FEATURE: Spirit Squad: Crime-Fighting Cheerleaders

C

Chris Adler

Veteran
Spirit Squad is an ambitious feature film written and directed by Thom Rockwell and will be shot in Ogden, Utah.
The budget we're trying to raise is $50,000 to cover the normal items such as insurance, food, costume, props, location rentals, token payments to cast and crew, and some VFX work.

To raise funds we've shot a trailer for the project over a 3 day period using 3 cameras (Canon 7D and a a T2i) with stock lenses and a DVX100 for the news reporter footage.

In post we matched the camera images and degraded the image for a grindhouse style.

Crew
Writer / Director - Thom Rockwell / Website
DP - Ben Sant / Website
Composer - Randin Graves / Website
Sound Design - David Evanoff / Website

Cast (so far)
Head Cheerleader : Monica Flynn - Shay Williamson / Facebook Page

View the trailer here on our Kickstarter page.

Spirit-Squad-01.jpg
Spirit-Squad-05.jpg
Spirit-Squad-09.jpg
 
Are you the DP? looks pretty cool. I love grind house films. I do admit, im not a fan of converting digital video into a film look with scratches, dust, gate weave, ect... I kind of feel like it's never really all that close to the actual film look. But thats not to say the majority will ever know the difference. The director has a pretty good eye for this genre. So if you don't raise the full 50,000, it's a no go? What if you raise, say 10,000, or 20,000. Will you do a shortened version. Just wondering cause it says you need 150,000 to do the full version, and 50,000 to do a bare bones film, but not the directors vision. what would be different, the amount of post work, effects, less days of principle photog.
 
At this point it's undecided what will happen if the full budget isn't raised. We know its a question that needs to be answered, but the focus is on the fundraising campaign right now. I'm not the DP, just a producer on the project.

Part of the grunge on the trailer was to "equalize" the shot quality. Unfortunately due to no budget, really fast setups, etc. shots weren't reviewed on set and when it came time to edit everything there were some vast differences between the look on both cameras. So the good looking shots were degraded a bit to cut better with the poorer shot footage. It was mostly shot handheld by people who haven't shot action before. I think it turned out well considering all of the limiting factors we started with.
 
It does look good, Believe me, I been there many times when shooting different glass on different cams, it can make you want to pull your hair out. At least these days we have some decent software in our arsenal to work with. Well good luck with the project! I will stop in on occasion to see how it's going.
 
I like the idea of the movie. I have to say that I don't like the degraded footage myself. In the video, the previous films footage seemed very high quality and I would rather see the film shot that way than some grindhouse homage style with scratches, etc.

Also, I know this is just a demonstration trailer but the Cheerleaders costumes could use an upgrade in my opinion. Too plain. Make them more dynamic befitting super-heroes.

Overall it looks like a fun project though. I will follow this thread.

I'm kind of tapped out on Kickstarter as I've funded quite a few projects over the last year and have got a lot going on in terms of my own feature in post right now but I hope it goes well. Good luck.

Martin
 
Thanks Martin. The degrading is more extreme in the trailer than it will be in the final product as it was more of a fix to help match footage.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
At this point it's undecided what will happen if the full budget isn't raised. We know its a question that needs to be answered, but the focus is on the fundraising campaign right now. I'm not the DP, just a producer on the project.

Part of the grunge on the trailer was to "equalize" the shot quality. Unfortunately due to no budget, really fast setups, etc. shots weren't reviewed on set and when it came time to edit everything there were some vast differences between the look on both cameras. So the good looking shots were degraded a bit to cut better with the poorer shot footage. It was mostly shot handheld by people who haven't shot action before. I think it turned out well considering all of the limiting factors we started with.
Click to expand...

Use the time waiting for funding... to really work on the action shots. All of them suffered from what I call the 'distant observer', that is the camera is 20-30 feet away from the action, and frequently situated such that the 'cheats' are pretty obvious.

Perhaps due to some sort of thought for decorum, but the girls are fully clothed... so move the camera in close, when the cheerleader does a spinning back kick, have the camera in the middle of that, and give the viewer the distinct impression that contact was made...

Here's some suggested equipment... or similar...

HelmetCam.jpg


I've liked Guy Richie's 'style' on fight sequences. Perhaps others don't like them... but I'd suggest looking and seeing how you can do similar... with out a Phantom...

