There are a few crowdfunding campaigns that I would like to share with you guys today. I usually learn about campaigns from someone sending me a email or on google plus. I do not think that this campaign is more important than that campaign or this subject material is more worthy than that one. It usually comes down to the film maker, their passion for the project and the past work that they have done.
If any of you have a campaign starting up and want to talk about it please drop me a note by leaving a comment or visiting me on google plus and I will get back to you. Digital feature film making does not have to be a lonely business. It is okay to make connections along the way.
Okay first up is an international production. There is a few days left in this campaign so if you wish to get involved you will have to move quickly. I understand that this film maker shot her last film using a T2i, I would like to do an interview about that soon.
The next project that I want to look at is something that could be something very special. I like new twist on the horror film model. The film Mermaid Down could be that and more.
Next up is a horror comedy titled Back from the Grave.
Anyone who knows me personally would tell you that I love Shakespeare. I cannot get enough of Shakespeare and someday I am going to shoot a twist on Hamlet. Okay that takes me to this kickstarter project, Thane of East County.
Next is the campaign for a horror film titled Headless.
The last film is a Fan film. I think some of the best low budget film making is being done in the area of fan films. This one is from the Dark Knight universe, Gotham City Sirens.
That will be it for today. On a personal note I would like to add that my screen writing book is now available again at Amazon. You can check it out by clicking the image on the right side of this page.
Please take a moment to share this post and to like the post of stumbleupon.
This is going to be a long interview so I will not do much in the way of introduction except to say thank you to all of the film makers involved with Tokyo Grand Guignol and their producer and production company. If I am ever in Tokyo I intend to check in with them.
Some projects stand out from the others and this one caught my attention at first because of visually stunning it looks. There are places on earth that seem to be saturated with more color. Tokyo seems to be one such place as the stills from this film look amazing. Then I studied the concept behind the project and I came away thinking I had to know more about this film. That lead me to contact the film makers and after overcoming a bit of a language barrier I have the interview below for you.
Do not forget to visit their crowdfunding campaign. You can visit it by clicking here.
Also I would like to thank Yann Moreau for making this interview happen.
Q)Before we begin the interview please take a few moments to tell us about your Indiegogo campaign.
A) First, thank you very much for your interest in our project! It was a long road to make it but because of the interest and passion, as yours, we could make it.
To come back on the indie gogo crowfunding campaign, what we can say is it's very helpful and always positive way to work on a project. We started to talk about TOKYO GRAND GUIGNOL more than 2 years ago, so, after all this time, and already 4 shooting, we make it because we need a little extra money to finish the movie in the best way possible (especially to make post production important steps like audio mixing, some CGI, start marketing, subtitle,...). The campaign will finish on June 16, and every coin is important for us! So, thank you by advance to your great reader.
Q) It would seem that this film touches a number of areas that most low budget film makers would want to know more about. Most film makers would find it a daunting task to shoot a film in their home country and in their native language. Taking a subject like Grand Guignol and using it in a totally new setting had to be challenging. What advice do you wish you had received before you attempted this project?
A) To be honest, we started to talk about this project so long time ago, we mostly get prepared for the badest situation. As usual in this kind of indie movie, the best advise could be "don't wait too much, don't fear too much, just take your camera and shoot". We tried first to get budget with the regular "asking to companies" way, but the concept was little bit to strange for most of japanese producers, haha.
Of course, the main challenge was to manage communication between french directors and japanese team, but our japanese producer (Hiroei Ishihara) selected always great teams, and Gilles Landucci and me (Yann Moreau) worked as Associate Producers, like a link between the french way to work (just do it) and japanese way (let's think, to make it better).
Q) Grand Guignol started in France, how aware were you of this subject material before you were contacted about making this film?
A) This project started with the intention to ask french directors their "visions" about Tokyo and japanese "culture and life". By passion, we are all fans of fantasy and "genre" in cinema, so very quickly we were thinking it will be interesting to make scary stories, with the usual Grand Guignol style (imagination, blood and sensuality), in Tokyo.
Q)Shooting an Anthology is a difficult job when undertaken by one film maker. The most obvious problem that would have to be overcome when there are many film makers involved in the same project is at the level of the camera itself. Did the four film makers have to agree on types of cameras that would be used for this production and the frame rates?
A) For the camera work, we choose to make it all with Cannon mark 2 and 3, and some lenses generously provided by Cannon. Framerate is based on NTSC format. Except that, each director manages his own style of shooting, editing, ...
