Going Balls deep and shooting a feature.

Adam J McKay

Adam J McKay

Veteran
Hey guys

I am still relatively new to the forums, and realistically to filmmaking. But I am soon moving away from my hometown and feel there is a story that must be told before I do. I come from a small mining community in Northern Ontario, a suburb of Timmins essentially, and there are alot of interesting charecters here all with an endless amount of stories.

So I have decided to do a DVX 2 camera feature. The town is behind me %110 which helps a great deal. I am going to be posting a complete production blog, so that the other first time filmmakers can learn from my experience.

I will be full of questions in the next few months which im sure you will be able to answer. I could also use all the help I can get, so if anyone wants to volunteer services, IE reading the script, helping with production, etc. It would be greatly appreciated. We are hoping to shoot between Mid September to Mid October.

That's about it for now,
Just thought id share.

Adam McKay
 
Well, let me the first to wish you a bon voyage! You realize of course that this experience will shape your life like no other? It's one year to plan, one year to shoot, one year to edit and ten years to recover :-)

Having said that, "break a leg!"

And don't listen to everything people tell you, here or in any other forum. Most of the advice you get will be good, but some will be bad.

For example, you should be shooting 35mm if the whole town is behind you 110%. Tell 'em to put up the film and developing money. Then you'll have the film look, and if the film look isn't it when you get your movie for release, I'm developing some video-look plugins. I'll be selling them real cheap because there's no market for them yet. LOL

There I go, I put my foot in my mouth. Oops, I meant, I mispoke.

Just kidding. Good luck, man. I wish you great success and happiness.
 
How close it to Michigan because Ill be doing a feature pretty soon (scripts and story boards done, major actors casted), ao I have no prob exchanging services, shoot me a pm
 
Its not really a suburb in South Porcupine, but rather South Porcupine is a Suburb of Timmins. It is all technically Timmins, Ontario, however I live in a smaller community just outside of downtown. Like the Burnaby to Vancouver.

As far as how far away I am from Michigan? I am going to have to say about an 8 hour drive or so. But if I could manage to help you out I would. The next few months are just going to be amazingly hectic for me.

I am pumping out ideas like there is no tomorrow. This project is going to be from the heart. So hopefully audiences will agree with me when it's all said and done. I also have some pipe dream ideas about getting some big names to appear briefly in the film to add a small amount of marketability.

Again, thanks for the support. If anyone is in the area and wants to lend a hand, or even if your not in the area but would be willing to help out with some web design, animation etc let me know.


Thanks again


and again



and again.





Adam McKay
 
Could you tell us a little more about the story? If you're seriously planning to shoot this fall, then you're also seriously in a hurry. Don't forget the great script, while running. What I'm saying is that a little feedback on your actual idea might help you out, while also satisfying a certain amount of curiosity :)

Oh, and don't listen to anyone (including me) if you don't think they're right. Nobody ever got anywhere in filmmaking without ignoring an army of fools saying: "It's impossible".
 
For a story, I am doing what I swore I wouldn't do, as well as advised against doing to others. It is a coming of age esq story. About a kid who has spend his entire life in a small Northern Ontario mining town. His father is crippled due to a mining accident trying to provide for him and his son. The kid being confused and trapped inside a box he doesn't even know he is in, meets a girl from the "city". She unlike the boy comes from wealth and a "normal" family. Father ( a doctor ) Mother, brother. The girl however, is very unhappy with her current life as she doesnt really know her parents, they like to pay her off whenever she feels down.

The story is going to focus on the both the boy and the girls relationships first with their family and friends and then with each other.

Now this is an extremely vague and hardly set in stone story. I know it's last minute but I want to get this done and I am going to. I read that Rodriguez once completed a film in 6 months from first concept to the day of release in theatre. Yes I am not Rodriguez, but I am motivated and dedicated to the project. Time will tell.

p.s I have started a new page on youtube with a video blog of my adventures.
http://ca.youtube.com/user/thedvxexperiment
subscribe to the channel, help me out.
 
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You don't have a script yet?

So you mean you're going to shoot between Mid September to Mid October 2009, right?
 
No, I intend on shooting in 2 months. I also intend on writing the script in 3 weeks. To be honest this story is so personal that I don't really need to come up with anything. The movie is going to be made up of events that have taken place on my life or events that have taken place in my small little town, whether it be first hand experience or that of a friend of a friend. I have complete faith that I can do it. I also went to Univeristy of Ottawa for a year to study theatre where I met a very talented group of friends who are willing to help me out. I am going to try and do it with little to no budget, this film is really more of a learning experience then a legitimate attempt to get my name out there.

I figure I would rather spend 10 grand on a feature that goes no where, then give 10 grand to learn what aperture is at film school. Not that I have that amount of cash to spend on a film either.
 
zergtherobot said:
For a story, I am doing what I swore I wouldn't do, as well as advised against doing to others. It is a coming of age esq story. About a kid who has spend his entire life in a small Northern Ontario mining town. His father is crippled due to a mining accident trying to provide for him and his son. The kid being confused and trapped inside a box he doesn't even know he is in, meets a girl from the "city". She unlike the boy comes from wealth and a "normal" family. Father ( a doctor ) Mother, brother. The girl however, is very unhappy with her current life as she doesnt really know her parents, they like to pay her off whenever she feels down.

