OTHER: Drawing With Chalk Feature Film Trailer

I really liked SAINTS AND SOLDIERS. I will look into your suggestions. Thanks for the tip.

I am going to re-post the trailer soon. All the shots in the trailer lack the color corrections and the image look so much better than the footage in the trailer.

Right now I'm just doing some trimming on the feature; trying to get it down to about 1 hour 45-50 min from 2 hours 2 min. As I mentioned above, there is a good chance we've kinda shot ourselves in the foot as far as festivals go since the film takes up so much 'real estate', besides the film could definitely improve if it moves a little quicker.


I hope someday to get a chance to play in Utah :)

Todd
 
DCP,

Thanks for being candid. If you don't mind, what do you think your approximate final budget would have been had you shot on consecutive days rather than spacing the shoot out over months? Would it have amounted to a considerable savings?
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
DCP,

Thanks for being candid. If you don't mind, what do you think your approximate final budget would have been had you shot on consecutive days rather than spacing the shoot out over months? Would it have amounted to a considerable savings?
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I actually had to shoot over a period of time to get the seasonal changes. Ironically it benefited us financially to shoot over a period of time (this allowed us to save up money for the next shoot). I also saved a lot of money by shooting some stuff myself. Also our script was over 139 pages (of course now I'm in the process of re-editing the film after some feedback from our screening last Saturday and from a few suggestions from some others (including ChipG). The film played great but it will play better if I can get it down to 1 hour 48 min.

We ended up shooting all 139 pages so if I had the hindsight to cut these scenes I could have saved several days of shooting. At least I have a good amount of deleted scenes for the extra features on the dvd.

It's really hard to say what my budget could have been if I shot consecutively. I might have saved some money (renting instead of purchasing), but I also felt I had the opportunity to grow as a first time filmmaker with the time I had between each shoot. I honestly don't think the film would have been as good as it turned out if I had shot all at the same time. Just my opinion.

If I ever get a chance to shoot another film, I would want to try to shoot consecutively. The biggest problem with the way I had to shoot this film was trying to get availability from the other actors and crew. It's hard to have someone commit to such a small project and I had to shoot around people's schedule.

Todd
 
UPDATE:

Hey All,

Well, I've managed to get the film to a solid 1 hour 51 min (that's with 3 min. ending credits). It was tough since the film originally came in at over 2 hours 2 min. But, I think it'll play better with the new cuts.

We also had a producer's rep contact us (I'll hold off on the name until I get the screener to them... and to make sure it's legit). I had great feedback from our NYC screening last week (we had a film critic there, but I think it's hard to get a printed review for a film that isn't available yet to the public, but I'll keep my eye out for it just in case).

I've learned a lot from this experience as well as the realities out there.

Once I've solidified the final cut, we have a lot of screeners to get out there (dozens of festivals as well as some copies for reviews). We then have to revamp the website as well as me updating the trailer with the proper CC. Boy, so much to do.

I'll keep everyone up to date with any more news.

BTW, we have another screening at Alfred University, NY (near my home town and close to some of the locations we shot at) next Saturday at 8pm. This is a free screening with Q&A (once again, not a premiere but a study for us and students). If anyone is in the upstate NY area and would like to see the film, PM me and I'll give you more details.

Todd
 
Update:

We have another screening at a University this coming weekend. We had shot about 1/3rd of the movie upstate NY (where I grew up) and we were invited to screen the film to the film students as well as the locals (and of course family/friends). The theater is big (about twice the size as the Tribeca Cinema that we screened at last week). The only downside is that it doesn't look like I'll be able to project in HD. I'll have to go with SD DVD (we'll see how she holds up being blown up so big...).

I do wish I could project in HD :(

Anyway, I'll post my reactions to the screening next week. I was able to cut the film down 11 min. from the original running time and I'm curious as to how the film will be received. Another note, a film critic was at my screening in Tribeca and liked the film a lot (at least they said it was very interesting but not quite right for their publication). Of course, that means to me that the film isn't 'hip' enough to make a printed review. Oh well, I didn't really expect a review anyway since the film isn't yet available to the public.

More to come.

Todd
 
Had a screening upstate on Saturday. We ended up showing the film on DVD (had a hell of a time trying to get the Blu-Ray player hooked up to their system). Surprisingly the film looked great (of course the ending credit roll looked like sh*t) and most people couldn't tell the film wasn't 'film'. This was on a 30+foot screen. I had shown a trimmed version of the previous edit (shown at Tribeca) and the film played great.

