The Crowdfunding and Sourcing Post

The Crowdfunding and Sourcing Post

 When sitting down to write one of these post I actual taken into account how long the videos that will be included in the post will be. I try at all times to make it a digestible amount of total time. Lately I have thought that if a suggest is very important then maybe I should pack as much information into the post as possible so today I am going to do that. 

 Digital feature filmmaking could not have become what it has without the audience or the crowd. The crowd has made thousands of good and bad movies possible. We have visions of making epic films in both size and scope and the only way to make these films (without winning the powerball lottery) is to convince the crowd to get involved. Part of the reason that I started this blog was to get to know other film makers and to build a network. Thanks to google plus I have achieved some of this. 

The first two videos that I would like to share with you are about both crowdfunding and crowd sourcing.

  


 


 

 Before we continue I have to say that money is important, but it should never be the goal and it should never stop you from shooting a film. Perhaps you cannot make that micro budget version of the Avengers, but you can shoot a film. The best way to learn film making is to make a film. Make one and then another and another. Hold on to the things that you did well and learn not to make the same mistakes a second time. If you got a dslr or a iphone or a camcorder then you have what you need to record footage. Go out and do this and after you do this find a free editing program and use it to learn how to cut scenes together. If you put together a few good scene you can save them and later they may help you with your crowdfunding campaign. 

 The next video runs about two hours. You will meet many people at different stages of the game. From film makers to those who support them in their efforts to crowdfund.


  

Thank you for visiting my blog and now if you have a free moment add me to your google plus and feel free to shave this post with a friend. Finally I would like to thank Film Courage for doing these interviews. I know how difficult it is to get film makers to sit down and table about their films and themselves. You guys do an outstanding job.

 

Canon Film making News and Notes

 


Recently I was told about a feature that was shot using a Canon T2i. I tried to contact the film maker to talk about the project, but he lives on the other side of the globe and so far I have not received a response so I am going to go ahead and tell you about the film and what I like about the project.

The title of the film is Good Hands. It was shot using a Canon T2i and was edited to give it the look of a 16mm film. I would think that this was done to give it the grindhouse look of a film like Hobo with A Shotgun. It is funny to think that we spend so much time looking for the next best Dslr camera to capture a crisper image when using these cameras to give out films a more classic look has largely been overlooked.
Indie film making is about taking chances and if you cannot take a few chances with a digital feature film that is budgets for less than ten thousand dollars when are you ever going to take a risk or two? Remember that line from the film Moneyball “If we think like the Yankees in here then we are going to lose to them out there.” If we think that we are going to make films identical to Hollywood blockbusters then we are doomed to fail. Worst yet, why would you want to? Their product is glossy crap. Overblown over hyped garbage that is hard to watch at two in the morning on HBO yet alone after spending twelve to fifteen dollars to do it in a theater.

Do not get me wrong, indie film makers are as guilty of falling into safe patterns as Hollywood has. Insane rules about what is a quality indie movie and what is not. What is worthy of notice and what is just not our sort of film. I call that the Sundance trap. The film makers who want to be in Sundance or at Cannes looks down on those of us who love genre films, from comedy, to horror, to faith based to scifi. I believe that anything goes. That any subject material is worthy as long as the story is well told.

Okay here is the Trailer for Good Hands.



Next up I would like to revisit the movie Screen, made by David Baker. Looks like he has decided to release it on Vimeo. It is for sale and/or rent there. Please check it out. We are talking about a feature that was shot for about four thousand dollars. I believe he used the Canon 5d.
I understand that he was basically a one man film crew. To do that takes both skill and guts.
To write it, direct it, light it, cast it, produce it, edit it and twenty other on set jobs. That is the definition of just going out and doing it. Any one of us could go out there and burn money and time with a crew of dozens. It takes a full-grown film maker to do it solo, because at the end of the day you get all of the blame when it goes wrong and in this case all of the credit when things work out.

Here is the trailer for Screen along with a link to where you can see the film.


Find it at this link. http://vimeo.com/ondemand/screenmovie

Okay that will be it for this post. I will be getting back to my series on scifi films with the next post. Take a moment to stumble this page and to share a post on facebook. Thank you for visiting and if you know of a film or film maker who should be featured in a future post contact me via google+ or by leaving a comment. And for those of you who use Pinterest would you mind pinning the cover of my new Film making interview ebook. That site actually does help with book sales. You can find an image along the right side of this page.


