Envision & RebeccaD Present "Where Silence Falls"

shawneous said:
Uh...Robert Rodriguez uses steadicam heavily. He only argued against the non-stop use of tripods, (though he said they are good for dialogue scenes). So don't misquote the man. Where Silence Falls uses mostly steadicam. It's ironic that you say to get rid of the steadicam in order to show movement. Perhaps you meant to post something different?
Click to expand...
No you got it right, thats what i meant. and sorry if it offended you, i dont mean to offend anyone.



And no you are wrong, robert rodriguez hate tripods and limit the use of steady cams that doesnt mean the guy dont use them. He once said this: "[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans serif][SIZE=-1]Look at it, this is a nice stand, its a very solid stand, y'know what's gonna happen? The camera is gonna stay on the stand, you're just gonna keep it there, 'cos its so nice, meaning your movie's gonna look...stiff. Take it off of there, sit in a wheelchair, push yourself around, get some energy in your film."[/SIZE][/FONT]

I recomend you to watch "Battlestar gallactica" on the SCIFI channel to see what i mean with using some camera movement to increase the tension of the story.
 
Last edited:
prisma, I appreciate your opinion & thoughts about the camera movement. Since this is a totally different subject matter and/or setting than 'Battlestar Gallactica', do you want to give some non-scifi examples of shows that better impliment handheld or wheel chair shots?

For me, these shorts are expiriments or trial runs for a feature ... in this case, specifically for a feature we're looking to shoot this summer, and since it will have little to no handheld for the majority of the film (steadicam for most of it, then dolly/crane shots ... very little tripod), it's also the same tactic we're taking with both this short, but also the next.

The more refinements & adjustments we can make now on these, the better the feature will be, or any feature we do for that matter.

Again, thanks for the insight.
 
Envision said:
prisma, I appreciate your opinion & thoughts about the camera movement. Since this is a totally different subject matter and/or setting than 'Battlestar Gallactica', do you want to give some non-scifi examples of shows that better impliment handheld or wheel chair shots?

For me, these shorts are expiriments or trial runs for a feature ... in this case, specifically for a feature we're looking to shoot this summer, and since it will have little to no handheld for the majority of the film (steadicam for most of it, then dolly/crane shots ... very little tripod), it's also the same tactic we're taking with both this short, but also the next.

The more refinements & adjustments we can make now on these, the better the feature will be, or any feature we do for that matter.

Again, thanks for the insight.
Click to expand...

I mentioned bettlestar gallactica because the camera movements increase the tension in the series. It feels like the camera guy is to tense or to nervous to keep the camera steady.

Here are some movie that will be helpful:

Henry: portrait of a serial killer (John McNaughton) Im sure these guys have a very bad steadicam sistem and never intended their film to look like that, but the matter of fact is that all that unintended movement of the camera help that film look really creepy. Specialy the scenes inside henry's car where he is stalking women.

Badlands (Terrence Malick) watch the scenes before the couple burn their parent's house and the close ups.

El mariachi (Robert Rodriguez) you can see all those creative shots that he was talking about.



My point is, if you want to hit the movie festivals with your film then reduce the use of the steady cam gear. If is a drama movie for a TV broadcaster (kind of a HBO movie or a disney type family movie) then i think is ok to use tripods and steady cam all the time and to avoid creative shots and artistic compositions since the intension will be to sell it inmediately to a cable company and usually this type of audience dont care about the artistic aspect of film. There is nothing wrong with it, but I would not expect to get any awards for a berbely hills 90210 type of film.

Just my opinion, i dont mean this is the way it should be. is just my way of look at it.
 
Last edited:
prisma said:
No you got it right, thats what i meant. and sorry if it offended you, i dont mean to offend anyone.

And no you are wrong, robert rodriguez hate tripods and limit the use of steady cams that doesnt mean the guy dont use them. He once said this: "[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans serif][SIZE=-1]Look at it, this is a nice stand, its a very solid stand, y'know what's gonna happen? The camera is gonna stay on the stand, you're just gonna keep it there, 'cos its so nice, meaning your movie's gonna look...stiff. Take it off of there, sit in a wheelchair, push yourself around, get some energy in your film."[/SIZE][/FONT]

I recomend you to watch "Battlestar gallactica" on the SCIFI channel to see what i mean with using some camera movement to increase the tension of the story.
Click to expand...

Well since now we are in the area of personal tastes, I have entirely different tastes than you do. I have seen Battlestar Gallactica and I think that show would be a lot better without all that sh*tty shaky camera stuff, it feels like their camera op came down sick and they just got the Channel 2 news guy instead. You mention limiting the use of steadicam. No way, I want to maximize the use of dolly work, steadicam work, cranes, jibs, etc. Why? Because it looks so damned professional and I crave that look. I know the whole Blair Witch thing is popular nowdays but it's a fad that will fade when people realize it's so much better to use dollys, cranes, steadicams and the like.

