The term "filmmaking"

[Max Jacoby]

Get outta here!

 

;)

[Guest Glen Alexander]

So, dare we ask, what sort of film is it?

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing but respect for people who actually manage to stop dreaming and actually get out there and shoot something, even if it's only on a Handycam and edited on their home computer. Even with the most basic equipment, you can still acquire a lot of valuable skills like framing, editing and script discipline, for no cost, something that simply wasn't available to earlier generations. But nooooo, your average dreamer couldn't possibly do anything like that. It's got to be all or nothing, and it's usually the latter.

Well anyway, congratulations on your entry into the rarified ranks of people-who-have-actually-done-something :lol:

 

So what did you do?

Will we get to see it?

 

Thanks!

 

I do/am doing everything but with some advice from some real professional 'old timers' in Hollywood who are thrilled that someone had the balls to shoot VV in B&W with a good story and do everything 'old school', nothing digital at all in this film.

 

I'm editing now, probably another two weeks to finish the main cuts, then add in the transitions. I had to run out to Death Valley and shoot some more plates. Another two or three weeks to sync sound and score, so mid to end of November it will be finished. Since goal is to maintain Vistavision, I'm hoping to pull off premiere at Paramount. There are maybe 2 or 3 places on the planet that can still project VV. Eventually I may have to convert down to 4-perf for Cannes.

 

Hitchcock was right, I've already seen the film in my head, it just a matter of turning the raw footage into a film.

[Scott Bryant]

I'll admit it, I'm some what of a film snob just because I think you are working "blindly" by not being able to actually see what the outcome will be until after processing.

 

I like the idea of having two separate mediums for motion pictures (or moving images or movies or videos or films or whatever you want to call them). I really love the look of film but part of me would like to make something with a nasty, raw, old video camera with all the artifacts that come with it.

 

As far as new video technology, I don't understand why a story would call for that over film (besides price or if the movie dealt with a digital topic).

 

What do you guys/gals think would be a prime reason or story situation that would call for using digital?

[Guest Glen Alexander]

I'll admit it, I'm some what of a film snob just because I think you are working "blindly" by not being able to actually see what the outcome will be until after processing.

 

I like the idea of having two separate mediums for motion pictures (or moving images or movies or videos or films or whatever you want to call them). I really love the look of film but part of me would like to make something with a nasty, raw, old video camera with all the artifacts that come with it.

 

As far as new video technology, I don't understand why a story would call for that over film (besides price or if the movie dealt with a digital topic).

 

What do you guys/gals think would be a prime reason or story situation that would call for using digital?

 

You don't get it, I've already seen the final results, I'm getting advice from absolute masters of editing and optical manipulation B&W film and I saw everything in camera.

 

I went with film because I test shot three different video formats with 3 different cameras and two different film formats with 2 different cameras and went with film because it enhances the story I want to tell. Unless you have the creative insight you may never understand why a story would call for film versus digital.

 

If I had a story that suited digital, I would shoot digital. A flat, over-saturated, limited depth of field, pixelized, artificial space.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Glen Alexander

[Guest Glen Alexander]

Ok. Just a couple of questions. Who financed it? Who was in front of the lens? Who developed the film? How many theaters will this be released in?

 

 

:) Not to be a pain (Really!), but to make a successful COMMERCIAL movie that earns back its investment AND a profit, generally requires a fair amount of manpower and collaboration with specialists in a wide variety of specialties. Of course one "man" can do EVERYTHING on his own if he has the time, desire, and skill to pull it off, but generally speaking, to be a financially successful "filmmaker" means that a major financing entity has a stake in the financial and artistic success of the project and a great many specialists will be employed to help get to that end.

 

Kudos to anyone who bucks the system, but the system exists primarily because that is traditionally what brings creative and financial success. There are exceptions, of course, and those usually help push the industry past its established boundaries. But staking a career on that slim chance is only reserved for those who feel they have nothing to lose.

 

Good luck!

1. I financed it.

2. Chelsea Switzer.

3. Lab is Cinetech. King of B&W film, dev, restoration, processing, etc.

4. No people who I've talked with about the story and why I'm making it have helped out for cost or free. These are people who are renown in the industry. They are more than happy to help out the little guy with a dream and only a little money.

5. Not for wide release, will only be shown at Cannes and maybe Gower Theater and maybe the festival circuit. Have been offered distribution deal but I will NEVER allow a DVD or any digital release. This film has something to say and you have to go to a theater, sit in the low light, and share it with others. It is a place to go and feel the eons go by, to feel our birth, our death and everything in between. This is like gathering around the fire to share a story about what is means to human. It cannot be contained to a little screen where you are in control. This film is unstoppable, it swallows the audience, pulls you into an unknown space. I am GIVING people a reason to go the theater. It is a short film about the big ideas.

