One man films...
- Thread starter Ewan L
- Start date
vincent6805
Member
From an actors POV I would seriously delve into as deep a history as possible for the character. A good example of how well this works is watching the Special Features of Collateral, Michael Mann's film. Cruise talks about how in depth Mann's character history went, and not just for him, but for every character, even if that actor is saying, "Stop!"
As a writer, I love doing this. It really helps in the development of a story. Actors love the hell out of it...And then as a director, I urge them to create their own history, and not to share that with the other actors. It really give them business.
It sounds like a fun project...Not all that different from a One Man/woman show. Good luck, Peace out.
As a writer, I love doing this. It really helps in the development of a story. Actors love the hell out of it...And then as a director, I urge them to create their own history, and not to share that with the other actors. It really give them business.
It sounds like a fun project...Not all that different from a One Man/woman show. Good luck, Peace out.
Lee Stokes
Member
Thanks Vincent.
I haven't heard of much one man feature films so I'm going to give it a go
Wait... a feature with only one actor? Is that what you mean?
I was going to suggest that if you only had one character, to keep your film short.
Lee
Ewan L
Active member
Yes, I'm going to do a short. But I'm going to have to conquer a feature at one point, and I have no one really willing to help me, or take it seriously. So I'll have to do something with it.
homestar_kevin
Well-known member
I think my favorite recent example, although it's a bit loose, is Moon
Ewan L
Active member
Is it a feature?
Lee Stokes
Member
Okay, got it... yeah, one man short for experience, while you pull resources for a future feature, that makes more sense.
I agree that if you don't have the help you'd like, to go ahead and make something anyways. It's not ideal, but beats sitting around doing nothing.
Lee
jghenderson
Well-known member
Watch the film 'Buried'. There are phone conversations and a video of another person seen on the main characters phone, but it is essentially a "one man" movie, and it's brilliant. That being said, having a film with just one character and a film made completely by one person are very different. Even though Buried only had one main character, i'm sure the film still had a decent sized crew.
The real issue with doing everything by yourself is production value. You can't really act and watch the camera at the same time, so if you're wanting to do any kind of decent framing and shot composition you're going to be really frustrated. Also obviously your camera will always be locked down and the lack of movement might make the film stale.
However instead of just accepting that, I say use your situation to your advantage. Perhaps come up with a story that involves a guy and a webcam. Doing something like that will give legitimacy to the work because the lack of movement or quality has a purpose in the story. This is actually a problem lots of amateur filmmakers have, I think. They try to make big budget movies with nothing, instead of using their limitations as guides to creating a great film.
Bottom line though, make something!
The real issue with doing everything by yourself is production value. You can't really act and watch the camera at the same time, so if you're wanting to do any kind of decent framing and shot composition you're going to be really frustrated. Also obviously your camera will always be locked down and the lack of movement might make the film stale.
However instead of just accepting that, I say use your situation to your advantage. Perhaps come up with a story that involves a guy and a webcam. Doing something like that will give legitimacy to the work because the lack of movement or quality has a purpose in the story. This is actually a problem lots of amateur filmmakers have, I think. They try to make big budget movies with nothing, instead of using their limitations as guides to creating a great film.
Bottom line though, make something!