GH2 about to finish shooting my feature :)

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

thanks.
huh, it may LOOK like it, but most of the time my PC is just open with firefox, so it doesn't mean i'm actually there.
but still, i made myself some time, mostly in evenings, to get ahead with editing.

legal issues is a good question.. haven't had the time to really think about it, and also this is such a small scale production, so there won't be many problems, i hope..
besides, i really really hope that once i'll involve a serious producer to take care of all the 'nasty' parts that lay ahead, things would start to look more simple.
but that's a very interesting question. hope i won't get into too much trouble.

I'm pretty sure Israel has some set of laws regard the use of individuals in film. Perhaps there's a film board that has example 'releases'. There are a number of English versions in various places
on the web.

The usual text goes something like this...

"I, the undersigned, for consideration ____, grant all rights of use of my image, in photographic stills or motion pictures, or other media, voice, however recorded and distributed, for any and all purposes, in perpetuity to _______ Producer, or his assignees".


A passel of lawyers can turn this simple idea into page after page of legal boiler plate, but that's the gist of the idea for a 'model/acting' release. And as a note 'consideration' need not be money, can be 'credit', free DVD of the project, or whatever... but often some people like to have monetary consideration, so put in $1 (1 Shekel...) for that value... You can always say that this amount should not be taken as insulting, but it's all you can afford.

 

[roei z]

I'm pretty sure Israel has some set of laws regard the use of individuals in film. Perhaps there's a film board that has example 'releases'. There are a number of English versions in various placeson the web.The usual text goes something like this..."I, the undersigned, for consideration ____, grant all rights of use of my image, in photographic stills or motion pictures, or other media, voice, however recorded and distributed, for any and all purposes, in perpetuity to _______ Producer, or his assignees".A passel of lawyers can turn this simple idea into page after page of legal boiler plate, but that's the gist of the idea for a 'model/acting' release. And as a note 'consideration' need not be money, can be 'credit', free DVD of the project, or whatever... but often some people like to have monetary consideration, so put in $1 (1 Shekel...) for that value... You can always say that this amount should not be taken as insulting, but it's all you can afford.

do you mean, signing a contract with everyone involved?We did sign with the main actors.. The rest were basically relatives, family members..

 

[stoneinapond]

do you mean, signing a contract with everyone involved?

Everyone! And also be aware that here in the US, certain landmarks, if used in a very specific way, could also be covered by copyright. And then of course you have the music issue. But most people, if they have already agreed to do this, won't mind signing a piece of paper. Having their names up in lights is far more attractive!

 

[roei z]

huh, well i didn't mean this thread turning out to be an indie filmmaker guide, it's just around doing it with the GH2..
but anyway, i think most of the legal issues are pretty well at ease... locations copyrights are none, music will be done by me, and actors were signed..
but on the other hand, there are a few brand names naturally used throughout the film..
should i be worried? or should i even use it as an advantage?

 

[stoneinapond]

huh, well i didn't mean this thread turning out to be an indie filmmaker guide, it's just around doing it with the GH2..

Hey, these are issues all indie film makers have to face. So long as you don't think this a thread hijack, I'm sure the information is valuable to many here.

....on the other hand, there are a few brand names naturally used throughout the film..
should i be worried? or should i even use it as an advantage?

That's a more difficult issue. I'm not a lawyer so take my comment from that perspective. But I have been involved in sending things out to festivals.

Many aspiring film makers think that using brand names will give them certain advatages. Big name movies use "brand placement" as a source of revenue, but such companies are rarely interested in no-name productions. If such a product is essential to the story then my suggestion would be to try and approach the relevent departments in these companies to get some sort of licensing.

Of course, none of this might be an issue if the item in question is used casually, in passing so to speak. (Is that what you meant by naturally?) But if you are going to festival venues, you have to be sure you have the rights to use certain images if they have prominent placement. The last thing you need is having a movie pulled because a company didn't authorize the use of their product.

The best advice is check with an entertainment lawyer. If you have bigger plans for your movie then you should have one anyway. It's worth the upfront cost to minimize issues down the road.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

do you mean, signing a contract with everyone involved?....The rest were basically relatives, family members..

Especially 'family' members... For a short I shot 3 years ago, I got the Daughter to sign a release so I could have all the documentation in order... She was a principle, that is had significant screen time, and spoke on screen... but even if she had done a walk on, I'd get the release...

While I don't fear being sued by the Daughter, it was pretty much for presenting to fests, should that sort of thing ever be asked for.

In regard to casual or incidental use of a trademarked item, that may require a lawyer's opinion on what can be done.

If you read some of the material for the '48 hour film fest', part of the rules involves getting all forms of clearances for location, actors, music, and the like. The idea is that 1) you own everything, or have full distribution rights to everything, 2) many 'independent' filmmakers are totally unaware of these sorts of details, which can land your production in court.