Q) The anthology film has never really been given the respect that they deserve by the film viewing public or by beginning film makers. I got introduce to this genre of film making as a child by movies like Black Sabbath and Trilogy of Terror. Movies with a clearly defined binding element. In the case of Black Sabbath theme and in the case of Trilogy of Terror a single actress starring in each film that formed the Trilogy.
Recently we have seen in the US. films like V.H.S. and the ABC’s of Death. Were there films that made you eager to tackle this form of film making?
A) All the directors of TOKYO GRAND GUIGNOL made a lot of short films previously, and we all love anthology like Black Sabbath or Creepshow (in France, we were all wicked by the old VHS cover by Melki!).
We talked a lot of time to make one, but we didn't have enough strong concept, and new, to make one. Until TGG.
Q) This project came with basic rules. (The rules of this project are simple: A limited budget, total freedom and imaginative stories of 25 minutes which need to include a kiss and be mostly shot at night.) Did the film makers involved find these simple rules restricting or liberating?
A)I think in the case of the 4 directors, it's was a good thing to have a common base to make a strong identity to the movie. But usually, the more freedom we have, the better it is.
At beginning, 7 directors were involved, but because it was difficult to keep the schedule, budget and duration for each story (15 min become 20/25min now for each one); we split the project in 2. Now we are making the 4 first stories (by Nicolas Alberny, Francois Gaillard, Gilles Landucci and Yann Moreau), which will make a 90min feature film. Then, hopefully, we want to make a Volume 2, with the others directors already planned (Xavier Gens from THEV DIVIDE and FRONTIERs, Jean Frederic Chaleyat and Frederic Grousset. All associates producers now)
Q) About the production of the film. Where the films being shot all at the same time or where spaced out over weeks or even months? Secondly was their ever moments when the film makers and or their casts had the chance to interact?
A) Our brave producer took the good decision to set 1 shooting every 3 months, to keep the energy, but in same time to have enough time to prepare well each shooting.
Depending of the directors, each shooting was 7 days to 9 days.
Q) Also from the crowdfunding campaign I see that you all had the same production crew. Some film makers prefer to use their own personnel particularly behind the camera or even man the camera themselves. Did this ever become an issue?
A)This movie was made in the very independant way, with a limited budget, so our plan from the beginning was to hire only director who can handle themselves the camera work, editing, ...
But because we know each others very well, and are friends, we were happy to give an hand if the director asked. There was 1 main director on each story, mostly helped by another one (for second camera, time to time, or help), with a commun base for sound, assistant, ... and always great and very gentle actors team!
Everybody was so great anyway!
Q) Tokyo is one of the most visually stunning cities on earth. I hope to film their someday. With such a canvas available to you were their times when the city itself felt like a character in your project?
A) Depending of the sensibility of each director. Some prefers focus on japanese interiors and story culture, others focus on outdoor shooting to play with the Tokyo Architecture. On the 4 directors, i think it will be an interesting 50/50 style. On my side, i fell in love of Tokyo 7 years ago. Since this time, i always wanted to show some particular places.
Each single station of Tokyo has his own personnality, style, like a small town. That’s a huge pleasure to shoot there (and live there, haha). If you like strange modern architectures, please come in Tokyo Rodney!
Q) Looking at what is called Asian cinema from a distance it is difficult to get a feeling for the state of independent film making in a country like Japan. Has the Dslr cameras and availability of low cost editing software impacted film making there as much as it has here in the US.? Also since the directors involved are from France, how has it affected film making in their home country?
A) In Japan, there is no place for independant filmmakers, in the way of Sundance style. Or you make your movie by yourself (with your own money), or you make it in production company (and it will look like a TV Drama, for 90%). But sometimes, it's working. My friend Akira Ikeda just got many prizes around the world with his super indie "Anatony of paperclip". Bravo!
In France, if it's very difficult, or incredibly looooong, to get money for official (lazy) producers, it's really possible to get money help from gouverment, and free services from technicians and actors (even famous).
We can not complain too much, haha. In Japan, it's almost impossible to get something free/inexpensive (locations, actor, services,...); thats why it's very difficult for indie producer.
That’s why we are very grateful to Dice Entertainment and Hiroei Ishihara.
Q) What are the plans for Tokyo Grand Guignol when it is completed?
A)First, we plan to show the movie in festivals Tour, then we hope to get a passionate distributor to take car of it, And a great co-producer to help for the Volume 2, ahah.
Q) Any final thoughts or advice for the beginning digital feature film maker?
A)As i mention, make a movie is a very long road. Most of the people will say it's impossible, or not reasonable, but now, with DLSR and strong computer, our beautifulest dreams come true.
So, we have no excuse to try. Do your best, even in uneasy situation, and you will be always proud of your work. Good luck to everyone!!!
