FEATURE: TRAILER - SUPERSEEDS | Super Powered Adventure
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tieuellegacy
Active member
I realized it after watching the Kickstarter clip. Maybe it's a sign that you'll have a breakout hit. Never know. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Definitely, sir. If anything, I'll invite you down to a premiere/screening.
Yeah! But, I'm going to do another one so all good. You didn't miss much!
Thanks much, Chris. Going to release a trailer pretty soon here!
Hahaha. In Martay's thread, I was more hesitant to comment because it's a touchy subject, on both sides of the fence. There are a lot of "thoughts" for sure, but I figure the best way to beat being pinned down by the predisposed notions is to skirt them entirely. I'm just a filmmaker of no race or social class doing what I can to boost my friends and myself up!
I've actually been told I look like a lot of people... depending on my hair style at any given time (Which shifts like seasons). Eazy-E, Michael Jackson (Both young and old), Dave Chapelle (get this one a lot from strangers), Al Jeroe (Friends tease me about this), Peter Gunnz (the rapper? Yeah), Jimmie Hendrix (old people mostly), and Huey from the Boondocks.
Modularity wins the day!
On another note... we just got back a super complicated VFX shot... another big sigh of relief, and we also got to see the first portion of a very important 3D model coming over from Belgium!!! Can't wait to plug it all in.
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mentatDUKE
Veteran
Kholi, the work youre doing is similar to the work I want to end up doing (genre/scifi/comedy films). However the strategy I am/was using is to learn as much as I can regarding After Effects, 3D, Compositing, sound, color, etc (on top of writing and directing which is the true competency).
It seems like you're using a different strategy that seems to be paying off huge (and quickly). I mean you only moved to LA in 2k9 right?
Can you talk about the strategy a bit as far as how you are able to get A-level effects work done very affordably? How did you build your effects team? Would you look on some of the effects sites, notice the superstars, and recruit them that way? (You have a guy in Belgium. Awesome!)
Keep up the good work and thanks for getting me to reconsider my own strategy... Why try to be a jack of all trades when collaboration is so easy these days (and off the shelf software does wonders)?
It seems like you're using a different strategy that seems to be paying off huge (and quickly). I mean you only moved to LA in 2k9 right?
Can you talk about the strategy a bit as far as how you are able to get A-level effects work done very affordably? How did you build your effects team? Would you look on some of the effects sites, notice the superstars, and recruit them that way? (You have a guy in Belgium. Awesome!)
Keep up the good work and thanks for getting me to reconsider my own strategy... Why try to be a jack of all trades when collaboration is so easy these days (and off the shelf software does wonders)?
In some form or fashion, everything I do will have some sort of Sci-Fi element or Visual Effect that needs to be created. Whether that's as simple as burning something or losing weight! Haha, that's just my interest. I can see why you want to sit down and learn that stuff! For a while, though I wasn't good at it, I did post work for the company I worked for and it was a great learning experience. It also gave me an idea of how the process works, from inception to delivery. Then, working with Rainfall, kind of stepped it up a notch to where I'd go to shoot something for a director and would have to get accustomed to "seeing" what was there, even though it really wasn't.
That's really how I gained the VFX knowledge, but of course it's not exactly doing the vfx. I considered getting back into it, and I think at one point I said I would just have to learn some to complete Superseeds... had I done that, I probably would NOT be releasing VFX samples to the public for another year or so.
Here's my logic, and what I told another friend who's also in the process of learning vfx for the exact same reasons: I'm better at other things and there are literally THOUSANDS of VFX artists scattered across the globe, most of which I can get in touch with through a single email. If I can create a great canvas for a vfx artist that's on a similar level, who also wants to work on material that he or she is confident in and enjoys, can use it for their reel to get bigger and better jobs, then I don't need to learn them myself. I only need to know how to execute for the most effective results, then spend the time nurturing relationships with people, forming a team. Big rule of thumb in this industry?