Annecdotal story time... The Wife in her wedding photo contract explicitly states that she can use the couple's fotos for any promotional purposes for her business... most wedding photographers have something like that as well... well one photographer we know, sold a wedding couple's picture to an ad agency, that agency used the couple's photo in a ad campaign for a major US retail store chain... at some point the couple visiting one of the chain's stores... saw their photo in as a giant banner hanging in the store... cut to... photographer was sued for improper use of the couple's photo... photographer paying 'unspecified' amounts in damages... schadenfreude from that photographer's peers... etc..

The motto is have all the rights you can get written out, you never know when you will need them...

 

[roei z]

Hey, these are issues all indie film makers have to face. So long as you don't think this a thread hijack, I'm sure the information is valuable to many here.



That's a more difficult issue. I'm not a lawyer so take my comment from that perspective. But I have been involved in sending things out to festivals.

Many aspiring film makers think that using brand names will give them certain advatages. Big name movies use "brand placement" as a source of revenue, but such companies are rarely interested in no-name productions. If such a product is essential to the story then my suggestion would be to try and approach the relevent departments in these companies to get some sort of licensing.

Of course, none of this might be an issue if the item in question is used casually, in passing so to speak. (Is that what you meant by naturally?) But if you are going to festival venues, you have to be sure you have the rights to use certain images if they have prominent placement. The last thing you need is having a movie pulled because a company didn't authorize the use of their product.

The best advice is check with an entertainment lawyer. If you have bigger plans for your movie then you should have one anyway. It's worth the upfront cost to minimize issues down the road.

no, hijacking can be very nice sometimes
i just felt obliged to say it for the moderators..

well i hope there won't be too much trouble with licensing.
the main character drives a Suzuki, and he does use his Iphone (oh noooooo!!) in quite a few scenes (important scenes)...
at least i can be comforted by the fact that IF the movie get into this kind of trouble, it means it might get some recognition.

 

[OldCorpse]

The reason to get releases - as well as location permits and so forth - is not simply so you don't get sued. It's for two reasons. First, even if you get all your paperwork in order, you can still get sued - anyone can sue anyone for any reason even wrong reason; but if you have releases and your paperwork in order, you will prevail in court; more importantly, simply getting sued is expensive for you to defend, even if you win - the idea behind having all the releases, is that you can have a greater chance of dissuading anyone from suing you in the first place, and that usually works ("hey, remember you signed a release, so let's not waste both our money by lawsuits"). The second reason is because festivals, distributors and exhibitors DEMAND that you have all the paperwork - they will not accept "oh, it's my daughter/friend/wife, they'll never sue", they don't care, you MUST have all the paperwork in order, otherwise they won't deal with you.

Anyway, I'll drop the subject, because I don't want to hijack the thread. My only point is that all filmmakers must be aware of legal issues, otherwise all your hard work may be for nothing if you can't show it anywhere. I was just curious to hear how it is in Israel - but if you never thought about it, you may be surprised... you may not know it and boom - trouble! Just for peace of mind, talk to an entertainment lawyer in Israel (ask if anyone you know maybe has a friend who can give you the information, so you can sleep at night ).

 

[roei z]

This is extremely important, OldCorpse.Thanks for the info.I never thought about the festivals legal demands.luckily I'm almost sure I could sign all family/friends involved.

 

[Searcher]

he does use his Iphone (oh noooooo!!)

You should be so lucky as to be sued by Apple. Imagine the press!

 

[roei z]

You should be so lucky as to be sued by Apple. Imagine the press!

yea, that's what i meant.. turn a disadvantage to an advantage..

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

This is extremely important, OldCorpse.Thanks for the info.I never thought about the festivals legal demands.luckily I'm almost sure I could sign all family/friends involved.

I've submitted to most of the fests I've shown in 'on line'. But one fest, a local event, did require that supply releases for actors and music, which I had...

After making a film, it would be really disappointing not to be able to show for some 'stupid' reason...

Technically this sort of stuff is what a Producer deals with, namely managing all the hiring, firing, finance, and the ever needful 'legal' aspects of the film production. In big time Hollywood, what usually is done, is each film production sets up a corporation, and so, if there is a legal problem, that corporation is the only legal target. Absent any criminal misconduct, if the film production corporation is sued, and the plaintiff prevails, they take only the assets available to that corporation... not to a major studio, or the like. Call it a layer of legal insulation...

Most small independent filmmakers don't have the funds to set up a corporation for each film they make, so they are more exposed for having a significant impact should they fail to defend against a suit.

With the corporation setup, things change once the film is 'sold' to a distributor, or the like... that's their problem then... not yours...

