The Iceman - a short by J. Van Auken

Hans Moleman

Hans Moleman

Carbonite Member
Ok, thought I'd throw it up here partially to keep the project moving with some good ol' fashioned peer pressure, and partially to have my project refined by the dvxuser thinktank.

where we're at:

DIRECTOR/DP: J. Van Auken (me)
GENRE: Drama
RUNNING TIME: 5 minutes
CAMERA: HVX200 w/ brevis35
LOCATION: NW Minneapolis, otherwise known as the frontier...I think that's a buffalo over there...
LEAD: Jeff Shockley
SCRIPT: 14 pages, but a lot of back&forth dialog
FAV. PROP: Beretta M92f 9mm (because a film isn't dramatic if there aren't guns in it)
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS: November 6th
PROJECTED RELEASE DATE: Shortly thereafter

I'm very confident in this project, but scared at the same time because it's going to serve as an example for the class i'm teaching at my highschool. If I use the lessons I learned from the last (failed) project, I think we can pull it off. I'll get productions stills up as soon as I shoot em.
 
FIRST UPDATE: 10/22/06

Well, I've started securing crew 'n' such. I've got some good guys coming onboard, but still trying to keep it small. A good lessons I've learned is that simplifying projects exponentially increases chances of success.

In the meantime, while my new toys ship from B&H, I've been DP'ing on a peer's project for school. I'm picking up valuable lessons from his directing style, which serves as a perfect "how NOT to conduct yourself on set" example.

Some tidbits I've picked up that I wouldn't mind sharing:

Don't try to establish dominance over your DP by using tech terms, especially when you don't know what the &$%# you're talking about. (He asked me if I knew the 'pixel rating' on the DVX...)

Flooding a room with highly directional light, without regard to placement, color, or intensity, DOES NOT count as "lighting a scene."

DO NOT direct your DP with hand movements that you also use to command your dog. This includes snapping and fruity hand gestures. DP's are not dogs.

A shot list is not a script. A shot list is not a shooting script. A shot list is not story boards. A DP can do little with a shotlist if you have no script and no storyboards, especially if it's the first time he's seen it.

If you command your DP to remove the camera from his tripod with a bogen 501 head, then reprimand him for the resulting shot's shakiness, expect a negative response.

If you weigh less than what your DP bench-presses (235 lbs yesterday), DO NOT make snide comments about beating him if he is late again, ESPECIALLY when you sent him back home to get his own camera which you didn't tell him to bring in the first place.

DO NOT brag. this especially applies when you have little to brag about. (he was showing off his Ohio-wesleyan acceptance letter; I have an interview with Harvard next week. Not bragging, I'm just putting it in context.)

That's all I've picked up from the first TWO HOURS. we reconvene tonight, so I'm sure I'll learn plenty of wonderful new lessons.

Thanks all.:thumbup:
 
Hans Moleman said:
FIRST UPDATE: 10/22/06

Well, I've started securing crew 'n' such. I've got some good guys coming onboard, but still trying to keep it small. A good lessons I've learned is that simplifying projects exponentially increases chances of success.

In the meantime, while my new toys ship from B&H......

<SNIP>

.......That's all I've picked up from the first TWO HOURS. we reconvene tonight, so I'm sure I'll learn plenty of wonderful new lessons.

Thanks all.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

:grin: :grin: That's classic! So, is your HVX in yet? BTW, don't worry, I'm giving your old 100b a good home!:beer:
 
SECOND UPDATE - 10/28/06

The HVX came in today. Holy Balls.

Did some test footage with it, so happy I teared up a lil. All in camera, no cc.
16 MB quicktime

Also the DVX battery came and some arri's are on their way along with the brevis and some Nikons. I'm officially tapped.

One recurring snag has been local restuarants' unwillingness to support the project.
I'm not sure what strings are going to have to get pulled, but I'm doin my best.
Any tips that could be offered for coercing a restaurant to allow a film crew for half a day would be great.

for now, here are some test grabs:
1162008741.jpg

1162008779.jpg
 
One lil update: The Iceman has now been comitted to the dramafest. This'll be my (our) first fest, so lets see how it goes.
 
UPDATE 11/3

Okay, so things have progressed little.

The Brevis has shipped, and hopefully wont take too long to get from Canadia to Minnesota. My Arri came in along with a dolly and a lens, so as far as toys go, we're set.

I'm hoping to resolve our biggest problem today by convincing a local restauranteur to let us use the location. The problem is that if we're allowed in, it will change the setting of the whole project. let's see how it goes.
 