   

Digital Filmmaking, Black Magic Time?

Digital Filmmaking, Black Magic Time?

During the last two years a great many cameras have been introduced. Part of being any kind of technician is choosing the right tool for the right job. No two of us see the world in exactly the same way so no two of use will look upon a film shoot the same way. This takes us to the choice of cameras. The type of camera that you pick for your digital feature film shoot will largely reflect how you wish the world you are going to be creating to be seen. For others of us it comes down to what will test and challenge our skills as an artist. Anyone can shoot quality footage with a Red, but only a few of us could pull it off with a Sanyo pocket camcorder or a naked smartphone.

Today’s post is not about what camera is best for your needs. It is instead going to be about one of the newer cameras to become part of the debate. At the end of this post I am going to include a overview video about the camera that was done by the legendary Phillip Bloom. The video will be the longest that I have posted here, but it flies by for those of us who cannot get enough of this type of information.

First up I would like to show you a side by side video that compares the Black Magic camera with one of the best Canon Dslr cameras.

  

 Next I would like to look at two short films that were shoot using this camera. I believe the best test of any camera is to see how it actually performs in action. After all this is about digital film making and not recording shots of trees and flowers.
  

 This next video is the reason why I hang out at Vimeo so much.

   
Love Squirts from Adam R Brown • YellowLinePics on Vimeo.

 

 During the next year there is going to be new devices added to the argument and I must say that the most important thing to keep in mind is that being a film maker is about the things you do before you start filming. Pre production is where your movie will make it or fail. You must have a quality script or nothing else you do will matter. If you do not have the most experience cast then it will be up to you to rehearse them and to nurse them when necessary through scene after scene. Film making is fun, but it is also hard work. To quote a indie film maker that I have become a fan of, Oklahoma Ward, if you are not willing to work eighteen  hours a day you are not going to make it, you are just not going to make it.
 

 That will be it for today. This has been a great year for me as a blogger and as a writer in general, but it has kept me from doing much actual work on a project of my own. I have been doing a lot of script editing for friends. Also I am hitting the five month mark on the pre production of my first feature where I will wear the big three hats of writer, director and producer. Until this process I never understood why it would sometimes take a year and a half to shoot a film. I would love to be able to shoot a film in ten days, maybe the next one.

Take a moment to share this post with a friend and keep believing in your project. Work towards it each day. You are a film maker. Sometimes film making is not about going out and getting the hot new camera. Sometimes film making is about spending days learning about insurance and location permits. Sometimes being a film maker finds you in a room surrounded by beautiful people all looking to you for their next or first job in front of the camera. Enjoy the ride guys. When it is good it is good like one of those happy ending Twillight Zone episodes where you are Charles Bronson and you get to start the human race all over again with a twenty five year old Elizabeth Montgomery at your side.

 

Filmmaking Notes 1, Found Footage

  Film making Notes, Found Footage 

Sorry that the blog has not been updated more often, right now I am in the

middle of writing an ebook and it is taking more time and attention that I first thought.

The book is going to be about making found footage films and to write the book I feel the need to watch a great many of them.

A few words on found footage films. Most of them are really bad. It is a new genre that is not going anywhere, but has been handicapped by what many believe are the rules that have to be followed. Let me say that if you are gonna become a great film maker you are going to have to learn that breaking the rules is part of what you are suppose to do. The found footage rules are basic. Everyone must die and then the footage is found later. Just because this happened in Cannibal Holocaust and The Blair Witch project does not mean that it always must happen that way.

If you are planning on making a found footage movie I am asking you to please watch the movie End of Watch before you finish your script. I believe that how they combine footage taken by the people of screen with footage taken by filmmaker is nearly perfect and after the first ten minutes of the movie you have to think about it to notice that there can be no one there at times in the on screen universe shooting the footage. It is a blueprint for what can be done with found footage.

I would also argue that the rules kill all suspense. After all you not only go into a film knowing everyone is gonna die, but you also see the film maker straining at times to make this happen. Making characters who do things that have the sole purpose of getting them killed.

How about an example of two movies that may have followed the rules, but still managed to be pretty well done.

