roei z
Veteran
it's actually even a better time to ask me questions cause now i finished a sort of a rough cut (80 minutes),
and i start to face new problems, from all sorts of directions...
How's editing going?
because i'm a promo/trailer/ editor by profession, editing is the real fun 'n games part for me.
for a first rough cut i really think i can handle it and be my own critic at the moment.
so, gathering the scenes and connecting them to a whole 'world' inside the film is going pretty well.
i also write my own soundtrack so when in need, i just go and make an additional track that fits a scene (in this case it's a very atmospheric film so extra caution on soundtrack and 'feel' is extremely important).
Have you hit any hurdles?
i think the main hurdle at the moment is finding a producer to finish making and distributing the film.
i'm not the kind of person who knows people and has 1M friends on facebook. i don't even enter facebook at all.
so now i need to meet producers who will see the rough cut, really like it, and i mean, really really like it.
after i'll pass this (hoping at least to find someone who won't ask me to re-shoot half of the film...),
it will be a big load of my mind.
Have you thought of re shooting anything?
that's a very good question to ask before shooting
i look only at the acting failures i must face at the moment.
the visual aspect is compromised from the start ('instant' shooting based on my 'eye' and 'feel' as a decent camera operator),
using a pre-hacked GH2 with it's 8-bit limit, i took all that into consideration of getting the best result in a 14 days of shooting.
so addressing the acting issues, there is one important scene i might have to re-shoot.
i can tell you the only reason- using a family member for a too important part. didn't check him at all, thought it would work. well, it HALF worked.
i took a big chance regarding a few parts, and some other important scene with a non-actor came out REALLY GOOD, so...
Did you storyboard the whole thing?
i don't storyboard unless i work with a camera operator.
i have most of it in my mind, and usually it can sometimes change according to different problems arising.
so i try to plan the basic shooting in my mind (and of course writing down a shooting script for production).
How is sinking sound and image going?
this was a bit of dirty work. i use AVID, and didn't want to get into checking 'plural eye', so i did it all through 'auto sync' each shot (marking IN points at clap),
for all shots considered. very frustrating (3-4 days) work, but it also made me check the whole footage and find any problems way ahead.
you used much lighting? Any lighting outside? Or did you bounce light?
lighting was MINIMAL at all cost. no bouncing, sorry. outside? you're kidding me..
i scraped everything i could from inside/outside locations. any available light was used to it's maximum availability.
of course it can be very limiting, but it also gave me no option but to 'connect' to a feel of a location,
using it's 'rough' lighting, and getting a very 'natural' look, which i really like anyhow.
yes, i know a lot of pro filmmakers will disagree on shooting like that. but i can 'swallow' the downsides and get nice respectable results.
Did you use a shoulder mount? Much tripod usage?
for this film and also my personal taste (at the moment!),
i don't like tripod at all. i like it rough (but only in shooting style
)so considering i have no OIS and a little shaky camera body, i faced a big problem trying to provide decent shots, not getting extra shaky or unprofessional.
so i tried the cheapest 'cowboy' shoulder mount and found it great for my needs. it stabilized problematic shots.
i do have a little amount of shaky shots, that need to be post fixed. but i tried some stabilizer plug-in's in AVID and they do a very good realistic job.
anyway- right now, my only big worry is about getting some feedback on how the STORY holds. that's the only thing important at the moment.
i found a list of 40-50 major producers in Israel and sent them all e-mail with synopsis+option to send them the rough-cut.
so 5-6 got back to me, and of course they all first want to see a rough cut... so we'll see how it goes.
not an easy step- it's a different, strange, David Lynch kind of film, and producers here are very 'simple' on their 'targets'. i really don't have much hope on someone suddenly connecting to the story and think it's a brilliant film. it will have to be someone who likes the 'outside' kind of films, and believe in it.
and i have no David Lynch credit for selling this film.
ok, that was a bit of a personal frustration.. enough!
thanks for finding interest in all this, and i really like being asked questions, it makes me think and organize my thoughts while in the process, so feel free.
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