Also you keep mentioning that R Rodriguez limits the use of steadicam...no he doesn't! You keep bundling it in with tripods and then say to not use those two but instead move the camera...wha?? Putting in on the steadicam does move it around!

You and I are in agreement that the camera should be dynamic and moving, it just seems you prefer hand-held shaky cam and I prefer butter smooth track dolly, jibs and steadicams. I just prefer to not get nautious while watching a movie in a theater :)
 
Films are art. Pure and simple. I dont know which other way I can explain this to you. A film is a mixture of beautiful compositions, movement and shadows with a great story to bind all the elements together. Its not just about crames and tripods for gods sake. You can use all those nice techniques that you mention but then you will do what other people are already doing. So whats the point? you will not expereiment to discover your own style as a filmmaker.

The bottom line is this, and dont be ofended please, films are art, if you cant understand for example picaso's guernica and cry for its multiple dimensions of complexity then you cant be a real filmmaker. You can be a movie manufacturer like Speilberg or Lucas wich is totally diferent.

I wish you the best of lucks.
 
i personally adore the style of your film. The steadicam work was very well done and along with the adapter made it very cinematic.
i also agree with shawneous, i feel the same way too about that style in filmmaking. Just breahttaking, out of this world, shots that make the camera seem invisible because of its smooth dynamism.

I also adore the style of say, children of men. The handheld realism adds alot of tension, and it may have also worked for this film, but the fact is the director and dop chose to portray this story in this fashion. They did it, they executed it beautiful. The entire group deserves a round of applause for collectively creating such a fantastic short story.

Thanks for that sanders.
 
PaPa, thanks for the positive reinforcement on our film! I'm glad that you liked it so well, and it was certainly a film that we're all glad we were able to make, as not only did we enjoy the outcome (working through various post production challenges), but we had a wonderful time making it. Again, thank you.

prisma, I appreciate your feedback & thoughts, as well as your extremely passionate feelings on various subject matter. However, I personally can't stand a lot of Picaso's work, and don't feel that fact alone can determine whether or not I'm a real filmmaker.

I want to make movies that the masses love, not just subjective art that only a handful might appreciate. While I'm not saying I want to be a 'movie manufacturer' like Speilberg or Lucas, there appears to be a LARGE audience that loves what they do ... so I don't see that as a bad thing either.

I like to entertain people, and do it in ways that pleases me while also trying new techniques, ideas, etc. You mentioned getting things off of sticks/tripods ... you should check out WITHOUT PROVOCATION ... our SpyFest entry.
 
Official Acceptance into Niche Film Festival

Official Acceptance into Niche Film Festival

http://www.nichefestival.com/index.html

I thought you'd be interested to know that "Where Silence Falls" was one of only 19 films accepted, out of over 150 submissions (includes both features & shorts), for Portland's new Niche Film Festival. :) I just rec'd the phone call today.

Honestly, and this may surprise some, I've never been to a film festival in my life. Not once (nor have I ever submitted anything to one before). So, I guess this is a perfect time to try & experience some of it, buy some movie tickets, etc. and see what it's all about. :cheesy:
 
Norm, that's awesome, man! Congrats! :beer:

So when are you going to make your way down south to LaLa Land? Have some beers with the fellas? :)
 
Hey Norm, congrats on the festival! I haven't heard of it, so definitely give a report!

I'm not sure why you would refer to Spielberg as a 'movie manufacturer'. That guy is a f*cking genious and master of the cinema.
 
Thanks, Tommy! Not sure when I'll make it down to the LA area, but when I do, I'll let a bunch of you know, you can be sure! :beer:

Shawn, thanks. I honestly can't recall where I found out about that festival either. It may have been on WithoutABox ... at least that's where I submitted it to. Maybe MySpace ... who knows.

Anway, we'll see how it plays out. Since I've not attended a fest before, this will be a good reason to do so, and get my feet wet with the experience.

As far as the 'movie manufacturer', I was quoting prisma who had referred to them as such, which I took as him trying to make them sound negative (both Spielberg & Lucas). In a nutshell, I didn't want to get into an arguement about it with him, and said what I did.
 
I've screened at 3 festivals. The first one was the biggest disappointment imaginable. The entire audience was everyone I had invited, and the projectionist. Literally, not one person showed up for the 'festival'. So I hope it's a good experience!
 
Just rec'd notification that WHERE SILENCE FALLS is an official selection at the AOF Fest, and will be screening this year in Pasadena, somewhere between July 24th and July 31st.
 
For anyone attending the Action On Film Festival, in Pasadena, CA: Where Silence Falls will be screening on Monday, July 27th in the 6pm block, at Academy 4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top