David_M_Payne
Well-known member
Hi guys. What is best length for a doc on making a film? As some of you know I've been working on a film titled Holy War and I've come to a wall that I can't get over with my current finances. In short I tried to use the Kevin Smith "Clerks" model to film my film, but my tale is much more complicated, and has more actors and locations. The reality I've run into is that this is a real movie, not a few guys hanging around a one location setting and depending on great dialog to carry it as Kevin did in Clerks. The story is complicated, there are several locations and I need to use a lot more actors than were in Clerks. I have all of the equipment I need from two HVX200's, lights, mics etc all the way to computers and editing programs. (An apple G5 Quad and FCP studio.)
But the reality is I need to do this film much like they do a Hollywood film, not a backyard production with a handy cam. The problem I can't get past is trying to get actors and crew, some of who are willing to donate their time and some who I'm paying to all get their schedules to sync. It's like trying to herd cats and I need some real money to do a proper film schedule and finish the film.
Lacking that money I'm doing a documentary on the film called "Making Holy War". My plan is to use some of the footage we already have with a new scene shot just for the documentary that is quite funny and is a great lead into the documentary. I've chosen this route for two reasons.
1. I hope to have a finished project that includes the basic story as told by me. In effect I'm doing what they call "the pitch" for the movie and showing any prospective viewers that we have a great tale to tell and the equipment to tell it, our motivations for doing this particular film, and our need for some financial help to get it done. We plan to talk a bit about all the equipment out there that we are using for the film, a sort of how to shoot a film with all the stuff that is out there these days that only film studios had in days past. We are also going to show a few scenes we already have, some good, some bad and talk about what went right and what went wrong in the filming. In short I'm using the documentary to look for investors and show them some of our abilities to actually do this film.
2. The second reason is to perhaps sell the documentary itself and use that money to finish the film.
But what is the best length to do this? A half hour? An Hour? We can do either and I'm not sure of the right length that would have some commercial potential. I want to give enough info to whet the prospective appetites of potential investors, but I don't want to make it too long, or not long enough to be commercially viable. Any of you have any ideas on this length issue? Thanks.
David
But the reality is I need to do this film much like they do a Hollywood film, not a backyard production with a handy cam. The problem I can't get past is trying to get actors and crew, some of who are willing to donate their time and some who I'm paying to all get their schedules to sync. It's like trying to herd cats and I need some real money to do a proper film schedule and finish the film.
Lacking that money I'm doing a documentary on the film called "Making Holy War". My plan is to use some of the footage we already have with a new scene shot just for the documentary that is quite funny and is a great lead into the documentary. I've chosen this route for two reasons.
1. I hope to have a finished project that includes the basic story as told by me. In effect I'm doing what they call "the pitch" for the movie and showing any prospective viewers that we have a great tale to tell and the equipment to tell it, our motivations for doing this particular film, and our need for some financial help to get it done. We plan to talk a bit about all the equipment out there that we are using for the film, a sort of how to shoot a film with all the stuff that is out there these days that only film studios had in days past. We are also going to show a few scenes we already have, some good, some bad and talk about what went right and what went wrong in the filming. In short I'm using the documentary to look for investors and show them some of our abilities to actually do this film.
2. The second reason is to perhaps sell the documentary itself and use that money to finish the film.
But what is the best length to do this? A half hour? An Hour? We can do either and I'm not sure of the right length that would have some commercial potential. I want to give enough info to whet the prospective appetites of potential investors, but I don't want to make it too long, or not long enough to be commercially viable. Any of you have any ideas on this length issue? Thanks.
David
