Freya Black Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 TV drama is exactly the same as Cinema "feature" film.. re crews.. HOD,s .. etc Yes you can shoot a doc with 3 people ..dir/cam/audio.. often a small crew is an advantage .. but a drama ??? The reply from both yourself and Brian seems to be that the stuff on TV that tries to copy the cinema model has similar working practices. Here in the UK at least, this stuff is a small fraction of TV output. I wasn't talking about just TV drama and the replies to what I'm saying kind of underline the way you are both thinking about this stuff. Freya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Hartman Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 On my last feature, we had no money and one location, that's it. It was a single room with a 30x30 footprint and only around 10x10 worth of walkable space. We also needed three cameras per shot for coverage. So basically, we didn't have room for a full crew. Every morning I'd pre-light before everyone showed up, then I'd operate during the day and strike afterwards. There was so little room, our audio recordist sat outside and the boom operator was tucked into a corner. We shot with bare-bones equipment, which I think looked horrible, but our little feature film has been shown in theaters all over the world. Not just festivals, but actual small theatrical runs. When you sit and watch it, you have no idea the guy who lit, shot, produced and edited it was the same person. Sure, we could have made it a lot better, but the crew wouldn't have made a difference. Yes, if the Director had prepped better it would have been a lot better, but hey it's a learning experience for all of us, including her. Somewhat O.T., what could possibly be the attraction of working on a project like that? Extreme challenge, fear of failure, kind of like base jumping? Why put yourself through all that on an under capitalized project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R Probyn Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 The reply from both yourself and Brian seems to be that the stuff on TV that tries to copy the cinema model has similar working practices. Here in the UK at least, this stuff is a small fraction of TV output. I wasn't talking about just TV drama and the replies to what I'm saying kind of underline the way you are both thinking about this stuff. Freya Hi Freya Well the theme was features.. so when you mentioned tv being different I presumed we were talking about drama.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Black Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Hi Freya Well the theme was features.. so when you mentioned tv being different I presumed we were talking about drama.. I can understand where you are coming from but I guess I have a less optimistic view of the future of cinema than you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R Probyn Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) I can understand where you are coming from but I guess I have a less optimistic view of the future of cinema than you guys. Well yes does seem to be a bit of lean period now.. with these endless repeats of "blockbuster" offering .. as money spinners for the big studio,s... the bigger hope is actually in TV.. look at all the great material being made .. and the "curse" of film talent "doing" TV totally buried .. I usually take any flight as a time,as can never sleep, to watch a whole load of films I haven't seen.. not ideal viewing I know..! but just recently for the first time I just watched the TV offerings .. True Detective,Fargo,Broadwalk Empire, Breaking Bad.. the list goes on.. an amazing resurgence of very high quality, made for TV viewing over the last few years.. Edited September 15, 2015 by Robin R Probyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Bill DiPietra Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 Somewhat O.T., what could possibly be the attraction of working on a project like that? Extreme challenge, fear of failure, kind of like base jumping? Why put yourself through all that on an under capitalized project? Isn't that what keeps us coming back to new projects? The last thing you want to do is lock yourself into a comfort zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Hartman Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 New projects, new challenges, yes. Ill conceived, poorly funded, frustrating locations, no crew, no equipment, no.thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tyler Purcell Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 Somewhat O.T., what could possibly be the attraction of working on a project like that? Extreme challenge, fear of failure, kind of like base jumping? Why put yourself through all that on an under capitalized project? There is a certain challenge to producing the "unproduceable". Take a bunch of top talent, basically put them in a closet and see them sweat it out? I'd say it was a passion project more then anything else. If someone didn't do it, then nobody would and it's a very unconventional film… scripted documentary. Not having a crew wasn't a problem, but not having equipment… that stung. This is one of only two films I shot with DSLR's and that's why I hate them so much. Only reason we did is because bigger cameras physically wouldn't fit in our set! I literally built a lighting rig in the drop-down ceiling to light, what a pain in the ass! But hey, we just got the film sold to Criterion for VOD and BluRay, so we hope to finally make some money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Hartman Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Wow! Will the release contain behind the scenes footage, commentary, etc.? I thought Bill Duke was dead, ......guess not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Bill DiPietra Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 There is a certain challenge to producing the "unproduceable". Take a bunch of top talent, basically put them in a closet and see them sweat it out? I'd say it was a passion project more then anything else. If someone didn't do it, then nobody would and it's a very unconventional film… scripted documentary. Not having a crew wasn't a problem, but not having equipment… that stung. This is one of only two films I shot with DSLR's and that's why I hate them so much. Only reason we did is because bigger cameras physically wouldn't fit in our set! I literally built a lighting rig in the drop-down ceiling to light, what a pain in the ass! But hey, we just got the film sold to Criterion for VOD and BluRay, so we hope to finally make some money back. Looks like a cool project, Tyler. Congrats on the sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tyler Purcell Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 I think Criterion is going to push for VOD first, so that would mean no extras. The director doesn't want to revisit it very much, we're already working on our next film. However, I may be able to convince her, ya never know! We are hoping to put this along with the BluRay: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 Good stuff Tyler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted September 15, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 15, 2015 Looks interesting! I worked with Jennifer Beals a few years ago on "The Chicago Code" pilot, she was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R Probyn Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Looks good.. but I would call this a documentary not a feature .. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted September 16, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 16, 2015 Documentaries can be features or shorts. "Feature" just refers to its length, not whether it is fiction or not. The Oscars even have a category called "Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Looper Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) Yes, "feature film" just means a film of a certain length. Obviously this will have it's origin in the practice of showing long films as the main feature of a program, with short films (shown beforehand) as either less featured in the program, or not featured at all. One could certainly maintain this older definition, in which case short films could then be called feature films by simply showing a short film as the main feature of a program. It will be in the emergence of film festivals where the new definition will take hold. In a film festival no film is the main feature. And so one will speak of short films and feature films as simply an indication of a film's length, rather than the films prominence (or lack thereof) in a program. C Edited September 16, 2015 by Carl Looper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin R Probyn Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Seems I need to change my definition of a feature film.. ! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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