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

I agree with both post but I have to say Nitsuj makes a great point. Doing low budget films, you have to stick and move. Divinity fizzled out that way. I've been very good about spotting and signing talent. The problem is others spot talent too. Two of my girls started getting so many parts they barely have time to read emails anymore. I knew they were both talented and would be highly sought after, but I waited too to get things jumping. And as they left energy left. Other things went on and I stopped feeling the project. The "Epitaph" project was a result. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and felt I needed tons of money to do. But I'm seeing now that I don't.

Even though I don't have a big budget or even a computer right now capable of editing or doing the After Effects work as I would like I'm moving forward and knowing God will provide as He's always done when needed. The funds will be there. The props will be there. It will all be there. But until then, I'm going to build the props and get the script tight. And I won't sign any actors until time to get ready to shoot. I want to do run throws, better blocking choreo and I'm even willing to train certain actors for the fights (which I used to be unwilling to do).

I understand patience, but I also understand there never a 100% great time to do anything, so do it now. As I go I know everything I need will turn up. When we lost an actress in "Wages of Sin" (a no show) we got a better one, in fact she shined above the rest, we got props we didn't expect and help we didn't expect. So I have to say keep moving on it. If you have to use the stock lens use it. Wait only on the things you need. Or maybe even look at used lenses.

But Robertson6 has a point, Christian films usually come off as bad and they usually don't have a lot of skill behind them and it shows in the final project. You can float Leap by saying it was "Done on a $200 budget" and it will make everyone excited, I did this with the The 4th Beast, but for "Leap 2: Leap of Faith" (sorry, I'm always adding title extensions to you films, it's a habit) you have show some real skill. I would study every shot of "The Bourne Identity" (since that's your model) and see how they got the feeling and emotion that makes you love the film so and copy that. Also get the book "Master Shots". Also the book "Fight Choreography". I believe these will help you a lot. You have Stu's book so that will be a big help too.

-Nate
 
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I do appreciate the input guys. My thoughts on it are that I would rather make a movie than to sit around talking about making the movie. I know of people who plan plan plan, wait wait wait and when everything does come together, they have no experience and it's a flop anyway. I make movies because I like to make movies. If ROTB turns out well and is a hundred times better than "Leap" and I'm able to sell it, great! If not, at least I had a good time making it. Also, This movie has been a year in the making so far, seeing that I started working on ideas when I was still shooting the last one. The script is currently on it's sixth draft. I worked out all the effects and stunts. Also, the finishing time for this flick will be a lot longer than the previous one. If you've read my actual journal on wordpress, you'd see that we're shooting for March or April to have the thing done. 5.1 mixing is going to take a lot longer than stereo. Doing effects in HD means they have to be perfect and I can't cut corners. I understand that. Finally, I have a built in audience now from the last one. Just knowing that people will actually see the picture means I'm going to work that much harder to make it look great. God is good and has blessed the film with we NEED to get the job done. It may not be ideal or as easy, but it will work and it will look and sound great.
 
I can't wait to see some shots from this. I'm anxious. How'd that earth zoom come out. Did you do anymore work on that?

-Nate
 
I can't wait to shoot them! I'm supposed to get the camera tomorrow, we'll see how that turns out. The most recent version is on the fb fan page. The clouds need a bit of work, and I want to add some animation to the beginning of the shot, but other than that, I'm happy with it =)
 
Today's the big day-the camera arrives! It's on the FedEx truck and out for delivery. I didn't get much sleep last night. My plan is to stay up to sign for the package, then go back to sleep while the battery charges. I'll wake up and be able to play =)
 
You're getting a Saturday delivery from FedEx. That rocks in itself, LOL. Take photos of it so we all can see. I know you were saying you couldn't afford other lenses right now but you may consider getting a used lens. Take your camera to a shop and test various used lens to see what they look like.

-Nate
 
I have considered it. My first priority is getting at least two hard drives. I did the math (five times to double check) and realized I only need 500GB drives and not 1TB. A 500GB drive will hold 25 hours of video from the camera. Once I have those, lenses are up next. Then a shoulder rig, loupe, LCD monitor... It's nice having a camera I can grow with. lol! I did manage to come up with a way to shoot in sunlight with the camera-cover the cam body and my head with a black cloth. It's old school, but it's cheap and it should work
 
It has arrived! I shot a quick test to try it on my "tripod steady cam" and it looks great! =D Now I'm going to back to sleep.
 
Dude, we want to see! We want to see! Show it to us! Pleeeeeease! We love photos of people doing things with cameras around here, you know that, especially if it's real techie.

-Nate
 
It'll be up in a bit. You know, tripod steadycam is such a mouthful to say. I think I'll call my rig a steadypod. That's much better =D
 
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1st test with the steadypod:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbce0f8aO9M

I just uploaded the raw quicktime to youtube, so I'm really not sure how this will look. lol! Straight from the cam, no CC or anything. I'm most happy about the pan at the end. No strob, and very little skew. It's not going to be as big of an issue as I thought. El is happy =D
 
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Steadypod. Notice my excellent form, how I use my forearms to counter weight the pod and cam. I developed this technique three years ago and it still serves me well. The concept behind it is that it makes the camera larger than it is. A large camera will move and respond differently than a smaller one. Rather than handling the cam, I handle the legs and it's like wielding a full sized Hollywood rig.