Speaking of which, I've been wanting to try a 200 fps feature of a Sony Handy cam I bought a few years ago. It only supposedly captures 200 fps for like 10 seconds, and unfortunately it is 1080 60i... but it may allow for some serious slo mo or speed ramping, which is pretty popular in the action genre these days.

On a personal note, I did like the 2 or so minutes worth of girl fight action... but I am expecting AARP to send my offical dirty old man raincoat for my next birthday.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Thanks Martin. The degrading is more extreme in the trailer than it will be in the final product as it was more of a fix to help match footage.
Click to expand...

Another Opinion...the Title. SPIRIT SQUAD by itself is better. The subtitle might be okay as a working title but definitely not necessary once it is finished. Make it definitive. A potential franchise...simply SPIRIT SQUAD. You know?

The subtitle takes away power. Like you didn't feel like we'd get it if not explained. We get it. Cheerleaders who kick butt.

Looking forward to more.

-Martin
 
Agreed. The feature title will simply be "Spirit Squad". Also, we know the costumes are pretty basic. The real costumes will be much more engaging, but they cost double what the ones in the trailer ran.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Agreed. The feature title will simply be "Spirit Squad". Also, we know the costumes are pretty basic. The real costumes will be much more engaging, but they cost double what the ones in the trailer ran.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt it. Have you connected with any serious COSPLAYERS? A motivated talented COSPLAY designer might be willing to help you out.

This would be a movie with comic-con type interest so it would be a good idea to reach into that community early on. So, if you were to get a dedicated COSPLAY designer on board, they could help with promotion as well since their costume design would be prominantly featured in the movie.

Just a thought,

Martin
 
I want to thank everyone for their feedback so far on the Spirit Squad trailer. My name is Thom Rockwell and I am the writer/director of Spirit Squad.

Since you folks have taken the time to give some thought out feedback, I wanted to acknowledge my appreciation and also respond.

1. The movie is meant to be called "Spirit Squad" only. The addition of of the sub-title "Crime-Fighting Cheerleaders" was done only to help with the initial marketing of the concept. If you tell someone that your movie is called "Spirit Squad", they have no idea what it may be about, and then you have to explain. But once you say "Crime-Fighting Cheerleaders" it immediately solidifies the entire concept in their heads. But, yes, the movie (when it is finally made) will just be called "Spirit Squad". And, as suggested by another poster, it is meant to be a franchise. I have it mapped out already as a trilogy, each movie shifting into a different genre. The second movie "Hell's Fury" sees the girls saving the city from a zombie outbreak, and the third movie "Maximum Lockdown" is a return to the classic grindhouse/exploitation genre known as "women behind bars". They're all three very entertaining stories, that's why I would really like to raise the funding to get them made.

2. The grindhouse style image, as Snazzy Flapper already pointed out, was born out of necessity. We shot on two different cameras, the 7D and the T2i. The footage didn't match close enough so we used the grindhousing to hopefully cover some of the warts. I originally envisioned this movie being done in this style, like Planet Terror, Machete, Death Proof, etc. But when I saw the lovely images, I changed my mind and wanted to keep the image clean and contemporary. But, alas, as happens in zero budget filmmaking, things don't always go as planned. So we ultimately had to rough up the image to cover some of the flaws in how it was captured. Some day, when we get funded and make this sucker right, I would like to offer 2 versions on the DVD. One the pristine image, and one the grindhouse style.

3. In response to the comment that the fight scenes could have been shot better, I wholeheartedly agree. I had many frustrations on this production and that was certainly one of them. We had three rehearsals of the fight choreography on the Saturdays prior to shooting these sequences and most of the girls got together and rehearsed on their own as well. Unfortunately, my DP and 2 camera ops were committed to another project during our rehearsal sessions and did not make a single rehearsal. It was always my intention to have the camera crew at the rehearsals working out the camera blocking with me while the girls rehearsed. This did not happen. Once again, no budget. So the day we got on set, these guys were shooting stuff they were not familiar with. Not only were they not familiar with the fight routines, but I'm pretty sure none of them had ever shot a fight scene before. I have shot quite a few fight scenes in the past, and I know what it takes to make them work. Several times on set I had to correct the angle because the blows weren't selling, and there are still a few that made it into the cut that I would have preferred to have had better takes on.

