Talk Filmmaking

[Mark Jury]

Lets get back to talking about making our own films. Anyone having much luck in making their own movies? Getting them seen, etc?
Anyone have any specific plans, ideas they're willing to share?

[vansgirl12]

I agree! Actually, my friend and I are planning on working on a film this summer that we hope to show at a local film festival. We will be shooting on MiniDV or Digital8, possibly both. We will more than likely be editing it on Premiere, there is a slight chance that we will be using Final Cut Pro. Slight. We plan to hire some actors at our school from the theatre department, they don't want any money we figure and all we have to do is feed them, thats not so hard. The script is being written and should be done before the end of June.

That's my 2 cents for today!


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"Rhode Island is neither
a Rhode or an
Island...Discuss!" - S

[Eliud25]

Sure I made some short flicks and put them on the internet. Try www.ifilm.com or www.eveo.com or www.shortbuzz.com

[miker]

I'm scripting 'The Assassins Account'. It's a kind of anti-'guns as cool popular icon' movie, saying that a person's hands are just as deadly -- so why all the fuss about guns?

Mediaeval setting, hordes of LRP'ers killing themselves in a field. That's the hope. Should be fun.

Production wise I will be all digital, the distribution medium is DVD. I will also be taking on the marketing. If it's good it will sell. Most films break even on sell-thru.

Incidently, I read with interest that the budget for digital tape film-stock on EP2 is $15,000.

To rip the article from ars-technica:
Digital George
Posted 05/25/2000 - 10:05pm EDT
It's a well known fact that George Lucas is going to be using digital video tape instead of film for the next Star Wars movie. But this week's Circuits section of the New York Times (registration required) has an interesting article on some of the back story on Lucas' decision which he made after seeing a demo of a Sony digital camera in 1997. After reading the article I was reminded of the costs of using analog film. The NYT quotes that for TPM, $1.7 mil was spent for film related costs (purchase, processing, etc.) but for "Episode II" only $15,000 has been budgeted for the digital video tape.

Another question is when will cinema become totally digital - from shooting to viewing. Digital projection systems like Texas Instrument's Digital Light Processing system have gotten mixed reviews, but certainly the technology will only get better. And as more of the movie making process becomes digital, the cost of movie production will almost become "affordable" (you will only have to max out 5 of your credit cards instead of 10 to make an independent). And then there are issues of distribution, piracy, archiving, etc... -Will Ryu

[WastedSpace]

Thank God for the Digital Revolution.

I am begining my first Digital movie In two days, When my AD showed me the price list for the cost of digital filming I thought it looked far too cheap and sent him back to find a real budget. But it's true. The budget of my feature dropped by more than 55%. Meaning we can spend the remainder on publicity materials.
Any way I begin filming this weekend on what has quickly been tagged as "A life film" by anyone who's read it. I would call it a romantic comedy but the crew all disagree! I'm glad to actually begin the filming as it was cast over three months ago.

[eddie]

we are in the middle (ish) of shooting our second cheesy Vampire flick. Called Love Of The Damned.
Fuelled by a hell of a lot of beer and some rocking ideas, this one is shot on Video (alas) The first was a super8 effort and the 3r one will probably be super 8.
Im also putting together a B movie type comedy with another friend, again on super8.
To get these films seen they will be entered into festivals, Ive also approached a University film society who have agreed to show them. An australian distributor is interested in these after seeing the website. Anything will do, if it comes to it Ill project it on a wall in the centre of town on a busy friday night.
It takes ages, and is hard work, lots of mental stamina needed, but it really is worth it. These films are one of the best things Ive ever done in my little life. At long last I got the ball rolling.

[eddie]

Oh yes, and plans are a-foot for a 16mm black and white road movie set in the UK, and a couple of serious documentaries: One is about a group of South American refugees who live in Bristol.

[AnnaCarrington]

Hey Eddie, Any chance I could help out on your 16mm B+W road movie? I've had some experience with 16mm but would like more. I live in Aldershot.

[eddie]

Hi Anna
Well its still very much being planned. Ill hopefully have the script finished by Christmas, then the plan is to hire a VW Camper and go up to the lake district for a couple of weeks in the summer with a group of friends and shoot it all. If you are still interested in 6 months or so then sure...!
We will need someone who can read a lightmeter and knows their way around a 16mm camera....

[tashunka]

I'm working on a short for the World Filmmaker's Project. Shooting in mid July. Hoping to have the feature length compilation done by the end of the summer, ready for the fall festivals. I'm shooting mine on Digital8 with some cuts in Super8. I'll be editing on my mac with Edit DV. I'm involved in a non profit society for independent filmmakers that is in the process of getting a grant for some digital equipment.....probably an XL1 and a G4 with FCP. Hopefully, we'll have that gear in a couple months. I'll also be shooting a short psychological thriller in the fall, with the XL1 if we have it by then. You just never know with all the funding hoops you have to jump through. That's about it for me. I'm also trying to get some music videos to do......and I started writing a mockumentary last year that I want to get back to and maybe shoot in Mexico or California next year.

ttfn.
tash.