This is a team sport
I know guys like Gareth Edwards and even Rainfall's Sam Balcomb are just about one-man armies when it comes to stuff like that, and they're good at what they do! The less work I have to do, the faster the product can go to market and chances are, the better it will be. I did luck out in that I had someone that could do it. Crazy part is that he actually didn't know if he could or not, but said he would try. You had a view of what his "trying" looked like.
Now that frees me up from here on into the future. Same thing with the CGi Modeler that's sending over the characters I need from Belgium. He said he normally immediately turns down indie films because of the production value, but as soon as he saw the rough trailer that I forward to him and some stills, he decided he would help out for an incredible rate. I got the first sample from him yesterday, I couldn't have done that without a few more years of practice, honestly. And, I catch on fast.
So I think it's absolutely great that, as a director or producer, you dabble in all sorts of things not limited to what needs to happen to bring a project together. But, you are only one human, I think so anyway, and you can only do so many things at one time. If you're working on VFX and getting better at that, then you can't work on writing or actually getting a project together.
On the other hand, if you're getting a project together, it looks and feels great, people see obvious potential and they want to be a part of it in some way or another. Sometimes that means neglecting their own rates in exchange for an opportunity to grow with you.
I'll also add that I'm pretty easy to work with, and I'm not sure if I'm just easily satisfied or not... but I feel like if people are handing me their time on silver platters, then I owe them... they do not owe me. In that space, I must make it as easy and painless as possible for them. Even when I have the right amount of money to pay, it'll be the same. Those who are good at what they do are always in demand if they go to the right channels, and they do not have to work for me.
I am nothing without them.
Actually, I got to California in 2005 and worked at a Time Share Call Center for about a year or more in Irvine (orange county), then moved to Los Angeles (Santa Monica area) in like 2007 I think, worked as a digital illustrator while I saved money for my first camera real digital camera, which was an HVX200. I don't know if Barry Green remembers when I got that thing, but that was a crazy story. Haha.
Didn't start the actual process until about late 2007 or early 08. Big part of the "quick" (which seems like forever, to me) move from one space to another was owning a camera and being able to shoot for others, working with the AD's that have been on huge movies in their lifetime, and DVXuser/The Internet.
I like the question you asked! It's an important one at our stage, knowing how to invest your time most effectively. THere's no right answer, I think, but that's my path.
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Thanks for the detailed feedback. I have much to think about....
I'm still wowed by your effects guy saying he would "try". His work rivals Hollywood movies. X-men Origins: Wolverine anyone?
I'm still wowed by your effects guy saying he would "try". His work rivals Hollywood movies. X-men Origins: Wolverine anyone?
CRProductions
Active member
Man Kholi, your latest response was filled with TOO many quotables to even repost, I'll just say that I co-sign everything. It was almost like reading something I had written myself and forgot that I posted because that is the SAME model I follow, and the same feeling I have towards working with others, right down to the appreciation I show them for giving me and my project THEIR time, that they could be spending on something else.
I commend people like Adam and Faith, who can spend months, even years patiently learning every detail they need to completely and independently create a film project. But I am NOT one of those people. I don't have the years or more importantly the money to be afforded the luxury of perfecting every aspect of filmmaking before or even during the creation of a project.
I'm a pretty decent writer, I'm pretty good at being resourceful, but those are my skills, as bad as I one day want to learn CGI, I know it would take me YEARS....YEARS to be decent at it, but only months, perhaps even weeks, to find some young, hungry, talented CGI artist with not a lot of work on the resume that I can PAY to work on my project, which means my movie gets done in 2011 and not 2016, and I'm cool with that.
Same goes with directing, I recently realized that my strength is growing as a producer (since I did spend time learning this area because it was one of my main goals) and I'm easily pleased (though not afraid to speak my mind)..so my crew tells me they LOVE working with me, they'd do it for free..they'd do it (and have done it) for 14-16hrs a day for a week straight...because they know I'd do the same for them, and they know how much I appreciate them doing it!
