FEATURE: Rise of the Beast-the new feature from STARS Pictures

I wish you the best El.

I myself am not a fan of the shaky camera style, but I am a believer that story comes first. To make a good movie every aspect is important, but the script is the foundation. You can hire the best crew and get the best equipment there is, but if you foundation is weak, your picture will be also. I will sit through bad editing or lighting, or camera movement if the story is good. I won't sit through the best lighting in the world if the story don't hold my attention.

I am probably the least experienced film maker commenting here, but you don't have to be a Einstein to realize that if someone put that kind of financing behind your project, they must feel you have a great script. I don't think a investor would say, "I don't care about the script, what kind of tripod are you using?"

I don't care for the 'proof of concept' because of the shaky camera style, (which is kind of funny because I named our production company Shaky Camera Productions, but for a different reason) but it don't matter weather I like it or not because it already did the job it was intended to do. Like it or not, it along with your script is worth $500,000 to someone.
I also don't like to make negative comments on this forum because I don't feel we are ever given enough to go on. A feature film is 90 minutes or more. It seems a little silly to judge the project by a small clip or a couple of screen grabs.
 
I keep my criticism on the light side always when I'm on this forum. I agree with all the opinions expressed -- to varying degrees.

Brandon has always been very constructive in his comments. I personally think that he likes this project and would sincerely like to see it come out as a good film, a film that can be marketed successfully.

On the other hand, I like to shoot my no-budget movies all by myself, and I end up sometimes missing some points. Nate has given me some excellent assistance with my trailers and even designed a great book cover for my book FILMMAKING A TO Z. It's actually selling better on Amazon.com

Criticism is really great, and we should welcome it. When people don't comment, it's usually a sign that they don't like the movie at all. At least that's what I think. I prefer to ask for criticism and not just "constructive criticism." Because that kind of says someone only wants to hear compliments.
 
I wish him the best of luck,

500 grand is no super budget, its certainly enough to get serious with, but also a big risk, you can have the best actors, crew, equipment in the world, but the director needs to know the language of film making to translate his vision to his team.

That is my point, its not candy coated i know, but its honesty, El needs to go to some classes, where he can learn from Industry people, Instead of learning what he did wrong after his 500 grand has been and gone.

to have a budget to work with, is a real opportunity, and you owe it to yourself to make the best of it.

500 or so people have watched the clip, and declined to give any feedback.
All im saying is, I learnt the most from people that were honest with me, and by being super critical of myself.
 
My apologies to all if I had a bad tone today, just been one of those days. lol
I do very much appreciate criticism, I guess my issue was that I never posted the teaser with the intention of it being criticized. Live and learn right? In any case, we're getting a good crew together to make the most of the funds, and make sure the film can be the best it can. As I've said, I'll be toning down the shaky cam a bit. Actually, if you jump toward the end of vlog 03 on eldirector.ning.com (14:57 is where it starts) that's another example in regards to the camera work (it's a proof of concept for the proof of concept). The parts I like of that version is the "pickle" bit where the kid skids to a stop. Mix both vids together and I think that's a better idea. I would've re-shot the real proof of concept, but I had to return the camera and the actors were unavailable.
So again, thank you all for your comments, and I hope you'll all continue to follow this journey.

-El
 
Last edited:
I think the movie will be fine. Tighten up the fights, lay off the shaky cam and get the acting on point. Three major things. I'd do this before I show the proof to investors. Also get all that stuff I sent you on Facebook be sure to grab Stu's book. I wish I had that when I was doing my first two films. It's really helpful. And get those two cinematography books. And if you get that Red that's awesome, but if not, use the Canon A1 they used in Crank 2.

-Nate
 
Hey Nate, thanks again for all the info =) Much appreciated!

I'm now completely sold on shooting Red. The Scarlet S35 is scheduled to come out two months before we start shooting, and if it gets delayed, we'll be using the Scarlet 2/3. I figured I'd better start learning the post workflow for R3D files and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is with Vegas 9. I found some R3Ds online and have been playing with them. Just import and edit. Even my six year old computer handles the 2k with little issues. One of the really neat things I'm excited about is that I can actually make changes to the image without extra rendering time. Exposure, ISO, Color Temp, Saturation and more-- all the settings that you would tweak in the camera, if you find out that you're slightly off, Vegas lets me change the clip properties to fix the problem. Since it's at the clip level and not an effect, there's no extra rendering or processing needed.
 
You'd think one would put more effort into the "proof concept" than the actual film, seeing as how this is supposed to reel in the investors. The angles where without consideration, and plenty of the shots where overexposed. Not to talk about the extreme shakiness. These are all rookie things - You're supposed to know how to handle all of this since way back. Now, the way I see it, a lot of people go sloppy when shooting. I use to say that you're never shooting a scene, you're shooting a shot. Plan every angle, make sure the lighting fits, make sure it's not overexposed, look for objects that don't fit in or should be there. Putting your best into each and every shot is what makes the final product excellent.

Now this is not some bashing; there were plenty of good stuff in the vid as well - Tho im focusing on what could (should?) be done better. Obviously I'm saying all of this cos I want you to succeed as far as getting funding and pulling the actual production off with good results. So I hope you try and keep some of it in mind =) And im looking forward to seeing how it turns out (RED - Awesome). GL
 
500K is a lot of money for a first feature,
For perspective, here is a link to a movie I pa'd on a couple of years ago. Shot on Panavised F900s with professional actors and crew. Budget was 250K. It was funded by Disney/ABC for their stage 9 web site, but it was closed before release. The budget included some excellent CG/VFXwork.
Sony finally purchased Web broadcast rights and it was released as 10 Webisodes over at Crackle.com in Feb of this year.
Here is the main link....
http://www.trenchesonline.com/
There is also a link to Crackle to watch the 10 webisodes.

