DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

P

parasite

Active member
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http://www.EastOfSunset.com/video
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EAST OF SUNSET will be screening at
METHODFEST April 2005 in Los Angeles
http://www.methodfest.com/index.htm

The 7th annual The Method Fest Independent Film Festival in Calabasas, Ca., the only U.S. film festival to put its focus on breakout acting in story-driven independent films will be screening EAST OF SUNSET.

The dysfunctional drama stars Emily Stiles as a pill-addicted twentysomething who lives a life of pills, dive bars and uncommitted sexual encounters. When she meets up with Jim, an artist with a secret, she is unexpectedly forced to face her avoidance of intimacy, her drug use, and ultimately herself.

This music-driven project written by Heather Miller and directed by Brian McNelis showcases the early songs of Tom Waits' career. The films soundtrack consists entirely of covers of songs written by Waits in his early years from 1973 through 1983. Among the artists who have covered Waits songs that are featured in the film are Lydia Lunch, Frente, Drugstore, Pete Shelley, Alex Chilton, and Lee Rocker, as well as on-camera performances, songs and adapted score elements by critically-acclaimed San Francisco slo-core band [the] caseworker.

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http://www.EastOfSunset.com/video
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Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

You mean the Australian band Frente!? With lead singer Angie Hart? I didn't know they had a following in the US. Guess they managed to break through in the states afterall.
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

wow. looks like a mucho lotto talented people worked hard, and it payed off. comes off pro/simipro, hard to say until i see the whole movie. can't wait.
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

Thanks!

Yeah - there's a lot of covers of Waits songs out there. The Frente song has a key moment in the film. The music video is not color corrected to match the final film, so I may put up a before/after color correction version. What a difference it makes.

There's also more stuff on the film here, including a rough trailer:
http://www.parasiteproductions.com/eos_trailers/
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

The footage looks great! Nice moody trailer (actually, just read it's a music video). Share some production notes from this, please. What was your budget, how many cameras, in camera settings, etc.

Nicely done. Best of luck at the festival.
 
Re: DVX FEATURE (Production Notes)

Re: DVX FEATURE (Production Notes)

-SOME PRODUCTION NOTES:

ok, and I'll try to repost these in other areas where they'll be usefull.

the big ticket items:
+ $40k Feature
+ Shot in 12 Days (not continious)
See here:
http://www.blixafilms.com/dirmastersched.htm

some things to know wwhen doing a low-budget feature:
+ Write the Script to Fit the Budget
+ 3-4 interior locations
+ 2 Primary and 2 Supporting characters max
+ get a good / experienced DP (to make ou look good!)
+ get an AD you can trust (to make your days)
+ $PAY$ for a good, experienced LINE PRODUCER/UPM (to get the most from every dollar spent)
+ A Good Line Producer / UPM will have people they can call upon for low-Budget projects, who they trust, who will work cheap, to move up within their dept. This is essential in small films.

A WORD ABOUT SCREENWRITNG:
A couple basic pointers go a long, long, way. Good screenwriting is not hollywood, formula BS. It is solid three act structure that goes back to Aristotle. That said, try to do the following:
a) establish clearly what the protangonist wants (ie the goal of the protagonist) in the first 10-12 pages
b) conflict drives all drama. no conflict = no drama = no interest.
c) see "a" and "b" to create obstacles to the protagonist getting what they want.

that's all for now, I'm all ears, thanks for reading!

-b
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

Thanks so much for posting the info.
Of course, now this begs other questions:

How did you go about raising $40K?

Where did you find a majority of your money was spent?

You shot a feature length in 12 days, so how long was your average shoot day?

Thanks so much in advance.
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

Congratulations, the film looks great; now when will that DVD be available? :D
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

In the music video as the woman character is walking around the living room she fades out. How did you accomplish this effect without screwing with the lighting of the clip. I was trying something similar. What I was doing was layering my clips in FCPHD and making the top one 50% transparent but this makes the two layer clips as a whole darker and as you fade the top layer or whatever layer for that matter, the transition becomes apparent as everything lightens. What was your work around?
Thanks bro
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

ok -

about the money and the shooting schedule.

MONEY :
I was asked to direct by the executive producer who is a long time friend and business associate. he knew my work and the resonable success with BETTER LIVING THROUGH CIRCUITRY. You can look it up at Metacritic.com. I learned alot producing that film and spent my own money doing it ($350k). So he asked how much it would cost to do what he wanted, at first I said $20k, then revised to $40k. All said and done, with additional post costs, probably inching up around $60k.

SHOOTING DAYS:
Schedule 12 hour days, with 1hr lunches. Try not to go over. We used standard union rules. Be safe. Have fun. Making movies is hard enough, be real and be good to your crew and they will move mountains for you when the time comes.

-b
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

the dissolving character in the music video:

a continious transition is always 100%
1/99 -> 25/75 -> 50/50 -> 75/25 -> 99/1

I think trying to hold the 50/50 is what is messing you up. but as long as your locked down, the 50/50 should work revealing your character at 50%. the key is to shoot the room, then the character without any changes to the lighting environment. maybe show me the clip and I can be of more assitance?

-b.
 
Re: DVX FEATURE PLAYING LA FESTIVAL

Oh yeah, one last thing on money.

probably 80% on people 20% on resources, locations, etc.
I could be wrong as I didn't produce or line producer it. but in my
previous experience it's people that cost the most (crew). Even cast got paid,
no one obviously got paid a lot, but every got something fair within the scale of the production. Again, be fair with people and they'll move mountians for you when you need them to.

-b
 
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