I think it's important to know your limitations at life, you don't have to let them limit what you do, but if you know what they are, you'll know when to team with someone else who excels in that area, and the two of you can work together to create magic.
I commend people like Adam and Faith, who can spend months, even years patiently learning every detail they need to completely and independently create a film project. But I am NOT one of those people. I don't have the years or more importantly the money to be afforded the luxury of perfecting every aspect of filmmaking before or even during the creation of a project.
I'm a pretty decent writer, I'm pretty good at being resourceful, but those are my skills, as bad as I one day want to learn CGI, I know it would take me YEARS....YEARS to be decent at it, but only months, perhaps even weeks, to find some young, hungry, talented CGI artist with not a lot of work on the resume that I can PAY to work on my project, which means my movie gets done in 2011 and not 2016, and I'm cool with that.
Same goes with directing, I recently realized that my strength is growing as a producer (since I did spend time learning this area because it was one of my main goals) and I'm easily pleased (though not afraid to speak my mind)..so my crew tells me they LOVE working with me, they'd do it for free..they'd do it (and have done it) for 14-16hrs a day for a week straight...because they know I'd do the same for them, and they know how much I appreciate them doing it!
I think it's important to know your limitations at life, you don't have to let them limit what you do, but if you know what they are, you'll know when to team with someone else who excels in that area, and the two of you can work together to create magic.
tieuellegacy
Active member
This is all well said. I rethink these things quite a bit because I'm spread out over various projects that are nothing alike. Sometimes it comes down to trust and resources. There's a reason why people stick with the same editor once they find that common ground and I believe that we MAY see changes in Tarantino's work since he lost his right-hand lady editor. I feel that as good as Robert Rodriguez is right now (in my opinion), he COULD turn out 3 to 4 pics per year as a director if he didn't edit and score his films. Editing, writing, and EFX are different beasts than directing and producing for various reasons.
Kholi, from looking at your set I gather that you have a lot of people that have common goals and interests. Even the looks on their faces seem like they are willing to give 50 or 60 takes of everything if necessary. Once you find people like that, it's hard to let them go. Once you have people that are always ready to go home or that don't really associate with anyone else then it's easy to let them go.
Summed up- When you find people that think alike and that are willing to try then you have a different product. It doesn't have to make a million dollars. If you're smart about it, you can come out on the other end without owing a million dollars or even $100k. It turns into a group of people that wanna be a part of something.
Tieuel Legacy! Motion
tieuellegacy
Active member
@CrProductions...not sure if there are any film schools around you in NC but you can also go to community colleges and universities to offer credit to students rather than paying for services. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Oh, and you wear women's clothing as well? :cheesy:
Only on Mondays... oh, today is monday.
Been using the stills, kickstarter link, and the VFX tests in lieu of a trailer for now to see who we could reach out to. Teresa's been doing a lot of footwork on that front and there are a few more coming up, thanks to her! She's great at this stuff!
A lot of people are interested in new ways to raise funding for micro budgets, and in general it seems like they're moving toward a large interest in up-and-coming on small budgets to publicize. So the kickstarter link and VFX tests have been helping with responses, as weird as that sounds.
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Awesome writeup. Glad youre getting press. Whens your next NewBreed article?
Actually been thinking about the NB article, trying to figure out which topic to cover, but I might have locked it down last night. So more than likely this week!
Thanks for checking it out, sir.
I've been to Ohio...best take this misinformation and run with it.rogar-BigGrin(DBG)
Haha. Yeah, it's sort of the armpit of America! But, I bet there are some sweet locations to be had for freesky.
Martay
Veteran
Love these sentences. I feel the same way. I don't deal in effects much (YET) but treat my crew and casts similarly at this stage. We're a team and I respect their efforts and try to make it easy to work with us.
Hopefully, this attitude will pay off for you (and hell me) along the way.
-Martin