 

[roei z]

let's hope i'll get myself an efficient producer

 

[OldCorpse]

On a no-budget production, YOU are frequently the producer (in addition to being the director, writer, dp, cam operator, etc.). And a lot of the legal stuff needs to happen even before the production starts. That's why I recommend that an independent filmmaker who is serious about having their stuff distributed and exhibited, get some basic education about the legal aspect of filmmaking. It's as important - sometimes more - as knowing how to write a script or operate a camera. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have people on your team who take care of that for you - great, one less thing you have to do, because there's already a ton of work for you. Or become a director for a studio project

 

[roei z]

i hope i'll have nothing to do with producing from now on.
and i also hope there will be a producer that will appreciate this strange film (mystery/psychological thriller i guess..)
the advantage is that almost no one here makes these kind of films. mostly it's either Israel vs Palestine stories, or domestic dramas..
and it also might be the disadvantage.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

i hope i'll have nothing to do with producing from now on.
and i also hope there will be a producer that will appreciate this strange film (mystery/psychological thriller i guess..)
the advantage is that almost no one here makes these kind of films. mostly it's either Israel vs Palestine stories, or domestic dramas..
and it also might be the disadvantage.

Well, all you can do at this point is give it your best... But I tend to not like the 'business' side of things as well... For me, I've tended to think only about short films at the moment, or perhaps a series of short films with a story developing across the episodes, or some common theme.

I've answered some number of craigslist ads for such activities as 'DoP', 'cameraman', etc... and since the ads have 'for no monetary compensation', I don't have any qualms about my lack of 'pro' standing in cinematography... I do have a pretty long standing with still photography... Anyway, I've gotten a couple of responses with 'scripts', and for the most part... it is just as well that I didn't get involved... the scripts were a mess...

I participate on several 'scriptwriting' sites, and it seems that the people writing the scripts, didn't even get that sort of 'peer review' going...

I of course live within 100 miles of downtown Hollywood, so the 'competition' for any number of genres is fierce... but if what you have in Israel really does center on I/P issues, or 'domestic dramas'... perhaps 'something different' will work to your advantage... especially if it is not seen as some sort of metaphor for the present situation, but rather just 'entertainment'...

 

[ectdog]

@ roei z..
One of the main lenses you used for your film was the FD 20mm f2.8. Paired with shooting on the FD 50mm f1.4, how does it fare in low light? Do you find yourself bumping up your ISO significantly to match the 50mm while using the 20mm? Or do you bring down the 50mm to f2.8 often to keep the use of both lenses at similar ISO levels? A bit of a noob quesiton but i'm a bit of a noob , thanks.

 

[roei z]

Well, all you can do at this point is give it your best... But I tend to not like the 'business' side of things as well... For me, I've tended to think only about short films at the moment, or perhaps a series of short films with a story developing across the episodes, or some common theme.I've answered some number of craigslist ads for such activities as 'DoP', 'cameraman', etc... and since the ads have 'for no monetary compensation', I don't have any qualms about my lack of 'pro' standing in cinematography... I do have a pretty long standing with still photography... Anyway, I've gotten a couple of responses with 'scripts', and for the most part... it is just as well that I didn't get involved... the scripts were a mess...I participate on several 'scriptwriting' sites, and it seems that the people writing the scripts, didn't even get that sort of 'peer review' going...I of course live within 100 miles of downtown Hollywood, so the 'competition' for any number of genres is fierce... but if what you have in Israel really does center on I/P issues, or 'domestic dramas'... perhaps 'something different' will work to your advantage... especially if it is not seen as some sort of metaphor for the present situation, but rather just 'entertainment'...

Question is, if 'entertainment' can be mixed with this sort of 'brain candy' Story...

 

[roei z]

@ roei z..One of the main lenses you used for your film was the FD 20mm f2.8. Paired with shooting on the FD 50mm f1.4, how does it fare in low light? Do you find yourself bumping up your ISO significantly to match the 50mm while using the 20mm? Or do you bring down the 50mm to f2.8 often to keep the use of both lenses at similar ISO levels? A bit of a noob quesiton but i'm a bit of a noob , thanks.

Most of the time I started by making the best from the 20mm 2.8, and when switching to the 50mm I tried to get a similar exposure with either lowering the ISO Or setting aperture / ND filter.

 

[Searcher]

I'm fascinated by your production because it's vaguely similar to the style of film I want to make next year in the same low to no budget mode. So I have some questions and if you can answer them, great, if not, no worries. I have read the whole thread but it was a while ago so please excuse me if some of these questions have already been answered. How's editing going? Have you hit any hurdles? Have you thought of reshooting anything? Did you storyboard the whole thing? How is sinking sound and image going? I'm curious if you used much lighting? Any lighting outside? Or did you bounce light? Did you use a shoulder mount? Much tripod usage? I could go on...