I talked with my ex today(She used to manage restaurants in NYC) She said those places tend to be very image-conscious, and are skttish about anything that might potentially put them in a bad light. That is amplified if you plan on shooting in the back of the house(kitchen/office area), as there is alot of infighting and drama that goes on behind the scenes that restaurants like to keep under wraps.

She recommended that you maybe offer them some stills that they can use in advertisements, as that will save them money on hiring a photographer to come out and do it. Maybe use your actors and shoot a short commercial for free that they can use. You also may want to offer them the right to prescreen your work, and remove anything that they think may put them in a bad light.

Basically she said you can probably forget about getting access for free, they're gonna want something out of the deal.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
 
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I spoke today with the manager at the local supper-club, and I'm 99% sure he'll let us do it (for free no less), but just to be safe, if he's on the edge, I'll probably offer to give him a free copy of the final product, or an open invitation for me to do a free 30 sec spot or something. We'll see how it goes. The only snag is that it changes the setting of the film.
 
What the heck is going on over there?? :shocked:

Good luck with the project by the way! Keep us posted.


Hans Moleman said:
FIRST UPDATE: 10/22/06
Some tidbits I've picked up that I wouldn't mind sharing:

Don't try to establish dominance over your DP by using tech terms, especially when you don't know what the &$%# you're talking about. (He asked me if I knew the 'pixel rating' on the DVX...)

Flooding a room with highly directional light, without regard to placement, color, or intensity, DOES NOT count as "lighting a scene."

DO NOT direct your DP with hand movements that you also use to command your dog. This includes snapping and fruity hand gestures. DP's are not dogs.

A shot list is not a script. A shot list is not a shooting script. A shot list is not story boards. A DP can do little with a shotlist if you have no script and no storyboards, especially if it's the first time he's seen it.

If you command your DP to remove the camera from his tripod with a bogen 501 head, then reprimand him for the resulting shot's shakiness, expect a negative response.

If you weigh less than what your DP bench-presses (235 lbs yesterday), DO NOT make snide comments about beating him if he is late again, ESPECIALLY when you sent him back home to get his own camera which you didn't tell him to bring in the first place.

DO NOT brag. this especially applies when you have little to brag about. (he was showing off his Ohio-wesleyan acceptance letter; I have an interview with Harvard next week. Not bragging, I'm just putting it in context.)

That's all I've picked up from the first TWO HOURS. we reconvene tonight, so I'm sure I'll learn plenty of wonderful new lessons.
Click to expand...
 
UPDATE 11/10

Brevis35 came today. Soiled myself. Honestly. I need new pants.

Anyway, so did Barry's HVX book, which is going to be a great reference since I watched the HVX DVD's back to back like 5 times.

Also made the final call to the restaurant (main location) today and secured it for the 16th and 18th. Hopefully won't need it for the 18th, so I plan to bust ass on the 16th. Mostly dialog stuff. I'm not worried.

The shotlist and shooting script are in their final stages where I'm adding and taking away small stuff to make the project a lil deeper.

I plan to learn the Brevis tonight (a tall order), but we are extremely limited for time at our locations, so I need to be on the freaking ball come thursday.

Promise to post grabs with my new toys as soon as possible.
 
Lil update:

Thought it was worth a shot to ask Leo Gardini if he was availible to score the film.

Surprisingly, he has agreed to help me out. This might turn out to not suck.

Graci, Leo
 
UPDATE 11/16

First day of shooting completed.

I'm learning more about the process every time I get on set. Today I learned that to have enough time to do the scenes you want (properly) estimate the time itd take to do them, then double that. In other words, we got half the shots done we needed.

Here are some production stills. I'll be reviewing the footage later tonight and I'll post grabs that I think don't suck. There might not be too many.

Tomorrow I'll be talking to the artist who'll do our poster and dvd cover. He comes recommended, so lemme know if you like his stuff that I'll post and I'll hook you up.


1163729516.jpg
 
Well, after slaving at it for a while, I finally got a look I'm happy with for the project. here are some screens for you guys, lemme know what you think.

1164158674.jpg

1164158654.jpg


Also, I've taken another lesson away from this project, that might be worth sharing. Due to some scheduling difficulties, we had to cut a shoot short, which really discouraged me. A few times I thought about putting the whole thing on hiatus untill summer or something. But, instead of throwing in the towel, I put effor into finding ways around the problems we had, and it's looking like everything's going to work out by next week. So for what it's worth, don't ever quit on a project, just keep plugging away.
 
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