The first one is a film that I really admire. It is the Frankenstein Theory. This film is very well done and it follows a single rules that I believe that all horror movies must follow. The rule is that the audience will believe any one thing. They will give you a single pass on anything. Do not test their patiences with a second reach. They will believe that Frankenstein is based upon a true story. The fact that the monster is still roming the earth is not a second thing because if you believe the original story the monster was designed to never die. It is a better movie that it has a right to be and I would love to see another found footage film from the makers of it.

The greatest of all modern found footage horror films is the amazing movie

Rec 2.

Last note on this subject could we get some more found footage comedies or thrillers or even straight drama. Turning a camera on a family in crisis would make for a compelling found footage film. Digital filmmaking gives us the chance to experiment. The low cost involves allows for the opportunity to take chances. If you are not willing to break a few rules then why did you become a film maker. Just let Hollywood make all the same cookie cutter movies. They are the best in the world at that.

Next up I would like to show a follow up video. It is the first trailer from the Joker Rising. The footage looks great.

Please take a moment to bookmark this page and to share this post. Thank you for visiting and if you know about a really well done found footage movie please let me know by leaving a comment or by joining me on Google plus.

Canon Hv20 Feature film (Throwback) Part 3

The third part of my interview with Travis Bain is ready. I would like to first than him again for the time that he has given me and the information that he has shared. Digital filmmaking is a process. No one is born a filmmaker. There are born painters and singers, but film making is a learned skilled. Sure there are those with more talent for the game than others, but I believe that hard work and the willingness to keep trying again and again is what will get most of us from the planning, to the page, to the set, to the screen.

The lesson that you need to take from the making of Throwback and other filmmakers that we will be introduced to over the next year or so is that you do not need a boat load of money to be a film maker. You can make a micro budget film with a few thousand dollars. I have been told that features have been made for less than a thousand dollars. It is mostly a matter of deciding to do it and not giving up until the film is finished. Do not let any excuse stop you. It is okay to slow down and make sure that you are not going too fast or making mistakes along the way, but do not stop until your digital feature film is done.


Okay The third and final art of the Canon Hv 20 interview.


First I forgot to ask about sound last time. What did you use to record sound. Did you go with an add-on mic or did you record external sound and sync later?

For most of the movie, I just recorded audio straight into my Canon HV20 with a Rode Video Mic mounted on the camera. Rode is an Australian company and they make excellent microphones at reasonable prices. I’d highly recommend their products to any indie filmmaker, especially those on a tight budget. Their Video Mic is a very directional, compact shotgun mic which has provided me with very clear location audio. In a handful of situations, though, we found ourselves filming in noisy locations due to gushing river water, so on those occasions we recorded backup audio into a second Canon camera (an XHA1) using wireless lavalier microphones. I'm hoping to use wireless lavs all the way through my next feature, in conjunction with the Rode Video Mic. That way, I can either just use the best audio source in post or blend the two together. We didn't use a boom swinger on “Throwback” because we couldn't afford one, so it just seemed quicker and easier to just stick the mic on the camera and operate it myself. There'll be a little bit of wind noise to remove in post, but not a whole lot because we used a furry "dead cat" windsock on the mic throughout the shoot, which attenuated most of the location wind. I think we've done pretty well considering that the entire movie, except for one scene, was shot outdoors. The audio is remarkably clean, although I do want to use wireless lavs more on my next feature, and maybe a digital field recorder as well. There are some cool ones out now which record a safety track that's about 20db lower than your main track, so if there's a sudden audio spike like an actor suddenly yelling out a line at the top of their lungs, you can use the safety track rather than your clipped main track. Luckily we didn't have too many cases of that on this film. Whenever I knew an actor was about to shout, I'd simply lower the recording levels so they wouldn't clip. That's one of the reasons I shot the movie on the Canon HV20 and not a DSLR - you have full manual control over your audio levels. We'll probably only have to re-record a small handful of lines to replace ones tainted by background noise. Otherwise, about 95% of the dialogue you'll hear in the movie is the original dialogue. I always prefer to use the original dialogue if possible, because you can never truly replicate the actor's performance later on. When they're on location and in the moment, that's when you usually get the best material. I never used headphones to monitor sound on location, I just watched the audio levels on the LCD screen and made sure nothing clipped. I’m using some good-quality Sennheiser monitoring headphones in post, although lately I’ve mainly been using them to rock out to Led Zeppelin while I cut action scenes. “Achilles’ Last Stand” is great for keeping you awake and motivated at 2am. I’ll do the sound mix later when the picture edit’s locked off. It’s important to use proper monitoring headphones for your sound mix because consumer headphones that are made for iPods and so forth usually boost the bass and do other funky things to your audio, so they don’t give you an accurate reproduction of your soundtrack.

