'bout that feature i didn't finish 4 years ago....

roei z

roei z

Veteran
​hi folks, i'm back with some new insights:
wanted to share this with you guys, and anyone who's into making films, or just interested to hear the story.
if any of you remember,4 years ago i filmed a feature film using the non hack GH2,
and made this preliminary basic "Shots" clip (remember, this is NOT a trailer, just a collection of presentable GH2 shots):

https://vimeo.com/25975171

yea it was 4 years ago. and at the time i had to "bury" it because i felt it failed completely, i showed it to some producers who basically thrashed it and said it was worthless.
it was very painful and traumatic experience.
well after 4 years, i suddenly decided to confront the project and see what can be done.
i understood 2 things:

my vital mistake back then was trying to edit the footage as a feature length, not thinking of the possibility it may not hold 80 minutes as i planned, so the first thing i did, was to cut 30 minutes and make it the best edit i could do. even if it's only 50+ minutes atm, it's still considered "feature length" at festivals, and at least now the film is "tight".

the second thing was the music. i tried composing my own ideas back then, and now it seems it was a mistake, a totally misguided feel for this kind of film once i gathered some new reference music (mostly tension drones, more horror feel), the film started to "work" much better, and this new direction guided me throughout the process. it made me produce a much more creative, efficient, interesting and just a better product.

so now i know exactly what's needed to complete the film. maybe a 1-2 extra scenes, i hope.

i will now start letting people watch it and see where it leads me. my main goal now is the target this to festivals that may have interest. i hope some producers/distributors here in Israel will now "dig" this film (which is kinda weird, dark, "art-house" horror film) and help me finish it and sending it to festivals. i will even use a kickstarter if i'll have to get the rest of the money needed.
anyway, i hope to let you know of any new developments..
i will try to put up a fresh trailer once i'll gather my thoughts a bit more.

P.S - lucky i didn't sell the GH2. i already put it for sale but was too lazy to actually let it go..lol
 
Well the footage still looks great!
If all else fails, write a new story line for the footage you shot and tell the new story with a narration! Lol! I did that once...it worked!
 
roei z said:
​
P.S - lucky i didn't sell the GH2. i already put it for sale but was too lazy to actually let it go..lol[/SIZE]
Click to expand...

I had planned on buying the GH-4 when I had the funds. But last year Blackmagic Designs had a 'fire sale' on their Pocket Cinema Camera, usually $995, but for the sale $495. I took the opportunity... along with quite a few others... to the point that distributors had trouble filling the orders, and some even canceled orders...

In any case I'd recommend to anyone to look at the Pocket even at $995... or one of the several other BMD cameras. BMD 'design' goal is to make motion picture cameras, and so a lot of the DSLR stuff is eliminated.

There are a few detractions, but for me shooting RAW @ 12 bits of intensity resolution, is great. Sure, the Canon's have Magic Lantern... but I have tended not to use the 'hacks'... even for my GH-1.

As for 'slowing down'... yes I've noticed that as well... my excuse is my day job has pretty much occupied my waking hours for the past 2 years...
 
But why would it slow? Some possibilities: (1) Industry Economic Realities - finally caught up with filmmakers... most people finally understood that there is no way to make money and survive on indie product, because the market has changed, low and mid level films are much harder to monetize and the market has moved on, so filmmakers have given up, just as the boom for forming bands has passed away as the music industry changed - very hard to make a living as a band these days, so the whole scene has sort of died down a bit, except for hip-hop acts (2) Young filmmakers are no longer interested in showcasing as it doesn't lead anywhere, so they don't bother to show up here and instead go straight to youtube, vimeo and other outlets (3) DVXUSER is only for old people, sort of like what happened to Friendster, Myspace, or even Facebook, it's all snapchat, vines and periscopes these days, nobody has time for old fashioned sites like DVXUSER, only old guys hang out here, young people have moved on (4) "Kids These Days" - no longer interested in the hard work of putting product together, pushing through projects to completion... shakes cane, puts on grandpa glasses "Get off my lawn, you darn kids!". Yes, I'm joking a bit, but...

Actually, I have no idea if any of the possibilities I outlined are even real - so I'd also like to know why it's so slow in this section these last couple of years. Any ideas?
 
I work in education... #4 is definitely part of it.

With the cost to entry being so very low, you would be surprised by the lack of students making their own "movies" in our program. We get a couple that go on to work in the TV industry, and every once in a while we get one or two that go on to a 4 year "film" program and usually do well there. But few and far between "superstars" in this industry (general industry of moving images and story telling). Our core result is a fair number of below the line crew people in stations and on sports remotes.

But that said we bring in around 150 freshmen and graduate about 30-35 people, of those less than half have what it takes to work as a crew person for the local news!

My definition of cost to entry - used GH2 with a lens or two, and some kind of audio connection. Software can be free Lightworks, Resolve, even movie maker or Video Pad. Basically about $500 to have a decent kit for messing around and learning some story telling skills.
 
thanks Oldcorpse and Greg.. at least some kind of interesting conversation.
i though that at least some of the "tribe elders" will be glad to chime into this,
but maybe they already passed :P
anyway, i started passing my roughcut to some people i trust for a decent feedback.
after that i guess i'll have to come up with a trailer or something.

i really hope i'll get some kind of a little "push", to manage to send this to some festivals if it will be completed.
otherwise i guess it might end up on that new Vimeo VOD or something.
 