The story is going to focus on the both the boy and the girls relationships first with their family and friends and then with each other.
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so who's the protag? whats the goal and who/whats standing in their way or stopping them from getting it?

you may have more of a story, but from what you just posted sounds like a story about a girl and a guy just dealing with problems from their family. is that something you think people will be motivated to see? what successful movie would you say your story idea reminiscent of?

who's your target audience? what are your personal hopes and goals for the film?

not trying to be rude, but just throwing out some questions you may or may not have spent time developing yet. i get what events happen in your story, but it's kinda unclear what the concept is and if you have to ask what the difference between concept and story is then you may want to spend more than 6 months (or using that as an example) on script/filming like rodriguez....the difference between his project and yours so far is genre and a clear concept.

good luck wither way on your film man. i can tell you this, spend as much time on that story as possible because once you commit yourself to it by filming then that's going to be the thing that makes or breaks it. not what cam you shot on, the latest adapter, budget, or how many people you had on your crew.
 
zergtherobot said:
No, I intend on shooting in 2 months. I also intend on writing the script in 3 weeks. To be honest this story is so personal that I don't really need to come up with anything. The movie is going to be made up of events that have taken place on my life or events that have taken place in my small little town, whether it be first hand experience or that of a friend of a friend. I have complete faith that I can do it.
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careful it doesn't become episodic.
 
It becoming episodic is something I have thought about. But as I have said, this is incredibly loose. I will give a detailed overview of the story by the end of the week. And believe you me, I am not commiting to filming until I have the story I want to tell.

I am supposed to sit down tomorrow and spend a few hours with my partner in crime pumping out ideas, I am also filming a short this week. Going to be busy.

I appreciate everyone's conerns, advice etc. Keep it coming.

Adam Mckay
 
Wow i will be very impressed if you are able to pull this off.

It takes alot of people longer then 6 months to even write a quality script much less film a feature... especially when the script is a character driven drama, which it sounds like yours is. It is much easier to write a shoot em up or horror film in that short of time.

I wish you luck on this, I am one of the naive people that firmly believe you can do anything you set you your mind to so i think you can do it.

But i would seriously caution you to take every bit of time possible to write and re-write, your script... When working with little to no budget your script is key and the first draft is almost always horrible so i hope you have allotted some time to re-write.

Again I wish you luck and look forward to seeing how this production goes for you.
 
just wanted to throw this out there. if you've got the time, you might do well to mold the scenes as you shoot. definitely structure the story and scenes first, but maybe nix the written dialogue. i imagine you aren't pulling from a vast talent pool of actors and maybe using the locals as characters? if so, trying to adhere to lines might be difficult for them so perhaps just give them what their objective is for the scene. it could result in more believable performances. but that's going on the assumption you aren't casting professionals.
 
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Have fun!! There's all kinds of features out there that are budget. You don't have to be a Spielberg to shoot 90 minutes. You will learn alot and then most important.. ..PREMIERE THAT BABY AND HAVE ALL THE ACTORS INVITE THEIR FAMILIES ETC..SELL A FEW DVDS AND POSTERS AND RECOUP SOME DOE.
 
..and then move onto your next project. Some give up after a feature..I haven't..it's a schooling..it seems response on this forum makes you think.."it's all or nothing"..Of course you are not going to get theatrical distribution..but you can sure get on the internet and get some things going. I know a guy who made one feature a month in different towns across America last year. I went to a premiere of one of the films..it ran 90 minutes and the place was packed and he made some money back on DVDs etc. The movie sucked..but he was out there doing it. Kind of a joke..but he's still doing the stuff
 
Zak Forsman said:
just wanted to throw this out there. if you've got the time, you might do well to mold the scenes as you shoot. definitely structure the story and scenes first, but maybe nix the written dialogue. i imagine you aren't pulling from a vast talent pool of actors and maybe using the locals as characters? if so, trying to adhere to lines might be difficult for them so perhaps just give them what their objective is for the scene. it could result in more believable performances. but that's going on the assumption you aren't casting professionals.
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Deffinately not casting pros. One of the friends I have from theatre was also on a very good improve team. And since I am planning on casting with people from my town they will be able to bring alot of their own experiences, emotions and conversations to the table. I am still going to write and re write a script as to give them a good idea as to where I want it to go, but ultimately I am going to let them do their own thing. However as crazy as it sounds, I am not ruling out any sort of genre just yet. It may end up being a low budget slasher flick, I am going to go over it heavily with the other people involved this week. Hopefully by next weekend we will have a solid story in place.

And I really appreciate the encouragement and the fact that most people dont think it can be done, and if they do, im sure your thinking it can be done well. So that gives me all the more motivation to get it done and get it done well. Like I said, I am not hoping for even any real distribution deal. Maybe, at the very most am unpaid showing on CBC. Because if I spend up to 10 grand on this out of pocket, it will have equaled what I would have spent doing an intro to filmmaking course at college.

I am fortunate enough to have a family that backs me and my descision, although they are in no place to do it financially, the moral support goes a long way.

Thanks again to everyone,
 
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