The subject of post production is overlooked by many first time film makers thinking that they will cross that bridge when they come to it. Did you have post in mind before you started filming?

Absolutely. You have to have a post-production plan in place before you even shoot a frame of footage. You have to set up your workflow in advance and practice good media management otherwise post is going to be a haphazard mess. In a way, a movie isn’t made during production, it’s made in post, so it’s crucial to start planning your post strategy even at the script stage. For example, knowing that we were going to film “Throwback” almost entirely outdoors, I deliberately wrote the script to have as little dialogue as possible. From the outset, I wanted to tell the story visually rather than through endless chitchat. They are called motion pictures, after all. My opinion is that if you want to watch actors talk for two hours, go to a play or a Tarantino film. Otherwise, I’m in the Hitchcock camp: I believe in telling the story visually, with camera angles, action and montage, and defining your characters by their behaviours rather than boring exposition. There have been a number of recent Bigfoot movies where the characters blather on about their relationships and their emotional issues. Nothing sucks the life out of a horror movie faster. I went in the opposite direction—I wrote “Throwback” to be a lean, economical, fast-paced suspense thriller with an action beat every five to ten minutes. With minimal dialogue, your sound mix is easier because you can build your soundtrack from the ground up with a mixture of canned and foley effects. There is character development in “Throwback”, don’t get me wrong, but like “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, we get to know the characters along the way, as we get swept along by the action. Having minimal dialogue also helps your movie’s chances in non-English speaking countries.

Do you get others involved in producing the final product? Do you outsource sound work or the soundtrack?

On this film and my last, “Scratched”, I’ve followed the early-Robert Rodriguez model of pretty much doing everything myself. When you’re on a tight budget, the best person to do post-production on your film is yourself. You are your own best possible employee. You know that you’re always going to turn up, never slack off or call in sick. You’ll work for free, and work tirelessly because you feel passionate about the project. Plus you know the material intimately, so you never have to say “I want it done this way.” On my future films, as the budgets increase, I would love to delegate more tasks to people who know more about these things than I do, but right now, I’m dong all the post on “Throwback” single-handedly. I haven’t outsourced anything as yet, apart from my animated production company logo and a couple of CG smoke shots. As Rodriguez has always said, it’s great if you can be both creative and technical at the same time, because it’s really empowering. Best case scenario is that we get picked up by a distributor and some money becomes available for a professional sound mix in a proper facility. But until that happens, I’m just trying to do the best job I can on my home system.

What about audio effects?

The vast majority of the sound effects in “Throwback” are coming from Sound Dogs, a great US company you can buy sound effects from one by one, which to me makes more sense than spending thousands of dollars on a huge sound effects library you might only ever use a fraction of. So I’m mostly using Sound Dogs, but if I need a basic sound effect like a simple splash of water or something, I’ll just foley it myself and save money.

When making a horror movie there are a lot of little things that have to be done in post. Did you plan on that ahead of time?

Yes. There were a few shots where we knew there'd have to be a digital effect added later, so we'd film it in such a way that when the effect is added, it’ll blend perfectly with the background plate. You’ve got to plan ahead with your audio, too, by recording ambient sound you can use later to fill in any gaps in the soundtrack.

Do you plan on test screening the rough cut before doing your final cut or will it be straight to final cut?

I generally try to avoid showing people rough cuts unless they’re within my “inner circle.” When I screen my work, I prefer it to be as complete as it can possibly be so it's as close to my vision as possible. I don't want people to see a half-baked version of my film and judge it based on that. When people start seeing the movie at preview screenings in a few months’ time, they’ll be seeing something extremely close to my final cut.

I do not know what distribution is like in your country, but the options have grown here in North America. For a micro budget film many of us look to Video of Demand (VOD) and itunes rather than considering theatrical release. Did you have distribution in mind before you started production?

