FEATURE: DEUCE OF SPADES - How I made a period full feature film all by myself on ZERO budget
- Thread starter Deuceofspades
- Start date
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Thank you RemyRadio! I try hard... Very hard... Maybe a little too hard... I've been having heart palpitations and skip and was pretty sure I was going to drop dead last friday, as I was preparing the set for the shoot. yet, I filmed all day sat and all day sunday and both of my days ended around 1AM, and I was up again at 6AM, and running around ALL day non stop. Ironically, no heart skips while working, I think my brain was too busy to communicate with my heart LOL.
But yeah, production has been kicking my ass and after one year and a half of filming every week-end without fail, plus a number of week days/night, on top of a day job, I think it is an understatement to say I am ready to be DONE and catch my breath a little.
Making this film was a heck lot more work than I had ever imagined, but I am very glad I stepped up to the plate and stuck with it because it was all so well worth it.
Ted Spencer
Veteran
Faith...please...listen to your heart (literally). Those palpitations are a warning. Take a weekend off, ok? Please?
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
be safe Faith...
Robert Eldon
Well-known member
Faith, you better listen to your heart and your supporters.
"Put the camera down... and step away from the camera".
I think everyone wants you to succeed, but not at the expense of your health. Hopefully, you can make the final stretch with calm and good health and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. I know, easier said than done.
Humor us and go see a doctor... please.
Best Regards,
Robert
"Put the camera down... and step away from the camera".
I think everyone wants you to succeed, but not at the expense of your health. Hopefully, you can make the final stretch with calm and good health and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. I know, easier said than done.
Humor us and go see a doctor... please.
Best Regards,
Robert
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Hi Robert
Well, I just took a BIG nap and tonight I am going to watch a movie , here at home. I've had heart skips on and off for about 10 years now, so nothing new here, but these were more powerful, enough to make you feel like you are going to black out within about 1 second of the skip.
OYE.
The good news is I AM NOW OVER THE HUMP. All the big shoots are now BEHIND ME and it is downhill from here, no more pedalling up hill.
Thank you for your concerns and yes, this week I am taking it 'easy'. I intend to nap a lot and sleep and catch up on lost Zzzzzzzs. Hopefully this will help.
Well, I just took a BIG nap and tonight I am going to watch a movie , here at home
. I've had heart skips on and off for about 10 years now, so nothing new here, but these were more powerful, enough to make you feel like you are going to black out within about 1 second of the skip.OYE.
The good news is I AM NOW OVER THE HUMP. All the big shoots are now BEHIND ME and it is downhill from here, no more pedalling up hill
.Thank you for your concerns and yes, this week I am taking it 'easy'. I intend to nap a lot and sleep and catch up on lost Zzzzzzzs. Hopefully this will help.
Jokerswild
Well-known member
Faith...You have a doctor right? You are a smart gal so as has been previously mentioned, don't ignore this. I just took the summer off from my documentary film as it was starting to "get to me" but come this Fall, I will be back at it. The subject matter and some of the politics of some of the groups involved was creating undue stress. Plus, the principal in the film died two months ago. The filming of him was completed but unfortunately he will never get to see the film completed. Just figured a couple months off would be a good thing.
www.powmiafilm.com
www.powmiafilm.com
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Ah man I am sorry... I had a similar experience with MONK, my ol' timer friend. I wrote a scene in the film with him as a character since day one and planned to film it and a week before time came to film it, he died. Granted, I had cast an actor to play him, but it was a shock. Losing Monk a week before imortalizing him in the film... And to know he would never see it... It was hard filming the scene a few days after finding out he had died, and not choke up as I sat there, watching an actor tell the story that Monk had told me a long time ago...
That's the thing about working with old timers. Life is fragile. Live it while you can.
Deuceofspades
Veteran
SCREENGRABS
Here is the next batch of screengrabs from my flashbacks.
YOU CAN SEE SNIPITS OF THIS SCENE PLUS BEHIND THE SCENE INTERVIEW WITH BETTIE'S PARENTS HERE:
http://vimeo.com/5306690
This scene was filmed from 7PM until 4AM following another day shoot. Ouch. I was very blessed that my actors were hard core supportive. So was my car owner. He helped on the set all night. I had spotted his stock ford at a parade my deuce was in and had invited him to participate in a shoot with his car. A year and a half later, here we were.
below: I found that lighting classic cars at night is real hard because they have quite a bit of chrome on them and light, invariably, will reflect... Especially when you don't have a budget and only have a couple 1K to light everything OUCH. Th elack of lights caused a soft image, I was at 1/24 iris open all the way and we barely had enoug lights to pull it off. Anotehr problem was that the 1930's original house had very poor power and more than 2K was blowing the fuses... Ouch X 2
Bettie's parents come home and Johnny sneaks out over the wall of the side porch to avoid being seen.
Bettie's mother is not a fool and a confrontation errupts
Bettie is sporting a nice hickie on her neck so there is no more denying.
Bettie's father doesn't say much. The wife is already doing all the taking...
Meanwhile, outside, Johnny is pushing his deuce, which was hidden by the side of the house, and quietly bailing. Not before overhearing the rather heated argument inside... He knows he will never win Bettie's mother over.
We had a couple people push the deuce from behind, while Tim pretented to push it from the windshield post. It worked out real well.
YOU CAN SEE SNIPITS OF THIS SCENE PLUS BEHIND THE SCENE INTERVIEW WITH BETTIE'S PARENTS HERE:
http://vimeo.com/5306690
Here is the next batch of screengrabs from my flashbacks.