Again thank you very much for taking time out to do this interview. We all look forward to seeing the finished product.
Each one of us during any given year will pick the one or two crowdfunding campaigns that we personally get involved with. My contribution is usually to invest my time and effort in getting the word out about a project. Some projects I like more than others. This is one of those projects that I love. The location, the story elements. The fact that it is an Anthology. The fact that they are seeking a reasonable sum of money.
For this campaign to reach its goal it does not require much more than for you guys to spread the word about it. Twitter is a place to do this along with facebook. I am one of those people who if anyone ask me about movies I have a dozen new ones to talk about each week along with my plans for one or two that I want to do. This is one film that I am going to mention here at this blog a few more times as they near the end of their campaign. I may even pull out the Surfin Bird song to get my point across.
Thank you for dropping by. We are going to get back to the found footage series soon. I think that their asre two interviews left in the series and then we are probably going to investigate the state of low budget film making in other countries. Also I am thinking about adding a directors reel page and an actors page. There are a lot of actors who have mentioned to me that they are looking for work, but cannot get a hundred people in a year to check out their reels.
Indiegogo and Kickstarter have become huge parts of the indie film making landscape. Develop a kickass concept and trailer and you could be well on your way to getting the funds needed to complete your film.
Most of us have read the stories about films like the Veronica Mars’s movie raising millions of dollars. Many of us believed that the world did not need to have another moment of the Veronica Mars universe inflicted upon us, but what we believe does not matter if there were, and since it pulled in around five million dollars from its fans, thousands of people willing to donate their money to the cause.
The pool of money out there to be dipped into is limited not by who ever else is at the pool at that time, but by our ability to find our core audience and convince them to become engaged with our projects.
Crowdfunding is the best thing to ever happen to those of us who have zero interest in dealing with the Hollywood system. Hollywood had three things to hold over the indie film maker. Its distribution network. With the growth of VOD and theaters being equipped with digital projectors we can get our films out to the public without them. The second thing was money. Movies cost millions of dollars to make.
Now they can be done for thousands. Special effects cost millions and now you can do most of them yourself. With crowd funding the money problem can be met and overcome. The last part is stars. They have access to quality actors while if your were a micro budget film maker you had access to retired clowns and sock puppets. I got news for Hollywood, there are some fantastic actors out here and they are starving for work.
Before I get to the campaigns I would like to do a bit of a follow up to one of the crowdfunding interviews that I did last year. It was perhaps my favorite interview and strangely the least read of all of them. Also it was the most successful campaign of them all. The interview was Me + You. If you would like to read the complete interview you can find it in my film making book. Available at the right side of this page.
Now lets get to the campaigns. Some are ending soon so please jump in if you wish to help. Taking five minutes to share a campaign is the best thing you can do. You reach a few hundred people with your social media and in turn they reach a few thousand. Somewhere down the line someone hears about a campaign and they will donate. This is powerful where campaigns are only seeking a few thousand dollars.
The first campaign is also a preview of my next interview. It is an Anthology shot by four French film makers in Japan. They are looking for money to help finish the film. Check out Tokyo Grand Guignol.
Next is one of my favorite topics being tackled as a live action film. The genre is Anime.
Next up is an actual horror anthology. Yeah, I know, two in one post. I have to admit that I wish that anthology was as popular as Found Footage. This one is titled THE MORTUARY COLLECTION and can be found at kickstarter .
The next is a sort of throwback to tradition kind of horror. The movie is titled
The Uncanny Alley.
The last film is sort of a Viking Epic that will be shot in Norway. I may have to interview these guys. I have to know how this kind of medieval film making is done. The movie is titled From Ashes To Embers.
Okay that will be it for today. My next post will be my interview with the film makers behind Tokyo Grand
Guignol. Good luck with you film making and remember to share this post and the films mentioned in this post. If any of you have a crowdfunding campaign leave me a message as a comment or on google plus and I will see if I can highlight it here.
I have been looking forward to getting back to my series of post on the subject of found footage film making. Although some of you guys have suggest that one post that id dedicated to the subject of found footage is one too many. I would respond to that in two ways. First I have gotten more views and more feedback on this subject than any one before it. Secondly this is a growing genre in the digital film making world. It is here to say. The film makers out there on the front lines are aware of the problems with the genre and are actively correcting them. What most of us are looking for in the end is a great story that is well told and that can be done in any genre, including found footage. I guess it is time for the interview.
Q) This interview is with Stephen Patrick Kenny, the film maker behind the film The Pigman Murders. I suppose the most obvious question is what is the plot of The Pigman Murders?