Definitely. The whole reason for making a genre film in the first pace, apart from the fact that I love them and they’re fun, is because they’re the easiest types of films to find distribution. Horror movies sell well, and they probably always will, because there’s a huge market for them, so it was kind of no-brainer to make one as my second feature. I found out the hard way, from making my first feature “Scratched”, that modest little comedy-dramas shot on Mini DV with unknown actors have basically zero chance of finding a distributor.

What are the distribution plans?

The first phase of our strategy is to hit the film festivals. We want “Throwback” to tour the film festival circuit and be seen by audiences and generate buzz. Film festivals offer great exposure, so that’s our first port of call. We’ve already had interest from two of the world’s biggest ones, which is really cool. After a few festival screenings, if the movie is received well, we hope to be in a position to sign with a sales agent, who can then pick up “Throwback” and run with it, and hopefully help us sell it to some distributors around the world. I’d love to be able to sell the film to every major territory around the world. It’s a very Australian film but its also got universal appeal as an action/adventure story, and because it doesn’t have too much dialogue, it would be quite straightforward to subtitle or dub for foreign territories. A theatrical release would be a dream come true but we’re realistic about our chances. It’s very expensive to release films theatrically. Sometimes even movies with well-known stars go straight to video, or if they do go to cinemas, they only make a few thousand bucks. To be honest, I’d be more than happy just to see “Throwback” released on DVD and Blu-ray. A multi-platform release would be ideal. VOD is an interesting new market, but I don’t want to limit the film’s chances to just that market. I think the vast majority of people still prefer to watch movies at home on DVD o Blu-ray, so in that regard, I would love to see “Throwback” end up on shelves in places like Blockbuster and Target. Our 1080p imagery is going to look beautiful on the average HDTV. With the success of Fincher’s Netflix series “House of Cards”, I think VOD is a promising new outlet for long-form TV series, and I myself am very interested in getting into mini-series down the track, but for feature films, I don’t think cinemas or optical discs are going anywhere just yet. People love to watch big movies on big screens, plus going to the cinema is a fun social experience. As long as morons with mobile phones don’t spoil it.

What is next?

I’m developing a slate of projects for different budget levels. So if “Throwback” is a success and someone offers me a million dollars to make a movie, I have a script we can do for a million, or if they offer me five million, I have one we can do for five million. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. One is kind of action/horror inspired by Lovecraft, another is action/sci–fi and another one is a remake of a classic adventure story. By the same token, if someone offers me some other project to do, I’d definitely consider it. There are also novels I’d love to adapt, like Richard Preston’s “The Cobra Event.” I’d love to remake John Boorman’s film “Hell in the Pacific.” Even a big-screen version of an ’80s TV show, like “Battlestar Galactica” or “Knight Rider” would be great fun. What film I make next will depend entirely on how much money’s available and who’s willing to back me. But I’ll be aiming for the stars, so even if I fall short, I might still hit the moon.

Do you plan on specializing in one genre?

No, I want to mix things up like Kubrick or Fincher or Danny Boyle. I'd love to bounce around different genres. I'm very keen to do action, sci-fi, fantasy, crime, horror and blends of those genres like action-comedy and that sort of thing. I want to take my films to conventions like Comic Con and mingle with my fellow geeks!

You know once you do a horror film or sci-fi it is hard not to be classified as a horror film maker. Ridley Scott has done almost every type of film, but people hear his name and think Alien or Blade Runner first. The only film maker that I am aware of who ever managed not to be classified as a type was the great Robert Wise. He did everything from The Day the Earth Stood Still, Run Silent Run Deep, West Side Story, The Haunting to Star Trek. Is it possible to do any type of film you wish? Or do you look forward to being the master of a genre?

