FEATURE: DEUCE OF SPADES - How I made a period full feature film all by myself on ZERO budget

PaPa said:
wow, thats some really nice stuff there! I would love to shoot a period type piece.

I see your shadow at 1:00 :) hehe, little shadow cameo
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It's a royal pain in the b... !! You have no idea how hard it is on a budget and how insane it is on a NO budget. Everywhere you point your camera, there are things that are not period correct, forcing you to frame at weird angles, cheat, do girations worthy of a Chinese contortionist.

for ex: In teaser #2, the road is actually only 200 yards long. It is narrow and can only fit one car. It also has trees only on one side. The other side has a long row of MODERN big rigs (trucks) and construction equipment. You can't turn the camera towards that side AT ALL EVER> And you can't turn it towards the ends of the road either because there are cross traffic with modern cars that pass there... To make it look like a long, wide, county road with trees on both side I had to pull out my magic wand and turn into a fairy.

I only had a 150 degree available angle to film an entire cop / jalopy chase on

That was tough. But I learned a few tricks in the process :).

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TheRealMe said:
Congrats! The teasers are looking good! HVX+LEX is a great combo, that's for sure. Set decors, wardrobe, make up... everything looks superb! I wish I could help you with your shoot, but I'm little bit too far away... (Canada)
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Yeah that would be a long drive LOL. Wardrobe, period correct locations, set decor, period correct props, hair does and make up all demanded a lot of attention to details and WORK. I have done all my actors hair every shoot and sometimes even doing it run and gun on the side of a road LOL...

below: can you believe I did ALL their hair and was ready to shoot by 6AM? And that we were in teh parking lot of an LAPD owned building (run and gun)

Now that's called living on the edge LOL

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Screengrabs from that very scene:

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MDKfilms said:
You are the definition of the old saying "Have a little Faith". Unbelievable, if I hadn't seen this thread with pics to prove. I also have a feature film in script form and I am now thinking hey this is doable. Thanks for the inspiration Faith.
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Hey you are welcome! All I can say to all of you who are making short upon short: Shorts are great but one day you got to jump in the big cold deep pool ! I did one short in October and within 2 weeks of finishing it I rolled on my full feature. At some point you have to step up to the plate and give it your best shot. If you read the blog you will see it has not been easy. I am broke as hell right now cause even if everything is donated you still have to put gas in your truck, feed your actors and crew and rent a few props (if you are doing period films), plus buying the gear - all of it has put me in the poor house.

But (shrug) well worth it :)

My biggest fear was to lose some of my cast along the way, cause it is taking me so long to film the flashbacks (April throuh October 2008). I was SOOO worried about that. Have my lead actor flake halfway and not be able to finish what I have, NOR refilm with a new lead. But guess what? My actors are 100% dedicated and hard core for this film. I could not ask for more. Plus they are all so very talented! A wonderful, wonderful cast to work with (and a big cast too I have about 100 plus actors / extras in my film). I think that if you have a good story are a good person and pick your cast carefully they will stick around.

One comment everyone who has come to my set has made: "Wow Faith you have the nicest bunch of people on your set. Not a single A-hole - everyone is such a pleasure to be around and all so NICE". And it is true. I picked them that way :).
 
Kholi said:
This might be a lil' taxing but do you think you could throw up a Vimeo version?

I want to see some high(er) res and not sure how the place you've uploaded to works.
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I tell you what: You come help me film saturday and you can see all the footage you want in my studio. So, whaddaya say?
 
It´s crazy, cause EVERYTHING feels so familiar.

Not only making a "one man show" film wit HVX/LEX, no budget and your friends in front of the camera.

Not only making the same mistakes (lex turned off) and running into similar problems.

My friends look the same, the cars look the same, the music is the same, even my vintage filling station is similar to the one in your film.

I watched it and instantly feel like home on both sides of your camera.
Synchronism on two sides of the Atlantic.

Frank
 
Postmaster said:
It´s crazy, cause EVERYTHING feels so familiar.

Not only making a "one man show" film wit HVX/LEX, no budget and your friends in front of the camera.

Not only making the same mistakes (lex turned off) and running into similar problems.

My friends look the same, the cars look the same, the music is the same, even my vintage filling station is similar to the one in your film.

I watched it and instantly feel like home on both sides of your camera.
Synchronism on two sides of the Atlantic.

Frank
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Hey man I want to see your film!! Is it done?? Sounds exciting!
 
Maybe I was not that clear.

I was talking about my TIMEFEST entry UNZEIT, where I run into the same things producing a period fim as a zero budget one man show.

http://exposureroom.com/members/FrankGlen.aspx/

The other sentence (same looking cars, same looking friends etc.) regards to my private live since we both seem to be on the retro side.

Frank
 
Faith, all I can say is that I am totally impressed. This looks very professional and the production value is top notch. This looks like it was shot by established filmmakers...no one would ever believe this is your first feature.