6. I don't care about being a financial success, it is about giving something back to the universe, to say, this is what it means to be a human being.

7. Neither do I care about a 'career' in filmmaking, when I'm done, I'll go back to France and continue my passion of painting landscapes and portraits. If I only make two films but they touch people in the most profound, deeply emotional way, that is the only thing that matters.

[Simon Wyss]

Get outta here!

 

;)

Ha, that hit.

[Patrick Neary]

You don't get it, I've already seen the final results, I'm getting advice from absolute masters of editing and optical manipulation B&W film and I saw everything in camera.

 

I went with film because I test shot three different video formats with 3 different cameras and two different film formats with 2 different cameras and went with film because it enhances the story I want to tell. Unless you have the creative insight you may never understand why a story would call for film versus digital.

 

If I had a story that suited digital, I would shoot digital. A flat, over-saturated, limited depth of field, pixelized, artificial space.

 

Hi -

 

Since this is (I think it still is) a cinematography forum it might be interesting to talk specifically about what camera and lens package you used as well as details about your post production process, since not too many people are shooting VV these days.

[Max Jacoby]

I claim the right to call myself a filmmaker

 

conceived film

wrote script

wrote lyrics

VV camera operator

DP

grip

film loader

producer ....

Did you also do the catering?

[Chad Stockfleth]

I think all of those "writers" out there who aren't using pencil and paper but instead those fancy, newfangle "laptops" should start instead referring to themselves as "digital-typists".

 

I find putting graphite to parchment gives my stories a real dimension and resonance that those pesky little 0's and 1's could never recreate!

[Guest Glen Alexander]

Hi -

 

Since this is (I think it still is) a cinematography forum it might be interesting to talk specifically about what camera and lens package you used as well as details about your post production process, since not too many people are shooting VV these days.

 

No one shoots VV these days. No one shoots in Death Valley and Mojave in August on anything. No one goes all optical no DI anymore. No one has shot on film stock with 160 lines/mm.

 

Until now.

 

Ask some of those supposed "professionals" on the forum, you know the ones with 30 plus films, two tv series, how to do it... oh yeah, they probably never have... or ask some of these film school graduates who have never sat at a Kem flatbed.... oh yeah, they were never taught film only video... my path is my mine, follow your own.

 

I won't discuss details until film is out, when these so called 'professionals' and 'film school wunderkinds' wonder, "How the fcuk did that guy do this?", maybe I'll post the why and how.

Edited October 21, 2008 by Glen Alexander

[Guest Glen Alexander]

Did you also do the catering?

 

No but I can design optics better than anything you shoot with.

[Chad Stockfleth]

Ask some of those supposed "professionals" on the forum, you know the ones with 30 plus films, two tv series, how to do it... oh yeah, they probably never have... or ask some of these film school graduates who have never sat at a Kem flatbed.... oh yeah, they were never taught film only video... my path is my mine, follow your own.

 

I won't discuss details until film is out, when these so called 'professionals' and 'film school wunderkinds' wonder, "How the fcuk did that guy do this?", maybe I'll post the why and how.

 

I hope your story is good. Truly. Obscure formats and optical processes alone do not make a great "film". No one except film geeks are going to care if you shot in Vistavision.

 

I also hope that you are not as condescending to your crews as you have been to the members of this forum. Otherwise I couldn't imagine ever working with you.

 

p.s.

Be careful when discussing glass with Max.

[Justin Hayward]

will only be shown at Cannes

 

It's showing at Cannes? That's an accomplishment in itself. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Justin Hayward]

What's the title?

[Patrick Neary]

No one shoots VV these days. No one shoots in Death Valley and Mojave in August on anything. No one goes all optical no DI anymore. No one has shot on film stock with 160 lines/mm.

 

Until now.

 

Ask some of those supposed "professionals" on the forum, you know the ones with 30 plus films, two tv series, how to do it... oh yeah, they probably never have... or ask some of these film school graduates who have never sat at a Kem flatbed.... oh yeah, they were never taught film only video... my path is my mine, follow your own.

 

I won't discuss details until film is out, when these so called 'professionals' and 'film school wunderkinds' wonder, "How the fcuk did that guy do this?", maybe I'll post the why and how.

 

oh bleepety bleep bleep.

 

Just for posterity;

 

This forum has a number of people who have been incredibly generous in providing real-world examples of their work, solutions to problems and experience-tested suggestions for others.

 

The instigator of this thread has offered nothing of interest or use, unless you figure in the entertainment value of following this particular kind of train-wreck.

 

Look at the production accounts or detailed testing results posted here by some of the more illustrious contributors. There's no hush-hush, "and then they'll be sorry" kind of lunacy. They go out of their way to offer help and useful (and interesting) information.