It tells the story of 7 friends, Lead by Irish stars Mark Hutchinson (Curse of the Banshee) & Tom Ward (Love/Hate), who head to the beautiful wilderness of Connemara, Co. Galway for a weekend break to celebrate the first year anniversary of a close friend. First night on Diamond Hill Mountain they come across a beaten and bloodied male looking for help as he warns them that two masked men attacked him and took his girlfriend, some of the group head into the wooded area in search as others return to their cars which have disappeared. With no houses for miles and no transport they must walk themselves back but are not alone and now find themselves fighting for their life...........
Q) I can see by your Youtube channel that you have used short films to work your way up to a feature. Would you recommend this path to others or do you believe a feature film is a totally different learning experience?
Yes I did many shorts and I would certainly recommend them as a stepping stone for any film-maker. Jumping into a feature is a huge step so with working on shorts you get to experience all stress it begins and prepares you for your first feature.
Q) Many digital film makers believe that shooting a found footage movie is easier than shooting a standard narrative film. The myth of handing the actors a camera or two, dump them in the woods and a week later you got the Blair Witch Project. That is not how it happens is it?
A) Making a feature is never easy rather found footage to studio production - same amount of works goes into them from prep to shooting to post production.
Q) With each film maker that I interview on the subject there is a different answer to the rehearsal question. Some directors like to spend weeks with their cast rehearsing every scene until it almost becomes something that resembles choreography when the cameras roll. Then other film makers like to be surprised as they shoot. What approach did you take when shooting this film? Also would you do it that way again?
A) I do love rehearsing with actors of course before any production, but on this one we went for it raw to give the found footage a real feel and I think it worked.
Q) There is the other part of found footage film making. The writing. The nature of a found footage movie seems to demand that the film maker not provide a fleshed out narrative screenplay except if you are doing something like Cloverfield which has to have set points at which special effects are included. Did you write a script of general scenes or a full script with dialogue included?
A) I had some basic script work done for this one but it was more of ideas and the actors were brave enough to improv some tough scenes. I really wanted to keep this real as too many found footage films out there scripted and just does not work for me.
Q) What kind of camera or cameras did you select for this project?
We used a Sony and Nikon DSLR for this one.
Q) Watching the trailer I can see that you did some night time shooting. A tough situation when shooting a standard narrative film, but found footage does not allow you the freedom to light scenes as you would like to. How did you tackle the problem of low light?
A) Yes shooting at nighttime can be a tough one but again we wanted the real feel to this film so we shot it like you see it on the trailer DARKNESS which adds to the intensity I wanted for it.
Q) The oldest saying in film making is Lights Camera Action. They did not mention sound because films back then were silent. Now every film makers has to understand the importance of sound and how poor sound can sink a project. When shooting found footage you are giving the camera and the job of recording sound into the hands of the actors more often than any of us would like. How much thought went into sound before the production began? Did you have to make adjustments while shooting?
A) Sound is a very important for any feature and we usually use mic and boom but again with this one we wanted the real feel to it so I let the audio come thru the mic on the camera and we did have another mic close to the actors and that was about it! We were delighted with a result and with the added effects from our sound post team.
Q) Some directors have a core cast of actors that they like to return to again and again. Hitchcock did it with his leading actors and actresses. Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino do this as well. While others take the audition approach to picking a cast. How did you go about finding you cast?
A) Yes of course have some actors I love working with and have done so and will do so on future projects but I do love looking thru showreels trying to spot some new talent.
Q) You decided to do a found footage film. How do you feel about the state of this genre and do you believe that it has room to expand?
A) Most found footage films these days are not real and are boring and it really has ruined the name of them, but with The Pigman Murders you very much feel like you are there with the cast and it is very much real. I am not sure will I ever go down this road again but I did very much enjoy it!
Q) What is going to be the next project?
A) My next one is another feature called Captive which is a chilling story of 12 strangers who are being held against their will as each of them must go along with the rules if they are to get the cure for a killer virus which infects them all.
Q) Any advice for the first time film maker?
A) Just go out and shoot rather you have £50 to £5000 get it finished and never take NO for an answer. The best way to learn film-making is by doing it! You will make many mistakes, get stressed and much more but when you complete the project you will never feel as good!
Again I would like to thank Kenny for agreeing to do this interview. As an added bonus I thought that I would include one of his short films.
I hope you enjoy it.
Okay that will be it for today. The next post will be about a few crowdfunding campaigns that have caught my interest. I hope to get an interview about one of them that was shoot in Japan. If you have enjoyed your time here take a moment to like this site on stumbleupon and leave a cool comment there.
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