Remote Control Grandpa, my first feature, FINISHED!

C

Can Scanner

Well-known member
I just finished a trailer for my first feature, Remote Control Grandpa! (Feedback appreciated!) The movie is finished as well, I'm making a master on a DVCPRO deck as I write this.

www.greatmindspro.com

What a ride this has been! One thing I wanted most out of making this movie was a great learning experience, and I got it in spades. We shot it with a single DVX100A in 24PA (and edited with Premiere Pro 1.5). Many of the scenes required low light, so I opted for a slower shutter speed- 1/24- for the entire movie, save for one or two "action" scenes. Looking back, I wish we had made it work with 1/48, at least for the scenes that didn't require low light. 1/24 is too soft for me- one of the many things I learned during the four and a half months we were shooting. I also learned a lot about scheduling. It took me a long time to finally accept that it usually took us twice as long to shoot a scene as we had planned. I ended up quitting my full time job a month into the shooting. There was no way I would have finished it if I hadn't. I thought I'd be fine working on the movie nights and weekends with the same deadline... Well, again, learning experience. Now I'm working for money nights and weekends!
But I have to agree with the many directors and filmmakers out there that say the best way to learn how to make a movie is to just make one. We had an extremely low budget- most of the cast consisted of friends and family, but we were very picky about who got the major roles, so it wasn't just like "let's get Uncle Bob to play five roles."
I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's much better than I had hoped for. But again, the thing I wanted most was to learn about the process of making a feature length movie. Once everything's over, I hope to be a millionaire, but if I'm not, I'm sure I'll have learned what I need to do to become one.
:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Any thoughts on the movie, the trailer, and where I should go from here will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Everyone here has been so helpful. I still get warm fuzzy feelings when I come here, just as I did the first time.
:love4: :love4: :love4:

EDIT: Direct links to the trailer: (Windows Media, right click and save)
High Quality - 33.5Mb
Low Quality - 7.9Mb
 
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Warm fuzzy feelings means you swallowed a cat.
I am waiting for it to download but from your description of the story I'm laughin already.
You live in Eureka? 2 of my kids were born there.
 
Excellent.
You had a lot of props.....Ferrari?
Funny with good acting.

The sound seems a bit off like it needs to be sweetened? Maybe compressed for the levels? Maybe some background music?
The color is soft like you said and imho needs to be cc in some way.
I had to watch it twice cause you have so much into it :)
 
looks like a cool movie.

the only thing i would touch upon is a bit of CC as some of thse shots look realy videoish. For this kind of movie, i dunno, try upping the contrast a bit and crushing the blacks. Desaturate al ittle ?
 
This actually looks pretty cool to me. I'd love to see it. The acting is suprisingly decent for just friends/family. Keep us posted as to what you do with it. TIm.
 
Thanks everyone! I agree on the CC. I played around with it for awhile, but I'd like to give it another shot before we go anywhere with it.
 
hey can,

that seems like a really funny movie. The acting was pretty good, considering the cast was mainly family and friends.

keep up with the good work.
 
The trailer kept my attention.

That's a good thing.

Others have touched on audio and cc.

While I imagine it could be E for everyone I'm thinking more than a few people might not want their kids watching a movie where grandpa is called an "asshole" many times. Mind you, it was amusing.

For a small production..rock on!

Clean it up and push it out of the nest.

Let's see it at Blockbuster.

All the best.


ian
 
very nice, besides the already mentioned advice, I think you did a great job. Felt like I was watching a real movie trailer most the time. Question. What sound equipment did you use on this movie?
 
Oh man, I'm getting some great quotes here for the back of the box:

"The acting is suprisingly decent."
It "kept my attention."
"Pretty cool."

LOL
But seriously, I really appreciate all the positive feedback. I've revised the trailer (and added a low quality version for the dial uppers) with a slight revision- I lowered the pedestal a couple notches. It looks much better now. Thanks for driving that point home!