I think if you get enough clout you can do any movie you want, but even then it’s not always guaranteed. Apparently Michael Bay, one of the world’s most successful filmmakers, had to make the third Transformers movie so he could do his own personal project, “Pain & Gain.” You’d think a guy like that would be able to just pick any project he wanted, but I guess not. Even in Hollywood, money’s tight these days. Mind you, though, I don’t have any deep desire to do un-commercial, experimental films anyway. At this point I just want to make a variety of genre films right now, whether it be horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy or some sort of hybrid. That’s what I love about John Carpenter’s career—he’s never gone and made a boring Thomas Hardy adaptation or whatever, he’s jumped around between horror, sci-fi and kept it fresh. I remember seeing “Big Trouble in Little China in 1986” and thinking, “Wow, what is this?” And I’m sure people felt the same way when they first saw “Halloween” in 1978. As for “The Thing”, well, people just didn’t know what the hell to make of that back in 1982. It was ahead of its time. So yeah, if I can make another genre film after “Throwback”, I’ll be extremely happy. There are lots of new HD cameras out that I want to test. I don’t even care if I can’t afford an Alexa or a RED, I’d be happy to shoot my next movie on a Panasonic GH3 or the new Blackmagic Design 4K camera. If I can shoot cool shit and get paid for it, that’s all that matters to me.

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Digital Feature Filmmaking With The HV20 Part1

Digital Feature Filmmaking With The HV20 Part1.

I hope that this will end up being a three part series on a feature film shot with the Canon HV20. If you are a regular reader of this blog they you know that I have my favorites and of all the consumer camcorders ever made my favorite is the HV20. This camcorder along with its big brothers the Canon HV30 and HV40 were well on their way to becoming a staple of micro budget film making and then the Dslr revolution hit. People quickly jumped ship and this camera sort of got lost in the shuffle.

I am here to remind the film maker that is just starting out that there are advantages to using a camcorder to shoot your first digital feature film.

The first and most important advantage is that it is designed to shoot video.

The Dslr cameras even with their hacks are at heart stills cameras. That is what they were designed to do. They do a great job at it and can shoot awesome video, but you have to work hard to do this.

Second there is the price. Camcorders like the HV series cost less. And can recorder for a much longer time. You can have your camera and be ready to shoot for less than three hundred dollars. And I am including extra batteries and dv tapes in that three hundred dollars.

Three and this is an important third, they are better at recording in camera sound. You can add a good mic and a sound mixer and get great sound that you will not have to sync later.
Let’s look at the production of a HV feature that was shot in Australia. This is the first part of an interview that I am conducting with the film maker.


Here is a look at the trailer for the Canon HV20 digital feature ThrowBack.

Here is the beginning of what I hope to be a three part interview with the talented film maker.


How did you pull it off and were you ever tempted to go with the crowd running head long of the Dslr cliff?

Using the HV20 for Throwback was mainly a question of economics. I had an extremely limited budget and it just made more sense to shoot with a camera and accessories that I already owned than spend thousands of dollars on a new camera, new lenses and all the add-on bits and pieces that I would've had to buy to go the DSLR route. I didn't want to hire a DSLR to shoot my film on because I believe an indie filmmaker should own their own gear. If you accidentally destroy or damage it, you only have yourself to answer to, but even beyond that, it's so incredibly helpful to have a camera with you 24 hours a day and know that if you need to go out and do reshoots or whatever, the camera's there, not rented out to someone else and unavailable. And I didn't know anyone in Cairns to borrow a DSLR from, because I was only fairly new in town, so it just made sense to shoot the movie on the camera that I'd already owned since 2007. I knew the HV20 was capable of stellar results so I wanted to push it to its absolute limits and get some amazing shots out of it, and I think we've achieved that. There are shots in the movie that aren't in the trailers which are just going to blow people away.


I kept an eye on the DSLR revolution and followed its progress, and it all looked very interesting to me, but there were other factors, besides the cost, that kind of put me off shooting on a DSLR initially. Throwback started production back in 2010, and back then, DSLRs were still plagued with problems like moire, line-skipping, poor dynamic range and rolling shutter artifacts like wobble and skew, which I hate. The HV20, on the other hand, wasn't a still camera that was being used to shoot video, it was a VIDEO camera that was designed for videographers, so it had a lot of features that you couldn't get (and still can't) on DSLRs, like zebras, a low-contrast cine mode, 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks, continuous autofocus (which I didn't use often but it was very handy for moving subjects as it's very hard to pull focus on an HV20), manual audio level controls and many others. Plus, in 2010, I kept reading horror stories about how DSLRs would overheat and break down, and because we were going to be filming in hot jungles, I knew I couldn't work with a camera like that because it would be too unreliable. And in fact, we actually shot a couple of night-time scenes on a Canon 5D MkII by firelight, because we needed the larger sensor, and all those horror stories came true because the camera kept overheating and shutting down all the time. But when I used the HV20, however, it very rarely gave me any hassles. It just made sense to use a camera that I'd already invested money in, in terms of not only the camera itself but also filters, lenses, accessories like a Hoodman LCD and so on.