4. The costumes could be better. You better believe it! And they will be in the final movie. This is a proof of concept trailer only. It's meant to give the viewer an idea of what kind of movie we're pitching. It's not meant as a representation of the final movie. This trailer was created to try to raise a budget to make the movie right. The reason I need to raise a budget to make the movie right is that I have no money to begin with. Believe it or not, the simple costumes the girls are wearing in the trailer cost me $300. And the Vicious Vixens had to supply their own costumes because I didn't have any more money to spend on costumes. Certainly, those costumes are not at all what I have in my head for my super-hero women. The Wonder-Woman style patent leather boots I wanted for each girl cost about $300 per pair. Utility belts, embroidered logos and other accessories drives the budget up that much higher. It's not a question of me not wanting to spend the money, it's the simple fact of not having any to begin with. The costumes were not that way due to a lack of any competent costume people, they are that way due to budgetary restrictions.

The girls were also meant to have an array of costum designed weapons and spy-type gadgets. We did show their spirit sticks/battle batons in the trailer, but we did not have the CGI transformation of these tools that I had originally envisioned. Even the missile you see them loading onto the top of the van was meant to be seen in a shot where a CGI version of the missile raises up out of the van (Spy Kids style) and blows up the drug warehouse. No budget = CGI guy flakes out on you at the last minute and you don't get your missile shot.

5. Someone asked what if we don't make our budget. Would we make a shorter version? And why the difference in budgets? No, we won't be making a shorter version or a sub-standard version. This movie was created to be a feature length motion picture that could be sold into distribution for a profit to the producers. It is also meant to be the start of a marketable franchise of crime-fighting cheerleaders movies and, ideally, a TV series or profitable web-series if it were successful. It's a high concept action piece with the need for a lot of special effects so it needs to be done right or it will look like the stuff that SyFy and Asylum put out. If we can't do it right, we won't be doing it. The three different budgets are just meant to be a good-better-best proposition of how this movie can be made. It's nearly impossible to make this movie on a $50,000 budget, but I could do it. It just would not be the way it is in my head. We would have to compromise all over the place to make it happen. Quicker shooting schedules, less takes, less talented people behind and in front of the camera, etc. As I was creating the Kickstarter campaign, I wanted to "go for broke" and just put that we needed $300,000 to make the movie. But I am realistic and I know that that just doesn't happen on Kickstarter. So I set the "minimum" we need to $50,000, knowing that if I could at least raise that, I could get it made. It would not be nearly as good as the movie in my head, and we would have to cut out a lot of the more elaborate stunts and the CGI effects (and probably use the same lame costumes as in the trailer), but it could be done.

All of my research on fundraising through Kickstarter has led me to believe that there are only 2 kinds of movies that raise large budgets through Kickstarter: movie pitched by someone with a well followed internet presence (like Freddie W's "Video Game High School" and many others) and documentaries. My movie doesn't fall into either of those categories. Nobody knows me on the internet and I'm not making a documentary. I'm a dreamer and I believed that if I made a trailer for an exciting and original concept of a movie then we might stand a chance. Well, if you check our Kickstarter page as of today, we're not looking so hot. I've reached out to every website, blog and podcast I could find to ask for support in displaying our campaign pitch and have a grand total of 3 people get back to me. It doesn't look like it's going to happen at this point. That doesn't mean I'm giving up. I will keep working the campaign up until the last hour it's live. But I'm realistic about how we are trending. Unless the word gets out in a big way, and a lot of people get on board, we're not making it.

Which is really very sad, because I may be a dreamer, but I'm quite sure that there are at least 5,000 super-hero/grindhouse movie lovers out there in the world that would be happy to put up $10 to see this movie get made. I also believe that there are at least 500 super-hero/grindhouse movie lovers out there that would be willing to put up $100 each to see this film get made. But unless I can find a way to identify who those 5000 or 500 people are in our population and connect with them directly within the next 26 days, my dream movie is not going to be happening anytime soon.

Thanks again everyone for all of your feedback on the trailer. At the risk of sounding crass, it's nice to know somebody actually watched it. :)

Thom Rockwell
 
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