The Echo Game - feature filmmaking at new car prices

[dougspice]

A young mother must protect her daughter from a rogue scientist on a murderous rampage to steal the girl's psychic powers for herself.​

UPDATE 27 SEPT 2011: You can now buy and watch and enjoy The Echo Game! Here it is at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Echo-Game-Alisha-Seaton/dp/B00595W3K6/

The Echo Game is a supernatural thriller in the style of classic '80s slasher and Italian horror movies. It is currently in production in Los Angeles. I am producing (along with two other super cool guys), and Psychic Bunny is serving as production company. Brian Feeney is directing, from a script he wrote with John William Ross.

I think this might be an interesting counterpoint to some of the other feature journals running here, because this is true ultra-low-budget indie filmmaking in Los Angeles at professional standards. What does that mean?

That means we're spending about $30,000 to make a feature film with grisly murders and psychic powers, where production value and performance are paramount. Do we have enough money? No. Did we have enough time in pre-production? No. What we do have was a lot of talented people being very creative, very ambitious, and very generous with their time. I hope to prove that sometimes, that is more than enough.

We are currently on day 9 of a 15 day schedule. We've fallen behind only once, and at this exact moment we're actually one scene ahead of schedule. We've got some major effects coming up, which will probably take care of that "ahead of schedule" problem, but it's gonna be fun!

Here's a couple of production stills I took...

Grip Armando Ballesteros puts his life in danger to bounce some light on lead actress Alisha Seaton.

Director of Photography Jeffrey Waldron lurks in the shadows.

View to a kill.

Camera prepares for the shot.

Assistant Camera Mark Legaspi rebalances the tripod.

The cast prepare for a serious revelation. The Echo Game is all about Serious Revelations.​

More coming soon!

 

[Brandon Rice]

Wow, looks cool!

 

[pekar1876]

Can you give us some background to the film.

How it came about.

How big is your crew?

What camera your shooting on. 35mm lenses?

How did you go about casting the film?

Where did the $30,000 budget come from?


Good luck with the rest of your shoot...

 

[dougspice]

How it came about.

This is a passion project for the director, who I went to film school with. He is probably the biggest fan of Dario Argento that you will ever meet, and in many ways this film is a modern American update of the Argento style. He has been writing the script over the past year, and over the last 6 months approached me and my partners about being the production company. Pre-production was less than a month, including casting, which is ridiculously fast... but if there's one thing my company is good at it's getting things done surprisingly well amazingly fast.

How big is your crew?

It varies a bit day-to-day but for the most part it's around ten crew on-set:

Director
Asst. Director
Producers
DP
AC
Gaffer
Sound recordist
Production Designer
Makeup
P.A.

On some days we have an additional grip, a design assistant, or as many as 4 P.A.s, and on some days all three producers are on set, but generally we keep it to about this. It's a nice balance between the people we absolutely need to work effectively and how much room we have to work in some of our cramped locations.

What camera your shooting on. 35mm lenses?

It's being shot on an HPX500 with one of two Canon Cinezoom lenses.

How did you go about casting the film?

The lead is an actress who has worked with Brian since his student film days, so they have a good relationship. The others were found through traditional casting sessions, which took about two weeks. The most interesting part has been casting the two roles which require nudity... you certainly meet some interesting characters! One of our actresses is pretty excited about getting naked, I'll say that much.

Where did the $30,000 budget come from?

Most of it is the director's own money he's saved up from working as a trailer and bonus material editor over the last several years. A little bit of it is a capital contribution from myself and one of the other producers.

Good luck with the rest of your shoot...

Thanks! My producing partner Asa is currently on the phone in the next room discussing how best to jam a knife through the back of someone's throat. Good times here on The Echo Game.

 

[dougspice]

Some more shots from the shoot.

Director Brian Feeney studies the performance.

Director Brian Feeney, producer Asa Shumskas-Tait, A.D. Glenn Miller, and Key Makeup Clare Leyendecker watch the take.

Because you can never have enough shots of people watching monitors...

Sound recordist Adam Douglass taking a moment's rest.

D.P. Jeffrey Waldron directs his boys.

Director Brian Feeney heroically carries actress Alisha Seaton to safety across the roof.

Actress Alisha Seaton isn't taking any of my crap.
​

 

[dougspice]

We're now halfway through our last day on our hospital set, and things are moving along swiftly. We've had the usual share of minor crisis with little props getting lost in the hustle and having to scramble to recreate them on set, but nothing that's really set us back yet. And hey, that's what ultra-low-budget is all about, right? It's not a lifestyle for people who don't love barely-controlled chaos and the occasional need to improvise. I thrive in that sort of environment, so I haven't been fazed by anything we've faced so far.