We used a shotgun, not sure the make or model, I think it was a Sennheiser. There's gaffer tape all over the thing and I can't see a name anywhere. I constructed the most jerry-rigged boom pole out of a telescoping rod with a Pony clamp on the end from a local hardware store. I'm ashamed to shoot in public with it, but it gets the job done.
In post, I used Adobe Audition 1.5 for sweetening.
 
Excellent job. By any measure it's a huge success for getting it done and not continuing to dream some perfect movie that you never make.

in the first place, it seems like you have a decent script. the grandpa dude was funny. I believed him. a good actor. I've acted and it's tough to be good. I liked when he called their dump a 'hooch.'

the kid was good also, but i wasn't really feeling the slacker guy. that's a hard role to play, maybe the hardest in the movie. (sean penn went on to win an oscar after 'fast times...')

the trailer was decently cut. I watched it the whole way. the story seems good, well thought out. I was totally into it when grandpa comes in. Right there you had me hooked....... and it stays good, but when the trailer ended, I wanted some kind of resolution, something that shows us what BOTH parties learned (the kid and slacker & Grandpa) as a result of having to live with each other.

I'm aware that you may have been trying to leave me hangin' by cutting it like that, or perhaps that they didn't learn anything, I just would have preferred it with some form of resolution (the trailer).

Overall, congratulations on finishing your first movie!
 
Thanks sonic, you pretty much summed it up. It has been a huge success for me, even at this stage (the pre-$$$ stage:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) ), and I'm already dreaming of my next feature... (with the HVX200)
Trust me, the resolution you want is there. I didn't want to give too much away with the trailer. My goal was to make people want to see the movie after having seen the trailer, without showing all the cool scenes and giving everything away in the trailer to leave no surprises in the movie. I hate trailers that do that. (Or rather, I love them, and then I hate the movie. Which is no good.)
 
Can Scanner-

That looked REALLY good. You said you had friends and family in it? Well, you have a lot of talented friends and family. I thought the acting was great. That looks like a really fun movie.

Rick
 
We had a big screening a couple days ago at a local theater. It was amazing. 300-400 people showed up- cast and crew, friends and family, and a ton of people I didn't know. I was really nervous. I went up and said a few words- thanked everyone who was in the movie and everyone that helped. Once it got going, there was nonstop laughter. And at the end, a standing ovation. Tears came to my eyes I was so happy. That was one of the best moments of my life. One of the writers rented a limo too. There was brandy in a nice bottle. I had some. I felt like a rock star! I wanted to stand up through the moon roof, but we couldn't get it open. Maybe next time.
The next day, one of the people that we had invited to the screening called from his job at a local newspaper. They want to do a story on me and the movie. I'm exited, but a little concerned about the right-wing owners of the paper. The movie has a very anti-war message to it, but I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity, right?
I took zoostory's advice and recommendations (here at dvxuser.com) and bought a few books on distribution, marketing and legal issues. The other producers and myself are worried about all the posters we had in the background that never got clearance. We're looking into getting a lawyer or an agent.
I'll keep you posted!
Thanks for all the support everyone! This place is a goldmine.
 
And before I forget, I want to thank Jarred again for the awesome batteries. They last so long I start wondering if the camera's actually plugged in. The "DVX Guerillas" shirt that came free with the battery two-pack makes a cameo in the movie...
You're in the credits, too, Jarred. :love4:
 
Can Scanner said:
Thanks sonic, you pretty much summed it up. It has been a huge success for me, even at this stage (the pre-$$$ stage:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) ), and I'm already dreaming of my next feature... (with the HVX200)
Trust me, the resolution you want is there. I didn't want to give too much away with the trailer. My goal was to make people want to see the movie after having seen the trailer, without showing all the cool scenes and giving everything away in the trailer to leave no surprises in the movie. I hate trailers that do that. (Or rather, I love them, and then I hate the movie. Which is no good.)
Click to expand...

Good job! Seriously, kudos on finishing a feature length, especially one with a good script etc. But on the trailer, I think you gave away too much, contrary to what you posted here. I also thought you should get someone else to do the voiceover. Preferably someone older. And do as much as you can with it, like market the crap out of it. Just look at the guys who did "Broken", which was a short and not even good, yet a lot of people saw/know of it.
 
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