Starway Pictures presents "Z U G Z W A N G"

Did any body mention you have an amazing poster? If so, well... darn it... I agree. (I really like the grain/noise... will the movie look like this?)

PS Technik! Nice! Zeiss Primes! Really Nice! Are you going to be doing a combo of adapter and non-adapter shots?
 
Game over, man! Game over!
Bill-Paxton---Aliens--C10103879.jpeg
;)
 
jeremytuttle said:
Did any body mention you have an amazing poster? If so, well... darn it... I agree. (I really like the grain/noise... will the movie look like this?)

PS Technik! Nice! Zeiss Primes! Really Nice! Are you going to be doing a combo of adapter and non-adapter shots?
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Never used the P+S before. I'm looking forward to it. Going to rent it from IndieRentals. I would probably estimate that half my shots will be straight non-adapter and all of my CU and Slo-Mo shots will use the adapter (you'll understand why when you see it).

The film's aesthetic will by very contrasty. But I won't necessarily be adding any grain (other than the grain inherent within my camera).
 
Yowza! That is nice poster. I love the graphic and the the tag lines.

Going to be a fun fest!

You've got your game face on here, Robert. Good luck!

-Ted
 
Robert Sanders said:
Now, how do I brandish fake firearms in the middle of downtown Los Angeles without permits? Hmmmm. A dilemma.
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"Very carefully!" I know your pain, man! Your poster's awesome!
 
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I honestly think the best solution for the "firearms without permits" problem is to composite the gun into the actor's hand in post.

I think I can fake it in my closeups where the actor pretends to hold a gun but it's just barely out of frame. In my longer shots I can have the actor pretend to hold the gun and fire it. As long as the movement and action isn't too insane for any particular shot then I think we have a shot at adding the firearm in post.

I'm already used to adding muzzle flames and casing discharges in post. This will just be another level of complication. It's risky, though. So I think I'm going to shoot a test this weekend to make sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew (which is often ;) ).
 
Robert Sanders said:
I think I can fake it in my closeups where the actor pretends to hold a gun but it's just barely out of frame.
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That would probably work for the closeups. What about have them hold a gun that is painted bright orange on everything but the back end. Then you could have the hammer and handle in your shot.

Adding in the gun in the wide shots would be a challenge to get it to match up right. But like Elton said, if any one could do it you probably can.
 
I'm trying to avoid looking suspicious as a lot of my plans are guerilla style filmmaking. So I don't want to alarm any of the surrounding merchants or pedestrians.

However, Jeremy, you bring up an interesting idea. I could take one of my plastic faux Glocks and cut off the handle and trigger. No hammer or barrell. Then I won't have to worry about compositing/rotoscoping the fingers.

I'm also contemplating shooting some of these shots against a greenscreen and comp'ing in the background. Since many of these shots will use dramatically reduced DOF I think I can pull this off. The challenge is matching the natural exterior light with studio lighting. I was thinking about shooting a reference plate of my actor holding up their hands (no gun) so I can see the lighting, etc. Then use that reference on the greenscreen stage to match lighting, etc.
 
jeremytuttle said:
Adding in the gun in the wide shots would be a challenge to get it to match up right. But like Elton said, if any one could do it you probably can.
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Concurred. Robert, I have seen some of your other work....very impressive. I am thoroughly looking forward to your entry.
 
Robert Sanders said:
I was thinking about shooting a reference plate of my actor holding up their hands (no gun) so I can see the lighting, etc. Then use that reference on the greenscreen stage to match lighting, etc.
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Don't they also still use mirrored balls/orbs (you could get away with the kind you'll find in the garden section at most stores - those 'gazing orbs'). I would imagine that if you simply took a still photo or some footage of one of those in place, as well as an orb with a matte surface, you could get all the lighting information you needed for reference, as well as showing how it should look on anything relfective, with curved surfaces, etc.
 
Rob - get a t-shirt from your local community television station and everyone will think you are doing something for them. Well, it's a thought, community tv gets away with filming everywhere. Love the poster, want to do ours? Dang. Good luck on using the mini35. I placed a bid on one on ebay and lost, sucked.

Good luck on your entry.
 
Wow. I just saw the trailer for "The Dead" on your website. Wow.

Looking forward to your entry. :beer:
 
Thanks Keystoned,

"The Dead" was shot nearly ten years ago (man, time flies). Unfortunately it was almost instantly killed when The Matrix opened a few months after we wrapped. I had been banking on that Goth-Noir look being unique to our film, but The Matrix instantly co-opted that look and it became very iconic. Suddenly our film no longer look and felt unique and fresh, but was instant "derivative". Ouch.

So we've decided to go ahead and start releasing it incrimentally on our website. If you get a chance check out CHAPTER ONE: MANNY GALLARDO. It's pretty cool.

All shot on a VX1000 and cut on Premiere 4.2 on a 300MHz Blue and White PowerMac. Those were the days!
 
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