Now, of course, the GH3 is here, which is probably the first stills camera designed specifically for videography, instead of a stills camera where video is an afterthought. It would've been cool to shoot on a hacked GH2, but as I mentioned, money was a big factor, and I decided that rather than spend more cash on camera gear, I should save that money and put it into something else instead, like props, costumes, road trips to cool locations and things like that. And I'm glad I did.

People look down on the HV20 now that the 7D and GH3 and so on are all dominating the indie filmmaking market, but they forget that the HV20 is still a great HD camera with excellent manual controls and, if you use a quality mic, great audio. It's basically just a cut-down XHA1, which was a great camera from Canon towards the end of the last decade. Obviously you can't achieve the same ultra-shallow depth of field on the HV20 that you can with a DSLR, but you can come close to it. On Throwback, I used numerous tricks to get my DOF as shallow as possible, including shooting wide open with a neutral density filter in daylight, and quite often zooming in slightly. As a result, you'll see shots in the movie which you would swear were shot with a DSLR, but no, they were done on the HV20 shooting a max aperture with an ND filter and a slight zoom factor. Exposure-wise, it was just a matter of letting the camera set the exposure and then dialling down the gain until I saw a pleasing image on the LCD screen. I just exposed everything by eye, and of course the zebras came in mighty handy too. I just tried not to let the highlights blow out and everything was hunky-dory. Prosumer cameras are always factory set to overexpose everything so you have to compensate for that in each shot, which is why the trailers for Throwback look like an actual movie and not home video. We also tried to avoid shooting in high-contrast situations wherever possible. Most of our filming days started at about 6am when the sun was still low in the sky and the light was soft. Magic hour. It works for Terrence Malick and it sure worked for us, too.

That is it for part one of this question and answer. Just remember we are talking about being digital feature film makers. The word digital being important. You do not need an expensive camera to shoot your micro budget film. You can do it with video camera and the price point for many of them are becoming more and more appealing. If you want to become a digital film maker go out and start shooting footage. Get use to using what ever camera you select and keep shooting. It is better to have a two hundred dollar camera or camcorder that you are familiar with rather than a two thousand dollar camera that you are afraid to touch. Digital Film making is about having fun, if you are not enjoying yourself then you are doing something wrong. You can do it with an iphone, a Sanyo, a 8mm camera, a Vixia Camcorder, a Dslr or a Red one.
Good luck guys. Please take a moment to share this post with a friend.

Directing Part One

                The Director in You - Part 1

    Most likely you will be the director of your low to micro budget film. How well you do this job will be the one thing that impacts your movie more than anything else. This is the one part of the process where you are not held down by equipment or budget. You are as good as you are going to be at this moment in time.

    Picture this, a hack direct is a hack director whether he has a thousand dollars to spend on his first movie or a hundred million dollars. It will show through and no matter how good the camera or sound or acting is the director will be noted either positively or negatively.

    I believe that there are only three kinds of directors. Let us look at them.

    First is the Artist. I do not mean the silent film, I mean those special few who stand out from the crowd. The hated one percent who are gifted unlimited. I will name a few, Chaplin, Hitchcock, John Ford, David Lean, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Scorsese, the Coen Brothers and Ridley Scott. If I included foreign directors I could list many more. The two I will mention are John Woo and Sergio Leone. Each director has a signature look and feel to their films. Watch three minutes and you know exactly who shot it. 

    The next level is the technician, these film makers are hard workers who get the job done. It is not always pretty, but they finish what they start. Some of the greatest films every made have been done by these guys.  Here is a list of some, Victor Fleming (Gone with the Wind and the Wizard of Oz) Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story, The Sound of Music), Billy Wilder, William Friedkin, Don Seigel (Dirty Harry Films, Charley Varrick, The Big Steal), George Lucas and James Cameron. You may disagree by saying that guy is an artist, that guy is a hack and that guy should be erased from history. Fine we can do a list someday and argue each and every choice, but for now let’s just go on.

