Moving into production, now we have a problem

Mattykins

Mattykins

Cute Member
Hello all!

I am a frequent reader here, seldom post. I typically say I am going to be in film fests, but then I can't follow through. Took a while to get enough together to get a DVX, then the rules allowed all cameras, so I bought an HV20. Then we missed Spy Fest, but that is okay. We have been entering the On The Lot online stuff. We got 10th on the first week, then we dropped out as the contest was getting really crappy, and was totally unfair to everyone. But that's aside the point.

So here is the thing, I am getting ready to go off to college to study film and cinema and myself and my friends want to have one final film back home. The problem however arises in the actual execution of the film. Several scenes call for a near disaster area in a metropolitan area. Think opening of 28 days later. Minus the infected and such, as well as the destruction. Basically we are looking for a vacant city street, that would normally have traffic on it. Several stalled vehicles and sheer emptiness.

Now, I am expecting to hear several answers. I can tell you that we intend on contacting the city somehow to see if this can indeed be pulled off. I have never done anything like this before. So who exactly would we need to touch base with? I assume the police and such of the city. How would we present the reason to shut down a few intersections for moments at a time? Would we need to pitch the film and show them what we want to do to see if it is even feasible? I guess a lot of this is wishful thinking. We have two stories that are the same. One is 30min long, the other a full feature. We have 66 Days to do everything from get the script back on it's feet to wrapping post production. It is sounding like it will be a fun game. But I don't know if we can pull it off.

Where would you recommend going for funding and such? I am pretty excited about the project, just I am beginning to wonder if we can do it. Regardless of the fact, I intend on keeping the board up to date on the film. All 66 Days of it.

Till later,

-Matt
 
Contact your local Film Commission. They'll probably walk you through some of the steps, give you literature of all the fees, permits and stuff....maybe point you guys to a part of town that's dead on a Sunday morning.
http://www.shoots.com/crew/a/fc02.html

If you have a lot of money, you can do anything (well, almost).
 
Well right off the bat you say you don't follow through so I would say rewrite the script to match what you think you would really do instead of some grand thing that will probably be really hard to pull off but can be used as an excuse if you don't get anything done. Thats just my 2cents from what you start your post with.
 
I think you need to take a more DV Rebel approach to this. Shoot several plates of the areas you want in off peak hours then composite them together to just be empty. You can photoshop some of the buildings to be damaged and add some smoke and stuff. Then do your scene in an out of the way alley.
 
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Oh, sorry, you misunderstood.

I was trying to enter horror fest and then Spyfest. Horror fest I couldn't because I was lacking a DVX. Then with Spyfest we had a script. Loved it, so we made it a 15min deal rather than the 6min timelimit. We wanted to shoot an actual entry but never got around to it since we were hyper-excited about the On The Lot deal, which sucked, so we pulled out. What is the point in spending 5days to toss a film out if it won't even be judged.

That is my ill-fated attempts at DVXUser fests. But I don't know, I need to talk it up with the rest of my crew a little now to see if we want to go that route, or fall back on another script, same basic story, just set in the early years of civilization to use it as a near trailer for the full version of the story. We shall see. But regardless of what the story is, we will have something done in 66 days.

And thanks, I don't see any Film commissions in our area, but I will contact the chair of our local film festival to see if he knows anything.
 
uhm ... I think you are talking to Aram and not me ... so ... ok ...
but ... you are not getting anything shut down
not without paying
I promise
rewrite your script
or do something like I mentioned in my post.
Best of luck with your production :beer:
 
I'm not sure if this is the case for your city but in San Jose you can get the police to block off a road for you while you film. I believe the price is around $300/hour. Obviously they're not going to do it at a major intersection but if it's a relatively quiet road then it might be possible for you.

Hey, I just noticed that the post counter is back!
 
Let us know what city you are in or is nearest to you. There may be people here that can help. Information on filming varies by city so a little more information can help someone here lead you better.
 
jade8472 said:
I'm not sure if this is the case for your city but in San Jose you can get the police to block off a road for you while you film. I believe the price is around $300/hour. Obviously they're not going to do it at a major intersection but if it's a relatively quiet road then it might be possible for you.

Hey, I just noticed that the post counter is back!
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you will need production insurance for that @ about $600 to $800 a week
 
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Thanks for the help. Yeah, it's an ambitious project. But I just figured that a few people here would be able to at least be nice about it. Maybe I do have high expectations. I came here for help, not to be told I am an idiot for thinking I can pull this off. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 
Mattykins said:
I just figured that a few people here would be able to at least be nice about it. Maybe I do have high expectations. I came here for help, not to be told I am an idiot for thinking I can pull this off. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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several people did offer suggestions. who is calling you an idiot?
 
i remember reading an article about 28 days later (i still haven't seen the film) that said they had like up to 7 cameras rolling for a few minutes during day break on Sunday morning and from all the cameras got enough footage of a desolate London(?) to use for the entire scene/movie (however long the city was desolate)

if i were you i'd try to shoot the desolate city part first to see if it can be pulled off since it sounds like an important part of the film, then maybe film the scene before or after that part and put a rough cut together and see how it turns out before you jump in with both feet for your first feature. if that turns out well then you'll have an idea for what the full picture will be like and give you a confidence boost as well, and if it doesn't turn out well i'd suggest a script re-write or sit down and analyze what worked and what didn't and then keep re-shooting that part until you get it right
 
I don't think anyone's trying to tell you you're an idiot, just that you may have unrealistic expectations. A lot of us went through long, long phases of having unrealistic expectations, so it's not like we're trying to dash your spirits for fun. You've chosen an incredibly expensive career/hobby. The key is to realistically address what you can achieve.

Jack is right. There is no major city anywhere in America that's going to let you close several major intersections for free. It just won't happen. Sorry. If you really have no money, then you already know that you need to start looking at alternate approaches:

#1 - get money
#2 - figure out another way to shoot it so you can fake it
#3 - do it with visual effects
#4 - rewrite the scene so you can do it

Those are the options. Unless you know some really influential people or are the pluckiest, most charismatic kid in town, there's no way to make this shot happen practically for you. I know. I've tried. So focus on what you can do. If you simply absolutely MUST have this shot, it's probably already cheaper for you to find some aspiring VFX whiz-kid who needs a cool shot for his reel than it is to continue trying to shoot it. Will you have to make some compromises? Yep, probably.

Compromise is what this game is all about. Pick your battles carefully.
 
A whole lot's gonna depend on where you are and just exactly what you need to do. Anytime you need to get official involvement there's a whole gamut of cya that has to be addressed. Unless you really need total exclusive use of a street for a set period of time, there's a whole lot of empty asphalt most places around 5 AM...

What they don't officially know they don't have to officially worry about. We've just shot several such scenes by using scouts with those cheapie walkie talkies and cell phones to give us advance warning of incoming traffic. A little stealth and creativity can accomplish much. Best wishes & good luck
 
It's called 'digital matte painting'. Get up real early, get some footage and high-res stills of the mostly empty streets (get footage of your actors walking down the middle of the road whilst it's empty), then photoshop them into complete emptiness. Add in some overturned cars, damage to buildings and some vfx smoke and viola! desolation.

That's a relatively easy way to go about it, and you can fairly simply do it as a test before you do any other shooting to see whether it is in fact possible to get the shots you want.

As for the 28 Days Later stuff, they had 7 cameras running because they did have the streets shut down, and they only had a very limited time to get the shots they needed.
 
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