature for $ 15,000?

Enter it into the world book of records, because it's the best quality I've ever seen for $ 15,000. I would gladly hire this crew to shoot my next film. It is very good camera and lighting work. I'm just a little skeptical of the stated price.

So don't bite my head off...
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I don't even own a DVX. And where do you get off telling a complete stranger that he's a liar? OR.. why did you type out such a condescending phrase such as "Major Indy Budget"... You didn't have to tell us you were jealous, I'm sure everyone got that from your words.

I don't think it was shot on the DVX also.... mearly stated so to get a buzz going on this site.
Great camera work, nice locations, good sound, lousy dialogue and acting.... I liked it the first time when it was called "Alien."
Major Indy budget.... must be nice to get your hands on cash like that. I'm jealous!
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Where do you get off telling him his idea was unoriginal? "When it was called ALIEN". What kinda crap is that?

Where do you get off throwing negative remarks at the creators of the content? AND NOW--

Where do you get off calling them liars AGAIN!?!?! WHy can't they produce something this magnificent for Fifteen thousand dollars? Because you can't?

Stranger or not, your comments weren't positive at all. That's why you're a jerk. (Though I probably could've said it in a nicer way.)

How's that for nine??
 
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No hype. Nothing omitted. The budget is $15,000. We just don't have any more money to spend. The stabilizer is a Magiqcam for about $1600. I'm the guy operating it. The camera is a DVX100 with the adapter for something like $4500 with extra battery. Lenses? We only used the one permanently attached to the camera. The sound is recorded with an ME67 and a PCM recorder and cheap boom for about $1100. We had the Totas and the Home Depot work lights were cheap. We paid the actors with sandwiches and drinks as stated. We made everything else with lumber, paint, plastic and an assortment of items from places like Walmart, Radioshack, the Dollar Store and a couple trash dumpsters. My wife made most of the costumes and we did trade out for the make up effects. There was also a large helping of very creative problem solving, some very clever tricks, as well as some old school ingenuity.
That's it.
In post we also do all of our own work. That's the whole point. Do it yourself. The producer is also post production supervisor and visual effects creator. I build the models, he puts them into the shot using AE and Photoshop. We edit in FCP on an old G4. There is only a slight amount of color correction done to match up some of the shots in the trailer and this is just done with the color corrector in FCP. Most are as they were shot, the FX shots being the exception of course. There's nothing fancy because we can't afford it. We would use DVCPRO100 and Shake if we could. Maybe on the next one.
Again, it's about the people on your cast and crew. No kidding. A little money and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but not too many tears. I understand your skepticism because most people pay for each service that they use on a project. We just did it all ourselves instead. Look at the stills posted over a Twitch Films and go to our IMDB page and look at the credits. It's just us, no secrets and nothing omitted.

Thanks again.

Will
 
i guess its in wierd wat its a compliment that people don't want to believe that you shot this on a DVX for $15G.

...but those people need look at more footage on this website, and they also need to realize that gear already owned (allthough looks like you are including that), and favors called in, and professionals working for free is rarely included in the stated budget for these things - its not resources used, its what somebody had to put on their credit card.

El Mariachi has a $7 price tag on it but that does not include all the gear that Rodriguez was able to get for free over the summer as a student at the University of TX, nor does it include all the free labor, nor does it include an adjustment for day wages to mexican day helpers vs. texas day helpers, and neither does it include the $35K sound remix and blow up to 35mm after it screened at Sundance.

BUT Rodriguez got the job done for $3500 out of his pocket and $3500 out of his co-producer / friend's pocket ... period.

As to the quality fo the footage -- excellent. But well within the reach of the DVX. Lots of footage pails in comparison to this because of the shooter. EXPERIENCE and dilliegent experimentation and dedicated study of the camera you are shooting with leads to footage like this ... and networking and supporting other artists like this helps, not calling them liars.
 
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Jack Daniel Stanley said:
i guess its in wierd wat its a compliment that people don't want to believe that you shot this on a DVX for $15G.

...but those people need look at more footage on this website, and they also need to realize that gear already owned (allthough looks like you are including that), and favors called in, and professionals working for free is rarely included in the stated budget for these things - its not resources used, its what somebody had to put on their credit card.

El Mariachi has a $7 price tag on it but that does not include all the gear that Rodriguez was able to get for free over the summer as a student at the University of TX, nor does it include all the free labor, nor does it include an adjustment for day wages to mexican day helpers vs. texas day helpers, and neither does it include the $35K sound remix and blow up to 35mm after it screened at Sundance.

BUT Rodriguez got the job done for $3500 out of his pocket and $3500 out of his co-producer / friend's pocket ... period.

As to the quality fo the footage -- excellent. But well within the reach of the DVX. Lots of footage pails in comparison to this because of the shooter. EXPERIENCE and dilliegent experimentation and dedicated study of the camera you are shooting with leads to footage like this ... and networking and supporting other artists like this helps, not calling them liars.
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Jack is way more civilized than me. I agree, and I'm sure everyone else does. You definitely don't go calling these guys liars because of the low price tag their work carries. That's just wrong.

And it's definitely not right to make a statement like that. "Alien"... that was outright unprofessional.
 
PimpDaddyDA said:
Well Stewart, my hats off to ya. It's a nice piece of work.

Kholi, you have a great deal of time on your hands to be so concerned. Go make a movie when you're done watching cartoons.
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I'd totally piss with you... seriously. But, nevertheless, I digress. I should be making a movie, unfortunately I'm still in pre-production. You know, actor rehearsals, locking locations, adjusting my BUDGET so that I can acquire the best possible results when it's shoot day. DVXuser and Cartoons (Oooh you hit the nail on the head) help me keep my sanity.

But hey, for nine years old, I think I'm doing pretty good.

Anyway, Stewart, when it's ready to go to DVD, let us all know. I want a copy. Ooh and I'm sure the BTS will be nice.
 
I know who to call up when I want to make my sci-fi movie. Everything was top notch, i really hope this gets picked up, id love to see what could be done with a bigger budget.

Till then, ill be waiting for the DVD.
 
Looks excellent - loved that opening shot with the crashed ship. How did you manage that? Lighting looks great, and the costumes/set/ shots all look like a great movie.
 
Great movie I belive it $15,000 especially if most of the things were for favorites or trades etc... Good job.
 
MojoTrancer said:
I wasn't surprised. I figured it was probably a miniature because it actually looked realistic. Old school still gets the job done. If you have more details on the miniature work please share them with us, William. I plan on using them for my next short and would appreciate any pointers.
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Good point. So many people want to go the 3D route for ships and such, I just assume it's a CG element when I see something like that.
 
I once saw some BTS video of a short film, where the guy had created his own minature out of old vacuum and dishwasher parts. Looked like something from star wars... I wish I was creative... :(! It was filmed on a blue screen.
 
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