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Canon Rebel T2i
"Isn't that a still camera?" "No my friend, it's a movie camera that does stills"
 
I applaud your use of a "tripod steaycam", as I'm one who has to use those kind of methods from time to time. Before I had as much equipment as I do now, I was a tripod steadycam ninja. The nice thing is that a tripod steadycam is great for guerilla style run 'n gun shoots, as a merlin or flowpod can take a bit of time to set up, especially if you're constantly alternating between hand held, steadycam, and tripod mounted shots.

Not to tell you what to do, but here are just a few ideas you might like:

- Try to find an old wheelchair (for cheap at a flea market or thrift store). What this is good for is sitting in it holding the camera or your tripod steadycam and having someone push the chair. It can work as a sort of improvised dolly. The cool thing is that with a wheelchair you can sort of achieve a hybrid style that is not specifically hand held, but not as smooth as a dolly.

- You can also purchase a cheap monopod and attach bar bell weights to the bottom near the foot of the monopod. This is another type of DIY steadycam, but can be useful.

- I know you said not to harass you about lenses, but if you can scrape up some extra cash, I recommend purchasing the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens for your T2i. The kit lens is good, but that 50mm 1.8 can be a really nice thing to have for low light shooting, and when you need to be more extreme with the DOF. You can really shoot a ton of stuff between the kit 18-55mm and the 50mm 1.8 lenses. The good thing is, the 50mm 1.8 prime is only like a hundred bucks.

Just a few thoughts that you mind find to be useful. Good luck with the production.
 
Yea, 50mm f/1.8 lens used to be cheap, us digital filmmakers bought them back in style. A camera shop guy told me how at one time they couldn't give 50mm lens away (sure that was an exaggeration) but now digital filmmakers buying 50mm lenses drove the price back up. LOL. Now they're expensive again.

When I did my last film we used the tripod as a crane. Ironically when I sat the thing down and got ready to take the DVX100 off it just popped off. We all looked at each other with that OMG! look. The camera had been twisted on something too tight and that part of the camera had cracked so it's a miracle the camera didn't fall off. Just make sure everything is tight when you shoot and you shouldn't have any issues.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
Yea, 50mm f/1.8 lens used to be cheap, us digital filmmakers bought them back in style. A camera shop guy told me how at one time they couldn't give 50mm lens away (sure that was an exaggeration) but now digital filmmakers buying 50mm lenses drove the price back up. LOL. Now they're expensive again.
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Was the average 50mm lens cheaper than 100 bucks before the 35mm adapter boom? As far as I know, and maybe because I've only been more aware of the pricing on still lenses the last 3-4 years, but the 50mm f/1.8 has always been around a hundred dollars.

I think for what it does, and in combination with the kit lens, that grabbing a 50mm f/1.8 for a hundred is worth the spending the money. f/3.5-4.5 on the kit lens is not always enough, even in well lit environments. Otherwise you have to pump up the ISO on the T2i, and while even at 1600 ISO it doesn't look bad, it is better to not have to go that high.
 
- Try to find an old wheelchair (for cheap at a flea market or thrift store). What this is good for is sitting in it holding the camera or your tripod steadycam and having someone push the chair. It can work as a sort of improvised dolly. The cool thing is that with a wheelchair you can sort of achieve a hybrid style that is not specifically hand held, but not as smooth as a dolly.

- You can also purchase a cheap monopod and attach bar bell weights to the bottom near the foot of the monopod. This is another type of DIY steadycam, but can be useful.

- I know you said not to harass you about lenses, but if you can scrape up some extra cash, I recommend purchasing the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens for your T2i. The kit lens is good, but that 50mm 1.8 can be a really nice thing to have for low light shooting, and when you need to be more extreme with the DOF. You can really shoot a ton of stuff between the kit 18-55mm and the 50mm 1.8 lenses. The good thing is, the 50mm 1.8 prime is only like a hundred bucks.

Just a few thoughts that you mind find to be useful. Good luck with the production.
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Thanks!

We thought about a wheelchair but decided on a hand truck with inflatable tires after seeing a pic in "The DV Rebel's Guide". I'll just lean against it and have someone pull me. We went this route because we can also use it to lug gear.

I've tried the monopod one before, but I like that my camera has one rig for handheld and locked off.

Yeah, I'd really like to get one of those 50mm. We'll have to see where I am when we start shooting. I wish I had the extra $100, but I'm an unemployed starving artist. The good news is that I've just started doing video production work again, so that might help out.

Good tips!

Nice stuff Chris. Loved the swords on the wall. LOL.
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Thanks! Swords on that wall, swords above my TV, and sais above my dvds. lol
 
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