The only major problem we've come up against was a special effect that didn't go off as planned. The effect was a gruesome throat-slitting, and unfortunately the blood pump didn't really work as promised. We'll have to pick up part of that shot as a pickup, which is difficult on such a tight schedule.

On the other hand, our other effect from yesterday came out better than our wildest expectations, and I think we'll get a lot of mileage out of that in the edit. I wish I had production stills to share of it, but we needed every hand on deck and I didn't get any.

All in all, today has been pretty chill and I look forward to moving on to our next location tomorrow. Deluxe Digital in Burbank has generously donated their offices for us to shoot in. Their offices are ultra-modern and gorgeous, and will provide a nice sense of normalcy in counterpoint to the dirtier, grittier style of some of our other locations. This is a very colorful, vibrant movie and the locations have played a critical role in that!

 

[Tom Marshall]

Is this the one you told me about? Did you guys find a fill in actor?

 

[dougspice]

Yep, same film. I'm guessing we did, because we shot those scenes, but I have had absolutely no role in casting other than providing the facility to do the casting sessions in and recommending a few names. Casting is insanely hard work and I prefer to avoid it whenever possible... notably, when the final decision doesn't rest with me.

But hey, if you're not doing anything today, we could always use more extras in the hospital!

 

[Tom Marshall]

Casting is definitely tough.

I can't today. I'm working all day.

 

[dougspice]

Haha, I didn't think so. Right now we've recruited pretty much every member of the crew who's not literally behind the camera to put on scrubs and fill out the hallways. Looking around, I feel pretty convinced I'm in a functioning hospital!

 

[Tom Marshall]

Make sure to take plenty of photos. :thumbsup:

 

[pekar1876]

Part Two

Part Two

This is a passion project for the director, who I went to film school with. He is probably the biggest fan of Dario Argento that you will ever meet, and in many ways this film is a modern American update of the Argento style. He has been writing the script over the past year, and over the last 6 months approached me and my partners about being the production company. Pre-production was less than a month, including casting, which is ridiculously fast... but if there's one thing my company is good at it's getting things done surprisingly well amazingly fast.



It varies a bit day-to-day but for the most part it's around ten crew on-set:

Director
Asst. Director
Producers
DP
AC
Gaffer
Sound recordist
Production Designer
Makeup
P.A.

On some days we have an additional grip, a design assistant, or as many as 4 P.A.s, and on some days all three producers are on set, but generally we keep it to about this. It's a nice balance between the people we absolutely need to work effectively and how much room we have to work in some of our cramped locations.



It's being shot on an HPX500 with one of two Canon Cinezoom lenses.



The lead is an actress who has worked with Brian since his student film days, so they have a good relationship. The others were found through traditional casting sessions, which took about two weeks. The most interesting part has been casting the two roles which require nudity... you certainly meet some interesting characters! One of our actresses is pretty excited about getting naked, I'll say that much.



Most of it is the director's own money he's saved up from working as a trailer and bonus material editor over the last several years. A little bit of it is a capital contribution from myself and one of the other producers.



Thanks! My producing partner Asa is currently on the phone in the next room discussing how best to jam a knife through the back of someone's throat. Good times here on The Echo Game.

Thanks for the good answers. A few more please...

What's the synopsis of the film?

Has your company made a feature film before?

What editing system are you going to be using?

I take it all your cast and crew are working for points on the film? If they are how did you decide who would get what?

Are you looking a straight to DVD release like Corrado?

Have you approached any distributers yet?

And finally, what has been the most difficult challenge so far?


Looking forward to seeing some footage....


Thanks

 

[Nathyn]

That means we're spending about $30,000 to make a feature film with grisly murders and psychic powers, where production value and performance are paramount. Do we have enough money?​

This can easily be done with $30,000. Do you have all the equipment, that's the real question. If so then with $30,000 you're easily ahead of the pack.

-Nate​

 

[dougspice]

Thanks for the good answers. A few more please...

What's the synopsis of the film?

April Reilly receives a mysterious letter from her former love, Rachel, whom she has believed dead for the past ten years. Rachel has actually been on the run from the organizer of a sinister psychic energy project known only as the Echo Game. Unfortunately, her pursuers catch up to her soon afterwards, and with her dying breath, Rachel transfers her substantial powers to the daughter she barely knows. Sarah, age 10, is now the target of the hunt, and April must decipher the supernatural puzzle confronting her, her wife Casey, and their adopted daughter Sarah before it tears their family apart and kills them all.

Has your company made a feature film before?

Not a fiction one, no. We have a feature doc nearing the end of post.

What editing system are you going to be using?

FCP.

