FEATURE: This better not be PORN! A Darker Fifty Shades

[El Gato Negro]

Hey Guys! I'm proud to announce that our horror thriller A Darker Fifty Shades got North American distribution! The film stars horror icon Bill Oberst Jr. and horror scarlet Sarah Nicklin. It is currently on Amazon on DVD, Vimeo, Cable VOD and it should be hitting iTunes real soon.

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When I was first contact by the director to produce the film I was a bit reluctant. I still hadn't read the script and I was basing my opinion on the original title The Fetish Set. But what really sealed the deal for me was how prepared he was. He had spent close to two years doing a shot by shot animation of his entire film on Poser. This was animated footage not stills. It was mindblowing. He also had over 60 pages of director notes for each role, cinematography, lighting etc.

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The script definitely tested the limits of a Rated R film but it was all implied and camera angles. We were fortunate to attach some amazing cast and crew to the film. Currently, I am submitting the film to foreign distribution companies and reps.

If you have any questions and I do mean any, don't think twice. I am an open book!

 

[Bubblegummonster]

I've got to say I was skeptical when I saw the poser images you've posted up but then read that he used it for pre-vis for the whole film so it then made sense why the images looked so low quality.

The trailer was really well done, great pacing, sountrack and sfx. I'll have to watch the movie now. What was it like to produce?

All the best,

Peter

 

[El Gato Negro]

Hey Peter!

I appreciate your feedback. The pre-viz was made a few years before production, so I am assuming the director was using an older model of Poser. Nonetheless, it was edited and composite excellently. To date I still haven't worked with a director who took their shot list, storyboards and previsualization to this extreme. I was quite impressed.

We shoot the film in Feb/March 2013. Seems like a lifetime ago but that just goes to show how long it can take to get distribution. One of the major challenges we had was we only had 14 days to shot the whole feature film. The director took his two week vacation just to make his feature. So as the Producer/Line Producer I had to make a ultra tight shooting schedule. Earlier on I made the decision and suggestion to only hire LA actors for the five main roles. And it paid off. These guys were properly trained and they came to work. Not once did we have major delays from the talent. It was worth the extra cost which wasn't that big to begin with since the script had minimal characters. The rest of the roles were given to local actors. This film was done with less than 20 crew members. It took about a whole year from the first contact from the director til we wrapped.

Another challenge was building a replica of two high end hotel rooms. Both rooms totaled about 1000sq feet. We had less than 6 weeks and it came down to the wire. It was my first time as a Producer and Line Producer/UPM were I was responsible for budgeting a constructed set. I was disappointed that that we went about 25% over budget in set design but we managed.

It was a major eye opener since it was the first film I produced were I was solely responsible for everything. Every freaking emotion and state of mind you can think of I went through it. From euphoria to homicidal tendencies. The greatest thing I learn was to be objective and not to take thing to personally. Friendships were test and decimated, while other stood up to the plate and have my eternal respect.

This is the film were my idealistic nature meet with reality. I matured a lot and it reminded me to always go the extra mile for the client.

I've got to say I was skeptical when I saw the poser images you've posted up but then read that he used it for pre-vis for the whole film so it then made sense why the images looked so low quality.

The trailer was really well done, great pacing, sountrack and sfx. I'll have to watch the movie now. What was it like to produce?

All the best,

Peter

 

[Bubblegummonster]

Thanks for the super response. Very interesting and amazing how quickly it was shot. What sort of hours were you doing per day?

It sounds like it was a brilliant experience, especially considering you also had sets built which you had to organize, that must be a big plus on your CV?

I know what you mean about being responsible for everything. I made this short (20 mins) at the end off 2013

It was part of what I called the 22 days later project. Basically I had 3 weeks to come up with an idea, write a script, shoot and edit the film. I had some young guys help out with things but there was no one on set that had any experience with filming so a lot of the time I was having to teach them how to hold the boom and how to pull focus while also trying to direct, set up lights and making sure we had all the shots needed. I'm actually surprised it came out watchable, well in my humble opinion.

So I'm totally with you on that, it feels like a marathon. I can only imagine what a feature film would be like. I'm planning on shooting one but will definitely be recruiting a crew with at least some experience next time.

Can't wait to see it!

All the best,

Peter

 

[El Gato Negro]

Hey Peter! Not bad, not bad at all. VFX were decent and the casting was great. There were some issues with the structure of the storytelling but not enough to make me stop watching. Nice effort.

Thanks for the super response. Very interesting and amazing how quickly it was shot. What sort of hours were you doing per day?

It sounds like it was a brilliant experience, especially considering you also had sets built which you had to organize, that must be a big plus on your CV?

I know what you mean about being responsible for everything. I made this short (20 mins) at the end off 2013

It was part of what I called the 22 days later project. Basically I had 3 weeks to come up with an idea, write a script, shoot and edit the film. I had some young guys help out with things but there was no one on set that had any experience with filming so a lot of the time I was having to teach them how to hold the boom and how to pull focus while also trying to direct, set up lights and making sure we had all the shots needed. I'm actually surprised it came out watchable, well in my humble opinion.

So I'm totally with you on that, it feels like a marathon. I can only imagine what a feature film would be like. I'm planning on shooting one but will definitely be recruiting a crew with at least some experience next time.

Can't wait to see it!

All the best,

Peter

 

[Bubblegummonster]

Thanks for taking the time to watch it.

Yes it's definitely got some issues, I was pleased considering I had to knock out the script in a week and just in the evenings. The beginning was actually just the end but we decided to swap it round to add a hook in. Wasn't happy with the end as we had to completely rush it. It was a great experience though even though like you there were moments where I wanted to give up. Like when the young boy turned up for filming in trainers and a Union Jack T-shirt as his costume. We'd already told the parents it was set in the 1930's but they seemed to of forgotten that part. We ended up just getting him to wear his socks and to wear his T-shirt inside out. I'm sure you had many moments where you had to think out the box too?

I think for the next film I'll definitely be hiring a producer, hopefully if they even have an ounce of your skills it will be a lot more fun on set.


Again keep me updated with the film, I'd love to know how it does.

 

[El Gato Negro]

Some more behind the scenes photos. The ones with Bill Oberst Jr are still my favorite.