I would say there is definitely no lack of young people making indie films. They're all over the place. As for why THIS forum has slowed down? Who knows? BUT, let's look at what happened at DVinfo. I joined in 2001. It was all about the XL1s and indie filmmaking. Somewhere along the line, that forum became almost exclusively wedding videographers, corporate videographers, and those types, with only the very occasional "film film"-related posting. Maybe something similar here?
 
OldCorpse said:
But why would it slow? Some possibilities: (1) Industry Economic Realities - finally caught up with filmmakers... most people finally understood that there is no way to make money and survive on indie product, because the market has changed, low and mid level films are much harder to monetize and the market has moved on, so filmmakers have given up, just as the boom for forming bands has passed away as the music industry changed - very hard to make a living as a band these days, so the whole scene has sort of died down a bit, except for hip-hop acts (2) Young filmmakers are no longer interested in showcasing as it doesn't lead anywhere, so they don't bother to show up here and instead go straight to youtube, vimeo and other outlets (3) DVXUSER is only for old people, sort of like what happened to Friendster, Myspace, or even Facebook, it's all snapchat, vines and periscopes these days, nobody has time for old fashioned sites like DVXUSER, only old guys hang out here, young people have moved on (4) "Kids These Days" - no longer interested in the hard work of putting product together, pushing through projects to completion... shakes cane, puts on grandpa glasses "Get off my lawn, you darn kids!". Yes, I'm joking a bit, but...

Actually, I have no idea if any of the possibilities I outlined are even real - so I'd also like to know why it's so slow in this section these last couple of years. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

ALL ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

I think the whole Film Making thing died down because now that all this great equipment is really easily had - people are finding out that making movies, even short ones, is actually really HARD.

Writing a decent story that anyone would even want to watch, turning that into a screenplay, finding actors decent enough to pull it off, then editing and post.
That's actually a very tough combination to bring all together on one project. It's so hard that $Million dollar films with professional crews often fail at it.

Also I think there's something about today's electronically connected youth that lacks the interpersonal skills to get people PHYSICALLY together to collaborate on work as a team. Their loss.

On the flip-side, I have seen a LOT of great zero-budget to some-budget documentary work and nature films get posted at these forums.
 
well, reviving my old thread,
i finally decided to make it a short film, at least i can make the best of what i got, right?
anyway, here's my latest trailer:
 
This is with an unhacked GH2? I see it is a widescreen resolution, did you use a 1.33x anamorphic adapter or just crop the FHD.
 
Hey, how are you doin'? I remember you from years back, always loyal to the GH2 :)

Anyhow, good to hear you're still at it, and keeping a hand in these creative endeavors.

Re: feedback. About the trailer - the music is no good, חָבֵר. It's way too intense and overwhelms what you are trying to convey... it's hard to concentrate on the emotions, or the visuals when you got this thing blaring in your face... the music should be providing guidance and support to the emotions and story, and not try to be out in front killing everything. About the idea - it's good, חָבֵר. As best as I can undertand, he lost someone he loved, but that someone seems to have contacted him (perhaps from the grave?!). I like it. It has potential. About the visual execution - it's no good, חָבֵר. Partly down to editing, but the whole thing is just underwhelming, especially the framing. About the acting - it's good, חָבֵר. The main actor has good presence, others harder to judge (not enough screen time), but in general it seems a cut above the usual low budget amateurs.

Hope this helps - and best of luck!

P.S. Don't be angry about my using: חָבֵר. I don't speak or write Hebrew, and only know a few words (but I do know some curse words!). My favorite word is גלידה, which I scream out in ice cream places here in Los Angeles, and then I pretend to be angry when they don't understand - I tell them that they must know the word for ice cream in an ice cream shop, in all important languages, of which Hebrew is #1 in Los Angeles. Anyway, now I feel like having some glida.
 
thanks for the feedback, חבר

interesting stuff to think about.
however, i totally disagree about the soundtrack.
EVERY trailer i see and edit, and i work at this for a living,
is blasted with music and SFX to enhance the feel for the trailer and make us understand what's needed.
maybe it's a matter of taste and you like to get a more delicate and intimate feel..

but since this is a psychological thriller, with not a lot of material to work with,
it's the best option to make it stand out and be convincing enough.

if you liked the story and you felt it's at least interesting for you, it's good.
not a lot can be done about the shots and editing (will open a bigger can of worms).
 
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I guess we'll agree to disagree - it's hard to argue taste, or as the wise put it "de gustibus non est disputandum". I'm not arguing that there shouldn't be music, just what kind of music. There's good and there's bad. The one here is - in my opinion - jarring and of poor quality.

But you know - what a director does is make constant decisions based on taste. And taste can't be taught, one either has it or not. My taste says "no", yours says "yes", but it's the audience that decides :)

Best of luck, and I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing!
 
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