Matthew W. Phillips

So just because others copy marketing puffery then we should too?

Not to beat a dead horse but I thought it was common knowledge at this point that RED One was not a true 4k camera?!

RED was hardly low cost. I recall the original Red One Preorders were 17,500 USD for just the camera body.

Get a hold of a cheap lighting kit and start by playing around with it to see what types of lighting placements do what as far as looks go. Learning the basic 3 light structure is always a good place to start if you know nothing about lighting. Key, fill, and back light can be a start toward looking nice. Even those three right there can create quite a few different moods depending on how intense each light is and where you focus them. Utilizing practicals in the room also can add to the mood. Cinema has a few oddities about it that are not like real life though. One thing that still urks me when watching a film is how sofas are always pulled so far away from the wall. I know it is a choice that helps with lighting but I have never been to anyone's house who actually did that. I find it distracting but it is deFacto expected in films.

This is just my opinion but I was not personally swayed to shoot digital or even consider it (due to price and look) until the BMCC came out. Black Magic doesnt get enough credit, IMHO, for upping the game in a huge way for indies. Not just the camera (and the pocket) but also the free inclusion of Davinci Resolve. They, IMO, were the serious gamechanger...of course, this is only speaking on the ultra low-budget indie end of the spectrum.

I really like your work! You kept your highlights under control incredibly considering you are shooting digital AND outdoors. If you were local, I would ask you to work on my project. I would definitely grade the footage differently to bring out all of that beautiful detail and give more color depth to the image. But this is some of the best footage I have seen from the GH4.

I personally did not like the look of older DSLRs. Also the rolling shutter issue. S8 still has the DR since it is still film. I had made an S8 short film that is on YouTube. I dont know if it is still considered "home movie" by your standards but I did shoot low-grain reversal on a tripod and had a Rank Cintel transfer. A certain amount of it is just the S8 look which will have a retro feel. But if you want, I can post the link for you.

My biggest problem with S8 was gate weave. the camera just wouldnt run the film through straight. Of course, with such a small frame, any movement is magnified. Fun format but not for serious work on a big screen, I am afraid.

I wont argue with that. But you have to admit, the cost and time of buying a Lotto ticket cannot even come close to making a feature film. Odds may improve but you are essentially "all-in" to make a film.

Before you think I am too critical, in a previous life I used to be an independent game designer and I had a few games get Greenlighted on Steam. The criticism there is the worst of anything you can imagine. I had everything from "only a retarded 8 year old would create that" to "art direction looks like phallic imagery."

Oh Richard. I have tipped my hat to you and given you congrats for at least 9 years now. I never said you were not a hard worker or deserving. But there are others who are also and still dont get where you are. So that factor alone isnt the only one. I am sorry if I came across like I think you are a hack. That was not my intention. The issue with Dark Reprieve is nothing new. I expressed this to you after I saw it years ago and you mentioned it wasnt your script. In light of your more recent work, it is obvious that it wasnt your script. I was NEVER critical of Against the Wild. I watched it proudly with my family several times after purchasing it and I commented to them about how you fill a void that is needed in film these days by having an interesting and live action film that can be enjoyed with the whole family. Often times, live action, interesting, and family friendly turns into a "choose two" scenario.

No doubt there are very few people with work ethic in the general population relative to the small number with it. But that still doesnt account for features that arent picked up. The very process of even making a feature shows you have a significant work ethic and commitment. It has taken me years to get my personal and financial affairs in order to even have a shot of doing it and I havent finished it yet. Hopefully, a couple months from now I can at least say that photography is over. But the process alone shows a certain mettle, I would say. Shorts can be made all day, any day but a feature...it is a beast.

Freya is female? I have been here for a decade and thought Freya was a male. The name seemed different but I thought it was just a British thing. :D

Is that British sarcasm?

Hah. But I think this initial release means more than you are letting on. There is a world of difference from saying you had distribution on your first film than there is coming in empty handed. I think we are seeing things differently because you sound like you view success in this context as linear while I am viewing it as factorial or at least exponential in the inverse sense. For example, I do not think that the second release is as hard as the first, etc. Getting your foot in the door seems to be, by far, the hardest aspect of this whole thing. And that is what Richard did (albeit direct to DVD but still a good turn.)

Why are you assuming that anyone thinks there is a magic word? Maybe, for all we know, Richard is friends with someone who is friends with someone else. Networking and being fortunate enough to encounter someone has led to many good careers in other fields. It just doesnt make for as good of a public interest story to say you got a break because you happen to have married someone whose brother installed toilets in a B-Distributor's bathrooms. That was intentional sarcasm btw but the example isnt the oddest I have heard about.

I would buy your book, yes. Dark Reprieve 10th anniversary better have some good special features though. ;)

I am not saying there is a set of rules that guarantee success but I also do not believe it to be complete luck or randomness either. Let me ask you a question...if the world hit an imaginary reset button and all famous filmmakers were nobodies again, would they all rise to success again? I only ask your opinion of the matter.

Freya, the argument has been made in this thread that the reason many indies do not succeed in getting any level of distribution is because their project does not have "commercial appeal" or whatever term was used. I did not begin this line of reasoning. I was only responding to it. Now you are stating that there are different types of commercial appeal. I agree. But the thing is, how can someone be sure if a project will have commercial appeal before it is created? People are sometimes fickle and do not know what they want until it is under their nose. So the idea of "commercial appeal" seems a bit dodgy in explaining the success of one indie over another...especially in the context of the niche markets that you describe. Perhaps Landon mentioned the topic first, if so, I should be addressing him and not you. Nonetheless, I do not think there is any significant list of attributes that all success indie films have...am I mistaken?

I admit I have not cracked it. But either have you so it seems odd that you are commenting on it like you have. Truth is, you dont know how to any more than the rest of us that arent Richard.

Richard, tone does not come out over the internet without emoticons. And the context which you said it, at the time, sounded like you were on the defensive so it made sense that you actually meant this.

Very well. Then if there is a market for all of these different types of films then why do some get picked up and others dont? Since obviously commercial viability isnt the only thing at play (if it even is at play at all.)

I recall Richard saying around that time that he was picking out a Ferrari...black or red...maybe he would get both?

Fair enough David. But perhaps the more interesting question is how one goes from getting a break in one genre and being able to make the switch to the exact opposite? I mean, Richard has done more than one remarkable thing...his whole story is incredible actually.

I am sorry. I knew that post would sound bad. I did not intend it to.