I take it all your cast and crew are working for points on the film? If they are how did you decide who would get what?

The cast are working primarily for deferred pay. The key crew are working for a combination of low pay and a handful of points. One thing about doing projects in Los Angeles is that you can work with extremely talented people, but it's very hard to get them to commit to a project of feature length if there is no up front pay whatsoever. Everyone's got to eat. So we have been paying most of our crew members maybe half or a third what they ought to be making, plus a bit on the back end, to make sure the movie gets done and everyone turns out happy.

Are you looking a straight to DVD release like Corrado?

Most likely. It's not impossible that the movie could get a limited theatrical release, but given that we have no name actors it's unlikely. Also, this film caters to a fairly specific audience. But, we haven't edited even a single frame yet. A lot could change once the picture starts to take shape. The overall game plan is the same: turn a profit on this one, do it whatever justice we can, and move on to a bigger project.

Have you approached any distributers yet?

No. We have started creating a list of likely prospects, but the immediate plan is to get marketing materials and a rough cut ready for AFM and see if that gets us what we want.

And finally, what has been the most difficult challenge so far?

For me personally, it has most certainly been working both as a producer on this film and keeping up with my other normal work projects. For most of the last two weeks this has meant minimum of 16-hour days on weekdays and 12-hour days on weekends, with no days off. This was very rough the first week, but after a while I started to adapt to the rhythms of it. Still, the movie could not be made this way if I didn't have two other reliable producers to share the burden with.

Speaking for the movie as a whole, the most difficult challenge has probably been communicating the overall vision and sticking to it as we've rolled with the punches on our short pre-production schedule. For various reasons beyond our control, the movie had to shot on these dates if it was going to happen at all, so we had to dive in head-first without hesitation. I think we've been doing an awesome job of keeping our heads above water, but some things do fall through the cracks and it's hard to make sure everyone is on the same page all the time.

Looking forward to seeing some footage....

I think we will probably not share any footage until there is at least a teaser that we are all proud of. I will not make any promises about when this might happen, but suffice it to say that I'm as excited as any of you are to get something presentable out there. I'm very pleased with the quality of what we have achieved, but shots are meaningless in a vacuum.

This can easily be done with $30,000. Do you have all the equipment, that's the real question. If so then with $30,000 you're easily ahead of the pack.

I don't know if I'd ever say a feature film can EASILY be done with $30,000. But it's far from impossible, true. We had a decent amount of equipment. We probably had enough stuff in-house that we could have done the entire film with just what we had on hand... if we had more days to shoot. For that reason (and general quality), we decided to go with a more comprehensive lighting package, shoot the whole thing on the HPX with Cinezoom lenses instead of the original plan of doing most of it on the HVX and using the HPX only for night exteriors, etc. Vahe Papazyan generously cut us a tremendous rate on renting his HPX for half of our shoot, and we borrowed another body for the other half. We ended up renting a more expensive tripod, a dolly, jib, etc. This is all stuff we technically had, but anytime we had questions about a piece of equipment slowing us down, we generally found the money to rent a better piece that would increase our efficiency.

 

[LootSubu42]

Excited to follow this project - best of luck to you guys!

 

[gi-jones]

Yeah good luck guys. I will definately be keeping tabs on this thread.

 

[dougspice]

Today we semi-wrap principal, which means that we wrap all of our leads and all but two of our locations and take a break until next weekend, when we finish it off.

It also means I get to enjoy Labor Day weekend, which will be my first days off in weeks! Except tomorrow, which I'll be spending driving around the Salton Sea, looking for Iraq. At least I'll have some good music and time to think. And my phone will be off.

All told, everything has gone about as smoothly as anyone could expect. I think our director has been getting pretty much just what he's wanted, which is all we can ask.

Soon the biggest challenge begins... the rough cut.

 

[dougspice]

Here's the last of the stills from the hospital. From these pictures everyone probably thinks the vast majority of this movie takes place in a hospital! Those are just the days I happened to have my camera handy and wasn't needed doing something else.

Brian going over final blocking for camera.

Producer John Ross thinking about... something. Maybe a shave?

On the next episode of Serious Hospital... production designer Kimberly Seff, A.D. Glenn Miller, P.A. Susan Requa, and actress Hester van Hooven got drafted to dress up for background roles. As did I, but thankfully there's no pictures of that yet.

On the next episode of Less Serious Hospital...

Actors...

​

 

[Charlie06]

Heya Doug

Heya Doug

Looking good so far doug,

Under what genre would this fall under?
sci-fi? thriller?

What unexpected things came up that forced you to spend money?

 

[Brandon Rice]

Thanks for all the pics Doug, looking cool.