I spoke with a distributor on Friday who has some interest in the film (based primarily off the trailer and I also had a slight inside connection). He loved what he saw (again, the trailer) but wasn't happy of the films runtime. He wants me to cut another 13 min. from the film (to get it down to about 1 hour 35 min.). I understand where he is coming from, but the film isn't the same film once those cuts are made. I know it's probably a smart 'business' thing to do to cut the film down, but it isn't a smart 'filmmaker' thing to do.

As I've said before, I cut out 11 min. from the previous edit already, and another 13 would really hurt the character development or the humor or the human and honest attachment the audiences have felt so far.

The way I figure it is I've already done what you shouldn't do in the business. I've made a drama. I've made a drama with no named actors. I've made a long drama with no named actors. Three strikes against me would normally mean I'm out. There is always an exception to every rule and I have to hope I'm the exception (x3). I have to say that this particular distributor did say there are exceptions and maybe the film is a masterpiece. I'll send him a copy and let him make his own mind up.

Damn it. I should have made a horror film with a bunch of nudity and one half-ass B star. Next time, huh?
 
Why don't you put a name in your movie now? Find a name actor, do a scene with them and voila! you have a "name" in your movie ;-)
 
You don't want the public to feel cheated. Word of mouth is what will drive your sales with some good marketing.
 
ChipG said:
You don't want the public to feel cheated. Word of mouth is what will drive your sales with some good marketing.
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Yeah Chip i'm starting to think the same thing. As I tried to make cuts it seems some of the human element was disappearing. What good is it to make an hour and a half film if no one at the ends gives a crap. I feel the film is going to be around 1 hour 53 min. good or bad. We keep getting emails about our screening on Saturday from the people who attended (most of these people had no connection with the film so there was no up front biased opinions). The overwhelming response is that this is a film about real people with subtle, complex, real issues. This is the crowd the film is for. I know marketing is going to be the biggest effort we need to make to get the film out there. I am looking at smaller festivals (and lots of them). We did receive the front page of a larger local paper and the outlook looks good. Now we have to lock down the film and start promoting.

Yes, the film is long, but does it feel long? I know how difficult it will be to get people to commit nearly two hours of their lives to watch a film with no named actors in it. I think that once they start watching, they'll forget they are even watching a film.

Ironically one of the biggest questions (and biggest reaction) during the Q&A session after the screening is if there was going to be a sequel. These people didn't want the story to end. Of course there isn't a sequel, but at least they wanted more.

I will try to inform everyone here about our marketing and the progress we make. I do have hope that if this type of film gets out to 'main street' America that it will do well.
 
Sorry for everyone getting a message that there is a virus on my website. My site doesn't contain any viruses but I have to call my host server in the morning to find out why these messages keep coming up.

Todd
 
Mark Harris said:
Change your password ASAP, and make it something harder to hack.
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Did exactly that, plus I've been on hold with my host server for 20 minutes.... They saw no conflicts either, but I'm not taking a chance. Nothing worse than scaring people away from the site. Darn...

Todd
 
I finally got around to re-doing the trailer. The old version wasn't color corrected and the audio/music was only a rough mix. Here is a link to a new version (I will soon replace the old Previews page with this encode as well as update the flash video.

http://drawingchalkpictures.com/video/dwc_trailer.mp4

For now you can see and compare the two versions to see the difference with the color correction. The old version is at: www.drawingchalkpictures.com/previews.html


Thanks again.

Todd
 
Hey Todd,

Just watched the trailer again. I really liked it the first time round, and of course this time as well. Looks like it's going to be a great film. The CC looks good to me.

Can't wait to see/hear more about the film!
 
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ChrisHurn said:
Hey Todd,

Just watched the trailer again. I really liked it the first time round, and of course this time as well. Looks like it's going to be a great film. The CC looks good to me.

Can't wait to see/hear more about the film!
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Thanks Chris,

We just sent out another round to festivals (this cut is 17 min. shorter than the first and over all a lot better). Plus with Slumdog taking the Oscars by storm (my film is also multi-cultural with an Indian cast) we'll see if these festivals 'jump on board the hot train'. We've decided to submit to everything that fits the film as opposed to holding onto the 'premiere status' requirement that the big festivals have (more than likely this film would be overlooked by them anyway.... though we still are submitting to them anyway :) ).

It's no longer up to me what happens next... at least for now :beer:

Todd
 
Good luck! I enjoyed the trailer...I was actually pissed that I could not see more lol, I figure that's damn good for you! Oh yeah Pooja is gorgeous.
 
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