YOU CAN SEE SNIPITS OF THIS SCENE PLUS BEHIND THE SCENE INTERVIEW WITH BETTIE'S PARENTS HERE:
http://vimeo.com/5306690
This scene was filmed from 7PM until 4AM following another day shoot. Ouch. I was very blessed that my actors were hard core supportive. So was my car owner. He helped on the set all night. I had spotted his stock ford at a parade my deuce was in and had invited him to participate in a shoot with his car. A year and a half later, here we were
.below: I found that lighting classic cars at night is real hard because they have quite a bit of chrome on them and light, invariably, will reflect... Especially when you don't have a budget and only have a couple 1K to light everything OUCH. Th elack of lights caused a soft image, I was at 1/24 iris open all the way and we barely had enoug lights to pull it off. Anotehr problem was that the 1930's original house had very poor power and more than 2K was blowing the fuses... Ouch X 2
Bettie's parents come home and Johnny sneaks out over the wall of the side porch to avoid being seen.
Bettie's mother is not a fool and a confrontation errupts
Bettie is sporting a nice hickie on her neck so there is no more denying.
Bettie's father doesn't say much. The wife is already doing all the taking...
Meanwhile, outside, Johnny is pushing his deuce, which was hidden by the side of the house, and quietly bailing. Not before overhearing the rather heated argument inside... He knows he will never win Bettie's mother over.
We had a couple people push the deuce from behind, while Tim pretented to push it from the windshield post. It worked out real well.
YOU CAN SEE SNIPITS OF THIS SCENE PLUS BEHIND THE SCENE INTERVIEW WITH BETTIE'S PARENTS HERE:
http://vimeo.com/5306690
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El Director
Veteran
I don't know if this will help, but I've been shooting greenscreen on a zero budget for six years using only two shop lights. I can get a pretty even lighting, but the real trick is to load the footage into Vegas and use a secondary color corrector to saturate and boost only your green values. The add the chroma key filter into the chain. Hope it helps.
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Thank you for sharing yoru recipe with us
. I think chris will be doing this shot for me, and I hope to learn from it.
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Deuceofspades
Veteran
HEY GUYS! GUYS!
I JUST edited the beginning of my film... As in, the first images and sounds the audience will hear when they hit the PLAY button on their DVD players...
That was a really coooool feeling.
I now will start editing the entire film, in sequence. I suspect the moment where I get to bridge the 5th modern day scene to my first fashback is going to be yet another cornerstone moment.
As you know the flashbacks are pretty much already edited and make up for the bulk of my film...
For the first time, I feel like I am actually going to FINISH this film (soon!)
Very exciting!
I JUST edited the beginning of my film
... As in, the first images and sounds the audience will hear when they hit the PLAY button on their DVD players...That was a really coooool feeling.
I now will start editing the entire film, in sequence. I suspect the moment where I get to bridge the 5th modern day scene to my first fashback is going to be yet another cornerstone moment.
As you know the flashbacks are pretty much already edited and make up for the bulk of my film...
For the first time, I feel like I am actually going to FINISH this film (soon!)
Very exciting!
Robert Eldon
Well-known member
HEY GUYS! GUYS!
I JUST edited the beginning of my film
That was a really coooool feeling.
I now will start editing the entire film, in sequence. I suspect the moment where I get to bridge the 5th modern day scene to my first fashback is going to be yet another cornerstone moment.
As you know the flashbacks are pretty much already edited and make up for the bulk of my film...
For the first time, I feel like I am actually going to FINISH this film (soon!)
Very exciting!
Faith,
That is incredibly exciting! I'm sure it provides that extra boost that you need to get to the finish line.
Congratulations on another amazing milestone in your journey! Can't wait to see it... soon?
Deuceofspades
Veteran
Stuck here at work... Can't wait to get home so I can go back to editing, Scene #2 ))....
Weeheee... This rocks!
))....Weeheee... This rocks!
Matt Sconce
Veteran
Stuck here at work... Can't wait to get home so I can go back to editing, Scene #2
Weeheee... This rocks!
Me Too! I totally understand!
Nektonic
Veteran
Glad to see that you have this coming together. I'm not a classic car fan per se, but I love the 50's period and your film looks like it is shot really well, so I would love to see this when you get it done. Looks like you have a solid film on your hands.
Are you going to hit the festivals or self-distribute on DVD?
Are you going to hit the festivals or self-distribute on DVD?
El Director
Veteran
Awesome!
teresadecher
Active member
"Basically I will: Write the script, cast the actors, scout the location, secure the props, wardrobe, haul the gear, do the lighting, set-up the camera and shoot, pull my own focus, do all my shots myself, direct, monitor the sound, do the wardrobe hair and make up as well as special effect make up and FX, I will also edit and compose the soundtrack"
Wow that is really impressive! I watched the teasers and the footage looked awesome. The period stuff was super cool and really authentic. Good job and good luck with the rest of your film!
Wow that is really impressive! I watched the teasers and the footage looked awesome. The period stuff was super cool and really authentic. Good job and good luck with the rest of your film!
Martay
Veteran
Stuck here at work... Can't wait to get home so I can go back to editing, Scene #2
Weeheee... This rocks!
I think most of us know that feeling...I'm at work but tonight I'll be spending all night on the set of BATTLE...day 1 of my new feature going into production (producer/writer).
have fun editing tonight, I know we'll have fun shooting.
-M