    The last level is the Hack. For the sake of not getting hate mail I will not mention any of them (okay you forced me into this, they can blame you guys later for this one} Spike Lee is a hack. He should be hacking people home from grocery stores rather than making movies. The next crappy movie he makes will be the next crappy movie he makes. How about thee Gus Van Sant, overrated, smug and did I mention smug. Remake another Hitchcock film why don’t you and when you are done paint a better version of the Mona Lisa.  Ron Howard is not a total hack, but man he is great at stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. Ron close to being a good movie is not a good movie no matter what your friends in Hollywood tell you. I would rather have the Fonz direct a movie for me, I would go on, but your daughter is smoking hot so I am going to stop before I offend you. Not going to leave the women out of Hack territory. Jodie Foster is not very good. Jodie if you invite a guy into a dark theater for two hours with the promise of showing him a beaver you had better deliver more than the Road Warrior with Elmo attached to his wrist. Last is Sofia Coppola, she is a better actress than director. Do I have to say more?

    I know that this reads like my list of loves and hates, but it is not. I want to list you guys amongst the technicians and the artist and not the Hacks, but where you end up is really up to you. Digital feature filmmaking is not easy, but I hope at least a few of you will make it look easy.

    If you are an artist there is no advice for you here, you are gifted in ways that I can not begin to describe.

    If you are going to be a technician which is the majority of us who make low budget movies then my advice will be simple. Surround yourself with people who are better than you when ever possible. Better with lighting, better with sound and editing and better writers. Be a great listener. Part of leadership is not waiting to talk, but being eager to listen to everyone around you. Take advice seriously. This does not mean that you have to use it, but listen and absorb. People love to work for and with those who pay them some attention. Keep it basic. When shooting you do not have to do twenty takes and coverage from ten angles. Woody Allen rarely if ever does closeups and Clint Eastwood rarely does more than three takes of any scene. Have fun making the film and have fun with your crew. If you are very lucky you may do more than one feature film so treat this one as if it is your only child after all it might very well be. Never argue in front of your crew. Be the most enthusiastic person on the set at all times. If you are not who will be?

    Okay in part 2 and 3 of this we are going to look at styles of directing.

    Here is a sample of what I am going to explore. This is  Martin Scorsese’s signature editing style.

  

 

Okay that is it for now remember to stumble us on stumbleupon. To check out the trailer park and if you have a movie that you think should be included let me know, maybe we can include the short or trailer and do an interview about it. One last thing I opened with David Lynch for one reason he may be the only director on earth who manages to be all three types of directors in the same movie and or tv series.

Making Trash Or A Treasure.

            Will It Be Trash or Treasured?

    You are going to make your digital feature film.
    Guess what, so will thousands of other people during the next five years. 95 percent of what gets produced will be trash. It will be dull and mostly poorly produced and terribly acted. That is the facts. Look at Hollywood with tens of millions of dollars to throw at a project and most of what they produce will be crap.
    Out of that remaining 5 percent some treasures will be found and on rare occasions those who believe that they will be producing trash will actually produce a treasure.
    One of the clearest examples of this is the horror classic The Evil Dead. Most of the people working on it with the exception of the director seemed to have thought trash. That not counting family and close friends about eight people would ever see the film. Instead it became a cult classic. It spawned two great sequels and is about to spawn a reboot (thankfully done by Sam Raimi).
    Sam Raimi had a vision and he stuck to it. No one could see what he saw until they saw the film. Just like no one can see what you see until they see your film. You can tell everyone you meet about it, but what ever you say or write down about it will be nothing compared to the real thing. You are going to have to trust your vision even when all around you are shaking their heads.
    Look it, let us be real for a second. The odds are against you, but to achieve anything great the odds will always be against you. I can’t tell you that you will do a great job and everyone will love you. All I can say is that if you do not try you will never succeed. Your trash many end up being just that thrown in the trash, but it could end up being talked about, wrote about and revisited again and again for decades to come. You might actually produce something that may be treasured.
    Good luck with you low budget digital feature film and here is the first part of a documentary about the making of the Evil Dead. If you want to watch the rest of it just visit Youtube.