Zero budget DVX shot feature gets distribution deal!

RossShep

RossShep

Active member
Hi all,

Im really pleased to report that my feature 'Heathen' has recently been picked up for worldwide distribution and is being released on DVD next month. This was an amazing surprise after setting out to just try and get a feature film shot and finished with no budget, let alone get it sold.

It goes to show what a great camera the DVX100 is, and also proves that SD isn't dead yet!

Id like to say a big thanks to all on the forum for advice and support, hopefully this post will inspire anyone thinking of going out there with a camera and trying to make a feature!

If your interested, check out the trailer below

Ross
 
hi rosshepp,

i think i came across one of your posts a while back while researching tripods or something anyway i meant to reply, i thought it was kinda odd that no one expressed any curiosty about your experience with getting the film out on dvd. I have it on my wish list on amazon uk as it was not available the last time i checked. Well done! it must be quite a feeling and with a micro budget as well. Beautiful! Would you mind sharing your experience of making the film and particulary the distrubtion process, i'm really interested and i'd say a lot of us would like to hear how it all went down.
 
Congrats sir!

Please edumacate us on the process of acquiring distribution.

I always find that story to be fascinating.
 
Thanks a lot for the interest guys!

I always wanted to make a feature with my DVX, that was the reason I bought it. Once I had the camera, there was no more excuses why I wasnt getting off my arse and doing something about it, so I started working on a script with an actor I knew and about 5 months later we had a finished draft. During that time, I also did a lot of research into boom mics and I ended up going with the Rode NTG-1, this was a really key thing to get right, sound is so important!

We shot the film around our day jobs, I had a friend work as the producer/boom operator and 12 months later we had finished the film. That was it, just the 2 of us as crew and about 5 actors. I recruited a composer and sound designer after I had finished the edit.

That was back in January of this year. So that was when I started looking for distribution. There's no heroic story about how I got it really, it just takes a lot of patience and belief. There are so many distributors out there and its hard to know where to even start. I contacted a lot of them and didn't hear back from 99%! That can make you feel pretty down, but you have to just keep trying.

After about 5 months I wrote a post-it note and stuck it on my pc monitor: "Remember how much you wanted it finished!" Its so easy to start thinking about other things you want to make or new projects that get into your brain, I was starting to lose hope of the film getting seen by anyone. Ironically, it was a few weeks later that I got the call from one of the first distributors I had contacted asking to see the full film, one thing led to another and the deal was done. I was approaching distributors with a website and trailer, this seemed to work as a way of introducing myself and the film, they don't generally watch the full film unless they ask for it so Im told.
 
that's a great story, thanks for sharing it..
all this is a good think for you and in the same time a real hope-giver for us.
best of luck with your film!!!

ps. let us know how/where we can get it once released :-)
 
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Thanks a lot - I'm really glad it gives you hope! Its just great to know that footage shot with the DVX is taken seriously and that HD ins't an issue (I'm sure this will change in a few years though, unfortunately!)

I'm not allowed to advertise on here with where you can get it or prices etc, if you want specifics feel free to contact me through the film website. Since you ask, hopefully its safe to say on here it is widely available in the places you would normally expect!
 
Its lined up to be screened at a festival next year, in the city where we shot it. Other than that there are a few festivals I submitted to that I'm still waiting to hear from.

I have to be honest though, getting entry to festivals isn't easy for a digital feature film (from the ones I tried anyway). I found that a lot wouldn't accept my film because I don't have a 35mm print. There was also a point where I just ran out of money to spend trying to get the film out there, making alot of festival entry fees is pricey, so I had to limit myself to 1 or 2 a month. Really, I think you need to go crazy sending to festivals if you want to get in a bunch of them, and that for me became too expensive to pursue. So, I decided that the smart thing to do would be to concentrate on trying to find distribution.
 
micro buget lighting

micro buget lighting

Hi RossShep,

You mentioned you had a very simple approach to your movie, what kind of lighting set up did you have at your disposal? Or what would you recommend as an essential lighting kit for low budget film-making? I'm thinking of buying a Redhead, a pair of 500w halogen work lights, gels, couple of reflectors, perhaps some domestic lights with home made barn doors and attach them to cheap old tripods as stands, am i on the right track? cheers for any advise
 
Thanks a lot guys.

You ask about lighting - well.. there wasnt any really. Most, if not all of the film was lit my the sun! I have no lighting setup at all, so I always tried to plan around just available light and nothing else. There were a couple of scenes where I tried to light with what I had for some indoors night stuff, I basically used a couple of desk lamps and the dimmer switch - that was it!

So really, to answer your question, I would say that had I been trying to light every scene, I dont think the shoot would have been as easy to get through at all. Lights, especially red heads like the ones you mention here, get very hot and require some attention and work a lot better if you have small crew of even 3 or 4 people. On my shoot, there were just 2 of us, so we would have been stretched to do a decent job of looking after red heads balanced around the set. If you have some people to help, then sure go ahead and get the lighting you can afford, if you dont really have the budget though, then there's a danger that lighting will become an obstacle for your shoot and will be another reason for it to take longer than you have. My advice, if you have no budget, no resources at all, save that money and rewrite your scenes to be outdoors as much as you can, The DVX performs amazingly well in daylight, and you'll be able to focus on operating the camera and directing your cast, rather than worry about the lights falling over.
 
Hi RossShep,

I agree about shooting outdoors, theres a lot less to worry about regarding sets / set design and of course lighting. I guess thats why a lot of b movies you see now a days like on 'zone horror' are set in big forests with the whole 'bring a few college kids to mommy's log cabin and chop em up' template.

I'm surprised though that you gotta away with only desk lamps for your rare int scenes. You must have played a lot of the int scenes in close up or something. Will have to check out your movie soon to see what ur on about, But i guess you planed out your int shots to incorporate your available lighting technique.

I thought the dvx needs a good burst of light for int's especially at night to get a good exposure, you must have at least used a reflector.

Sounds like you made it like a dogma movie, maybe you should have applied for a dogma cert to stick on the beginning of your film.
 
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Hi rossshep...

Well done... You are a hero for me now... Becuz shooting a feature with such parameters is something I dream for long...

Could you tell about equipment more detail.... What did you use on camera and other hardware

And how did you make shots?
 
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