FEATURE: ROM - A Feature Film by Benjamin Sliker and Matthew Bumby

This has a lot of similarities to a short I wrote for one of the first Scriptfest a long time ago. Down to the bathtub memory trips and contraption on the head. Creepy. Looks good, looking forward to this.
 
Thanks everyone for the comments and the interest, we appreciate it all!

more set design stuff. let's call this part of the machine's 'input' ...

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Still hacking away at Draft 6...
 
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so i guess this is what a few months of work looks like... our set is about ~80% done.

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P.S. Making a feature film with just 2 people in pre-production takes FOREVER.
 
That is ridiculously cool Ben! Keep it up...the rewards of finishing a feature are incredible.

Kegan
 
Justin Kuhn said:
This looks dope. Can't wait to see it.
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thanks Kuhn, what are you up to nowadays?

D.Mur said:
At the risk of being redundant I have to say I love the attention to detail as well. Kudos.
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all redundant compliments will be received with the same level of excitement as their predecessors. :) THANKS!

misscc803 said:
Can't wait to see how it goes. Need any help in the sound department please reach out to me.

Nicole
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Thanks Nicole. I'll keep your name in the file!

Just got confirmation that we'll be receiving our RED Touch 5.0" LCD sometime next week. Oh, BTW, we ordered a Scarlet in Nov. ROM WILL BE RED.
 
Cracker Funk said:
Then, what is the primary goal? FWIW, I'm coming from a similar place; just want to hear your take on the bigger picture.
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Cracker, (Or do they call you Mr. Funk?)

Let me preface this by saying that it in no way means that I believe that this film is guaranteed to be great or that it is better because of the philosophy behind it. I'm simply stating what I believe and the philosophy that Matt and I chose to follow when deciding to make a feature film.

I have a respect for filmmaking as an art, the same respect that I have for storytelling throughout it's history. I fully believe that I would be doing the equivalent of filmmaking if I was born in any time period. (be it cave drawing, passing stories by mouth, playwright, etc.) The bottom line is that I do not see filmmaking as a money-making venture first, story-telling venture second. And as I am sure you are all aware, the quality of a film is no longer an indicator of whether it will make money. Of course, every once and a while, the quality/money stars align and you get a film like The Dark Knight, but this is obviously the exception.

I really have zero interest in trying to trick people into giving me their money, or making a film that fits in a nicely wrapped box that a distributor will love. In a way it's quite liberating. Every time someone tells Matt and I what we 'have' to do to make a 'successful' film, we can just brush it off our shoulders. (However, we relish feedback and consider every ounce that will help us tell a better story.) Simply put, Matt and I are making the film that we want. In fact, we're not even considering what happens after our film is finished until it is finished.

I would consider myself successful in my 27 years so far on this earth, but I can tell you, hands-down, this is the hardest that I've ever worked on anything in my entire life. My hands are constantly torn apart from building set, I stare at our hundred page script for hours like it's some sort of impenetrable force, finally succumbing to the notion that I've scrapped the entire thing close to five times now, and inevitably, it will happen again. Write, Re-Write, Write, Feedback, Re-write. Sometimes it feels like it will never end. There are occasional glimpses of light that keep you going.

In the back of our minds, Matt and I would love if this movie made back the money that we put into it. And the only reason that is, is so that we can make the next film even quicker. (Although at the pace we're going now, money's not the bottleneck...)

And I'll leave you with a quote that motivates me whenever I think things are 'good enough', which coincidently is the perfect time to scrap them and start over. :)

"Every time I go to the cinema...I want to feel that the people who made that film think it's the best movie in the world, that they poured everything into it and they really love it. Whether or not I agree with what they've done, I want that effort there — I want that sincerity. And when you don't feel it, that's the only time I feel like I'm wasting my time at the movies." -Christopher Nolan
 
Hey everybody it's been a long time since we've updated this thread.

As we do our last minute preparations for shooting I wanted to take this time to thank those who have been along for the ride. ROM has never been an easy project but we never wanted it to be. Building a good set is time consuming, writing a great script even more so. But now we're here and we couldn't have done it without some fantastic support.

In a little less than a week ROM goes before the lens. We'll be shooting on the Scarlet-X with a great team of creative and dedicated individuals who are going to help us bring this thing to life. Ben and I are really looking forward to finally turning years of conversations into something people will want to see.

Our shoot dates are:
June 5/6/7 and 12/13/14

Due to the size of the set it will be a small but agile crew. Thanks to some early pre-viz, Ben's storyboarding/shot list and of course our endless conversations much of the guess work is already done. We've still got a long road ahead of us but it's never been this clear of obstacles.

So just wanted to say thanks again to everybody out there who took an interest in our little film. I look forward to updating you soon with our progress and discussing some of the thematic ideas behind the picture.

If you would like to help out or just want to keep up with our progress in general, drop by our facebook page and say hello!
 
You guys have really, really put the work in. Building the set has taken longer than it will take to shoot the film and that's very admirable. I have no doubt the film will be great! Keep us posted.
 
Marlon Ladd said:
You guys have really, really put the work in. Building the set has taken longer than it will take to shoot the film and that's very admirable. I have no doubt the film will be great! Keep us posted.
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Thanks Marlon! I'm always keeping an eye on your thread. You've been putting in some time of your own! Looks like I might be able to check it out soon huh? Looking forward to it!

Final prep and last minute things today then we start shooting tomorrow. Ben and I are pumped. It's going to be a blast!
 
distich said:
Thanks Marlon! I'm always keeping an eye on your thread. You've been putting in some time of your own! Looks like I might be able to check it out soon huh? Looking forward to it!

Final prep and last minute things today then we start shooting tomorrow. Ben and I are pumped. It's going to be a blast!
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Yep, we're getting there, but you guys will be there soon!
 
Thanks Doug, Marlon!

Whew, those 3 days just blew by but we got some GREAT footage. Jason (our DP) is putting the Scarlet through the ringer and making ROM every bit the flick we hoped it would be. Ben's on top of things and really bringing the story to life. It's surreal seeing the page become real, for the words to become tangible and living things. Amazing how you can anticipate things and find they still surprise you. We've started prepping next week's shoot and I'm excited to get back to work with the wonderful cast and crew. We've got a lot more to go and I couldn't be happier about it. Can't wait until we have something to show you guys.

I'll be back to update after the next shoot. Thanks again everyone for the well wishes!
 
Well another round of shooting down for ROM. Ben and I prepped this shoot a lot better than the first so everything went super smooth. Some of the scenes I was worried about ended up even better than I imagined! Tim just knocked it out of the park.

We have a pickup day in a couple of weeks then we tear down the set and restore Ben's apartment to pre-ROM conditions. Following that we prep for the next round of shooting.

Just want to say thanks again to the cast and crew for bringing their best to the shoot. It really shows!
 
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