The Director, Shane Felux, was best known for his "Star Wars Revelations" fan film, which took him about 3 years to make on a part time basis, and won several awards. He also made the award winning short film 'Pitching Lucas". He has garnered a lot of good will throughout the fan film communty and independent scene in VA/MD. There were no shortage of people wanting to work with him.

El, his no budget all volunteer movie looks more profesional than anything I've seen of yours.
It got him the offer to produce/direct Trenches, because of it's quality, all things considered.

It looks like you need to raise about 3 or 4K to rent pro equipment, with a professional crew and actors for one day. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I hope you take it as constructive input.
 
Last edited:
As far as equipment goes, if he put something on Craigslist for a DP probably find one that will bring their own equipment and would be willing to work with his budget for a one or two day shooting of a proof of concept. Then post is were things will need to be done to make it "look" like a real movie. Make sure the fights look real and just for reference sake don't speed them up, only speed up the point of impact.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
As far as equipment goes, if he put something on Craigslist for a DP probably find one that will bring their own equipment and would be willing to work with his budget for a one or two day shooting of a proof of concept. Then post is were things will need to be done to make it "look" like a real movie. Make sure the fights look real and just for reference sake don't speed them up, only speed up the point of impact.

-Nate
Click to expand...

True, but I didn't think a DP would bring lights and audio, or dolly track.
 
Depends on the DP and what they have at their disposal. I know DPs who bring everything if you ask. I also know DPs who have everything but a camera, LOL. But when they get behind the camera they know what they're doing. It take all types. But yea, you'd be surprised what you get just by asking. One thing about this is people usually enjoy doing the work. Show them you'll treat them well and aren't trying to take advantage of them and they'll be glad to help, moreso if you have you're own equipment.

But as you say, the one thing the DP probably won't bring is the audio stuff. You're own your own there, but a lot of sound people have their own stuff. The only cure for audio is good audio in, period. ADR is the next if push comes to shove, but if he gets good sound in, a sound engineer can fix the levels and all it up in post, but that means no popping, bumping, hissing or humming. While these problems can be minimized they can't be usually can't be totally cleared. I know that from experience. Beyond this it's all up to the actors (and the director) to do their part.

-Nate
 
Last edited:
A few updates for you guys today. First, my producer had to bow out of the project. I knew going into that it might happen, so there's not hurt feelings. It's probably a good thing though, as the film could be considered anti-catholic (he's catholic), so it avoids any bias on his part. I've been training with my lead actor from the first film. He's already much better than he was last year. He also gave me an assault rifle airsoft gun to use as a prop. It doesn't work, but it looks great! I bought a 20 inch monitor a few days ago. So much nicer for cutting! I'm still using Vegas 9 and the plan is still on for shooting RED because it's easier to cut on my old box than HDV is. I also bought some Vegas Keyboard stickers to hold me over until I can purchase an actual Vegas keyboard.

As far as casting, I posted an ad on craigslist and have already had more responses than I did last time around. I'll be setting up an audition within the next week. Also, my lead actress from my first feature ("Wulf", not "Leap") is now a Christian and she wants in. She's the great niece of Rita Hayworth, so it's sort of a name ;)

I also completed a rough video matic of the apartment explosion. I'll give the video to my VFX guy and have him model and render the explosion based on the video.

Explosion Test
http://starspictures.ning.com/video/simple-explosion-test


My new setup with the new monitor and keyboard stickers
NewSetup.jpg


Assault Rifle
AssaultRiffle.jpg


http://starspictures.ning.com/video/simple-explosion-test
 
Last edited:
Dude, I was going to buy one of those from a costume shop but I have the super-uzi now. Hey, I was checking out the set-up, is that VHS cam part of it. LOL. Nice monitor dude. BTW, what are you editing up there?

-Nate
 
Last edited:
Thanks! It's hard to tell, but if you were to open one of those notebooks next to it, it would be about the same size as the monitor. I love it!
lol! Those are all the cameras I've owned, minus my current one which is next to my laptop. I received the VHS cam when I was ten. 15 years ago... Next is my D8, and finally my first MiniDV which I bought senior year of high school. The footy I'm cutting are some r3d files I found online (raw RED footage). That color correction was done entirely with the metadata (no rendering required). Gotta love Vegas!

I still need to make some upgrades before ROTB. I need a new scratch drive, more RAM (only got 2 gigs right now), new motherboard (I want an i7 processor) and a new sound card so I can hook up a surround sound system and do a 5.1 mix.
 
By the way, I was checking out the Kdenlive NLE for Mac. It looks pretty tight. I might download it and take a peek when they make a basic installer for it. Honestly all the compiling and such is a turn off for me. I like a program that comes with everything and installs itself and put everything in the right place. Right now Final Cut Express is looking real good.

-Nate
 
haha. I use my linux laptop so much that I don't mind compiling. Open a terminal, navigate to the correct folder then 'sudo make install' and you're good to go. lol! But I think I'll hang on to Vegas. I was actually dual booting my PC for a while, but the lack of good software prompted me to erase the linux partition. As long as I'm using Vegas, I'm still stuck with Windows, but it's worth it
 
Have you considered shooting this thing in 3D? There was a big LA Times supplement on 3D today. 3D is gaining ground like gangbusters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top