Really great work.
 
disjecta said:
Faith, all I can say is that I am totally impressed. This looks very professional and the production value is top notch. This looks like it was shot by established filmmakers...no one would ever believe this is your first feature.

Really great work.
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Hey my dear friend, I want to say once again THANK YOU to YOU for taking the time out of your busy schedule back then when I was just a rookie (which, actually, I still kinda am HAHA!), you took the time to educate me on 35 mm lenses and advise me on which to get. When I was clueless and lost in a dark jungle of technical mambo jumbo which were mostly way over my head, YOU cut a little path for me to get from point A to point B faster and to minimize the many mistakes I would have made along the way.

So here's to you :beer:and THANK YOU once again.

While I am on the topic of gratitude: Would like to thank all the people on this forum who have helped with advice when I was learning about adapter and gear and who helped me make sound choice when I purchased my stuff.

Also thanks to the generous people like Luis, who is an absolute SWEETHEART, always going out of his way to help in any way he can. There would not be a filmmaking community without people like him! D.C, Matt thank you to you guys too!

And last but not least, thanks to whom ever created this forum because this place rocks and all the people in it. I would have never made it that far without dvxuser.com forum

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


WE SALUTE YOU(s) :)

Below: A flashback to Johnny's childhood, 1942

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Wow Faith! You are really doing it. Congratulations, it looks as if your film is going to be pretty decent. It is so difficult to do a period piece, even with budget. Your film looks really good and the cars, wardrobe, talent and all of the good stuff you are doing behind the camera looks great.

Best of luck and keep up updated on how your journey continues.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Wow Faith! You are really doing it. Congratulations, it looks as if your film is going to be pretty decent. It is so difficult to do a period piece, even with budget. Your film looks really good and the cars, wardrobe, talent and all of the good stuff you are doing behind the camera looks great.

Best of luck and keep up updated on how your journey continues.

Dan
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Sure will :) - You can of course read the blog and then you will know weekly, what's cooking in my neck of filmland :)

Here are a few more behind the scenes photos:

Diner shoot:

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if the mountain doesn't come to you, go to the mountain :) - here, unable to get closer to my actors, because the counter was in the way, I simply decided to sit on the counter and get the shot that way.

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sometimes tiny crews are the best.....

especially if they know what they are doing.... you can get so much done so fast....
 
Easom Aerospace said:
Wonderful footage and looks to be brilliantly directed..... And your name is Faith? How cool is that....? And you're really talented and just plain HOT!
Geez! Look me up! www.myspace.com/coryeasom lol ;) Whew! Great work!
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Not sure if I shoud blush more about the "brilliantly directed" part or the "Plain hot" part LOL :dankk2:
I feel less than plain hot when I am filming, I am usually covered in dirt, tired, and have bruises on my arm from lifting the camera up with it... Fun stuff :)

Below: "I get by with a little help from my friends!" Here shown shaking hands with Automobile Driving Museum rep who is delivering their priced Ambulance to my shoot. This was an exciting day, it took us an entire year to line this up. They actually removed the 1942 packard ambulance from their museum FLOOR and hauled it to me so I can have a real ambulance in my crash scene. On the left, my good friend and supporter Jerry Mueller who made the whole thing happen (he volunteers at that museum). the most awesome part is that it was a NIGHT shoot and the rep was there all night, from 3PM until 6 AM the next morning! Now, thats' dedication!

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Amazing. Unbelievable production value. The teaser was well done too. About to read your blog now.

When is this being released? Or are you going to seek distribution (assuming you won't be self-distributing)?
 
Holy XXXX!. I just saw this teaser tonight for the first time.
Faith, I can't believe you pulled this off by yourself - directing, shooting and producing the whole damn thing.
The photography and the art direction look just beautiful and it sure gives the feeling that it's just as well directed too boot.
Congratulations. I'm sure the film and your career will go very far. Glad our little forum here could help do its part.

Lenny Levy
 
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Faith doesn't seem to mind but how did her "hotness" enter a conversation about her film between fellow filmmakers? Sorry, but this is just a bit sexist. Faith is obviously a driven and talented filmmaker but her physical assets really have nothing to do with her accomplishments as a filmmaker.

Have any of you watched Mad Men? I guess Faith is our "Peggy", same predicament as that character. This thread proves that things really have not changed for women much, many of you are still thinking that Faith is doing a pretty good job, "for a women". Sorry, but as a cofounder of the LAFCPUG (Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group), for years we tried to encourage women filmmakers to particpate and we always had trouble getting them to participate. We didn't want the UG to become a "boys club", but it did somewhat. I think that our goals here should be the same, we would like to see and hear from more women filmmakers, not fewer. I know if my 14 year old daughter was reading this thread, she might now want to join in for fear of not being as "hot" as Faith. It's ridiculous. There are so many talented women working in our field but we rarely hear from them for the reasons of threads like this. Do you think Ellen Kuras is "hot" too?

Grow up boys, it's 2008.

Sorry to hijack, back to Faith the filmmaker...

Best,

Dan
 
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