Just shoot the damn thing!

Fortunately Stephen Hawking assures us that in fact a whole universe was created out of nothing.

So your production projects ought to be a snap, by comparison...
 
You completely lost me here:

Wilbur Eddings said:
...Even for next years' project i'll be looking for volunteers and students. One thing I learned was that the best way to find your key crews is to find those who are so passionate that they will consider just being involved to be payment. If the students or volunteers really shine, they have themselves a career!

A 6 mil budget is actually very small, you still have to be creative and proactive to get as much production value as you can.
Click to expand...
Replace the word passionate with "poor" and you'll still have the same thing.

If you have $6 million and you can't pay people to work for you a single cent, and can get away with it simply because people are poor and desperate, then shame on you. Are you planning on doing this with your locations? Getting them all for free? What about your catering and craft services? Gear rental? Insurance? Permits?

Imagine if I needed the electrical system fixed on my house and you were just getting your electrician's license and I told you that you should do it for free, and if you did a good job and shined you'd have yourselves a career? What if you were a young dentist? An attorney?

:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
 
snowleopard said:
You completely lost me here:


Replace the word passionate with "poor" and you'll still have the same thing.

If you have $6 million and you can't pay people to work for you a single cent, and can get away with it simply because people are poor and desperate, then shame on you. Are you planning on doing this with your locations? Getting them all for free? What about your catering and craft services? Gear rental? Insurance? Permits?

Imagine if I needed the electrical system fixed on my house and you were just getting your electrician's license and I told you that you should do it for free, and if you did a good job and shined you'd have yourselves a career? What if you were a young dentist? An attorney?

:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
Click to expand...

Ahh... I don't mean the entire crew, obviously all the traditional key crew get paid. I'm talking about students and beginners who want a break.

They get a crash course in film making and then jump in and help at their allocated positions.

I guess it's like getting a kind of 12 week college sponsorship and paying for your education while you learn by working your trade.

Lawyers do their Articles, Dentists pay off their loans... we all start somewhere.

how else do you get a break into the market other than starting as a runner or a volunteer? (Other than selling your house and making your own movie I mean).
One of the volunteer crews that helped me finish my first movie ended up going from movie to movie after that. It was a guy who built his own jib at home and wanted to build his reel. His entire team volunteered for a week! In that week, he met people he would never have met at wedding shoots or corporate shoots.
he was handing out business cards like crazy.
I was very grateful for his help and very happy for his good fortune thereafter.

Locations are usually exposure trade offs - I'll use the name of your shop or farm as is in the story if I can use it.

I never skimp on food. My crews usually pick up a few pounds during a shoot.
Food is fuel for your production machine!

I employ as many people as my budget will allow and then I creatively come up with trade offs for the rest of the team. Most times i actually INVENT responsibilities for people based on their skill-set and drive.


The great thing about a making movie is the massive job and training platform it can become. You can literally change an entire town with one production.
I think a movie with a $100 000 000 budget can have a fantastic impact on a location.


Alternately I could only have a crew that I can pay for? Thats a bit closed minded no?

I started out volunteering all over the place and it was some of the best times of my life. I was poor and desperate but I loved every moment and it launched my career. I remain grateful for every opportunity!

Bah. I talk too much.
 
Unpaid, but well fed, interns who come and go to learn are different. I got the impression that you had not intended on paying any of your crew/cast.
 
TAT Award ! (Totally awesome thread). :beer::beer::beer:

Would love to know the name someday.

As I understand it, rental demand attracted international distributors? Did you find them or they find you?
Through an agent? Love to hear more details on how this transpired.

Thanks for sharing !!
 
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pixelated said:
TAT Award ! (Totally awesome thread). :beer::beer::beer:

Would love to know the name someday.

As I understand it, rental demand attracted international distributors? Did you find them or they find you?
Through an agent? Love to hear more details on how this transpired.

Thanks for sharing !!
Click to expand...

Well, we were approached by one or two one man band distributors but we had been pitching to some international names of good repute. None really liked our movie initially and fobbed us off. Once we had the rental numbers we went back to them and showed them that even tough it wasn't the best movie ever made, it still hit it's target.

In the end, if your movie does not strike an Artistic or even 'professional' chord with the Distributors, you need to make it attractive on another level. Distributors and Investors are not non-profit organizations. They don't give a Rats Ass about what is cool and what is not. All they want to know is: "Will I make money?".
 
Really interesting thread - I, too, would love to know the name of the film - May even rent it so you get a royalty, if you tell!

Keep up the dream!
 
An insight a friend of mine (a DP) shared with me today:

"If you cannot tell a story using the cheapest, crappest camera on the market, you are not a storyteller."

That thought really challenged me.
 
Wilbur Eddings said:
An insight a friend of mine (a DP) shared with me today:

"If you cannot tell a story using the cheapest, crappest camera on the market, you are not a storyteller."

That thought really challenged me.
Click to expand...

That's probably true, come to think of it. The story should stand on its own, if necessary.
 
elsmama said:
That's probably true, come to think of it. The story should stand on its own, if necessary.
Click to expand...

His comment made me think today, but really THINK about film making like I've never thought before. My friend is a very meticulous fellow, he specializes in high budget 30" TVC's. He told me today that he sets up a shot ie. blocks it and lights it so that it looks spectacular on any camera (including cellphones) on set. Then he goes back to his Prime or whatever and tweaks it.

He has done tons of long form over about 30 years or so from 16mm to 35mm to Digital. His comment came when the two of us started bantering about a VG10 versus a Mysterium. (I love teasing the guy, he's such a RED fanboy ;) )

Sometimes the pressure of getting the right 'look' and shot eats away at your story. His statement really hit me between the eyes!
 
I like that statement and would generally agree with it. People watch for content, not technique by about a 99/1 ratio. Even when it comes to gear, as I have said about 100x on this message board and elsewhere, as the old saying goes, it's the carpenter, not the tools.

How did the VG10 come into the equation? Seems like a good cam for events, like concerts, sporting events, etc. where you may need long or short lenses, but I wouldn't shoot a film with it. Just not enough filmmaking features compared to others in it's class. And I believe it's only 29.97. But still, the answer is content.
 
snowleopard said:
I like that statement and would generally agree with it. People watch for content, not technique by about a 99/1 ratio. Even when it comes to gear, as I have said about 100x on this message board and elsewhere, as the old saying goes, it's the carpenter, not the tools.

How did the VG10 come into the equation? Seems like a good cam for events, like concerts, sporting events, etc. where you may need long or short lenses, but I wouldn't shoot a film with it. Just not enough filmmaking features compared to others in it's class. And I believe it's only 29.97. But still, the answer is content.
Click to expand...

I'm getting the VG10 to practice my DP skills (been dependent on DP's until now, want to understand lenses and stuff intimately).
I'm getting an AF100 when it comes out and then either a Mysterium or an Alexa when I am comfortable in my experiential knowledge.

On set I've been telling DP's to switch lenses until I like the 'look'. I would much prefer to say "I want the 35" or "Gimme da 50".

SO I'll be shooting a helluva lot of my own (just me) shorts and stuff until August 2011.
Writing, shooting,editing... getting down and dirty. I've got the time so imma use it wisely.

Anyway, I have a good laugh comparing the VG10 or an iPhone 4 to 35mm or the RED with some industry pros. They go nuts when I do it. Fire for effect!
"VG10 is better than 35mm", then stand back and watch the fireworks.

heh heh
 
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